Kids’ resiliency at heart of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis

Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the 118th United States Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., is hosting for the fifth time in history and plays 7,440 yards to a Par-70. National Champion Again Brooks Koepka fired a final round 68 to post 281 to win his second consecutive United States Open. The podium was rounded off by Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (282) and 2016 champion Dustin Johnson (283). There were plenty of questions about the selection and set-up of Erin Hills last year. Koepka couldn’t care less about those questions as he beat that Par-72 windless layout into oblivion. The course with wide fairways and huge greens with four Par-5 holes didn’t resemble a “true” U.S. Open layout or challenge. Koepka’s winning score of 16-under tied the record in relation to par and people grumbled. He returned as the reigning champion this year, hustling to get into form because of a wrist injury suffered late last year, to a course that was the quintessential opposite of the one he defeated, rather easily, last year. The beast that is Shinnecock Hills would test his wrist, mettle and entire bag and he passed again with flying colors. Koepka finished second in driving distance yet just T55 in fairways. He found 49 of 72 GIR, the fourth-best effort of the week. He circled 14 birdies, also the fourth-best effort. His final round in the penultimate group with buddy Dustin Johnson saw him circle five birdies against just one bogey before his safety-first approach on the final green with a two-shot lead. I can hear the gamers screaming “where were you last week in Memphis” as he was the most-selected player in both PGA TOUR games. Given the choice of last week versus this week, I can’t argue with you. Only six previous players have defended their title so winning this week would be some feat at just 28. With Koepka winning on a “new” school course followed by a historical classic, it’s clear he’s worthy of a look regardless of the event. His last 11 majors have included two titles and nothing worse than T21 as he cements his place as one of the young studs on TOUR. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers, plus one, in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. Rickie Fowler’s weekend of 84-65 was interesting so hopefully gamers played him on the right day! Based on the above, some might have been stuck, like I was, using him in both rounds. Luckily for me I had Mickelson with him on Saturday and they earned me MINUS FIVE points. Not awesome. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-10 selected golfers (plus one) in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: Tough week for Johnson’s investors but a podium finish is a little easier to take than a few of the results on the table above. Only one guy can win but it’s evident this THE major to play Johnson. Tommy, Boy! Tommy Fleetwood adds his name to the list of players who have signed for 63 in a major championship. He also adds his name to the list of players that didn’t win while doing so. His eight birdies, after making zero during a 78 in Round 3, were cancelled out by just one bogey. He had an eight-footer on the last to tie the major championship record of 62 set just last summer at Royal Birkdale by Braden Grace. Fleetwood backed up his fourth-place money at Erin Hills last year with solo second Sunday, his best finish in a major. Just Missed, Again Dustin Johnson’s U.S Open history is colorful, pitiful and filled with plenty of “what if” and this edition adds to this novel. He was magnificent over the first 36 holes on the more difficult side of the draw, leading by four at the half-way point. His weekend saw him post 77 in Round 3 and yet began the final round tied for first. His final round of 70, even par, wasn’t good enough to win, force a playoff or even take home second place alone. Yeah, it was a strange week to say the least. Captain America Patrick Reed improved every round and his 68 on Sunday was the best of the bunch. He birdied five of his first seven holes to ignite the grand slam conversation. He ran out of magic as he came home in 37 but his last three finishes in a major are stout. He was T2 at the PGA Championship, picked up his first major at Augusta and solo fourth, his best finish and first top-10 payday at the U.S. Open. Drive for Dough Entering the week Tony Finau (5th) checked in at No. 2 in driving distance and No. 195 in driving accuracy. The first number was a plus but the second surely had to be a hindrance. Nope. He found just enough fairways (T51) and GIR (T12) that led to 17 birdies, the most in the event. Playing with Daniel Berger in the final group after his outstanding 66 Saturday morning, his 72 led to his second consecutive top-10 payday in the majors. This one did not involve a dislocated ankle though! Finau has a top 10 at every major with the exception of the Open Championship. Length travels. Sunday Silence Playing in his first final group in a major Daniel Berger signed for 73 and shared sixth. He’s now cashed at Pinehurst, Oakmont and Shinnecock Hills while just missing at Erin Hills. His worst finish in three Masters is T32. These are clues folks! This experience will be stored away in the memory bank for next time. He’ll be in play for gamers this week at the Travelers Championship as he lost in a playoff to Spieth last year. … Justin Rose was stalking the lead entering the weekend but 73-73 in the final 36 holes knocked him back to T10. That’s four top 10’s in just seven of 13 made cuts for the Englishman in this event. This one stings for gamers as he was one out of the lead on the first tee Sunday. … Jim Furyk began the day T7 and shot 80 to finish T48. Study Hall The final round scoring average was 72.180 (+2.180), the easiest round of the week by almost 1.5 shots. After the uproar on Saturday I don’t think many gamers were surprised to see birdies and lack of others in the final round. … The scoring average for the week was 74.650 as 67 players who made the cut finished worse than par. … There were zero bogey-free rounds recorded for the round and for the week. … LSU rising senior Luis Gagne and Mid Amateur champ Matt Parziale shared the low amateur (T48).

Click here to read the full article…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Bubba Watson and his wife, Angie, adopted a son, Caleb, just prior to Watson winning the 2012 Masters. They adopted a daughter, Dakota, in December of 2014, the year Watson won his second Masters. Life and golf always coexisted peacefully. Until last year. “Last year was a challenging year for me and my family,â€� said Watson, who shot a bogey-free 69 to get to 6 under and within three of the early second-round leader, Daniel Berger (65) halfway through the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. “Me, physically, I went down to 165 pounds, which, I was up to 210 at one time during my career. I guess I fluctuate a lot. “So I wasn’t very healthy, as I needed to be last year,â€� he added. “So trying to get back healthy. My son’s in kindergarten, my wife had knee surgery, so there’s a lot of things we’re battling. But struggling on the golf course is not very bad.â€� A nine-time PGA TOUR winner, Watson, 39, comes into this week at 193rd in the FedExCup and 108th in the Official World Golf Ranking. (He hit a high of second in the world for four weeks in early 2015.) He prefers not to specify the nature of his illness, but whatever it was, he failed to seriously contend in any tournament, missed the cut by a mile at the Masters (74-78), and finished a career-worst 75th in the FedExCup. Today, Watson is back up to around 180 pounds, which, he says, “is about what I was when I won the two Masters.â€� After a brief bit of tinkering with his equipment, he has gone back to the ball he used in his prime. And, lo and behold, he’s playing well again. He made two birdies and no bogeys Friday, a continuation of the steady tee-to-green play he enjoyed at the recent CareerBuilder Challenge (MC), but in this case with a few made putts sprinkled in. “I missed the cut (at CareerBuilder) but I was tied for first in greens in regulation,â€� Watson said. “So my ball-striking is right where I want it to be. And my putting, I feel good over the putts, they’re just not going in. Right now, the ball’s just laughing at me.â€� Strictly speaking, Watson’s most recent victory was the 2016 Northern Trust Open, his second win at Riviera. Since then, well, uh, he opened a candy store, Bubba’s Sweet Shop, in July of 2016. Sometimes his mom, Molly, works behind the counter. So that was cool. But he’s still looking for that elusive 10th win on TOUR, which is now within reach in the desert. “You got to pick and choose your battles,â€� Watson said. “Last year I wasn’t very good at golf, but I guess I was good as a dad and a husband. I would rather be that than a good golfer.â€� OBSERVATIONS STALLINGS TRIES TIGER PUTTER: Scott Stallings (65, 8-under) missed the cut at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, where he was a past champion. And it was a trend. The 32-year-old New England native, who spends his winters in Scottsdale, has slipped to 163rd in the FedExCup and 305th in the world. But with time on his hands, he began watching the Farmers telecast. When the cameras zeroed in on Tiger Woods’ putter, Stallings had an epiphany: He owned a Scotty Cameron just like the one Woods made famous. “It was sitting in my closet,â€� he said. “I pulled it out and went out and hit some putts with it on Sunday. It’s a Scotty Cameron that I’ve had forever, and I had never pulled the trigger in a tournament. I finally pulled it out and here we are.â€� Stallings took just 26 putts and shot 69 in the first round, and 31 putts after hitting all 18 greens in regulation Friday. He was one off the lead after the morning wave. THOMAS SHAKES OFF BAD HALF HOUR: Reigning FedExCup champion Justin Thomas was at 6 under and in contention after getting up and down eight times in eight chances and shooting his second straight 68. The secret to his second round? Not getting bogged down by the way he had ended his first. Thomas was cruising when he made a double-bogey 5 at the rowdy 16th hole, then pitched his second shot into the water and made bogey at the par-4 17th. In a half hour he had dropped three shots. “I just went to dinner (at Maggiano’s Italian restaurant) with my parents,â€� Thomas said after going bogey-free Friday. “I was going to get room service, but I knew I was going to be all miserable and sulky all by myself. I was like: I just need to get out. So I went to eat with them and had a good dinner and went back and got some sleep.â€� BERGER FRESH AFTER BREAK: Daniel Berger took the last two weeks off, so it was easy to forget that he was one of the hotter players on TOUR coming into the Waste Management, where he shot a second-round 65 to get to 10 under and lead the morning wave of players. Berger finished T11 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and a T14 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. It was a good start to 2018, but still, it felt somehow lacking after his breakout season last year, when he successfully defended his title at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, lost a thrilling playoff to Jordan Spieth at the Travelers Championship, and made his first Presidents Cup team. “It hasn’t been quite what I really wanted it to be,â€� Berger said of his start to this season. “I think the expectations from the last couple years were pretty high, so just trying to maintain a lower expectation and just have fun and play well, and that’s kind of what’s happened this week.â€� NOTABLES Jordan Spieth shot a second-round 70 and at even par was projected to miss the cut. Patrick Reed shot a 5-under 66 and was at 5 under for the tournament. QUOTABLES I was probably playing golf swing versus playing golf a little bit.When we were making the turn, one of the nurses came up and said, ‘We’re happy we haven’t seen you this year.’

Click here to read the full article…

Reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay leads the field in Detroit as the PGA TOUR inches closer to crowning the champion of this season’s FedExCup. FIELD NOTES: Cantlay, who’s ranked fourth in the world, is the highest-ranked player teeing it up at the Rocket Mortgage Classic… Rookie of the Year frontrunner Cameron Young, who’s 13th in the FedExCup, returns to action after his runner-up at The Open… Young, Will Zalatoris, and Sahith Theegala are all up-and-coming stars in the field who have been knocking on the door as they seek their first PGA TOUR victory… Other notables heading to Detroit include Tony Finau, Max Homa, Kevin Kisner, and Harris English… Rickie Fowler will be teeing it up and needs a good finish to lock up a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. He entered the 3M Open, where he made the cut, ranked 129th in the FedExCup standings… Among the sponsor exemptions are Wesley Bryan and Geoff Ogilvy, the former U.S. Open champ who recently made his first TOUR start since 2018… Haskins Award winner Chris Gotterup, this year’s collegiate player of the year, makes his seventh TOUR start since turning pro, which includes a T4 at the John Deere Classic… Cole Hammer tees it up on TOUR for the second time since turning pro, and amateur Michael Thorbjornsen is back on TOUR for the first time since finishing fourth at the Travelers Championship. All three of the young stars are also in the field via sponsor exemptions… Stephan Jaeger, No.125 on the FedExCup standings entering the 3M Open, is teeing it up in Detroit and looking for a solid finish to cement his Playoffs position… Eleven major champions are in the field. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Detroit Golf Club (North course), par 72, 7,370 yards (yardage subject to change). This club, which is more than a century old, was updated for the TOUR’s initial arrival in 2019. The back nine has proven to be drama-filled. Cam Davis made an eagle and a birdie on his final two holes to get into a playoff with Joaquin Niemann and Troy Merritt last year, which Davis went on to win. STORYLINES: The Rocket Mortgage Classic is the penultimate event of the Regular Season. Georgia product Greyson Sigg is on the outside looking in at No. 126 in the FedExCup standings entering the 3M Open, six points back of Stephen Jaeger. TOUR winners Jason Day and Nick Taylor are amongst the guys on the bubble along with Kramer Hickok at No. 124 and Puerto Rico Open winner Ryan Brehm at No. 121. The TOUR will head to the Wyndham Championship for the season finale next week… Cameron Young appears to be due for a win. He has four second-place results this season and is looking for a big breakthrough this week in Detroit. Two of the three winners at the Rocket Mortgage were first-time TOUR champions… Both of those winners, Nate Lashley and Cam Davis, are back in action in Detroit. 72-HOLE RECORD: 263, Nate Lashley (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Nate Lashley (2019, first round), J.T. Poston (2019, second round), Davis Thompson (2021, first round) LAST TIME: Cam Davis won for the first time on the PGA TOUR and he did it in dramatic fashion – defeating Troy Merritt on the fifth hole of a playoff. Davis shot a final-round 67 and finished at 18 under for the week alongside Merritt and Joaquin Niemann. Niemann – who had a chance to win in regulation but couldn’t get his final-hole birdie to fall – dropped out of the playoff after making bogey on the first extra hole. Davis couldn’t convert any potential tournament-winning putts (he had opportunities on each of the playoff holes) but won the championship after Merritt bogeyed the fifth extra hole. Davis sprinted to the finish Sunday in Detroit, holing a 50-foot eagle from the sand on the 17th hole Sunday and adding a birdie on the par-4 18th. The week prior to the five-hole playoff at the Rocket Mortgage the TOUR had an eight-hole playoff at the Travelers Championship. Hank Lebioda and Alex Noren, who shot an 8-under 64 Sunday for the round of the day, finished tied for fourth. HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Click here to read the full article…