Latest news with #EuroRyderCup
Daily Record
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Travelers leader admits PGA Tour shock and taking inspiration from Euro hero
Austin Eckroat motivated by the magic of ex-landlord and Euro Ryder Cup ace Austin Eckroat admits the inspiration of Euro pal Viktor Hovland remains key in overcoming the shock and enormity of the PGA Tour. The 26-year-old displayed his obvious prowess by matching Scottie Scheffler's opening 62 at the Travelers Championship. Eckroat is a two-time winner on the main circuit having turned pro five years ago, but says he still has pinch-me moments amongst the elite. Progressed through Oklahoma State College, he and Ryder Cup Hovland are big pals and he used to rent a room from the Norwegian in his house. Eckroat explained: 'It's funny, a lot of Wednesdays I've felt really good going into the tournament and then Thursday comes around and it hasn't been there. I don't know if it's just the stress of playing in a PGA Tour. 'I wouldn't say they were role models, but my team-mates came out here immediately and had success, Viktor and Matt Wolff, and they kind of gave me the confidence going in at the time that I knew compete with them so I knew I could compete out here. 'But it's a different ball game out here. Week in, week out, you're having to grind. The mental aspect of it with playing in front of people with cameras and all that stuff, I'd say I was aware of it just because I had two buddies that had just done it, but it's still a shock when you get out here. 'This is one of my favorite events of the year outside of that, but then add in on top of that they gave me a sponsor exemption, gave me an opportunity to play with the best players in the world back in 2021 and just really thankful for Travelers and everybody involved in this event to give me that opportunity. I played well that week. I just have great memories coming back here, and it's definitely one of my favorite stops of the year. 'It's funny, the weeks that we play, they all run together now, but I remember doing a little media thing for Travelers and every now and then it'll pop up on my social media, like come back around. I don't have any logos on my shirt, I'm wearing just standard clothing. It's funny just looking back on what's happened since then. It's pretty cool. 'My college coach when I was at Oklahoma State used to always say, when you're off, you're never that far from playing good golf. And whenever you're on, you're not that far from playing bad golf. You're playing on a fine line and confidence plays a huge part in it. 'I've felt close all year and that's why I kept playing. I felt like a week was coming and it was just all going to click. I just needed one good round and I was going to be good. It just hadn't happened yet.'
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
As Big 3 fizzle, the top of 2025 PGA Championship leaderboard is full of surprising names
As Big 3 fizzle, the top of 2025 PGA Championship leaderboard is full of surprising names CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The big 3 grouping of Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler at the 107th PGA Championship was more like the flat 3. With a combined 52 PGA Tour titles and nine majors between them, the top three players in the world all made double bogey at Quail Hollow Club's 16th hole – their seventh hole of the day – on Thursday. Scheffler, world No. 1, turned it around the best of them, carding 2-under 69, while Schauffele, the defending champion, shot 2-over 73, which was still a stroke better than McIlroy, the reigning Masters champion. Instead, the top of the leaderboard was littered with players no one was expecting. None went lower than 25-year-old rookie Ryan Gerard who is making his PGA Championship debut. Gerard blitzed the course with four birdies in a row starting at No. 10 and chipped in for eagle from 59 feet at No. 15. He bogeyed his fial two holes but that was still good enough to post 5-under 66 for an early one-stroke lead. The Raliegh, North Carolina, native first attended a tournament on these very grounds as a kid in 2007 when Tiger Woods prevailed. Gerard sat at the range with a notebook watching these players he'd seen only on TV and scribbled down his thoughts on their various swings. Years later, when his parents were packing up to move, his father, Bob, found that notebook. On one page, it said, 'Phil Mickelson swing good.' On the next page, it said, 'Tiger Woods swing great.' That experience cemented in Ryan's mind that he wanted to be a tour pro just like the players he had watched and for the next several years he carried a golf ball in his pocket to school and elsewhere every day. Euro Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald came to play The University of North Carolina grad's nearest competitors include 47-year-old European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, who has missed the cut in all five of his previous starts this year. 'Obviously I've been trending,' said Donald, who shot 67, recording his first bogey-free round in a major since 2015 and tied his lowest first-round score in a major since the 2004 PGA Championship. New Zealand's Ryan Fox went from chipping in to win the OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic on Sunday and earn a spot into this week's field to the thick of the competition at the PGA Championship. His round included a chip-in for par at third. 'They come in threes. I chipped in on Friday last week, chipped in on Sunday and chipped in today and probably won't have one for another few months, but that's all right,' Fox said. Alex Smalley and Stephan Jaeger also signed for 4-under 67. Marquee group of Scheffler, Schauffele, McIlroy didn't exactly shine It was a bit more of a struggle for the big names. There was plenty of carnage at No. 16. First, McIlroy tugged his tee shot left and lost his footing on his second shot, advancing the ball just 10 yards. McIlroy, a four-time winner at Quail Hollow, had to work hard for his double bogey, his first at the course since 2010. Schauffele was doomed by a mud ball that sent his second shot from the fairway headed left and into the water. Moments later, Scheffler followed suit with a water ball and a double, the first time he had made double bogey (or worse) in the first round of a major championship. 'I kept the honor with making a double on a hole, and I think that will probably be the first and last time I do that in my career unless we get some crazy weather conditions,' Scheffler said. Despite heavy rain earlier in the week, the PGA of America elected to play the ball down and not allow players to clean mud from the ball in closely-mown areas, and several players questioned that decision. 'I wouldn't want to go in the locker room because I'm sure a lot of guys aren't super happy with sort of the conditions there,' Schauffele said. 'I feel like the grass is so good, there is no real advantage to cleaning your ball in the fairway. The course is completely tipped out. It sucks that you are kind of 50/50 once you hit the fairway.' McIlroy, who completed the career Grand Slam last month, didn't have that problem because he hit just 4 of 14 fairways and 11 greens in regulation.
USA Today
26-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
International players are dominating the PGA Tour in 2025 with 12 wins in 18 events
International players are dominating the PGA Tour in 2025 with 12 wins in 18 events Is the Zurich Classic of New Orleans an opportunity to prep for the Ryder Cup? The European squad thinks so and has started to award points players at the Zurich if both players on one of the two-man teams are European. There are 11 such teams in New Orleans, including the defending champion duo of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, stalwarts on the Euro Ryder Cup team. It's not just the Europeans, though, that are showing the strength of international golf in 2025. So far this season, 12 of the 18 PGA Tour event winners are international players, seven of which are Euros. That includes McIlroy, who has already won three times. International players won six of the first seven events in 2025 and after Americans won three straight, the international players have won six of last next eight. All seven of European winners in 2025 are in the top 19 players on the current Ryder Cup points list. Tournament Golfer Country The Sentry Hideki Matsuyama Japan Sony Open in Hawaii Nick Taylor Canada The American Express Sepp Straka Austria Farmers Insurance Open Harris English U.S. AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland WM Phoenix Open Thomas Detry Belgium The Genesis Invitational Ludvig Aberg Sweden Mexico Open at VidantaWorld Brian Campbell U.S. Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches Joe Highsmith U.S. Arnold Palmer Invitational Russell Henley U.S. Puerto Rico Open Karl Vilips Australia The Players Championship Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland Valspar Championship Viktor Hovland Norway Texas Children's Houston Open Min Woo Lee Australia Valero Texas Open Brian Harman U.S. Masters Tournament Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland RBC Heritage Justin Thomas U.S. Corales Puntacana Championship Garrick Higgo South Africa The five American winners in 2025 are Russell Henley (5), Justin Thomas (6), Harris English (12), Joe Highsmith (25) and Brian Campbell (39) have two in the top six, who automatically qualify for the U.S. Does this portend anything about European success at Bethpage Black in September for the Ryder Cup? Who knows, but what's evident is international golf is racking up the wins so far in 2025.
