Match updates from Sunday: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

It had been more than 70 years since an Italian won on the PGA TOUR, but when the drought was broken it was broken in style as Francesco Molinari obliterated the field on Sunday at the Quicken Loans National. Welcome to the Monday Finish where Molinari gave the heart broken Italian soccer fans who have been watching the World Cup without a team something to cheer about at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Mistake-free golf is very hard to do but Molinari went four days with very few errors – on a course that a year ago played as one of the toughest on the PGA TOUR. Now this year it was certainly a little softer and more receptive but to make 21 birdies and an eagle in four rounds is phenomenal stuff, especially paired with just two bogeys. And they came before Sunday’s final round with everything on the line. On Sunday a clinical Molinari was a sight to see. Knowing those around him would likely face nerves, particularly co-leader Abraham Ancer who is without a victory, Molinari hit six of seven fairways and seven of nine greens on the front side. Two birdies gave him a nice little buffer heading down the stretch. Then from the ninth green on, he showed some serious class. A huge par putt on the ninth stopped the challengers feeling like he might wobble. Then he went eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie to annihilate the field and wound up winning by an incredible eight shots. That sort of steady golf will certainly give him a huge chance at completing his goal of making the TOUR Championship. Read about his win here. 2. Tiger Woods changed his putter prior to the tournament, opting for a mallet style weapon. It certainly sent the golf world into a frenzy. But after a handful of tournaments with poor results on the greens, and with the slower greens expected at the upcoming Open Championship, Woods felt the time to change was now. The 79-time TOUR winner certainly made more putts this week. He ranked seventh overall in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting and as such is taking confidence with him to Carnoustie. But there remains a small concern. He is still missing some of the shorter putts. He missed 13 from inside 10 feet with five of those inside 7 feet. The old Woods didn’t miss that many short ones in half a season. But his T4 result is another step forward in this latest comeback. The signs are there. He is good enough to win again. Read more about his round here. 3. Ryan Armour certainly fits the profile of “some things get better with age.� The 42-year-old broke through for his first TOUR win early this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship and added a runner-up finish this week. With his seventh top-25 finish of the season, he has matched that of his rookie 2007 campaign, but of course there were no victories that season. He finished 128th in the FedExCup having dipped out in the first week of the Playoffs (142 players were eligible back then). He has never returned but is a certainty now that he’s moved up to 30th in the current standings. There was nothing overly special about his Sunday round except that he stayed focused even when winning was not a likely option. Instead he buckled down and earned a berth in the Open Championship. Don’t be surprised if he sneaks his way to East Lake. 4. Speaking of the Open Championship, Armour was joined by Ancer, Sung Kang and Bronson Burgoon as those players fortunate enough to play their way in as part of The Open Championship Qualifying Series. The top four players not already exempt earned a ticket. The Open will be Armour’s first major championship. Kang qualified just as he did at the same venue a year ago, this time shooting 6-under 64 to take third place. It will be his fifth major and second Open Championship after a T44 finish last season. Ancer dropped from the overnight lead with a 2-over 72 leaving him tied for fourth but gets the consolation of playing his first major championship. The last spot went to Burgoon, who had a huge Sunday playing with Tiger Woods. At 408th in the world leading in, it took a 72nd hole birdie for Burgoon to lock it up. That’s clutch. 5. Beau Hossler’s time is coming. Soon. He leads the TOUR this season in rounds in the 60s – now at 42 out of 86 rounds. His T6 finish this week is a fifth top 10 and he has made 20 of 23 cuts. He’s pushed up to 26th in the FedExCup. There is still the issue of his scoring average fading as each passing round goes on but the experiences are filling up and will eventually bring a new level of comfort. It is not a matter of if Hossler will win on TOUR, it is a matter of when. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Molinari moved from 123rd in the FedExCup to 42nd with the win. He has qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in each of the last three seasons but has yet to make the TOUR Championship. 2. Molinari’s 54-hole score of 197 is a career-low and a tournament record, tying Ancer this week. His 72-hole score of 259 is a career-low and a tournament record. It’s also the lowest winning total this season. The eight-stroke win smashes the previous tournament record of three strokes and matches Dustin Johnson’s victory margin at the Sentry Tournament of Champions as the largest this season. 3. Final-round 62 marks best finish by a winner this season (one better than Bubba Watson’s 63 at the Travelers Championship last week). 4. Molinari ranked seventh in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee but was first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He hit 42 of 56 fairways. He also led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, hitting 62 of 72 greens in regulation. He was second in the field in proximity at 27 feet, 8 inches. He also ranked first in the field in scrambling. 5. Woods now has 11 starts on TOUR in his comeback. This week was his third top 10, moving him to 47th in the FedExCup. He is now assured to qualify for the Playoffs for the first time since 2013 when he finished second overall in the FedExCup.

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Tiger Woods opened this week’s PGA Championship in 4-over 74, losing steam after two birdies in his first five holes Thursday at Southern Hills. Beginning on No. 10, he carded nines of 35-39 and ended the day outside the projected cut line. Woods admitted to leg soreness after the opening round, and he appeared in physical discomfort as Thursday’s round wore on. He promised to go through a full post-round recovery process and do everything needed to be ready for Friday’s action. Woods plays in the afternoon wave in Friday’s second round at Southern Hills, aiming to rally in windy conditions and advance to the weekend. He begins Round 2 at 1:36 p.m. CT, alongside Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. The group will begin on No. 1 tee. Keep it here for hole-by-hole updates throughout Woods’ second round at the PGA Championship.

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Brian Harman hit all 18 greens in Friday’s second round of The RSM Classic. It’s the second time in his career that he’s accomplished that feat. “I think my ball-striking is probably as good as it’s ever been,â€� said Harman, who’s won twice on the TOUR, was runner-up in a major and once ranked 20th in the world. A lot has changed in just a few months. This summer, he felt “crippling anxietyâ€� about losing his PGA TOUR card. Harman was 170th in the FedExCup last March and still ranked outside the top 125 as late as June. He earned a spot in this year’s FedExCup Playoffs, though, with three top-10s in his final six starts of the regular season. It started with a T8 at the Travelers, where he overcame a first-round 72 with three consecutive 66s. Two weeks later, he was in contention at the 3M Open before a bad third round. Tired of stressing about his game, he sent a text to his agent that Sunday saying, “This ends today.â€� He shot a final-round 65 to lock up his card and Playoffs spot. RELATED: Leaderboard | Plantation Course’s new look for The RSM Classic “I made the choice that day that whatever happened, I was going to act like I had been there before,â€� Harman said. “It let me know that I really did need to change the way I was thinking about things and not get so bogged down.â€� That freedom has helped him play the same creative golf he played during his younger days, when he won the U.S. Junior Amateur and was the world’s top-ranked amateur. Harman started this new season with a third-place finish in A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, finished in the top-20 in his next two starts and is back in contention at The RSM. He shot 67 on Thursday at Sea Island’s Plantation Course before following with a 66 on the Seaside Course that will host the final two rounds. Harman, a Georgia alum, played Sea Island in the SEC Championships and now makes his home here. He only had one top-25 in his first five starts in the RSM, though. He missed the cut in both 2015 and 2016 before finishing a career-best fourth. He was T32 last year. “I wanted to play well so bad,â€� Harman said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve embraced it. It’s a fun week. Let’s have fun.â€� His family is staying at his house, as is his caddie. They’ve cooked out each night, eating elk tenderloin and tomahawk pork chops. Harman is enjoying the game again after suffering from burnout at the start of last season. His game reached new heights two years ago, when he won the Wells Fargo Championship, finished runner-up in the U.S. Open and qualified for his first TOUR Championship. All that success led to new opportunities, but also a busier schedule. “I was really tired,â€� he said. “It’s a fine line out here. You take a little bit of a mental break, and I did because I was tired of grinding all the time, and your game takes a hit,â€� Harman said. He started working with swing coach Justin Parsons in the spring and promptly finished T8 at THE PLAYERS. Harman still works with longtime swing coach Jack Lumpkin, as well. Parsons also helped Harman’s former Georgia teammate, Harris English, turn around his career. Harman described working with Parsons, who moved to Sea Island from Dubai earlier this year, as a “shot in the arm.â€� “I just didn’t really feel like myself anymore,â€� Harman said. “I was trying to be something I wasn’t. (Justin) helped me be more creative with my ball-striking and freed me up to do some of stuff that I know I can do.â€�

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