Tiger out of surgery for ‘significant’ leg injuries

Paul Casey left behind one of the unhappiest years of his golfing career by capturing his first title since 2019 with a four-stroke win at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

Click here to read the full article…

HAIKOU, CHINA—Sweden’s Oskar Arvidsson carded a third-round, 2-over 74 to stay on course for a wire-to-wire win at the PGA TOUR Series-China International Qualifying Tournament No. 1, the first of two successive 72-hole qualifiers at Mission Hills Haikou. With difficult pin positions adding to the challenge on another cold day, Arvidsson finished 8-under, one ahead of playing partners Lucas Herbert (73) of Australia and American Jeffrey Kang (72), who will all play together again in Sunday’s final round. American Kurt Kitayama, a Web.com Tour player in 2016 and 2017, shot 69 to move to 5-under and tie for fourth with Australia’s Kevin Yuan (68) and Canada’s Richard Jung (71). Luke Toomey, formerly New Zealand’s top amateur, made a strong move as a 68 moved him into a tie for 15th, at even-par. The top-15 finishers will earn full cards and the next 25 will be conditionally exempt for this year’s PGA TOUR Series-China, which will reward the top-five money winners with places on the Web.com Tour, the path to the PGA TOUR. Arvidsson, 26, will start in pole position despite a difficult Saturday in which he dropped his first shots of the tournament after opening with two bogey-free 67s. The Bangkok-based Swede bogeyed No. 2 but bounced back with three straight birdies before dropping shots at Nos. 8, 9, 11 and 18. “It was quite tough out there today. The pins were a little difficult, it was windy, so I think we all played pretty good, but it was hard to get it going. I’m still aiming to win, and I’m looking forward to playing some great courses on this Tour,â€� said Arvidsson, who had even considered withdrawing after suffering stomach pains on Friday morning. Herbert, 22, cut a slightly frustrated figure after mixing four birdies with five bogeys, including on the par-5 18th but still heads a strong Australian contingent that also includes Yuan, DJ Loypur (4-under) and Andrew Schonewille (3-under) in the top-10. As high as third in the World Amateur Golf Ranking before turning pro in 2015, Herbert is on an impressive run of form that has steered him to eighth on the 2017 PGA TOUR of Australasia Order of Merit and a place at The 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie through a tie for eighth at last month’s SMBC Singapore Open, won by Sergio Garcia. “I try to win, anyway. I think it’s one of those events that if you keep the mentality, if you want to win, then you don’t settle for laying up. Your vision tends to broaden a bit more if you just aim for the top 15, so I’m going to try and win and just prove to myself that my game’s still got it,â€� said Herbert, who at World No. 228 is the highest-ranked of the final group. “Eventually, it would be great to play on the Web.com Tour. I have a card on (PGA Tour of) Australasia so I’m looking for Tours to play for the rest of the year, so I’ll also look to play (PGA TOUR) Canada Q-School. If I can get a card here, that would give me some security and I won’t be too stressed out going to Canada Q-School.â€� Kang, 26, also admitted that victory, not a top-15 finish, would be his focus Sunday. The Los Angeles resident, who graduated from the University of Southern California in 2014, recorded his fourth birdie of the day on the 18th to tie Herbert and offset two bogeys and the double bogey he posted on No. 13. “Any tournament you play, you want to win it. I think that’s the mentality you start the tournament with, and why change it going into the last day?â€� asked Kang, who played on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in 2016 and around Asia last year. “I’ll try to do what I did today, although the back nine was really hard today. I’ll just try to minimize the mistakes and see how it goes.â€� This week’s 120-player entry list features players from 16 countries and territories across Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America, with the largest contingents from the U.S. (34) and South Korea (29). After a one-year hiatus, PGA TOUR Series-China resumes in March with a 14-tournament schedule, with each tournament offering RMB 1.5 million, a 25-percent increase over purse levels from 2016. The Mainland China Qualifying Tournament for China passport holders will be held at Wolong Lake Golf Club in Liuzhou City in Guangxi from February 27-March 2 (Tuesday-Friday). The PGA TOUR established PGA TOUR Series-China in 2014 as its third international developmental tour, following in the footsteps of PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. Since its inception, PGA TOUR Series-China players have received Official World Golf Ranking points for top finishes at official tournaments. Previous International Qualifying Tournament Winners

Click here to read the full article…

The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. Corales Puntacana Championship field list as of Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. ET: Check here for updates. Winner of PGA Championship (five-year exemption) Jimmy Walker Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Danny Willett PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Joel Dahmen Tyler Duncan Sung Kang Nate Lashley Graeme McDowell Hudson Swafford Nick Taylor Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Career money exemption Bill Haas Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Ricky Barnes Matt Gogel Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) Dominic Bozzelli Marcus Byrd Rafa Cabrera Bello Rafael Campos Thomas Detry Rasmus Hojgaard Haotong Li Victor Perez Hiram Silfa Fabrizio Zanotti Designated sponsor’s exemption Jeronimo Esteve Juan Jose Guerra Guillermo Pumarol Manuel Relancio Commissioner exemption – 2 Foreign Players. Nicolai Hojgaard Sam Horsfield PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Andrew Filbert Monday qualifiers Michael Balcar Brian Davis Rick Lamb Bryson Nimmer Past champion of respective event Brice Garnett Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Maverick McNealy Emiliano Grillo Jhonattan Vegas Andrew Putnam Brandon Hagy Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Doc Redman Roger Sloan Hank Lebioda Matthew NeSmith Kyle Stanley Chesson Hadley # Major medical extension Wesley Bryan Seung-Yul Noh Kelly Kraft Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Sahith Theegala Hayden Buckley Patrick Rodgers Aaron Rai Taylor Pendrith Vince Whaley Alex Smalley Greyson Sigg Davis Riley Adam Svensson Trey Mullinax David Lipsky Chad Ramey John Huh Paul Barjon Seth Reeves Austin Smotherman Max McGreevy Curtis Thompson Andrew Novak Bronson Burgoon Austin Cook Matthias Schwab Dylan Wu Nick Hardy Justin Lower David Skinns Ben Kohles Dawie van der Walt Michael Gligic Peter Uihlein Chris Stroud Jared Wolfe Scott Gutschewski Brandon Wu Brett Drewitt Kiradech Aphibarnrat Kurt Kitayama Joshua Creel Callum Tarren Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Beau Hossler Mark Hubbard Ryan Armour Jim Knous Camilo Villegas Vaughn Taylor Chase Seiffert Bo Van Pelt Cameron Percy Bo Hoag $ Reshuffle within categories 34-38 Jonathan Byrd Sean O’Hair Robert Garrigus Kevin Chappell Jason Dufner Aaron Baddeley David Hearn Scott Brown Ben Martin David Lingmerth D.A. Points Grayson Murray D.J. Trahan John Merrick The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

Click here to read the full article…