New putter doesn’t help Tiger much

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Tommy Fleetwood started Sunday as the only player in the top 20 of the world ranking without a win. He looked ready to ditch that title after making birdie on the first two holes to take a three-shot lead early in The Honda Classic’s final round. He had another short birdie putt on the third hole, but missed that and had to wait 14 holes for his next birdie. RELATED: Leaderboard | Slow and steady, Im withstands pressure | Playing for late friend, Hughes turns season around He still had a chance on the last hole to win The Honda Classic. A 24-foot birdie putt on 17 pulled Fleetwood within one stroke of Sungjae Im, who’d already signed for his 66. Fleetwood was in the fairway of the par-5 finishing hole, but hit his 235-yard approach into the water. The closing bogey dropped him into third place, two shots behind Im, who won his first PGA TOUR title. Mackenzie Hughes finished alone in second. Fleetwood shot 71 on Sunday after starting the final round with a one-shot lead. “I didn’t do much wrong,� Fleetwood said. “It came down to slim margins. It’s disappointing. It was close. “At the end of the day, I felt like I was really good mentally, hung in there until the end and gave myself a chance.� Fleetwood moved to 62nd in the FedExCup with his best finish since his runner-up at last year’s Open Championship. This was Fleetwood’s third consecutive top-5 on the Florida Swing. He finished fifth at THE PLAYERS Championship last year and third in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. Scroll below for the RBC Canadian Open field list as of Friday, June 3rd at 5 p.m. ET: Check here for updates. Winner of PGA/U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Justin Thomas Winner of The Players Championship (five-year exemption) Rory McIlroy Cameron Smith Winner of The Masters (five-year exemption) Patrick Reed Scottie Scheffler Danny Willett Winner of The Open (five-year exemption) Shane Lowry Winner of World Golf Championships Event (three-year exemption) Justin Rose Winner of Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament and Genesis Invitational (three-year exemption) Tyrrell Hatton PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Sam Burns Cameron Champ Corey Conners Tyler Duncan Tony Finau Dylan Frittelli Jim Herman Sung Kang Martin Laird Nate Lashley Luke List Adam Long Keith Mitchell Sebastián Muñoz Carlos Ortiz C.T. Pan J.T. Poston J.J. Spaun Robert Streb Nick Taylor Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Career Money Exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas Rory Sabbatini Nick Watney * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Myles Creighton Jared du Toit Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Mike Weir Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) William Buhl Rafa Cabrera Bello Yi Cao Albin Choi Aaron Cockerill Callum Davison Joseph Deraney A.J. Ewart Christopher Gotterup Wesley Heffernan Rasmus Hojgaard Brendan Leonard Stuart Macdonald Max Sekulic Johnny Travale Trevor Werbylo Commissioner Exemption – Two Foreign Players Dean Burmester Past Champion of RBC Canadian Open Jhonattan Vegas Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Charley Hoffman Harold Varner III Emiliano Grillo Chris Kirk Harry Higgs Mackenzie Hughes Matt Fitzpatrick Pat Perez Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Roger Sloan Brandt Snedeker Hank Lebioda Adam Hadwin Matt Wallace Sam Ryder Scott Piercy Brice Garnett # Major medical extension Danny Lee Ryan Moore Jonas Blixt Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Sahith Theegala Alex Smalley David Lipsky Patrick Rodgers Aaron Rai Brandon Wu Taylor Pendrith Lee Hodges Hayden Buckley Matthias Schwab Vince Whaley Max McGreevy Adam Svensson John Huh Greyson Sigg Trey Mullinax Austin Smotherman Andrew Novak Justin Lower Dylan Wu Curtis Thompson Paul Barjon Seth Reeves Kelly Kraft Michael Gligic Callum Tarren Ben Kohles Austin Cook Nick Hardy David Skinns Jared Wolfe Scott Gutschewski Dawie van der Walt Brett Drewitt Joshua Creel Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Mark Hubbard Satoshi Kodaira Ryan Armour Chase Seiffert Cameron Percy Vaughn Taylor Camilo Villegas Jim Knous Bo Van Pelt Bo Hoag $ Reshuffle within categories 34-38 Jonathan Byrd Ben Martin Kevin Chappell Sean O’Hair Tommy Gainey Wesley Bryan Robert Garrigus Seung-Yul Noh David Lingmerth Scott Brown Jason Dufner Mark Hensby Greg Chalmers Ricky Barnes David Hearn D.A. Points Johnson Wagner D.J. Trahan Sangmoon Bae Fabián Gómez Ben Crane Arjun Atwal Richard S Johnson Brian Davis John Merrick Kevin Stadler Matt Every Beyond No. 150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List Ted Potter, Jr. J.J. Henry George McNeill Andres Romero Charlie Beljan Jason Bohn Parker McLachlin Eric Axley Past Champion member John Huston Carl Pettersson John Rollins Boo Weekley Frank Lickliter II Jonathan Kaye Will MacKenzie Daniel Chopra Glen Day Ted Purdy Spike McRoy Cody Gribble Veteran member (150 or more career cuts made) Brendon de Jonge The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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TORONTO, Ont. – Growing up in Kentucky, the opportunities were likely limited for Justin Thomas to feel what it’s like to skate onto ice to the unmistakable bang of smacked hockey boards. Saturday at the RBC Canadian Open that electricity was turned up loud, and as Thomas entered The Rink (the par-3 16th) after rolling in a 1-foot, 2-inch putt for eagle on the previous hole he was serenaded by the Canadian crowd like he was one of their own. “I don’t know why it’s happening, but I’m very appreciative of the fan support here in Toronto. I said to… Rory (McIlroy) and Corey (Conners) that it felt like a major a bit out there,” said Thomas. “I knew, obviously, very passionate sports fans up in this part of the world and then having two years away from this tournament, I knew they were going to be ready to go this year.” Thomas shot a bogey-free 63 Saturday and St. George’s Golf and Country Club and is just two shots back of the 54-hole lead held by Tony Finau and Rory McIlroy. Sam Burns, ranked second in the FedExCup standings, is amongst those tied with Thomas at 9 under. Thomas, Finau, and McIlroy will be in the final group together on Sunday. Golfers will go off split tees and in threesomes with anticipated weather in the Greater Toronto Area. With this much firepower at the top of the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s finale in Toronto, the return of the RBC Canadian Open is very much delivering. “I mean, without sounding cheesy, it makes me pretty happy inside seeing this,” said Thomas of the top-heavy leaderboard heading into Sunday in Toronto. “There’s no other place I would want to be playing and it’s just, obviously with a tournament like this and the history that it has and how long it’s been played, had a lot of great past champions and venues and drama. “And it looks like it has a potential tomorrow to produce a little bit more of that and create some more history.” Thomas’ 63 – clipped by Finau’s 62 as one of the low rounds of the week – was “easy,” he said. The winner of the 2022 PGA Championship had as complete a day as you could ask for, sitting inside the top-10 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Tee to Green, and Putting. “I didn’t do anything great. I just didn’t do anything bad,” said Thomas. “But I took advantage of some of the opportunities when I had them there in, kind of the middle of the course, and just stayed patient and waited for my run.” Finau, who has won twice on the PGA TOUR, finished poorly on Friday – bogeying two of his final three holes – and that lit a fire in his belly to come out with a solid Saturday round. He birdied his first hole of the day, went out in 5-under 29, and added a birdie on his final hole of the day to put a bow on a 62. This was his lowest round on the PGA TOUR since a matching 62 in the second round of The American Express in January 2020. “I knew I was playing well, but at any given moment on this golf course you can make a number. So, there’s no reason to get ahead of myself, I just tried to stay in the moment as much as I could and put together a nice round all the way to the end,” said Finau. “And any time you’re at the top of the leaderboard and have a chance to win on a Sunday on the PGA TOUR it’s exciting.” McIlroy, meanwhile, is trying to go back-to-back for the first time in his TOUR career. No one on the PGA TOUR has repeated as champion at two different venues since Jim Furyk at the RBC Canadian Open in 2006 and 2007. He was quick to heap praise on the Canadian fans, who after two years of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were thrilled with the buzz of a Saturday afternoon in the country’s biggest city. “The atmosphere out there today was, I mean I can’t remember the last time I played in an atmosphere like that,” said McIlroy. “It was really special.” There’s another carrot the likes of McIlroy, Finau, Thomas, and Burns don’t need to worry about Sunday – a spot in The Open Championship. The Canadian Open is part of the Open Championship Series and is offering two spots to golfers who are not otherwise exempt and who finish inside the top eight come Sunday. Wyndham Clark and Alex Smalley (tied for third), and Austin Cook and Jim Knous (tied for seventh) are in the mix for a spot to compete for the Claret Jug. There’s also the race for low Canadian still to be settled. Nick Taylor, who sits tied for 15th through three rounds at St. George’s, is a shot ahead of Corey Conners. Neither Taylor – who was as high as tied for second through the early part of Saturday – or Conners, the top-ranked Canadian in the FedExCup, has ever won the Rivermede Cup. “The ovation on the first tee, walking off a lot of greens on to the tees, it’s something that I don’t get every week, so it’s nice to feel that buzz,” said Taylor. “I think everyone’s really excited to have the event back.” The excitement was high, and the Canadian Open is certainly living up to the hype.

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