Nate Lashley opens 6-shot lead in Rocket Mortgage Classic

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Billy Horschel ended any doubt about his victory at Muirfield Village with an eagle putt from one end of the green to the other on the 15th hole, sending him to a four-shot victory Sunday at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. Horschel was staked to a five-shot lead at the start of a sun-soaked final round and no one ever got closer than two shots. He closed with an even-par 72. Horschel moved to No. 10 in the FedExCup standings after earning a whopping 550 points. There still a few nervous moments. Horschel’s streak of 49 consecutive holes without a bogey ended on the sixth hole. He didn’t make his first birdie until the 10th hole. He had to scramble for bogey on the par-3 12th that dropped his lead to two over Aaron Wise. Before the long eagle, Horschel saved himself with par putts of 12 feet on the 13th hole and 8 feet on 14. And then it was over. From the front of the green on the par-5 15th, Horschel’s putt from just inside 55 feet had the perfect line and perfect speed, bending left and dropping in the left side of the cup as he stretched out both arms in a quiet, disbelieving celebration. “Just like you, big man,” Horschel said to tournament host Jack Nicklaus when it was over. His lead was up to four shots, and it was a comfortable finish. Horschel finished at 13-under 275 and won $2.16 million, the largest paycheck of his career. As an elevated event, the win comes with a three-year PGA TOUR exemption. Horschel said he has learned from Tiger Woods and Nicklaus that he didn’t need to do anything special with a five-shot lead unless the moment called for it. It was calling on the 15th hole after Wise stuffed a wedge into 2 feet for birdie. “If I had to do something special, I was ready for it,” he said. “Making that was huge.” Wise did what he could in a final round so difficult that no one shot better than 69. He and Joaquin Niemann were the only players to apply any serious pressure on Horschel. He opened the back nine with a pair of birdies sand saved par from the back bunker on the 12th. But he dropped a shot on the 13th just as Horschel was looking shaky. Wise made a bogey on the final hole for a 71 to finish alone in second. Cameron Smith, who had the 36-hole lead, also started five shots behind. He had a pair of double bogeys for a 42 on the front nine and was never a factor. Niemann, who won another elevated event at Riviera in The Genesis Invitational, made a strong move and was creeping within range until his wedge on the 14th found a bunker, leading to double bogey. He answered with two birdies, finished with a double bogey and shot 71. He tied for third with defending champion Patrick Cantlay (71). Before the handshake with Nicklaus, Horschel was mobbed by his three children. He now has seven PGA TOUR victories. His wife has watched him win. His parents have seen him win. This was the first time his children were there, and they were bouncing on the firm greens. That might have been as great as any pressure as Horschel felt. “Having a five-shot lead, knowing it was mine to win, I really wanted to get the monkey off my back,” he said of winning with his kids in attendance. Horschel moves to just outside the top 10 in the world, the highest he has ever been, thanks to a year that finally has brought some consistency in a hit-and-miss game. He has three victories in the last 15 months, all of them against strong fields — the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last year, and now this. It might even be enough to finally be considered for a U.S. team with the Presidents Cup later this year.

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SAN DIEGO – Matthew Wolff made a brave return to golf at the U.S. Open on Thursday. The 22-year-old has been missing from the PGA TOUR for two months as he looked to fight off some mental health issues plaguing his mind, his game, and his life in general. But the 2019 3M Open winner – and runner up from the 2020 U.S. Open – courageously picked Torrey Pines and its tough examination as his return despite shooting a 6-over 78 on the South Course prior to a withdrawal back in February’s Farmers Insurance Open. This time around Wolff put together a rollercoaster 1-under 70 (the U.S. Open plays the course to a par-71) that included an incredible eight birdies and just four pars – the fewest number of pars in a sub-par round at a U.S. Open since detailed stats have been kept (1983). The previous highest score to par in a U.S. Open when making eight or more birdies in a round was 4-under. Stepping aside as a professional athlete was a tough decision for Wolff but a wise one beyond his tender years. As we learn more and more about mental health battles it has become apparent that knowing when to take a break can be pivotal to any hope of recovery. Wolff says he knew something drastic was needed when he hated every minute of playing in April’s Masters where he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. Prior to that he’d withdrawn mid tournament from two events and hadn’t had a top-25 since being runner up in back-to-back starts at the U.S. Open and Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last fall. We often associate bravery and strength with physical feats. But one doesn’t need to play a contact sport to show these traits. Wolff was brave to submit his psyche to the Torrey test. He was bold to fight back from mid-round adversity. And he was gutsy to front up to media scrutiny and talk about his battles. “Mental health is a really big problem,” Wolff said. “Any professional athlete has to deal with a lot more stress and pressure than most people and it just kind of got to me… and I think I just put too much pressure on myself… but I’ve been working on it, I’ve been learning and I think that’s all I can do. “(The Masters) was pretty much the turning point… the entire time my head was down and I hated it. I just didn’t love being out there. The biggest thing right now that I’m trying to do is enjoy myself again and just take care of myself really. I love these fans and I want to play well for them, but right now I’m just really trying to be happy and realize I live a great life and I want to enjoy it.” As someone looking to live a little more stress-free Wolff put his nerves to the test on Thursday when he blocked his first tee-shot on the 10th way right. It was the type of swing that could’ve broken him from the start but instead he was soon smiling after a brilliant recovery shot to 22-feet and a converted birdie saw him on his way. With further birdies at 12 and 13 Wolff was immediately back in the limelight, leading the tournament. And then things got awkward. A bogey on the 15th hole was followed by a terrible double bogey on the 16th that featured a missed putt from a foot and then another bogey on 17 had him over par and seemingly in trouble. Wolff saw it as a sign. This was the moment to put into practice the methods he’d worked on throughout his time away. The score wasn’t the focus. His enjoyment was. He took a few deep breaths and reminded himself how many others would love to be where he was, playing sport for a living and how, more importantly, he loves playing the game. “My caddie and I have been working really hard about just staying in the level head space and focusing on the shot ahead of you and not the shot behind you,” Wolff explained. “I’m probably going to be struggling with that and learning how to handle bad shots for the rest of my career, but I’m young and I’m learning.” With his focus keyed in he birdied five of his next six holes – with a bogey on the other – and once again found the top of the leaderboard. His second double bogey of the round though would kill the momentum and lead to the respectable 70, just three off the pace from the morning wave. “A lot of good, a lot of bad. I started off really strong and made quite a few putts at the start of my round and then stumbled a little bit. But it’s the U.S. Open, everyone’s going to stumble,” Wolff said. “I wasn’t expecting it. It’s my first tournament back and it’s the hardest tournament that golf provides us. So it was really nice to start the way I did. It’s awesome that I played well, I’m thrilled, but no matter what score that I shot it was just good to be having fun and I haven’t had fun out here in quite a while. “I made a huge step in the right direction and I have a heck of a long way to go, but I’m working my way towards it.”

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