PGA Tour Brunch

Red Sox: Sink and Split?

August 10, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Kansas City Royals have lost four of their last five games but can split a four-game road series against the Boston Red Sox when the teams meet in the series finale tonight.

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Boston prevailed 4-3 Wednesday after the teams split the first two games in the series at Fenway Park.

The Royals will use left-hander Austin Cox as an opener Thursday, but righty Alec Marsh (0-5, 6.75 ERA) is expected to get the bulk of the work on the mound. He’ll be opposed by lefty James Paxton (6-3, 3.60).

“Overall a good one,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following Wednesday’s win. “Hopefully we show up (Thursday) and Pax can give us six innings and go from there.”

Cox (0-1, 3.58) has a 1.16 WHIP in 27 2/3 innings this season.

Marsh allowed three runs on six hits in four innings during his last start, a no-decision in Kansas City’s 9-6 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday. Marsh was pitching on short rest after he tossed a scoreless inning in a relief appearance the previous Tuesday. He’ll be pitching against Boston for the first time in his career.

Paxton had a 4.95 ERA in four July starts, then gave up three home runs in five innings during his only start in August — Friday night’s 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

“You go through stretches where you feel really good (and) the ball is coming out great,” Paxton told The Boston Globe. “In other stretches, you’ve got to battle a bit more. I’m working my butt off trying to get back to a stretch where it’s feeling a little bit better out there.”

Paxton is 3-0 with a 1.70 ERA in seven career starts against the Royals. He has 53 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.

Justin Turner, who has been dealing with a bruised left heel, isn’t expected to return to the Red Sox lineup until Friday at the earliest. Turner was injured on July 31 when he beat out an infield single against Seattle. He missed three games and then played in the next three, but hasn’t been in the lineup since Monday’s 6-2 victory over Kansas City.

Turner is hitting .284 and is second on the team in home runs (17) and RBIs (71).

“Hopefully we can get him ready for the weekend (against Detroit),” Cora said.

Kansas City’s MJ Melendez hit two home runs in Wednesday’s loss. He also went deep in Tuesday’s 9-3 victory.

“It validates the work he’s been putting in and the progress he’s been making, so I’m very happy for him,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said.

The Royals stole six bases Tuesday, but pinch runner Dairon Blanco was thrown out attempting to swipe second for the second out in the ninth inning Wednesday. Kansas City also had a runner (Maikel Garcia) picked off second in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s loss.

Fowler Ready for FedEx Cup Playoffs

August 10, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

*Tee times at the FedEx St. Jude Championship are delayed until 11:10am (ET) because of storms

MEMPHIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Although it’s been over a month since his last top-10 finish, Rickie Fowler is as confident as ever heading into this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn.

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Fowler prevailed in a three-way playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic back on July 2, but has since tapered off, finishing tied for 42nd two weeks later at the Genesis Scottish Open before a T23 at The Open Championship on July 23.

It’s a stark contrast from how Fowler was playing before his victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The 34-year-old had seemingly found his stride, placing inside the top 15 in seven of the eight events prior to his lone title this season, although he did miss the cut at the PGA Championship back in May.

Despite not being able to replicate those types of performances during the final two tournaments of the regular season, Fowler figures the playoffs are as good a time as any to get back on track.

“Excited, probably the best I’ve come into the playoffs as far as a consistent year and how I’ve been playing,” Fowler said. “Nice to come off of getting a little bit of rest, because I was kind of running on an empty tank at the Scottish and the British.

“That was the last of — eight out of 10-week stretch. Got a few days to kind of recharge a little bit at home and get ready for this three-week stretch.”

Fowler is also excited about getting the playoffs started at TPC Southwind, where he shot a first-round 65 last year before struggling over the next three days and carding a 71, 72 and 73 to finish T64 at 1-over 281.

However, Fowler would be open to playing at some new courses during the postseason.

“I like this golf course. I think with the playoffs, it could be kind of cool and interesting to see some more movement,” Fowler said. “East Lake has kind of always been East Lake and the finale.

I think it would be kind of cool to see the Playoffs move around a little bit. I think the only one that really does is the second with BMW. … Like I said, I do enjoy coming to Memphis. I’ve had success at this golf course. I like this place. They’ve got some good eats around here, too.”

Fowler enters the first playoff event with the ninth-most FedEx Cup points, but he still knows it’s going to take a lot to outlast the rest of the field.

“Done a lot of good things this year,” Fowler said. “There’s guys that have definitely played better and won more, but it really comes down to these three weeks, and we have a real chance, but going to need to play really well.”

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: FedEx Cup Playoffs | Preview

August 9, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

Visit our new affiliate – Betting Hero – to Get Up-to-the-Minute Information

MEMPHIS – The FedExCup Playoffs begin Thursday (August 10) at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with the Top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings through the Wyndham Championship qualifying for the Playoffs (down from 125 in 2009-2022).

The Top 50 players after this, the first Playoffs event of 2023, will advance to the BMW Championship and qualify for all eight Signature Events on the PGA TOUR schedule in 2024.

Jon Rahm enters the FedExCup Playoffs as the No. 1 player in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his PGA TOUR career. Rahm has four wins this season and earned a bonus of $4 million for being No. 1 in the Comcast Business Tour Top 10. This is Rahm’s seventh season on TOUR and he has advanced to the TOUR Championship in each of the previous six. He has also won on TOUR in seven straight seasons, the longest active streak of any player that has won in 2022-23 (Justin Thomas won in each season from 2015-16 through 2021-22 and can extend his streak in the FedEx Cup Fall).

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is second in the FedExCup standings, trailing Rahm by 173.780 points. In nine starts in the Playoffs, Scheffler has recorded four top-five finishes, highlighted by a runner-up at the 2022 TOUR Championship. Scheffler’s Official Money total of $19,138,342 is the highest in a single season in PGA TOUR history.

Scheffler, who won THE PLAYERS Championship in March, could become the second player to win THE PLAYERS and the FedEx Cup in the same year and first since Rory McIlroy in 2019.

Three-time FedExCup Champion Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022) enters the week No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, winning twice during the regular season (The CJ CUP in South Carolina, Genesis Scottish Open). McIlroy recorded his sixth career victory in the FedEx Cup Playoffs at the 2022 TOUR Championship, tying Dustin Johnson for the most of any player. No player has ever won the FedEx Cup in back-to-back seasons. McIlroy enters the Playoffs with par-or-better scores in his last 20 rounds on TOUR, the longest active streak of any player. His last over-par score came in the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (3-over (75), held a share of the 54-hole lead.

FedEx St. Jude Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tenn.

YARDS/PAR: 7,243 yards/Par 70

ARCHITECT: Ron Pritchard

PRIZE Money – Purse: $20,000,000/$3,600,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Will Zalatoris

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 2,000

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @FedExChamp

For Odds and additional Information – See Betting Hero

PGA Tour: Glover Wins at Wyndham

August 7, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

FEDEx CUP Playoffs Begin This Week in Memphis

GREENSBORO – Lucas Glover earned his fifth career PGA TOUR title in his 512th start at the age of 43 years, 8 months, 25 days. He became the third player in the FedEx Cup era (est. 2007) to enter the Wyndham Championship outside the bubble for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and win to get in. Glover joined Davis Love III (2015) and Jim Herman (2020), who were outside the Top 125. Glover had to make the Top 70.

Under the “old” FEDEx CUP Playoffs, Austin Smotherman would’ve qualified at No. 125.

Glover bumped-out PGA Tour rookie Austin Eckroat, who entered the week No. 70 and missed the cut and fell to No. 74.

First and second-round outright leader Russell Henley finished T2, earning his fourth consecutive Top-10 at the Wyndham.

With Australia’s Adam Scott (T7) finishing No. 72 in the FedEx Cup standings, American Matt Kuchar is now the only player that has qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs in each season since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007.

Justin Thomas (T12) finished the FedEx Cup Regular Season at No. 71 in the FedEx Cup standings, and the score scrapped a streak of eight consecutive seasons qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and seven straight appearances in the TOUR Championship.

Wyndham Championship | Final Leaderboard

1st Lucas Glover 66 64 62 68 260 (-20)

T2 Russell Henley 62 66 65 69 262 (-18)

T2 Byeong Hun An 63 67 65 67 262 (-18)

4th Billy Horschel 67 62 63 72 264 (-16)

T5 Webb Simpson 67 69 68 63 267 (-13)

T5 Michael Kim 72 65 62 68 267 (-13)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship

August 3, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

GREENSBORO – Chances are – for this weekend – you win and you’re in. The Wyndham Championship marks the final regular season event of the PGA Tour’s regular season schedule. After conclusion of play Sunday, the FedEx Cup standings will determine qualification for the players positioned in the Top 70 of FedEx Cup points.

Two players have qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs in each season since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007: Matt Kuchar, who enters the week No. 59 in the standings, and Adam Scott (No. 81). Scott needs a minimum of a two-way T-9 to have a chance to move into the Top 70 and a three-way T-3 or better based on the TOUR’s projection.

PGA Tour: Hodges Wins Wire-to-Wire

July 30, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

BLAINE – Lee Hodges earned his first PGA TOUR title in his 65th career start at the age of 28 years, 1 month, 16 days, and in doing so, collected 500 FEDEx CUP points to move from No. 74 to No. 33 in the FedExCup standings. The Top 70 after next week advance to the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

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Hodges’ victory was the first wire-to-wire win in tournament history and the first on TOUR since J.T. Poston dominated at the 2022 John Deere Classic. Hodges became the 11th first-time winner of the season and third in as many weeks.

Martin Laird (T2/-17) recorded his seventh runner-up on TOUR and carded his best result since winning the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open.

Kevin Streelman (T2/-17) earned sixth runner-up and 52nd Top-10 of his career while seeking his third TOUR title and first since the 2014 Travelers Championship.

Poston (T2/-17) earned his third career runner-up and first since 2022 Travelers Championship when he went on to win in grand fashion the following week at the 2022 John Deere Classic.

Defending champion Tony Finau finished T7 at 15-under (269) in his bid to become the fourth player this season to successfully defend a title on TOUR and first since Scottie Scheffler (WM Phoenix Open).

With a T7 finish, Aaron Baddeley earned a spot in next week’s field at the Wyndham Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour regular season.

3M Open | Final Leaderboard

1st Lee Hodges 63 64 66 67 260 (-24)

T2 Martin Laird 68 68 67 64 267 (-17)

T2 Kevin Streelman 64 68 69 66 267 (-17)

T2 J.T. Poston 66 66 66 69 267 (-17)

Full Leaderboard (link)

PGA Tour: 3M Open Underway

July 27, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

BLAINE – The 3M Open is the 43rd of 44 PGA Tour events in the FedEx Cup regular season, with just two weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. New in 2023, only the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings will qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship (the first Playoffs event), down from 125 (2009-2022).

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Notable players outside the top 70 in the FedExCup standings include No. 75 Justin Thomas, No. 90 Gary Woodland and No. 118 Billy Horschel.

Thomas is currently No. 75 in the FedExCup standings with two weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Thomas, in his ninth season as a TOUR member, has never missed the Playoffs.

He has advanced to the TOUR Championship in each of the last seven seasons and finished in the Top 10 in the standings in the last six, including his FedEx Cup title in 2017. Thomas has the most PGA TOUR wins (15) and major championship titles (2) of any player in the field and is also the most recent PLAYERS Championship winner (2021) and FedEx Cup Champion (2017).

There are (24) players in the field who made the trip from The Open Championship, including three that finished in the Top 10:

Sepp Straka (T2)
Emiliano Grillo (T6)
Cameron Young (T8).

Straka has a win (John Deere Classic) and a T2 (The Open Championship) in his last two starts, becoming the first player to win on TOUR and finish runner-up in his next start since Jordan Spieth in 2022 (Won/RBC Heritage, 2nd/AT&T Byron Nelson). Straka is No. 15 in the FedExCup standings, the second-highest of any player in the field (Finau/10), and is attempting to qualify for the TOUR Championship for the second consecutive season.

Grillo, who won the Charles Schwab Challenge earlier this season for his second career PGA TOUR title, has two Top-fives in three starts at the 3M Open, including a T-2 in 2022. His T6 at The Open Championship was his first career Top-10 in a major.

At No. 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Young is the highest-ranked player in the field. He is also the highestranked player in the OWGR that has not won on the PGA TOUR. Young is making his tournament debut at the 3M Open.

The 3M Open | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota

YARDS/PAR: 7,431 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECT: Arnold Palmer

PRIZE Money – Purse: $7,800,000/$1,404,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Tony Finau

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @3MOpen #GolfThatMatters

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)

3M Round One: Thursday, July 27, 2023 – All Times EDT

7:45am – 7:00pm – Streaming on ESPN+

1:00pm – 7:00pm – Sirius/XM Radio (92) and PGA Tour.com/PGA Tour Radio

4:00pm – 7:00pm – Golf Channel

4:00pm – 7:00pm – Streaming on Peacock Network

Harman Takes The Open by Storm

July 24, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

HOYLAKE – Brian Harman enjoyed his third career PGA Tour win and first major championship title in his 340th career start at the age of 36 years, 6 months, 4 days.

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Harman’s PGA TOUR wins:

2014 John Deere Classic
2017 Wells Fargo Championship
2023 Open Championship

The victory came on his 168th start since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship which is 6 years, 2 months, 16 days (2,268 days) since the title. It was Harman’s 30th career start in a major with his previous-best result: T-2, 2017 U.S. Open.

It was his eighth career start at The Open Championship with his previous-best result: T6, 2022.

The top seven players on the British Open leaderboard represented seven different countries (United States, South Korea, Austria, Australia, Spain, Argentina, Northern Ireland).

Tom Kim and Sepp Straka (T-2) earn their first career Top-five finishes in a major.

Rory McIlroy (T-6) now has 20 Top-10s in majors since his most recent major title (2014).

The Open | Final Leaderboard

1st Brian Harman 67 65 69 70 271 (-13)

T2 Tom Kim 74 68 68 67 277 (-7)

T2 Sepp Straka 71 67 70 69 277 (-7)

T2 Jason Day 72 67 69 69 277 (-7)

T2 Jon Rahm 74 70 63 70 277 (-7)

Barracuda Championship | Recap

Final Leaderboard

1 Akshay Bhatia* +6 +8 +17 +9 +40

2 Patrick Rodgers +15 +11 +8 +6 +40

T3 Julien Guerrier +11 +4 +2 +20 +37

T3 Jens Dantorp +7 +6 +9 +15 +37

5 Ryan Gerard +16 +14 +3 +3 +36

*def. Patrick Rodgers with a par-4 at the first extra playoff hole (No. 18)

Leaderboard: (link)

*Tournament played under the Modified Stableford scoring format

Round 2 at The Open

July 21, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

HOYLAKE – Amateur Christo Lamprecht made quite an impression in Liverpool and it wasn’t at 10 Mathew Street. Lamprecht – an amateur who will enter his senior year at Georgia Tech this Fall – accomplished a lot in Round 1 of The Open at Royal Liverpool. Here’s a brief go of it:

First amateur to hold the lead/co-lead after any round on TOUR sincePaul Dunne at the 2015 Open Championship (R3)
First amateur to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR since Tom Lewis at the 2011 Open Championship
First player to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead in his PGA TOUR debut since Sepp Straka at the 2018 Fortinet Championship
First player to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead in his major championship debut since Andrew Landry at the 2016 U.S. Open
Lowest first-round score (66) by an amateur in a major championship since Lewis carded a 65 at the 2011 Open Championship
Lowest score by an amateur in any round of a major championship since Matti Schmid carded a 65 in the second round of the 2021 Open Championship

As you’d expect in a major professional golf tournament, Lamprecht wasn’t alone. Popular Brit, Tommy Fleetwood posted his fourth 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and second of the current season. Fleetwood is one of nine players with multiple 18-hole leads/co-leads this season.

It’s Fleetwood’s second career lead/co-lead after any round in a major (2017 U.S. Open; finished fourth)
Fleetwood’s opening-round 66 is his 11th score of 66 or better in majors

The Open | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

T1 Christo Lamprecht (a) 66 (-5)

T1 Tommy Fleetwood 66 (-5)

T1 Emiliano Grillo 66 (-5)

T4 Antoine Rozner 67 (-4)

T4 Adrian Otaegui 67 (-4)

T4 Brian Harman 67 (-4)

The Open Championship Preview

July 19, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

HOYLAKE – The Open Championship is the fourth and final major of the PGA Tour season. This is the 151st playing of The Open and the 13th at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (first since 2014).

World No. 2 and 24-time PGA Tour winner Rory McIlroy, who won last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, won The Open Championship the last time it was held at Royal Liverpool (2014). McIlroy has won four majors (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship) but none since the start of the 2014-15 season. McIlroy has 19 “Top-10s” in majors since his most recent title, the most of any player in that span. He is making his 59th start in a major and 34th since winning the 2014 PGA Championship.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has two wins this season (WM Phoenix Open, The PLAYERS Championship) and leads the Tour with 15 “Top-10s” this season and has finished T12 or better in each of his last 18 starts. Scheffler has made two starts at The Open Championship (T8/2021, T21/2022).

The 151st Open | Tournament Preview

COURSE: Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake Wirral, England)

PRIZE Money: $14,000,000 purse

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @TheOpen

PGA TOUR SITE: (The Open)

PGA Tour Brunch

Red Sox: Sink and Split?

Fowler Ready for FedEx Cup Playoffs

PGA Tour: FedEx Cup Playoffs | Preview

FedEx St. Jude Championship | Tournament Facts

PGA Tour: Glover Wins at Wyndham