Rookie Long flies under the radar to claim first PGA Tour win

AUSTIN, Texas - Scottie Scheffler couldn't get the picture out of his head. Sitting on the couch watching Ryder Cup's with his father and seeing European Ian Poulter bury putt after putt to sink the Americans. Then there was the time in 2012 that he played the Junior Ryder Cup at Olympia Fields in Chicago while the big boys were at battle at nearby Medinah. But Scheffler was on his way home to Texas on Sunday and in the airport watching as Europe mounted an epic fightback. Poulter was again leading the way. RELATED: Full bracket, scoring | Recap each match from Saturday Those visions sat there for Scheffler Saturday morning as a carrot while he prepared to play the wily veteran. I can beat this guy he thought - and he did it in style with seven birdies helping him to a 5 and 4 rout. Before he could catch his breath he was back out on Austin Country Club - a place not unfamiliar for the former University of Texas Longhorn - to play against the new breed of European superstar in Jon Rahm. This is a Ryder Cup year and there is no doubt U.S. captain Steve Stricker would have taken notice of his 3 and 1 dismantling of Rahm. It wasn't just the fact he won - it was how he won. Scheffler posted up eight birdies and when Rahm came after him with birdies of his own down the stretch the Texan just matched them. "I played some really good golf. I think I kept things bogey-free, and I got some early leads and made sure that I kept the pressure on those guys and made them feel like they had to do something special to beat me, which they weren’t able to do," Scheffler said. Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year last season. He famously shot 59 during the FedExCup Playoffs and while he's yet to win on TOUR, plenty of people have long suggested that's just a matter of time for the 24-year-old. He made a choice not to be intimidated by any situation on Saturday and he plans to do the same when he comes up against another veteran in Matt Kuchar in Sunday's semi-final. There is no doubt he has the lion share of the crowd support and is riding the energy as far as he can. “This is the position I want to be in at the end of the week," Scheffler added. "I didn’t want to lose any matches and I have another great opponent in the morning. I'm looking forward to getting on the course with him." Kuchar showed grit and guile to come from behind to beat Jordan Spieth on the 18th hole in the round of 16 and then held off a tenacious finish from Brian Harman in the quarters. The 2013 champion was also runner up the last time the tournament was held in 2019 and sits behind only Tiger Woods for total wins. The 42-year-old knows all the tricks of the match play trade and will prove a formidable roadblock for Scheffler's dreams. A former U.S. Amateur winner and a veteran of Ryder and Presidents Cup teams, Kuchar seeks to join Woods, Ogilvy and Jason Day as multiple winners. And he would become the oldest winner should he get through to the trophy but says his legs aren't dead yet. "I can’t tell you how good I feel right now. I feel like I’m still floating," Kuchar said. "There’s a high level of intensity and to come out on top, to make a 10-footer on the last to win the match, I feel incredible. Certainly a little easier tonight being done kind of 5 o’clock than it was last night being done after 7. So get a full night’s rest and hopefully a couple good matches tomorrow." On the other side of the draw Billy Horschel will meet Frenchman Victor Perez. Horschel came back from the dead to beat Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff when the Englishman sent a tee shot out-of-bounds. Now the former FedExCup champion has the chance to add another huge title to his resume. As a five-time TOUR winner he's no stranger to victories - but the last came in 2018. And while he does have a FedExCup title under his belt he is yet to win a WGC event. Recently he had the chance to win at WGC - Workday Championship at The Concession before finishing runner up to Collin Morikawa. "Nothing changes. I know what tomorrow means. I know it’s no different than the final round," Horschel said. "I’m not going to stress about it anymore, and I’m not going to worry about it. I’m just going to go play some golf and see where my game is and hopefully it’s good enough and I play well enough then I can move on and maybe hold a trophy tomorrow." As for Perez - he's the wildcard who brings back memories of another French Victor. In 2014 Jason Day had to outlast Victor Dubuisson in the final in Tucson over extra holes when he kept making ridiculous par saves from the desert. Perez was a student in the desert himself in those days - as part of the golf team at the University of New Mexico. "He got all the way to the top-15 in the world and played in the Ryder Cup and obviously did great things in World Match Play and bigger tournaments. It gave us the belief that it was possible back then and obviously I’m very pleased to be where I am today," Perez says of his countryman. There aren't as many cacti around Austin Country Club, but this does represent a chance for the 28-year-old to emulate Dubuisson and leverage this tournament into a Ryder Cup berth. Having already won the Dunhill Links on the European Tour last year, Perez will move inside the top 20 players in the world if he wins in Austin. "I’m a big believer in trying to get better at what you’re already good at and my trainer has this funny line he says, ‘Just kind of sharpening your sword. Don’t try to change your sword, just try to keep doing what you’re doing and do it a little bit better.' That’s what I’ve been very disciplined on doing." All four know one thing. A career-changing moment awaits.

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CROMWELL, Conn. — Viktor Hovland, recently the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, signed an equipment contract with Ping ahead of his professional debut this week at the Travelers Championship. At last week’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the 21-year-old Hovland finished T12 and set the record for the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur in U.S. Open history, breaking the record previously held by Jack Nicklaus. Earlier in 2019, Hovland also finished as the low amateur in the Masters, for which he qualified by winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach. At Oklahoma State University, Hovland was a three-time All-American and won the 2019 Ben Hogan Award – an award presented to the top men’s college player – after a season that included three collegiate victories. Hovland was also a member of OSU’s 2018 National Championship-winning team. Not only has Hovland been playing Ping products for three years, his connection to Ping runs deeper. Hovland was born in Oslo, Norway, while Ping founder Karsten Solheim was born in Bergen, Norway. “Viktor’s connection to Norway makes the relationship even more special. The country has been fully behind him since he burst onto the scene as a young junior, and he’s continued to impress on so many levels,â€� said John K. Solheim, Ping President and Karsten’s grandson, in a press release. “I know my grandfather would be honored to have a Norwegian golfer of Viktor’s character and talent representing Ping.â€� Hovland himself added: “The technology behind the equipment and the service they provide allows me to focus on getting better and not worrying about my equipment. The Norwegian connection is also really cool. Karsten Solheim and his family have done so much for the game of golf. Their support of Oklahoma State’s team and their role in developing Karsten Creek are just a couple of examples of the wonderful things they do for golf. I’m honored to be part of their golfing family and look forward to working with them as I begin my professional career.â€� Oklahoma State University’s home golf course, Karsten Creek Golf Club, is named after Ping’s founder, and the university is part of Ping’s College Program, which began in the 1970s. “We’ve been impressed with Viktor since we first met him when he was a freshman at Oklahoma State,â€� said Chance Cozby, Ping’s Vice President of Sports Development, in a press release. “During his time in Stillwater, he played PING equipment at various times and we continued to keep in touch with him through our regular visits to the school. When it became clear he was going to turn professional this summer, we identified him as someone who would be a perfect fit for our staff. We had a very productive testing session with him at Karsten Creek this spring, which ultimately led to where we stand today. We are extremely pleased Viktor is joining the Ping staff.â€� Hovland, who has officially signed an equipment deal with Ping as a professional, took PGATOUR.COM through his club setup at the Travelers Championship. As he told PGATOUR.COM, however, his setup is likely to change over the coming weeks and months. Driver: Ping G410 LST (draw setting, 9 degrees) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS 6.5-flex 62 grams Hovland says: “I just put this in the bag on Thursday morning of the U.S. Open. I drove it really nice and it was a big part of my success last week… I’ve been messing around with the different kind of heads and I felt like this was a great fit for me. I was struggling with a bigger left-to-right curve. I put it on draw [setting] and it keeps it neutralized a bit. I was able to hit a lot of fairways with it at the U.S. Open.â€� Hovland led the field last week at the U.S. Open in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. 3 Wood: Ping G410 LST (14.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke 6.5TX 80 grams Hovland says: “I really like [the way it] sits down because it looks like it has a lot of loft and it sits real tight to the ground, so for me it’s real easy to launch. I’m a guy who hits a lot of drivers off the tee, I don’t really like to hit a lot of 3 woods [off the tee]. So for me it’s key to have something I can launch up in the air and get it to stop on the greens, [such as going for] par 5’s in two. That’s been a great help for me.â€� Driving Iron: Callaway X-Forged UT (21 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 85X hybrid Irons: Ping iBlade (4-6 iron), Ping i210 (7-PW) Shafts: KBS Tour-V 120X In what is quite the unique iron setup, Hovland uses the smaller iBlade irons in his long irons, and the larger, more forgiving i210 irons in his shorter irons. This is opposite of what most other players do, but Hovland has his reasons, as discussed below. Hovland says: “I’ve actually only had [the i210] irons for about a week or so. I used to have a full bag of iBlades, and last week I got the Ping i210s. I noticed that I actually got a lower ball flight because I was spinning it a little too much with the iBlades that I had… Last week at the US Open I felt like I was hitting my irons from 7-PW just a little high – they were launching a little too high and spinning a little too much for what I like to see. The greens were firm out there [at the U.S. Open] so you want them to land softly and spin, but they were just [spinning and launching] a little too much, and especially with the wind coming they were hard to control. I just happened to test out some i210s and immediately on the range I just saw them launch a little lower and they weren’t spinning as much. And they were flying in a way that’s normal to my eye. So they were in the bag immediately. It’s opposite on the longer clubs (4-6 iron). You want to be able to launch them higher and I thought the iBlades were perfect for that. I can always launch it low with the longer irons, but if you can hit them high, you can attack any pin you want to. The iBlades have been really great for me so far.â€� Wedges: TaylorMade Tour Preferred EF Spin Groove (50, 56 ATV and 60 ATV) Shafts: KBS 610 Wedge 115 (50 and 56 degrees), KBS Tour-V 130 (60 degree wedge) Putter: TaylorMade TP Collection Mullen 2 Hovland officially makes his professional debut at the Travelers Championship at 8:35 a.m. on Thursday morning.

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Round 4 of the RBC Heritage takes place Sunday. Stewart Cink leads by five with Collin Morikawa, Emiliano Grillo, Matt Wallace and Sungjae Im among the chasers. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE. Leaderboard Full tee times 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. FEATURED GROUPS 9:40 a.m. ET: Ian Poulter, Charles Howell III 10:55 a.m. ET: Dustin Johnson, Cameron Davis MUST READS Cink maintains five-shot lead Win probabilities Behold the Carolina Swing Paul Casey’s journey to cross-handed putting Insider: How Fitzpatrick dives deep into stats to improve CALL OF THE DAY

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