Russia’s Guseva shoots 67, shares Lotte lead

CROMWELL, Conn. – If a sense of calm seemed to envelope Patrick Cantlay moments after he made a double-bogey at his 17th hole, the par-3 eighth, in Thursday’s first round of the Travelers Championship, there were good reasons. One, by nature, Cantlay possesses a remarkable even-keel disposition. Two, he still signed for a 4-under 66 to continue a stretch of golf that is as good as anything being played on the PGA TOUR. And, third, he’s in a comfortable environment. “I turned pro here in ’12 and I played well here as an am in ’11,� said Cantlay, though he greatly understated the second half of that statement. That’s because in 2011, the then-19-year-old at UCLA scorched TPC River Highlands to the tune of 10-under 60, a bogey-free effort that featured an eagle and eight birdies. It remains the only 60 posted by an amateur in PGA TOUR history. “I like coming back to places that I like playing golf at,� said Cantlay, who led through 36 holes that year, but faded to T-24. He’s played here three other times since turning professional, but despite the sloppy bogey at the 204-yard eighth (“Just hit it a little fat and it went in the water,� he said), Thursday was his best score since that 60 eight years ago. “I hit the ball really well today. One missed shot cost me two.� You’d have to go back a long way to find a round of golf that didn’t have Cantlay speaking positively. Since missing the cut at THE PLAYERS Championship in March, his five stroke-play tournaments have produced stellar performances. A win (the Memorial Tournament), three other top 10s and a share of 21st at the U.S. Open last week have featured 20 rounds of golf, 12 of them in the 60s, a scoring average of 69.05 and a combined score of 43-under-par. Everything about Thursday’s start says Cantlay appears ready to continue that sizzling trend. “My mindset for a while has been, ‘Come out, win the golf tournament every week,’ and I’ve been close. I’ve played really well.�

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LOS ANGELES – Lanny Wadkins has sat on the Riviera Country Club throne for 37 years but Joaquin Niemann is coming for him at The Genesis Invitational. A day after smashing the 36-hole scoring record at The Genesis Invitational, the 23-year-old Niemann took down the 54-hole mark and the Chilean star now stands on the precipice of securing the longest standing active 72-hole tournament scoring record on the PGA TOUR. Wadkins put up a 20-under 264 at Riviera when claiming the 1985 tournament and it has stood firm since. But Niemann is hunting after his 63-63-68 start left him at 19-under 194 with a round to play. One should never count chickens before they hatch but the elevated, Tiger Woods hosted Genesis Invitational appears Niemann’s to lose as he sits three clear of rookie Cameron Young (16-under) and six shots ahead of third placed Viktor Hovland (13-under). Only Justin Thomas (12-under) and Collin Morikawa (11-under) are also within eight shots of his lead. Eight shots is the largest comeback for the tournament, by Ken Venturi in 1959. Niemann’s 54-hole mark topped the previous 196 from Mike Weir (2004), Dustin Johnson (2017) and Justin Thomas (2019). His 36-hole score of 126 bested the previous halfway record of 130. If he closes on Sunday at the storied Riviera, he will join the greats. “I’m having the best time of my life right now. I just try to keep it calm, but yeah, I’m enjoying it a lot and I just can’t wait to have a good day tomorrow,” Niemann said. “My speed (on the greens) has just been so good this week and that’s the thing that helps a lot… they’re so fast and every putt can run away from the hole pretty quick, so the speed has been good.” Should he go on and win, Niemann will also be the first wire-to-wire winner since Charlie Sifford in 1969. If the Wadkins record falls, the longest standing mark will belong to Payne Stewart’s 264 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational 34 years ago. After bursting onto the scene claiming his first PGA TOUR win at the Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and joining the International Presidents Cup team as a 20-year-old in 2019, Niemann has since found himself in the shadow of other young players. Despite starting 2021 with back-to-back runner-up finishes in Hawaii, it was a missed chance last summer at the Rocket Mortgage Challenge that really stung. Niemann shared the 54-hole lead with Troy Merritt but both were bested by Australian Cam Davis in a playoff on Sunday. Niemann went 72-holes without a bogey, only to make one in the first hole of sudden death to miss out. He believes he’s learned from the experience and intends to enjoy the moments come Sunday at Riviera. “Rocket Mortgage, I played great golf there. Obviously, I didn’t make any bogeys that week. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes things don’t go your way,” Niemann said. “I think I put myself in with a big chance to win the tournament and it just didn’t happen. I’ve just got to learn from that and go with a better attitude the next time you’re there.” But what of the chasers? Young’s scoring has been prolific also this week yet somewhat overlooked due to the leader. On Saturday the rookie pulled within two shots of the lead before a costly double bogey on the par-3 16th. The two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner seeks to become the first rookie to win on TOUR since Garrick Higgo claimed the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree last season. A former Wake Forest standout with Will Zalatoris, Young leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (+8.008) and Driving Distance (313.8) through three rounds and looks to go one better than his T2 earlier this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship – his lone top-10 in 11 previous starts on TOUR. He’s not ready to hand anything to Niemann just yet. “Anytime you start Sunday three back, whether you’re in tenth or second, you have a chance. Anybody out here can shoot 8 or 9 under and you just never know when it’s going to be you on a Sunday,” Young said. “I’m still right there, I’ve only got one guy ahead of me. He’s a great player and I know he’s playing really well, but you just never know what can happen. Tomorrow that three shots can be gone in a hole and three shots can go the other way in a hole, so we’ll just have to see.”

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Note: This file has been updated after the completion of the second round Saturday morning at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Jordan Spieth hopes to complete 20 holes on Saturday. He’ll need to do it on two different courses. Spieth was the only player among the five co-leaders who failed to finish the second round before play was suspended Friday afternoon due to wet conditions at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The 2017 champ is one of 44 golfers facing an extended day Saturday as the tournament seeks to get its schedule back on track. Play resumed at 10:10 a.m. ET (7:10 a.m. local) with Spieth having two holes left at Spyglass Hill. He’d completed his second round after finishing the ninth hole, then shuttled to Pebble Beach for the third round. “I’ve got a shot from the fairway on eight, and then the ninth hole trying to make two pars there – and then go on to Pebble and kind of see what the day gives you,â€� Spieth said on Friday.  Unfortunately, he was unable to produce two pars. Spieth bogeyed his last hole, the par-4 ninth at Spyglass Hill, early Saturday morning to finish off a 4-under 68 that left him at 9 under through 36 holes. That left four players at 10 under and tied for the lead after 36 holes — Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Lucas Glover and Scott Langley. Looking ahead to the rest of the forecast Saturday, meteorologist Joe Halvorson said there will be on-and-off periods of light rain, “with considerable dry time between the showers.â€� Winds could gust to 18 mph in the afternoon, and then another wave of rain is expected overnight Saturday. The heavy stuff on Friday didn’t appear until early afternoon. With tee times moved up an hour, it allowed 111 players and their amateur partners to finish the second round before play was suspended at 2:11 p.m. locally. Mickelson, Casey, Glover and Langley each finished their 36 holes on Friday at 10 under, with Spieth at the same mark after 34 holes. Jason Day was at 9 under with three holes remaining on his round – he bogeyed his first hole Saturday but bounced back with a birdie to join Spieth in a tie for fifth. Scott Piercy, solo seventh, is at 8 under after playing his three holes Saturday in even par.  “I’m so happy to get done,â€� Casey said after his 7-under 64 at Monterey Peninsula, the low score on Friday. “We were on the last hole and I heard that horn go. And then there was a second one and then a third one. … I had to think for a minute because you get one long blast, you’re done. But the three means, I guess, it’s bad conditions but you can finish the hole. I’m like, ‘We can finish the hole?’ “I’ve never been so happy. I went from upset to happy in an instant.â€� Langley, whose best finish in six starts in this event was a T-62 a year ago, had to play his last three holes at Spyglass Hill in the rain. He three-putted the 17th for bogey and eventually finished with a 3-under 69 after shooting a 64 at Monterey Peninsula on Thursday. “Thankfully we got pretty much 15 holes rain-free, which I felt pretty lucky to get,â€� Langley said. “So count it as a good break, and obviously really happy with my score. Spyglass always seems to be the course that I’ll call it the toughest out of the three.â€� Of the top six players on the leaderboard, Mickelson, Langley, Spieth and Day will play their third rounds at Pebble Beach, where most of the crowd will be with the amateur celebrities also on site. Casey will be at Spyglass Hill, and Glover will be at Monterey Peninsula. If there is an advantage, it would go to Glover. The stroke average for Monterey this week is 1.060 under par, while Spyglass Hill is 0.140 under par and Pebble Beach is 0.191 over par. But Glover is not looking at it that way. His approach will be the same as the first two rounds. “Just get the ball in the fairway first and then go from there and be aggressive where we can,â€� he said. Mickelson, a four-time winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach, has 83 career rounds in this event and is a collective 140 under – the most under par of any player in the last 20 years. He knows the rain and wind and cold — temperatures will hover around 50 on Saturday — can challenge anybody’s gameplan. “You just don’t know how it’s going to play or what the weather’s going to be,â€� said Mickelson, who was the solo leader for much of his round until three late bogeys brought him back to the pack. “You end up trying to shoot as low a round as you can because everybody else is facing the same conditions.â€� But not every player has the same number of holes to play. Ask Spieth, who must start his Saturday earlier than his four co-leaders. At least the course should be drier than when he left it on Friday.

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