Rory McIlroy commits to Travelers Championship

JACKSON, Miss. — Will Zalatoris felt like he couldn’t miss on the green and rarely did Friday in setting the course record with an 11-under 61 to share the lead with Nick Watney and Sahith Theegala in the Sanderson Farms Championship. RELATED: Leaderboard | Will Zalatoris inspired by U.S. Ryder Cup win Zalatoris, voted the PGA TOUR rookie of the year despite not having full status last year, made it look so simple at the Country Club of Jackson that his longest putt for par was 3 feet. One of the poorer shots he hit was on the par-5 third hole after making the turn. He hit a weak fade into a bunker some 30 yards away and blasted out to 3 feet, turning a difficult shot into yet another birdie. “The days where I make 20-footers, those are the days that I end up putting a great round together, because I’m always going to be the guy that’s going to hit 14 plus greens to give myself chances,” Zalatoris said. Watney, coming off his worst season in a decade, backed up a solid start with another good round. He opened with four birdies in six holes and dropped only one shot on his way to a 66. Theegala also held his own after opening with a 64, new territory for the California rookie in just his second start as a PGA TOUR member. He chipped in for eagle on the par-5 third hole to right back in the mix. Theegala finished with a 30-foot birdie putt for a 67. They were at 13-under 131 in what figures to be a week of low scoring. The cut was at 5-under 139. Among those who missed was Sergio Garcia, the defending champion playing a week after a draining Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland took two shots from behind the ninth green on his final hole and made bogey for a 73 to miss the cut by one. Zalatoris had a remarkable rookie season, boosted by a tie for sixth in the U.S. Open last September and tying for second in the Masters. All that’s left is to win. “I’ve gotten asked a lot, ‘What are your goals for this year?’ And besides winning a golf tournament, I really don’t have any,” he said. “Of course, everyone has goals of trying to be on a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup. I would be lying if I said I don’t have a little fire in my belly after missing out and watching guys that I grew up with playing as a part of Team USA.” Playing on sponsor exemptions last year, he still finished No. 22 in the Ryder Cup standings. Watney hit only two fairways, though not by much and he was rarely out of position. “It didn’t seem that stressful. That sounds really stressful, but it wasn’t that stressful,” he said. “For the most part I kept it in the right spot on the greens and I made a few kind of bonus putts that you might not expect to make. So those are always fun.” Cameron Young and Hayden Buckley each shot 65 and were one shot out of the lead. Roger Sloan of Canada shot 67 and was two behind. Sam Burns, who was seriously considered as a pick for the Ryder Cup, was among those three shots behind.

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Troy Merritt aced the 219-yard 11th hole at Detroit Golf Club and shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Joaquin Niemann in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Michigan.

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OAKVILLE, Ontario — Matt Kuchar fought dizzy spells in the first round of the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday, four days after finishing second behind Jordan Spieth in The Open Championship. “I had a couple of spells where I got a little bit of dizzy and I feel weak,” Kuchar said. “I don’t know where it came from. I’ve had plenty of time to get over the travel. Hopefully, it’s just something that passes real quick. … I shook it off the couple times it happened.” The 39-year-old American became dizzy marking a ball and sought medical attention during the morning round at Glen Abbey. After playing the first 11 holes in 4 under, he made a double bogey on the par-4 third and bogeyed the par-4 eighth en route to a 1-under 71. Kuchar was six strokes behind leaders Kevin Chappell, Matt Every, Hudson Swafford, Brandon Hagy and Ollie Schniederjans in the round that was suspended due to darkness after afternoon play was interrupted for nearly two hours by lightning and rain. “He had been over to mark a putt after he missed it and got a little light-headed,” said playing partner Bubba Watson, a stroke back after a 66. “He just came up a little slow. I don’t know why. It’s a little warm after the rain. Had a rain jacket on. Probably just a little light-headed. And then the travel. He played over there, a lot of energy used last week. Second place is a lot of energy used over that and then flying back over here with the time change, probably just one of those things. Maybe a little dehydrated.” Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas, Vijay Singh, Jim Herman, Peter Malnati and Martin Flores matched Watson at 66. Top-ranked Dustin Johnson had a 67. He eagled the par-5 13th and had six birdies and three bogeys. “Just had a few putts lip out on the back, and then, just didn’t drive it well the back nine,” Johnson said. “But when I did drive it in the fairway, I had good holes. I’m swinging really well, especially with the irons. … Tomorrow, I just need to go out in the morning and hit a few more fairways.” Chappell had two eagles, playing alongside fellow leader Every in the afternoon. Chappell made a 12-foot putt from the fringe on the par-5 16th for his first eagle and holed a 15-footer from the fringe on the par-5 second. “Doesn’t happen too often, but I’m glad it happened today,” Chappell said. “I hit it really well. Got the ball in play on the par 5s, so I was able to attack those.” Schniederjans also had two eagles. He chipped in on 13 and made a 15-footer on 18. “I took advantage of the par 5s and just played real consistently well off the tee,” Schniederjans said. “I was in good positions all day. Just a solid round.” Mackenzie Hughes topped the 17 Canadians at 67. “If you hit it in the fairway, you can be aggressive,” Hughes said. “The few fairways I missed, I was just trying to make par and you have to be a little bit defensive. All in all it was a great day. Probably could be a bit better, but I made a couple nice par putts, too. Overall, happy with my start.”

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