Live leaderboard: Round 2 of OHL Classic

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – Those gigantic electronic leaderboards that dot the landscape on the Champions Course at Keene Trace Golf Club this week can’t be missed. And every time Kelly Kraft looked at one Saturday after making yet another birdie in his course-record round of 61, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Surely, he was in the lead now, Kraft figured. But no, Jim Herman, the overnight leader, was more than keeping pace, eventually tossing out a 62 that left him one stroke ahead of Kraft – and set the stage for what is sure to be a shootout on Sunday. “This thing is far from over,â€� Kraft said on a day when it seemed like everyone was going low in the third round.  “I mean, I felt like I was making birdies and eagles on the back nine, and I look up and I’m still trailing Jim Herman. “So, it seems like a lot of other people are doing it too, so we’re just going to have to keep our foot down tomorrow and get after it.â€� Herman is 24 under through 54 holes – one stroke better than Troy Merritt shot over four rounds a year ago when he won the first Barbasol Championship played at Keene Trace. Herman’s score is the lowest 54-hole tally of the season. Unlike Kraft, Bill Haas didn’t need to look at any leaderboards. The six-time PGA TOUR champ was playing in the final group with Herman, who made a pair of eagles and six birdies without dropping a single shot to par. “I saw it firsthand, 10 under right next to me, and could have been better,â€� said Haas, who didn’t exactly scruff it around, shooting a 65 of his own to tie for third at 20 under with Austin Cook, who had fired a 63 earlier in the day. “He just drove it beautifully and seemed to have a look on every hole. And when he had a nice look at eagle, he made those.â€� Even Herman, who hit all but two fairways and all but two greens in regulation, was a bit taken aback by the fireworks. His own, as well as everyone else’s. The 62 is his best round since he opened the 2017 Valspar Championship with the same score and went on to tie for third. “The scores I had been shooting lately, no, I didn’t expect it,â€� said Herman, who, counting this week, has only made the cut in four of the 20 events he’s played this season. “So, just very pleased.  Obviously, just going to get some rest and try to replicate one of these other ‑‑ one of these scores I have had so far tomorrow.  But you’re going to have to go low.  You can’t protect anything.  So maybe that’s a good thing, you don’t have to protect anything.â€� Herman, who won the 2016 Shell Houston Open, acknowledges that he might not even own the lead when he tees off with Kraft at 12:40 p.m. on Sunday. “So, you just know you’re going to have to make some birdies and stay ahead of everybody else,â€� said Herman, who ranks first in Strokes Gained: Putting and Strokes Gained: Total this week. Kraft, who said he felt like he was making putts on every hole in the frenetic third round, agrees. With wedges into a lot of greens and irons into par 5s, being aggressive again on Sunday will be key. “The fairways got a little more firm today, so we were hitting a little bit farther,â€� Kraft said. “The greens are softer in the beginning of the round.  They had a little bounce to them towards the end of the day, and they’re rolling good.  The par 5s are all reachable. “Any time you have that combo on the PGA TOUR, guys are just going to light it up. It’s just that simple.â€� Haas, who won the FedExCup in 2014, has only made one bogey through 54 holes this week, with that coming on his 12th hole in the first round. He closed out Saturday’s 65 with a clutch 23-footer for a par after putting his drive at the 18th hole into the lake. “(It was) a par that felt like a birdie the way Jim was going and the way Kelly in front of us was going,â€� Haas said. “Austin Cook I saw shot a low number. So, I just knew — any bogey was going to feel like a double.â€� A week ago, Haas started the final round of the John Deere Classic trailing by one and ended up tied for 10th. On Sunday, he gets another chance to win for the first time since the 2015 Humana Challenge presented by the Clinton Foundation. “All you can ask for,â€� Haas said. “… Again, if he shoots 10 under again, I hope he wins by eight. That’s what he deserves. “But I hope I can do the same thing tomorrow, and at least put some pressure on him. And we’ll see what happens.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

Tiger Woods will make his 2017-18 season debut at the Farmers Insurance Open, Jan. 25-28. It will mark the first time in a year that Woods has played an official PGA TOUR event. Woods made the announcement Thursday on his Twitter account, adding that he also plans to play the Genesis Open at L.A.’s Riviera Country Club three weeks later. Last season marked the first in which the Genesis benefitted the Tiger Woods Foundation. It will be Woods’ first appearance at Riviera since 2006. As an 16-year-old amateur, Woods made his first PGA TOUR start in 1992 at Riviera, competing on a sponsor’s exemption. “I’m very excited to be back at Riviera,â€� Woods said in a press release issued by the tournament. “I haven’t played at Riviera in a tournament in a very long time. To be able to play in an event that I used to come to as an amateur, as a junior and now as the tournament host, that is on one of the most historic sites in all of golf, it’s a dream come true.â€� The Farmers news was widely expected, given Woods’ success at Torrey Pines, where his nine total victories include seven at the Farmers (including four straight from 2005 through ’08); the 2008 U.S. Open in a playoff over Rocco Mediate; and the Junior World at age 15. “It’s awesome,â€� Farmers Insurance Open tournament director Peter Ripa told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “There’s a feeling that this comeback is different, with the eye test we got at the Hero World Challenge. He hit shots, he looked strong. There’s a national anticipation for this.â€� When he steps to the tee at Torrey, Woods will be making his first official TOUR start since shooting 76-72 to miss the cut at the 2017 Farmers. He has been limited by four operations on his back in just over three years, the last and most comprehensive of which was spinal fusion surgery last April. Woods returned to competition at the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Nov. 30-Dec. 3, and tied for ninth in the 18-man field, turning heads with his competitiveness and distance off the tee. “I’ve never seen him happier with life, with everything,â€� reigning FedExCup champion Justin Thomas said recently. As fellow residents of Jupiter, Florida, Thomas and Rickie Fowler have been playing regular practice rounds with Woods. Thomas, 24, played with Woods, 41, in the first and last rounds at the Hero, and lost to him by one. Asked after that final round about Woods returning to TOUR competition, Thomas replied, “It’s just so weird to say that you’re excited for somebody else’s year, but it will be a fun year and I hope we duel it out a lot.â€� Fowler shot a final-round 61 to win and said Woods had, “sharpened me up a little bit.â€� At the Hero, as with so much of golf over the last two decades, all roads led back to Woods. The 79-time PGA TOUR winner showed almost no signs of the chipping problems that plagued him in 2015. He also outdrove younger pros like Thomas and Patrick Reed; briefly held the second-round lead; and looked so renewed that he got raves from even some of his toughest critics, including his former coach Hank Haney and Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. “I like what I’m seeing out of Tiger right now,â€� Haney told SiriuxXM PGA TOUR Radio. “It is just good stuff. He looks healthy. He’s got great clubhead speed. He’s hitting phenomenal shots. He’s hitting as good shots as anybody.â€� Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava also was impressed. “I was a little bit surprised,â€� LaCava said midway through the tournament. “I think everyone was hoping for the best, but it was definitely better than we thought. The power and speed and length he’s hitting it – I didn’t think it would come this quick.â€� To be sure, Woods’ comeback promises to be a long climb, and there are no guarantees. He hasn’t been healthy enough to play in the Masters since 2015, and even LaCava warned against unrealistic expectations. Woods’ top-10 finish in the Bahamas moved him up in the Official World Golf Ranking, but only to 668th. And while he showed flashes of form at the 2016 Hero, too, and planned a big comeback in 2017, it never happened. The 14-time major winner never looked right at the Farmers, failing to make the weekend, then flew to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and opened with a 5-over 77 before he withdrew prior to his second-round tee time. He abandoned plans to play in the Genesis Open and The Honda Classic, and underwent spinal fusion in April. “If he stays healthy, I really do think he’ll have a great year,â€� Thomas said. “We’re just going to have to wait and find out.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

LOS ANGELES - Sam Burns put on a show worthy of Hollywood, but reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson sits poised in a log jam for second place heading to what promises to be a hard and fast weekend at The Genesis Invitational. Burns backed up his opening 64 with a 5-under 66 to set a tournament record 36-hole mark of 12 under at Riviera Country Club. It gave the 24-year-old former college standout a five-shot cushion over his four nearest competitors. Burns is rightfully confident his game can match it with anyone but if there is a player to fear at Riviera world No. 1 Johnson is likely the man. DJ is coming off a European Tour win a few weeks ago, but perhaps more threateningly has an incredible record at Riviera. Johnson won the tournament in 2017 and has nine top-10 finishes from his 13 appearances. And he has proven he can go low at the iconic course which stands to get tougher over the final two rounds. Johnson has more rounds of 66 or better than any player at this event over the last 14 years with 12 - a whopping seven more than the nearest competitors. He now has 211 birdies since 2008 at Riviera and is cumulatively 90-under. It's why DraftKings has Johnson at +250 to win the tournament, only slightly behind Burns at +225, despite the five-shot buffer. "I like my position. I’m five back, but on this golf course there’s only one guy in front of me," Johnson said. "I like where I’m at and I do like this golf course, and hopefully I can drive it a little bit better on the weekend and give myself a few more chances." Johnson leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+7.267) despite being somewhat uncharacteristically wayward off the tee. He has hit just 10 of 28 fairways to rank 102nd in a 120-man field in driving accuracy. But a text from his coach Claude Harmon pointing out a slight adjustment needed on his takeaway has Johnson even more confident he can surge ahead on moving day. Johnson's biggest bugbear came in the form of par-5 scoring. He has made just one birdie on the three par 5s over the opening two rounds despite the three holes playing as the easiest on the property. It leaves him ranked T94 on those holes. Burns is 5-under on the same holes. "One under is not going to get the job done over the weekend (on those holes). Definitely need to take advantage of the par 5s the next couple days," Johnson said. "But other than that I feel like I’m swinging my irons really well, I’m rolling the putter nicely, so looking forward to the weekend." While Johnson will fight it out for the title, fellow big hitters Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas won't be around for the weekend after a tournament to forget. DeChambeau rebounded from his opening 75 with a 2-under 69 but was still two shots shy of further play while McIlroy (73-76) and Thomas (77-73) were well off the pace.

Click here to read the full article…