229720
228935

Golf  

Nelly Korda 3 shots back at LPGA Tour's Ford Championship in bid to win 3 straight starts

GILBERT, Ariz. (AP) — Nelly Korda fought through brutal conditions to win in Southern California last week.

A solid opening round on a soft course in perfect weather has the world’s No. 1 player in position to win her third straight start.

Korda shot a 6-under 66 in the first round of the Ford Championship on Thursday, leaving her three shots back in a bid to become the first LPGA Tour player to win three straight starts in eight years.

“Completely different today compared to last weekend,” Korda said. “The greens are quite soft. I know Arizona has been getting a good bit of rain throughout the winter. I knew there would be low scores out there, so needed to be aggressive.”

A week after brutal wind outside Los Angeles in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, ideal scoring conditions greeted the players in the inaugural event at Seville Golf and Country Club.

Pajaree Anannarukan took advantage with a bogey-free, 9-under 63 after starting on the back nine at the 6,734-yard course in suburban Phoenix. She had a one-shot lead over Lilia Vu, Gabriela Ruffels, Isa Gabsa and former Arizona State players Azahara Munoz and Carlota Ciganda.

The top-ranked Korda opened with four birdies in five holes and closed with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 18th as she tries to become the first LPGA Tour player to win three straight starts since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016.

Korda won the Drive On Championship in her hometown of Bradenton, Florida, before sitting out all of the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing. She showed no rust after the long break, winning last week to move back atop the world ranking and is in contention again.

“(I) kept it pretty light at the beginning of the week knowing I needed rest and that was the most important,” Korda said.

Anannarukan has won twice on the LPGA Tour, including last year's Bank of Hope Match Play at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. The 24-year-old from Thailand missed the cut last week, but closed with five straight birdies to shoot 6-under 30 on Seville's front nine.

“The condition’s really similar to Las Vegas,” she said. “I feel like if you can get the good number into most of the shots going into the green, that’s just really helpful. I think I got a really good number today, just really helped me with the putts as well.”

Vu fell out of the top spot in the world when Korda won in a playoff last week at Palos Verdes Golf Club. The two-time major champion sandwiched four birdies around a bogey on the par-3 eighth and had four birdies on the back nine.

Cigand rolled in eight birdies in a bogey-free round that started on the back nine.

“I love being here. I feel the support — it just feels very comfortable,” she said. “I’m staying at home so that’s really nice this week. Sleeping in my own bed. Yeah, eating my own dinners and doing my thing. So that’s always very comfortable.”

Munoz had a wild round that included eight birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in her bid to win for the first time since the 2012 Sybase Match Play Championship.

Ruffels had seven birdies and an eagle with a bogey, a week after missing a birdie putt that would have put her in a playoff with Korda and Ryann O'Toole. Gabsa had three birdies on the front nine, then reeled off four straight to shoot 5-under 31 on the back to finish off her bogey-free round.

Celine Boutier and Hyo Joo Kim shot 65.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



231932


Scheffler shoots impressive 5 under, trails by one at Houston Open

HOUSTON (AP) — Scottie Scheffler had his 28th consecutive round under par to start the year, a 5-under 65 on Thursday that left him one shot behind Taylor Moore and Wilson Furr in the Houston Open.

Scheffler also extended his streak to 49 holes without a bogey dating to the third round of The Players Championship two weeks ago, where he became the first back-to-back winner in the 50 years of the PGA Tour's flagship event.

The streak that matters is his bid for a third straight PGA Tour victory, a feat last accomplished seven years ago by Dustin Johnson.

That also was the last thing on Scheffler's mind at Memorial Park, his final tournament before he heads to the Masters as a strong favourite.

“I don't ever really put expectations on myself,” Scheffler said. “I try to be committed to my shots. I try to stay patient out there. At the beginning of the week, I'm not looking forward toward Sunday. I'm just focused on today.”

Moore came up short of the first hole and missed a six-foot par putt. That was his lone mistake. He pitched in for eagle on the par-5 third and was on his way, getting up-and-down on the 18th for a 64.

“After the first hole, just tried to see how many greens I could hit,” Moore said. “Got off to a little bit of a jump start there on 3, chipped in for eagle and birdied 4. Just got into the round.”

Furr matched him late in the day, holing out from 120 yards for eagle on the par-4 fifth and closing with birdies on the par-5 eighth and par-3 ninth — making a 20-footer on 9.

“Had a good number. it was downwind and it landed right behind it, ripped right back to the hole and just never looked like it was going to miss,” Furr said about the eagle.

The 25-year-old former Alabama player is in his first season on the PGA Tour after earning a card last year on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“It’s a dream come true, for sure,” Furr said. “Just being surrounded by the best golfers in the world, it’s kind of inspiring day to day. Can’t ask for a better job than that.”

Scheffler was a stroke back with Joe Highsmith and Davis Riley.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ont., were at 66 with Alejandro Tosti, Aaron Rai and Beau Hossler. Peter Malnati, coming off a victory last week at the Valspar Championship in Florida, shot 68.

Roger Sloan of Calgary and Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., are in an 18-way tie for 17th at 2 under, Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is tied for 54th at even par.

Scheffler decided to take a little more time off last week at home in Dallas, mentally spent from winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players in consecutive weeks. He had a rugged start at Memorial Park, having to make a 10-foot par putt on No. 10 and not having his first birdie putt until his fourth hole at No. 13. He made a 12-footer.

It was his eighth bogey-free round of the year.

The Houston Open was last held in the fall of 2022, moving to a spring date for this year. That allowed the course to be overseeded, and the tough Bermuda rough from the fall has been replaced with very little rough at all.

It's similar to what the Houston Open tried to do when it previously was held a week before the Masters and attracted several top players looking to compete ahead of the first major.

“I was surprised at the lack of rough on the course,” Scheffler said. "I know they’re trying to do a little bit of kind of what the tournament used to be when it was the week before. The golf course is in amazing shape right now. The runoffs are fun to play.

“You don’t need rough to make this course pretty tough,” he said. “I think it will be pretty difficult over the next couple days with the wind picking up.”

Scheffler had only two birdies inside 10 feet. He holed from 25 feet on the 17th and he made an 18-foot birdie on No. 2. He two-putted the par-5 third from long-range.

Highsmith finished strong, getting up-and-down from the right rough on the par-5 eighth and hitting his tee shot to just inside 10 feet on the par-3 ninth.

Like Furr, Highsmith is a PGA Tour rookie, and his class already has made an impact this year. Matthieu Pavon of France (Torrey Pines) and Jake Knapp (Mexico) have won, while Sami Valimaki of Finland, Chandler Phillips and Jimmy Stanger all have contended on the back nine.

Two other rookies made a small piece of history Thursday. Parker and Pierceson Coody, the grandsons of former Masters champion Charles Coody, became the first twins to be paired together on the PGA Tour.

Both thought it was a mistake when the tee times came out.

“It was definitely a little more weird until the round started,” Pierceson said after a 69, one shot better than his brother. “Once the round started, it felt normal.”

---

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Canada's Savoie hopes to build on top-five result to start PGA Tour Americas season

Canada's Joey Savoie had a simple plan heading into the Bupa Championship: keep the driver in his bag.

The strategy paid off for Savoie, from La Prairie, Que., as he tied for fourth on Sunday in the first event of the PGA Tour Americas season. Savoie said that the conservative approach was necessary on the crowded fairways of PGA Riviera Maya in Tulum, Mexico.

"Jungle on both sides on every hole, water on every hole, pretty much, tough greens, fast greens, and windy," said Savoie. "So it's a mental test and a golf test second.

"I think it's an overall test of endurance so I think my game plan is really well suited for that golf course."

Clay Feagler won the event after bogeying the fourth playoff hole when fellow American Davis Shore double bogeyed it. Savoie tied for fourth at 2-under overall and, naturally, is tied for fourth in the Fortinet Cup standings after the one event.

Savoie isn't exactly sure how the top-five finish early in the season will play out for him.

"I guess I'll tell you after rest of the year," said Savoie with a chuckle. "I've some good starts to the season, I've had some bad ones. 

"For me, the goal is to build on it, not let myself relax after that start. I want to keep my foot on the gas."

Savoie will have a chance to floor it at the Totalplay Championship on Thursday at Atlas Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico. He's one of 14 Canadians in the field at the second of six events in the Latin American swing of the PGA Tour Americas.

It's technically the inaugural season of the PGA Tour's third-tier circuit after the Latinoamerica Tour merged with the Canadian Tour in the winter to form one long season with a break between the two phases.

"Schedule wise, it might be a little easier," said Savoie as he waited for his flight to Guadalajara. "It can be easier to plan the year maybe but the big difference is the number events in Latino countries.

"The overlapping was only two or three events a year, so it wasn't that big of a deal. There's just no more overlapping."

PGA TOUR — Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., is the highest ranked Canadian in the field at the Texas Children's Houston Open. He moved up to 46th in the FedEx Cup standings thanks to a tie for third at the Valspar Championship on Sunday. He'll be joined at Memorial Park Golf Course by Adam Svensson (75th) of Surrey, B.C., Ben Silverman (96th) of Thornhill, Ont., Taylor Pendrith (99th) of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Roger Sloan (192nd) of Merritt, B.C.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary's Stephen Ames is ranked second in the Schwab Cup points list heading into The Galleri Classc this week. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., is 42nd on the points list. The event at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., tees on Friday.

DP WORLD TOUR — Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., will tee it up on Thursday at the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi. He's the only Canadian at DLF Golf and Country Club.

LPGA TOUR — Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is fifth in the Race to CME Globe standings heading into the inaugural Ford Championship. Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., is 38th and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., is tied for 128th. Hamilton's Alena Sharp was a tournament invite as she's a member at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Ariz., the event's host course.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2024.



228634


Peter Malnati is a winner again and tired of all the talk about money in golf

Peter Malnati is a PGA Tour winner again and now gets to tee it up with big names at the Houston Open. In his group for the opening two rounds is Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player who is going for this third consecutive victory.

But a big part of Malnati is representing the little guy, the career grinders who care just as much about competing without seeing golf through the prism of money.

And there is a lot of it in the game right now, brought on by the disruption of Saudi money funding LIV Golf, and the PGA Tour's response by creating $20 million signature events for the elite in the game.

Malnati struck a chord with so many for his emotions when he won the Valspar Championship, only his second PGA Tour title and first in more than nine years. He said it was for his family and those who supported him, but also for tournaments that aren't signature events in a new era that can leave them “wondering where they fit and if they matter.”

He elevated those thoughts Wednesday, saying fans are sick of talking about money.

Malnati recalled watching Michael Jordan's clutch moments with the Chicago Bulls, or Tiger Woods winning the majors in record fashion.

“I didn't care one iota what Jordan’s contract was. I didn’t care one iota what the winner’s check at that U.S. Open was,” Malnati said. "And I think people are sick of that. I think people are just sick of the narrative in golf being about contracts on LIV, purses on the tour, guaranteed comp on the tour. I think people are so sick of that.

“I just feel like no kid when they were watching Jordan dreamed of having his salary. They didn’t care about that," he said. “They dreamed of being in that moment, hitting that shot. I think that’s what our fans care about, too. And that’s what they want to see.”

His comments came one day after Chris DiMarco, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who has yet to win on the 50-and-old PGA Tour Champions circuit, laughed when he said on the “Subpar Podcast” that “we're kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour.”

“Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean, this is kind of a joke when we’re averaging $2 million (purses)," DiMarco said. "There were like seven guys last week from TPC (The Players Championship) that made more money than our purses.”

For Malnati, it was a career-changer in many ways. In his 10th year on the PGA Tour, he has never advanced beyond the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs. He has played in only three majors — never on the weekend — and the victory got him into the Masters for the first time.

He also is exempt through 2026, a big deal for a guy who seems to struggle each year keeping his full PGA Tour card.

His career earnings are now just over $9.9 million, a bit more than half of what Viktor Hovland got last year from winning the FedEx Cup. Scheffler already has made more than Malnati's career earnings in just three months this year.

For now, it's back to work for Malnati. The Houston Open starts Thursday at Memorial Park, held for the first time since the fall of 2022 because it moved to a new date in the spring leading up to the Masters. The course is different with lusher, green grass instead of the Bermuda grass typical of Texas in the late summer and fall.

Scheffler is coming off wins at Bay Hill and The Players Championship, and he will try to become the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win three starts in a row.

He said he was worn out from winning back-to-back weeks on strong courses against strong fields. Scheffler is not one to look much further than the next shot, and a chance for three straight wins was not front of mind.

“When you show up at a tournament being No. 1, I don’t start at 1 under, I don’t start at 2 under, I start at even,” Scheffler said. “You’ve got to approach every week the same. You’ve got to put in the same amount of work, you’ve got to show up prepared.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Masters has only a few spots left. One player could earn a spot at Augusta National via ranking

The final week for players to try to get into the Masters through the world ranking has rarely held so few possibilities.

Byeong Hun An is a lock to stay in the top 50. He was No. 60 at the end of 2023, and then started the year finishing fourth at Kapalua and tied for second at the Sony Open to get inside the top 50. He secured his position in the top 50 with a tie for eighth at Bay Hill.

Everyone else in the top 50 — all the way to No. 54 — is already in the Masters through various other criteria, including four who won on the PGA Tour this year.

The Masters currently has 86 players — that includes Tiger Woods, who has not played since February at Riviera. He is expected to play, though Woods has not formally revealed his plans. He only has to register before teeing off.

It does not include Angel Cabrera, who spent two years in prison for gender violence before being released on probation. His manager said in an email the former Masters champion is still two months away from getting a visa to travel from Argentina.

The Masters field could reach as high as 90 players. An will get in through the world ranking, and a few players — no more than one will get in — have a chance to play their way into the top 50. The Houston Open and Texas Open winners also get invitations.

Tom Hoge is at No. 57 and likely would need around third place in Houston to get in. Mackenzie Hughes (No. 63) and Alex Noren (No. 66) would need a runner-up finish to have any mathematical chance.

Among those on the bubble who chose not to play in Houston are Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 55) and Brendon Todd (No. 64).

The Augusta National field has 13 players from LIV Golf — 10 recent major champions, newcomers Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk through the Tour Championship and world ranking at the end of last year, and Joaquin Niemann on a special invitation.

Two years ago before the Saudi-funded league was launched, 10 other LIV players were in the field — four of them through the world ranking, five from having won on the PGA Tour and one from being top 12 in the previous year's Masters.

TGL MULLIGAN LAUNCH

The indoor TGL league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will try again in 2025, this time with a new steel-supported structure replacing the inflated dome that collapsed in November, just two months before the league's planned 2024 launch.

The league of six four-player teams uses a combination of simulators for the long shots and a high-tech, rotating green complex that allows for actual shots during the matches.

TGL has booked the first three Tuesdays in prime time, starting Jan. 7, on ESPN and ESPN+. That puts it the night after college football and NFL playoff games.

“January is a tremendous time of year for fans looking for prime-time sports and TGL’s launch will complement the start of the PGA Tour season and take advantage of ESPN’s promotional machine across their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs,” said Mike McCarley, TMRW Sports founder and CEO.

The new SoFi Center on the campus of Palm Beach State College will have 1,500 seats surrounding a field of play roughly the size of a football field.

Still to be determined is which teams all 24 players will join.

Teams are set for Boston, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Woods leads the Jupiter, Florida, team but still needs three players, while four players are needed for San Francisco and New York.

SO LONG SO YEON

So Yeon Ryu introduced herself on a big stage when she won the 2011 U.S. Women's Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado. She was rookie of the year on LPGA in 2012, co-player of the year in 2017 and won another major at the ANA Inspiration in 2017.

If that wasn't enough, she continued to take college classes and graduated in 2013 from Yonsei University with a degree in sports business.

And now the 33-year-old South Korean, who spent 19 weeks at No. 1 in the world, is ready to walk away. Ryu wrote on Instagram last week the Chevron Championship — the first LPGA major of the year — will be her last before retiring.

“I am so grateful that I could do what I loved to do, day in and day out, and even make a career out of it," Ryu said. "I am not going to lie; I had some hard patches, but despite some of the challenges, I truly enjoyed it all.”

Ryu has 18 wins worldwide, six of them on the LPGA.

MASTERS MEMORIES

Lucas Glover returns to the Masters for the 10th time and still has vivid memories of his first visit to Augusta National.

He was 6. And he only saw the first hole.

This was 1986 — the year Jack Nicklaus went on to claim his sixth green jacket — and Glover and his grandfather, Dick Hendley, had two badges from friends in Greenville, South Carolina, for the Saturday round. They arrived for the 7 a.m. opening of the gates.

“We put our chairs down there on 1. I thought it was really cool that no one moved them,” Glover said. “We walked over to the range and watched everyone warm up, walked to the first tee with the first group, sat down and watched everybody tee off on 1.”

And they left.

“When we got home, the leaders were turning on the back nine and we watched it on TV,” Glover said.

There was one incident. Glover said his shoe came untied, so he raised his foot onto the rickety chair and it made a grinding noise that caused Ben Crenshaw to back off his tee shot.

“He gave me the stink eye,” Glover said.

Years later, Glover was doing an outing with Crenshaw and CBS lead announcer Jim Nantz, and Nantz made him tell Crenshaw the story.

“He came up after and said, ‘Did I really give you the stink eye?’ I said, ‘Yeah, but I deserved it,’” Glover said.

DIVOTS

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are playing the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, the only official team event on the PGA Tour schedule. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele have played it the last three years, winning in 2022. ... This is the sixth time Nelly Korda has reached No. 1 in the women’s world ranking, all within the last three years. ... Cameron Young was the only player with all four rounds in the 60s at the Valspar Championship. ... The JM Eagle LA Championship is raising its purse again to $3.75 million, making it the largest prize fund on the LPGA except for the majors and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. Last year, organizers doubled the purse to $3 million.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have each played seven tournaments that count toward the Official World Golf Ranking in the last two years. Mickelson is with LIV Golf, which is not recognized by the OWGR.

FINAL WORD

“It’s just always been my dream to never get a real job.” — Peter Malnati, in his 10th year on the PGA Tour, after winning the Valspar Championship.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Column: Silver medals for Cameron Young don't tarnish the talent

David Duval was headed to the California desert for the next PGA Tour Champions event when something in his news feed caught his attention. Cameron Young has seven runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour in the last 40 years, the most of anyone who had never won.

The phrasing made it sound as if Young had set a record, and Duval didn't think that was right. Because three decades ago, the news item could have been about him.

“Wasn't it seven for me?” he asked.

Duval was runner-up to Greg Norman and Tom Watson at the Memorial in consecutive years, to Mark O'Meara and Peter Jacobsen at Pebble Beach, along with second-place finishes in Canada, Atlanta and the Bob Hope Classic. So yes, that adds to seven.

Young joined him on Sunday in the Valspar Championship. He was tied for the lead until Peter Malnati hit 5-iron to 6 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th. Young, playing in the group ahead, made it easier for Malnati with a wild tee shot, a decent recovery and a three-putt bogey from 50 feet to finish two shots behind.

That was his seventh runner-up finish, and he can only hope there are more comparisons with Duval before long.

“He's lucky — he tied a good player," Duval said. It was a sardonic boast, yes, but also a reminder to Young — whom he has never met — that silver medals don't tarnish talent.

Duval went 75 starts from his rookie year in 1995 before he finally broke through at the end of his third season. He then won 13 times over his next 79 starts, including the 2001 British Open, the best Sunday 59 in history and two stints at No. 1 when Tiger Woods was in his prime.

All he knows about the 26-year-old Young is what he sees on TV — that rhythmic takeaway, the pause at the top and a swing that looks like it can rip the urethane off his Pro V1.

But he can appreciate the impatience and frustration when the chatter is more about the talent than the trophy.

“Once you realize as a player that you're doing everything you can and you don't have to do anything different, it opens up the gates,” Duval said. “You feel like you have to win. But really you've just got to play.”

Young has never had a 54-hole lead when finishing second. He also doesn't have a final round over par in those opportunities. One loss was in the Dell Match Play last year, when he took out Rory McIlroy in the semifinals before running into the hot putter of Sam Burns.

Most crushing were the majors in 2022. He took a double bogey from the bunker on the 16th hole at Southern Hills in the PGA Championship and finished one shot out of a playoff. “One of those times I'm going to shoot 5 under on the back and that's going to be good enough,” he said that day.

Two months later, Young shot 31 on the back nine at St. Andrews. Cameron Smith shot 30 and beat him by one in the British Open. That was runner-up No. 4 for Young.

He now can be called the best player on the PGA Tour without a victory — Tommy Fleetwood gets a mention, but those seven European titles count mightily in a global game — and it's starting to wear on Young.

Young doesn't say a lot, but he gets straight to the point. So when he was asked Saturday evening at Innisbrook how he has stayed patient while chasing his first win, Young bluntly replied, “I haven't, really.”

“I’ve definitely let it get to me at times,” Young said. “I feel like right now I’m in a really nice place mentally. I’ve had really good control over my thoughts and emotions this week. They have definitely got the better of me at times, but I feel like I’m in a really nice place and I’m just trying to hit each shot the best I can.”

Runner-up No. 6 for Duval came at Pebble Beach in 1997 when he tied for second with Woods at 19-under par, a score that would have won the previous 55 editions of the tournament except for O'Meara posting at 20 under.

A month later, Duval was asked if he was more tired from getting asked about not winning or from not having won.

“I’m not tired of either,” he said. “Because if I wasn’t asked about it, I’d feel like maybe people don’t think very highly of me as a player. But seeing as I’m asked a lot, that shows that a lot of people out here believe in my abilities. And so that’s a good thing. That’s a good feeling.”

That might be the soundest advice for Young.

Young isn't doing everything right — a putt here, a fairway there — or he would have won by now. He's not doing a lot wrong, either. His scoring average in his six runner-up finishes in stroke play is 67.5.

He was proud of some of the shots he took on, and mostly how he kept his head clear of everything but the next shot.

“I think I handled my own thoughts really well, and for me, that’s a big win regardless of the outcome,” he said, before leaving Innisbrook with little more than another close call.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Malnati wins Valspar to earn Masters trip. Nelly Korda returns to No. 1 with another win

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Peter Malnati got a great break and followed that with an even better shot Sunday, a 5-iron to 6 feet for birdie on the 17th hole that carried him to a 4-under 67 and a two-shot win at the Valspar Championship on Sunday and earn his first trip to the Masters.

Malnati tapped in for par on the final hole for only his second PGA Tour victory. He won by two over Cameron Young, who made it easier on him by taking bogey on the final hole for a 68. Young now has seven runner-up finishes without a win.

Malnati’s approach on the 16th went long and left into gnarly rough some 50 feet from the pin, leaving him a tough chip to try to save par and stay tied. But his foot was on a sprinkler head, which entitled him to a free drop. With the extra club length, he was able to drop it on the fringe and use putter, which he sent down to short range for par.

On the par-3 17th into wind, Malnati hit a laser to 6 feet for birdie. Up ahead, Young hit his drive well left, got it on the green and three-putted from 50 feet for bogey.

Malnati goes to the Masters for the first time and gets a two-year exemption. He also is assured of getting into the remaining four $20 million signature events without any help.

LPGA TOUR

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. (AP) — Nelly Korda made bogey on her final two holes to fall into a playoff and atoned for it quickly, making a 12-foot birdie putt to beat Ryann O’Toole in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship to return to No. 1 in the world.

Korda, who closed with a 2-under 69, won for the second time this year, both of them involving surprising collapses and amazing revivals.

Korda was playing for the first time since the end of January, when she lost four shots over three holes before an eagle-birdie finish to win. She seized control Sunday with an 18-foot eagle on the par-5 14th.

O’Toole holed a 20-foot par putt on the 18th for a 66, and that looked to be good only for second place until Korda's bogey-bogey finish. They finished at 9-under 275, and the playoff ended quickly.

Korda, who now has 10 LPGA titles, replaces Lilia Vu at the top of the women’s world ranking.

EUROPEAN TOUR

SINGAPORE (AP) — Jesper Svensson of Sweden closed with a 9-under 63 and beat Kiradech Aphibarnrat on the third playoff hole to win the Porsche Singapore Classic for his first European tour title.

Svensson tapped in for par at the par-5 18th on the third extra hole. Aphibarnrat could only make bogey after his third shot rolled over the green and down the slope at the Laguna National Golf Resort Club.

Svensson matched the course record and was one shot better than his Thai opponent. Both finished on 17-under 271 to force a playoff. Both players made birdies on the first playoff hole and the matched pars on the second before the decisive third trip up the 18th.

Overnight leader David Micheluzzi finished in a share of seventh place after a final-round 73 left him five shots behind. Shane Lowry had a 72, leaving the former British Open champion nine shots off the lead.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Padraig Harrington won the Hoag Classic at windy Newport Beach Country Club for his seventh PGA Tour Champions victory, rebounding from a double bogey with birdies on the final two holes.

After driving left into trouble and dropping two strokes on the par-4 16th, Harrington made a downhill 15-footer on the par-3 17th and got an 8-footer to fall on the par-5 18th for a one-stroke victory over Thongchai Jaidee.

Harrington closed with a 2-under 69 to finish at 14-under 199. The 52-year-old Irishman will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in June. He won British Open in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship in 2008.

Jaidee, from Thailand, also had a 69, parring the 18th after leaving his approach short and pitching through the green.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, the Spaniard playing alongside Harrington and Jaidee in the final group, bogeyed the 17th in a 68 that left him two strokes back.

OTHER TOURS

Epson Tour rookie Briana Chaco closed with a 2-under 69 for one-shot victory over Jessica Porvasnik and Kim Kaufman in the Atlantic Beach Classic, a 54-hole event that ended Saturday. ... Rasmus Neergaard-Petersent closed with a 1-under 71 and held on for a two-shot victory in the Kokhata Challenge in India on the Challenge Tour. ... Clay Feagler closed with a 1-under 71 and defeated Davis Shore on the fourth playoff hole to win the Bupa Championship in the PGA Tour Americas season-opener in Mexico. ... Heinrich Bruiners closed with an 8-under 64 and won the Stella Artois Players Championship by one shot, his first Sunshine Tour victory since 2013. ... Reika Usui won the 36-hole AXA Ladies Golf Tournament with a 6-under 66 for a one-shot victory over Miyuu Yamashita.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Nelly Korda delivers more drama and wins playoff for 10th LPGA Tour title

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. (AP) — Nelly Korda took seven weeks off and nothing changed. She won again on the LPGA Tour and made it far more exciting than it needed to be.

Korda made bogey on her last two holes Sunday to fall into a playoff in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, and then ended it quickly with a 12-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to beat Ryann O'Toole and return to No. 1 in the women's world ranking.

“I’m aging myself really quickly out here,” the 25-year-old Korda said.

Korda, who closed with a 2-under 69, won for the second time this year, both of them involving surprising collapses and amazing revivals. She won the Drive On Championship in Florida in January by dropping four shots in three holes on the back nine, only to rally with an eagle-birdie finish to beat Lydia Ko.

She hasn't played since then, skipping the Asia swing and returning this week with a little bit of rust that didn't take long to shake off. Korda seized control by smashing a fairway metal up the hill on the par-5 14th. The ball caught a slope at the back of the green and rolled down to 18 feet, and she made the eagle putt.

O'Toole holed a 20-foot par putt on the 18th for a 66, and that looked to be good only for second place. And then Korda made it interesting.

She missed a 5-foot par putt on the 15th hole. She went just over the green on the par-5 16th with a 7-iron and made birdie. She came up short on the par-3 17th and missed a 6-foot par putt. And then she went long on the 18th and failed to save par again.

“Eagle, bogey, birdie, bogey, bogey. Yeah,” Korda said. “I say this all the time, but I seem to always make it interesting. Just doing normal Nelly things, making it interesting.”

They finished at 9-under 275, and the playoff ended quickly.

O'Toole hit 7-iron from the right rough to about 15 feet and her birdie putt burned the edge of the cup. Korda hit 8-iron to 12 feet and poured it in for her 10th career LPGA title.

“At least I gave it my best attempt,” O'Toole said. “That putting could have gone either way. Nelly played really great. Obviously, last couple holes for her put her in the position to be in a playoff with me. Hey, I came from behind and gave it my best chance. I can’t be more proud.”

Korda decided to skip the entire Asia swing, giving her nearly two months off. It helped that her swing coach, Jamie Mulligan, works down the road at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach and was able to work with her after each round.

It also helped to calm her anger after the bogey-bogey finish.

“I vented to my coach on the putting green and then he asked me if I’m ready to be positive. Took a little bit and then I was ready,” Korda said. “And then we talked a little bit, laughed a little bit. He’s really good at just cracking jokes, which sometimes I just give him a pity laugh.”

And then she reminded herself that despite the sloppy finish, the trophy was still in her sights.

Making it tougher were brutal conditions of wind and cold. O'Toole was wearing ear muffs when she holed her clutch putt at the end of regulation.

Korda seemed to embrace the challenge.

“The weekend was brutal,” she said. “It's also the beauty of the game. It's fun to be able to play in these conditions and be a little more artistic.”

Jiyai Shin, a former world No. 1 who has been the top player on four worldwide tours, shared the lead going into the final round but fell back for good with a three-putt double bogey on the 12th. She closed with a 73 and tied for fifth.

Gabriela Ruffels (70) and Alison Lee (72) tied for third. Ruffels needed a birdie on the final hole to join the playoff.

Korda replaces Lilia Vu at the top of the women's world ranking.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Malnati with big break and great shot wins Valspar and earns trip to Masters

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Some of the shots that left Peter Malnati frustrated on the back nine were the ones that worked out so well for him Sunday in the Valspar Championship.

A putt he thought he left short dropped for birdie on the 12th hole. A shot into the 16th in mangled rough was close enough to a sprinkler that he was entitled to a free drop that put him on the fringe and made par easier.

But there was no doubting the winner.

Locked in a battle with hard-luck Cameron Young, Malnati drilled a 5-iron into the wind to 6 feet on the par-3 17th for birdie to break out of a tie, and he closed with a par for a 4-under 67 to win by two and earn his first trip to the Masters.

“I remember telling my caddie I needed to make a 2,” Malnati said. “That was really fun in that moment to just step up, not overthink it, just a full 5-iron at the TV tower, go. And to watch that ball fly was a really cool feeling."

Malnati tapped in that yellow golf ball for par on the final hole for only his second PGA Tour victory. Young, made it easier on him by taking bogey on the final hole for a 68. Young now has seven runner-up finishes without a win.

On a wild day of rallies and meltdowns, it came down to Malnati and Young playing a group apart as they headed into the tough finishing stretch at Innisbrook known as the “Snake Pit.”

Malnati's approach on the 16th went long and left into gnarly rough some 50 feet from the pin, leaving him a tough chip to try to save par and stay tied. But his foot was on a sprinkler head, which entitled him to a free drop. With the extra club length, he was able to drop it on the fringe and use putter, which he sent down to short range for par.

On the par-3 17th into wind, Malnati hit his most important shot of the day for birdie. Up ahead, Young hit his drive well left and did well to hammer a gap wedge over the trees and onto the green, 50 feet away. He lagged it about 10 feet short and missed the par putt.

Malnati found a fairway bunker on the 18th, but hit that on the green for a simple two-putt to finish at 12-under 272, his first victory since the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2015.

More than the $1,512,000 from winning, Malnati goes to the Masters for the first time and gets a two-year exemption. He also is assured of getting into the remaining four $20 million signature events without any help.

Malnati is one of six player-directors on the PGA Tour board, and he was singled out for criticism when he received a sponsor exemption — along with two other board members — to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“I told myself to do my best on every shot,” Malnati said as he fought back tears. “I was so nervous coming down the stretch. I can't describe it. It's so cool.”

It was gut-wrenching for Young, one of the top young talents and power players in golf who can't seem to get across the line. He shot 31 on the back nine at St. Andrews in the 2022 British Open, only to finish one shot behind Cameron Smith, who shot 30. Young also was in the hunt until the 16th hole of the 2022 PGA Championship.

“It was just a bad time for a pull,” Young said of his tee shot on the 18th.

Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (70) and PGA Tour rookie Chandler Phillips (69) tied for third. They were among five players who had at least a share of the lead in the final round at Innisbrook.

Hughes had the lead on the back nine with a 45-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole. He was tied and in the middle of the 12th fairway when it began to fall apart. His approach went over the green and into the back slope of the bunker, leaving him no shot to a back pin. He fell two shots behind when Malnati made a 15-foot birdie.

On the par-3 13th, Hughes came up short and in the water and he was never seriously part of the mix the rest of the way.

Keith Mitchell started the day with a two-shot lead, and he was three behind at the turn. Mitchell had to pitch out of the trees three times on the opening six holes and did not have a hole under par until an eagle on the 14th. By then he was 8 over for his round. He shot 77,

Seamus Power, playing in the final group, shot 76.

Malnati is No. 184 in the world ranking, making him the fifth player to win full PGA Tour events this year. His only other win in the fall of 2015 did not come with an automatic invitation to the Masters. Fall events started getting invitations the next year.

“You wonder if you're ever going to do it again,” Malnati said. “In the nine years since my last win, it's getting harder.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Mitchell takes two-shot lead into final round at Innisbrook, Hamilton's Hughes hot on his heels

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Keith Mitchell capped off a magnificent run through the “Snake Pit” at Innisbrook on Saturday with a shot he never saw go in. His 7-iron from the 18th fairway one-hopped into the hole for eagle and a 5 under and a two-shot lead in the Valspar Championship.

Mitchell was among a dozen players on the fringe of contention at a tournament so tight that it began with all 77 players who made the cut separated by a mere six shots.

That changed when he went 3-2-2 through the closing stretch of the Copperhead course, the first player to do that in tournament history. Mitchell holed a birdie putt just inside 15 feet on the 16th hole, hit 6-iron to inside three feet for birdie on the par-3 17th and then holed out on the 18th hole with a 7-iron from about 151 yards up a steep hill.

That puts Mitchell at 10-under 203, two shots clear of Mackenzie Hughes (69) of Hamilton, Ont., Seamus Power (68) and Peter Malnati (68).

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., are tied for eighth at 6 under. Roger Sloan of Calgary is tied for 34th at 2 under and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford is tied for 70th at 4 over.

Mitchell knew the shot was good, but something flew into his eye as he followed the flight, causing him to look away and wipe away the speck. Then he heard a loud cheer, looked up and realized the ball had gone in for a most unlikely eagle.

“When I looked up, something kind of flew in my eye, so I kind of looked away and never saw it come down and land,” he said. “But I knew … when I hit it, I was pleased with the contact.”

The 18th green is elevated, and the pin was up front behind a deep bunker, so he wouldn't have been able to see it go in the hole, anyway. He could hear the crowd, and there was pleasant surprise on his face he couldn't hide.

There were a few other unpleasant surprises by players who briefly had a share of the lead.

One of them was 50-year-old Stewart Cink, who began the third round in a five-way tie for the lead. He had two early birdies and was leading through seven holes when he three-putted from 30 feet on the par-3 eighth. It only got worse from there. Cink shot 41 on the back nine for a 76, taking him from the lead to nine shots behind. 

Justin Thomas birdied his first hole to get into a tie for the lead. That turned out to be his only birdie of what was an atrocious day on the greens. Thomas wound up with a 79 and was near the bottom. He took 38 putts and lost just over seven shots to the field in the putting metric.

Mitchell, who needs a win to get into the Masters, has reason to feel the finish line feels a lot longer away than just 18 holes.

It was super packed at the start, and even with a two-shot lead, Saturday was a reminder how quickly it can change at Innisbrook and with so many players in the mix.

“No matter how well you played, it was going to be tough to get much better than 4, 5 under, I thought,” Power said. “It’s tough to get away from the pack, so it’s going to be some guys in with a chance.”

Hughes regained the lead with a 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, only for Mitchell in the group ahead of him making two from the fairway, and then the Canadian losing his drive to the right and into the trees. That led to bogey, and just like that he was two behind.

Malnati birdied the 18th to stay in the hunt.

Chandler Phillips, the PGA Tour rookie who was part of the five-way tie, had a three-putt par on the 11th hole when it looked like he was starting to find some rhythm. He played the rest of the way in 2 over but was still in the mix, three shots behind.

So was Cameron Young, the New Yorker still looking for his first win despite having chances in the majors each of the last three years. He hit a rough patch early in his round that was erased when he holed out with a gap wedge for eagle on the par-4 seventh hole.

Young had four birdies over the next seven holes and was right back in the game.

“It’s a golf course that’s difficult and you know that with the scoring so bunched, it just takes two good swings and you can move up a lot,” Young said. “It's definitely about as bunched as I’ve ever seen one, but I think provides a lot of opportunities, as well.”

---

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



Nam leads at Palos Verdes in 2nd career LPGA Tour start

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. (AP) — Malia Nam took a one-stroke lead into the weekend in just her second career LPGA Tour start, shooting a 2-under 69 on Friday in the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club.

One of seven former University of Southern California players in the field at the scenic course overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the 24-year-old Nam — from Hawaii — played more than 100 rounds on the layout during her time with the Trojans.

“I’ve seen every single inch of this golf course, good and bad,” Nam said. “It’s funny, because in college I never really played well here. This is actually the first time that I think I shot consecutively under par, so I’m a bit surprised myself.”

Playing in the final group of the day to tee off on No. 10, Nam pulled even with defending champion Ruoning Yin and Madelene Sagstrom with a birdie on the par-3 sixth and took the lead with a birdie on the par-5 seventh. She parred the final two holes to finish at 8-under 134.

“It’s definitely a pretty surreal feeling seeing my name on the top of the leaderboard, especially with all the best players in the world.” Nam said. “I always knew that I can play out here, but I didn’t expect it to be so quick to see my name up on the top of the leaderboard.”

In her LPGA Tour debut in late January in Florida, she tied for 57th in the LPGA Drive On Championship.

On Friday, she rebounded after struggling in the middle of the round. She had a double bogey on the par-4 15th and a bogey on the par-4 first.

“Got a really bad break,” Nam said about 15. “The ball was like up behind the lip so I had to chip backwards.”

Yin closed eagle-birdie-birdie for a 65. The 21-year-old Chinese player began the spree with a 5-iron to six feet for the eagle on No. 7 and ran in a 45-footer on the par-4 eighth.

“On the front nine, the fairways are wide open and I can smoke it whenever I want,” Yin said.

Ranked fourth in the world, Yin followed her breakthrough LPGA Tour win last year at Palos Verdes with a major victory at the KMPG Women’s PGA.

Sagstrom had three late birdies in the afternoon session. The 31-year-old Swede birdied the par-5 14th and 16th and reached 7 under with a birdie on the par-3 17th.

“Happy I hung in there,” Sagstrom said. “I was steady, putting well on the greens, so I feel good about my game.”

She won the 2020 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio for her lone tour title.

Rose Zhang (68), Leona Maguire (65) and former UCLA player Alison Lee (70) were 6 under. The 20-year-old Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open last year in her first professional start.

Linn Grant (68) and Lauren Hartlage (71) were 5 under.

Second-ranked Nelly Korda had a late double bogey in a 67 that left her 3 under. She won the LPGA Drive On Championship in her last event.

First-round leader Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., followed her opening 64 with a 79 to make the cut on the number at 1 over. The only player in the field with a bogey-free opening round, the Canadian had nine bogeys in the second.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is tied for 15th at 3 under. Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., is tied with Leblanc in 56th place.

Seri Pak is the tournament host for the first time. Pak is one of the most influential players in LPGA history, a pioneer for South Korean players to follow her path.

---

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



'Grandpa' Cink, Hughes share lead with 3 others at Valspar Championship

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Stewart Cink made a great escape from the pine straw for an unlikely birdie and had a 4-under 67 that gave him a five-way share of the lead Friday in the Valspar Championship and a chance to entertain thoughts of winning for the second straight tournament.

There's just one difference for Cink. The golf course is a lot longer. And the guys he is trying to beat are a lot younger.

The 50-year-old Cink, who blew a chance to win on the PGA Tour Champions two weeks ago with a back-nine meltdown, looked steady on a day of 50 kilometre-per-hour gusts in the morning, some wind in the afternoon but not close to the nasty weather expected at Innisbrook.

He was tied at 6-under 136 with Kevin Streelman (72), tour rookie Chandler Phillips (68), Brendon Todd (69) and Mackenzie Hughes (68) of Hamilton, Ont.

“There's a reason that so many players rave about this course,” Cink said. “It requires everything, and so far this week I've done everything fairly well.”

Everyone faced various conditions, though Streelman and Phillips got the tougher end of the draw with wind bending pine branches and snapping pant legs. At least it was in one direction, not the scary, swirling nature in the afternoon.

“This place is tough even in good weather,” Streelman said.

Justin Thomas was poised to join the log jam at the top until he badly missed the 18th green to the right in a tough lie in the bunker and made bogey for a 69, leaving him in the group one shot behind that included Lucas Glover (69).

“I think we got very lucky with the weather,” Thomas said. “I know those guys had a lot of wind this morning, we had some this afternoon, it just was very gusty and it made that back nine very challenging.”

He said he lost focus on his 8-iron from the 18th fairway — “a bad time to have the worst shot of the tournament so far,” he said — but had no complaints about his position going into the weekend on the Copperhead course.

The cut won't be official until Saturday morning with about a dozen players failing to finish before darkness, but one thing was clear — this tournament was wide open. Only six shots separated the players sharing the lead to the players making the cut on the number.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is tied for 15th at 4 under, Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 21st at 3 under, Roger Sloan of Calgary is tied for 40th at 1 under, and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford is tied for 57th at even par

The cut was set at even-par 142, sending home an All-Star cast from a tournament that didn't have all that many in the first place — Jordan Spieth, two-time Innisbrook winner Sam Burns, British Open champion Brian Harman, Tony Finau and Keegan Bradley all missed the cut.

For Spieth, it was the first time since 2017 that he missed the cut at regular PGA Tour events in consecutive weeks (Players Championship, Byron Nelson).

None of the players who share the lead are in the Masters — a win would take care of that — and Todd is best positioned to at least try to get into the top 50 after next week to earn his way back to Augusta National.

Todd was most pleased that he had a good attitude on Thursday in sunshine, knowing Friday would be tougher. It was all of that for just about everyone.

“With the wind blowing that hard, you just had to expect that every once in awhile a shot was going to go somewhere you didn’t want,” Todd said. “It happened a couple times to me, but I was able to grind through it with a few birdies and a few great par saves.”

Cink, who recently became a grandfather, is still irritated by playing the final six holes in 5 over — including a triple bogey — at the Cologuard Classic in Arizona two weeks ago on the PGA Tour Champions.

“Being in contention feels the same way no matter where you are, to be honest,” he said. "Obviously, the field is a little different here at Valspar than it was the last time I teed it up at Cologuard in Tucson. But it still feels the same and I didn’t have a very good finish there. … I should have won the tournament and I didn’t finish it off. I had a little bit of a meltdown.

“So I’m just thrilled to be right back at the top of the leaderboard,” he said. “I get another chance to learn some really great lessons and maybe some hard lessons this week again.”

---

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf



More Golf articles



Upcoming Sports Events



232645
RECENT STORIES




226105




228921
232116
Castanet Proud Member of RTNDA Canada


233351