USGA backtracks on rules Tweet directed at Justin Thomas: “He did not avoid a discussion”

Click here to read the full article…

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Adam Svensson was in prime position to shoot 59 in the second round of the Wyndham Championship after going 9 under through 13 holes. Alas, he could only manage pars the rest of the way and signed for a 61 that left him tied for the lead at 11 under after the morning wave of players had toured rain-soaked Sedgefield Country Club. He hit 13 of 14 fairways, 16 greens in regulation, and made 132 feet of putts. “Got a little nervous,â€� said Svensson, a 25-year-old Canadian who is 171st in the FedExCup, but projected to move up to 59th. “But I was happy with the way I played.â€� After struggling to 31 putts in the first round, when he ranked 136th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, Svensson used his new claw grip to perfection Friday, taking just 25 strokes on the greens. With 59 in play, fans flocked to his group to watch him play the final four holes. Svensson shot 61 at the Sony Open in Hawaii this year, so the round was not a total shocker despite his struggles. Danny Sahl, who also caddies for Vijay Singh, but has been helping Svensson try to keep his PGA TOUR card, was especially unsurprised. This is their fourth week together, and Svensson finished T15 and T18 in the first two, the 3M Open and John Deere Classic, respectively. He worked on switching to the claw putting grip at the Barracuda Championship last week, missing the cut. “Tee to green,â€� Sahl said, “he’s the best I’ve seen besides probably Vijay in his heyday. His demeanor and distance control were still there as we got closer to that famous number.â€� Before the tournament started, Sahl told Svensson to just go out and play, no pressure. That’s a lot easier said than done, but Svensson has responded. He said he was standing in the 14th fairway Friday when it occurred to him that he could shoot 59, assuming Sedgefield was a par 70. Suddenly nervous, he missed the 14th green with his approach, but got up and down for par. He duck-hooked his drive on 15, bouncing back nicely with his next two shots before pushing his short birdie try well right of the hole. He now need to birdie two of the last three. He birdied none. Still, a 61 is nothing to sneeze at, and Svensson makes this the sixth season in the last decade in which a player has shot multiple rounds of 61 or below on TOUR. (Steve Stricker 2009, Troy Merritt 2015, Ryan Moore 2012, Chez Reavie 2017, Troy Matteson 2009.) “Same game plan,â€� he said of his weekend plans. “You know, we play aggressive at some flags and we shoot wedges from other ones. I think I learned a lot from the Sony Open, shooting 61 as well. I just played too aggressive trying to get out front and tomorrow I’m just going to play my normal game.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

POTOMAC, Md. — Francesco Molinari delivered a record performance to win the final edition of the Quicken Loans National. Molinari holed a 50-foot eagle putt to start the back nine, and he never stopped until he turned the final round into a runaway Sunday at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. The Italian closed with an 8-under 62 for an eight-shot victory, matching the largest margin this year on the PGA TOUR. Molinari followed that eagle putt with an approach to 2 feet on No. 11, one of the hardest par 4s on TOUR that had yielded only one other birdie in the final round. He made three more birdies and ended his round by missing a birdie putt from 8 feet. No matter. He finished at 21-under 259, breaking the tournament record by seven shots. “It was a lot easier than I thought,” Molinari said with a wide grin. “I played great. The start of the back nine was incredible.” Tiger Woods closed with a 66, his lowest final round in more than five years, and he was never close. Woods tied for fourth, his best result since a runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship three months ago, though he was 10 shots behind. “I was only four back at the time when I made the turn, and so I thought that maybe if I got on the back nine, I shot 30 — maybe 29 — that would be enough,” Woods said. “Evidently, I would have to shoot 24 on the back nine. What Francesco is doing back there is just awesome.” Ryan Armour closed with a 68 to finish second, earning one of four spots to The Open Championship. The other three spots went to Sung Kang, who finished third after a 64; Abraham Ancer, who tied for fourth after a 72; and Bronson Burgoon, who had a day he won’t forget. He played with Woods for the first time and experience larger crowds and louder noise than he had ever experienced. And with a birdie on the final hole for a 67, he tied for sixth to earn his first trip to The Open. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Burgoon said. Molinari’s decision to stay in America paid off in a big way. He is around the fringe of Ryder Cup qualifying, and the French Open was this week on the Ryder Cup course outside Paris. He also was No. 123 in the FedExCup, so Molinari decided to play the Quicken Loans National and the John Deere Classic in two weeks to improve his standing. The victory, his second on the PGA TOUR schedule, gives him a two-year exemption and moved him to No. 42 in the FedEx Cup. “That’s what I came here for,” Molinari said. “It was not easy to skip Paris and the French Open. I made the right decision.” Molinari previously won the HSBC Champions in 2010, a World Golf Championships event in Shanghai. But that was before the PGA TOUR recognized it as an official victory unless a PGA TOUR member had won the tournament. That victory was a lot like this one — a master performance by a player who relies on his tee-to-green game and thrives when the putter is hot. And the putter was as scorching as weather that approached 100 degrees. Molinari beat Lee Westwood by one shot, and no one else was closer than 10 shots in Shanghai. This time, he had the course to himself with a back nine that was close to perfection, much like his week. Molinari missed only 10 greens in regulation over 72 holes. Not many people saw it. Thousands were following Woods all week, even in the oppressive heat over the weekend. Woods came to life with a pair of birdies late on the front nine, and he was in range to get even closer when he hit a lob wedge to 6 feet on No. 10. He missed the putt. He missed the 13th fairway and took bogey for the second straight day. And then he missed a 3-foot birdie putt on No. 14. “Those are things that I can’t afford to do and expect to win a golf tournament,” Woods said.

Click here to read the full article…