PGA TOUR

Great Weekend Ahead at St Andrews

July 16, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Cameron Smith’s total of (131) tied the fourth-lowest opening 36-hole score in Open Championship history and is the lowest in The Open at St. Andrews. With a two-stroke lead over first-round leader Cameron Young, Smith holds the 36-hole lead/co-lead for the second time in a major championship (2020 Masters/shared 36-hole lead with four others before finishing T-2) and the fourth time in an individual stroke-play event on Tour. He is 1-for-3 in converting.

Making his 90th major championship start, three-time Open Championship winner Tiger Woods missed the cut for the fourth time in 22 starts at The Open. Woods shot (153) which is his highest 36-hole score at The Open and third-highest in a major championship.

Rory McIlroy trails by three strokes in bid for fifth major championship win and first since winning the 2014 PGA Championship.

At T-3, Viktor Hovland holds his best 36-hole position in a major championship. His previous best was T-17.

World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler sits T-6, the 16th time in last 19 major championship rounds inside the Top 10.

Four of six amateurs in the field made the cut: Barclay Brown, Filippo Celli, Sam Bairstow and Aaron Jarvis.

Collin Morikawa becomes the first defending champion to miss the cut at The Open since Darren Clarke in 2012 and all four past champions at St. Andrews missed the cut: Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Tiger Woods and John Daly.

The Open Leaderboard | After 36 Holes

Cameron Smith 67-64—131 (-13)

Cameron Young 64-69—133 (-11)

Rory McIlroy 66-68—134 (-10)

Viktor Hovland 68-66—134 (-10)

Dustin Johnson 68-67—135 (-9)

Full Leaderboard: (The Open)

Cameron Young Leads The Open (R-1)

July 15, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – St. Andrews is hosting the 150th edition of The Open, marking the 30th time the championship has been contested at The Old Course. After an 8-under (64) in his Open Championship debut, PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young leads by two over Rory McIlroy.

Young holds his third first-round lead/co-lead of the season, tied with McIlroy for most on Tour. McIlroy’s (66) is his best opening round at The Open since carding the same score en route to winning at Hoylake in 2014.

Making his 90th major championship start, three-time Open Championship winner Tiger Woods equals the highest opening round score in his 22 starts at the event.

World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler sits T-5, marking the 15th time in the last 18 major championship rounds he has been inside the Top 10 on the leaderboard.

Embed from Getty Images

Genesis Scottish Open champion Xander Schauffele posted a 3-under (69) in bid to become the first player since McIlroy in 2014 to follow a win on the Tour with a major championship victory the following week.

The 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa opened with an even-par (72) in bid to become the first player to successfully defend at The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008.

The first-round scores for past champions at St. Andrews: Louis Oosthuizen(71), Zach Johnson (72), John Daly (73), Woods (78).

Justin Rose (back injury) and Erik Van Rooyen (neck injury) withdrew prior to the start of the first round and were replaced by Rikuya Hoshino and Aaron Rai, respectively. Both the last-minute alternates opened with a 3-over (75).

The Open Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

Cameron Young 64 (-8)

Rory McIlroy 66 (-6)

Cameron Smith 67 (-5)

Robert Dinwiddie 67 (-5)

The 150th Open Championship

July 14, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

FIFE, SCOTLAND – The Old Course at St Andrews Links is playing host for this week’s Open Championship, the 150th edition of the championship and the 2022 season’s final major. This is the 30th time that St Andrews has hosted The Open.

Most recently, Zach Johnson won a three-man playoff over Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen in 2015, the most recent playoff in The Open Championship. Other notable past champions at the Old Course include Sam Snead (1946), Peter Thomson (1955), Jack Nicklaus (1970, 1978), Seve Ballesteros (1984), Nick Faldo (1990) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2005).

Defending champion Collin Morikawa‘s most recent victory on Tour came at the 2021 Open. Morikawa, a five-time Tour winner, is winless in his last 19 starts, the longest drought of his PGA career (previous: 17). The last player to successfully defend a title in a major was Brooks Koepka at the 2019 PGA Championship, while the last player to do so at The Open was Padraig Harrington in 2008.

Embed from Getty Images

82-time PGA Tour winner and 15-time major champion Tiger Woods is making his first start on Tour since the 2022 PGA Championship and 22nd in The Open (first since 2019/MC). Woods has won The Open three times (2000, 2005, 2006), with the first two coming at St Andrews. Woods is making his third start of the season, having made the cut in the first two majors. He finished 47th at the Masters Tournament and WD after the third round of the PGA Championship (74-69-79).

World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler has four wins this season, including his first career major championship title at the Masters. Ten players (17 instances) have won five or more times in a season including multiple majors. Most recently, Jordan Spieth did so in 2014-15 (5 wins, 2 majors). The last player to win five times in a season on Tour was Justin Thomas in 2016-17. Scheffler, who is making his 13th major start, finished T-8 in his Open Championship debut in 2021.

Jon Rahm is in search of his second career major championship title and second Tour win this season. Rahm, who became the first player from Spain to win the U.S. Open when he won in 2021, finished T-3 at the 2021 Open Championship. The only player from Spain to win The Open Championship was Seve Ballesteros (1979, 1984, 1988). Rahm enters the week having made the cut in each of his last 14 starts, the longest active streak on Tour. His last missed cut was at the season-opening Fortinet Championship).

Rory McIlroy, a four-time major champion, has not won a major since the start of 2015. McIlroy won the final two majors of 2014 (The Open Championship, PGA Championship) and has 16 Top-10s in majors since then, the most of any player in that span. McIlroy recently moved into a tie for 31st on the all-time PGA TOUR wins list with his 21st career title at the 2022 RBC Canadian Open.

Reigning FedEx Cup Champion Patrick Cantlay is the highest-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking (No. 4) without a major championship title.

The only player to win THE PLAYERS Championship and The Open Championship in the same year is Jack Nicklaus (1978).

2022 PLAYERS winner Cameron Smith can join him with a win.

Eleven players qualified for The Open Championship via the Open Qualifying Series at PGA Tour events this season: Chris Kirk and Talor Gooch at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard; Wyndham Clark and Keith Mitchell at the RBC Canadian Open; J.T. Poston, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo at the John Deere Classic; Kurt Kitayama, Brandon Wu and Jamie Donaldson at the Genesis Scottish Open; and Trey Mullinax at the Barbasol Championship. Mullinax earned the final spot in The Open with his win last week which was the first of his PGA Tour career. He also earned a spot in next season’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, the PLAYERS Championship and PGA Championship.

The Old Course at St Andrews Links is playing host for this week’s Open Championship, the 150th edition of the championship and the 2022 season’s final major. This is the 30th time that St Andrews has hosted The Open.

PGA Tour: The Barracuda Preview

July 13, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

TRUCKEE – The Barracuda Championship field, like last week’s Barbasol Championship, is comprised of players from both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. There are 50 places available for the top players from the DP World Tour priority ranking. The Barracuda Championship winner will receive benefits on each Tour:

FedExCup points: 300
DP World Tour Rankings points: 710
PGA TOUR exemption (for current PGA TOUR members): thru 2024
PGA TOUR exemption (for non-members): thru 2022-23
DP World Tour exemption: thru 2024

The last six winners of the Barracuda Championship were first-time PGA TOUR winners, the longest active streak on TOUR (2016/Greg Chalmers, 2017/Chris Stroud, 2018/Andrew Putnam, 2019/Collin Morikawa, 2020/Richy Werenski, 2021/Erik van Rooyen).

Four weeks remain in the FedEx Cup Regular Season, with the Barracuda Championship providing an opportunity for players to make a run towards one of the 125 spots in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Six players have qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs in each season since the inception in 2007, including Charley Hoffman, who is currently outside the top 125 at No. 173 in the FedEx Cup standings.

The Barracuda Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Old Greenwood at the Tahoe Mountain Club, Truckee, CA

YARDS/PAR: 7,480 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECT: Jack Nicklaus

PRIZE Money – Purse: $3,600,000/$666,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Erik van Rooyen

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 300

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @CudaChamp

TV COVERAGE: All four rounds (July 14-17) are scheduled for TV coverage from 6:00pm to 9:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel.

HOW to WATCH: (link)

Schauffele Leads at Scottish Open

July 10, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

NORTH BERWICK – Following a 4-under (66), Xander Schauffele holds a two-stroke lead over Rafa Cabrera Bello at the Scottish Open. Schauffele holds his sixth third-round lead/co-lead on the PGA TOUR and is one-for-five in converting to a win to date.

Travelers Championship winner Schauffele is attempting to win in back-to-back starts for the second time in his career.

First- and second-round leader Cameron Tringale trails by four strokes following a 4-over (74).

Four-time DP World Tour winner Rafa Cabrera Bello (2nd) is seeking his first PGA Tour victory in his 138th start. He has four third-place finishes on Tour, most recently at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

The top three players not otherwise exempt who finish in the Top 10 this week gain entry into The Open Championship.

Scottish Open | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

Xander Schauffele 72-65-66—203 (-7)

Rafa Cabrera Bello 69-69-67—205 (-5)

Jordan Spieth 68-72-66—206 (-4)

Ryan Palmer 67-72-67—206 (-4)

Jordan Smith 68-69-69—206 (-4)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Tringale Maintains Lead in Scotland

July 9, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

NORTH BERWICK – One day after his career-best (61), Cameron Tringale maintained a three-shot lead following a 2-over (72). Tringale holds his third second-round lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour but is 0-for-2 converting.

Two of the last three winners on Tour turned in the best rounds of the day on Friday, highlighted by Travelers Championship winner Xander Schauffele(65) and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick (66).

Scottish Open: Perfect Tuneup for Open

July 7, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

NORTH BERWICK – Fourteen of the top 15 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee-it-up this week at the Scottish Open, the first time the pre-Open Championship tune-up is an official co-sanctioned event by the PGA Tour. Only Rory McIlroy is sitting the tournament out.

“If you throw out the Majors, I would have to think that this is going to be one of the two, three, four best fields that we play the entire year,” said Justin Thomas.

The last three Scottish Open tournaments have been decided by playoffs, including last year’s, when Min Woo Lee beat Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry on the first playoff hole. Fitzpatrick is comfortable at this course and on the DP World Tour in general, where his first seven professional victories came before the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline last month.

In the sleeper category for this week, Frenchman is 3-for-3 (making cut) with a T-14 (2020) at The Renaissance Club. He’s not far removed from a spirited run that got him into the U.S. Open which included a win at the Dutch Open just six weeks ago.

Poston Wire-to-Wire at John Deere

July 3, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

SILVIS – Wonder what J.T. Poston is doing in a couple weeks and let’s hope his passport is up-to-date as Poston won the John Deere Classic by three strokes to earn his second PGA TOUR victory and first since 2019 by recording the third wire-to-wire victory in tournament history and only the second on Tour this season.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Emiliano Grillo finished runner-up in their John Deere Classic debuts. Poston, Bezuidenhout and Grillo earned spots in The Open via the Open Qualifying Series.

Final Leaderboard at 2022 John Deere Classic

J.T. Poston 62-65-67-69—263 (-21)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout 69-65-66-66—266 (-18)

Emiliano Grillo 68-64-65-69—266 (-18)

Chris Gotterup 65-67-69-66—267 (-17)

Scott Stallings 67-66-64-70—167 (-17)

Poston Leads John Deere

July 3, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

SILVIS – After 54 holes of play, “J.T.” is usually in position to win a tournament, but this week it’s not PGA TOUR superstar Justin Thomas topping the leaderboard, it’s J.T. Poston who will begin the final round with a three-stroke lead at the John Deere Classic.

Poston is positioning for his second career PGA Tour title, the first and only at the 2019 Wyndham Championship, following a fifth consecutive round of (67) or better.

Scott Stallings carded a bogey-free 7-under (64) on Saturday, his 21st consecutive round of par-or-better at the John Deere Classic and sixth consecutive round in the 60s on the Tour this season. He is T-2.

Emiliano Grillo birdied four of his last five holes in bid for second career Tour title and first since the 2015 Fortinet Championship. Grillo is T-2 with three players.

John Deere | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

J.T. Poston 62-65-67—194 (-19)

Scott Stallings 67-66-64—197 (-16)

Emiliano Grillo 68-64-65—197 (-16)

Denny McCarthy 66-65-66—197 (-16)

Callum Tarren 68-65-65—198 (-15)

Poston Leads at John Deere

July 1, 2022 by PGA Tour Brunch

SILVIS – Coming off a T-2 at last week’s Travelers Championship, J.T. Poston opened his fifth John Deere Classic with a (62). It was his second straight week of opening a tournament with a score of (62) and he became the first player on record (since the record was kept – 1983) to open consecutive PGA Tour events in 62 or better.

After missing the cut in his first start at last year’s John Deere Classic, Canada’s Michael Gligic opened with a bogey-free 7-under (64) and is only two shots back.

In his bid for a third Top 10 finish at the John Deere Classic, Vaughn Taylorcarded a 6-under (65), his 46th score of par or better in 49 rounds at TPC Deere Run.

Playing on a sponsor exemption in his third start as a professional, Christopher Gotterup offset two bogeys with eight birdies – good enough for 6-under (65) and he is T-3.

John Deere Classic Board member, 2012 champion and USA Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson carded a 2-under (69) in 20th consecutive appearance at the tournament.

John Deere | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

J.T. Poston 62 (-9)

Michael Gligic 64 (-7)

Vaughn Taylor 65 (-6)

Christopher Gotterup 65 (-6)