Surprise entry S.M. Lee leads Mizuho Americas

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AUSTIN, Texas –  For a moment there it looked as if Stephen Ames was going to have company in the unwanted record books at the World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play. Bubba Watson’s dominance early in the final at Austin Country Club over fellow University of Georgia alum Kevin Kisner – where he won the opening five holes – had everyone scrambling for the record books for largest wins. To be fair, most remember Tiger Woods giving Ames a 9 and 8 belting in the opening round of the 2006 tournament … but could Watson reach the almost mythical 10 and 8? The short answer is no – instead he settled for a 7 and 6 result – but it could have quite easily been more. Watson had legitimate chances to win the first 10 straight holes – and did win seven of them. It was a Bubba blitz of epic proportions – a combination of good golf and a tired opponent. It stands as a new record for a winning margin in an 18-hole final – with Woods’ 8-and-6 win over Stewart Cink in 2008 coming when the final was played over 36 holes. “I really don’t think it was pressure,â€� Watson said of Kisner’s performance. “I think it was just energy. I don’t think I scared him on the first tee. I think it was just his energy was gone after a couple of holes. And he was fighting, but just didn’t have the fight that he really wanted and needed.â€� Kisner had gone 19 holes in his semifinal against Alex Noren, a grinding match he probably should have lost, but showed great guts to win. Watson needed just 16 holes to oust Justin Thomas and had a comfortable lead for most of that match, expending much less physical and mental energy. “I don’t know what was going on. It was just pitiful. I couldn’t hit anywhere close to where I was trying,â€� Kisner lamented. “Long week. A little tired, probably. Lose some legs, and just didn’t have it. And finally made a few good swings coming in, but those were too little, too late.â€� In the final, Watson opened with five straight wins – the first player to do so all week. It all began with a birdie for him on the opening hole, setting the tone for the match. He even had a short putt to make it six in a row but proved human by missing on the low side. Another win on the seventh hole had him firing again and the now 11-time PGA TOUR winner had looks from 18 and 14 feet on the eighth and ninth, respectively, to win those holes only to let them slip. Another birdie on 10 followed before Kisner slightly delayed the inevitable with a long-range birdie and win on the 11th. Another Watson birdie on the 12th hole secured his second career WGC title and second TOUR win this season. “It’s absolutely amazing,â€� Watson said after moving to fourth in the FedExCup. “You don’t think about lists or anything, you just think about trophies and trying to win. And having two majors, and now having two World Golf Championships … the closest things to majors … what an honor and a privilege, overwhelming sensation to know that I have another trophy at the house.â€� CALL OF THE DAY SUPERLATIVES Best Match: The semifinal between Kevin Kisner and Alex Noren needed an extra hole to decide it. After the two traded some stunning golf early in the match it became a grind late. At one stage, Noren made five straight birdies but won just one hole. On the back nine, Kisner won the 12th, and then won it again in overtime to claim the win. Noren had multiple short putts to win holes, including on 18 in regulation, but couldn’t get it done. Read all match recaps here. Most Dominant Performance: Clearly it was the 7-and-6 rout Watson handed Kisner in the championship final. Most Holes Won: The eight holes won by Watson in the final was the pick of the four Sunday matches. Least Holes Won: Kisner at least got on the board with his long birdie bomb on the 11th hole in the final … the only hole he won. Best Learning Experience: FedExCup leader Justin Thomas had the chance to get to world No. 1 if he could beat Watson in their semifinal on Sunday morning but instead struggled to bring his best. Thomas admitted it got to him – an experience he can certainly learn from. “I haven’t had such a hard time not thinking about something so much. And that really sucked. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest,â€� Thomas said. QUOTABLES Well, yeah, there’s only two of us. Jell-O.If we do our job well, we think we’re good enough to beat the other guys. In the end it might be a good thing going to Augusta without that. I get to go do what I was going to do and let DJ have all that pressure. It was one of the hardest losses probably ever for me.

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BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods had everyone dreaming of PGA TOUR win number 80 early in the third round of the Quicken Loans National but the roars turned to whimpers as an epic charge stalled on the back nine. Starting the third round just four-shots back Woods had the crowd in a state of hysteria after four-straight birdies moved him to within one shot of the lead after just seven holes. But while the heat index at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm continued to rise, Woods’ putter started to cool off and a host of missed chances peppered his last nine holes. In the final wash up Woods shot a 2-under 68 to move to 7 under for the tournament, a distant six shots off the pace set by Francesco Molinari (65) and Abraham Ancer (62) at 13 under. “I played better than what my score indicates,â€� Woods said. “It was frustrating because I thought that 10 under would have been a good score for me to end up at for the day and I could have easily gotten that today on the back nine.â€� A win for Woods is certainly not completely out of the question as he sits in a tie for 10th place but the two-time FedExCup champion will need a special Sunday. With temperatures expected to squeak towards 100 degrees on Sunday Woods will base his strategy on how the golf course is set up but clearly intends to try to go low and post a number in the clubhouse. “I’m curious to see what they do with the golf course, if they keep letting it dry out or are they going to protect it against this heat,â€� Woods said. “If they let it dry out, then the scores won’t be as low tomorrow, but if they protect it, then everybody’s been making birdies everywhere here. “Either way I’m going to have to shoot a low round to try to give myself a chance, but I would hope that it would be drier because it gives me a little better chance.â€� Woods opened his round with a bogey and then played the next two holes loosely also, failing to birdie the par-5 2nd and then needing to make a 12-foot par save on the third. It was a critical putt as it kick-started a blistering run of four-straight birdies with Woods stepping up his approach game and connecting putts from six, seven, 12 and eight feet. A bogey on eight may have started the slide except Woods rebounded immediately on the par-3 9th with a 25-foot birdie. But it would be a long wait for more joy despite huge crowds willing his every move. Woods missed makeable birdie putts from eight and nine feet on the next two holes and had to settle for par on the 12th also when his 21-foot effort barely missed. A poor iron off the 13th tee would result in a sloppy bogey and then Woods missed another birdie from seven feet on the drivable par-4 14th. A 20-foot try on the 15th wouldn’t drop but a sublime approach to five feet on 16 finally resulted in his only birdie of the back side. His 23-footer on 17 wouldn’t drop and then the gloss was taken off the round when he went wayward off the 18th tee into a tough lie, hacked out into a bunker and failed to get up and down. With his new mallet style putter Woods now ranks 27th in the field through three rounds in Strokes Gained: Putting. It was his best friend on the front – where he made 78 feet, five inches of putts – but almost an enemy on the back as he made just 17 feet, five inches. “Every putt I missed on the back nine except for 18 were all high side, I just blew it through the high side three putts in a row,â€� he said. “Frustrating.â€� For those hoping to see history it certainly was.

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