PGA Tour

PGA Tour: Corales Championship Round-Up

March 27, 2021 by Terry Lyons

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Tournament co-leader Joel Dahmen has played the back nine in 9-under this week in search of first Tour title in his 111th start.

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The 2016 Masters Tournament champion, Danny Willett, shot a (67) and seeks his second Tour title to join his triumph at Augusta National.

After shooting an opening round (73), Michael Gligic carded his second consecutive bogey-free round while seeking first Tour title in his 36th start. He and Willett are only one stroke back.

Puntacana Resort ambassador Emiliano Grillo (T-5) at (-8) carded nine birdies in first 15 holes, tying his career-most in a round, before closing bogey-par-bogey en route to 7-under (65). The round marked his sixth outing of 65 or better this season.

Leaderboard at Corales Championship

Joel Dahmen 67-71-68—206 (-10)

Rafael Campos 68-69-69—206 (-10)

Danny Willett 70-70-67—207 (-9)

Michael Gligic 73-66-68—207 (-9)

PGA Tour: World Golf Championship

March 27, 2021 by Terry Lyons

World Golf Championship Dell Tech Match Play

Today is the Round of 16 of the World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play tournament along with the Quarterfinals to be played this afternoon. The Semifinals will be Sunday morning, followed by the Championship Match and Consolation Match (third place) on Sunday afternoon.

WGC “Sweet 16” Notes:

The Round of 16 Matches with Tee Times begin at 8:35am EDT/7:35am (local) with Tommy Fleetwood taking on Dylan Frittelli and continue until Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth tee-it-up at 9:52am EDT/8:52am local – (link)

A tournament-record eight playoffs were needed to decide group winners (previous record: 5, 2017).

In dramatic fashion, Sergio Garcia aced one from 161 yards on the fourth playoff hole (No. 4) to defeat Lee Westwood and earn his third consecutive trip to the Round of 16.

Jon Rahm (3) is the only top seed from the 16 groups to advance to the Round of 16.

Eight of the 16 groups were won by the lowest-seeded player.

Five of the 22 players making their first appearance at the event won their group: Scottie Scheffler (30), Victor Perez (31), Robert MacIntyre (41), Mackenzie Hughes (48) and Erik van Rooyen (62).

PGA Tour: Moving Day in the D.R.

March 27, 2021 by Terry Lyons

Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

Rafael Campos (-7) posted a bogey-free 3-under (69) to hold second 36-hole lead/co-lead of his career (2016 Puerto Rico Open T-8). Campos is seeking his first Tour win in just his 37th start as he’s among a three-way tie for lead after two rounds.

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Paraguay native Fabrizio Zanotti and sponsor exemption Justin Suh hold 36-hole lead/co-lead for first time in their careers while Andrew Yun is attempting to become third Monday qualifier to win on Tour in last 35 years. Yan is T-6 (-5), only two strokes back.

Following a 6-under (66) in round one that included a hole-in-one at No. 2, Stephan Jaeger sits T-6 at 5-under along with Yun.

Tyler Duncan (T-4) at (-6) shot back-to-back rounds of (69), marking his best start at the event (MC/2018, T-59/2019).

Leaderboard at Corales Championship

Rafael Campos 68-69—137 (-7)

Fabrizio Zanotti 69-68—137 (-7)

Justin Suh 68-69—138 (-7)

Tyler Duncan 69-69—138 (-6)

Joel Dahmen 67-71—138 (-6)

WGC: Final Round to Decide “Sweet 16”

March 26, 2021 by Terry Lyons

AUSTIN – Today is the final round of preliminary Group Match Play. One player from each of the 16 (four player) groups will advance by this evening.

The Round of 16 will be played Saturday morning, followed by the Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon. The Semifinals will be Sunday morning, followed by the Championship Match and Consolation Match (third place) on Sunday afternoon.

WGC Opening Round Notes:

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Defending champion Kevin Kisner defeated Justin Thomas, 2 and 1. Kisner is 2-0-0 entering today’s final match for “Sweet 16” qualification and has won his last eight matches in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which represents the longest current streak since Tiger Woods posted the tournament record with 13 straight wins. Thomas is 0-2 in the group.

Ten players are undefeated through two rounds of group play (by seed): Jon Rahm (3), Patrick Cantlay (10), Ryan Palmer (24), Abraham Ancer (27), Kevin Kisner (34), Sergio Garcia (39), Mackenzie Hughes (48), Matt Kuchar (52), Ian Poulter (60) and Dylan Frittelli (64).

Included within those winners, two of the 22 players making their first appearance at the event are undefeated through two rounds of group play. They are: Mackenzie Hughes (48) and Dylan Frittelli (64).

Reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson eagled the par-5 16th and birdied the par-3 17th to pull even with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre before the two matched pars on No. 18, resulting in a tie for their match. Johnson, the 2017 WGC tournament champion, failed to advance out of group play in 2018 and 2019.

World Golf Champ – Dell Technologies Match Play

March 25, 2021 by Terry Lyons

AUSTIN – The 64-player WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play field is divided into 16 four-player groups. Each group will play roundrobin matches within their group on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Players receive one point for a victory, ½ point for a tie and zero points for a loss.

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The player with the best record in each of the four-player groups advances to the Round of 16 for single-elimination match play. In the event two players are tied in points following the completion of group play, those players will have a suddendeath hole-by-hole-playoff starting on No. 1. If three or more players are involved, it will be a stroke-play hole-by-hole playoff.

The Round of 16 will be played Saturday morning, followed by the Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon. The Semifinals will be Sunday morning, followed by the Championship Match and Consolation Match(third place) on Sunday afternoon.

The top seed for each of the 16 four-player groups are the top 16 players in order of their position in the Official World Golf Ranking. The remaining three players in each group were determined by a blind draw from each of the three pools depending on their standing in the world rankings.

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WGC Opening Round Notes:

On Wednesday, the top-16 group seeds went 6-6-4 in the first round. The top-seeded player to lose was Justin Thomas (No. 2) while Dylan Frittelli, seeded (No. 64), won his opening match.

Of the 22 players making their first appearance at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, 13 went on to claim at least a ½ point in their opening match. Geoff Ogilvy (2006) was the last player to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in his first event.

In his bid for a seventh World Golf Championships title, reigning FedExCup champion and No. 1 seed Dustin Johnson defeated Adam Long, 2-up while defending champion Kevin Kisner defeated Louis Oosthuizen, 2 and 1.

2010 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play winner Ian Poulter won five consecutive holes (Nos. 9-13) to defeat Rory McIlroy, 6 and 5, in his 30th match in 15 starts of the match play event. Wednesday’s round also marked the fourth occasion in 12 starts that McIlroy, the 2015 champion, has lost an opening match (2013, 2017, 2018 and 2021). McIlroy’s biggest loss in any match was 8 and 7 to Ben Crane in round two of 2011.

Match Play Recaps:

All of Wednesday’s opening round matches recapped: (link)

Tournament Site: (link)

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: World Golf Championship

COURSE: Austin Country Club, Austin, Texas

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @DellMatchPlay

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26: 2:00pm to 8:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28 – Early coverage on Golf Channel from 10:00am to 2:00pm and the switch to NBC for 2:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Saturday and 3:00pm to 7:00pm EDT on Sunday.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Thursday and Friday from 10:15am to 8:00pm (EDT); Saturday from (8:30am-2:00pm (EDT) only.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Thursday – Friday – 2:00pm to 8:00pm (EDT); then Saturday, March 27 from 10:00am to 6:00pm EDT and Sunday, March 28: (11:00am to 7:00pm (EDT)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

PGA Tour: Match Play Starts Today

March 24, 2021 by Terry Lyons

AUSTIN – PGA Tour play this week consists of two tournaments. Starting today, the best of the best compete at the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Championship. Tomorrow, the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship begins with a B-list of professionals playing in the Dominican Republic. Here’s a look at both tournaments:

Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship is the first PGA Tour event to be held in the Dominican Republic and it is now in its fourth year, with Brice Garnett claiming victory in its inaugural year of 2018, Graeme McDowell in 2019 and Hudson Swafford winning in 2020. Prior to 2018, the tournament had a two-year stint on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule where the winners were Dominic Bozzelli and Nate Lashley.

The field playing Thursday through Sunday in the Dominican Republic includes each of the five players who have victories at the Corales Golf Course, including Lashley (2017) and Bozzelli, who won the tournament as a Korn Ferry Tour title in (2016).

This is the first of three tournaments (U.S. Open, Masters) to be contested twice in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season which marks first time an event has been played twice in the same season in the last 70 years.

Brandon Hagy, who made the largest jump in the FedExCup (No. 178 to No. 77; 101 spots) with his runner-up at last week’s Honda Classic, will make his second start in the event (MC/2020).

The field includes some golf luminaries.

World Golf Hall of Fame members: Retief Goosen, Davis Love III

Five major champions: Retief Goosen (2001 & 2004 U.S. Open), Padraig Harrington (2007 & 2008 The Open Championship, 2008 PGA Championship), Davis Love III (1997 PGA Championship), Graeme McDowell (2010 U.S. Open), Charl Schwartzel (2011 Masters Championship), Danny Willett (2016 Masters Tournament).

Grupo Puntacana, which owns and operates Puntacana Resort & Club, serves as the host organization while the Corales Course is the tournament venue.

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Champ

COURSE: Corales Golf Club, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio

YARDS/PAR: 7,670 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $3,000,000/$540,000

DEFENDING Champion: Hudson Swafford – (Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup #CoralesChampionship @CoralesChamp

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26: 10:00am to 1:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. Saturday, March 27 10:00am to 5:00pm EDT on Golf Channel. and Sunday, March 28 – 2:30pm to 5:30pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. (WGC on NBC during those times).

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will stream WGC.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Will cover WGC.

TEE TIMES: (link)

WEATHER: A few isolated showers with temperatures 71-84 degrees. Winds E-to-NE at 8-15 mph. Similar forecast for Friday-to-Sunday with winds 11-22 mph. 20% chance of rain.

The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, the only official head-to-head match play event on the PGA Tour schedule, returns to the PGA TOUR schedule after being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. This week, 64 of the top 69 players in the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 15 are in the field, including every player in the Top 10.

Reigning FedExCup champion and World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is seeking his seventh WGC victory. Johnson’s six WGC titles are second only to Tiger Woods (18). The 2018 WGC semifinalist Justin Thomas is making his first start on Tour since winning THE PLAYERS Championship.

There are five players who qualified but will not compete: Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland.

Is Match Play a different game? Maybe so as no player has won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and gone on to win the FedExCup in the same season (best result: Luke Donald, (No. 3) in 2011.

Back in 2019: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play champion Kevin Kisner holed a 20-foot birdie putt to close out Matt Kuchar, 3 and 2, to capture his third PGA Tour title and first World Golf Championships victory. In the 2019-20 season, the South Carolina native made 21 starts, qualified for each of the three FedExCup Playoffs events and finished No. 23 in the FedExCup standings.

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PGA Tour: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Preview

March 23, 2021 by Terry Lyons

AUSTIN – The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, the only official head-to-head match play event on the PGA Tour schedule, returns to the PGA TOUR schedule after being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. This week, 64 of the top 69 players in the Official World Golf Ranking (as of March 15) are in the field, including every player in the Top 10.

There are five players who qualified but will not compete: Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland.

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: World Golf Championship

COURSE: Austin Country Club, Austin, Texas

ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,108 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $10,500,000/$1,800,000

DEFENDING Champion (2019) Kevin Kisner – (Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @DellMatchPlay

TV COVERAGE: Wednesday, March 24 – Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26: 2:00pm to 8:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28 – Early coverage on Golf Channel from 10:00am to 2:00pm and the switch to NBC for 2:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Saturday and 3:00pm to 7:00pm EDT on Sunday.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Wednesday-Thursday and Friday from 10:15am to 8:00pm (EDT); Saturday from (8:30am-2:00pm (EDT) only.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Wednesday –Thursday – Friday – 2:00pm to 8:00pm (EDT); then Saturday, March 27 from 10:00am to 6:00pm EDT and Sunday, March 28: (11:00am to 7:00pm (EDT)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

World Golf Championship-Dell Tech Match Play Odds

March 23, 2021 by Terry Lyons

AUSTIN – Published odds for this week’s World Golf Championship Match Play

Bryson DeChambeau 12-1
Justin Thomas 12-1
Dustin Johnson 14-1
Jon Rahm 14-1
Rory McIlroy 20-1
Collin Morikawa 22-1
Sungjae Im 25-1
Jordan Spieth 25-1
Paul Casey 25-1
Patrick Reed 25-1
Viktor Hovland 28-1
Patrick Cantlay 28-1
Tony Finau 28-1
Xander Schauffele 28-1
Webb Simpson 28-1
Daniel Berger 28-1
Tyrrell Hatton 33-1
Jason Day 35-1
Cameron Smith 35-1
Louis Oosthuizen 40-1
Sergio Garcia 40-1
Hideki Matsuyama 40-1
Joaquin Niemann 40-1
Scottie Scheffler 40-1
Will Zalatoris 40-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 40-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 50-1
Jason Kokrak 50-1
Lee Westwood 50-1
Corey Conners 50-1
Kevin Kisner 50-1
Abraham Ancer 50-1
Tommy Fleetwood 50-1
Si-Woo Kim 66-1
Russell Henley 70-1
Max Homa 70-1
Billy Horschel 80-1
Matt Wallace 80-1
Shane Lowry 80-1
Ryan Palmer 80-1
Harris English 80-1
Bubba Watson 80-1
Lanto Griffin 80-1
Brian Harman 80-1
Brendon Todd 100-1
Marc Leishman 100-1
Carlos Ortiz 100-1
Matthew Wolff 100-1
Kevin Na 100-1
Ian Poulter 100-1
Victor Perez 100-1
Talor Gooch 125-1
Matt Kuchar 125-1
Kevin Streelman 150-1
Sebastian Munoz 150-1
Robert MacIntyre 150-1
J.T. Poston 150-1
Antoine Rozner 150-1
Dylan Frittelli 150-1
Erik Van Rooyen 150-1
Bernd Wiesberger 150-1
Mackenzie Hughes 200-1
Andy Sullivan 200-1
Adam Long 250-1

PGA Tour: The Honda Classic Review

March 22, 2021 by Terry Lyons

The Honda Classic: Review and Notes

THE YEAR of the 40s: Matt Jones won his second PGA Tour title in his 330th start and became the fourth winner in his 40s this season. He also became the sixth player this season to win more than six years after his previous victory.

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Jones converted his 54-hole lead/co-lead for first time on Tour, and finished with a five-stroke win which ties the largest margin of victory in tournament history.

Brandon Hagy earned his best career PGA Tour result on his 30th birthday, and in doing so, he moved up 101 spots in the FedExCup standings.

Sam Ryder played the famed “Bear Trap” in 3-under for the week, the best of any player who made the cut.

Chase Seiffert (T-3) at (-6) closed with 6-under (64), matching his career low (64/R4) at the 2018 Travelers Championship). He moved from T-41 to T-3 and carded his fourth score of 65 or better this season.

Brendan Steele (T-3) at (-6) recorded his second consecutive top-10 result at The Honda Classic (T-4) in 2020 and has five Top 15 finishes in last six starts at The Honda Classic.

The Honda Classic – Final Leaderboard

Matt Jones 61-70-69-68—268 (-12)

Brandon Hagy 69-62-76-66—273 (-7)

Five players at (-6)

Full Leaderboard (link)

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Final Round Coverage of Honda Classic

March 20, 2021 by Terry Lyons

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA – For the second time this week, Matt Jones holds an overnight lead of three strokes as 36-hole leader Aaron Wise fell three shots behind in a bid for second PGA Tour win. Jones ranks No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (12.289) and second in the field in Strokes Gained Around the Green (5.716).

J.B. Holmes is making his seventh appearance at The Honda Classic and he started the third round eight-shots off the lead but posted a 3-under (67) on “Moving Day” and is now T-2 with Wise. Holmes is paired with Matt Jones in the final twosome.

Making his second start at The Honda Classic (T-53 in 2020), Winter Park, Florida, native Sam Ryder (T-4) at (-6) is in contention to claim his first career PGA Tour victory in his 90th start.

Following his shoulder injury, The Honda Classic marks the final event remaining for Camilo Villegas (T-13) at (-4) to earn 136 FedExCup points (3-way T-3 or better) and remain in the Major Medical category or 24 FedExCup points (2-way T-32 or better) to play the remainder of the season out of the 126-150 category.