Tiger Woods struggles mightily at U.S. Open

LAS VEGAS — Notes and observations from the fourth round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin where Bryson DeChambeau claimed his fifth PGA TOUR title. LEADING LIGHT Bryson DeChambeau revealed earlier this week he will most likely take advantage of putting with the flagstick in next year when rule changes in golf allow for it. On Sunday he showed why he thinks it’s an advantage, dropping in a 57-foot, seven-inch putt from the back fringe of the par-5 16th hole for a tournament defining eagle. To be fair the putt probably would have gone in regardless as it was tracking at perfect speed the whole way but it was clearly the moment of the final round, particularly as defending champion Patrick Cantlay had chunked a bunker shot just moments earlier. DeChambeau knew how important it was, producing a fist pump that will lead highlight reels for some time. It gave him a cushion up top on the leaderboard and although Cantlay birdied the last ahead of him DeChambeau was able to make a stress-free par on the last to claim a fifth PGA TOUR win, his fourth since June. “When I hit it it’s like, all right, it’s pretty solid speed off the start. Then I saw it about halfway down there and I was like, ooh, that might be a little fast,â€� DeChambeau said of the putt. “For whatever reason the slope gradually declined and went to about like a two percent slope and the ball started just rolling perfectly to the right just like I had envisioned. “It just held straight that last little bit and was able to trickle in. I haven’t given a reaction like that in a while. That was pretty cool.â€� OBSERVATIONS CANTLAY COMES UP SHORT: Defending champion Patrick Cantlay was left to rue a poor bunker shot on the penultimate hole of the tournament. After an impressive 8-under 63 on Saturday Cantlay made another run Sunday and took the outright lead with a birdie on the par-5 16th hole. But his tee shot on the par-3 17th faded a little right into a greenside bunker and he caught the second shot heavy, barely getting it out of the sand. “Tricky shot,â€� he said. “When I dug my left foot in it didn’t have a bunch of sand, and then obviously when I hit my shot there was more sand under the ball and didn’t anticipate that. It was just a poor shot at the wrong time.â€� Impressively he was able to rebound immediately with a clutch birdie on the last, forcing DeChambeau to make par behind him for his win. “I really got off to a slow start Thursday and Friday, and that was too much to overcome. Played really well this weekend and I’m proud of that,â€� he said of his defense. His runner up finish moved him to seventh in the FedExCup standings. FOWLER FIRES LATE: Rickie Fowler’s season debut finished with a serious flourish as a final round 8-under 63 moved him into a tie for fourth. The bogey-free eight birdie effort may have been a little too late to seriously contend for the title but it put a nice dent in his fall season FedExCup point goals. It was the lowest final round of his career. Fowler now heads to next week’s Mayokoba Golf Classic in Mexico in 38th spot on the points list knowing another decent result can give him the base he needs for a huge season. He was runner up in the event a year ago. “Got things rolling on the back nine birdieing the first four out there. Couple slid by, but solid back nine. Nice to finish on a high note,â€� he said. “It was nice to kind of shake a bit of rust off every day. Today is the best everything has felt all together. Putted better. Felt like full swing and irons and driver were good all week but made some good up and downs. Definitely happy about it.â€� RYDER MAKES A RUN: Sam Ryder might be one to watch as the fall series continues after a sensational 9-under 62 on Sunday moved him into third place. While ultimately he fell two short of DeChambeau’s winning total Ryder moved to 10th in the FedExCup after finishing 101st in his rookie season. Ryder ranked first in proximity to the hole on Sunday and first in Strokes Gained: Putting. With a T4 at the Safeway Open he now has two top four finishes in his last three starts. “It’s kind of just been the process of me throughout my career in a way. I played a couple summers on the Canadian Tour. First year struggled a little bit; kept my card, and killed it the second year,â€� he explained of his career trajectory. “The Web.com Tour I was kind of getting my feet the first year and had an awesome second year. And then kind of last year (on the PGA TOUR) was slow coming. I missed my first four cuts of the year being really tired from the Web season. But then started playing Sam Ryder golf in the middle of the summer moving into the playoffs. “Now I have a lot more confidence and I’m just comfortable out here. I feel like I know where I belong and where I fit in. I’m trying to get better and work on the things I know I need to work on to improve and try and be in that top tier of player.â€� QUOTABLES Guy yells, “mashed potatoesâ€� right at impact, and I snapped it and it hits a rock and goes out of bounds.Just made maybe the best ball striking round of my life. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 9-under 62 – Sam Ryder with a bogey-free nine birdie effort. Longest drive: 382 yards – Cameron Champ on the par-5 9th. Longest putt: 53 feet, 11 inches – Ryan Moore. Toughest hole: Par-3 8th played to 3.311 with just five birdies, 24 bogeys and two doubles. Easiest hole: Par-5 16th played to 4.338 with four eagles, 42 birdies and just one bogey. SHOT OF THE DAY CALL OF THE DAY

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ST. LOUIS – Tiger Woods was 3 over par through two holes at the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on Thursday, but battled back to shoot an even-par 70. He was five behind the early first-round leader, Rickie Fowler, and feeling good about turning a potentially terrible day into a not-so-bad one. “It kept me in the golf tournament,â€� said Woods, who started on the back nine. “I could have easily gone the other way, being 3 over through two. A lot of things could happen. Not a lot of them were positive, but I hung in there and turned it around.â€� After being sidelined for years by various ailments, including four back surgeries, Woods is in the midst of a comeback season that has seen plenty of highs. At the Valspar Championship in just his fourth start this season, he shot four under-par rounds for the first time since THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2013. At The Open Championship at Carnoustie last month, he briefly seized the lead before struggling on the back nine and ultimately finishing T6. The top-10 finish nudged him into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and got him into last week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone South, where he’d won eight times. He got into contention but shot 73-73 on the weekend to finish T31. Woods was not at his best again at Bellerive on Thursday. Of his 118-yard approach over water at the 11th hole, he said, “I stuck it in the ground,â€� coming up some 12 yards short on the way to a double-bogey 6. Still, he minimized the damage by making three birdies and no bogeys over his last 10 holes. He hit 9 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens, and took 27 putts. “This is a long run,â€� he said, pleased to still be within five of the early first-round leader, Rickie Fowler. “These are marathons. These are four long days. They’re slow rounds.â€� Woods had the same score as playing partner Rory McIlroy (70) and was one behind the third member of the group, Justin Thomas (69), the defending PGA champion who is coming off a victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last weekend. Being grouped with two stars from the next wave had Woods in a reflective mind, and he recounted a story about playing with Jack Nicklaus at the 2000 PGA at Valhalla, which he had told at the PGA Champions Dinner here earlier this week.   “Jack at Valhalla, 18 years ago, that was his last PGA, and he was telling me the story that he played with Gene Sarazen in his last PGA,â€� Woods said. “It’s interesting what this game of golf can do, how we can basically last for so many different generations. “… The reason I was telling the story is because J.T. invited me to speak a little on behalf of himself and PGA of America, and J.T. was 7-years old when we were at Valhalla, and he was in the clubhouse when I made that putt on 18. So, kind of trying to tie in Gene Sarazen, Jack, and little J.T. there, and now he’s PGA champion for the last year, 17 years later. So, it’s pretty neat.â€�

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Billy Maxwell, who grew up next to a golf course and led a full life of golf as a top amateur and successful touring professional before becoming a golf course owner, has passed away at the age of 92. Born on July 23, 1929, Maxwell was raised in his family’s home off the fourth green at Abilene (Texas) Country Club. The sport became his passion as Maxwell developed into a leading amateur who won the 1951 U.S. Amateur and helped North Texas State College win three straight NCAA Division I Championships (1950-1952). At North Texas, Maxwell teamed with fellow future Texas Golf Hall of Fame members Don January and Joe Conrad all three championship years, which in fact followed the school’s first-ever NCAA title in 1949. In September of their second championship year together, Maxwell advanced to the finals of the U.S. Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania. Before a tournament-record crowd of approximately 7,000, he defeated career amateur Joe Gagliardi, 4 and 3. At age 22, Maxwell became the second-youngest U.S. Amateur champion at the time. Following college, Maxwell served in the U.S. Army before turning professional in 1954. He had a successful PGA TOUR career, winning eight times, including three wins in 1961. His final victory came at the 1962 Dallas Open Invitational, a year in which he finished a career-best 12th place on the money list with nearly $32,000. Although he never won a major championship, Maxwell performed consistently well at the three U.S. majors, finishing with eight top-10s, including ties for fifth at the 1962 Masters and 1963 U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Also in 1963, Maxwell competed in his first and only Ryder Cup at the former Atlanta Athletic Club site, now occupied by East Lake Golf Club. Though a rookie at age 34, he had a sterling performance as the only player to go 4-0-0 to help the U.S. cruise to a 23-9 victory over Great Britain. Maxwell teamed with Bob Goalby to win his first match in foursomes, then teamed with Billy Casper twice to win in four-balls and concluded with a 2-and-1 singles victory over Christy O’Connor. Once Maxwell’s playing began to wind down, he turned his attention to the business side of golf, partnering with fellow Texas touring professional Chris Blocker in 1971 to purchase Hyde Park Golf Club, a public course in Jacksonville, Florida, that was designed by famed Scottish architect Donald Ross and opened in 1925. Once home to the PGA TOUR’s Greater Jacksonville Open and site of LPGA great Mickey Wright’s first professional victory, Hyde Park was where PGA TOUR players such as Dan Sikes, Mark McCumber and Charles Raulerson honed their game as youths. After Blocker died in June 2016, Maxwell’s daughter and husband, Melanie and Tommy Bevill, took ownership of Hyde Park. But Billy remained dedicated to the course he owned for more than four decades until his passing.

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