Mickelson fires 67 for 2-shot Furyk & Friends lead

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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – For years, Rory McIlroy has dreamt of walking down Royal Portrush’s 18th hole to a standing ovation. He received one, but two days earlier than he hoped. The fans cheered McIlroy for fighting to make the cut at a tournament that he won five years earlier. McIlroy’s Open Championship dreams were dashed from the start after his first tee shot went out-of-bounds. The fans still showed up Friday to support the local boy, even after his 79. “I didn’t know how people were going to react yesterday, how many people were going to be on the first tee,â€� McIlroy said. “To have that many people out there following me, supporting me, cheering my name, it meant the world to me. I’m glad, to some degree, I gave them something to cheer about today.â€� It looked like McIlroy would need another course record Friday just to make the cut. He shot 61 at Royal Portrush when he was 16, but the track has been toughened since then. Related: Leaderboard | Englishmen in contention | Spieth, Koepka bringing their best to another major | Tiger cards 1-under 70 His second-round 65 at The Open tied the low score of the tournament and riveted the fans at Royal Portrush who stuck around on a cold and cloudy afternoon. It was around 8 p.m. when McIlroy signed his scorecard. The support from his countrymen clearly had an impact on McIlroy, who struggled for words during his post-round interviews. “As much as I came here at the start of the week saying I wanted to do it for me, you know, by the end of the round there today I was doing it just as much for them as I was for me,â€� McIlroy said. “I wanted to be here for the weekend. Selfishly I wanted to feel that support for two more days. “To play in front of those crowds today and to feel that momentum and really dig in, it’s going to be a tough one to get over.â€� The weekend still seemed far away after McIlroy made two birdies on Friday’s front nine. He produced a riveting display on the back nine, though. He birdied Nos. 10-12 before making bogey on the par-3 13th after hitting into a bunker. He bounced back with another birdie on the 14th hole before saving par from another bunker on the 15th. Royal Portrush’s 16th hole is named Calamity Corner for good reason. The 230-yard hole has a steep drop-off right of the green. McIlroy lasered a long-iron to 10 feet and made the putt on the course’s third-hardest hole. He needed one more birdie on the last two holes to keep his hopes alive. He drove into the rough on 17, but played a deft wedge shot that landed just over a bunker and rolled to 12 feet. He just missed the birdie putt. On the last hole, his aggressive approach was a hair too far to the left, rolling down a hill. His fate was sealed when his chip failed to fall. “The last week has been a real eye-opener for me,â€� McIlroy said. “Sometimes you’re so far away and you forget about all the people that are cheering you on back home. And then you come and play in front of them. It definitely hit me like a ton of bricks today.â€� He wasn’t the only big name to miss the cut by a shot. Brandt Snedeker, Jason Day, Keegan Bradley, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston and Brian Harman, who got in the field as an alternate, all finished at 2 over. Day bogeyed five of his last six holes to shoot 74 and miss the cut by a stroke. It was his first missed cut in nine starts in this championship. This Open was always going to be historic. It was the tournament’s first visit to Royal Portrush in nearly 70 years. But a more ignominious piece of history was made Friday: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the same major for the first time. Woods shot 78-70, the second-highest 36-hole score of his career in this event. After winning the Masters, he played the final three majors of the year in 9 over par. It was the first time since 2015 that he missed multiple cuts in majors. “You can’t compare the two,â€� Woods said. “Those were some of the lowest times of my life. This is not. This is just me not playing well and not scoring well, and adds up to high scores.â€� Woods and Mickelson have both missed the cut in just three other PGA TOUR events: the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, 2012 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and 1993 AT&T Byron Nelson. Mickelson played alongside 36-hole co-leader Shane Lowry. Lowry beat him by 16 shots over 36 holes. Mickelson’s last top-10 in a major came in his famous duel with Henrik Stenson in the 2016 Open at Royal Troon. Mickelson’s best finish in a major since then is T18. U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, who played alongside McIlroy, also missed the cut after shooting 74-71. This was Woodland’s first missed cut in eight Open starts. Zach Johnson, the 2015 Open champion, missed the cut for the first time since 2006, ending a streak of 12 consecutive cuts made in this event. He’d finished in the top 25 in seven of the past eight Opens. McIlroy wasn’t the only player from Northern Ireland with a heartbreaking finish. Darren Clarke, the 2011 Open champion, triple-bogeyed the last hole to finish at 3 over par, missing the cut by two shots. Clarke is a member at Royal Portrush and hit the first tee shot of the tournament. He quickly rushed off the green after his difficult finish. Bryson DeChambeau finished at 5-over 147. Since the start of 2017, his best finish in a major is T25. Marc Leishman shot 8-over 150. He’d made five consecutive cuts in The Open, including three top-6 finishes. McIlroy wasn’t the only former Open champion with an impressive finish. David Duval never threatened to make the cut, but his determination to play to the end was admirable. He shot 20-over 91 in the first round, including a 14 on the par-5 seventh hole. He was 8 over par on his first nine holes Friday, as well. He still played hard, shooting 1 under on his back nine.

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CROMWELL, Conn. – Notes and observations from Saturday’s third round of the Travelers Championship, where Jordan Spieth birdied three of his last four holes to shoot 66 and keep the lead. Boo Weekley had a 5-under 65 to reach 11 under, a shot back, while Daniel Berger (66) came in at 9 under, in solo third as he aims for his second win in the last three weeks. For more coverage from TPC River Highlands, click here for the Daily Wrap-up. SPIETH LEANS ON PAR SAVES Jordan Spieth made three birdies in the last four holes to maintain the solo lead for the third straight day in this, his first career start at the Travelers Championship. Still, what stood out to him were two par saves. He missed the green right at the 490-yard, par-4 fourth hole, but got up and down with a chip and a tap-in par. At the 227-yard, par-3 fifth, Spieth splashed out of the right greenside bunker and made a 16-foot putt. He didn’t even need to putt at the sixth hole, chipping in for birdie from 28 feet. “I thought those two up-and-downs along with obviously the chip in on 6 were massive,â€� Spieth said. “I very well should have been 2-over through six holes and I was 1-under. “So, I stole some there around the greens, which is what I’ve been looking to do when something gets a little bit off elsewhere. It was really nice to see, through there, to gather that momentum and kind of calm down and get into the round.â€� Much as he was throughout his Player of the Year season in 2015, Spieth was lethal around the greens Saturday. He hit just 10 greens in regulation, his lowest total of the week, but was 3-for-3 in sand saves, and took 24 putts. Not surprisingly, he’s leading the field in strokes gained: around the green for the week, but he’s also first in strokes gained: tee-to-green. That’s a tough combination to beat. Should he win Sunday, it would mark his first wire-to-wire victory since the 2015 Masters, and his 10th title on the PGA TOUR at just 23 years old. CALL OF THE DAY WEEKLEY BACK IN THE SWING Jordan Spieth hadn’t met with the media in 24 hours. Boo Weekley hadn’t met with the media in — well, he couldn’t remember how long. “A lot of faces in here I ain’t seen in a while,â€� he said as he sat down after his round, in which he fired a back-nine 30 to play his way into the final twosome with Spieth on Sunday. Weekley has three TOUR victories, but hasn’t won since the 2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. At 43, he could have been excused if he thought his best golf was behind him, especially since he came into this week at 193rd in the FedExCup standings. His best finish all season? Well, that would have been his thrilling tie for 37th place at the Puerto Rico Open. But one good tournament can change everything, and Weekley has been back to his old self at TPC River Highlands thanks in part to a relatively new putter and left-hand-low stroke. The putter is an Odyssey that Matt Every had given up on at Colonial earlier this season, and that Weekley’s coach wound up with only to give it to Weekley. It’s working. Weekley made 128feet, 4’inches of putts Saturday, and was third in strokes gained: putting (3.261). Like Spieth, Weekley finished strong with birdies on three of the last four holes. “I change putters like I change underwear, man,â€� Weekley said before estimating he’s gone through about 20 different makes and models this season alone. Spieth smiled at the prospect of playing with Weekley on Sunday. “I hope I’m having as much fun each day as Boo’s having,â€� Spieth said. “I mean, he lives it up. It’s fun to be around Boo. He’s always very nice to everybody he sees, has some kind of a joke. If he’s had a couple pops, you barely understand him with his country accent. “He’s a guy everybody very much respects and really likes being around, and that’s fun, that’s fun to play with. He’s a really good ball striker who, a couple events that I’ve been involved in, in the heat of things, he shot very low numbers on Sundays. He’s not afraid to do so.â€� CASEY THRIVES WITH CADDIE SUB Paul Casey’s usual caddie, John McLaren, asked for this week off and Casey granted it. He also let McLaren pick who would caddie for Casey in his place, and the veteran McLaren, who is known for his long socks and high-top sneakers, picked Shannon Wallace. So far, so good. Casey, who lost to Bubba Watson in a playoff at the 2015 Travelers, shot 66 to get to 8 under, just four off Spieth’s lead. “Shannon’s perfect,â€� said Casey, who came into this week 27th in the FedExCup race.  “He’s been on the bag for Faldo and some guys. Maybe he hasn’t had the results he’s wanted as a caddie. And I love the fact that he’s channeled his inner Johnny Longsocks this week and turned up with long socks to try to make me feel better. “We failed to get him high tops,â€� Casey added. “That’s the only thing I’ve failed, on my behalf. I’ve known Shannon for a long time since we’ve been on TOUR. So, a good blend. We actually, worryingly for Johnny, we are working very well together.â€� WIND KEEPS PLAYERS ON THEIR TOES The wind gusted from 8-16 mph when it blew, but sometimes it stopped entirely. Paul Casey said Saturday was the toughest day so far. Keegan Bradley (66) called TPC River Highlands “a tricky little courseâ€� in the gusts. Boo Weekley admitted he was posing over approach shots only to watch them come up 10 yards short. “First time I’ve ever played here with the wind blowing this hard,â€� Weekley said. And those were the guys who played well.   “It’s tricky today—we have a north wind, which we haven’t seen all week here,â€� said Canadian David Hearn, who shot 66 to get to 7 under, five off the lead. “So it just makes — especially on the back nine, you get into those chutes and around those water hazards, and it just makes it a little tricky to pick your lines when you’re not used to this wind.â€� Players went off both tees in threesomes to accommodate a storm that dumped a modest amount of rain on TPC River Highlands overnight and Saturday morning. ODDS AND ENDS C.T. Pan, who played for Chinese Taipei in the Rio Olympics (T30) last summer but lives in Bellevue, Washington, took advantage of calm morning conditions for a bogey-free 64. He tied for second at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year, but is 88th in the FedExCup after missing 12 cuts in his last 17 starts. “This is my first year,â€� said Pan, who leads the field in scrambling (11/11). “I keep telling myself if you just keep knocking on the door, one day will be your day.â€� … Keegan Bradley (7 under), who is going for his first TOUR win since the 2012 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, made a 40-foot birdie putt at the fourth hole to kick-start his round. “That was a big putt,â€� said Bradley, who hit 16 greens in regulation for the second straight day. “Then I made a really good [12-foot] birdie putt on 13, a hole I needed to birdie. So a lot of good putts I holed today.â€� Bradley is 56th in the FedExCup standings, with his best result this season a T4 at the Farmers Insurance Open. … Daniel Berger, 12th in the FedExCup, erased a three-shot deficit as he successfully defended his FedEx St. Jude Classic title two weeks ago. His deficit going into Sunday? Three shots. “Couple weeks ago I was in the same position and got it done,â€� Berger said. “So obviously trying to run down Jordan’s going to be tough, but if I play well, I’ve got a chance.â€� …  Charley Hoffman, who took the outright lead after going eagle, birdie, birdie, went 4 over for his last three holes in a 68. He’s at 6 under, six shots behind. BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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