Toms has ‘prime opportunity’ this weekend at Barbasol Championship

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – Two-time Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Justin Thomas added the Plantation Course record to his Kapalua superlatives, only to have his new mark matched by world No.1 Jon Rahm just hours later in Saturday’s third round. The pair shot blistering 12-under 61’s with Thomas surging up the leaderboard early before settling into a tie for eighth with a round to go. His place in the record books alone was short-lived as Rahm put on a clinic during an incredible battle with overnight leader Cameron Smith. Rahm’s 61 sent him to 26-under for the tournament, joining Smith (64) at the top of the leaderboard. The lead pair are five clear of the nearest chasers. Pre-tournament favorite Thomas sat dead last after the opening round thanks to a pedestrian 1-over 74 and while he bounced back with a 67 on Friday, he was still miles behind pace-setter Smith. But on Saturday in perfect conditions the 2017 and 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions winner notched up two eagles and eight birdies in a scintillating effort. The 28-year-old played the last seven holes in seven under and barely missed a 22-foot eagle try on the final hole for a 60. “I didn’t do anything crazy, just took advantage of all the easy opportunities and chances that I had and hit a lot of really good drives, quality iron shots and wedges in there to, again, if there’s such a thing as an easy 12-under, I definitely felt like it was,” Thomas said afterwards. “I wasn’t crazy aggressive today. When you have wedges in your hand with soft greens you attack. It doesn’t matter if you’re in last or first. You’re just trying to make birdies and I felt like that’s what I did.” Rahm was even par on his round through four holes after a loose tee shot was lost on the fourth before notching up an eagle and 10 birdies over his last 14. He finished with a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie flourish. “It was fun,” Rahm said. “The first few holes are birdieable, but you come out the gates, it’s almost like a little bit of a warmup and then you get to 5 and with a good tee shot it’s reachable and very accessible, actually. I hit a 9-iron today and yesterday. So it kind of gets you going. You get on the birdie train and things like today can happen.” The pair beat the previous record of 62, held by Xander Schauffele, Jason Day, Chris Kirk, Graeme McDowell and K.J. Choi. It was his fifth round of 61 or less since 2015, the most of any player on TOUR. While he found just 11 of 15 fairways off the tee Thomas hit all 18 greens in regulation and made 113-feet, 3-inches worth of putts. Kentucky native Thomas will likely need to replicate his heroics on Sunday and have some help if he is to add a third title at the Plantation Course given he sits nine shots back. But while victory might be beyond his grasp it was still important to him to surge as high as possible. “When I looked up and was in last, I felt like that was pretty humbling,” Thomas said. “But I felt like yesterday closing that round out at least gave myself a chance to get a respectable week, respectable finish out of it, and if I did something berserk this weekend, I might have a chance to win.” He now holds the course record at both Hawaii stops on the PGA TOUR having also shot a 59 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu during his 2017 victory in the Sony Open. “It’s fun. Every golf course you go to there’s a scorecard in the locker room… whether the people know me or not or whether they know whoever shot the course record or not, it seems like that’s kind of a part of the club at that time. So, it definitely means something,” he said of course records. “I still remember my first. It was a Junior World practice round. I can’t remember the name of the golf course. I was like probably nine years old. It was like an executive course. I just remember because Tiger had the course record, and I remember beating him and it was like the coolest thing obviously I had ever done at that time. “Something tells me it’s not still standing. But that was the first one I had ever broken and I was pretty pumped about that.”

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Kisner birdied the first three holes on the back nine to take the lead and held on to win at DEAN & DELUCA despite a Sunday charge by defending champion Jordan Spieth. Kisner shot a 4-under 66 to finish at 10-under 270, including a clutch par save on the 18th hole after a wayward tee shot and an approach that was off the back side of the green and well below the hole. He finished a stroke ahead of Spieth, Sean O’Hair and Jon Rahm. Spieth shot a bogey-free 65, and was standing on a chair to see over the crowd at the 18th green when Kisner putted up the mound to 5 feet of the cup and then made the winning putt. That came right after Rahm’s 10-foot birdie chance skirted just to the left of the hole. The 33-year-old Kisner got his second PGA TOUR victory in 148 starts since his debut in 2011, and a check for just more than $1.2 million. He was a runner-up twice this year, and six times over past three seasons. Kisner had a three-stroke lead at the turn on the final day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March before finishing a stroke behind Marc Leishman. Kisner made a nearly 95-foot chip-in for eagle to get him and fellow Aiken, South Carolina, resident Scott Brown into playoff at the Zurich Classic’s new team format before losing to the Australian duo of Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt on the fourth extra hole. After a 14-foot birdie at the 420-yard 15th hole at Hogan’s Alley, Kisner had a two-stroke lead. That at the same hole where Spieth, playing two groups ahead of him, punctuated an 11-foot birdie putt with a fist pump. But about the same time Kisner made a bogey at the par-3 16th, Spieth was hitting his drive way right at the 18th hole and went on to save par after a chip to 5 feet. Kisner hit a similar drive, and also saved par. Spieth, who had missed consecutive cuts at THE PLAYERS Championship and the AT&T Byron Nelson, was trying to become the only player other than Ben Hogan to win consecutive Colonials. Hogan won five times, including the first two in 1946 and 1947, along with consecutive wins again in 1952 and 1953. O’Hair and Rahm, who the last two years won the Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top college player, both shot 66. There were several near misses for Spieth, who started the day five strokes behind 54-hole leader Webb Simpson. Spieth had birdies on the first two holes before a nearly 20-footer lipped out at the 453-yard No. 3 hole. He also just missed a 12-footer at No. 9, and a 25-footer at the 446-yard 12th hole rolled over the left edge of the cup. Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open winner, was the 54-hole leader by two strokes, but started the final round with an unusual bogey at the par-5 first hole. His only birdie came at No. 9, and he bogeyed the 18th when he drove into the left rough after Kisner had already posted his final putt. Simpson had a 71 finish fifth at 8 under. Steve Stricker, the 2009 Colonial winner who turned 50 this year, shot a 63 to move from a tie for 32nd to a tie for seventh for 6 under. He had eight birdies his first 14 holes Sunday, on track to challenge the Colonial course record of 61 and maybe even a 59, before a bogey and three closing pars.

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