U.S. Open 2023: Best moments, live updates from final pairings

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SAN ANTONIO – Here’s how Sergio Garcia overcame the disappointment of his Masters defense that included an octuple-bogey 13 on the par-5 15th hole in the first round. He changed the diapers – “a lot of nappiesâ€� he calls them, using the British term – of his daughter Azalea that wife Angela gave birth to a month ago. He hung out with his parents and with Angela’s parents, making a couple of trips to their 1,200-acre ranch near Austin. He practiced a bit with his dad, Victor. Last weekend, he joined Ben Crenshaw in a two-day member-member tournament at Austin Golf Club. They won, of course. “That was nice,â€� Garcia said. He generally just kept busy, and now this week he’ll play in the Valero Texas Open, making his first start since 2010 at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course. Even though he was a player-consultant to designer Greg Norman, there is lots to learn and recall. He played the back nine on Tuesday and quickly realized that patience will be a key in dealing with the stiff breezes that roll through the 7,435-yard layout. What Garcia didn’t do was brood over how his defense of the Green Jacket will likely be remembered for the five balls he pumped into the water at the 15th in the first round. “I think having a Green Jacket helps,â€� Garcia said. Indeed it does. Shrugging off the 15-over score at Augusta National – the highest score ever recorded by a Masters champ in his title defense — can be difficult for any elite player. Garcia acknowledged Tuesday that had this happened earlier in his career, he might’ve struggled to put it in perspective and move beyond it. But he’s a major champion, as well as a husband and father. There is no time to dwell on past negatives. He’s busy dealing with the present and planning for the future of his family. “It’s one of those things that happens, and it’s happened to me before and it probably will happen again in the future,â€� Garcia said. “That’s the nature of golf. There at Augusta it can happen. So it’s what it is. … “You just deal with it the best way possible. Obviously I was trying to hit the right shots throughout the process and unfortunately the result didn’t want to come out the way maybe it should have, but it’s one of those things.â€� Had the 6-iron he hit with his approach climbed up the hill, he might have been staring at an eagle opportunity. Instead, it rolled back into the water, and “those thingsâ€� unraveled from there. His 13 was the highest score ever recorded on that hole and tied for the highest on any hole at Augusta National. Tough to put that into perspective, especially when you don’t think there was a bad shot in the mix. But Garcia, who became the 11th defending Masters champ to miss the cut, has found the perspective. “As soon as we finished Friday afternoon, you know, it was pretty much forgotten and the week was over,â€� Garcia said. “That’s what it is. I think at the end of the day you’ve got to realize that sometimes it happens, sometimes it goes the wrong way, and without doing much wrong, it can happen. But you learn from it and you move forward and try to be better.â€� Garcia will certainly try to be better at TPC San Antonio than his first visit in 2010, when he tied for 45th while shooting 1 under. The tournament was held in May that year, but when it was moved up a month to April starting in 2011, Garcia was unable to keep it on his playing schedule due to travel conflicts with the Spanish Open in his native homeland. Garcia skipped last week’s event won by Jon Rahm. His adopted homeland now is Texas, since it’s Angela’s home state. It’s also a state in which Garcia has enjoyed three of his 10 career PGA TOUR wins – two in Dallas, one in Fort Worth. Garcia said it’s no coincidence that he’s done well in Texas. “I think I’ve always enjoyed playing in the wind,â€� he said. “It’s usually windy here in Texas, so I’ve always felt quite comfortable in this state. I’ve been fortunate to do fairly well throughout my career in Texas.â€� “I guess now I feel like even more of a Texan than I felt even before. It’s a good state.â€� Consider Garcia to be in a good mental state, too. Dealing with the mess at Augusta National is one thing. Dealing with the mess of a month-old child? That’ll quickly bring anybody back to reality.

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Despite two majors, a World Golf Championship and a pair of beefed-up FedExCup Playoffs events scattered among the first 12 tournaments in Segment 4, the board illustrating the highest ownership percentages for the BMW Championship is covered in chalk. Only Patrick Cantlay at No. 9 starts the week outside the top 17 in the FedExCup standings. He’s 41st in points. (The top 21 in every edition of the Playoffs has advanced. The format since 2015 is the third iteration.) The dispersion qualifies as empirical data to characterize the depth on the PGA TOUR. While gamers are influenced by factors such as momentum, course history and course fit, there’s so much value to go around in a six-man format like PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO that we’ve been able to sustain strength during the most challenging segment of the season. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings (“PR”) and other preview material. Owned Rank  Player  Percentage  Rob’s Rating 1st  Justin Thomas  59.0%  PR1 2nd  Jon Rahm  49.5%  PR7 3rd  Paul Casey  42.6%  PR5 4th  Dustin Johnson (defending champion)  38.9%  PR3 5th  Jordan Spieth  34.9%  PR2 6th  Hideki Matsuyama  28.9%  PR4 7th  Justin Rose  25.8%  PR9 8th  Rickie Fowler  24.0%  PR6 9th  Patrick Cantlay  23.5%  PR14 10th  Brooks Koepka  22.9%  PR17 Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned Power Ranking  Player  Owned Rank  Percentage 8  Patrick Reed  18th  12.8% 10  Henrik Stenson  16th  14.7% 11  Marc Leishman  11th  22.4% 12  Jason Day  13th  22.0% 13  Rory McIlroy  12th  22.3% 15  Matt Kuchar  14th  18.3% 16  Daniel Berger  21st  8.3% 18  Zach Johnson  26th  4.1% 19  Kevin Na  31st  2.0% 20  Bill Haas  47th  0.9% Wild Card  Louis Oosthuizen  19th  11.1% Other notables Owned Rank  Player  Percentage 15th  Sergio Garcia  17.2% 17th  Phil Mickelson  12.9% 22nd  Charley Hoffman  8.2% 24th  Jason Dufner  7.0% 25th  Keegan Bradley  4.4% 37th  Charl Schwartzel  1.2% PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO We gamers can be as disloyal as golf is fickle. In the results-based business of fantasy sports, the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately component varies more than any other, so our reaction to it is almost always directly proportional. This explains the support for Marc Leishman at No. 2 among One & Doners at the BMW Championship, he placed solo third at the Dell Technologies Championship. If you’ve submitted a pick for all of the first 38 events, latching onto a proven talent like that this late is akin to capturing a nugget when panning for gold. If you’re not convinced that his performance at TPC Boston persuaded probably all of his investors in its afterglow, consider that he missed the cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST and finished T39 in his only appearance at Conway Farms four years ago. Because the TOUR Championship concludes the season, next week’s final installment of ownership percentages will be the most compelling, but of the notables outside this week’s top 10 and projected to advance, only Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler spring off the screen as horses at East Lake. This is to say that, on average, gamers are playing aggressively for the now. Since the majority are in pursuit, that approach is spot on. Owned Rank  Player  Percentage 1st  Dustin Johnson (defending champion)  7.9% 2nd  Marc Leishman  7.7% 3rd  Justin Thomas  7.3% 4th  Jason Day  6.6% 5th  Paul Casey  5.8% 6th  Jordan Spieth  5.0% 7th  Jon Rahm  4.6% 8th  Patrick Cantlay  4.4% 9th  Henrik Stenson  4.3% 10th  Hideki Matsuyama  3.9% Other notables Owned Rank  Player  Percentage 13th  Justin Rose  2.6% 15th  Rickie Fowler  2.3% 16th  Brooks Koepka  2.2% 17th  Patrick Reed  2.1% 18th  Rory McIlroy  1.8% 19th  Charley Hoffman  1.6% 20th  Matt Kuchar  1.6% T21  Zach Johnson  1.3% 26th  Phil Mickelson  1.1%

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