Silent DeChambeau likely to miss cut after split

Brooks Koepka got himself a much-needed birdie at the Tour Championship, and a butterfly was there for an up-close look the whole way.

Click here to read the full article…

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Harris English leads by two after 54 holes at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. A second-straight 65 has his third win of the season and No. 1 in the FedExCup standings just one round away. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Leishman’s emotional reunion with parents English has led after each of the first three rounds in the World Golf Championships event, opening with a 62 to go with the two 65s to get to 18-under 192. He’s in position for the fifth PGA TOUR victory. “I love playing with pressure,” English said. “I think it helps me focus. It’s a privilege to be in this spot. You have to take (challenges) on.” The 2013 champion at TPC Southwind, English won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Hawaii and the Travelers Championship in June in Connecticut. He finished third at the U.S. Open. Cameron Smith had a 65 to join DeChambeau at 16 under. Abraham Ancer (67) was 14 under. Scottie Scheffler (67) and Ian Poulter (67) were 13 under. The long-hitting DeChambeau birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine. The third came at the par-4 13th after nearly holing out his approach. DeChambeau’s tap-in birdie took him to 14 under, one shot behind the leaders. He tied English and Ancer for the lead on the following hole, making a 10-footer to reach 15 under. DeChambeau got to 16 under — to remain tied with English — with a short birdie putt on No. 16 after narrowly missing an eagle attempt from 11 feet. Ancer rejoined them with a 4-foot birdie, also at the 16th. English created separation atop the leaderboard by birdieing two of the last three holes. Second-ranked Dustin Johnson had a 65 to get to 11 under. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama shot a 64 to reach at 9 under He eagled Nos. 3 and 16, the two par 5s at TPC Southwind. Jordan Spieth was 7 under after a 63.

Click here to read the full article…

In one of the most entertaining golf equipment stories of 2018, Tommy Fleetwood was down to his last set of Nike VR Pro Blade irons. He tried to buy Paul Casey’s extra set, but Casey wouldn’t budge. That means Fleetwood was risking an iron breaking during competition and not having a backup set to fall back on. It looks like Fleetwood is considering moving on from his last set of VR Pro Blades, though, as he was spotted testing new irons at a practice round for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. These aren’t just any irons, however. After zooming in on the photo, it’s clear Fleetwood is testing TaylorMade prototype irons stamped “P-7TW� on the back cavities. While unconfirmed by TaylorMade, these P-7TW irons bearing Woods’ initials could very well be prototype irons made for Tiger Woods. In 2018, Tiger Woods, instead of switching into TaylorMade’s P-730 series blade irons, began playing mysterious TaylorMade TW-Phase1 irons instead that were specially made for him. The last time we saw Woods in competition at “The Match� against Phil Mickelson, he was still playing the TW-Phase1 irons. But now, clearly, there are “P-7TW� irons in existence; will Woods use the new prototype irons when he makes his 2019 PGA TOUR debut? Keep in mind that Fleetwood was testing the new irons during a practice round, so it’s not confirmed that he’ll put them in play at the HSBC. It does, however, confirm that there are TaylorMade P-7TW prototype irons being made. We’ll keep you up to date on whether Fleetwood officially makes the switch, and whether Woods has new irons in play when we first see him out on TOUR.

Click here to read the full article…