Sungjae Im runs away with Shriners Open victory

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Zac Blair barely slept Wednesday night. But he made his tee time in Puerto Rico – as the last guy in the field – shot 1 under, and then, it was time for a nap. “I told myself I’d rather be here and not get in and be at home and get in,� said Blair Friday in Puerto Rico after a 1-over-par 73. Blair is even par through two rounds and will play the weekend. It’s his first PGA TOUR event of the year. Blair was far down the alternate list when the week got started, but after a myriad of withdraws, he found himself as first alternate by mid-day Wednesday. He decided to head to the airport and test his luck and got the call from PGA TOUR officials that he was in the field at 2:30 p.m. ET. He had a flight that was supposed to get into Puerto Rico at 2 a.m. local time, but that flight got cancelled. He was scrambling, he said, to just get to the East Coast somehow, but all flights from Utah – where Blair lives – were grounded for nearly three hours. Blair finally made it to New York and left on a flight at 1 a.m. ET that landed Wednesday morning in San Juan at around 5:30 a.m. local time. He arrived at the course at 6:30 a.m. for a 7 a.m. tee-time. “I hit three balls and two putts and went to the tee and hit it as good as I’ve hit it in a long time,� said Blair with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Man, I should come in on Wednesday all the time.’� Blair said he struggled with the putter Friday, but he’s happy to see the weekend. He admitted he’s got unlucky with the draws on the Web.com Tour so far this year but chalked that up to just the nature of professional golf. He finished T8 at the opening Web.com Tour event of 2019 but has missed the last four cuts in a row. “It’s okay. It’s new down (on the Web.com Tour) for me. I’ve never played out there a full year so I’m seeing some new courses,� said Blair. “But I’m excited to be here and hopefully rip it up on the weekend.� Blair already played five weeks in a row on the Web.com Tour to start the year, but he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to play on the PGA TOUR this week. “It’s the PGA TOUR,� he said. “Having a good week changes a life.�

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Two-time FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy and defending champion Webb Simpson lead a star-studded field seeking some valuable early-season FedExCup points at TPC Scottsdale in this year's Waste Management Phoenix Open. FIELD NOTES: McIlroy will tee it up in Phoenix for the first time in his career. It's part of a busy stretch for the two-time FedExCup winner, who is in the midst of playing nine events in 12 weeks... Fellow FedExCup winner Justin Thomas is looking to improve on his T3 finish in Phoenix from 2020... Simpson is one of four PLAYERS champions in the field, along with McIlroy, Si Woo Kim (who recently won The American Express) and former WMPO champion Rickie Fowler... Arizona State alum Jon Rahm is looking to keep his stretch of solid play going. Rahm has notched three straight top-10 finishes on TOUR and was T2 heading into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open... A trio of promising young players received sponsor exemptions. Zalatoris, who has already earned special temporary membership on the PGA TOUR, has three top-10s this season, including a T6 at the U.S. Open. He also leads the Korn Ferry Tour's Regular Season Points List. Davis Riley is No. 3 in the KFT's rankings after winning twice in 2020. John Augenstein, the 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up, will be making his second pro start after missing the cut at The American Express. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Scottsdale (Stadium), 7,261 yards, par 71 (yardage subject to change). Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, one of the most well-attended events on the PGA TOUR will reduce its capacity to just 5,000 fans per day. The Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish design opened in 1986 and every Phoenix Open since 1987 has been played at the par-71 layout just northeast of downtown Phoenix. STORYLINES: Long-time participants at the Waste Management Phoenix Open will likely have to adjust to the lack of noise in 2021, especially around the par-3 16th hole... One notable absentee for 2021 is three-time winner and one of Arizona's most famous sons, Phil Mickelson. A fourth victory would make Mickelson the winningest champion in the tournament's history... Simpson looks to defend a TOUR title for the first time in his career... Brooks Koepka looks to break his streak of three straight missed cuts on the PGA TOUR... Can Tony Finau capture his second TOUR victory? Finau shared the 54-hole lead at The American Express earlier this month and lost in a playoff last year at TPC Scottsdale. 72-HOLE RECORD: 256, Mark Calcavecchia (2001), Phil Mickelson (2013). 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Grant Waite (4th round, 1996), Mark Calcavecchia (2nd round, 2001), Phil Mickelson (2nd round, 2005, and 1st round, 2013). LAST TIME: Despite a bogey on the par-5 15th, Simpson made two birdies in a row on the 71st and 72nd to slide into a playoff with Finau. Simpson rolled in a 17-footer for a birdie on the final hole of regulation to tie Finau — who had a one-shot lead entering Sunday after a sizzling 62 on Saturday — at 17 under before adding in one more birdie on the first playoff hole. It was Simpson's seventh PGA TOUR title, and first of two in 2020. Thomas, who shot a Sunday 65 (the round of the day) finished T3 alongside Bubba Watson and Nate Lashley. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel/PGA TOUR Live). Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 9:15 a.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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LAS VEGAS — Bryson DeChambeau holed an eagle putt from just inside 60 feet on the 16th hole that carried him to a 5-under 66 and a one-shot victory over Patrick Cantlay in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on Sunday. DeChambeau won for the fourth time in his last 12 starts on the PGA TOUR. He had to survive a wild back nine at the TPC Summerlin in which four players had a share of the lead at some point. Cantlay, trying to become the first player to win back-to-back in Las Vegas in nearly 20 years, made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th hole to take a one-shot lead. But from a bunker right of the green on the par-3 17th, Cantlay was fooled by the amount of sand under his ball and flubbed the shot. One hole behind him, DeChambeau rolled in his long eagle putt from just off the green and celebrated with a big uppercut. Cantlay missed his long par putt, giving DeChambeau control of the tournament. Cantlay birdied the 18th for a 65, but it wasn’t enough when DeChambeau played the final two holes conservatively for pars to finish at 21-under 263. DeChambeau won for the third straight season, and fifth time overall on the PGA TOUR. The 25-year-old American began his big run with a playoff victory at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, and then won consecutive FedExCup Playoff events in New Jersey and Boston. He said he was playing Las Vegas to shake off a little rust, and it turned into another victory. “I was able to play some great golf,” DeChambeau said. “I’m happy to get it done.” Not since Jim Furyk in 1998-99 had anyone successfully defended his title in Las Vegas, and Cantlay looked as if he might get it done when he drove the green on the par-4 15th for a two-putt birdie, and then rolled in another good birdie after having to lay up on the 16th. His tee shot into the 17th was a fraction away from catching a slope and feeding toward the hole. Instead, it tumbled into the bunker to set up what appeared to be a relatively simple shot. “When I dug my left foot in, it didn’t have a bunch of sand,” Cantlay said. “I hit the shot and there was more sand under the ball. I didn’t anticipate it.” He wasn’t the only player stung by the outcome. Former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover had a 4-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole that would have given him a share of the lead with three holes to play. Glover missed the putt, and then missed a 30-inch par putt. One hole later, he was three shots behind. Glover finished with a triple bogey for a 71 and tied for seventh. Peter Uihlein, who shared the 54-hole lead with DeChambeau, didn’t make a birdie until the 11th hole, finished bogey-bogey for a 75 and tied for 23rd. Sam Ryder was one shot behind when his second shot to the par-5 16th bounced off a knob and back into the water. He managed to save par and birdied the last hole with a 15-foot putt for a 62 to finish alone in third. Rickie Fowler (63), Abraham Ancer (66) and Robert Streb (68) were another shot behind. DeChambeau won for the fifth time in just his 68th start as a pro on the PGA TOUR, dating to his victory in the John Deere Classic in 2017.  

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