Unheralded alternate Lashley shoots 63 for PGA Detroit lead

Brooks Koepka looks to get his 2019-20 season back on track at TPC Southwind, where he’ll defend his title at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational title. FedExCup leader Justin Thomas and newly-minted world No. 1 Jon Rahm also headline the field. This is Rahm’s first start since his victory at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. FIELD NOTES: With 550 FedExCup points available to the winner, there are three players who could supplant Thomas atop the standings: Webb Simpson, who was runner-up at TPC Southwind last year, Sungjae Im and Bryson DeChambeau. The top nine players in the FedExCup are in the field… The entire top eight in the Official World Golf Ranking will be in the field… In all, 45 of the top 50 players in the OWGR will tee it up at TPC Southwind – the most of any event during the 2019-20 TOUR season… Seventy-eight players from 19 countries will tee it up in Memphis… Henrik Stenson will make his first start since the TOUR’s Return to Golf in June… Puerto Rico Open winner Viktor Hovland is set to make his first career start at a WGC. FEDEXCUP: Winner gets 550 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Southwind, 7,238 yards, par 70. After 30 years as the host club of the FedEx St. Jude Classic, the Ron Prichard layout – southeast of Memphis – was elevated to a WGC host. Loren Roberts came on board in 2004 for the most recent upgrade. STORYLINES: Daniel Berger looks to continue his good vibes at TPC Southwind. He won back-to-back titles at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2016 and 2017 and returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since in the first event of the TOUR’s Return to Golf, the Charles Schwab Challenge… Collin Morikawa, who won last year’s Barracuda Championship played opposite the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, is now a two-time TOUR winner after recently beating Thomas in a playoff at the Workday Charity Open… Dustin Johnson returns to action after withdrawing from the 3M Open. Johnson, like Berger, is a two-time winner at TPC Southwind and a six-time WGC winner. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Brooks Koepka (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Jon Rahm (2019, first round), Rory McIlroy (2019, third round) LAST TIME: Koepka won his first World Golf Championship by three shots over Simpson. It was Koepka’s third win of the season. In the process he became the PGA TOUR Regular Season leader in FedExCup points and also clinched top spot in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. He also became just the sixth player to win a major championship and a World Golf Championship in the same year. March Leishman finished third while Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and Rory McIlroy finished T4, five shots back of Koepka’s winning total. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 12 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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AVONDALE, La. — Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown teamed to shoot an 8-under 64 in better ball on Saturday to take a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Zurich Classic. The duo lost on the fourth hole of a playoff to Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt last year, the first for the Zurich as a team event. They’re in contention once again atop a crowded leaderboard at 20-under 196. Tony Finau and Daniel Summerhays shot a bogey-free 63, and Michael Kim and Andrew Putnam teamed for a 66 to finish one shot behind Kisner and Brown. There were 13 teams within four shots of the lead. Several teams went low in the easier better-ball format. The teams of Brice Garnett-Chesson Hadley, Billy Horschel-Scott Piercy and Jason Dufner-Pat Perez all shot 61s to jump into contention. The format switches to alternate shot for the final round.

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FRIDAY MORNING FOUR-BALLS Match 1: Brooks Koepka / Tony Finau, USA, def. Justin Rose / Jon Rahm, Europe, 1-up Holes won: Europe 4, USA 5 Holes led: Europe 14 USA 1 Recap: After trailing for almost the entire match, the Americans stole a pivotal point with a great finish, helped by an incredible bounce. Koepka and Finau were two down with six holes to play and still under pressure when they reached the par-3 16th tee a hole behind. But Finau’s shot, that appeared well short and too far right, caught the wooden bulkhead and bounced up to just 3 feet from the hole. The birdie squared the match and then a pair of pars on the last was enough to steal the match when Rose found water and Rahm trouble in the deep rough. Quotes: “We will take the breaks when we can get them. I knew it needed to get up a little bit. It rose on me a little bit, started to spin. I said get lucky somehow, that’s what I was thinking in my head. Fortunately it did. That was a huge break for us.â€� – Tony Finau “Feels like two (points). They got us down early, which you never really plan on, but you just got to fight and keep fighting.â€� – Brooks Koepka Match 2: Dustin Johnson / Rickie Fowler, USA def. Rory McIlroy / Thorbjorn Olesen, Europe, 4 and 2 Holes won: Europe 1, USA 5 Holes led: Europe 1 USA 7 Recap: After halving the opening seven holes the European side took the lead on the par-3 eighth when neither American could make par. But it was the last bit of joy the home side faced. With Rory McIlroy playing poorly and unable to find a single birdie it was up to rookie Olesen to keep pace. He couldn’t despite some decent play. Fowler made back-to-back birdies around the turn to wrestle the lead and Johnson then stepped up with two of his own to create a big cushion. Johnson sealed the match with a clutch iron to a few feet on the 16th hole. Quotes: “I think the big thing was we tried to both be in as many holes as we could. We just played some solid golf. When one of us was out of the hole, the other picked the guy up. We knew that was going to be needed against Rory and Thorbjørn. They’re great ball-strikers, and knew it was going to be a tough match.â€� – Rickie Fowler “We believe in each other. Our demeanors are pretty similar, especially on the golf course. We practice a lot together. We spend a lot of time together, whether out here this week or even at home. We felt we’d be really good partners, and so far so good.â€� – Dustin Johnson Match 3: Jordan Spieth / Justin Thomas, USA def. Paul Casey / Tyrrell Hatton, Europe, 1-up Holes won: Europe 3, USA 4 Holes led: Europe 0 USA 16 Recap: It appeared the birth of a new super team for the USA after the good friends stormed to a 3-up lead through just seven holes. Spieth’s putter found form and the pair of former FedExCup champions were on fire. But Casey and Hatton refused to roll over and wins on 11, 12 and 13 squared the match. Thomas made his move to reclaim the lead on the 15th hole and they held firm over the difficult closing stretch. Quotes: “It was great. Playing Ryder Cups over here are extremely fun. We were able to feed off each other. We ham-and-egged it extremely well around this golf course. I don’t think we birdied the same hole once. We made a lot of birdies today. What a blast that was.â€� – Jordan Spieth “We’ve talked about this really for so long, so long being all of nine or so years, but it’s cool to finally be here and doing it. We’ve spent time at Ryder Cups together. We’ve played in the Junior Ryder Cup and he’s played in a couple of these now and it’s been my first. There’s not a partner in the world I’d rather have a chance to go out here with.â€� – Justin Thomas Match 4: Francesco Molinari / Tommy Fleetwood, Europe, def. Tiger Woods / Patrick Reed, USA, 3 and 1 Holes won: Europe 7, USA 4 Holes led: Europe 7 USA 3 Recap: The most up and down battle of the morning finished with a European flurry to post their only point of the Four-ball session. Woods and Reed were touted to be a formidable mix but Molinari set a tone with an opening birdie. Through eight holes things were tight and square before Woods took the ninth with birdie and Reed chipped in for birdie on the 10th to go 2-up. And then the European revival took flight. Molinari posted back-to-back birdies to square the match at 11 and 12 before Fleetwood stepped up late. Huge birdie putts on the 15th and 16th holes from the Englishman took control of the match and then just for good measure Molinari made a long one on the 17th to close it out. Quotes: “Just unreal. We had that little tough stretch in the middle of the round, I lost three holes out of four, I think, it’s easy for it to go flat, but the crowds, the home crowds, as soon as Fran holed that putt on 11, things changed straightaway. And the crowd carried us through it all the way. There is nothing like it. And that’s just my first morning experience. Guys have done this 10 times. There is nothing like it, and I can’t wait to get out and do it again.â€� – Tommy Fleetwood “I love him. What can I say? I love him. We both played really well. We had a couple of moments where we had to dig in, but we both stayed positive.â€� – Francesco Molinari

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