Jon Rahm had a one-shot lead after 54 holes at the Farmers Insurance Open, but Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and many others look to catch him on Sunday.
Click here to read the full article…
| Winners always benefit from gambling bonuses. Check this guide on how to select the best casino bonuses to win! |
After entering the weekend in contention at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Carlos Ortiz heads to Houston to defend in one of the PGA TOUR’s longest-running host cities. To win this year’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open, however, he’ll have to top a field boasting many of the game’s top players. FIELD NOTES: Brooks Koepka will head back to Houston – and the course he had a hand in shaping – to find his game after some continued struggles saw him miss the cut in Mexico… Koepka is joined by 13 other major champions in the Houston field… Matthew Wolff, who held the 36-hole lead in Mexico, is teeing it up… Past Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open winners teeing it up include the last four champs: Ortiz (defending a TOUR title for the first time), Lanto Griffin, Russell Henley, and Ian Poulter… Texas native and U.S. Ryder cup team member Scottie Scheffler is in the field after sitting in second place halfway through last week’s World Wide Technology Championship… Adam Scott, who won in Houston in 2007, is returning to action after a T5 at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT… Sponsor exemptions include Arizona State senior Cameron Sisk, Houston-area residents MJ Daffue and Shawn Stefani, and Brooks Koepka’s younger brother, Chase Koepka… Sisk earned his spot by winning the Maridoe Intercollegiate. He is 18th in the PGA TOUR University ranking. Sisk has finished in the top 5 in all three of his starts this season, including a win and runner-up. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Memorial Park Golf Course, par 70, 7,412 yards. This municipal course underwent a dramatic renovation by famed architect Tom Doak, with consultation from Brooks Koepka, before returning to the PGA TOUR after an absence of nearly six decades. To prepare for the TOUR’s return, holes were both shortened and lengthened, and trees were removed. The course boasts strategic bunkering, and unique green contours with dramatic short-grass runoffs – making it a second-shot golf course. STORYLINES: The Houston stop is the penultimate event on the PGA TOUR schedule in 2021… With just one more event left after Houston, this is prime time for many to earn valuable FedExCup points. Sixteen of the top 30 players on the FedExCup standings (as of Nov. 6), including leader Sam Burns, will tee it up in Houston. Three past FedExCup champions (Bill Haas, Brandt Snedeker, and Henrik Stenson) are scheduled to play… Ortiz is looking to become the first golfer to defend his title in Houston since Vijay Singh in 2004-05… While there hasn’t been a playoff in Houston since 2018, the event has still seen playoffs 23 times out of its 74 editions – the second most of any in the TOUR’s history after the U.S. Open. 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, Curtis Strange and Lee Trevino (1980 at Woodlands CC), Vijay Singh (2002 at TPC Woodlands). Golf Club of Houston record: 268, Phil Mickelson (2011), Russell Henley (2017). Memorial Park Golf Course record: 267, Carlos Ortiz (2020) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Ron Streck (3rd round, 1981 at Woodlands CC), Fred Funk (3rd round, 1992 at TPC Woodlands). Golf Club of Houston record: 63, Johnson Wagner (1st round, 2008), Adam Scott (1st round, 2008), Jimmy Walker (1st round, 2011), Phil Mickelson (3rd round, 2011), Scott Piercy (1st round, 2015), Sung Kang (2nd round, 2017). Memorial Park Golf Course record: 63, Hideki Matsuyama (4th round, 2020), Talor Gooch (4th round, 2020) LAST TIME: Carlos Ortiz finally broke through to win on the PGA TOUR (after winning three times on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2014) after a final-round 65 in Houston. He became the first Mexican player in 42 years to win on the PGA TOUR. … Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama tied for second, then went on to win the next two Masters. Johnson won 2020’s unique November Masters the following week and Matsuyama won in the tournament’s return to its traditional April date … Ortiz needed two putts to win on the 72nd hole, but drained a 20-footer for birdie to finish in style. Matsuyama and Johnson finished tied for second, two shots back of Ortiz. Talor Gooch finished fourth, while Brooks Koepka and Sepp Straka rounded out the top five. Koepka had a role in redesigning the tournament’s host layout, the Memorial Park Golf Course. The 2020 Houston Open was the first domestic PGA TOUR event that allowed spectators since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 2,000 tickets sold per day. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Featured Groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).
Rickie Fowler birdied two of his final four holes and overcame a bizarre triple bogey on the 11th hole at TPC Scottsdale to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday. Leading by five, Fowler took a 7 on the par-4 11th after a chip shot skipped across the green and into the water and a second ball rolled into the water on its own. Branden Grace took the lead with consecutive birdies, but hit his tee shot into the water on the drivable par-4 17th for a bogey. Fowler had two-putt birdies on Nos. 15 and 17, then got up-and-down on the 18th for par. He shot 3-over 74 to finish at 17-under 267 for his fifth PGA TOUR victory and second in seven tries with a 54-hole lead. Grace closed with a 69 to finish two shots back. MUST READS: Round 4, Waste Management Phoenix Open Winner’s Bag: Rickie Fowler, 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open Miller’s retirement week includes Cheez Whiz story Champ marks Black History Month with black, white shoes Lyle memorial brings perspective to rowdy 16th hole
Justin Rose made his only birdie of the day when he needed it the most, sinking an 18-footer on the final hole to make the cut Friday in the British Open. Three of the world’s top five players missed the cut, including top-ranked Dustin Johnson and No. 2 Justin Thomas. Masters champion Patrick Reed nearly went home after making double bogey on No. 15 and bogey on 16, but parred the final two finishing holes to make the cut on the number at 3-over-par.
