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DUBLIN, Ohio — Justin Thomas kept another clean card at Muirfield Village and had a 6-under 66 to turn a three-shot deficit into a two-shot lead Saturday in the Workday Charity Open. Thomas first had to run off a string of birdies to stay within range of Collin Morikawa. And when Morikawa began to fade with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch around the turn, Thomas converted on the par 5s and played wisely on the short par-4 14th for another birdie to hold off Viktor Hovland. RELATED: Full leaderboard | | How to give Muirfield a second identity The final group is a glimpse of golf’s next generation. Thomas is the proven star, already a major champion, FedExCup winner and former world No. 1 at age 27 as he goes after his third victory this season and the 13th victory of his career. Hovland and Morikawa had just left college at this time last year. Hovland, the former U.S. Amateur champion from Norway, had eight birdies in his round of 66 and was two shots behind. Morikawa had to birdie the 18th for a 72. Thomas figures it won’t be the first time they all play together. “It’ll be fun to hang with those guys tomorrow, but at the end of the day I’m worried about myself and trying to win a golf tournament and have a good round,” he said. Thomas was at 16-under 200. The final round will start early because of heavy storms in the forecast Sunday afternoon, with threesomes starting on both tees. Morikawa had the lead for 31 straight holes, dating to the 15th hole in the opening round, until missing the ninth green with a short iron, hitting a wild tee shot on the 10th that led to bogey, and sending his tee shot on the par-3 12th well over the green in such a bad spot that even making bogey was hard work. “I put myself in spots you couldn’t put yourself in,” Morikawa said. “Couldn’t really figure out wind directions, how much to adjust. But whole new day tomorrow, and kind of glad I fought it out through even par got myself three back. So that can change really quickly tomorrow.” Hovland, who won the Puerto Rico Open this year, got back in the game quickly by opening with a pair of birdies at the start and making birdie on all the par 5s. He also took on the 14th hole, where the tees have been moved up for this tournament to play at 310 yards — reachable from the tee, but with bunkers left and water to the right. Hovland hit his tee shot to 30 feet for a two-putt birdie. Thomas tried to drive the green with a 3-wood Friday and had to work for his par. With the wind slightly at his back, he opted for a 6-iron off the tee and a short iron into the green. That led to a 10-foot birdie putt. Morikawa went left of the bunkers off the tee and no chance to get it close with the green running away from him. Hovand was thrilled to be in this position, especially with how his week started. He was 3 over through 10 holes on Thursday and finished with six birdies over his last eight holes. He followed with rounds of 67-66. The spotlight will be on youth — Thomas is the veteran in this group — with a few others on the fringe of contention. Sam Burns, a 23-year-old from LSU, had a 70 and joined Kevin Streelman (71) five shots back at 11-under 205. Ian Poulter, back at Muirfield Village for the first time since 2009 because of the reconfigured schedule, had a 69 and was six shots behind, along with Rory Sabbatini, who had a 69. “It’s going to have to be a low one tomorrow,” Poulter said. The biggest surprise was M.J. Daffue, a 31-year-old from South Africa who played college golf at Lamar and has been struggling to make it as a pro. He was a Monday qualifier for the Workday Charity Open, getting into only his second PGA TOUR event. He had to birdie his final hole Saturday morning to make the cut. And then he made an 18-foot eagle putt late in his round of 65, the best score Saturday. He was seven shots behind and loving every minute of his time around the course Jack Nicklaus built. The TOUR needs this tournament to end before the weather. The course is to be closed on Monday to replace all the signage and remove the 10 electronic scoreboards for the Memorial. It’s the first time in 63 years the PGA TOUR has had back-to-back tournaments on the same course.
The PGA TOUR’s lone match-play event returns to Austin Country Club with a 64-player field divided into 16 groups of four for round-robin play. Billy Horschel is back to defend his title. He beat Scottie Scheffler 2 and 1 in last year’s final. FIELD NOTES: Sixty-four of the world’s top 69 players are set it to tee it up… The field includes eight-time TOUR winner Bryson DeChambeau, who has been sidelined with a wrist injury since he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January… Five of the top five players in the OWGR are in the field, including Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, and Scottie Scheffler. Since his runner-up result in 2021, Scheffler has shone for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and won twice on TOUR… Eleven players are set to make their Match Play debuts, including TOUR winners Sam Burns, Seamus Power, Lucas Herbert, and Tom Hoge… Sepp Straka, who won The Honda Classic for his maiden TOUR title, was the last golfer to earn a spot in the field… Those who qualified for the event and are not playing in Austin include Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Harris English, Phil Mickelson, and THE PLAYERS Championship winner Cameron Smith… Recent WGC-Match Play winners in the field include Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 FedExCup points. COURSE: Austin Country Club, par 71, 7,108 yards (yardage subject to change). The Pete Dye design has yielded different kinds of winners, from long-bombers Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson to short-game wizards like Kevin Kisner. This is the sixth year Austin CC has hosted. With roots dating to 1899, the course is believed to be the oldest in Texas; it was relocated twice before landing on its current location. The course features two distinct nines. The front showcases some of the Texas hill country, while the back is more in the lowlands beside Lake Austin – a scenic backdrop as the matches reach their conclusion. STORYLINES: Final seeds will be determined based on the OWGR released on March 22… The field will be divided into 16 four-player groups with the top 16 players being the top player in each group. The remaining players will be picked randomly. Points are awarded based on the following results: 1 point to the winner of a match, 0 to the loser, and 0.5 for a halved match. After group play, the format turns to single elimination… After injury prevented him from defending his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, DeChambeau – who lives in Dallas, only a three-hour drive away – is back in action… The last No.1 seed to win it all was Dustin Johnson, who defeated another No.1 (Jon Rahm) in 2017. Jason Day was a No.2 seed when he won in 2016, while Rory McIlroy was another No.1 seed when he won in 2015… The rankings of the last three winners have been 32-48-35… Tiger Woods is the only one to successfully defend his title. Woods won in both 2003 and 2004. There have been some other close calls, though: Paul Casey finished runner-up two years in a row (2009, 2010), while Hunter Mahan won in 2012 and was runner-up in 2013. Jason Day won in 2014 and 2016. LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY: 9 & 8, Tiger Woods def. Stephen Ames (1st round, 2006 at La Costa Resort & Spa). LONGEST MATCH: 26 holes, Mike Weir def. Loren Roberts (1st round, 2003 at La Costa), Scott Verplank def. Lee Westwood (1st round, 2006 at La Costa) LAST TIME: Billy Horschel defeated Scottie Scheffler in the championship match 2 and 1. It marked Horschel’s sixth TOUR title and came after he failed to get past the round of 16 in his past four starts at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Matt Kuchar defeated Victor Perez 2 and 1 in the consolation match. For the first time since group play was introduced in 2015 the semifinals did not include a seed from the top 16. Horschel also defeated Kevin Streelman, Tommy Fleetwood, and Perez on his way to capturing the title. Jon Rahm, Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, and Brian Harman were the other quarterfinalists. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (NBC) Radio: Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 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
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jim Furyk is hosting his first PGA TOUR Champions event at this week’s Constellation Energy FURYK & FRIENDS. He compared his hosting duties with competing in a major championship because of the excitement and nerves he felt when he woke up Monday. “I think it will be an emotional week,” he said Tuesday. His inaugural event has attracted a strong field that also includes Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els and Steve Stricker. Furyk, 51, has won three times this season on PGA TOUR Champions, including the U.S. Senior Open. He sat down with PGATOUR.COM at Timiquana Country Club to discuss his new event, as well as his decorated PGA TOUR career. He talked about the role that self-belief had in his progression from a solid college player to a 17-time TOUR winner, as well as the most important shot he hit that no one saw. He told the story of how watching Nick Faldo hit wedges at the Masters changed his career and described playing with Tiger in his first win, a scene he described as “chaos.” (Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.) PGATOUR.COM: What made you want to host an event? JIM FURYK: Well, we had our event that we called Furyk & Friends for 10 years and we had a nice little niche and we were raising about half a million dollars each year for charity. We were raising some good money, but we also didn’t have a formula for growth. It was an opportunity more than anything else. It was an opportunity that Tabitha and I talked about and an opportunity for us to really showcase our city in Jacksonville and then also raise more money for charity. PGATOUR.COM: You moved to the Jacksonville area in 1996. Did you expect that you’d stay 25 years and, on a professional level, did you think the next 25 years would hold what they did? JIM FURYK: I bought a townhome and it was just kind of a, ‘Let’s just see what Jacksonville has to offer.’ I had heard a lot about the water, the practice facility at TPC, the cost of living and the quality of living. It just became home. We raised our kids here. Our foundation’s here. But no, I never had the idea that in 1996 that this would be like my permanent home. As far as my career, I was a good junior player and highly recruited. I was a solid college player, but, even on my own team, I wasn’t the can’t-miss kid or the guy agents were seeking after. Some of that was a blessing for me. I didn’t sign a big contract with an equipment contract and feel pressure to come out and be one of the top players on TOUR. I got to improve at my own rate. By the time I won my first event, I felt like I could handle it. In 2003, I won my first major and people asked, ‘What’s different now?’ and I was like not much. I always felt like I was lucky in that whatever I accomplished I was ready for. I didn’t go out in my second year and back into winning a big event and like, ‘Uh oh.’ I was ready for it. But I never imagined leaving college that I was going to have an almost 30-year career, win 17 times, play in nine Ryder Cups, be the Ryder Cup captain. I couldn’t have even dreamed of that. PGATOUR.COM: What’s the most important shot in your career that no one saw? JIM FURYK: The most pressure I ever felt in my life was in Q-School, and that includes major championships or Ryder Cup. In my second Q-School, in the finals in 1993, I made the four-round cut on the number and I got my TOUR card on the number (Note: At the time, Q-School was a six-round event with a 72-hole cut). It was a stressful, stressful week. We were playing in Palm Springs at PGA West. I made the fourth-round cut on the number, making a 15-footer for birdie on the last hole, thinking I had to two-putt. What happens if that doesn’t go in and I don’t make the fourth-round cut? In the final round, the last two holes were a par-3 with water short. One of the guys I was playing with, we were tied, he hit it in the water and made double. I scraped it up on the middle of the green somewhere and two-putted. I hit an OK drive on the last hole – think about how long ago this was, and I can remember the shots – and I had to hit a 4-iron into this green. Pin is front-left on a lake. I hit the ball 30 feet long and right of the hole. With a 4-iron, it was a pretty good shot. I had a putt coming over a ridge and it lipped out. I had a tap-in for par but I wasn’t sure if I had to make birdie or par. I was the first group out and I had to wait two-plus hours for scores to come in. The top 40 and ties earned their TOUR cards and I tied for 37th. PGATOUR.COM: What was the secret to your longevity? JIM FURYK: I was able to stay pretty healthy. I do things differently than a lot of players, but I think the belief that it was going to work, and sticking by it, was able to give me the longevity. I had to refine it, I had to get better, I had to get more consistent, but I had the belief that it was good enough. My goals were never all that short-sighted. I wrote goals down during my career, but I never wrote down that I need to win two tournaments this year or win $1 million. They were never even that I need to hit 70% of the fairways. My one goal each and every year was to improve and to look back 12 months from now and say that I’m a better player because of X, Y and Z. There was always this quest and search for how to improve. It’s easy at times to identify your weaknesses. It’s really difficult to put your finger on how to address them, though. My dad was always very good at helping me get better at those things and creating a path or a way to do it. Sometimes, you can’t get it tomorrow. It may take six months. When I first went out on TOUR and played my first Masters in 1995, I remember watching Nick Faldo hit some wedges next to me in that old practice area. He was hitting this beautiful, low, driving wedge shot that landed so soft. I didn’t want him to see, but I was watching what he was doing. He walked away after about 15 minutes and I asked my dad, ‘Did you see that? That’s how I want to hit wedge shots.’ I knew that if I wanted to take the next step I would need to get better from 100 yards and in. And so, I worked on what my dad said for two years, relentlessly, in that back area of TPC and turned myself into what I thought was one of the best wedge players on TOUR. I wouldn’t have been able to do that on my own. I would identify that I needed to get better but he helped me get there and I put the work in. PGATOUR.COM: This week’s Shriners Children’s Open comes 25 years after Tiger Woods earned his first win there. You played with Tiger that Saturday. What do you remember about that round? JIM FURYK: The TOUR was totally caught off-guard by his presence and the chaos it created at golf tournaments. It was almost unsafe. It was like we had to fight our way from one green to the next tee. It was total chaos. And I think that led to hiring the security staff we have now. At the time, we were using like concert security that didn’t know much about golf and the plans for us around the golf course weren’t that good. My day was a mess. I was just frustrated. It took awhile. We just didn’t understand what his presence was going to mean, even then. We were naïve. I think Tiger was probably more prepared for it than anyone. PGATOUR.COM: What is it about the game that you’re still grinding at 51? JIM FURYK: Early in my career, I would have told you something different. When I was 25, it was a fear of failure. Larry Bird used to wake up and he’d had a dream that he went 0-for-28 and couldn’t make a shot. That fear of failure kept me driven. Now it’s just pride. The guys out here have had great careers. We just have a lot of pride in our craft. I put the work in because I don’t want to put a product out there that I’m not proud. I have a lot of pride in what I do. I enjoy practicing. I enjoy trying to get better. I enjoy being going off by myself with a bag of shag balls and hitting flop shots, trying to figure out different ways to do it. I’ve liked the serenity and peacefulness. I can get lost in it. An hour can go by and it feels like five minutes. I’ve always enjoyed getting better.
