Leaderboard: Kuchar on top at Sony Open

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Russell Henley shot an 8-under 62, his lowest round in more than two years, to take the lead Thursday in the suspended first round of the Wyndham Championship. Henley birdied three of his final four holes for a two-stroke lead over Sung Kang, Ted Potter Jr., Chris Kirkand, Hudson Swofford, Scott Piercy and Michael Thompson in the PGA TOUR’s final Regular Season event. Adam Hadwin also was 6 under, but had two holes left when darkness ended play. A storm halted play for 2 hours, 7 minutes, with 30 players unable to finish. Past champion Webb Simpson and Kevin Kisner led a group of ten another stroke behind at 65 at Sedgefield Country Club, where many competitors are scrambling to make it into top 125 to advance to the FedExCup Playoffs that start next week at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Henley, at No. 46 in the standings, had no worries about the postseason, but came out fast with a bogey-free round in chasing his first PGA TOUR victory in four years. He moved in front with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th before closing with birdies on 17 and 18, the last with a 20-foot putt. He had with his lowest round on the TOUR since a career-low 61 at the John Deere Classic in 2019. Henley has played some solid golf of late. He was tied for the 36-hole lead at the U.S. Open in June, then had two straight top-20 finishes before missing the cut at the Open Championship. He returned this week, hoping he can carry his strong play to the end. “I haven’t won in years, so I feel like as well as I’ve been playing, I feel like I’ve underachieved a little bit,” he said. “My mindset,” Henley continued, “is I feel if I can play my game, play my normal game, then I can maybe give myself a chance and that’s kind of where I’m at.” There are several big names competing to keep their season’s alive. Adam Scott, who started at No. 121, and Matt Kuchar, at No. 124, both had strong starts at 66. “I would like to play well this week and get a chance to play next week and keep getting my game into place,” Scott said. Rickie Fowler, who came at 130th and needing a good week, didn’t help himself with a 71. Justin Rose, the Payne Stewart Award winner this week, has to finish in the top 10 to advance after coming in 138th. He opened with a 66, tied for 19th. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama was at 69, tied for 89th. Olympic medalists Rory Sabbatini and C.T. Pan also are playing after the Tokyo Games. Sabbatini, who took silver for Slovakia behind U.S. gold medal winner Xander Schauffele, started with a 66. Pan, from Chinese Taipei, won a seven-man playoff for the bronze. He shot a 68.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – A day after fighting to remain on the fringe of contention, Tiger Woods’ chances of an improbable Masters victory were ended by his putting struggles Saturday at Augusta National. Woods used his putter three times on six different holes and also had the second four-putt of his Masters career en route to a 6-over 78. He sits at 7-over 223 as Scottie Scheffler continues to impress at Augusta National. The 78, which included 36 putts, is his worst score ever at Augusta National. The 36 putts are tied for the second-most in a single round in his PGA TOUR career. “It was cold starting out. The ball wasn’t going very far. I thought it was tough. Some of the other guys may not say that, but for me I had a tough time. I felt like I didn’t really hit it hit it that bad,” Woods said. “I hit 1,000 putts out there on the greens today and it obviously affected that score. … I did what I needed to do ball-striking wise, but I did the exact opposite on the greens.” Woods started the day nine strokes behind Scheffler but was only four shots back of second place after making four birdies in his final 10 holes Friday to salvage a 74 on a day when he made bogey on four of the first five holes. Woods’ high number of putts also resulted from his inability to get the ball close to the hole. He three-putted the first hole from 50 feet, then four-putted on the fifth hole from similarly long distance. His first four-putt at Augusta National came during his victory in 2005, after he putted into the water on the 13th hole (he hit three putts and took a penalty stroke; the number of putts to complete a hole is counted as the number of strokes to hole out once a player has reached the green). Woods also three-putted his final three holes, playing them in 4 over. “I just couldn’t find it,” he said. “Nothing seemed to work.”

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