Tiger ousted in Match Play quarterfinals upset

The 2019-20 PGA TOUR season is upon us, with the first round teeing off Thursday at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, making its debut as the season opener on the schedule. Making its debut as the season opener on the schedule, the 156-man Greenbrier field is loaded with rookies set to make a big splash. Kevin Na is the defending champ, having won the Greenbrier when it was last played as part of the 2017-18 season. FIELD NOTES: The highest-ranked golfer from the 2019 FedExCup standings is Bryson DeChambeau, who finished 12th. … Rookie Viktor Hovland will make his debut as a full-fledged PGA TOUR member after earning a TOUR card via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Hovland notched four straight top-20 finishes to end last season, including a fourth at the Wyndham Championship. … Past champions Stuart Appleby, Danny Lee, Ted Potter Jr., and Scott Stallings will join Na in the field. … Major winners Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker, Keegan Bradley and John Daly also are teeing it up. … Scottie Scheffler, who topped both The Finals 25 Points List and the combined (The 25) Points List on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, is in the field. Scheffler is the lone golfer fully exempt on the PGA TOUR due solely to his play on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. … Tom Lewis, who won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing and Finance, will make his debut as a PGA TOUR member this week. … Sungjae Im, the only rookie to reach the TOUR Championship last season, is making the first of his six planned starts in the next eight weeks. … Air Force Captain Kyle Westmoreland – who Monday Qualified for an event on the Korn Ferry Tour this summer – received a sponsor exemption. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. COURSE: The Old White TPC (7,286 yards, par 70). Has been the host venue since the inaugural Greenbrier in 2010. STORYLINES: Due to the condensed nature of the new PGA TOUR schedule, A Military Classic at The Greenbrier is unveiling its new date, moving from July to September. … Players who hope to make this year’s Presidents Cup as a captain’s pick for either Tiger Woods’ U.S. Team or Ernie Els’ International Team certainly want to play well this week. Keep a close eye on Americans such as Na, Watson and Bradley, and Internationals such as Im and Branden Grace . … Making an early move in the FedExCup standings also is key, especially with 11 events schedule for this fall. Last season, 75% of the winners in the fall advanced to the TOUR Championship, the highest percentage in the last six seasons … This will be the first tournament using the TOUR’s adjusted cut line of top 65 and ties … The 2019 edition of the tournament marks the 10th playing of the event… No 54-hole leader has gone on to win the title Sunday, as Kelly Kraft (the 2018 third-round leader) shot even par Sunday to lose by five to Kevin Na. 72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Stuart Appleby (2010) 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Stuart Appleby (4th round, 2010) LAST TIME: It had been seven years since Na had found the winner’s circle on the PGA TOUR, but he fired a near flawless Sunday round to notch his second career TOUR victory at the Greenbrier in 2018. He would go on to finish 28th in the FedExCup standings and make The TOUR Championship for just the second time in his career. Na was emotional following his victory, thanking all those who had supported him in his long journey back to the top of a PGA TOUR leaderboard. He rode those good vibes into 2019, too, and won the Charles Schwab Challenge – his second victory in just 10 months. Kelly Kraft held the 54-hole lead but stalled Sunday shooting even par and ended up five shots back of Na’s win. Brandt Snedeker finished T3, his best result on the PGA TOUR in almost two years. After matching Na with a Sunday 66, Snedeker would parlay that finish into a victory at the Wyndham Championship the following month. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.–6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) PGA TOUR Live: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 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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TRUCKEE, Calif. – Had Alex Noren stayed in Scotland, he would’ve competed at The 150th Open at St. Andrews. But he was itching to play golf this week, his schedule including an upcoming three-week competitive hiatus as a training period into the FedExCup Playoffs. He was on the grounds at the Old Course and played nine holes early Tuesday morning as first alternate. It wasn’t easy being at St. Andrews knowing his spot in the field was not guaranteed. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave, either. But it had been five days since anyone had withdrawn from The Open, and there wasn’t a clear indication that anybody else would. Noren felt good about his game, believing his form was strong enough to contend this week on any setup. He took the proverbial bird in hand, withdrew from The Open alternate list and flew to California for the Barracuda Championship. Justin Rose withdrew from The Open on Thursday morning with a back injury. He would have been replaced by Noren if the Swede had stayed on-site; he was replaced instead by Rikuya Hoshino. Erik van Rooyen withdrew later in the day and was replaced by Aaron Rai. Noren admits there were conflicting emotions when he learned this news Thursday, and he was slow to start the Barracuda Championship – standing at net 0 points through 14 holes of the opening round at Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood). He made two birdies on his final four holes, though, to gain a spark, and a 12-point performance Friday (six birdies, no bogeys) moved him into a tie for 11th through 36 holes in the TOUR’s only Modified Stableford scoring event. Noren, 40, made his decision and lived with it. He has recorded five top-25s in 10 career Open appearances and has played in 32 majors overall. He competed at the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews, as well. He intends on playing in several more majors. Not to say the experience hasn’t been a bit bittersweet. “It was a weird week,” reflected Noren after Friday’s second round in Truckee. “I was going to get into (The Open) and then it was just confusing (Thursday), weird emotions, because I couldn’t stand being there, and it was too good of an event, and I knew this was a good event, too. I just wanted to play somewhere, make sure I could play somewhere. “I booked a flight Tuesday morning. It took so long because I was first reserve from Thursday even to Wednesday, so nothing happened for over a — just like a week. I didn’t think anybody would withdraw. They actually did, and sad for them, but also I wanted to play this. I wanted to get some more points. I’ve got three weeks of training after this before the (FedExCup) Playoffs, and I wanted to play this week, and maybe that mindset made me have a little less patience that I needed this time. “Golf is a long career, and I’ve played a lot of (Open Championships), and I’ll get to play it again.” After finishing T30 at the Genesis Scottish Open, Noren arrived at St. Andrews on Monday night before his early-morning Tuesday practice nine. Still first alternate at that point, he decided to traverse eight time zones backward to the Sierra Nevada region – “going west like this is not that bad,” remarked Noren. “It’s worse going back east.” He arrived in Sacramento late Tuesday night, near midnight, and had trouble procuring his rental car and golf clubs. He got squared away at 10 a.m. Wednesday, worked with the TOUR to change his pro-am tee time to an afternoon slot, and made the 112-mile drive to Old Greenwood. Noren hails from Sweden but lives in south Florida now, practicing at The Bear’s Club. This combined with previous course knowledge – he finished T9 at the 2020 Barracuda Championship – made for a less daunting learning curve as he transitioned from links golf. “It helps living in America now,” Noren said. “You get these conditions pretty much every week. It’s not that tough going from surfaces. It’s probably easier going to faster greens like this than the other way around. “You need a day, preferably two or three, but a day is fine. If you go straight and don’t get a practice round, don’t get to practice putting at all, it’s pretty tough, but one day is fine.” Thursday was “a weird day,” admitted Noren. Through 14 holes, he was a few points off the cut-line pace, “just knowing that I could be at St. Andrews and then I’ve got to play some good golf here just to make the cut.” He relishes the Modified Stableford format, though, knowing it’s doable to jump up the leaderboard quickly. He rallied to move within striking distance of 36-hole leader Chez Reavie (28 points) and the 10-time DP World Tour winner is fully energized to chase his first TOUR title this weekend. Noren currently ranks No. 75 on the FedExCup, his TOUR season highlighted by a T5 at The Honda Classic. He’s motivated to improve that position before his pre-Playoffs training period, in an enjoyable setting. And he’ll be particularly motivated to make eagles. “I love this course,” Noren said. “It’s an interesting format. You can have a good chance for eagle on 12, and it’s just fun. You can make an eagle, or eagle-birdie in a row you’re 7 points. It’s like sometimes in golf when just nothing happens and then you need something like that. It’s a cool format, and I think you need a couple of eagles to make it happen, you know.”

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