Open Championship 2018: Tournament news, schedule, coverage and analysis

AVONDALE, La. – In New Orleans they do almost everything with music. And so it was the perfect town to implement walk up music for the first time on the PGA TOUR at the Zurich Classic. Some teams picked tunes to pump them up. Others to make them smile and relax. And there were certainly some great moments. Take Justin Rose – a former champion – he couldn’t resist a quick dig at his teammate Henrik Stenson. Rose had the DJ play “Goldâ€� by Spandau Ballet – of course in reference to him besting the Swede at the 2016 Rio Olympics. After raising his arms in triumph on the first tee he walked to Stenson for a high five and a “Sorry Bro,â€� much to everyone’s amusement. The biggest cheers might have come for the duo of Alex Cejka and Ben Crane. The pair cranked out Whitesnake’s “Here I go Againâ€� and performed a quick lip-syncing and headbanging performance. One fan let them know, “Y’all got to hit a good shot after all that now!â€� To which they did. Chris Stroud and Brian Stuard picked Metallica’s “Enter Sandmanâ€�. It was a popular choice as the fans rocked along with it. While the song had clipped off before the famous line one clever observer quipped as they walked off the tee, “Off to never never land.â€� England’s Tommy Fleetwood had his partner Chis Paisley in stitches with their choice of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhereâ€�. As the lyric pounded out… “I want to be with you everywhere,â€� Paisley couldn’t contain himself. His tee shot was immediately followed by a loud “fore rightâ€�. The first player to hit off in the morning, Joel Dahmen, also lost his ball well right after “I’m Alrightâ€� from Kenny Loggins – made famous in the Caddyshack soundtrack – had him too pumped up. But paired with Denny McCarthy the duo carded a 10-under 62 to rocket to 15-under and into contention. Charles Lewallan and his daughter Tiffany arrived at the first tee on hour before play started just to get a prime spot. The 61-year-old from Long Beach Mississippi was incredibly keen to see how the players took to the new concept. “I think it’s great. It’s a bit different and they seem to be having a good time with it. I loved the headbanging,â€� Lewallan said. “We game early just for this and it has been very entertaining.â€� The man in charge of the music was local lawyer Brett Bonin who DJ’s in his spare time at schools, volunteer groups and local golf tournaments. “You’ve got to do something cool on the side,â€� Bonin – who works for the Louisiana office of alcohol and tobacco control – said. “A good friend of mine got asked to do it but he had several other events going on; I’ve filled in for him whenever he had a conflict. “I’ve done a lot of golf tournaments here with music; I’ve done golf tournaments where they play loud music the whole time; that’s how I ended up being asked to do it.â€� Manned with his computer, an iTunes playlist and an amp and mixer Bonin had clipped each team’s song request down to 10 seconds. He and two friends were up to 1am making sure everything was in order and teed up to the right moment in the song after not getting the final cleared list until after 9pm Friday night. Three different players even called to make sure they had it right. “It’s a level of complexity that you never, ever deal with regular DJ work,â€� Bonin laughed. One of those levels came soon after with Charley Hoffman’s caddy asking for his song, “California Loveâ€� by Tupac, be played longer and during Hoffman’s swing. Bonin said he didn’t have that authority but when Hoffman himself insisted the Presidents Cup player did indeed hit his ball with the tune still blaring. “There’s like 20 different people giving you instructions and trying to figure out who trumps whom is very difficult,â€� Bonin said. They also had to do sound checks in the early hours Saturday with people placed on other holes on the course, making sure the volume wouldn’t adversely affect players out there already playing. Another Presidents Cup player – Louis Oosthuizen – had “Hakuna Matataâ€� play prior to his opening shot. Of course, it means, “no worries, for the rest of your days,â€� but Oosthuizen’s ball sailed left into a bunker. The team still made birdie. Other clever choices from teams included “Down Underâ€� from Men at Work with all-Australian team Cameron Percy and Greg Chalmers; a bagpipe version of Flower of Scotland from Russell Knox and Martin Laird and Toto’s “Africaâ€� from South Africans Tyrone Van Aswegen and Retief Goosen. Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar went with local favorite Louis Armstrong’s “When the Saints Go Marchingâ€� and had them dancing in the stands. And the 36-hole leaders Michael Kim and Andrew Putnam gained respect for poking a little fun at themselves. Choosing “Still D.R.Eâ€� by Dr. Dre they clipped at the lyrics, “Guess who’s back. Still doing this huh? Yeah, Check me out,â€� Putnam is currently 105th in the FedExCup and Kim is back in 171st. Keeping it light and with a fun vibe this week has helped them to a hot start. Those vibes are set to continue for all when the music returns Sunday.

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Zach Johnson and Andrew Landry share the lead at -13 heading into Sunday’s final round of the Valero Texas Open. After shooting a course-record 62 in Round 3, Trey Mullinax is one shot back of the lead.  Here is what you need to know ahead of Round 4 of the Valero Texas Open: Round 4 leaderboard Round 4 tee times NOTABLE PAIRINGS (ALL TIMES ARE ET) 11:55 a.m. Grayson Murray, Joaquin Niemann, Andrew Putnam 12:05 p.m. Chris Kirk, Martin Laird, Richy Werenski 12:15 p.m. Ryan Moore, Sean O’Hair, Jimmy Walker 12:25 p.m. Zach Johnson, Andrew Landry, Trey Mullinax HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN TELEVISION: 1:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. (GC) (Golf Channel / NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream) TELEVISION: 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (CBS) RADIO: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com) MUST READS Making the most of his opportunities, Mullinax sets course record

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LAS VEGAS - Collin Morikawa wasn't about to let Xander Schauffele have all the fun, even if it went somewhat unnoticed. After a relatively benign opening 1-under 71 on Thursday, Morikawa slotted seven birdies in a bogey-free 7-under 65 in the second round of THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK to find his way into a tie for fifth. Amazingly it was a round that went a little under the radar as he was paired with Schauffele who set the course alight early and ultimately went one better with a 64. RELATED: Full leaderboard | What the pros are playing at Shadow Creek Schauffele birdied seven of his opening nine holes to shoot 29 on the back side and added one more birdie on the front to move to 14 under and three shots clear at the top of the leaderboard. But while he has set up a substantial and impressive lead, Morikawa's effort ensured Schauffele won't be able to take his foot off the gas on the weekend. The 23-year-old flashed one of his now trademark cheeky grins when he was met with a question about Schauffele's birdie blitz, reminding those in attendance that he also had gone low and so to had the third member of the threesome in Viktor Hovland (66). "It wasn’t just him. Viktor was making a bunch of birdies in that stretch, I had a couple myself. It’s enjoyable," he quipped. "When you have momentum like that, you just want to keep it going, you don’t want to kind of stall out mid round. "All of us just kept making birdies… I knew it wasn’t going to stop. I knew there was birdie chances on the front nine and we just had to keep it going. As long as I kept giving myself good looks, hitting the fairway, I knew a few would drop by 18." Morikawa credited the blemish free round to a new putter he's using this week. He's made a switch to a mallet style from the blade type he used to win the Workday Charity Open and PGA Championship last season. He needed 28 putts on Thursday and just 26 Friday and has gained 1.545 shots over the field on the greens to go with his usual ball-striking clinic. His approach game has yielded 4.077 strokes against the field so far. "I had a long neck in the blade and the way it was stroking from lag putts, it was never consistent, like the ball didn’t roll as well," he said. "If you look at the best putters, obviously their putts roll really well and their speed’s really consistent. The blade, when I found it outside 30 feet, some I’d hit past and then I’d adjust and then the next one it would be maybe six feet short. I was just looking for something to roll a lot cleaner through the putt."

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