Digital Sports Desk

Online Destination for the Best in Boston Sports

PGA Tour Brunch

PGA Tour: After 36 | The Memorial

by

DUBLIN (Ohio) – In steady rain on Friday, Nick Taylor’s (68) tied his low score (R1/2021) as he completed his first bogey free round in 18 career rounds at Muirfield Village to tie for the lead with R1 leader, Ben Griffin.

For Taylor, this is his third 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and he’s 1-for-2 converting to a victory (2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am).

Griffin holds his third career 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and is also 1-for-2 converting the victory (2025 Charles Schwab Challenge). Griffin is the second player to earn multiple 36-hole leads/co-leads this season (Scottie Scheffler/Texas Children’s Houston Open, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson) and the first player to hold at least a share of the 36-hole lead in back-to-back weeks on TOUR since Nico Echavarria (2024 Baycurrent Classic, 2024 World Wide Technology Championship).

Brian Campbell withdrew after shooting a 79 on Thursday.

The Cut: The 36-hole cutline came in at (+5), underlining the difficulty of the Muirfield Village course that Jack built.

The Memorial Leaderboard | After 36 Holes

T1 Nick Taylor 69 68 137 (-7)

T1 Ben Griffin 65 72 137 (-7)

3 Akshay Bhatia 70 69 139 (-5)

4 Scottie Scheffler 70 70 140 (-4)

Full Leaderboard: (PGATourCom)

The Memorial | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio

YARDS/PAR: 7,569 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECT(S): Jack Nicklaus and Desmond Muirhead

OVERVIEW: (PGATourCom)

PRIZE Money – Purse/Winner’s Share: $20,000,000/$4,000,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 700

Ben Griffin Wins at Colonial

by

FT. WORTH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Ben Griffin got off to a fantastic start with an eagle on the first hole and secured his first individual PGA Tour victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge, shooting 1-over-par 71 on Sunday at Colonial Country Club in Texas.

His one-stroke victory came with a 12-under 268 total. Griffin clinched the result with a 4-foot par putt on the last hole.

For the first time in the tournament’s four rounds, Griffin had a different score than Germany’s Matti Schmid (72 on Sunday). Schmid settled for second place.

Griffin, 29, was playing his 94th PGA Tour tournament. It’s the second victory in about a month’s span for Griffin, who combined with Andrew Novak to win April’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans team competition.

Bud Cauley shot 67 to move to third place at 9 under.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who was bidding for a third championship in as many outings, finished with 69, managing his only birdies on Nos. 1 and 11. That left him tied for fourth place at 8 under, joining England’s Tommy Fleetwood (68).

Griffin needed a putt from less than 15 feet for an eagle on the par-5 first hole. He rolled in a birdie on the par-4 second after nearly reaching the green off the tee.

Schmid, who has never won the PGA Tour, birdied the first hole but he was 3 over through six holes during an erratic round. Still, his birdie on No. 16 as Griffin was taking a bogey closed the gap to one stroke.

But Schmid ended up in the bunker on his approach at No. 17, leading to a bogey and a two-stroke gap.

Schmid holed out for birdie from the greenside rough at No. 18 to get back to 11 under and put pressure on Griffin to make his par.

Rickie Fowler, who began the day four strokes back and played as part of the final trio, struggled with a 74 and tied for 16th place at 5 under.

–Field Level Media

Schmid, Griffin Lead at Colonial

by

FT. WORTH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Ben Griffin and Germany’s Matti Schmid share the 36-hole lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge after they each posted 7-under-par rounds of 63.

Griffin and Schmid stand at 11-under 129 through two rounds at Colonial Country Club. They take a two-shot lead into the weekend over John Pak (68), who was the first-round leader.

Chris Gotterup had a bogey-free 65 to move to fourth place at 8 under, and Akshay Bhatia (66) is tied for fifth at 7 under with Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (67).

Griffin set the early pace by zipping around the course with eight birdies and one bogey, capped by a near-eagle at his final hole, the par-4 ninth. Griffin’s approach shot bounced right over the hole and spun back to 18 inches for his final birdie.

Schmid climbed to 11 under later in the day as he turned in a bogey-free card with seven birdies. Schmid has never won on the PGA Tour, while Griffin’s only win came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event last month with Andrew Novak.

Rickie Fowler is in the mix after shooting a 64 Friday. Fowler started on the back nine and birdied six holes for a 29 before cooling off on the front.

He’s tied at 6 under with Doug Ghim (65), Brice Garnett (67), J.J. Spaun (68), Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (66) and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (67).

Scottie Scheffler (71) is down the leaderboard at 1 under par, and Jordan Spieth (71) made the cut on the number at even par after birdieing his penultimate hole.

PGA Championship Today

by

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

CHARLOTTE – Quail Hollow Club will host the PGA Championship for the second time. The previous PGA tournament was back in 2017, and it was won by Justin Thomas.

The field is headlined by 49 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, with only Billy Horschelmissing because of hip surgery. The players are headlined by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, No. 3 Xander Schauffele, No. 4 Collin Morikawa and No. 5 Justin Thomas.

International players have won 14 of the first 22 events this season: Hideki Matsuyama/Japan, Nick Taylor/Canada, Sepp Straka/Austria/twice, Rory McIlroy/Northern Ireland/three times, Thomas Detry/Belgium, Ludvig Åberg/Sweden, Karl Vilips/Australia, Viktor Hovland/Norway, Min Woo Lee/Australia, Garrick Higgo/South Africa, Ryan Fox/New Zealand.

Quail Hollow certainly plays to McIlroy. The reigning 2025 Masters Tournament champion and World No. 2 is a four-time winner at Quail Hollow Club, winning the Carolina’s Truist Championship in 2010, 2015, 2021 and 2024.

The 2025 PGA Championship | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Quail Hollow Country Club (Charlotte, NC)

ARCHITECT: George Cobb

YARDS/PAR: 7,626 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: TBA

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Xander Schauffele

PAST RESULTS: (link)

OVERVIEW: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

OFFICIAL SITE: (PGA Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

PGA Championship | Field, Updates and Tee Times

Field: (link)

PGA Tour: RBC Heritage Preview

by

HILTON HEAD – The RBC Heritage from Harbor Town is the fifth of eight Signature Events of the PGA Tour season. The tournament includes 43 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, headlined by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 3 Xander Schauffele, No. 4 Collin Morikawa and No. 5 Ludvig Åberg.

The field features:

  • 56 players in the field competed at last week’s Masters Tournament, including seven who finished inside the top 10: Justin Rose (2nd), Scottie Scheffler (4th), Sungjae Im (T5), Ludvig Åberg (7th), Xander Schauffele (T8), Jason Day (T8), Corey Conners (T8).
  • Four past champions: Matt Kuchar (2014), Jordan Spieth (2022), Matt Fitzpatrick (2023), Scottie Scheffler (2024).
  • Seven past FedEx Cup champions: Billy Horschel (2014), Jordan Spieth (2015), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018), Patrick Cantlay (2021), Viktor Hovland (2023), Scottie Scheffler (2024).
  • Sponsor exemptions: Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Mackenzie Hughes, and Jordan Spieth.

PGA Tour: Valspar Championship

by

PALM HARBOR – (Staff and Wire Service) – The PGA Tour’s Florida Swing rolls on with the Valspar Championship, which tees off Thursday at Innesbrook Resort.

While it lacks the event status of Bay Hill or TPC Sawgrass the past two weeks, Innesbrook’s Copperhead course is among the favorite tour stops for several players. With a field highlighted by Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, our golf experts break down the tournament and share their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.

VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Palm Harbor, Fla., March 20-23
Course: Innisbrook Resort, Copperhead Course (Par 71, 7,352 Yards)
Purse: $8.7M (Winner: $1.566M)
Defending Champion: Peter Malnati
FedExCup leader: McIlroy

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App), 3-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @ValsparChamp

PROP PICKS
–Sam Burns to Beat Xander Schauffele (+110 at DraftKings): Neither player enters in particularly good form, but at least two-time winner Burns is playing a track that he has had tremendous success on in the past — despite missing the cut here last year.

–Corey Conners Top 20 Finish (+120 at BetRivers): This is a strong potential payout for a player who has a pair of top-10s in a signature event and at The Players the past two weeks.

2025 Prop Pick Record: 11-17-1

BEST BETS
–Tommy Fleetwood (+1100 DraftKings) has finished T22 or better in 14 consecutive worldwide starts as he still seeks his first stroke-play victory in the United States.
–Xander Schauffele (+1200) called the state of his game “gross” as he has scuffled to a T40 and a 70th in his first two starts back from a rib injury, but did shoot a final-round 65 here in 2024 and is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3.
–Sepp Straka (+1600) has been as consistently competitive as anyone to begin 2025, with last week’s T14 adding to a win at the AmEx and a T5 at Bay Hill.
–Justin Thomas (+2000) has three top-10s in his past six event starts, and he has said Copperhead is among his favorite courses on tour. He hasn’t won since the 2022 PGA Championship. He is third at the book with five percent of the money backing Thomas to break his winless drought this week.
–Sam Burns (+2200) has one top-20 result in seven starts this year and missed the cut at The Players, but he has won this event twice.
–Michael Kim (+3000) is already making his 10th start of the season. Fatigue is a concern, with a missed cut last week following five consecutive top-13s.
–Corey Conners (+3500) is a two-time winner on tour who has quietly finished solo third and T6 in marquee events the past two weeks. He leads the field with 16 percent of the money and five percent of all bets at DraftKings backing Conners to claim his third tour win this week.
–Lucas Glover (+6000) is coming off a T3 at The Players as he makes his 20th start in this event.

NOTES
–The field includes 18 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including eight of the top 25.
–The ninth hole will play from the No. 11 tee this year to add length to the hole and to bring bunkers into play.
–Malnati seeks to join Paul Casey (2018-19) and Sam Burns (2021-22) as the third player to successfully defend a Valspar title in the past seven editions of the event.
–Neal Shipley, the low amateur at last year’s Masters, is in the field on a sponsors exemption. He is joined by Luke Clanton, who earned an exemption by winning the 2024 Valspar Collegiate Invitational before earning his PGA Tour membership through University Accelerated. He is eligible to accept membership upon turning professional at the conclusion of his junior season at Florida State. Blades Brown, 17, will make his fourth start of the season. He tied for 34th at the Mexico Open in his lone made cut this year.
–Vijay Singh set the tournament scoring record of 266 in 2004, while Padraig Harrington set the 18-hole record of 61 in the first round in 2012.

–Field Level Media

PGA TOUR: It’s The PLAYERS

by

PONTE VEDRA BEACH – The unofficial “fifth major” of the 2025 PGA Tour season kicks off on Thursday with the first round of The Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass in Florida.

Contested on the famed Stadium Course, one of the year’s deepest fields will vie for one of the tour’s most coveted trophies. Can Scottie Scheffler create history by winning for a third consecutive year?

“The Players Championship is absolutely our busiest tournament outside of the majors and it’s no surprise that Scottie Scheffler is the clear favorite this week as he goes for his third consecutive win in this tournament,” BetMGM senior sports trader Matt Wall said.

The iconic 17th hole with its island green will again be the focus of several prop markets at sportsbooks, including closest to the pin and the number of balls hit in the water.

Our golf experts preview the event and provide their favorite prop picks along with the best bets to win this week.

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., March 13-16
Course: TPC Sawgrass, The Players Stadium Course (Par 72, 7,352 Yards)
Purse: $25M (Winner: $4.5M)
Defending Champion: Scottie Scheffler
FedExCup leader: Sepp Straka

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 2-7 p.m. (NBC/Peacock); Sunday: 1-7 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @ThePlayers

PROP PICKS
–Michael Kim to Beat Jordan Spieth (-125 at DraftKings): Kim might be the hottest player few people are talking about with five consecutive finishes of T13 or better, including fourth at Bay Hill. His lone PGA Tour title to date came seven years ago at the John Deere, but we like him as a +6500 darkhorse to win this week. Spieth is making his fifth start in his return from wrist surgery and while he has posted a T4 and T9 against softer fields, he has a T69 and missed cut in two signature event starts. He failed to make the weekend here last year.

–Hideki Matsuyama Top 20 Finish (+125 at BetMGM): Matsuyama has four top-10s since 2015 at The Players, tied with Brian Harman for the most of any player in the field. While he has cooled off a bit since winning The Sentry to tee-off the year, he has posted a T13 and T22 in his past two starts, both at signature events, and tied for sixth year last year.

Cameron Young Leads Hero World

by

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After a few months off, Cameron Young was pleasantly surprised to come out to the Bahamas and shoot an 8-under-par 64 at Albany Golf Club for the first-round lead on Thursday at the Hero World Challenge.

A field of 20 players is in Albany for the exclusive exhibition event hosted by Tiger Woods. Young has a two-shot lead on Justin Thomas after Day 1.

“Yeah, kind of (surprised). I didn’t play great (Wednesday),” Young said. “You always feel like you can shoot a number like that, but I really felt very well in control, which isn’t necessarily surprising but it’s a nice thing to come out and just feel like yourself.

“Yeah, really happy with it. I feel like with the driver I was just really comfortable and that’s a huge key out here.”

Young spread eight birdies across his card without recording a bogey. His 21-foot birdie putt at the par-3 second hole set the tone for his round, and his last birdie was a 14 1/2-footer at another par-3, the 17th.

“I’m sure I missed a fairway or two, but for the most part I was really well in position,” Young said. “Then I made a couple putts early, which was nice. Just kind of got off to a nice start with the putter. There’s a bunch of par 5s and a couple drivable holes, so I feel that if you’re on top of it, especially off the tee, you can make a bunch of birdies.”

Young, 27, is one of the highest-ranked players in the world who’s yet to win on the PGA Tour. If he were to win the Hero, it would not count as an official tour victory nor gain him any FedEx Cup points, but Official World Golf Ranking points are on offer this week.

Thomas shot a blazing 6-under 30 on the back nine after posting one bogey and one birdie through nine holes. He rolled in four birdies in a row at Nos. 14-17.

“It was nice to make that birdie on 7,” Thomas said, “and had good chances there on 8 and 9, but then once 10, 11 happened I felt like I got in a nice
rhythm there on the back nine.”

Tied for third at 5-under 67 are World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala.

Scheffler, the defending champion, made a change to his putting grip and rolled in six birdies with one bogey Thursday.

“You know, this year I had thought about it from time to time and it was something that we had just said, ‘Let’s table that for the end of the season, take a look at it,’” Scheffler said. “Took a look at it this offseason and figured this is a good week to try stuff just because you can practice and practice and do all the stuff at home, but there’s just something different about being in competition. I really enjoyed the way it felt, I felt like I’m seeing some improvements in my stroke.”

–Field Level Media

Rory Thinks Trump Can Solve Anything

by

ABU DHABI  – (Wire Service Report) – Rory McIlroy said President elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House “clears the way” for a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Trump recently said on the “Let’s Go!” podcast that he could negotiate a deal between the two sides in about “15 minutes.”

Of course, the “15 Minutes” has passed by ten times over.

“He might be able to,” McIlroy said Wednesday when asked about Trump’s remarks. “He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved, too.”

McIlroy spoke at a press conference for the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

“Yeah, I think from the outside looking in, it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is. But obviously, Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows?

“But I think as the President of the United States again, he’s probably got bigger things to focus on than golf.”

McIlroy was also asked about a report in the London-based tabloid The Sun that claimed he and Tiger Woods had helped to negotiate a $1.3 billion deal between the rival golf leagues.

“It’s the first that I’ve heard of it,” the Northern Irishman said. “I know (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay (Monahan) was in Saudi Arabia last week … and was having some meetings. But no, I think I would have heard if there was.

Presidents Cup: International Intrigue

by

MONTREAL – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Adam Scott of Australia notched a milestone as the International team dug out of a big hole on Day 2 of the Presidents Cup, sweeping all five foursomes matches against the United States at Royal Montreal Golf Club on Friday.

After being swept in the fourball matches on Thursday, the Internationals needed nothing less than a stellar performance in the alternate-shot format to avoid going into the weekend with an almost insurmountable deficit.

And they responded in a manner that captain Mike Weir of Canada could hardly have dreamt of, by turning the tables to even up the score at 5-5.

“I believed in the guys,” Weir said in a greenside interview. “5-0 was obviously a bonus. We just wanted to get back in this and the guys responded incredibly.”

American captain Jim Furyk said: “When I look at the scores, they played a lot of great golf. We’re going to have to get ready for (Saturday). We’ve got a tough match on our hands.

“We got to watch them celebrate. I hope that sticks with everyone (on my team). We’ll regroup, get some good pairs out there in the morning and it’s our turn to come out firing.”

The Internationals completely dominated three matches, including a 5-and-4 rout by Scott and his Canadian partner Taylor Pendrith against Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala.

The match victory earned Scott his 22nd point in the Presidents Cup, an International team record. He is making his 11th consecutive appearance in an event that pits a team of players from countries outside Europe against the U.S.

Scott has never played on a winning team in an event that the Americans have dominated since its inception in 1994, losing only once in 1998, and tying in 2003.

Scott and Pendrith were not the only International pairing to dominate on Friday.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and South Korean Sungjae Im set the tone with a 7-and-6 dusting of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in the opening match.

Canadian duo Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes also won convincingly, 6-and-5 over Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau.

The other two matches were more competitive. Australian Jason Day and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout outlasted Max Homa and Brian Harman 1-up, thanks in no small measure to a deft pitch shot by Day to gimme range at the last that secured the point.

The U.S. seemed set to avoid being swept when Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley parred the last against Korean duo Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An.

But Kim calmly sank a 15-footer to halve the hole and secure a 1-up victory.

–Field Level Media