Stark, Meechai lead as LPGA returns to China

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – At the end of a week of punishing wind and rain, fescue and lightning-fast greens, Brooks Koepka fires a final-round 68 to hold off a surging Tommy Fleetwood (63) at the 118th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Koepka became the first player to successfully defend his U.S. Open title since Curtis Strange in 1989. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1 Koepka’s tee-to-green game is terrific, but don’t overlook his putting. He was in trouble when he hit a wedge into the fescue left of the 11th green, especially when he and his caddie, Ricky Elliott, arrived at the ball and looked down to find it nesting in long grass that was pointing away from the green. The best they could hope for was to hack the ball out and let it roll into the bunker on the other side of the green. That’s exactly what happened, and after splashing out, Koepka rolled in a crucial bogey putt from just inside 13 feet to limit the damage. He then made par putts of just over 6 feet and 8 ½ feet at the 12th and 14th holes, respectively, to maintain momentum. “I’ll tell you what,� said Elliott, who has worked for Koepka for five years, “he’s been one of the best putters on TOUR for two or three years.� 2 Koepka’s outsized will comes from his family. Few tournaments take a toll quite like the U.S. Open, but while Koepka took a few hits, he never stayed down for long. He said he was glad for the tournament’s fabled toughness, for he knew it would take out half the field and highlight his competitive toughness. When he was growing up, he said, his father, Bob, never let him win. And when the son finally surpassed the father, there was Koepka’s little brother, Chase, who teamed with Brooks in last year’s two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans, to worry about. “Once we started beating (Bob), it was me and Chase going at it,� Koepka said. “I think that’s why he’s so good now, the competitiveness that he’s had to go through with myself and my dad. No one’s going to let it—nobody wanted to lose, let’s put it that way. There were times when I came home pouting, and Chase did, too, getting beat by him. It’s a very competitive family.� So much so that Koepka went stir-crazy when he sat out for three months with a wrist injury to start the season. “I’ve got to be competing at something,� he said. “It doesn’t matter what it is.� Click here for more on Koepka’s comeback from injury. 3 The winner wasn’t worried about third-place Dustin Johnson (70). “He’s going to win another one,� Koepka said. “I mean, we all know that.� Johnson has 18 PGA TOUR victories, including the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, but in winning on Sunday, Koepka now takes the lead in major championships won, two to one. “Going to the gym with him, starting training, you see how hard he works,� Koepka added. “You see how talented he is. He’s physically gifted. In my mind, he’s probably one of the most talented guys ever to play the game. And the attitude, the work ethic, everything that he brings to it, I mean, in my book, he will, when he’s done, probably go down as one of the best of all time.� 4 Fleetwood and Reed will be back. Tommy Fleetwood (solo second, one back) shot a final-round 63 that could easily have been better, were it not for missed birdie putts on his closing holes. He failed to birdie the par-5 16th, and his uphill birdie putt from 8 feet, 7 inches slid by on the low side on 18. Masters champion Patrick Reed (68, solo fourth, three back) roared out of the gate but missed a par putt of just under three feet at the ninth, failed to birdie 16, and bogeyed 18.  Still, both players impressed with their play. “It was a good one,� Fleetwood said. “It was a great one. I mean, yeah, so many positives, so many great things.� Said Reed: “Through the first 11 holes, I didn’t really feel like I missed a golf shot. I was hitting my lines.� 5 Tony Finau has a dedicated team of supporters. Finau made a late double-bogey to drop from a tie for third with Johnson into solo fifth, a difference of over $200,000, but he played well, and he should win something for having the most dedicated team of friends and family. His wife, Alayna, flew to New York on Friday in order to watch on the weekend, but his coach, Boyd Summerhays, really went the extra mile. Summerhays, who grew up competing against peers like Charles Howell and briefly dabbled on the TOUR, was at Shinnecock but flew home Friday to watch his son Preston, 15, become the youngest-ever winner of the Utah State Amateur, a tournament with a 120-year history, at Oakridge Country Club on Saturday. Preston, a rising sophomore, beat University of Utah golfer Kyler Dunkle 3 and 2 to take the age record away from PGA TOUR pro Daniel Summerhays (his uncle, Boyd’s brother) by a few months. Boyd then boarded a plane and flew back to New York, and looked none the worse for wear as he watched Finau play in the last group at Shinnecock on Sunday. “Tony and Daniel kept telling him this was his last year to break the record,� Summerhays said with a smile befitting a proud dad on Father’s Day. FIVE INSIGHTS 1 Koepka averaged 318.3 yards off the tee and was second in driving distance, behind Ryan Fox (318.8, T41). Gary Woodland (T36) was third at 314.7, Jhonattan Vegas (T41) fourth at 313.2, and Dustin Johnson (solo fourth) fifth at 312.5. Finau (solo fifth) was ninth at 310.1. 2 Fleetwood hit the most fairways, with 48 (86 percent), with eight players tied for second with 47 (84 percent). Although the conventional wisdom said players wouldn’t survive by straying from the short grass, Koepka hit just 36 fairways (64 percent) and was tied for 55th in that stat. 3 China’s Haotong Li (69, T16) led the field in greens in regulation (71 percent), Fleetwood and Johnson tied for second (69 percent), and Koepka was fourth (68 percent). Alex Noren led in putting, taking 28.5 strokes per round on the greens. Keopka (29.75) tied for seventh best. 4 The par-4 14th hole, which played between 511 and 536 yards depending on the setup, played toughest of the week with a 4.567 stroke average. Koepka double-bogeyed it on the way to an opening-round 75, but made three pars after that, including a crucial save from 8 ½ feet Sunday.     5 Rickie Fowler (65, T20) bettered his third-round 84 by 19 shots and shared the record for low front nine (31) for the week with Hideki Matsuyama (66, T16) and Reed. Fleetwood shot the lowest back nine (31) and lowest round (63).

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – We’re halfway through THE PLAYERS Championship and so far, pretty much everything has played out according to plan. Louis Oosthuizen and Kyle Stanley each shot 66 and are tied at the top at 9 under, (predictable), while J.B. Holmes, who isn’t sure TPC Sawgrass fits his left-to-right ball flight, shot 69 and is two back (of course). Vijay Singh, 54, was riding a streak of seven straight missed cuts on the PGA TOUR, but fired a 68 to reach 6 under par, three off the lead. (Nailed it.) And the strength of his game so far this week has been putting. (As usual.) “It was sad I three-putted the last hole,” said Singh, who has made more than 200 feet of putts in two days and ranks 16th in strokes gained: putting through 36 holes. “But that’s a strong part of my game right now. If I keep putting like that, I’m going to be right there on Sunday.” To say this edition of THE PLAYERS has been upside-down doesn’t quite cover it. Although THE PLAYERS Stadium Course traditionally plays no favorites and has thus been a hard place to predict the winner, this week’s doings have been even weirder than usual. “It’s nice to kind of see a lot of the work kind of come together,” said Stanley, who ranks sixth in the field in strokes-gained: putting. “But that being said, there’s a lot of golf left. Still got to be really patient. Can’t get too far ahead of yourself.” Three weeks ago, Singh partnered with Carlos Franco to win the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on the PGA TOUR Champions. But he hasn’t won on TOUR in nine years, when he won twice in the Playoffs to claim the 2008 FedExCup. Stanley hasn’t been in this position for a while, either—he hasn’t won since the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open—but that just means they’re well-rested, right? Jordan Spieth shot a second-round 75 to miss the cut and afterward gave away one of his shoes to a little girl in the gallery. His play-of-the-day moment may have been when he found playing partner Phil Mickelson’s wayward tee shot at the par-4 10th hole. “The funny thing is I never find my own ball,” Spieth deadpanned to the gallery. “But I find Phil’s like that.” He snapped his fingers; the spectators laughed. “Although I’m not sure he wanted me to find it,” Spieth added. More laughter. Mickelson’s unpredictability is the stuff of legend, so he has fit right in this week. After not playing a practice round at the revamped Stadium Course, he climbed to within a shot of the lead with a 3-under 33 on the front nine Friday. The 2007 THE PLAYERS champ was back! Then he hit iron into the bushes left of the left fairway bunker on 10—leading to Spieth’s quip, and a bogey—and double-bogeyed the par-3 17th after his ball landed near the back pin but took a giant first hop and trundled over the bulkhead and into the water. “I don’t know what to say,” Mickelson said after his 72. “I played well today.” At least he had company: There were 29 balls in the water on 17 Friday, the most in a second round since 2003. And amid all the other oddities this week, playing well and scoring well have seldom looked more at odds. In fact, they seem to have begun a trial separation. Take Justin Thomas, who has made 10 birdies and an eagle so far. Pretty great, right? But Thomas is at even par after throwing in 10 bogeys and a double while shooting 73-71. “It seems like any time I got momentum I seemed to give it right back,” he said. Still, Thomas hardly is out of it. That’s the other upside-down thing about this PLAYERS and every PLAYERS. We think we know who’s on the fast track to winning, but we don’t. Just 12 of 43 second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the tournament. “If you make the cut here,” Thomas said, “you have a chance to win the tournament.” In other words, maybe the stars are not in as much trouble as it might seem. Defending champ Jason Day shot 72 and was at 2 under with Mickelson. Rory McIlroy, who revealed he has re-aggravated his back and will go in for an MRI on Monday, shot 71 and was at even. Dustin Johnson got nothing going and shot 73. He’s also at even par. Meanwhile, Luke List made the first eagle on the new par-4 12th hole, driving the green and sinking the putt from 14 feet, 9 inches. He shot 69. He missed the cut. At THE PLAYERS this year, great isn’t necessarily good, and mediocre isn’t all that bad, and the only sensible thing to do seems to be to reserve the right to withhold judgement. “It’s going to make us look pretty silly out there, a lot of spots,” Mickelson said of the Stadium Course’s firm greens. “But I hit a lot of good shots, including the one on 17 that went in the water. So, unfortunately, I made double there. But I’m in a good spot for tomorrow. I’ll come out tomorrow and see if I can shoot a number.” Stranger things have happened.

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