McIlroy ‘stuck in neutral’ at Irish Open

NAPLES, Fla. — Charley Hoffman and Ryan Palmer are making their 10th appearance in the QBE Shootout. Friday was their first time as partners, and they posted a 16-under 56 in a scramble format for a two-shot lead. They combined for 10 birdies and three eagles at Tiburon Golf Club and missed the tournament record for the scramble format by one shot. Palmer set that record in 2019 when Harold Varner III was his partner. “Ryan told me at the beginning of the week we need to tie his record of 17 under,” Hoffman said. “All in all, we put ourselves in great positions to make birdies. I would say very low stress all day long.” Two pairs of Presidents Cup teammates — Max Homa and Kevin Kisner for the U.S Team., Corey Conners and K.H. Lee for the International Team — were at 58. The QBE Shootout has multiple LPGA Tour players for the first time, and they wound up with the same score. Nelly Korda is paired with Denny McCarthy, while Lexi Thompson is playing with Maverick McNealy. They were in the group at 12-under 60. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker and Cameron Young, the PGA TOUR rookie of the year, brought up the rear at 62. Homa and Kisner are one of only two returning teams this year — Matt Kuchar and Harris English are the other and were among those at 60. The second round is modified alternate shot, with fourballs for the final round Sunday.

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The top 70 qualifiers for the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs have advanced to the BMW Championship at Wilmington CC. Patrick Cantlay leads the field by one stroke after posting a 65 on Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Sunday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC) Radio: Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE FEATURED GROUPS Marquee Group 8:55AM ET Justin Thomas / Luke List Featured Groups 8:05AM ET Viktor Hovland / Cameron Tringale 8:35AM ET Kevin Kisner / Lucas Glover Featured Holes: No. 2 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 13 (par 3), No. 15 (par 3) MUST READS FedExCup Update: Cantlay eyes déjà vu Playoffs run to the Cup Cantlay has one-shot lead into final round at BMW Championship 70 one-liners for each player at BMW Championship

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Former Presidents Cup International team member Graham DeLaet will undergo another procedure on his ailing back, keeping the Canadian Olympian away from the PGA TOUR for an undetermined amount of time. DeLaet, 39, announced on Twitter he would be undergoing a Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) procedure on his lower back. The goal of the procedure is to alleviate the chronic pain he has been dealing with for the past few years. "I am very hopeful that this will give me the day-to-day relief to enjoy more quality time with my family and friends," he said. "I am also hopeful it will enable me to put in the time needed to practice again and get back to the PGA TOUR. "It's definitely been a frustrating few years." The native of Weyburn, Saskatchewan (a town of about 10,000 people about an hour north of the U.S. border) has suffered a myriad of injuries over the last few seasons but was in the midst of returning to the TOUR via a Major Medical Exemption. DeLaet was a bright light for the International Team at the 2013 Presidents Cup - where he went 3-1-1 and delivered some final-hole dramatics alongside Jason Day and against Jordan Spieth - finished 8th in the FedExCup that same year, his career-high. He first earned his PGA TOUR card in 2010. DeLaet played five tournaments in 2019-20, making two cuts. He's since played five tournaments in 2021 but missed four cuts and withdrew from the Vivant Houston Open, citing his back as the culprit. "I've been through this now so many times over the past 10 years and all the warning signs were there for me to shut it down and take care of my body," said DeLaet at the time. DeLaet flashed some brilliance at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in 2020, shooting a second-round 64 - his lowest TOUR round since a matching 64 at the Travelers Championship in 2017. In that season he notched six top-10 finishes - but has been away from the TOUR for the better part of two years. He withdrew from THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in late October of 2018 and did not play the whole of 2019. DeLaet failed to get relief from a steam-cell treatment in December 2017 claiming at the time it "has not helped regenerate my L4-L5 disc and in fact has gotten worse since the procedure." The hirsute star ended up having an L4-L5 microdiscectomy surgery in 2018, his second such procedure after an earlier one in 2011. DeLaet was non-committal about a timeline to return to the TOUR. While he's been recovering DeLaet appeared on the Canadian broadcast of the Masters in November as an analyst and has become prolific with his barbecue on social media while placing focus on being an attentive father to his now 5-year-old twins Roscoe and Lyla.

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