Winged Foot in talks with the USGA about becoming part of a future U.S. Open rotation

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brooks Koepka is impossible to overlook now, winning the PGA Championship on Sunday with machine-like precision to go along with his back-to-back U.S. Open titles. And it still felt like he was the second billing to Tiger Woods. With roars for Woods unheard anywhere this side of Augusta National, Koepka kept his cool and ran off two birdies on the back nine at Bellerive right after Woods closed within one shot. Koepka closed with a 4-under 66 for a two-shot victory, making him only the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year. Even with two bogeys, Woods shot 64 for his lowest final round in a major. It was his seventh runner-up finish. “I played hard,” Woods said. “I made a bit of a run. It looks like I’m going to come up a little short.” Koepka was responsible for that. After wasting one chance to put it away, Koepka kept attacking flags and ran in birdie putts of 10 feet on No. 15 and 7 feet on No. 16 to end the drama. He tapped in for par on the final hole to set the PGA Championship scoring record at 264. It also tied the major championship record that Henrik Stenson set at Royal Troon two years ago in The Open Championship. Adam Scott hung around by making big putts, just like he hoped, and was tied for the lead until Koepka’s birdies. They both missed 6-foot birdies on the 17th, and Scott had to settle for third when he bogeyed the final hole for a 67. The St. Louis fans waited 17 years to see Woods, and he delivered a performance that took golf back in time. Without hitting a fairway on the front nine, Woods cut the four-shot deficit to two. Dialed in on the back nine, he hit his approach to a foot on the 15th hole to get within one shot. Koepka heard it all and answered with great shots of his own, finally converting the birdies to pull away.

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Eight points are at stake in Saturday’s Day 3 of the Presidents Cup. The Internationals, trailing 8-2 to the U.S., desperately need a performance like they produced 14 years ago in South Africa. In 2003, the Internationals swept all six matches played on that Saturday at Fancourt – the only time in their team history in the Presidents Cup that they’ve shut out the U.S. in a single session. The format was changed two years later to set up two Day 3 sessions. At Liberty National on Saturday, there will be four Foursomes matches in the morning, followed by four Four-ball afternoon matches. If the Internationals could win six of those matches, the score would be tied entering Sunday’s 12 Singles matches. It’s a tall order, especially given how well the Americans have played in the first two days. Nick Price is shaking up his Foursomes lineup, putting Adam Scott with Adam Hadwin, and Jhonattan Vegas with Emiliano Grillo. Not playing Saturday morning is Hideki Matsuyama, the world’s No. 3-ranked player who has struggled and showing signs of fatigue. Also sitting out the morning are Si Woo Kim, Charl Schwartzel and Anirban Lahiri for the Internationals. Sitting out for the U.S. will be Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Charley Hoffman and Kevin Chappell. Presidents Cup rules require that all players play at least two of the first four sessions, so Kim and Lahiri must play in Saturday afternoon Four-balls, as do Berger, Hoffman and Chappell. Expect to see Hoffman and Chappell as teammates, as the Presidents Cup rookies won their Friday Four-ball match 6 and 5. Koepka and Berger partnered for a loss in Thursday’s Foursomes. While the Saturday morning Foursomes pairings are set, the afternoon Four-ball pairings won’t be announced until a few hours before the start of the session. Here’s a look at each of the four morning matches at Liberty National. Fantasy expert Rob Bolton offers his analysis and provides his picks for PGA TOUR Captain’s Pick game.  MATCH 11 Jason Day/Marc Leishman (International) vs. Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed (U.S.) Foursomes records: Day 0-4-3; Leishman 1-2-1; Spieth 4-0-0; Reed 1-2-0 Why Internationals will win: Pure aggravation could see this duo take down the USA big guns. Having let go their opening two matches down the stretch, the Australian duo is fired up to make amends. Why U.S. will win: Not only has Spieth never lost a Foursomes match in the Presidents Cup, he and Reed have never lost as U.S. teammates, going 2-0-2 in Presidents Cup/Ryder Cups. That includes their 5 and 4 win on Thursday over Si Woo Kim and Emiliano Grillo. Rob Bolton’s analysis: Both duos are gunning to avenge disappointing results on Friday, but Reed and Spieth rolled in Foursomes on Thursday. Going out first Saturday with a six-point team lead, the Americans are in position to step on throats. Even though only one-third of the competition is complete, all of the pressure is on the visitors. My pick: U.S. Captain’s Pick suggestion: Reed, Spieth. MATCH 12 Adam Scott/Adam Hadwin (International) vs. Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar (U.S.) Foursomes records: Scott 4-9-2; Hadwin 0-0-0; Johnson 4-0-1; Kuchar 2-3-1 Why Internationals will win: Hadwin showed great fight in his debut appearance on Friday, let down by Matsuyama’s scratchy play. Now paired with Scott, his putting and Scott’s ball-striking could prove a lethal combination. Why U.S. will win: This team is a great combination of distance and accuracy. They were bogey-free in their first Foursomes match of the week, in Thursday’s windy conditions, beating Adam Scott and Jhonattan Vegas. Kuchar should be well-rested after sitting out Friday’s session. Rob Bolton’s analysis: The return of DJ and Kuchar in Foursomes is predictable. Thursday’s 1-up triumph validated last year’s easy win as a pairing at the Ryder Cup. Meanwhile, Scott lost his first two sessions this week to drop to 13-19-5 in his Presidents Cup career. Hadwin is illustrating the spirit that many expected, so perhaps that’s what Scott needs to reverse his course. It’s a connection that might have made more sense on Thursday. My pick: U.S. Captain’s Pick suggestion: Johnson, Kuchar. MATCH 13 Jhonattan Vegas/Emiliano Grillo (International) vs. Phil Mickelson/Kevin Kisner (U.S.) Foursomes records: Vegas 0-1-0; Grillo 0-1-0; Mickelson 11-6-4; Kisner 0-0-1 Why Internationals will win: The South American connection is being unleashed. The pair of Presidents Cup first-timers won’t lack in fire power and should they manage their way past Mickelson’s mind games and dance routines, they could surprise. Why U.S. will win: Mickelson has leaned on Kisner quite a bit in their first two matches, and the first-timer has delivered. Mickelson, of course, can still conjure up magic when needed, as he did with the winning putt in Friday’s Four-ball match. Having spent two days together, these two have now settled into a nice rhythm – as long as they’re not doing the Three Amigos dance. Rob Bolton’s analysis: Vegas didn’t get the job done with Scott on Thursday and Friday, but his new partner figures to lift his spirits. In fact, it’s surprising that it’s taken three days before the only two South Americans on the team were paired. It’s the kind of mid-competition injection that they’re going to need to hold off Kisner and Mickelson, who are 1-0-1 as a couple. Investors in the Internationals can hedge toward an American letdown here, but you shouldn’t expect it. My pick: Halve. Captain’s Pick suggestion: Grillo. MATCH 14 Louis Oosthuizen/Branden Grace (International) vs. Justin Thomas/Rickie Fowler Foursomes records: Oosthuizen 3-2-0; Grace 3-1-0; Thomas 1-0-0; Fowler 2-1-0 Why Internationals will win: Having lost their perfect record against Thomas and Fowler, the South African duo won’t have any trouble getting up for the rematch. Thomas made everything Friday … surely he can’t keep that up, can he? Why U.S. will win: Both players have been red-hot fire, particularly Thomas on the back nine in Friday’s win. They’ve won both their matches handily this week, needing just 30 holes. They’ve lost just three holes and have trailed on just one. But now that they’ve handed the South Africans their first loss, will the same motivation be there to do it again? Rob Bolton’s analysis: Gamers who have sat on Fowler and/or Thomas hope that they’ll go out again in afternoon Four-ball (to double up on the potential for fantasy points), but those matches won’t be announced until morning Foursomes are underway, which means that the daily deadline will have passed. However, given their value to the team, it would seem way outside Stricker’s conservative profile to sit them. Same goes for the powerhouse of Spieth and Reed. My pick: U.S. Captain’s Pick suggestion: Fowler, Thomas.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Harris English shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday to match his lowest PGA TOUR score and take the first-round lead in the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. The 2013 winner at TPC Southwind, English had a two-stroke lead over Jim Herman, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter and Matthew Wolff, with Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Marc Leishman another shot back at 65. DeChambeau returned to competition after missing the Tokyo Olympics because of a positive test for COVID-19. RELATED: Leishman’s emotional reunion with parents The 32-year-old English birdied the first four holes — making a 27-foot putt on the par-4 second — and added birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 9 to match the course front-nine mark of 7-under 28. The 28 also is English’s career-low for nine holes. “It was one of those rounds where I was hitting it really good off the tee and making a lot of good putts,” English said. Ahead by two strokes after nine holes, he encountered difficulty to the start the back nine. He bogeyed Nos. 10 and 12 to fall out of the lead. But he recovered on the final few holes. He closed with birdies at 15, 16 and 18. He hit his approach at 18 inside 5 feet and sank the putt. “I’m just happy with the way I fought back,” English said. The strong start was a continuation of what has been a solid season for English. Of his four PGA TOUR victories, two have come this season: the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Hawaii and the Travelers Championship in June in Connecticut. He finished third at the U.S. Open. English has won two of the four times he has led or shared the lead after an opening round. Ortiz, who played bogey-free, moved up the leaderboard with birdies at Nos. 15 and 16. Wolff also birdied 15 and 16 and said “everything is starting to fall in place” for him. Herman, seeking the fourth PGA TOUR victory of his career, is in contention after a difficult mid-season stretch in which he missed eight of 10 cuts. After birdies on 16 and 17, he briefly tied English for the lead at 6 under. Herman’s birdie putt on 17 was from 31 feet. DeChambeau was encouraged by his start. He expressed to the media Wednesday he didn’t expect to be much of a factor this week. That sentiment changed Thursday. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend,” he said. “I feel like I can be there to win on Sunday.” Open champion Collin Morikawa and defending WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational champion Justin Thomas shot 67s. Second-ranked Dustin Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele were at 69.

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