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Scheffler mows down European stalwarts in Match Play
Jon Rahm, of Spain, right, congratulates Scottie Scheffler on the 17th green after Scheffler won their round of eight match at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 27, 2021, in Austin, Texas. I just have memories of me and my dad sitting on the couch and watching this guy make putt after putt. AdHe won the Match Play in 2013 and lost in the championship match last time to Kevin Kisner. He scrambled for par, and Spieth missed a 6-foot birdie putt. Spieth went 30 feet long, Kuchar was 6 feet short, and Kuchar won with a birdie.
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Garcia comes up aces on a frenetic Friday at Match Play
Already the most fickle event in golf, the Dell Technologies Match Play on Friday was an endless frenzy. “You just never know what can happen out there," Billy Horschel said after beating Max Homa on the third playoff hole. 64 seed in Match Play history to make it to the weekend. 60 seed, while Erik van Rooyen (62) advanced by beating Daniel Berger with a par on the second playoff hole. The eight playoffs to decide group winners broke the previous mark of five in 2017 since group play began six yeas ago.
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The Latest: Playoffs are all the rage at Match Play
17 green during a third round match at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament Friday, March 26, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)AUSTIN, Texas – The Latest on the Dell Technologies Match Play (all times local):4:55 p.m. The Dell Technologies Match Play already has a No. ___4:30 p.m.Kevin Na lectured Dustin Johnson and then sent him home from the Dell Technologies Match Play. 64 seed to advance since the Match Play switched to group play in 2015.
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Great Scot! MacIntyre battles world No. 1 Johnson to a draw
“It was a tough match,” Johnson said. “Obviously, I was dying to win that match,” MacIntyre said. The Spaniard, whose American home is in Austin, won his second match and thus eliminated Hatton, the No. He missed the birdie putt and Rahm, who would have had a putt from the same range, smile a sigh of relief. Johnson was 10 feet away for eagle, and MacIntyre still had him putt it (Johnson made it).
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Westwood leads at Sawgrass, gets another shot at DeChambeau
It also gave him a two-shot lead over DeChambeau and set up a rematch from last week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Stadium Course at Sawgrass is more about position that power, though DeChambeau appears capable of winning on just about any course at the moment. He shot 64 and was three shots behind, along with Doug Ghim, who is making his debut in The Players. Also four shots behind was Brian Harman, who began his day by holing a wedge for eagle and shot 69. For DeChambeau, it's a chance to stamp himself as the favorite as the Masters nears, if he's not already.
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Kirk takes early lead at Players as DeChambeau pulls closer
Bryson DeChambeau, coming off a win at Bay Hill, got his bad stuff out of the way early and was right behind. Kirk was among those who had to return Friday morning to finish the opening round. He was even par through five holes in the second round. “That’s just the way I am.”Sawgrass was a little tamer in the second round. There were 35 balls in the water on the 17th, and about one-third that many midway through the second round.
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Big finish sends Garcia to big lead at Players Championship
A solid start turned into a brilliant one for Garcia, who finished birdie-birdie-eagle for a 7-under 65, staking the Spaniard to a three-shot lead among the early starters. Garcia was among only five players from the morning draw who broke 70 in what appeared to be ideal conditions, with only a mild breeze and a course in immaculate condition. Ad“For some reason, it just kind of fits my eye," said Garcia, who has a pair of runner-up finishes to go with his victory. He played alongside Rory McIlroy, who began his round with a double bogey from the woods on No. 10 and finish a nine-hole score of 43 by hitting two tee shots into the water on the 18th for a quadruple-bogey 8.
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Familiar place, unfamiliar faces at Kapalua to start year
No one has ever gone more than a year without winning and ended the drought at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Winning is the only way to get to Maui at the start of the year, so Schauffele and 15 other players ordinarily wouldn't be here. “I got an asterisk for winning the Tour Championship that counted in certain things and not in others,” Schauffele said. Horschel said the tour has crunched numbers and in a normal year, it would add eight to 10 players to Kapalua. The tour has contemplated an expanded field over the years, such as giving a two-year exemption to Kapalua for winning a tournament.
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The Masters in November gives golf a big sendoff
It's November, and I think everybody just has to embrace that we're here and we're playing and that's a great thing." In some respects, this Masters is a celebration of what golf has done and a sendoff the sport has never had. For many, it signaled the start of golf season, whether that meant playing or watching. “All the Masters I've watched over the years in Ireland, the golfing season started normally the weekend of the Masters,” British Open champion Shane Lowry said. “I think when The Open Championship was canceled, I had serious doubts we'd play a Masters this year in 2020,” McIlroy said.
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A quiet start to empty week at Augusta National for Masters
Instead of Augusta National members and their guests, the course was filled Monday with Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth, all of them playing a practice round on a course that only looked the same. The COVID-19 pandemic that shut down golf for three months forced a reconfigured major championship schedule unlike any other, particularly at the Masters. "The things that will be the same is it still means the same to us all, and maybe even more so because we return to Augusta National every year. This is the Augusta National hardly anyone gets to see. When it means going to Augusta National to get ready for the Masters — April, November, doesn't matter — it takes the sting off.