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Wind Blowing at Augusta

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AUGUSTA – Windy conditions at Augusta National will be a major factor today as the second round of The Masters gets underway with 8:00am (ET) tee-times. Although the forecast is for sunny skies and temperatures ranging from a chilly 49-degrees for first tee times but warming to 66-degrees by 5:00pm (ET), winds will blow at 3 mph in the morning and build to 21 mph by 5:00pm (ET).

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To say the least, shot making and putting will be an adventure today, especially for the later afternoon groups. That will include Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann who tee-off at 1:41pm (ET). Niemann, yesterday, shot three-under (69) and is two shots off the leader, Sungjae Im who carded five-under (67).

Woods, an 82-time PGA Tour winner and five-time Masters Tournament champion, opened with a 1-under (71) and is T-10 in his first competitive round since the final round of the 2020 Masters (508 days ago).

Defending champion Hideki Matsuyama is T-19 after shooting even-par 70. The last player to successfully defend his Masters title was Tiger Woods in 2002.

Cameron Smith (2nd) and Scottie Scheffler (T-3), both winners in their most recent starts on the Tour, are within two strokes of the lead. The last player to win on the PGA Tour and win a major in his next start was Jordan Spieth, at the 2017 Travelers Championship In Hartford and the Open Championship in Britain.

Scheffler, who has three wins in his last five starts, is making his first start as World No. 1 (also No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings). Four of the six players at T-3 or better have won on Tour this season, combining for seven wins (3/Scheffler, 2/Smith, 1/Sungjae Im, and 1/Joaquin Niemann).

Two past champions are tied for third place: Dustin Johnson (2020) and Danny Willett (2016).

Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

Sungjae Im 67 (-5)

Cameron Smith 68 (-4)

Danny Willett 69 (-3)

Joaquin Niemann 69 (-3)

Scottie Scheffler 69 (-3)

Dustin Johnson 69 (-3)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

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Ready for The Masters? Tiger Is

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AUGUSTA – Due to early morning thunderstorms, the patron gate opening times are delayed by 30 minutes. Ticketing gates open at 7:30am (ET) and Honorary Starters will take place at 8:15am, followed by the first tee time at 8:30am (ET).

Scheduled for 10:34am (ET) today, now 11:04am (ET), Tiger Woods will tee-it-up alongside playing partners Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann. If all goes well, the trio will do it again on Friday at1:41pm (ET) and the 2022 Masters Tournament will march on.

That trio, “Group 14” is likely to finish-up before ESPN begins its broadcast so to see Tiger play, the easiest is to crank up ESPN+ or Masters.com and the Masters app and its 12 hours of live coverage. On either platform, you can watch featured groups, featured holes, and Amen Corner.

World No. 2 Jon Rahm has four consecutive Top-10s at the Masters Tournament, the longest active streak. Rahm, who won the 2021 U.S. Open, also has the longest active streak of Top-10s in major championships with five.

Two-time FedEx Cup Champion Rory McIlroy can become the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam with a win this week, joining Tiger Woods, JackNicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.

The Masters Tournament is the first major championship of the season and second of five events offering 600 FedEx Cup points to the winner. Cameron Smith won The PLAYERS Championship in March, (aka the Fifth Major) and earned his fifth PGA Tour title and his second of the season. He comes in to August “hot.”

Woods to Play at The Masters

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AUGUSTA – Five-time Masters Tournament champion Tiger Woods will make a “game-time decision” on whether he can return to competition this week and as of Tuesday night, it looked like a go after a “phenomenal” practice round, according to former Masters champion Freddie Couples who played a round with Woods.

Woods suffered significant injuries to his right leg and ankle in a February 2021 car accident and has not competed on the Tour since the 2020 Masters. The 508 days between the final round of the 2020 Masters and first round of the 2022 Masters would be the second-longest span between competitive rounds of Woods’ PGA Tour career.

Scottie Scheffler will enter the Masters Tournament holding the top spot in both the FedEx Cup standings and Official World Golf Ranking. Scheffler has wins in three of his last five starts and is the first player to win three times in a PGA Tour season prior to the Masters since Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas in the 2016-17 season.

Due to inclement weather and safety concerns, Tuesday’s practice round was suspended at 10:55am (ET) and the course at Augusta National Golf Club was closed for the rest of the day.

Preview | The Masters

COURSE: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

ARCHITECT: Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones Jr.; Perry Maxwell in 1937

YARDS/PAR: 7,475 yards/Par 72

2021 PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $11,500,000/$2,070,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Hideki Matsuyama

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @The Masters

TV COVERAGE: Special Wednesday coverage from 12:00 Noon (ET) to 5:00pm (ET) on The Masters site. ESPN will provide preview coverage 3:00pm to 5:00pm (ET).

The first two rounds of The Masters (April 7 & 8) are scheduled for coverage from 8:30am to 7:30pm (ET) on The Masters Network.  On Saturday, coverage is set for 10:00pm to 7:00pm (ET) on the Masters and 3:00pm to 7:00pm (ET) on CBS. On Sunday, The Masters goes from 10:15am to 7:00pm (ET) and CBS coverage runs from 2:00pm to 7:00pm (ET).

PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage from The Masters (April 7 & 8) is scheduled for coverage from 8:30am to 7:30pm (ET) on The Masters Network/ESPN+. On Saturday, coverage is set for 10:00pm to 7:00pm (ET) on the Masters and ESPN+ while Sunday The Masters streaming goes from 10:15am to 7:00pm (ET) on the home site and ESPN+

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Live Tournament coverage will air each day, April 7–10, starting at 2;00pm (ET) and running through the completion of play. Additionally, each day before the broadcast begins, SiriusXM will provide live look-in coverage of featured groups during its programming in the morning and early afternoon. … Several new acclaimed voices join the SiriusXM broadcast team this year. Mike Tirico will be the lead play-by-play voice from 4pm ET through the conclusion of play each day. World Golf Hall of Fame member Curtis Strange will be the lead analyst for the Saturday and Sunday rounds.

PGA Tour: Final Round at Texas Open

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SAN ANTONIO – The four players tied for the 54-hole lead at the Valero Texas Open is the most on Tour since the 2020 RBC Heritage (four) and the most since moving to TPC San Antonio (2010).

Of the top 20 players on the leaderboard, only Si Woo Kim, Gary Woodland and Lucas Glover are in next week’s Masters Tournament field.

Beau Hossler is seeking to become the first sponsor exemption to win on Tour since Martin Laird at the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open while Brandt Snedeker seeks his first Top-10 finish in an individual stroke-play event on Tour since the 2021 Valero Texas Open (T-6).

Scott Stallings made over 90 feet of putts for third consecutive round in bid for first Top-10 finish in his eighth Valero Texas Open start.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth turned in a 2-over (74), just his fifth over-par score in 25 rounds in the event.

Leaderboard at Valero Texas Open | Entering Final Round

Brandt Snedeker 73-66-67—206 (-10)

Beau Hossler 73-66-67—206 (-10)

Dylan Frittelli 70-66-70—206 (-10)

J.J. Spaun 67-70-69—206 (-10)

Scott Stallings 68-72-67—207 (-9)

PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open

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PGA Tour Brunch

Preview of the Valero Texas Open

SAN ANTONIO – Rory McIlroy is making his second start at the Valero Texas Open and his first since finishing runner-up at the event in 2013. McIlroy, making just his fifth start of the PGA Tour season, enters the week No. 26 in the FedEx Cup standings. Hideki Matsuyama, who will defend his title at next week’s Masters Tournament, made his tournament debut last year at the Texas Open a week before winning his first major championship title and finished T-30.

World No. 16 Abraham Ancer, winner of the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, is competing at his adopted hometown event for the fifth time, but first as a PGA Tour winner. His best result to date was a T-23 in 2021.

Richard Bland, competing on a sponsor exemption, is one of 121 players in the field who can qualify for the Masters with a win this week. Bland advanced to the Round of 16 of last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play where he was eliminated by Dustin Johnson. Bland would have qualified for the Masters Tournament if he had won that match, via the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Preview | Valero Texas Open

COURSE: TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course)

ARCHITECT: Pete Dye and Greg Norman

YARDS/PAR: 7,438 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $8,600,000/$1,548,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jordan Spieth

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @ValerotxOpen

Sc-HOT-tie Scheffler Takes Match Play

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AUSTIN – Scottie Scheffler won the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, defeating Kevin Kisner in the Championship Match, 4 and 3. Scheffler earned his third career PGA Tour victory, with the first two coming on February 13 (42 days ago) and March 6 (21 days ago). With the victory, Scheffler moves to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career and extends his lead in the FedExCup standings to 780 points

Corey Conners finishes third with a 3-and-1 victory over Dustin Johnson in the Consolation Match. When he won his Quarterfinal match, Conners became the first Canadian in tournament history to advance to the Semifinals.

Johnson (4th) earned his second Top-10 in his last three starts on Tour (T-9 at The PLAYERS Championship).

Finals and Consolation Match Scores

Championship Match

Scottie Scheffler (5) def. Kevin Kisner (29), 4 and 3

Consolation Match

Corey Conners (36) def. Dustin Johnson (8), 3 and 1

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Chad Ramey won the Corales Puntacana Championship by one stroke, earning his first PGA Tour victory in his 16th career start. Ramey became the first rookie to win on Tour since Garrick Higgo at the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree.

The 29-year-old Ramey became the youngest winner of the Corales Puntacana Championship

PGA Tour rookie Alex Smalley earned his career-best finish (T-2) in only his third event.

After holding the lead in each of the first three rounds this week, Ben Marin finished a stroke back and as a co-runner-up along with Smalley.

Corales Puntacana: Final Leaderboard

Chad Ramey – 70-65-69-67—271 (-17)

Alex Smalley – 69-65-73-65—272 (-16)

Ben Martin – 66-66-70-70—272 (-16)

Jhonattan Vegas – 70-70-65-68—273 (-15)

Cameron Percy – 71-68-67-67—273 (-15)

 

WGC Dell Tech Match Play: Round of 16

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AUSTIN – The World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Playtees-off this morning for the “Round of 16” where it’s now “One and Done” in true Match Play style. By this afternoon, the tournament will be down to its “Elite Eight’ a.k.a “the quarterfinals. in other words, we’re in for a full day of golf at the Austin Country Club.

The highlight of the morning matches just might be the rematch of the 2021 Championship Match between Billy Horschel and Scottie Scheffler.

Some Fun Facts: Eight of the 16 groups were won by the top seed, tying the most since the group-play format was introduced in 2015. … Three of the four past champions at Austin Country Club in this week’s field advanced to the Round of 16 (Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Kevin Kisner). … Horschelbecame the second defending champion to advance past group play since 2015.

Round of 16 Matches

8:35 a.m. – Scottie Scheffler (5) vs. Billy Horschel (12)

8:46 a.m. – Tyrrell Hatton (13) vs. Seamus Power (42)

8:57 a.m. – Dustin Johnson (8) vs. Richard Bland (54)

9:08 a.m. – Jon Rahm (1) vs. Brooks Koepka (16)

9:19 a.m. – Kevin Kisner (29) vs. Adam Scott (32)

9:30 a.m. – Will Zalatoris (24) vs. Kevin Na (25)

9:41 a.m. – Corey Conners (36) vs. Takumi Kanaya (56)

9:52 a.m. – Collin Morikawa (2) vs. Abraham Ancer (15)

(All times are ET)

After this morning’s “Round of 16,” the Quarterfinals are scheduled for this afternoon. Sunday morning is the Semifinals and Sunday afternoon is the Championship and Consolation (3rd Place) Match.

Heading Towards a “Sweet 16” at WGC

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AUSTIN – The World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play preliminary rounds began Wednesday and conclude today. After today’s rounds at the Austin Country Club, 16 players will move on to compete in the “Round of 16” starting Saturday morning.

Paul Casey (back spasms) played two holes Wednesday and conceded his match to Corey Conners. Casey warmed-up for Thursday’s match and the back issues continued, so he forfeited to Alex Noren. Casey has withdrawn from the tournament.

After today’s final preliminary round, play will continue Saturday morning with the “Round of 16” and then the Quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning is the Semifinals and Sunday afternoon is the Championship and Consolation (3rd Place) Match.

Main Event: WGC Dell Technologies Match Play

COURSE: Austin Country Club, Austin, Texas

ARCHITECT: Pete Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,108 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $12,000,000/$2,100,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Billy Horschel

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 550

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @DellMatchPlay

The Basics:

Tournament website: Dell Technologies Match Play Championships

WGC Match Play Tee Times – Dell Tech Match Play Tee Times start today with matches beginning at 10:10am (ET) and go to 2:15pm (ET).

Weather: Today’s forecast in Austin, Texas is for sunny skies and 59-84 degree temperatures as day progresses. There’s a 0% chance of rain. Winds only 4-5 mph. Sunny skies for all weekend.

WGC Dell Technologies Match Play

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AUSTIN – From 64 to 32. That’s the way Match Play at Bracket-ville works. But, it’s NOT one and done like the college basketball game. It’s a series of three matches and best record survives and advances. The World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play preliminary round stage began Thursday and continues today and tomorrow.

The theme of Thursday’s Match Play? A slow stream of UPSETS but when the final tally was complete, higher seeds managed to win at a 20-10-2 clip over their lower-seeded opponents. The top five seeds are undefeated (4-0-1) with the highest-seeded player to lose first match being No. 6 Justin Thomas losing to Luke List, 3 and 2.

Eleven players making their WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play tournament debut combined for a 5-5-1 record. Wins were had by: Lucas Herbert, Maverick McNealy, Seamus Power, Harold Varner III, and Cameron Young.

Kevin Kisner broke a tie with Matt Kuchar for most matches won since the event moved to Austin Country Club in 2016 (17) while defending champion Billy Horschel opened with a 3-and-2 victory over Min Woo Lee.

Paul Casey conceded his match against Corey Conners (thru 2 holes) due to back spasms. It was the first match conceded at the event since Kevin Chappell conceded a match against Ian Poulter in 2018 (third match of group play). Casey still has scheduled matches vs. Alex Noren and Louis Oosthuizen, a tough road back.

After Friday’s final preliminary round, Saturday morning will be the ‘Round of 16” and Saturday afternoon will move-on to the Quarterfinals. Sunday morning is the Semifinals and Sunday afternoon is the Championship and Consolation (3rd Place) Match.

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Meanwhile, the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic teed-off this morning at 6:45am (ET) and tee-times go to 1:09pm (ET).

In the Dominican Republic: Puerto Rico native and local favorite Rafael Campos will be making his fifth start at the Corales Puntacana and second of the season (T-59/Puerto Rico Open). Last season, Campos posted two Top-3 results on Tour in a 29-day span with T-3 at 2021 Puerto Rico Open and T-2 at 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship.

Joel Dahmen earned first Tour title at 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship and seeks to become the event’s first repeat winner. He’s qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs the last four consecutive seasons and enters the week after a T-39 at the Valspar Championship.

WGC Dell Tech Match Play/Corales Puntacana Golf

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AUSTIN – How about some EXTRA golf this weekend with the World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play starting today and the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic tomorrow?

In Texas, with tee-off in less than an hour from this posting, Kevin Kisnerand Matt Kuchar have each won 16 matches since the tournament moved to Austin Country Club in 2016, tied for the most of any player in that span. Kisner, the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play champion, is the No. 29 seed and is grouped with Justin Thomas, Marc Leishman and Luke List.

Matt Kuchar not in field this week.

Sergio Garcia (28-22-1) has played in 51 matches, the most in tournament history, and is the 43rd seed (Group 2).In the Dominican Republic, This event marks the first of a four-year extension for the Dominican Republic’s only PGA Tour event. The event was played twice in the 2020-21 PGA Tour Season after the 2020 tournament was postponed to September due to COVID-19, marking the first of three events to be contested twice in 2020-21.

All of the past winners at the Corales Puntacana Championship, including both champions when the event was played on the Korn Ferry Tour(Dominic Bozzelli in 2016, and Nate Lashley in 2017 are back at Corales Golf Course in search of a second victory in the event.

Among the highlights of the field this weekend, the 2020 Corales Puntacana Championship winner Hudson Swafford is the only player in the field that has won on the PGA Tour this season (The American Express). He can become the fifth multiple winner of the season with a victory. If Swafford wins (or another player that has won this season wins the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play), it would be the fourth consecutive week on Tour with a champion that had already won this season.