Koepka taking ‘major’ approach at Travelers

AUSTIN, Texas — Scottie Scheffler delivered all the right shots Saturday and moved into the semifinals of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play by taking down Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm. Scheffler was the highest seed remaining at No. 30, which is just a number the way he handled Austin Country Club against two of Europe’s best in this format. RELATED: Bracket, Scoring | Things you may have missed, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Day 4 The 24-year-old Texan made 15 birdies in the 31 holes required to get through his two matches. “Being able to take down those two guys, and Xander (Schauffele) in the final match on Friday, like I said before, I think my game’s trending in the right direction this week,” Scheffler said. He advances to a final day that features three Americans and one European — Victor Perez of France, who made short work of Sergio Garcia in their quarterfinal match. Matt Kuchar, the only player to win every match he has played in this most unpredictable event, pulled out a 1-up victory over Jordan Spieth in the morning and then kept Brian Harman from another amazing rally by rolling in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole of their quarterfinal match. Kuchar and Scheffler will meet in one semifinal match. Perez will face Billy Horschel, who never led in his quarterfinal match until Tommy Fleetwood sent his tee shot out of bounds on their 19th hole, the par-5 12th. Kuchar won the Match Play in 2013 and lost in the championship match two years ago to Kevin Kisner. With his five wins this week, he now has 33 in this tournament, second only to the 36 matches won by Tiger Woods. Scheffler knows Austin Country Club as well as anyone from his four years he spent playing for the Texas Longhorns, but this was more about the quality of his golf in the face of two intense competitors. He never gave Poulter, a Ryder Cup stalwart and past winner of the Match Play, much of a chance. Poulter didn’t win a hole as Scheffler made seven birdies in a match that ended on the 14th hole. Poulter holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole and looked to cut the deficit to 2 down, only for Scheffler to hole a chip from behind the green. In the quarterfinal match, Rahm fell 3 down when his approach to the par-5 12th found the water. As usual, the Spaniard who reached the championship match in his 2017 debut mounted a charge. Rahm ran off four straight birdies — and he only picked up one hole. Scheffler matched him on the 13th and made a 10-foot birdie after Rahm chipped in on the 14th. “That was a big one,” Scheffler said. “I was standing there greenside and that was kind of the moment. It was kind of his do-or-die moment for the round, and I had a feeling he was going to hit a really good shot and it happened to go in. And I knew I had to roll that one in to keep things in check.” They matched birdies on the 16th, and Rahm conceded after failing to birdie the 17th. Horschel had never made it to the weekend in his four previous appearances, and this one looked doubtful, too, until he beat Max Homa on the third playoff hole to win his group. He dispatched Kevin Streelman in the fourth round Saturday morning, and never led against Fleetwood in the quarterfinals until they went extra holes. Fleetwood had gone 67 straight holes — starting with the 17th hole Wednesday — in which he never trailed. But after the Englishman missed a 12-foot birdie putt for the win on the 18th hole, they headed to the par-5 12th. Fleetwood hit his shot so far left that it went well out-of-bounds, and the best he could manage after re-teeing was a bogey. That almost was enough. Fleetwood hit into the water on the 13th and halved the hole with a bogey when Horschel took three putts from just off the green. Horschel went ultra conservative with Fleetwood out-of-bounds on No. 12 in extra holes. He laid up short of the water, hit a wedge 30 feet by the hole, left his birdie putt 5 feet short and had to make that to win. Kuchar was fortunate to make it through the morning. Spieth never trailed and wasted a chance to go 1 up on the par-5 16th hole. Kuchar was in grass so thick right of the fairway that he asked the marshal to let fans under the rope to help him find his ball. Then, he was given relief from a scoreboard in his line of the flag. He scrambled for par, and Spieth missed a 6-foot birdie putt. Kuchar won on the 18th hole in what amounted to a chipping contest. Spieth went 30 feet long, Kuchar was 6 feet short, and Kuchar won with a birdie. He built a 3-up lead over Harman, against whom no lead is safe. In the fourth round, Harman was 4 down to Bubba Watson through five holes until he made eight straight birdies and won seven straight holes, winning 2 and 1. Harman was 3 down with five holes to play when he won the 14th and added two more birdies, only for Kuchar to match him.

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Harris English feels he got away from the basics that carried him to a promising start to his PGA TOUR career. He hopes he’s headed in that direction again. English holed a chip-and-run from off the 18th green Saturday for birdie and a 7-under 64, giving him the 36-hole lead at the Mayakoba Golf Classic as he tries to end six years without winning. English was at 13-under 129, one shot ahead of Vaughn Taylor, who had a 66 in the afternoon. Brendon Todd, coming off a victory two weeks ago in Bermuda Championship, had a 68 and was two back. “Just mainly working on the same stuff every day and kind of going back to the drawing board and figuring out what I was doing really well my first couple years on tour and just stick to that, not trying to reinvent the wheel,â€� English said. Whatever he’s doing, English is on a roll. He had to go back to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals after last season to regain his card. Since then, he has finished in the top 10 in three of his four tournaments. Next up is a long day. Because rain washed out all of Thursday, players will go as long as they can Sunday before darkness, with the 72-hole event concluding Monday. Even with the new policy of top 65 and ties making the cut, 82 players advanced to the final two rounds. The course, which received more than 9 inches of rain from Monday through Thursday, dried remarkably well and the greens had plenty of pace. English motored along, rarely getting into too much trouble. He birdied his last two holes to set the pace. English won at Mayakoba in 2013 when it was the final PGA TOUR event of the year. That was his last win, 170 tournaments ago. “I had a lot of success here and I love this place, love the greens,â€� English said. “Feel like if I can get it on the dance floor and hit 14, 15, 16 greens a round, I can give myself a chance. With this wind, anything can happen, but if I stay the course and keep hitting like I am, I’m in a good spot.â€� So is Todd, who overcame a mental block — he called in the yips — of a big miss to the right that nearly drove him from the game. Todd got it sorted out and picked up loads of confidence with his victory in the inaugural Bermuda event. His only frustration Saturday was with putting. “I hit it to 25 feet, 6 feet, 12 feet, 4 feet, and then missed a 12-footer for par on 5,â€� he said. “Striped it at the flag on 7, and on 8 I hit a close one in there about 10 feet and burned the edge. I just didn’t get the putts to fall in the second nine.â€� Danny Lee, who started the tournament 10 under through 13 holes for a 62, shot 70 and was three shots back. “Just missed a couple putts out there, made bogey on a couple par 5s,â€� he said. “Just golf happened.â€� Jason Day, playing Mayakoba for the first time in 10 years as he tries to get ready for the Presidents Cup, shot 77 and missed the cut.

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Patton Kizzire defends his first PGA TOUR title and Rickie Fowler seeks to go one better than last year as the fall schedule returns to Mexico’s Riviera Maya for its penultimate stop before the holiday break. Jordan Spieth comes to the Yucatán Peninsula for the first time as he continues his first fall trek since 2015, while Tony Finau makes his third visit to give the lineup a trio of three players ranked among the world’s top 15. FIELD NOTES: Cameron Champ, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship in just the second start of his rookie year, has a chance to add to his trophy case. He’s played Mayakoba once before, missing the cut last year on a sponsor invitation. … The lineup features 30 graduates of last year’s Web.com Tour regular season or Finals, topped by overall earnings champ Sungjae Im. … Chris Stroud will keep his perfect attendance record intact at Mayakoba, the only man to tee it up in all 12 editions. … Padraig Harrington, eliminated from the European Tour’s Race to Dubai season title, makes his first TOUR start since the 2017-18 regular season. … Abraham Ancer, who tied for ninth last year and was fifth at last month’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia, heads a group of seven Mexican pros in the field. Two are recent Web.com Tour graduates: Carlos Ortiz and José de Jesús Rodriguez. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: Eight of the first 11 champions at Mayakoba have prevailed in their 30s or older, resisting the fall trend toward younger winners. Fred Funk set the tone in the inaugural edition when he won at age 50. … Despite the international locale, all but one edition at Mayakoba have been captured by U.S.-born players. The lone exception was Graeme McDowell, winner of a 2015 playoff. … Kizzire and McDowell are among seven former champions back with a chance to become the event’s first multiple winner. The others: Brian Gay (2008), John Huh (2012), Harris English (2013), Charley Hoffman (2014), Pat Perez (2016). … Four Mayakoba Classics have been decided in playoffs, including Huh’s marathon over Robert Allenby that went eight extra holes. COURSE: El Camaleón GC, 6,987 yards, par 71. Now in its 12th year as a PGA TOUR venue, “The Chameleon� winds its way through three distinct landscapes – tropical jungle, dense mangroves and sand-lined oceanfront along the Riviera Maya. Designer Greg Norman even incorporated a cenote – an underground cavern common to the area – into the heart of the seventh fairway. Open for play in 2004, the Mayakoba Golf Classic made its debut three years later as a spring event opposite the WGC Match Play. The tournament moved to its own fall date in 2013. Two years ago, El Camaleón also served as one of two hosts for the World Amateur Team Championships. 72-HOLE RECORD: 263, Harris English (2013), Pat Perez (2016). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Roland Thatcher (3rd round, 2008). LAST YEAR: Kizzire walked away from a marathon Sunday with his first PGA TOUR victory, outdueling Rickie Fowler at the end of a 36-hole day to finish one stroke ahead. Kizzire opened with a 62 at El Camaleón, but a second-round 70 brought him back into a share of the lead with Patrick Rodgers entering the long finale. The Auburn alum closed with 66-67, managing to limit the damage whenever he got in trouble. Fowler had a chance to pick up ground when Kizzire had to take a penalty drop at the par-5 13th after hooking his drive into the hazard, but Kizzire scrambled for par that kept Fowler from closing the gap by two. Fowler finished 67-67, recording the third runner-up finish in a span of 11 starts and 12th of his TOUR career. Si Woo Kim used a closing 65 to finish alone in third, his first top-10 since winning THE PLAYERS Championship. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: None. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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