Leaderboard: Finau charges at WGC-HSBC

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Had Alex Noren stayed in Scotland, he would’ve competed at The 150th Open at St. Andrews. But he was itching to play golf this week, his schedule including an upcoming three-week competitive hiatus as a training period into the FedExCup Playoffs. He was on the grounds at the Old Course and played nine holes early Tuesday morning as first alternate. It wasn’t easy being at St. Andrews knowing his spot in the field was not guaranteed. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave, either. But it had been five days since anyone had withdrawn from The Open, and there wasn’t a clear indication that anybody else would. Noren felt good about his game, believing his form was strong enough to contend this week on any setup. He took the proverbial bird in hand, withdrew from The Open alternate list and flew to California for the Barracuda Championship. Justin Rose withdrew from The Open on Thursday morning with a back injury. He would have been replaced by Noren if the Swede had stayed on-site; he was replaced instead by Rikuya Hoshino. Erik van Rooyen withdrew later in the day and was replaced by Aaron Rai. Noren admits there were conflicting emotions when he learned this news Thursday, and he was slow to start the Barracuda Championship – standing at net 0 points through 14 holes of the opening round at Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood). He made two birdies on his final four holes, though, to gain a spark, and a 12-point performance Friday (six birdies, no bogeys) moved him into a tie for 11th through 36 holes in the TOUR’s only Modified Stableford scoring event. Noren, 40, made his decision and lived with it. He has recorded five top-25s in 10 career Open appearances and has played in 32 majors overall. He competed at the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews, as well. He intends on playing in several more majors. Not to say the experience hasn’t been a bit bittersweet. “It was a weird week,” reflected Noren after Friday’s second round in Truckee. “I was going to get into (The Open) and then it was just confusing (Thursday), weird emotions, because I couldn’t stand being there, and it was too good of an event, and I knew this was a good event, too. I just wanted to play somewhere, make sure I could play somewhere. “I booked a flight Tuesday morning. It took so long because I was first reserve from Thursday even to Wednesday, so nothing happened for over a — just like a week. I didn’t think anybody would withdraw. They actually did, and sad for them, but also I wanted to play this. I wanted to get some more points. I’ve got three weeks of training after this before the (FedExCup) Playoffs, and I wanted to play this week, and maybe that mindset made me have a little less patience that I needed this time. “Golf is a long career, and I’ve played a lot of (Open Championships), and I’ll get to play it again.” After finishing T30 at the Genesis Scottish Open, Noren arrived at St. Andrews on Monday night before his early-morning Tuesday practice nine. Still first alternate at that point, he decided to traverse eight time zones backward to the Sierra Nevada region – “going west like this is not that bad,” remarked Noren. “It’s worse going back east.” He arrived in Sacramento late Tuesday night, near midnight, and had trouble procuring his rental car and golf clubs. He got squared away at 10 a.m. Wednesday, worked with the TOUR to change his pro-am tee time to an afternoon slot, and made the 112-mile drive to Old Greenwood. Noren hails from Sweden but lives in south Florida now, practicing at The Bear’s Club. This combined with previous course knowledge – he finished T9 at the 2020 Barracuda Championship – made for a less daunting learning curve as he transitioned from links golf. “It helps living in America now,” Noren said. “You get these conditions pretty much every week. It’s not that tough going from surfaces. It’s probably easier going to faster greens like this than the other way around. “You need a day, preferably two or three, but a day is fine. If you go straight and don’t get a practice round, don’t get to practice putting at all, it’s pretty tough, but one day is fine.” Thursday was “a weird day,” admitted Noren. Through 14 holes, he was a few points off the cut-line pace, “just knowing that I could be at St. Andrews and then I’ve got to play some good golf here just to make the cut.” He relishes the Modified Stableford format, though, knowing it’s doable to jump up the leaderboard quickly. He rallied to move within striking distance of 36-hole leader Chez Reavie (28 points) and the 10-time DP World Tour winner is fully energized to chase his first TOUR title this weekend. Noren currently ranks No. 75 on the FedExCup, his TOUR season highlighted by a T5 at The Honda Classic. He’s motivated to improve that position before his pre-Playoffs training period, in an enjoyable setting. And he’ll be particularly motivated to make eagles. “I love this course,” Noren said. “It’s an interesting format. You can have a good chance for eagle on 12, and it’s just fun. You can make an eagle, or eagle-birdie in a row you’re 7 points. It’s like sometimes in golf when just nothing happens and then you need something like that. It’s a cool format, and I think you need a couple of eagles to make it happen, you know.”

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NORTON, Mass. - They needed no introductions, of course. But if we were hoping for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to re-introduce their impressive talents to us, we'll have to wait because Saturday's third round of THE NORTHERN TRUST didn't show them at their best. Having each grinded Friday afternoon to make the cut at 3 under at TPC Boston, Woods and McIlroy drew the third starting time on a warm and quiet morning. It was the third straight tournament in which Woods has had a tee time with McIlroy - Rounds 1 and 2 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, Rounds 1 and 2 at the PGA Championship - and the 24th time since it first happened in 2012. RELATED: Full leaderboard | DJ settles for 60 in Round 2 after historic start | Projected FedExCup standings OK, so the film cannister stamped "Tiger & Rory, August 22, 2020, Round 3 TNT" will not be filed into the classic vault alongside something like the 1954 Masters playoff between Sam Snead and Ben Hogan or even the 2012 BMW Championship when Woods (65-67) and McIlroy (64-68) went toe-to-toe in the same group to sit T-2 through 36 holes. But, hey, owed to their stature in the game and immense personalities, it's no surprise that Woods and McIlroy provided action worth talking about Saturday - even if for the unexpected scratchy play from lads who are ranked Nos. 3 (McIlroy) and 16 (Woods) in the world order and are the only two-time winners of the FedExCup. The hiccups just came in different manners. For Woods, who shot 2-over 73, his usually stellar iron game was not there, because in hitting 12 of 14 fairways, he only managed to find 11 greens in regulation. For McIlroy, who shot 74, his on-course focus continues to be his Achilles. Consider the 3-8-2 start - translation: birdie, triple-bogey, birdie - that pretty much told the story of his day and his stretch of golf since returning from the pandemic-enforced break. Brilliant in so many flashes, McIlroy continues to hurt himself with big numbers. After burying a 7-foot birdie roll at the first, McIlroy from 222 yards came up short of the green at the par-5 second. Playing out of a marshy hazard, his recovery hit a rock and bounced backward, this time into the water. He compounded matters by three-putting from 40 feet for a triple. Later, McIlroy was left of the fairway at the par-4 sixth, then from 151 yards he went left of the green and in gnarly native grass. There were two whacks with a wedge to get it out of the native grass, then a third to find the green, from where he two-putted from 12 feet. Two triples in six holes is hardly the start McIlroy envisioned and it meant that the two icons were a combined 5 over, but they proceeded onward with improved golf, even if the scoring touch was not present. McIlroy, after the choppy sixth, played his final 12 holes in 1 under, birdies at the par-4 10th and par-5 18th against a lone bogey at the par-4 14th at least giving him a positive close to savor. Woods birdied the par-4 ninth to make the turn in level-par 36, but bogeyed Nos. 11, 12 and 14 before negotiating a deft two-putt birdie from 60 feet, up a steep swale left of the green, then down a slippery slope. Contrasting, the way in which they achieved their scores, because whereas Woods drove it nicely, McIlroy found his way into just six of 14 fairways. And whereas Woods kept losing his way to the green, McIlroy did manage to hit 13 of them. There was, however, a common denominator - misery on the greens. After two positive days in the Strokes Gained: Putting category for Woods, he lost a whopping 3.503 strokes, the lowlight being the par-4 12th when he three-putted from 28 feet. McIlroy, meanwhile, required 32 putts and was minus 1.941 in the SGP category. He only one-putted twice over his final 13 holes. The matching birdies, at least, put a pretty bow on a rather blah day, but if you're keeping score at home, it means that in the 23 times they've been paired in a stroke-play tournament, Woods has had the lower score 11 times, McIlroy on nine occasions, and three times they've been tied. (The other pairing was the 2019 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, which Woods won.) It would have been a best-ball 5-under 66, pretty good for the championship flight of the late-summer member-guest. Just not what you'd expect for world championship titans. Not that you can't put it all into context; it was, after all, the third round of a tournament that each player knew he didn't have a chance to win, with it having little effect on their status for next week's BMW Championship. (Each is going to qualify.) So that made it easier to doff their white caps, exchange smiles, then share a picnic table for lunch and friendly conversation. You can bet that nothing about their rounds factored into the discussion.

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Daniel Berger closed with an eagle on the 72nd hole to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and claim his fourth PGA TOUR victory. Take a look at the clubs in his bag. RELATED: Final leaderboard Driver: TaylorMade SIM (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade M6 (15 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 857 TR 85X Irons: Callaway Apex Forged '16 (3), TaylorMade TP MC '11 (4-PW) Shafts: Project X 6.5 Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy Forged (50-10, 56-10), Callaway Mack Daddy 4 (60-12C) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour (Chalk) Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap

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