Park Hyun-kyung bags first professional win at Korean LPGA Championship as live golf returns

A strong short game and putter powered Kevin Kisner to his second PGA TOUR title at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. Using Callaway’s Mack Daddy 2 and MD3 wedges and an Odyssey White Hot Pro #7 putter, Kisner finished second in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (plus 4.116) and Strokes Gained: Putting (plus 5.702) at Colonial Country Club. In terms of new gear, Kisner recently put Callaway’s Epic hybrid (18 degrees) in play at the Wells Fargo Championship. With a Neutral directional bias and -1 loft, the hybrid has a strong ball flight that’s comparable to most 5-woods. The Epic hybrid employs the same technologies as the GBB Epic fairway woods, including an ultra-light triaxial carbon crown that has a thinner wall thickness and lighter weight than traditional composite crown. The Internal Standing Wave in the hybrid is similar to what’s found in the Epic Pro iron and is comprised of Metal-Injected Molding tungsten that’s 1.8-times heavier than steel. The substantial weight lowers the club’s center of gravity, improving the forgiveness and launch characteristics. Here’s a look at Kisner’s entire Callaway setup. Driver: Callaway Great Big Bertha (Aldila NV 2KXV Green 65TX shaft) 3-wood: Callaway GBB Epic (Aldila NV 2KXV Green 75TX shaft), 13.5 degrees Hybrid: Callaway Epic (Matrix Ozik Altus Hybrid X shaft), 18 degrees Utility iron: Callaway Apex UT (3-iron; Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120TX shaft) Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (4-9; Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 120TX shafts) Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 2 (47-11S and 52-12C degrees; Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 WV125 shafts), Callaway MD3 Milled (58 degrees; Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 WV125 shaft) Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro #7 Ball: Titleist Pro V1

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Tiger Woods is back in action at the newly-dubbed Genesis Invitational, where J.B. Holmes defends. Woods isn’t just the host. He’s also seeking a record-breaking 83rd victory. RELATED: Inside The Field FIELD NOTES: This is the first year that the tournament will be played as an invitational. The field is now 120 players, and the winner receives a three-year exemption, putting the Genesis on par with the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. … Rory McIlroy makes his fourth start at Riviera. He finished T4 a year ago. McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, is expected to regain the top spot in the world ranking Monday. It will be the first time since 2015 that he has held that position. … All of the top five players in the world (as of Feb. 7) will be in the field including McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and Dustin Johnson… Thomas had the 54-hole lead a year ago before shooting a 4-over 75 in the final round to finish runner-up. Thomas is currently the FedExCup leader as he seeks to join Woods and McIlroy as the only two-time FedExCup champs. … Joseph Bramlett received the 2020 Charlie Sifford Memorial exemption and will be in the field. Bramlett, who received the same honor in 2011, is the first two-time recipient. He shot 75-74 in 2011 to miss the cut. Since then, Bramlett completely re-built his swing after suffering an annular tear to his L4 and L5 discs. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points COURSE: Riviera Country Club, 7,322 yards, par 71. A long-time PGA TOUR host club, Riviera will be the site of the 2028 Olympic events. STORYLINES: This will be Woods’ third start of the season. He won THE ZOZO Championship to tie Sam Snead’s PGA TOUR wins record of 82, then finished T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open. Woods finished T15 here a year ago. This year will mark the 11th time that he tees it up at the venerable Riviera, a course that’s had his number throughout his career. It’s the only course Woods has played more than four times in his career where he hasn’t won. … Bubba Watson, who has two-straight top-10’s to begin 2020, returns to Riviera where he’s a three-time winner. Watson won in 2014, 2016, and 2018 and if history is any indication, these ‘even’ years have treated him well. … Stay tuned for the results of the Collegiate Showcase on Monday. The low collegiate golfer after the 18-hole earns a spot in the tournament. Past winners include 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler. … A great finish that catapults a golfer into the top-10 of the FedExCup standings will mean earning a late spot into the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.   72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Lanny Wadkins (1985). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, George Archer (3rd round, 1983 at Rancho Park GC), Ted Tryba (3rd round, 1999 at Riviera CC). LAST TIME: It was a brutal Sunday a year ago at Riviera as cold temperatures and gusty winds impacted the scoring. While Thomas fell down the leaderboard after a 4-over 75, it was Holmes – who played 33 holes on the final day – who came out on top. Thomas made three bogeys in his first five holes in the final round while Holmes was 2 under through that same stretch. That was ultimately the turning point as Holmes ended at 1 under for the day and won – for the fifth time on TOUR – by a shot. He was able to hold off a hard-charging Si Woo Kim, whose 5-under 66 was the round of the day. Kim finished third while Marc Leishman and McIlroy finished T4. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-2:45 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS).   PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 11:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Groups and Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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DETROIT — Davis Thompson, in his third PGA TOUR event as a professional, is leading the Rocket Mortgage Classic. RELATED: Leaderboard | Bryson DeChambeau will have new caddie in Rocket Mortgage defense He’s not excited about that fact. Yet. “Sounds good on Sunday,” Thompson said after matching a Detroit Golf Club record with a 9-under 63 to take the early first-round lead. “It’s only Thursday. I know I’ve got a long way to go.” Brandon Hagy and Tom Lewis were two shots back. Seamus Power and J.J. Spaun shot 66, putting them another stroke behind the surprising leader. Thompson is in the field as a sponsor exemption after sending an email to tournament officials, asking for a spot. The 22-year-old former University of Georgia star missed the cut last week at the Travelers Championship after tying for 35th in his pro debut at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree earlier in June. It is unlikely anyone saw his breakthrough round coming after he was a combined 6-over par in six previous starts — four as an amateur — on the PGA TOUR. Thompson did show a flash of promise when he competed in the 2020 U.S. Open as an amateur, opening with a 69 before missing the cut at 7-over 147. Thompson took advantage of favorable conditions with rain-softened greens and light wind Thursday morning at Detroit Golf Club, missing only one green and needing just 26 putts in his bogey-free round with nine birdies. “If the putter gets hot, you can just kind of ride that wave throughout the day,” he said. Thompson resumed his round after play was suspended due to inclement weather for three-plus hours. He tied the course record shared by Nate Lashley, who won the inaugural event in 2019, and J.T. Poston. “I’ve played in a few pro events now, so you’ve just got to keep your emotions in check,” Thompson said. “Anything can happen. I know I’m playing well, so I’m just going to have some confidence going into (Friday) and hopefully I can play another good round.” Players with afternoon tee times had to endure a long wait to begin playing and wind that was 5 to 10 mph stronger than it was in the morning. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau got off to a shaky start, a day after parting ways with caddie Tim Tucker. He replaced him for this week with Cobra-Puma Golf TOUR operations manager Ben Schomin, who said he was a caddie in competition for the first time. DeChambeau is trying to win a PGA TOUR event in consecutive years for the first time. He had a chance two weeks ago to repeat at the U.S. Open, but went from leading the major with nine holes left to faltering and finishing in a tie for 26th. And now, the big hitter might not make the cut and that would be a blow for him. DeChambeau missed the fairway to the right at Nos. 2 and 3, leading to bogeys. At the par-3, 184-yard ninth hole, he was short off the tee, on his chip and 10-foot putt to put another bogey on his card that dropped him to even-par 36 at the turn.

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