Remembering these great Masters final rounds

Nasa Hataoka won the Kia Classic on Sunday at Aviara Golf Club for her third victory in her past 16 LPGA Tour starts.

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Last month, Justin Lower was emotional on the 18th green at Sedgefield Country Club after a final-round, 1-under 69 – including a three-putt bogey on the 72nd hole – saw him finish T36 at the Wyndham Championship. As a result, Lower, 33, was outside the top 125 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List and headed back to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals for an opportunity to improve his PGA TOUR status for the 2022-23 season. Friday afternoon, however, Lower and five others learned they were moved inside the top 125 on the 2021-22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List, effective as of 1:15 p.m. ET, replacing six players. Matt Wallace, Austin Smotherman, Lower, Doc Redman, Danny Willett and Kelly Kraft now rank Nos. 120-125 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List, respectively. These six players will earn fully exempt 2022-23 TOUR status and gain THE PLAYERS Championship access following Friday’s announcement. Six players who finished inside the top 125 have been removed from the 2021-22 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List – Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III, Anirban Lahiri and Cameron Tringale. Lower, Redman and Kraft have been subsequently removed from the Korn Ferry Tour Finals Eligibility Points List (i.e. – The Finals 25), as they cannot better their TOUR status via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. These players will not count toward The Finals 25. Lower (ninth), Redman (16th) and Kraft (T32) all held points on the Finals Eligibility Points List entering this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, the third and final tournament of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, as well as the 26th and final event of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season. Smotherman competed in the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron but missed the cut; Wallace and Willett did not compete in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. The top 25 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals Eligibility Points List at the conclusion of this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance will earn 2022-23 PGA TOUR membership, and they will slot into the TOUR Priority Ranking in alternating fashion with the top 25 players from the season-long Korn Ferry Tour Eligibility Points List (i.e. – The 25). The final FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List for the 2021-22 season will not be finalized until 5 p.m. ET on September 9.

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DUBLIN, Ohio – A year ago Adam Scott was humbled in Ohio. His game had slipped and was at a crossroads. Would he find another gear to get back amongst the contenders on the PGA TOUR or would the 13-time winner fade away into some form of obscurity? While Scott has not added to his win tally in the last 12 months – a resume that includes victories at The PLAYERS Championship and the Masters – he has significantly lifted his game. That trend continued Friday when a 6-under 66 moved Scott to 7 under at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide through two rounds, just two back of the clubhouse lead after the morning wave. A year ago the Australian had slipped far enough down the world rankings that his play at Muirfield Village would be the determining factor in whether he would play his 17th consecutive U.S. Open and 68th straight major championship. Going into Sunday he was sitting well placed at T11 but shot 73 in the final round to tumble to T35. It meant he would have to front up to 36-hole sectional qualifying the following day if he was to keep his streak alive. Frustrated and annoyed Scott had contemplated not bothering. He had just one top-10 to that point in 14 starts on the season and was on the end of playing five straight weeks. But after some anger subsided, pride kicked in, and he decided to have a crack at getting to Shinnecock. Related: Tee times | Watch PGA TOUR LIVE | Down a rib, Merritt makes his move “It was definitely pride. I wanted to be at the U.S. Open. Unsatisfied just mailing it in and sitting on the couch when I could have been given a start,â€� Scott said. “It wasn’t like I was just playing horrible, but I just really couldn’t get anything to go my way. If I did something good, the other part of my game was ordinary. And I guess that had gone on for a while. And it takes its toll on the brain.â€� Scott’s performance at the sectional was impressive. He rushed out of the blocks with a 6-under 66 at the tougher Brookside Golf & Country Club and then held on with an even par 72 at the Lakes Golf and Country Club to be one of 14 qualifiers. He missed the cut at Shinnecock but soon after fueled with confidence again, he finished T17 at the Open Championship and then contended with Brooks Koepka down the stretch before settling for third place at the PGA Championship. Scott tacked on a T5 to open the FedExCup Playoffs and although he fell short of the TOUR Championship the uptick in form continued into the 2018-19 season. He was runner up at the Farmers Insurance Open and also contended at the Genesis Open (T7), the PLAYERS (T12), Masters (T18) and PGA Championship (T8) to sit 36th in the FedExCup heading into this week. And Muirfield Village is a place Scott believes he should have conquered. In his 11 previous appearances he has three top-5 finishes. “It really sets up well for me, and I feel like I’ve played a lot of good golf here over the years, just never four days in a row. It’s just never been quite enough,â€� he said. “But I’ve shot some of my really great rounds of my career here. I remember 62 in ’06 that was such a good round of golf on a very, very difficult golf course that day.â€� The question now becomes can Scott still close out over the weekend. His last win came in 2016. The return to form has been promising, but can he take it up a notch? A year ago he was just trying to get a top-10. Now he wants trophies again. “I did a really good job of it at the PGA, just getting out of my own way on the weekend, and I played really well and I hung in there right to the end,â€� Scott claimed. “It’s funny, and so quickly then the expectation changes and it’s now you need to win tournaments. And it just hasn’t happened. “It’s just about kind of doing what I did at that PGA and staying out of my own way and not really thinking about outcomes and all that cliché mental stuff and just play with a bit of confidence and a bit of fun.â€� Oh and that major streak? It will hit 73 at Pebble Beach in June at the U.S. Open. This time he’s already exempt.

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