PGA Tour

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)

PGA Tour: Barracuda Championship

July 19, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

TRUCKEE – There are just four events (three weeks) remaining in the FedEx Cup Regular Season. Starting this season, only the top 70 players at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship will qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. As of July 19, there are 26 players in the field who have a chance to move into the Top 70 in the FedExCup standings with a win (all players currently at No. 129 or higher in the standings).

PGA Tour rookie Vincent Norrman defeated Nathan Kimsey in a playoff at last week’s Barbasol Championship to earn his first career Tour title. Norrman became the ninth first-time winner of the season (first since Wyndham Clark/Wells Fargo Championship) and second rookie to win on Tour this season, joining Nico Echavarria (Puerto Rico Open).

The last player to earn his first two PGA Tour titles in consecutive tournaments on the schedule was David Duval in 1997 (Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic).

Kimsey’s runner-up came in his PGA Tour debut.

Since 2012, the Barracuda Championship has been played using Modified Stableford Scoring. The scoring system allocates points based on the number of strokes taken at each hole, with the goal of achieving the highest overall number of points. It is the “Elam Ending” of golf.

Modified Stableford Scoring:

Albatross +8

Eagle +5

Birdie +2

Par 0

Bogey -1

Double bogey or worse -3

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: $3,800,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Chez Reavie

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 300

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @CudaChamp

Scottish Open, Barbasol Wrap-Ups

July 16, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

NORTH BERWICK – Rory McIlroy won the Genesis Scottish Open by one stroke over Robert MacIntyre, earning his 24th PGA Tour title and second of the season. The victory comes in his 234th start at the age of 34 years, 2 months, 12 days.

McIlroy tied Dustin Johnson and Gary Player for 26th on the all-time PGA Tour wins list as McIlroy is the seventh player with multiple wins this season. The others: 4/Jon Rahm, 2/Keegan Bradley, 2/Wyndham Clark, 2/Tony Finau, 2/Max Homa, 2/Scottie Scheffler).

McIlroy moved to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking and became the first player to win the Genesis Scottish Open (2023), Horizon Irish Open (2016) and The Open Championship (2014).

He improved to 11-for-19 to date converting a 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour (1-for-3 this season) and became the 21st third round leader/co-leader to win on Tour this season.

Tom Kim (T-6) and Tommy Fleetwood (T-6) are the only two players to finish in the Top 10 in each of the last two years of the Genesis Scottish Open. Kim finished solo-third in 2022 and Fleetwood finished T-4.

Scottish Open | Final Leaderboard

1 Rory McIlroy 64 66 67 68 265 (-15)

2 Robert MacIntyre 67 69 66 64 266 (-14)

T3 David Lingmerth 66 70 66 68 270 (-10)

T3 Byeong Hun An 61 70 69 70 270 (-10)

T3 Scottie Scheffler 68 65 67 70 270 (-10)

Scottish Open Full Leaderboard: (link)

Barbasol Championship | Final Leaderboard

1 *Vincent Norrman 66 67 67 66 266 (-22)

2 Nathan Kimsey 69 66 67 64 266 (-22)

T3 Adrien Saddier 68 66 67 66 267 (-21)

T3 Trevor Cone 71 65 63 68 267 (-21)

5 Lucas Glover 63 68 69 68 268 (-20)

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

Barbasol Leaderboard (After 36) – (link)

PGA Tour Officials Testify Before Senate

July 11, 2023 by Digital Sports Desk

No Merger Deal is Done, According to PGA Tour Officials

WASH DC – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – PGA Tour officials painted a bleak outlook during a contentious Senate hearing Tuesday, sharing they felt no other choice was left but to merge with Saudi-backed LIV Golf in order for the tour to survive.

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“The PGA Tour is not that big in terms of players,” PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne said during sworn testimony Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in Washington, D.C. “If (LIV) takes five players a year, in five years they can gut us. They’ve got a management team that wants to destroy the Tour. And even though (LIV) could take five or six players a year, they have an unlimited horizon and an unlimited amount of money.

“So it isn’t like the (LIV) product is better. It’s just that there’s a lot more money that will make people move.”

Several Senators cited accusations of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses as reason to question the May 30 framework agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

“Today’s hearing is about much more than the game of golf,” Senator Richard Blumenthal said. “It’s about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence, and indeed even take over a cherished American institution to cleanse its public image.”

Dunne and Ron Price, the chief operating officer of the PGA Tour, testified on behalf of the tour with CEO Jay Monahan on medical leave. They said the framework of the planned merger is the best opportunity to allow the PGA Tour to continue to have some degree of control over the sport despite the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia’s involvement.

When pressed on the details of the financial involvement of the Saudis, Price said, “There’s been discussions. It would be a significant amount. North of $1 billion.”

Along with other Senators, Blumenthal offered harsh criticism of the financial aspects of the decision to merge.

“There is something that stinks about this path that you’re on right now,” Blumenthal said, “because it is a surrender, and it is all about the money and that’s the reason for the backlash that you see.”

Blumenthal asked Price what his options are if the PGA Tour doesn’t execute the merger with LIV Golf.

“We would still be facing a real threat that LIV Golf would continue to recruit our top players,” Price said.

Blumenthal responded, “These players that stood by you are heroes.”

Dunne testified that he shares some of the concerns Blumenthal raised in the hearing.

“I really understand Sen. Blumenthal’s concern about having them take over,” Dunne said. “…I’m concerned with what the senator is worried about. But I’m concerned if we do nothing, we’re going to end up there, they’re going to end up owning golf. They can do it.”

The proposed merger could face blockage from the Justice Department, which has been investigating the PGA Tour for its attempt to keep its players from leaving for LIV, as well as a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a Treasury-led committee that assesses mergers for national security purposes.

Price and Dunne stressed during Tuesday’s hearing that final details of the merger are undetermined.

Straka Enjoys a Deere Run Win

July 9, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

SILVIS – Despite sitting T-133 after an opening-round (73), Sepp Straka won his second PGA Tour title with final-round (62). Straka became the first player since 1992 to win John Deere Classic with an over-par round during the week.

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Three-time TOUR winner Brendon Todd finished T2 for the second time this season (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am).

Todd Leads John Deere Classic

July 9, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

SILVIS – Three-time Tour winner Brendon Todd is the only PGA Tour winner among the top five on the current John Deere leaderboard as Eight of the 13 players within three strokes of the lead are seeking their first Tour victory.

The John Deere Classic has produced 23 first-time Tour winners, the most of any event since 1970.

Alex Smalley matched his low round of career on TOUR (62).

Peter Kuest will become eligible for PGA TOUR Special Temporary Membership by completing the tournament.

Jonas Blixt can become the first since 1992 to win this event with an over-par round during the week.

Second-round leader Cameron Young carded a double bogey on final hole and sits three back on the crowded leaderboard. Twelve players are within three strokes of the leader.

PGA Tour

PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship