Golf External News 841

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson out of second event after COVID-19 diagnosis

10 hours ago Golf External News, , , , ,


THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – World No. 1 Dustin Johnson has withdrawn from this week’s Zozo Championship a week after testing positive for COVID-19.

Although he was eligible to play this week’s event at Sherwood Country Club, because it would have been more than 10 days since the onset of symptoms, his manager said he opted for rest.

“While he is feeling much better, he is still a bit low on energy and feels it would be best to wait and resume his schedule in Houston,” Johnson’s manager, David Winkle, told GolfChannel.com via text. “He understands the importance of not rushing things and wants to be smart about his recovery.”

Johnson was the 14th PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19 and he was forced to withdraw from last week’s CJ Cup. Next month’s Houston Open will be his only tune-up before the Masters.

The 2019-20 Player of the Year and FedExCup champion is among the favorites at the year’s final major.




Source link

Jason Kokrak wins first PGA Tour event at ‘home’ Shadow Creek

1 day ago Golf External News, , , , , , , ,

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – In his 10th season, in his 233rd tournament, Jason Kokrak can finally call himself a PGA Tour winner.

Kokrak earned every bit of it Sunday in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. He matched the best round of the tournament with an 8-under 64 to overcome a three-shot deficit at the start and win a duel on the back nine with Xander Schauffele.

“Couldn’t be happier,” said Kokrak.

The timing couldn’t be better. The CJ Cup moved from South Korea this year to Shadow Creek because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kokrak is an ambassador for MGM Resorts, which owns the prestigious Tom Fazio design.

“It feels like home,” Kokrak said. “I’ve played this golf course enough that I should know it by now.”

Kokrak began his rally with four straight birdies on the front nine, and birdie putts from 20 feet and 18 feet to start the back nine stretched his lead to two shots.

CJ Cup at Shadow Creek: Full-field scores | Full coverage

Schauffele answered with three straight birdies, the last one a 45-footer by using his putter from the thick collar of the 13th green to catch him. Then, it was a matter of who blinked first.

That turned out to be Schauffele on the par-5 16th, when he only managed to advance his shot from deep rough left of the fairway some 85 yards into more rough. Swinging with all his might, his third shot peeled off to the right into more rough well below the green, and he made his only bogey in his round of 66.

Kokrak also was in the left rough, hacked out to the right rough and put his third shot in the bunker. But he splashed it out to just inside 4 feet and made par for a one-shot lead, and Schauffele couldn’t catch up.

Kokrak, a 35-year-old from Ohio, all but clinched it when he drilled his drive into the fairway on the par-5 18th, leaving only a short iron to 25 feet. He two-putted for his final birdie of a round he won’t soon forget.

Kokrak on CJ Cup win: ‘Couldn’t be happier’

Kokrak on CJ Cup win: 'Couldn't be happier'

Russell Henley, who began the final round with a three-shot lead, never got anything going early and fell behind when he bogeyed the par-5 seventh and Kokrak was on his early run of birdies.

Henley’s hopes ended on the reachable par-4 11th when he drove over the green into thick rough and, facing a downhill chip, left it in the rough short of the green and made bogey on the second-easiest scoring hole at Shadow Creek. That put him four shots behind, and a late push of birdies was never going to be enough.

He closed with a 70 and tied for third with Tyrrell Hatton, who was coming off a victory last week in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Hatton closed with a 65.

Kokrak played bogey-free on a course where trouble was never too far away. Justin Thomas, within five shots of the lead, has two straight bogeys on the front nine and three more in a four-hole stretch on the back for a 74. Rory McIlroy was at least headed for a good finish until he had a pair of bogeys and two double bogeys over the last five holes for a 74.

Making it even tougher on Kokrak and Schauffele was Jason Day, the third in their group, withdrew with a neck injury on the second hole. That meant a twosome amidst a course filled with threesomes, and a lot of waiting. They still played at the highest level, with Kokrak delivering all the key putts.

Kokrak earned a spot in the Masters next month from reaching the Tour Championship a year ago in August. Now he can plan on two trips to Augusta National, qualifying for the 2021 tournament by winning.




Source link

Tyrrell Hatton on Hoodie Controversy: It’s comfy, What’s the Issue?

2 days ago Golf External News, , , , , ,


It wasn’t sweatshirt weather Thursday in Las Vegas – 90 degrees, bright sunshine – so Tyrrell Hatton was dressed in the standard professional outfit: polo and slacks.

Good thing, because his (apparently) controversial fashion statement was still on the minds of many after he wore a hoodie at Wentworth while winning the BMW PGA Championship. Though Hatton is far from the first to wear one in tournament competition, it was his look that caused the greatest stir on social media. One English club sent a note to its members, stuffily declaring that hoodies are prohibited and compared them, incredibly, to “designer ripped jeans.”

Was Hatton surprised by the semi-controversy?

“A little bit, mainly because I’m not the first person to wear a hoodie; there’s been so many guys that have worn hoodies,” he said Thursday at the CJ Cup, where he took the lead with a 7-under 65. “It’s crazy the amount of people that obviously don’t agree with it. If it looks smart and you’re comfortable to play in it, then I really don’t see what the issue is.

CJ Cup at Shadow Creek: Full-field scores | Full coverage

“And it’s funny, I reckon half the guys, if they put that hoodie on and swung a golf club, they’d love it. They’re realize how nice it is and how easy it is to swing in it. It’s not like your standard casual fashion hoodie – they’re the ones that are really soft, very stretchy, so movement is not an issue.”




Source link

Rory McIlroy (69) Trying to Play Golf Instead of Golf Swing

3 days ago Golf External News, , , ,


Rory McIlroy knows it’ll take a Herculean effort to chase down Xander Schauffele over the weekend at the CJ Cup, so he has set a different goal.

“Almost have a little bit of amnesia and forget about what I’ve just done,” he said after shooting 69 Friday.

McIlroy begins the weekend a dozen shots back of Schauffele, who opened with 66-64 at Shadow Creek.

After a first-round 73, McIlroy headed to the range to find some freedom in his swing. For the past two weeks he’s been grinding on the range, focused on positions, and it clouded his mind in the heat of competition.

“When you’re thinking so much about your golf swing and then someone says, ‘Well, just forget about it and go play,’ it’s very hard to do that when for two weeks solid all you’ve been thinking about is your positions and stuff. It just takes time,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a week to get out of it. But I did a better job of it today.”

CJ Cup at Shadow Creek: Full-field scores | Full coverage

McIlroy recalled a similar experience last year, when he missed the cut at the Memorial after having too many swing thoughts on the course. He fine-tuned his action over the weekend and then blew away the field the next week at the RBC Canadian Open.

McIlroy is hoping for a similar turnaround this year, because he has only a pair of top-10s in 10 events since the PGA Tour restarted in June.

“It’s going to take something very special to catch up to Xander,” McIlroy said. “But if I play well, I can post a good finish and give myself some confidence going into Sherwood.”




Source link

Brooks Koepka Opens with 74 at CJ Cup in First Start in Two Months

4 days ago Golf External News, , , , , ,


Brooks Koepka opened with a 2-over 74 Thursday at the CJ Cup in his first competitive round in two months.  

Playing on Tour for the first time since he withdrew from the FedExCup playoffs because of lingering injuries to his knee and hip, Koepka played his last four holes in 3 over par to finish his round nine shots off the early lead at Shadow Creek.

“I thought I played a hell of a lot better than the score,” he said.

Koepka blamed injuries for his disappointing 2020 campaign, in which he’s recorded only two top-10s in 13 starts, backtracked on the final day of the PGA Championship and fallen from first to 11th in the world ranking. During the time away he underwent another round of stem-cell treatment on his ailing left knee and received a cortisone shot in his hip, which he said has a slight tear in the labrum.

After walking 18 holes Thursday, Koepka reported no physical limitations: “Everything feels good. I feel great.”

CJ Cup at Shadow Creek: Full-field scores | Full coverage

Koepka showed some rust with his long game, hitting just six of 14 fairways and only half the greens in regulation. He twice found the water, with his approach on the ninth hole, leading to a bogey, and with his tee ball on No. 14 that turned into a double bogey. He ranked 47th in strokes gained: tee to green.

The CJ Cup is one of two starts that Koepka plans to play before the Masters, with a final tune-up coming the week prior at the Houston Open.

“I feel normal now; I feel like I’m supposed to,” he said. “This is more for just getting competitive reps for Augusta. That’s kind of what this is.”




Source link

Rickie Fowler laments bad shots that led to missed cut last week at Shriners

5 days ago Golf External News, , , , , , , , ,


Rickie Fowler is no different than any other player when it comes to dissecting his rounds and last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open was no different.

“Last week was a bit unfortunate. Really, I had four swings that cost me eight shots. That’s kind of hard to do in two rounds of golf,” Fowler explained on Wednesday at the CJ Cup, which is also being played in Las Vegas because of the pandemic and overseas travel restrictions.

CJ Cup at Shadow Creek: Full-field tee times | Full coverage

Fowler, who missed the cut by six strokes, stumbled on Day 1 at TPC Summerlin with a double-bogey 5 at the 17th hole after hitting his tee shot in a water hazard. It was a nearly identical miscue on Friday for another double-bogey 5 at No. 17.

His other two wayward swings came on the 16th hole during the second round, when he hit his second and fourth shots into a water hazard on his way to a triple-bogey 8. That’s four swings that cost Fowler at least seven shots and a weekend tee time.

“Unfortunately, we had those that happened at the wrong time, took us right out of the golf tournament,” he said. “It’s the difference of being in contention and missing the cut.”




Source link