Lincicome misses cut, four tied for lead at Barbasol Championship

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Rory McIlroy was within sight of a first title in 17 months after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic where he lay only one shot behind surprise leader Li Haotong on Saturday. McIlroy, who finished his second round in the morning, surprisingly struggled for the first time in seven rounds into his comeback from a three-month layoff, and was 1-over par at the turn in the third round. The four-time major champion then recovered with five birdies on the back nine for a 4-under 68 and 19 under overall that put him one behind Li. Li, in the leader group with McIlroy, shot a bogey-free 64 at Emirates Golf Club. Li, the highest ranked Chinese male player in the world at No. 60, produced a brilliant display of iron play and putting to be in great position to add to his only previous European Tour win, the 2016 China Open. He needed just 24 putts to complete his round, and said: “It’s going to be fun out there tomorrow.” McIlroy’s last win was in August 2016 at the Tour Championship, and he was impressed by Li. “He holed everything he sort of needed to,” McIlroy said. “I know that if he continues to play like that, he will be tough to beat, but I feel like if I play my game, I’ve got a good chance. “I showed that even when I didn’t have my best stuff, I was able to battle around and get in with a decent score. So hopefully, I have a bit of a better game tomorrow.” On another low-scoring day, Alex Levy of France made a hole-in-one in a round of 65, a score which was matched by playing partner Haydn Porteous of South Africa. The duo was tied for third, three behind the leader at 17 under par. Levy was making a stunning run and reached the top of the leaderboard briefly before falling back with consecutive bogeys on 15 and 16. That run included a hole in one on the par-3 fourth hole with a 9-iron shot from 171 yards. Porteous joined him with three birdies in his last three holes. The low round of the day was a 9-under 63 by Andy Sullivan of England, who moved to fifth on the leaderboard at 16 under.

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SAN DIEGO - Patrick Reed is at his best when he is under pressure. He almost craves it. So perhaps it was a foregone conclusion that he would march to a dominant win at the Farmers Insurance Open. Reed's final-round 4-under 68 helped him finish at 14 under at Torrey Pines - enough to secure a five-shot win over Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, Ryan Palmer and Henrik Norlander. The now nine-time PGA TOUR winner broke free of a log jam of contenders with an early eagle and then doggedly shook off a challenge from Hovland late in the day. The margin was ultimately large, but it wasn't all that easy. Reed needed to produce some stellar short-game play to stay in control. When things got shaky on the notoriously difficult South Course, Reed had one cliché in the back of his mind: When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Each missed shot just fueled his fire and gave him a chance to showcase a trait he values in his game. Resilience. "You look at all the great players throughout times, all of them are really resilient. It doesn’t really matter what’s going on around them, what’s going on on the golf course, whether they’re getting good breaks or bad breaks, they seem to really figure out a way to get the job done, to really just drive in and to keep on improving each shot each day," Reed said. "That’s golf, that’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s why I love the game. It throws punches at you; you throw punches at it. And at the end of the day hopefully you’re the one standing. "Golf’s hard as it is, and you come to a place like this where it’s so demanding. Not just off the tees. It doesn’t matter if it’s a drive, an iron shot, a wedge shot, putt, you have to be all locked in 24/7." On Sunday, things started in neutral for Reed with five straight pars before a brilliant eagle putt on the par-5 sixth. The Texan connected from outside 45 feet a day after doing similar from 40 feet. He would make the turn at 13 under with only Hovland (one back), Jon Rahm (three back) and Carlos Ortiz (three back) legitimate threats to his ambitions. Ortiz was gone quickly with bogey at the 11th and double bogey at 12. Hovland suffered a slow bleed as Reed became a short-game wizard under pressure. The Norwegian missed a short birdie putt on the par-5 13th to join the lead and then made back-to-back bogeys. On the 14th hole, Hovland went from a fairway bunker into a canyon forcing a penalty drop, and then on No. 15 he drove the ball directly behind the base of a large tree, forcing a simple pitch out. Despite being three back with two to play, the two-time TOUR winner felt he could force the issue with a finishing flourish and his birdie putt on the 17th from 32 feet went within a whisker of going in. Sadly, perhaps still disappointed it didn't drop, he missed the 2-foot par attempt. Meanwhile, Reed could easily have been leaking shots just as fast as the other contenders. But staying true to his mantra, he knuckled down. He got up and down for par from the rough on No. 10, and from greenside bunkers on Nos. 12 and 14. Then, with Hovland sticking his tee shot on the 16th hole ahead of him inside 20 feet, Reed was brilliant in securing another par from 50 yards on the 15th after a forced punch-out from a wayward tee shot. He just refused to open the door for others. The victory sees Reed surge to 10th in the FedExCup standings and to 10th in the world rankings. Reed was also able to move past a ruling from the third round. The 30-year-old had acted in a "textbook" manner when taking relief from a ball deemed to be embedded on the par-4 10th hole. Reed's victory on Sunday was the result of some changes. It was after the last U.S. Open - played in September due to the COVID-19 pandemic - that Reed switched to David Leadbetter for a swing coach. He was pleased that - for the most part - the new swing held up under pressure. "The hard work that my team is going through and working with me on trying to dial it in, get it where it is right now is amazing," Reed said of his new swing. "The good thing is, Led’s always told me... you’re working towards something, there’s no reason why you can’t go ahead and win. Because of that I had that kind of attitude going into today that, hey, even though the swing’s not 100%, you know how to get it around this golf course, you can go out and shoot a number and put up a fight. "This one was pretty special. To be tied for the lead going into today and in that final group and seeing the swing kind of hold up throughout the round and allowing my short game to kind of save me there towards the end meant a lot, meant that I’m on the right path."

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The Genesis Scottish Open makes its debut as a co-sanctioned event between the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR with a player field split between members of both Tours. The FedExCup’s top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler leads the way, while nine of the top-10 in the world are set to tee it up. FIELD NOTES: There will be 75 golfers from the PGA TOUR in the field, 75 from the DP World Tour, three from the KPGA, and three unrestricted sponsor exemptions… The 75 PGA TOUR players come from those who qualified for the 2021 TOUR Championship, sponsor exemptions, and the top available players from the FedExCup standings through the U.S. Open… Plenty of notables are teeing it up in Scotland including last season’s FedExCup winner Patrick Cantlay, recent winner Xander Schauffele, PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, the current FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler, and former world No.1 Jon Rahm… Matt Fitzpatrick, who lost in a playoff at the Scottish Open a year ago, will tee it up for the first time since his U.S. Open triumph… Min Woo Lee, who defeated Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry in the three-way playoff in 2021, returns to defend… Nine of the top-10 ranked golfers in the world are set to play in Scotland… Rickie Fowler, who won this event in 2015, is one of the Sponsor Exemptions… Bob MacIntyre is the highest-ranked Scotsman who is teeing it up. He’s looking to become the first local to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: The Renaissance Club, par 71, 7,293 yards (yardage subject to change). Opened in 2007 in North Berwick, The Renaissance Club has already hosted lots of championship golf. This year will mark the fourth edition of the Scottish Open to be contested at the Tom Doak design. The course is located between North Berwick and Muirfield, both iconic Open Championship layouts. The course has a reputation as a tough driving layout. The average winning score has been 17 under. Each of the three previous editions of the Genesis Scottish Open contested at The Renaissance Club have gone into playoffs. STORYLINES: By field strength, the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open is set to be the strongest in DP World Tour history… Three spots are available for golfers not already qualified to earn their way into The Open Championship… This marks the first year that the Genesis Scottish Open is co-sanctioned between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. It’s one of three events with such a distinction. The Barbasol Championship, played opposite to the Scottish Open this week in Kentucky is one, while the Barracuda Championship (next week opposite The Open Championship), is the other. The three co-sanctioned events are just one example of the strengthened strategic alliance between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. 72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Bernd Wiesberger (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Bernd Wiesberger (2nd round, 2019) LAST TIME: Min Woo Lee defeated Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry in a playoff with a birdie on the first extra hole to win for the second time on the DP World Tour. Lee, who fired a sizzling Sunday 64, topped a serious field that included Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas – who both finished in the top 10. There was a 90-minute weather delay late in the final round, but it didn’t quash Lee’s momentum, who had earlier birdied six holes in a row. The previous week’s DP World Tour winner, Lucas Herbert (he won the Irish Open) finished just one shot back of joining the playoff at 18 under. Lee and Detry earned spots in The Open Championship with their finishes along with England’s Jack Senior, who finished tied for 10th. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel – World Feed), 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (Golf Channel), 12 p.m.-3 p.m. (CBS) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR Radio: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.–1:30 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio PGA TOUR Live (All times ET): PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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