Leaderboard: First round of The American Express

NORTON, Mass. — Abraham Ancer of Mexico opened with three straight birdies on his way to a 6-under 65 to take a 1-shot lead Sunday over a familiar figure going into the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship. It wasn’t Tiger Woods, but the guy playing with him — Bryson DeChambeau, who is coming off a four-shot victory in the first FedExCup Playoffs event and shot 63 while playing with Woods for the first time in a tournament. DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton (69) were one shot behind. It figures to be another frantic Labor Day finish on the TPC Boston. Ancer, at No. 92 in the FedExCup just hopeful of getting into the top 70 to advance to the playoff event next week outside Philadelphia, was at 13-under 200. A victory would assure a trip to the TOUR Championship and a spot in the Masters. Even with 18 holes left, that’s a long way off. Ten players were within four shots of the lead, a group that included Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Woods had to settle for a 69 that left him in a tie for 16th, six shots behind. At least he saw plenty of good golf. DeChambeau has become of his regular practice partners, though they had never been in the same group until Sunday. DeChambeau opened with two birdies and finished even stronger, with short birdie putts on the 16th and 17th, and then a 5-iron from 237 yards that stopped rolling 2 feet from the hole for an eagle. “He’s my childhood idol,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve admired him my whole entire life. And to be finally able to play with him under tournament conditions, it was different. I was a little nervous, for sure. But I was able to get out there and execute shots and worry about my game and focus on hitting the best shots possible. And I was able to play really well like that.” Not since Vijay Singh in 2008 has anyone captured the opening two FedExCup events. DeChambeau led by four shots at Ridgewood Country Club last week and never was seriously challenged. This time, the 24-year-old Californian will have to come from one shot behind against a 27-year-old playing in only his 49th PGA TOUR event. Hatton had the lead until his approach on the par-4 12th went off a cart path and into the trees, and a search party of some three dozen fans and volunteers never found it. He did well to escape with a double bogey, and then finished with a birdie for a 69. Justin Rose (70) and Cameron Smith (67) were another shot behind, followed by Emiliano Grillo (64) and Kyle Stanley (66). McIlroy was making a charge until hitting into the water on the 16th hole and missing a short putt at the 18th. He had to settle for a 68 and was in a group at 9-under 204 that included Beau Hossler (68), Ryder Cup hopeful Tony Finau (67) and Spieth (68). On another gorgeous day that allowed for good scoring, Spieth didn’t make a birdie until the seventh hole, dropped two shots on the tough stretch of the back nine, answered with two birdies and at least gave himself a chance. Spieth has yet to win this year, and with two events left, still has not secured a spot in the TOUR Championship. More than being six shots behind, Woods has to climb past 15 players. He handled the par 5s, but didn’t make much else and spent some 45 minutes on the putting green after his round. “I didn’t get a lot out of my round today,” Woods said. Looking ahead to Monday, he said he would need a round like he saw from DeChambeau. “I’ve got to make a bunch of birdies, get off to a quick start and just get rolling early,” Woods said. “Kind of do what Bryson did today.” Ancer knows what it’s like to be among the chaotic atmosphere that Woods brings to a tournament. He played in the group ahead of Woods in the third round of the Quicken Loans National, heard the cheers and delivered a 62 that hardly anyone saw. He didn’t play his best from the final group, but it wouldn’t have mattered with Francesco Molinari closing with a 62. Ancer got hot again, putting for birdie on every hole except No. 12, where he made a mental mistake by hitting 3-wood off the tee into a breeze and into a bunker. He was able to advance it only 100 yards on the 510-yard par 4. Even with seven birdies and a 65, Ancer missed three birdie chances inside 10 feet, including a 5-footer on the par-5 18th.

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PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Bubba Watson received an interesting message from his longtime caddie, Ted Scott, before he got on the grounds at Innisbrook Resort for the Valspar Championship this week. As the two readied for only their second start at the Copperhead since 2011 (Watson missed the cut in 2017, his only other trip since then), Scott offered some words of wisdom to Watson:  Let’s play really, really smart.  “It might have been Sunday night, or Monday, but he texted me and he said, ‘To play good around here you’re going to have to play boring golf,’â€� Watson said. “So I joked with him and said, that’s my whole game – boring. You have to pick and choose your battles around here.â€� Watson chose them well over 72 holes, shooting 3-under 68 on Sunday to tie for fourth, his second top-5 at this event. As always, he played aggressively off the tee – hey, this is Bubba we’re talking about – but with his irons, he decided to play a little more conservatively into the greens.  “We looked at the top 10. What does it take to get in the top 10?â€� Watson said. “It’s about greens in regulation here we figured out and so you had to just kind of plot along and that’s kind of what I did. I hit a driver a lot because I love it, I dinked it here and there, but I hit a lot of irons off tees just to get the ball in play. Even if I laid back a lot further, I trusted my iron game to hit some of the greens and that’s really what I did.  “I putted really good today, the other days were just decent. For me it was good though.â€� The performance was Watson’s best since a tie for fourth at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February, which represented Watson’s only top 10 in seven starts this season. He started Sunday six shots behind Paul Casey and knows that at the Copperhead, lots of crazy things can happen. Watson birdied his first hole but would add only one more in his next 12 holes. “When you start out slow and don’t make any birdies … you’re like, well, second place ain’t bad, let’s try for that, and then third place and fourth place,â€� Watson said. “So it’s one of those things where, yeah, you have that vision (of catching the leader) and then after nine holes you realize that vision is gone so now just get a good finish, a good top 10 or top 5 if you have a chance.â€� Watson said his goal once he reached 10 victories was to get to 15 (he has 12). Now 40, he says he’s been inspired by watching fellow left-hander Phil Mickelson win at 48 (“I’ve got eight years,” he joked). Watson’s next stop is Austin for the Wolrd Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, a tournament he won a year ago, dispatching fellow Georgia Bulldog Kevin Kisner in the finals, 7 and 6.  “I vote every year not to have Match Play, because I feel like I have a better chance in 72 holes (stroke play),â€� Watson said with a smile. “But nobody ever asks me.â€� 

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Sahith Theegala is one round away from his first PGA Tour title in just his second start of his rookie season.

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