A star-studded field comes to TPC River Highlands, where last year history was made when Jim Furyk shot a final-round 58.
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TORONTO, Ont. – Bobby Jones said that a great career was not complete without winning The Open at St. Andrews. Jones did it in 1927. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and so many of the game’s greats have followed in his footsteps. Another player will have an opportunity this year as The 150th Open returns to St. Andrews after a one-year delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Record crowds will be on-site to witness history, and players can earn the opportunity to compete in this important championship in several upcoming PGA TOUR events. The Open Qualifying Series, which offers Open berths to top finishers in various events around the world, includes several upcoming PGA TOUR events, starting with this week’s RBC Canadian Open. Two Open spots are available this week to the two highest finishers who are not yet exempt to St. Andrews, as long as they also finish in the top eight on the leaderboard. The John Deere Classic, Barbasol Championship and Genesis Scottish Open also are part of the Open Qualifying Series. Three spots apiece will be available at both the Deere and Scottish Open, while the Barbasol will offer the final spot in The Open. Several big names are still vying for their spot in The Open, including former world No. 1 Jason Day, who finished a shot out of a playoff in the 2015 Open at St. Andrews, 2017 Open runner-up Matt Kuchar, Matthew Wolff, Maverick McNealy and Davis Riley. Among the players in the field this week who are looking to lock up a spot at St. Andrews are Jason Dufner, Sebastian Munoz, Cameron Champ and Luke List, winner of this season’s Farmers Insurance Open. Seventeen players who are teeing it up this week have already booked their spot to St Andrews. That group includes defending champion Rory McIlroy, winner of the 2014 Open Championship, and Justin Thomas, winner of this year’s PGA Championship. The top two players in the FedExCup, Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, also have Open spots locked up, as do Canadians Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes. Adam Hadwin, who earned a berth in the 2019 Open via his finish at that year’s RBC Canadian Open, is again looking to punch his ticket to The Open. Past Canadian Open champions still seeking their spot at St. Andrews include Jhonattan Vegas, Brandt Snedeker, Scott Piercy, and Sean O’Hair. Harry Higgs, Carlos Ortiz, J.J. Spaun, Sahith Theegala and Keith Mitchell are among the other names seeking Open spots this week. Graeme McDowell and Adam Hadwin earned berths via their position on the leaderboard at the Canadian Open in 2019. “It’s always nice to have a chance to get into The Open Championship field,” says Hadwin, who is one of 20 Canadians in the field at St. George’s Golf and Country Club. Hadwin, who finished T57 at The Open that year, says earning a spot in the major is something that became a surprising reward as he was coming down the stretch that Sunday in Hamilton three years ago. There were two other Canadians – Mackenzie Hughes and Ben Silverman – who were in the mix to earn a spot in The Open, but also win the golf tournament. Thirteen golfers have won both the Canadian Open and Open Championship, McIlroy being the most recent addition to that list after his 2019 victory in Hamilton. Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods are the only golfers to have won the Canadian Open, The Open, and the U.S. Open in the same season – golf’s coveted Triple Crown. That feat is another on the table for 2022 with the U.S. Open and, of course, The Open Championship, yet to be contested. There are six more events to come as part of the Open Qualifying Series. Chris Kirk and Talor Gooch earned their spot at St. Andrews earlier this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, which also was part of the Open Qualifying Series.
BLAINE, Minn. – Richy Werenski made a short birdie putt on the par-5 18th for an 8-under 63 to take the first-round lead Thursday in the 3M Open. The 24-year-old Werenski is winless on the PGA TOUR. He broke a tie with Michael Thompson with his ninth and last birdie on the warm, windy afternoon at the TPC Twin Cities. Defending champion Matthew Wolff, Tony Finau, Nick Watney, Ryan Moore, Xinjun Zhang and Max Homa were tied for third at 65. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Finau parts ways with caddie, shoots first-round 65 | Dustin Johnson withdraws citing back injury Dustin Johnson withdrew because of a back injury after a 78. His victory at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, last month did not spark a post-shutdown surge. After posting back-to-back 80s last week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide for the highest 36-hole score of his pro career, Johnson’s first appearance at the 3M Open north of Minneapolis lasted just one round. At the end of his first nine, Johnson started the 599-yard, dog-leg 18th hole with a solid drive off the tee. With 209 yards to get to the flag, he used his 6-iron for a shot — “perfect,” he said — that was swallowed up in the pond just short of the rough. “Hit it right at it and never once did I think it was going to go in the water,” said Johnson, who did mention his back during a brief post-round interview. His next two tries met the same fate. Three penalty strokes later, Johnson finally landed his ball on the green for a tap-in putt and a quadruple-bogey nine on the scorecard. “Kind of the same last week. I just struggled with my iron play, and that makes it difficult,” he said. Watney, who was the first PGA TOUR player to test positive for the coronavirus, at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, failed to make the cut two weeks ago at the Workday Charity Open in Dublin, Ohio, after a two-round score of 150. The 39-year-old Watney, who has five career PGA TOUR victories, went back to the basics in practice last week — aim, balance, posture — while most of his peers played the Memorial. “I’m trying to put that to bed, get past it and hopefully play some nice golf after coming down with that,” Watney said. “It’s great to be up here after playing a good round as opposed to just other things.”
Tiger Woods curled in a long birdie putt at 16 and opened his arm to the heavens — his only great moment in the first round of the Open Championship.
