Monday Finish: Bubba Watson collects TOUR win No. 12 at Travelers Championship

ST. LOUIS — Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka took a step toward adding a third major to his short list of victories. Koepka bullied rain-softened Bellerive on Saturday on the front nine and built a four-shot lead, only to run into bad patch that brought a strong list of contenders into the mix — including Tiger Woods — going into the final round of the PGA Championship. Even with back-to-back bogeys on the back nine, Koepka had a 4-under 66 for a two-shot lead over Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion who has been struggling through his worst season in nearly two decades. Scott had a 65 to get into the final group. Gary Woodland lost his way in his footprints in a bunker and made triple bogey on No. 10, falling six shots behind, and still managed a 71 to stay within three shots of the lead, along with Jon Rahm (66) and Rickie Fowler (69). The biggest buzz, as always, belonged to Woods. Coming off a three-putt bogey on the fifth hole, Woods ran off three straight birdies to get in range, only to stall on the back nine like he has done so often this year. He hit a 4-iron so pure on the par-5 17th hole that he immediately began walking off to it, and thousands of fans roared when it settled 20 feet from the hole for an eagle that could have brought him within one of the lead. He missed. And then he missed the next from 4 feet for birdie and ended his day with 10 straight pars. Woods had to settle for a 66, and by the time everyone else came through the 17th hole, he slipped back to a tie for sixth, four shots out of the lead. That’s the same position he was in going into the final round of the British Open at Carnoustie, where he led briefly in the final before fading. Now he gets another shot, and it most likely will take another round like Saturday. “Not just myself, but everyone’s going to have to shoot low rounds,” Woods said. “It’s soft, it’s gettable, and you can’t just go out there and make a bunch of pars.” Koepka was at 12-under 198 and will play in the final group of a major for the first time. He won in the penultimate group at the U.S. Open each of the last two years. He already burnished his reputation two months ago by winning a U.S. Open on two entirely different courses — one at Erin Hills with a record-tying score of 16-under par, the other at Shinnecock Hills where he survived to win at 1-over par. He has only one other PGA TOUR victory, one in Europe and two in Japan. But put him against the strongest fields and the biggest events, and he’s a world-beater. This test figures to be different. Bellerive is so soft that a charge can come from anywhere. “I’ve watched Tiger win 14 of these things hanging around a lot of the time,” Scott said. “He ran away with a few, for sure, but he hung around for a lot. And I would love to hang around tomorrow. And that might mean shooting 5 under again to hang around, but I would love to be in the mix coming down the stretch and have the chance to hole some putts to win.” Ten players were within four shots of the lead, which includes defending champion Justin Thomas (68), Jason Day (67) and Stewart Cink, the 2009 The Open Championship winner who played with Woods and matched his 66. “It’s a pretty intense environment out there. It’s fun,” Cink said. “Hearing the crowd, and Tiger’s performing great, it was like turning back the hands of the clock.” Woods and Fowler were among those just happy to get off the course. They had to finish their second rounds on Saturday morning because of rain that deluged Bellerive late Friday afternoon. Woods played 29 holes, while Fowler played 26. No one caught Woodland, meaning his 36-hole score of 130 stood as the PGA Championship record. The cut was another record, coming at even-par 140 and knocking out the likes of Phil Mickelson. That means Mickelson will fail to automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup team for the first time since his first full season on the PGA TOUR in 1993.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tom Hoge maintained a share of the lead Friday at the Wyndham Championship, this time alongside Si Woo Kim, Talor Gooch and Billy Horschel. Hoge, tied for the first-round lead with Harold Varner III and Roger Sloan, kept in front with a steady 2-under 68 to get to 10 under par. RELATED: Leaderboard | Simpson, Todd feed off friendly energy | Projected FedExCup standings Hoge, whose best-ever TOUR finish was a second at A Military Tirbute at The Greenbrier this season, was asked what it would take for his first PGA TOUR win. “There’s a lot to that question,” he said. The answer could be as simple as regaining his first-round form when he had seven birdies, an eagle and one par. This time, Hoge was more up and down with five birdies and three bogeys. Kim, whose first TOUR victory came here in 2016 and made history a year later as the youngest-ever winner of THE PLAYERS Championship, shot a 65 to move up. Kim got it going on the front nine (his final nine) after starting with nine consecutive pars. He had six bogeys coming in, including the final two holes to move on top. Kim’s approach shots down the stretch were on target — his final five birdie putts were all from 12 feet or closer. He said the rough at Sedgefield Country Club was “more sticky and deep” this year. “It helps more to hit fairway, that’s really important,” Kim said. “That’s why I hit it more, try to focus on … the fairway.” Like Hoge, the 28-year-old Gooch is seeking his first TOUR victory. Like Kim, Gooch shot 65 to get into the foursome on top. It was the first time on TOUR Gooch, who opened with a 65, had multiple rounds that low in the same event. He had six birdies, including two of his final three holes, to move up. “Anytime you shoot 65, it does’t matter who, what, when, where, why, you’ve done some good,” he said. Horschel shot 64 and had birdies on four of last six holes, including a tricky 7-footer on his final one, the ninth, to join the lead group. Horschel won the 2014 FedExCup and said this time of year charges him up. “I like it when the pressure’s on and everyone’s looking at you and you need to step up and doing something special,” he said. The four were a stroke ahead of Harris English (67) , Varner (69), Andrew Landry (65), Doc Redman (64) and the Open champ Shane Lowry, who shot a 63 to tie for Friday’s low round with Jason Kokrak. Lowry did not get to defend his major when the tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic. He also entered the week at 131 in FedExCup points, outside of the upcoming Playoffs. After a bogey on his second hole, Lowry had six birdies and an eagle to move into contention. “Obviously, I’m outside the FedExCup number and out of Boston next week, so I need to keep playing some good golf and try and polish off a good week,” he said. Kokrak was in a group of seven one shot further back along with past Wyndham champ Webb Simpson, who shot his second straight 66. Those three strokes back included Patrick Reed (68), Paul Casey (66) and Tommy Fleetwood (64). A pair of major champions in the thick of last week’s PGA Championship in Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose did not make the cut. Koepka had a 70, including a triple-bogey 7 on the 10th hole, to finish at 2 over, 12 shots behind. Rose rallied to a 67 after an opening 73, but his even-par was not enough to continue. “Not physically tired, more mentally,” said Koepka, who’s played in sixth straight tournaments with the Playoffs ahead. “But I’ve got the weekend off.”

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Rory McIlroy wants to focus on the majors, which means playing more in the United States and less in Europe. The fallout? It might cost him the chance to be a Ryder Cup captain.

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