Pro golfer withdraws from tournament after freak injury

Click here to read the full article…

AUGUSTA, Ga. – On a star-studded leaderboard, Tiger Woods is firmly in the mix entering Saturday’s third round of the Masters. Tiger begins his weekend chase of his fifth green jacket just one shot back of the five co-leaders at Augusta National. We’ll have hole-by-hole updates after Tiger tees off at 2:05 p.m. ET, so check this file often. MORE MASTERS Leaderboard | Tales of Tiger’s equipment | Rd. 2 recap: Tiger one back entering weekend Pre-round notes TIGER’S PUTTING: Through the first two rounds, Tiger has been great from long range … and horrible from short range. From outside 20 feet, Tiger ranks first in the field, making 5 of 15 attempts for a rate of 33.33%. No other player in the field has made more than three putts from that distance. From inside 5 feet, however, Tiger has missed three of his 29 putts, leaving his conversion rate at 89.66%. Among the 65 players who made that cut, the only player with a worse percentage is amateur Alvaro Ortiz at 89.29%. From 5-10 feet, though, Ortiz leads the field, making all eight of his attempts. Woods has missed four of his eight attempts (50%). Just 12 players have lower percentage rates than Tiger from that distance. FAMILIAR PAIRING: Tiger is paired with Englishman Ian Poulter for the third round at the Masters for the second consecutive year. Both were well off the pace when they played together a year ago, with Tiger shooting an even-par 72 to end the round tied for 40th, while Poulter shot a 74 to drop into a tie for 50th at that point. Saturday will be the sixth round that Woods and Poulter have been in the same group at a PGA TOUR event. The first time was at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2010 when they were in the same threesome for the first two rounds. The last time was at THE NORTHERN TRUST during last season’s FedExCup Playoffs. Four times, Woods has shot the better score, and the other time they recorded the same score. RECENT SATURDAYS AT AUGUSTA: When Tiger won his last green jacket in 2005, he shot a 7-under 65 that moved him from six shots behind to three strokes ahead. That 65 tied for his lowest round in his Masters career – in fact, both of his 65s at Augusta National have happened in the third round. In his 10 starts since 2005, Tiger has shot in the 60s just twice in the third round, a 68 in 2008 and another 68 in 2015.

Click here to read the full article…

The RBC Heritage returns to its traditional post-Masters spot on the schedule after serving as the second event in last year’s Return to Golf. While Dustin Johnson missed the cut at the Masters, the reigning FedExCup champion and South Carolina native will be headlining the field at Hilton Head. Webb Simpson is the defending champion. FIELD NOTES: Collin Morikawa looks to improve on his T64 finish at last year’s Heritage… Current FedExCup leader Bryson DeChambeau returns to Hilton Head after finishing T8 last season… Will Zalatoris, who was in the final group Saturday at the Masters, will make his RBC Heritage debut… In the absence of the RBC Canadian Open for the second consecutive year, Canadian Michael Gligic is among the sponsor exemptions… Other sponsor exemptions include former college standouts John Augenstein and Bryson Nimmer. Nimmer is from Bluffton, South Carolina – just minutes from Hilton Head – while Augenstein is a past champion of The Players Amateur, which is held annually in Bluffton… Each of the last eight winners at the RBC Heritage are back in the field for 2021, including two-time champion Jim Furyk… More notables teeing it up at Harbour Town include Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, and Daniel Berger. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Harbour Town Golf Links, par 71, 7,121 yards. Located in South Carolina on Hilton Head Island, the Pete Dye/Jack Nicklaus collaboration has hosted the PGA TOUR since 1969 and puts a premium on driving accuracy. STORYLINES: Simpson broke a streak of four-straight first-time TOUR winners at Harbour Town, setting a tournament record to earn his second win of the season. He is now looking to become the first back-to-back champ at the RBC Heritage since Boo Weekley in 2007 and 2008… The event’s capacity is 20% of a typical year. Tournament organizers announced tickets for the week are sold out… Five out of the last 11 RBC Heritages have gone into a playoff, with only two of the events over the last decade won by more than one stroke… Thirty-seven golfers are scheduled to make the trek from Augusta National to Hilton Head. 72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Webb Simpson (2020) 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, David Frost (2nd round, 1994), Troy Merritt (2nd round, 2015). LAST TIME: The event, moved from April to June during the TOUR’s pause on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Webb Simpson capture his seventh PGA TOUR title, in record-setting fashion at that. Simpson’s 22-under 262 set the scoring record at the Heritage. He shot a 7-under 64 in Sunday’s final round to win by one over Abraham Ancer, who was tied with Simpson after 54 holes. Daniel Berger and Tyrrell Hatton finished two shots back at 20 under and were T3. Sergio Garcia and Joaquin Niemann rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/PGA Tour Live Freeview). Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups), Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete.

Click here to read the full article…