Olesen fires an ace at the 3M Open 8th
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Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Boston Globe
Tommy Fleetwood finds his groove and builds a big lead at PGA Tour playoffs opener
Advertisement Fleetwood was at 13-under 127, four shots clear of Collin Morikawa (65) and Akshay Bhatia (69). Justin Rose also was at 9-under par after a birdie on the par-5 16th. Storms rolled into the area, forcing spectators to leave the course and suspending play for the day. Fleetwood finished with four straight birdies on Thursday. He made three in a row early on Friday, including a 30-footer from the fringe on the par-3 fourth hole at the TPC Southwind. He also had a pair of key par saves around the turn before going on another run. He holed a pair of 15-foot birdie putts on the 13th and 14th. He stuffed a wedge to 5 feet for birdie on the 15th. And then he reached the par-5 16th in two and two-putted from about 30 feet for a fourth straight birdie. Advertisement The only bogey came at the final hole when he went from the bunker into thick rough, and the safe shot from there was some 50 feet long of the pin. 'Of course, when you shoot two good scores, it's easy to say everything has been going well,' Fleetwood said. 'But I think for the most part I've been very good off the tee, put myself in position to have a go at the course. My iron play has been good and solid, and I've rolled the ball well.' Kurt Kitayama had the low score of the round at 63, moving him to the top five on the leaderboard as a reminder of how quickly fortunes can change. The FedEx Cup playoffs were an afterthought until two weeks ago. He was at No. 110 until winning the 3M Open in Minnesota. Now he's at No. 52 and the next goal is to move on to the BMW Championship next week outside Baltimore. It's hard not to pay attention to the top 50 this week because along with advancing in the postseason, anyone in the top 50 is assured of being in all eight of the $20 million signature events next year. 'I feel like everyone is for the most part,' Kitayama said. 'But you can't control what everyone else is doing. If you play well, it's going to take care of itself. That's kind of my mind=set. But yeah, I'm peeking over quite a bit at the scoreboard.' There's no need for Scottie Scheffler to look. The PGA and British Open champion is so far ahead in the FedEx Cup he is assured of staying at the top this week. That doesn't mean he's cruising along without a care. Advertisement Scheffler was slowed by three bogeys on the back nine, landing in rough that swallowed up his golf ball and left him visibly frustrated. He still shot a 66 and was six shots behind. Jordan Spieth had an 8-foot par putt on the final hole that turned toward the cup and looked to be falling from gravity alone when it hung on the edge. That about summed up his day of three bogeys, three birdies and a 70 that left him 12 shots behind and facing plenty of stress for the weekend as he tries to avoid a second straight year outside the top 50. Bud Cauley, one spot behind Kitayama in the FedEx Cup at No. 53, shot 69 and was in a tie for seventh when play was suspended. Fleetwood is No. 15 in the world with seven wins on the European tour against some of the stronger fields. He has thrived on a big stage overseas, particularly the Ryder Cup. It's just that small matter of a PGA Tour title. He was on the verge in late June at the Travelers Championship until a stunning flip at the end, when he took three putts from just short of the green for bogey and Keegan Bradley made birdie to beat him. 'Right now I would love to just go and sulk somewhere and maybe I will do,' he said that Sunday at the Travelers. 'But there's just no point making it a negative for the future really, just take the positives and move on.' He gets another chance on the weekend at the TPC Southwind, still only the halfway point but at least there with a chance and in command of his game from tee-to-green. Advertisement
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Newsweek
How One Key Change Sparked Akshay Bhatia's Career-Low 62 to Lead FedEx St. Jude
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Germany's Matti Schmid struck the opening tee ball to open the FedEx St. Jude Championship at 8:20 a.m. ET, but by the end of the day it was Akshay Bhatia who stole the spotlight to open the PGA Tour playoffs. The 23-year-old fired an 8-under 62, his career-low round on Tour, to grab the solo lead in the opening leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Lowest career round when it matters most 🔥 Akshay Bhatia is now projected No. 3 in the #FedExCup Standings after a Thursday 62. — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2025 His score was just one shot shy of the course record last set by Justin Thomas in 2023. With this, Bhatiya also marked his third career 18-hole lead/co-lead, and his first of the season. His previous low was 63, recorded six times, scored recently at the 3M Open's Round 3. "I felt like I wasn't putting great throughout the day, but then those last couple putts managed to drop," Bhatia told reporters after his round when asked about his day. "All in all, I felt like Iron Play was nice." Despite the career-best score, Bhatia admitted there's still room for improvement. MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 07: Akshay Bhatia hits a tee shot on the seventh hole during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship 2025 at TPC Southwind on August 07, 2025 in Memphis,... MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 07: Akshay Bhatia hits a tee shot on the seventh hole during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship 2025 at TPC Southwind on August 07, 2025 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by) More "I just need to kind of clean up ... like a couple wedge shots, and get a little more comfortable with the putter, but all in all, I felt like I was driving it nice." Apart from scores, what truly seems to have shifted for the two-time Tour winner is his mindset. After a frustrating final round at the 3M Open, where a "furious" Bhatia sat in his hotel contemplating, he made a conscious decision to seek more peace on the course. "I've been looking at a lot of numbers that I don't need to look at FedEx Cup, world ranking, and I still catch myself doing it," he expressed during the post-round media conference. "But I'm just really trying to have a little more peace on the golf course. I think this game can consume your life, your happiness, and so I'm just trying to figure out ways to change that because I feel like I don't really want to live my life based off of an unstable game. That's going to drive me nuts." That shift in perspective paid off Thursday. Bhatia closed his day one with an eagle on 16, followed by birdies on 17 and 18. Now he sits atop the leaderboard, followed by Tommy Fleetwood (7-under), who birdied his final four holes to finish solo second. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, playing for the first time since his win at The Open, carded a 3-under 67, finishing five shots back. He started strong with birdies on 2 and 3, added two more on the back nine but bogeyed the final hole after a three-putt from 70 feet. "Today was a good day. I did some solid stuff," Scheffler shared with reporters on Thursday. "Felt like I was close to playing a really great round but ended up with a solid round. Overall, a decent start." For Round 2 on Friday, Bhatia teed off at 11:50 a.m. ET, again paired with Harry Hall, while Scheffler went out earlier at 10:35 a.m. ET alongside Sepp Straka. More Golf: Jordan Spieth Reveals Ryder Cup Tension With Cheeky Keegan Bradley Comment
USA Today
06-08-2025
- USA Today
Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau find new caddies for FedEx Cup playoffs, maybe Ryder Cup, too
Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau and Jake Knapp have found new caddies this week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. Morikawa has hired veteran caddie Mark Urbanek, who previously worked with Tony Finau for the past five years. Morikawa parted ways with his longtime caddie J.J. Jakovac in late April and hired Joe Greiner. But that partnership only lasted five tournaments together. Morikawa used Billy Foster, who had parted ways with Matt Fitzpatrick, for the Genesis Scottish Open and British Open but had made it clear that he was still in the market for a full-time bag. Urbanek split from Finau ahead of the British Open. Finau used veteran Colin Byrne, who had successful stints with Retief Goosen and Louis Oosthuizen, at the British Open and 3M Open and Brandon Parsons, who had caddied for Bubba Watson on LIV most recently, at the Wyndham Championship last week. He has hired Tim Tucker, who is best known as Bryson DeChambeau's bagman when he won the 2020 U.S. Open. Tucker was on the bag for Kurt Kitayama but split with him after the John Deere Classic last month. Kitayama won the 3M Open two weeks later with his brother, Daniel, caddying for him. He's expected to remain on the bag for the remainder of the season. And let's wrap up this edition of the caddie carousel with an update on Greiner. He's had a busy season, parting ways with childhood friend Max Homa in late March. Greiner came off the bench to work for Justin Thomas at the Masters when JT's regular caddie, Matt Minister, was sidelined with an injury. Thomas won one week later with Greiner by his side at the RBC Heritage. Thomas welcomed Minister back and Greiner joined Morikawa, but that relationship stopped ahead of the Rocket Classic, where Morikawa, who is breaking in his fifth different caddie of the season this week, had Korn Ferry Tour pro and former Cal teammate KK Limbhasut fill in for him during a week that he couldn't get into the field. Greiner has landed a new bag this week, too, at the first FedEx Cup playoff event. He'll be caddying for Jake Knapp, who shot 59 at PGA National in February, and enters the playoffs at No. 47. Knapp's agent confirmed the move. Stay tuned because the caddie carousel has been spinning fast and furious all season long.
