Woodland credits multi-sport influence for PGA TOUR revival

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Tommy Fleetwood has won in Scotland, England, the United Arab Emirates, France, South Africa, even Kazakhstan. Victory in the U.S. hasn’t happened yet. Related: Leaderboard | Contenders at The Honda Classic have endured hardship The Englishman is in position to change that Sunday. Fleetwood birdied four of his final six holes on the way to a 3-under 67 in the third round of The Honda Classic on Saturday, moving to 5 under for the week and one shot ahead of Brendan Steele at PGA National. Fleetwood has been close to getting that elusive win on U.S. soil with two runner-up finishes. “If you’re going to win around here, you’ve proven yourself as an all-around golfer,” Fleetwood said. “Realistically, yeah, it probably is another step in my career. I’m not going to lie and say, `Ah, I don’t really mind about winning in America.’ Of course I do. I want to win everywhere I play and the PGA TOUR is for sure one of those places where I haven’t done it yet.” Steele shot 71. He was alone on the lead through 36 holes at 5 under, birdied two of his first three on Saturday to get to 7 under and then made four bogeys in an eight-hole span. But he survived, which was the order of the day for the leaders. “It feels like a major championship toughness-wise,” said Daniel Berger, who is three shots back. Fleetwood rolled in a birdie from nearly 50 feet on the par-3 17th to highlight his big finish. But he thought his two most important shots on Saturday were putts that dropped on the 10th and 15th holes. And both were for bogey. Let that speak for how challenging PGA National was — yet again. Of the 69 players who made the cut, only 11 broke par on Saturday. Fleetwood’s 67 was the second-best round of the day; Mackenzie Hughes, who made the cut on the number Friday, shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday and went from tied for 59th to start the day to tied for eighth with 18 holes left. Fleetwood’s score of 5 under is the highest by any leader through 54 holes since the Honda moved to PGA National. “It’s just a strong test of your all-around game,” Fleetwood said. Luke Donald birdied the last to finish a 71 and get to 3 under for the week, two shots off the lead. Lee Westwood (71) was tied with Donald going into the final round, surviving an up-and-down day where he birdied two of his first three holes — and then made just one more in the last 15 holes. “I didn’t have my A game today,” Westwood said. “But, ground it out and didn’t do too much damage. I don’t feel like two shots is much around this golf course.” True, but the Honda — at least the current incarnation of it — is not exactly known for comeback victories. Since the tournament moved to PGA National, 12 of the 13 winners have been either first or second after 54 holes. And in terms of deficits overcome, the biggest has been three shots — Padraig Harrington rallied after being three back of Ian Poulter in 2015, and Ernie Els was three shots behind Donald, Matt Jones and Mark Calcavecchia in 2008 before prevailing. Berger (69), Charl Schwartzel (70) and Sungjae Im (70) were tied for fifth at 2 under, three back of Fleetwood. There was a five-way tie for the lead — Schwartzel, Steele, Im, Donald and Fleetwood — on the back side for a brief spell Saturday at 4 under. It didn’t last long as all five dropped a shot within a span of about 15 minutes, a span in which Schwartzel got a reminder of how fast things can change at PGA National. He put his tee ball in the bunker on the par-4 16th, then saw his second shot hit the lip of the sand and plummet into the water to set up a double bogey. “I thought I was really good today out there,” Schwartzel said. “I played well, made a stupid decision on 16, but hit good shots after that and kept going. It’s a tough golf course.”

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The first round of the Barbasol Championship takes place on Thursday from Keene Trace. Here’s how to follow all the action. Round 1 leaderboard Round 1 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 4-6 p.m. (GC). Sunday, 4-7 p.m. (GC). PGA TOUR LIVE: None. RADIO: None. FEATURED GROUPS (ALL TIMES LOCAL) Thursday Troy Merritt, Jason Dufner, Bill Haas: 1:53 p.m. Friday Brice Garnett (116), Ryan Armour (109), Jhonattan Vegas (68): 1:53 p.m. MUST READS Expert Picks Power Rankings

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. How the field qualified for The Genesis Invitational as of 2/11/2022: Check here for updates. Former Winners of the Genesis Invitational Max Homa Dustin Johnson Adam Scott Bubba Watson Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship (five-year exemption) Si Woo Kim Rory McIlroy Justin Thomas Winner of U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Brooks Koepka Jon Rahm Winner of PGA Championship (five-year exemption) Collin Morikawa Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Sergio Garcia Hideki Matsuyama Patrick Reed Winner of The Open (five-year exemption) Francesco Molinari Jordan Spieth FedExCup Champion (five-year exemption) Patrick Cantlay Winner of World Golf Championships event (three-year exemption) Abraham Ancer PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Sam Burns Cameron Champ Paul Casey Joel Dahmen Cam Davis Tony Finau Talor Gooch Branden Grace Tom Hoge Sungjae Im Matt Jones Jason Kokrak K.H. Lee Marc Leishman Luke List Seamus Power Cameron Smith Erik van Rooyen Viktor Hovland Member of most recent U.S. Ryder Cup team Xander Schauffele Scottie Scheffler Member of most recent European Ryder Cup team Matt Fitzpatrick Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Kevin Na Corey Conners Joaquin Niemann Charley Hoffman Alex Noren Keegan Bradley Brian Harman Cameron Tringale Harold Varner III Carlos Ortiz Charl Schwartzel Sebastián Muñoz Russell Henley Maverick McNealy Emiliano Grillo Robert Streb Jhonattan Vegas Patton Kizzire Harry Higgs Mackenzie Hughes Ryan Palmer Martin Laird Troy Merritt J.T. Poston Pat Perez Andrew Putnam Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Adam Long Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Lanto Griffin Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Doc Redman Roger Sloan Hank Lebioda Tyler McCumber Adam Hadwin Chez Reavie Brendan Steele Sepp Straka James Hahn Russell Knox Matt Wallace Sam Ryder Matthew NeSmith Scott Piercy Kyle Stanley Anirban Lahiri Dylan Frittelli C.T. Pan Matt Kuchar Brice Garnett Scott Stallings Chesson Hadley Aaron Wise Top 125 Major medical extension Danny Lee * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Christiaan Bezuidenhout Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Rickie Fowler Sponsors Exemptions (Unrestricted) Aaron Beverly Jaekyeong Lee Min Woo Lee Robert MacIntyre Thomas Pieters Below 10th position from Current FedExCup Points List Will Zalatoris Mito Pereira Cameron Young Kevin Tway Nick Watney J.J. Spaun Hayden Buckley Patrick Rodgers Beau Hossler * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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