Sam Burns builds five-shot lead at The Genesis Invitational

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Paul Casey drove into Innisbrook and saw his picture on posters and programs, just what he needed to forget the cut he missed last week. He played Friday as though he wants those photos to stay here. Casey holed a 30-foot eagle putt on the 599-yard fifth hole and made short birdie putts on the other three par 5s on his way to a 5-under 66, giving him a share of the lead with Austin Cook among the early starters Friday in the Valspar Championship. No one has ever won back-to-back at the Valspar Championship since it became a PGA TOUR event in 2000. “I’ve never defended a professional event. I would love to do that,” Casey said. “Mentally last year I was hoping I would win, wanting to win. This year, knowing that I have won around here, I have a slightly different approach to it, and I played today quite aggressively and tried to take advantage of the golf course that I knew was going to get very, very tough this afternoon.” Casey and Cook, who shot a 67, were at 6-under 136. Scott Stallings (68) and Sungjae Im (67) were one shot behind, while Dustin Johnson overcame a rough patch early in his round with five birdies on the front nine to salvage a 69. Johnson was two shots behind on a Copperhead course he hasn’t seen in nine years. Joel Dahmen and Sepp Straka, who shared the 18-hole lead at 5 under, were among those playing in the afternoon. Casey last year ended eight years without winning on the PGA TOUR when he closed with a 65 and had to wait to see if Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed could catch him. It was the centerpiece of a resurgence for Casey, a 41-year-old from England who is back among the top 16 in the FedExCup standings.  He opened in the morning calm with a 10-foot birdie putt and did the rest of his damage on the par 5s. The eagle putt followed a blind shot over a hill on the longest hole at Innisbrook. He went bunker-to-bunker on his final hole at No. 9 and made bogey to slip into a tie with Cook. “Everybody is going to make bogeys. If you can just minimize those, it puts you in a good position,” Casey said. He spent the opening two rounds with Johnson, who had to maximize his birdies after his start. Johnson thought he might have had too much club on the par-3 13th and was stunned to learn that it had come up short enough to catch the slope and roll down toward the water, leading to double bogey. On the next hole, a par 5 where he had to lay up from the rough, Johnson had a 104-yard wedge for his third shot that traveled only about 50 yards. There was a reason for that. “As soon as he hit it, he said, `Just don’t go in a divot,'” said Austin Johnson, his brother and caddie. It found a divot. “It was big,” Johnson said, holding his hands about a foot part, which might have been a slight exaggeration. “I mean, it was long. It was deep. It wasn’t … I don’t think it was from a professional.” He managed to get that up-and-down by making a 5-footer to avoid losing another shot. Johnson started the front nine with four birdies in five holes, including one birdie putt from 35 feet on No. 3, and is back in the game. Gary Woodland also played with them and three-putted from 7 feet for double bogey on his last hole for a 71 that was almost certain to miss the cut. Woodland had the longest active cut streak on the PGA TOUR at 22, last going home on the weekend at THE PLAYERS Championship last May. On the other side of the course was 17-year-old Akshay Bhatia in his PGA TOUR debut. Playing on a sponsor exemption, he was at 3 under for the day and even par for the tournament through eight holes until a muffed chip and a missed putt led to double bogey at No. 9 that killed his momentum. Bhatia bogeyed his last two holes for a 72 and finished at 4-over 146 to miss the cut. He plans to turn pro later this year after the Walker Cup if he makes the team. The cheers he heard in some corners of Innisbrook were inspiring, especially behind the 12th green, where the rowdy fans chanted his first name to make it sound like the “Ole” cheer at the Ryder Cup. “It was sick. That was dope,” Bhatia said, adding that he hopes he can hear that at the Ryder Cup “in five, six years down the road.”

Click here to read the full article…

The FedExCup Playoffs continue today with Round 2 of the BMW Championship from Medinah. Here’s how to follow all the action. Round 2 leaderboard Round 2 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12-2 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (NBC) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday, 8:15 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 8:15 a.m.-2 p.m. (featured groups), 2-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 11:15 to 22:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 12:30 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). FEATURED GROUPS Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy (FedExCup Nos. 1, 2 and 3) Friday: 12:54 p.m. Matt Kuchar, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay (FedExCup Nos. 4, 5 and 6) Friday: 10:48 a.m. Xander Schauffele, Abraham Ancer, Gary Woodland (FedExCup Nos. 7, 8 and 9) Friday: 12:43 p.m. Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Justin Rose (FedExCup Nos. 10, 11 and 12) Friday: 10:37 a.m. MUST READS Thomas starts strong, ties course record Kokrak wants to concentrate on scores, not scenarios Rookie of the Year race down to five Tiger still showing rust Furyk flashes old form FedExCup Playoffs primer, new format detailed Insider: New format at East Lake to bring drama Seven things to know about Medinah CALL OF THE DAY

Click here to read the full article…

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – It’s a dichotomy that has a drastically different meaning to each player. Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth both save their best performances for majors. For Koepka, that disparity is by design. Spieth’s perplexing record is the result of a frustrating slump. The two American twenty-somethings with multiple majors are in contention at another one. They both shot 5-under 137 over the first 36 holes at Royal Portrush to sit three shots behind 36-hole leader J.B. Holmes. Spieth continued to struggle with his driver, but rode a hot putter to a 67 on Friday. Koepka showed us at Pebble Beach that he can win a major without his best performance on the putting surfaces. That was the case again Friday. Koepka is trying to continue a run of dominance that can be compared only to Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. He has finished first or second in all three majors this year, and five of the last six. Adding the claret jug to his pair of U.S. Opens and PGAs would give him three legs of the career Grand Slam. He’s trying to become the first person since Tiger Woods to win multiple majors in consecutive seasons. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tee times | Tiger finishes 6 over after 36 holes For Spieth, The Open is a reminder of better times. His 2017 victory at Royal Birkdale represents his last win on the PGA TOUR. His best opportunities to add a 12th PGA TOUR victory have come in majors. He threatened Augusta National’s course record before bogeying the final hole of the 2018 Masters and falling two shots short of Patrick Reed. Then Spieth played in the final group of last year’s Open at Carnoustie. This season, as his struggles increased, his T21 at the Masters was his first top-25 in a stroke-play event. Then he played alongside Koepka in Saturday’s final group at the PGA Championship. The long and brawny Bethpage Black, where thick rough necessitated a pitch-out for all but the strongest players, did not seem to fit Spieth. He rode the best putting week of his career (according to the Strokes Gained: Putting statistic) to a T3 finish. On Friday, Spieth played a four-hole stretch from Nos. 5-8 in 5 under par. It started with a two-putt birdie from 80 feet on No. 5. Then he knocked a 6-iron within 10 feet on the par-3 sixth hole. He holed a curling putt from off the green to eagle the seventh hole. Another 25-footer gave him a birdie at 8. He was 1 over par the rest of the way. “I posted a score that was pretty incredible from where I played my second shots from,â€� Spieth said. He’s hit just 11 fairways in two rounds at Royal Portrush. On Thursday, he compared this year’s venue to Royal Birkdale, the site of his 2017 Open triumph. Both courses require more aerial approaches than the typical links course. Spieth was second on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach two years ago, though. “My game is in a different place than it was then,â€� he said. “And I’m working to get it back to where it was.â€� He ranks 141st in that statistic this season and 179th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Missing the fairways on Friday may have helped him in his continued quest to fix his swing troubles. It forced him to be creative instead of thinking of swing thoughts. “My shots out of trouble today were really, really nice, and I got some good breaks off of where I hit it to,â€� Spieth said. “But every now and again you’ll get one that sits down in a hole, like on 9, and you can barely get it out. So it’s not worth continuing to try and hit those cool shots. But I’ve got my money’s worth for two days.â€� In his previous two events, Spieth finished T65 at the U.S. Open and missed the cut at the Travelers. He worked hard on his game since his last start, but said he’s at least a few weeks away from trusting those swing changes. Koepka hasn’t been in contention in his most recent starts, either. He finished outside the top 50 in both the Travelers and the 3M Open. Unlike Spieth, Koepka isn’t bothered by those showings. They’re by design. Koepka insists that he doesn’t prepare for the standard PGA TOUR event. “When you see me on TV, that’s when I play golf,â€� he said in his pre-tournament press conference at Royal Portrush. He’s become an expert in bringing his best stuff to the majors. He finished runner-up at the U.S. Open after a T50 in his preceding start, at the RBC Canadian Open. Like at Pebble Beach, Koepka is contending despite being dissatisfied with his putting. Spieth aside, Royal Portrush rewards strong ballstriking. It’s difficult to play run-up shots to the elevated greens. The slopes around the greens repel mishits and make recovery shots more difficult. The rough is lush, as well. Koepka has hit 25 greens in two rounds and 19 of 28 fairways. “I haven’t made a putt all week,â€� Koepka said. “I just need to figure that out. If I can make some putts I could very easily be 10-under, and really maybe more.â€�

Click here to read the full article…