Viktor Hovland excited for debut, feels like a newcomer at WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

A lot of players had a chance to win the PGA Championship. Here’s why Brooks Koepka did and Tiger Woods and some others didn’t.

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FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler headlines the field at the AT&T Byron Nelson, which features seven of the top 15 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking. K.H. Lee, who won at TPC Craig Ranch last year for his first PGA TOUR title, returns to defend. FIELD NOTES: Scheffler returns to action after a two-week break. He followed up his Masters victory with a T18 finish alongside partner Ryan Palmer at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans… RBC Heritage champion Jordan Spieth, twice a winner in his native Texas but never at the Byron Nelson, also returns after a break… Justin Thomas is looking for his first victory of the season. The 2017 FedExCup champ has six top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season… Brooks Koepka and Hideki Matsuyama are teeing it up on TOUR for the first time since the Masters. Koepka missed the cut at Augusta National while Matsuyama finished T14 in his title defense… Dustin Johnson is in action for the first time since his wedding to Paulina Gretzky… Xander Schauffele is making his AT&T Byron Nelson debut. Other notable first-timers include Tommy Fleetwood, Francesco Molinari, and Bubba Watson… Past champion Justin Leonard, 49, will come out of the broadcast booth for his first PGA TOUR start since the 2017 Valero Texas Open… McClure Meissner, 2021 Byron Nelson Collegiate Golf Award winner, is making his second TOUR start… The 2011 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, J.J. Killeen, earned a spot in the field via his win in September at the Joyce Crane-Veritex Bank Section Championship, his first time teeing it up with the Northern Texas PGA. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, par 72, 7,468 yards. The course, which hosted the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament plus events on the Korn Ferry Tour, made its debut as a PGA TOUR host in 2021. Designed by Tom Weiskopf (with D.A. Weibring as consultant), it opened in 2004. The course boasts Zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens. Rowlett Creek crosses the course 14 times. TPC Craig Ranch will host the AT&T Byron Nelson for the next four years. STORYLINES: TPC Craig Ranch is in the Dallas suburb of McKinney and there will be plenty of Texas guys looking for some hometown love. Count Spieth, Scheffler, and Harry Higgs in that group along with Ryan Palmer (who told GolfWeek he has the course record at TPC Craig Ranch) and Will Zalatoris (who has played it “hundreds” of times)… This marks the third and final event for Morgan Hoffmann in his quest to earn 238.42 FedExCup points and regain full TOUR status via his medical extension. He missed the cut at the RBC Heritage and the Wells Fargo Championship… This is the final tune-up before the PGA Championship, the second men’s major of the year. K.H. Lee earned the last spot in the PGA Championship field last year thanks to his win at TPC Craig Ranch… The Byron Nelson is a sell out for the first time since 2008. 72-HOLE RECORD: 259, Steven Bowditch (2015 at TPC Four Seasons). Aaron Wise and Sung Kang’s 23-under-par 261 in 2018 and 2019, respectively, are the lowest against par; Bowditch was 18 under after heavy rain turned TPC Four Seasons into a par 69 for the final three rounds. TPC Craig Ranch record: 263, K.H. Lee (2021) 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Arron Oberholser (2nd round, 2006 at Cottonwood Valley GC), Keegan Bradley (1st round, 2013 at TPC Four Seasons). TPC Craig Ranch record: 62, Sam Burns (2nd round, 2021) LAST TIME: K.H. Lee shot 66 to beat 54-hole leader Sam Burns by three. There was a weather delay of more than two hours in the final round. Lee missed a par putt on 16, but two closing birdies were enough for the win. Burns fired the low round of the week, a 10-under 62, on Friday but couldn’t keep up the momentum through the weekend. He was the only golfer in the top five not to break 70 on Sunday. Patton Kizzire shot the round of the day Sunday, a 9-under 63, which moved him into a tie for third alongside Daniel Berger, Scott Stallings, and Charl Schwartzel. Defending champion Sung Kang finished tied for 47th. Lee’s win marked the second in a row at the AT&T Byron Nelson by a golfer of Korean descent. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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MEDINAH, Ill. — Hideki Matsuyama has never missed the TOUR Championship since his first full year on the PGA TOUR. He played Friday like he doesn’t want the streak to end. Outside the top 30 in the FedExCup for the first time at the BMW Championship, Matsuyama made five birdie putts from 15 feet or longer and broke the course record at Medinah with a 9-under 63 for a one-shot lead going into the weekend. He started his second round with a 30-foot birdie putt. He ended the round with a 30-foot birdie putt. The explanation for what went right wasn’t that long. “I did make a lot of long putts today, and that was the difference,” Matsuyama said through his interpreter. That was a big difference for Tiger Woods, too. He made only two putts longer than 6 feet, made a pair of bogeys from the bunkers late in the round and had to settle for another 71. Woods, who needs a top 10 to advance to the TOUR Championship, was tied for 49th. “I left quite a few shots out there,” Woods said. Matsuyama was at 12-under 132, one shot ahead of Patrick Cantlay (67) and Tony Finau (66). Justin Thomas made six birdies to offset three bogeys in his round of 69, leaving him two shots behind. Cantlay, Finau and Thomas are all assured of being among the top 30 who advance to the TOUR Championship next week, where everyone in the field will have a shot at winning the FedExCup and the $15 million prize. Matsuyama won four times on the Japan Golf Tour as a rookie after he graduated college, and then won the Memorial in 2014 and narrowly got into the FedExCup finale at East Lake. But he has gone two years without winning, and Friday was the first time he has led after any round since his most recent victory at Firestone in the Bridgestone Invitational. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in contention,” Matsuyama said. “Hopefully, I can play well. I’ve been struggling for a while this year. Hopefully, that can turn around and I’ll have a good weekend.” Cantlay has gone 36 holes at Medinah with only one bogey, and key to his round was avoid one late. His tee shot on the 320-yard 15th caught enough of the wind that bounded right into the water. He took his penalty dropped, chipped to 8 feet and saved par, got up-and-down on the next hole and then finished with two more good putts, one for birdie and another for par. “Any time you make a par after hitting the ball in the water it’s good,” he said. “It gave me some nice momentum to close out the round.” Lucas Glover (69) and Rory Sabbatini (68) were among the group at 9-under 135, both suddenly in range of the top 30. Woods won the TOUR Championship last year, capping a remarkable return from four back surgeries with his first victory in five years. It was an extraordinary afternoon considering where he had been, a moment topped in Georgia some six months later when he won the Masters. But after he pulled out at Liberty National last week citing a mild oblique strain, he slipped 10 spots to No. 38. And while it was a mild surprise when he showed up at Medinah, he’s going the wrong direction in the FedExCup. He isn’t ruling out a return to the TOUR Championship to defend his title, but he’s running out of time and not making enough birdies. Woods hit it to tap-in range on the 11th, and then ran off birdies on the 14th and 15th hole to slowly get back into the picture at Medinah. And then he made consecutive bogeys from the bunker, had to settle for another 71 and was right back where he started. “I’m going to have to have a great weekend and make a lot of birdies and post some rounds in the mid-60s to give myself a chance at it,” Woods said. “Putt well and I’ll shoot good scores. I haven’t done that.” Jordan Spieth also is on the verge of ending a second straight season without a victory, and without a trip to East Lake. He made progress at Liberty National with a tie for sixth, and he needs another finish like that to crack the top 30. He did not need to chop his way to a double bogey on the par-3 eighth that left him at the bottom of the pack. Spieth rallied with five birdies on the back nine, and he believes he has the “firepower” to post two low scores and hope it’s enough. There was a realistic side to him Friday, especially after the double bogey, that his season was over because of how he felt over the ball. Yes, he still has an outside chance. But he sure didn’t sound consumed by it. “I’m far enough out that I’m going to sleep at night not expecting to be there,” Spieth said about East Lake. “It’s not where I want to live, but it’s where I am.”

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