Mickelson’s made cut streak ends at 18

Click here to read the full article…

Martin Laird looks to continue his love-affair with TPC Summerlin as he defends his title at the Shriners Children’s Open. A handful of Ryder Cuppers from the victorious U.S. side will also make their return to the PGA TOUR for the first of two consecutive events in Las Vegas. THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT will be conducted the following week. FIELD NOTES: Eleven of the top 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking are scheduled to compete, led by No. 8 Louis Oosthuizen… Brooks Koepka and Ryder Cup teammates Harris English and Scottie Scheffler also will play at TPC Summerlin, while two former Ryder Cuppers, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed, will make their return to action. Each will be making their first start of the season… Masters winners Danny Willet and Hideki Matsuyama are competing in Las Vegas… In all, nine major champions are set to play TPC Summerlin… A few members of Team Europe are returning to action on TOUR, as well, including Ian Poulter and Viktor Hovland and vice captain Graeme McDowell… Will Zalatoris, recently named the PGA TOUR’s Rookie of the Year, will look to build off his T5 in Las Vegas a year ago… Martin Laird returns to defend his Shriners victory from 2020 (captured after a dramatic playoff). Laird finished 75th in the FedExCup standings last season… Sponsor exemptions this year include Harry Hall, Kevin Yu, United States Air Force captain Kyle Westmoreland, and three-time European Tour winner Rasmus Hojgaard, who is just 20 years old. Yu finished fourth in this year’s PGA TOUR University rankings and parlayed that status into two top-10s in eight Korn Ferry Tour starts, including a runner-up. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Summerlin, par 71, 7,255 yards. For nearly 20 years TPC Summerlin has hosted the PGA TOUR’s Shriners Children Open. Bobby Weed designed the course – which is carved through rugged desert terrain – alongside Fuzzy Zoeller as the player consultant. It boasts raw landscape features, lush bentgrass greens, numerous water features, and meanders through canyons and arroyos. STORYLINES: Funny enough, the winning score the last two years has been 23 under, with both the 2019 and 2020 editions of the tournament going into playoffs… Twelve golfers with ties to the Las Vegas area, including two-time Shriners winner Kevin Na, will look to take advantage of the familiar setting… The first couple of events on the PGA TOUR schedule are perfect opportunities for rookies to test their mettle against some of the best in the world and also earn valuable FedExCup points… This year’s Shriners marks the 25th anniversary of Tiger Woods earning his first PGA TOUR win at TPC Summerlin. He defeated Davis Love III in a playoff to win in just his fifth start as a pro. 72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Ryan Moore (2012), Webb Simpson (2013). 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Chip Beck (3rd round, 1991 at Sunrise GC). TPC Summerlin record: 60, J.J. Henry (1st round, 2013), Rod Pampling (1st round, 2016) LAST TIME: In the field on a sponsor’s exemption, Martin Laird broke a seven-year PGA TOUR victory drought at the Shriners Children’s Open. If you recall: Laird was on the tee box when Jonathan Byrd ended the 2010 tournament with a walk-off ace in a sudden-death playoff. This time around Laird, on the second playoff hole, drained a 23-foot birdie putt to defeat Austin Cook and Matthew Wolff. This was Laird’s fourth career TOUR title. His final round included a shot-of-the-year candidate eagle hole out on No. 9 (he popped one in from a plugged lie in the bunker). This was the Scotsman’s second win at TPC Summerlin. He also won here in 2009. Abraham Ancer finished fourth, while Peter Malnati, James Hahn, and Will Zalatoris rounded out the top five. Fifty-four-hole leader Patrick Cantlay finished T8 alongside Bryson DeChambeau, amongst others. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. (Featured Groups). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 3 p.m.-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

Click here to read the full article…

LAS VEGAS – Tony Finau stopped short of saying he would text U.S. Presidents Cup captain Tiger Woods a picture of his Saturday scorecard from TPC Summerlin, but did smile at the suggestion. Finau scorched his way around the course in the third round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open with a 9-under 62, a career-low on the PGA TOUR by two shots. It left the former Puerto Rico Open winner at 15 under for the tournament, giving him the clubhouse lead when he signed his card. With the majority of the field still to complete their rounds, the 30-year-old knows he’ll still have work to do on Sunday if he wants to earn his second career win and all but force Woods to add him as one of his four captains picks. Finau also plans to play the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP (Oct. 24-27) in Japan and the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions (Oct. 31 – Nov. 3) in China, after which Woods will finalize his team for the Dec. 12-15 event at Royal Melbourne. Related: Leaderboard | Hahn rebounds from snowman | Cantlay continues TPC Summerlin dominance Finau finished ninth among potential U.S. team players in points, making him the first player to miss automatic qualification. “It motivates me… I’m a little bit disappointed that I didn’t make the team,â€� Finau said of the Presidents Cup carrot. “Maybe that’s lighting a little bit of a fire in me going into the season. It would be hard to win a golf tournament in the fall and not get picked, I feel. “He’s (Woods) paying attention, he’s watching. He’s the captain of the USA team, and it would be great to play on the team, but I unfortunately haven’t played my way on yet, and the only thing I can do is play some good golf in the fall and see what happens.â€� While he broke through with his first win in 2016, Finau’s career has been about near-misses since. He was sixth in the FedExCup in 2018 and seventh in 2019 without winning an event. Over the past two PGA TOUR seasons ,Finau has 17 top-10s, including five runner-ups and a third-place finish. He wants the drought to end sooner rather than later. “Every week I tee it up and I try to put myself in contention to win. This week I’ve got that opportunity,â€� he said. “It’s nice. My lowest round of my career, one of the best rounds I’ve ever played out here on the PGA TOUR. So it’s really nice to get off to this type of start this early in the season. “Somebody can still go really low that’s already started the day four or five in front of me, so I could very well still be trailing going into tomorrow… but to shoot 9-under today, it was what I needed, and again, I’m going to have a chance to win tomorrow, which is exciting.â€�

Click here to read the full article…