Ladies European Tour postpones two events

Rory McIlroy won the first match of the Sunday singles, 3 and 2 over Xander Schauffele, but with the board bleeding red, the weight of a difficult Ryder Cup showed in a tearful reaction. RELATED: Recaps from Sunday | Full scores After going 0-3 and being benched in the disastrous first four (two-man team) sessions Friday and Saturday, McIlroy never trailed against Schauffele before the emotions hit him all at once Sunday. “Incredibly proud to be a part of this team,” McIlroy said, his eyes filled with tears, in an interview with NBC’s Jimmy Roberts. “… We’ve had a great time. You know, it looks like it’s not going to pan out the way we want on the golf course. “I’ve been extremely disappointed that I haven’t contributed for more the team,” he added. “I’m glad I got a point on the board today for them.” Europe went into the singles session trailing 11-5 and needing a miracle. Although both sides had rallied from 10-6 deficits, no team had ever come all the way back from 11-5. As it turned out McIlroy and company didn’t even come close. “It’s been a tough week personally and then obviously for the team as well,” McIlroy said. “We’ve been up against it. The American team have been total class in terms of how they played. You know, they have been dominant. They have been really, really good and we haven’t been able to put up as much of a fight as we want.” Despite the heavy loss, McIlroy’s heartfelt reaction left no doubts about his feelings for the biennial showdown. He said he was especially sorry not to have gotten the victory for European Captain Padraig Harrington. “I think I’m emotional, as well, because I wanted to do this for Padraig, too,” he said. “It’s his captaincy, and he’s had a hell of a career, and It would have been an unbelievable thing to cap off with a winning Ryder Cup. “For me I haven’t been able to contribute as much as I wanted to, but it’s still such a great experience to be part of these Ryder Cup teams and this will just fill the fire even more for us in two years’ time in Rome.”

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NEW ORLEANS – Scottie Scheffler says wearing the Green Jacket hasn’t gotten him out of any chores at home and that his incredible run of four wins in six starts, including his Masters triumph two weeks ago, still hasn’t sunk in. The world No. 1 returns to PGA TOUR competition at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this week, partnering with fellow Texan Ryan Palmer in the team event while looking to continue his sensational purple patch of form. Since claiming his maiden TOUR win at the WM Phoenix Open in February, Scheffler has added the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, World Golf Championships–Dell Technologies Match Play and the Masters. Not since Jason Day’s similar run in 2015 where he claimed the RBC Canadian Open, PGA Championship and two FedExCup Playoff events has a player dominated with four wins in such a short stretch. After a week off at home with family, Scheffler is back and ready to ride the wave some more. While he admits to having a bit of fun at wife Meredith’s expense, the 25-year-old is adamant he will remain the humble man he has always tried to be. There will be no viral videos of chaos or wild celebrations with the coveted clothing he picked up just over a week ago. “When my wife asks me to do stuff at home, sometimes I’ll grab it out of the closet and look at her, ‘Huh, really?’ It hasn’t worked yet,” Scheffler joked about his time with the Green Jacket. “I’ve just had some fun with it at home. I haven’t really done anything special. I haven’t taken it out of the house … I want to do a good job of representing Augusta National, and I have to bring it back at the end of next year. Since I’m almost the representation of the Green Jacket outside of the club, I’m treating it with respect. I’m not going to do anything crazy with it.” Scheffler revealed he’d been contacted by former President George W. Bush via mail and was also chuffed to get love from former Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott amongst hundreds of congratulatory messages. It all still feels like a dream. “I wouldn’t say it’s really sunk in,” he said. “I’ve had a good stretch recently, but I took a little bit of time at home last week to just relax. I was a bit drained. So I did not do much last week at all. I just chilled at home. “To have someone like President Bush reach out just to congratulate me is pretty special … Michael Phelps posted me in one of his stories, and then Zeke from the Cowboys sent me a message. Michael Phelps is just insane. The guy is one of the greatest athletes ever. For him to reach out and post something about me or whatever is pretty cool. “Those are probably kind of the only moments I’ve had where I kind of sit and reflect on what’s happened the past month and a half, two months. Just getting some messages like that from people I’ve looked up to for so long is really special.” In Palmer, Scheffler has a proven performer at TPC Louisiana. The veteran teamed up with Jon Rahm to win the tournament in 2019. Justin Thomas was one to poke a little fun at Palmer, who has now boasted Jordan Spieth, Rahm and Scheffler as partners in New Orleans. “The joke became he had to win twice. After he won twice, we firmed it up. You’ve got to be a multiple winner for me to come to you,” Palmer laughed about getting his newest top-ranked star partner. “The thing that really sealed it was (that) I sent a picture of me and Jon with the trophy, but I imposed his face on it.” In reality, Palmer has been a guy all three stars wanted to play with. “I’ve known Ryan since he’s been working with Randy Smith,” Scheffler said. “We have the same coach at home. We work out together in the off-season. Same trainer and we play a lot of games at home. So, it was a pretty seamless decision. We’ll have some fun. “This is his 19th year on TOUR. It’s not like my older brother I brought in off the street. Ryan is one of the best ball strikers out here. Nineteen years on TOUR, and that speaks for itself. Four wins? Yeah, the guy’s got the resume.”

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LA QUINTA, California, EE.UU. (con información de AP) — Adam Long, miembro del PGA TOUR Latinoamérica en 2014, embocó un putt de cuatro metros en el hoyo final este domingo para ganar el Desert Classic y conseguir el primer título de su carrera en el PGA TOUR. El suyo fue el segundo triunfo de un graduado del PGA TOUR Latinoamérica en el PGA TOUR, siguiendo el título del Sanderson Farms Championship logrado por Cody Gribble en 2017. Completando apenas su sexto torneo en el TOUR, Long cerró con una ronda de 7-bajo par 65 en el Stadium Course de PGA West para vencer por un golpe a Phil Mickelson y Adam Hadwin, con quienes compartió la última salida en la jornada final.  “El putt de Phill me dio una buena idea,â€� dijo Long. “Fue uno de esos putts en los que uno se para sobre la pelota y sabe qué es exactamente lo que vas a hacer. Es algo que uno no puede controlar, pero cuando tienes esa sensación es algo bastante bueno. Me siento bastante incrédulo en este momento. Realmente no caigo en cuenta de lo que pasóâ€�. Long se colocó en posición de embocar el putt de la victoria gracias a un estupendo hierro-6 que pegó desde 175 yardas con la pelota debajo de sus pies en un loma a la derecha del fairway. Graduado de la Universidad de Duke y con 31 años de edad, Long se hizo profesional en 2010 y comenzó su carrera jugando en los mini tours de su país. En 2012 ganó la tarjeta del Web.com Tour y tras perderla regresó a los mini tours. En 2014 jugó 12 torneos del PGA TOUR Latinoamérica y 11 del Mackenzie Tour PGA TOUR Canada que lo dejaron en buena forma para regresar al Web.com Tour por medio del Q-School. En el Web se mantuvo desde 2015 hasta 2018, cuando aseguró su tarjeta del PGA TOUR al terminar la temporada regular en el 13º puesto entre los top-25 de la lista de ganancias. “De alguna forma ha sido un poco de sube y baja, pero he tenido un crecimiento sostenido a través de mi carreraâ€�, dijo Long. “He jugado en la mayoría de los tours que hay en el mundo y he ido progresando poco a poco. Puede parecer que salí de la nada, pero mi juego ha ido en la dirección correcta por los últimos dos añosâ€�. Mickelson, líder del Desert Classic tras cada una de las primeras tres rondas, tuvo muchas dificultades con el putter para su ronda de 69. Su putt de 12 metros en busca de birdie en el hoyo 18 se desvió un poco a la izquierda al final. “Tuve un día terrible con el putter, uno de los peores que pueda recordar en un buen ratoâ€�, dijo Mickelson. “Así fue desde el primer hoyo, con no cortito de poco más de un metro en subida e hice tres putts en ese green. Fallé muchos cortos en los primeros nueve y algunas oportunidades de birdie, pero la sensación era fatal con el putter. Pegué muchos tiros buenos, pero no logré poner la pelota en el hoyoâ€�. Hadwin hizo 67, dejando ir una ventaja de tres golpes en los últimos nueve hoyos. “Así es el golfâ€�, dijo el canadiense. “Emboqué muchos putts toda la semana y honestamente estuve batallando un poco con el swing, no lo tuve como los primeros tres díasâ€�. Para Hadwin este fue su cuarto top 6 consecutivo en este evento. En 2017 había sido segundo tras una tercera ronda de 59 en La Quinta Country Club y el año pasado había empatado en tercer lugar.  Long terminó con 26-bajo par 262, embocando valiosos chips en un par de ocasiones para mantenerse en contienda en los últimos nueve hoyos. “Esas que metí de afuera fueron enorme y otros putts en los primeros nueves también me ayudaron a mantenerme ahíâ€�, dijo Long. La semana la abrió con un 63 en el Nicklaus Tournament Course de PGA West. El viernes hizo 71 en el Stadium Course y el sábado otro 63 en La Quinta para meterse al último grupo con Mickelson y Hadwin.  “Fue una gran emoción jugar con Phil,” agregó Long. “Lo he admirado toda mi vida y no pudo haber sido mejor para conmigo en la cancha. Fue grandioso jugar con él, muy divertidoâ€�.

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