Several players taking momentum to THE PLAYERS Championship

With one more win, Tiger Woods will tie Sam Snead for most career PGA TOUR victories at 82. Each time Tiger tees it up, we’ll take a look at his chances for that particular week. Here’s a CHASING 82 preview entering this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. RECENT FORM Difficult to say what his form is, given the fact that his last competitive start was the U.S. Open. From that final round to Thursday’s first round at Royal Portrush, 32 days will have passed. And in the 95 days since winning the Masters in mid-April, he has played just 10 competitive rounds – a missed cut at the PGA Championship, a T-9 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, and a T-21 at the U.S. Open. NBA players could learn a lesson from Woods about load management. But that’s not to say Woods has avoided preparing for the Open. Earlier this month, Nike posted a video in which Woods discusses waking up at 1 a.m. ET in order to prep for the time change for the Open, which is five hours ahead. “If you want to succeed, if you want to get better, if you want to win, if you want to accomplish your goals, it all starts with getting up early in the morning,â€� Woods explained in the video. Although Woods has never played a competitive event in Northern Ireland, he has played practice rounds there while prepping for previous Opens. But this will be the first time he’s seen Royal Portrush. “I’ve only played (Royal) County Down, I’ve never been up to Portrush and I’m looking forward to getting up there and taking a look at the golf course and trying to figure it out,” Woods said. “I’ll get there early and do a little bit of homework – see if the golf course is going to be dry, fast or not. “Hopefully I’ll get practice rounds with different winds to try and get a feel for the golf course.â€� TOURNAMENT HISTORY Woods is making his 21st start in the Open Championship and has won three times: 2000 – At St. Andrews, Woods won with a final score of 19 under, eight strokes ahead of Thomas Bjorn and Ernie Els. The 19 under was the lowest score, in relation to par, of any major winner (eventually surpassed by Jason Day at 21 under at the 2015 PGA Championship). Woods’ win also completed the career Grand Slam. “It may be years before I fully appreciate it, but I’m inclined to believe that winning the Open at the Home of Golf is the ultimate achievement in the sport,â€� Woods said. 2005 – At St. Andrews, Woods won by five strokes over Colin Montgomerie, leading wire to wire. It was the 10th major win of his career. “When I first started playing the Tour, I didn’t think I’d have this many majors before the age of 30,â€� said the then-29-year-old Woods. “ There’s no way. No one ever has.â€�  2006 – At Royal Liverpool, Woods won by two strokes over Chris DiMarco, an emotional victory as it was his first major win after the death of his father Earl two months earlier. “To win your first tournament after my father had passed away, and for it to be a major championship, it makes it that much more special,â€� Woods said. “And mom was watching, I’m sure she was bawling her eyes out.â€� It was the first time a player had won consecutive Opens since Tom Watson in 1982-83. Since his last win, Woods’ best finish was a T-3 at Royal Lytham in 2012. Last year at Carnoustie, he was in contention midway through the final round until a double bogey-bogey stretch on his back nine, eventually finishing T-6. TEE TIMES Tee times for the Open can be found here.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jordan Spieth capped off a perfect week at the Presidents Cup and the U.S. Team made it nine straight victories against the International Team. The International Team showed plenty of fight. They just don’t have a cup to show for it. That stays squarely in the hands of a U.S. Team that was coming off a record romp over Europe in the Ryder Cup last year. Max Homa rallied from 3 down by winning four straight holes and then holding off Tom Kim for a 1-up victory that gave Homa a 4-0 week in his Presidents Cup debut. Xander Schauffele delivered the clinching point when he made a 6-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a 1-up victory over Corey Conners. That off an hourlong celebration to wait only for the result. The final score was 17.5-12.5, not quite the rout it was at Liberty National in 2017 the last time the Americans played before the home crowd. Unlike the Ryder Cup, which attracts thousands of flag-waving European fans, the International Team doesn’t have a fan base to unite behind a continental flag or even a tour. U.S. Captain Davis Love III paid tribute to Trevor Immelman for his efforts. This was a mismatch. The International Team still made a game of it, and at one point the matches were tight enough that a shocker at Quail Hollow was still possible. But they needed everything to go right, and it didn’t. “Trevor and his team did an incredible job of rising to the occasion,” Love said. Love had all 12 players ranked among the top 25 in the world ranking, and just like last year at Whistling Straits in the Presidents Cup, most of them played like it. “We really don’t have to do much,” Love said. “All we have to do is not mess it up.” Conners and Taylor Pendrith, the only Canadians on the team, were the only players who failed to contribute a point. Conners three-putted from 25 feet on the 17th with a chance to square the match, and he hit into a bunker from the fairway on the 18th. Spieth made putts from all over Quail Hollow for a 4-and-3 win over Cameron Davis that kept the International Team — in need of their greatest Sunday singles performance — from gaining any early momentum. Spieth became only the sixth player to win all five matches in the Presidents Cup, winning all four of his team matches with Justin Thomas. Spieth, a three-time major champion and former No. 1 player in the world, first qualified for U.S. teams when he was 20. But he had never won a singles match — 0-3 in the Presidents Cup, 0-3-1 in the Ryder Cup. And then he fell 2 down after two holes before turning it around in a big way. “I was more nervous than I should have been because I wanted to get that monkey off my back,” Spieth said. “When you get off early on a Sunday, they’re looking for red on the board. And it feels good to provide it.” Thomas was trying to join him, but he lost to Si Woo Kim in a match that came down to 10-foot birdie putts on the last hole. No matter. When Patrick Cantlay whipped Adam Scott, and Tony Finau rallied from 2 down to beat Pendrith, the outcome was as inevitable as it usually is. The Americans improved to 12-1-1 in a series that began in 1994. Their only loss was at Royal Melbourne in 1998, and there was a tie in South Africa in 2003. The International Team fell behind 8-2 after the opening two days with a team that featured eight rookies. One of those rookies, Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, took out world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and went unbeaten for the week at 2-0-1. Another was 20-year-old Tom Kim, the fresh face of these matches, who gave the Internationals hope on Saturday night with a performance as big as his personality. Over four days, the Americans were too strong and too deep. The next stop for the Presidents Cup is Royal Montreal in 2024. For the majority of this U.S. Team, it takes more momentum into the Ryder Cup in Rome next year. The Americans have not won a Ryder Cup away from home since 1993.

Click here to read the full article…