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Japan Today
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Today
Eagle chip helps Gerard grabs PGA Championship lead with 66
American Ryan Gerard grabbed the lead in the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow golf By Jim SLATER Ryan Gerard reeled off four birdies and chipped in for eagle from nearly 60 feet on the back nine to seize a one-stroke clubhouse lead in Thursday's first round of the PGA Championship. The 25-year-old from nearby Raleigh, making only his third major start, fired a five-under-par 66 at Quail Hollow in his PGA Championship debut. Sharing second on 67 were England's Luke Donald, New Zealand's Ryan Fox, German Stephan Jaeger and American Alex Smalley, who made the field only when Sahith Theegala withdrew Wednesday with a neck injury. Gerard started a four-birdie run at the 10th hole then made his sensational eagle chip-in at the par-five 15th to lead by three but closed with back-to-back bogeys, missing the green at the par-3 17th and finding a fairway bunker at 18. "It was a lot of fun, playing in my home state in a major. That has been a bucket list thing," Gerard said. "Playing solid for 16 holes, making some good shots out there and will see if I can do more." Gerard, ranked 81st, was a runner-up at last month's Texas Open for his best PGA Tour showing. Not since England's Graeme Storm in 2007 has a player led after his PGA Championship debut round. Gerard's back-nine birdie barrage included a five-foot putt at the par-five 10th, a 22-foot putt at 11, a nine-footer at 12 and a tap-in at the par-three 13th. Donald, chasing his first major title at age 47, is the Europe 2025 Ryder Cup captain. He is trying to become the first Englishman since Jim Barnes in 1919 to win the PGA Championship. Donald sank a clutch nine-foot par putt on the 18th hole to finish a bogey-free round. "Very pleased with the score, bogey-free in a major," Donald said. "It was a pleasant surprise. I got off to a really nice, steady start. I hit a bunch of fairways on the front nine which always makes me feel good about my game. I didn't hit a ton of greens but my putter was really good." Only four Europeans have ever won the title, most recently by Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy in 2014. Donald struck the opening shot off the first tee for the field of 156 at the 7,626-yard, par-71 layout then turned back the clock. Fox, a 38-year-old from Auckland, reached Quail Hollow off his first PGA Tour triumph last weekend at Myrtle Beach, but he has never finished in the top 15 in 22 major starts. "I played really solid," Fox said. "It hasn't been the ideal prep, winning last week, last man in. I knew I was playing well and just tried to get out of my own way and let it happen." Smalley, from nearby Greensboro, learned he had a spot barely 16 hours before his tee time. But the back-nine starter sank a 71-foot eagle putt at the par-five seventh and a five-foot birdie putt at the eighth. "I was losing hope after every passing hour," he said. "It was nice to know before this morning I was going to play so I could mentally prepare." The world's three top-ranked players -- world number one Scottie Scheffler, Masters champion McIlroy and third-ranked defending champion Xander Schauffele -- started off the 10th tee in the feature group but struggled -- all of them making double bogey at the par-four 16th. Scheffler followed a 35-foot eagle putt at 15 by finding water on his approach as did Schauffele on their way to sixes at 16 -- Scheffler making his first career double bogey in a major opening round. "I didn't feel like I hit it my best," Scheffler said. "There was some mud on the ball at times, which was challenging. Did a good job keeping a level head out there and grinding out a good score." World number two McIlroy, after a birdie at 15, took four shots to escape the rough at 16 and missed an 11-foot bogey putt. Scheffler fired a 69 while Schauffele shot 72 and McIlroy stumbled in on 74 at a course where he has won four times. © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Joel Dahmen gains much in a loss with his willingness to face the music
Joel Dahmen gains much in a loss with his willingness to face the music Keith Mitchell waits to putt on the 11th green during the first round of the Texas Open golf tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photos/Rodolfo Gonzalez) Maverick McNealy watches his drive on the third hole during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, celebrates after putting on the green Jacket after winning the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Xander Schauffele reacts to his shot from the third hole during the third round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Justin Thomas putts on the 17th green during the first round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Andrew Novak watches his drive on the third hole during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Justin Thomas walks to the 18th green during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) FILE - Joel Dahmen hits his tee shot on the fifth hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Jan. 24, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, file) FILE - Joel Dahmen hits his tee shot on the fifth hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Jan. 24, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, file) Keith Mitchell waits to putt on the 11th green during the first round of the Texas Open golf tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photos/Rodolfo Gonzalez) Maverick McNealy watches his drive on the third hole during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, celebrates after putting on the green Jacket after winning the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Xander Schauffele reacts to his shot from the third hole during the third round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Justin Thomas putts on the 17th green during the first round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Andrew Novak watches his drive on the third hole during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Justin Thomas walks to the 18th green during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) FILE - Joel Dahmen hits his tee shot on the fifth hole on the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Jan. 24, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, file) HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Rarely has a player gained so much in losing as Joel Dahmen did in the Dominican Republic. Dahmen had a following long before the Netflix 'Full Swing' docuseries for being so relatable, honest and self-deprecating about such a hard sport. Five months ago, he had to make a 5-foot putt just to make the cut and then shoot 64 in the final round to keep his card. Advertisement So imagine the importance of Sunday at Punta Cana Resort, a three-shot lead with three holes to play. At stake was a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, a spot in the PGA Championship and so many other perks. He missed the green with an 8-iron from the 16th fairway for a bogey. He missed an 18-inch par putt to fall into a tie. And then he hit a poor chip and missed an 8-foot par putt to lose. And then he stood before a camera and bared his soul. His voice was unsteady, his eyes tried to hide the hurt and his words — as always — were very real. 'I think I'm in a little bit of shock, honestly,' he said. 'It's not how you win a golf tournament, I'll tell you that. I don't deserve to win it.' Advertisement Mike Reid once had a three-shot lead in the 1989 PGA Championship and also missed a tap-in on the 17th hole, paving the way for Payne Stewart to win his first major. 'Sports is like life with the volume turned up,' Reid said that day. The louder the better, for this is how fans connect. Rory McIlroy held court in the locker room at Augusta National when he lost a four-shot lead with an 80 in the final round in 2011. Jordan Spieth met with media under the tree at the Masters after losing a five-shot lead in three holes on the back nine in 2016. 'It was a really tough 30 minutes for me that hopefully I never experience again,' he said. Advertisement Those were majors. Kyle Stanley suffered an agonizing fate at Torrey Pines in 2012 when he lost a seven-shot lead in the final round, took triple bogey on the par-5 closing hole and lost in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker. 'I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an 8," Stanley said. Dahmen speaks like fans think, another reason he's so popular. He started 62-66 — 16-under par — and the winning score was 14 under. He worked out the math himself, another reminder of letting one get away from him. 'When you're trying to win a golf tournament it does weird things to you," Dahmen said. 'And I did not handle it well today.' Advertisement It's raw. It's honest. And it can be healing. Stanley won the next week. McIlroy won the next major. Reid never contended in another major. Golf doesn't owe anyone anything. Dahmen is playing in New Orleans this week. However he fares, he won't lack for support. He earned that. Quite the introduction It was not unreasonable to wonder if Justin Thomas had even met Andrew Novak before their sudden-death playoff at Harbour Town. This is Novak's fourth year on the PGA Tour. He has yet to win and they had never been paired together. Thomas, however, knew exactly who he was facing. It was at the Travelers Championship a few years ago. Thomas wanted to play the back nine one afternoon in practice. Instead of trying to cut ahead of a group, he asked if he could join Novak and Ben Griffin. Advertisement 'They were having some kind of match, and all of a sudden they're talking, and Andrew shot 59 that day,' Thomas said. So when caddie Joe Greiner asked Thomas when he had played with Novak, he had an answer Greiner probably didn't expect. 'I was like, 'Yeah, I've played with him once and he shot 59 at TPC River Highlands,'' Thomas said. 'That was my experience. And you could see in the shot he hit into 18, when he gets going, he's going.' Novak hit into 8 feet on the 18th in regulation and missed the birdie putt. Thomas made birdie from 20 feet in the playoff to win. Give me a rewrite! Timothy Gay recently finished his fourth book, this one on Rory McIlroy titled, 'Rory Land: The Up and Down World of Golf's Global Icon.' It is due to be released on May 13, meaning it already has been edited, printed and bound with a hard cover. Advertisement And then McIlroy finally won the Masters, giving him the career Grand Slam. Gay told 'As soon as Rory's putt dropped and I could compose myself, I was texting my editorial team, volunteering to write a new epilogue.' Three days later, Gay had his epilogue of McIlroy winning the Masters in his 17th try. That will be included in the U.K. and Ireland editions of the book, and in digital versions and U.S. reprints. The book explores McIlroy's life on and off the golf course, tracing his lineage through generations leading up to 'the Troubles.' McIlroy did not grant Gay an interview for the book. Advertisement The putting tip Justin Thomas holed five straight putts of 7 feet or longer on the front nine to stay in the game at the RBC Heritage, and he won it with that 20-foot birdie putt in a playoff. Putting carried him to his first win in nearly three years, all because of a little advice from Xander Schauffele. Thomas called him late last year — they both live in South Florida — because he considers Schauffele to have among the best fundamentals with putting. It was more a conversation than a lesson, with Schauffele asking questions that got Thomas to thinking. All the techniques he used during his best years with the putter he was no longer doing. Advertisement 'It was more of the questions he asked me made me realize that I'm trying basically too hard,' Thomas said. Schauffele thinks Thomas is giving him too much credit. 'Felt like all the answers were right in front of him,' Schauffele said. 'J.T. is so good that he figured it out pretty quickly.' Tour leadership Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell were elected co-chairs of the Players Advisory Council, meaning they will become player directors on the PGA Tour board in 2026. Rickie Fowler also was on the ballot. McNealy won the most votes of players and will serve a four-year board term starting in 2026. Mitchell received the second-most votes and will serve a three-year term. They will be replacing Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati on the board next year. Advertisement Divots Anna Nordqvist has selected Caroline Hedwall of Sweden and Mel Reid of England to be two of her assistant captains for Europe in the Solheim Cup next year in the Netherlands. ... Pinehurst Resort is adding yet another course — No. 11, to be designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and expected to open in the fall of 2027. Pinehurst No. 10, designed by Tom Doak, opened in April 2024. ... The Zurich Classic of New Orleans will have two sets of identical twins for the second straight year. Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard are playing again. Also playing are Jeremy and Yannik Paul, German twins who both played at Colorado. Yannik Paul is still on the European tour. ... Avid outdoorsman Brian Harman has played 12 of 16 weeks this year and is ready for a few weeks off. 'Turkeys aren't going to be safe the next few days,' he said. Stat of the week LIV Golf goes to Chapultepec Golf Club in Mexico City this week. Every winner at Chapultepec when it was a World Golf Championships event is now with LIV — Dustin Johnson (2017, 2019), Phil Mickelson (2018) and Patrick Reed (2020). Advertisement Final word 'I'm the worst player in the top 10 right now, so I've got a long ways to go. I've got to play some really good golf to keep up with those guys. I also don't have the 10th best resume on the PGA Tour. I still have a lot I want to do and accomplish in this game.' — Maverick McNealy. ___ AP golf:
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Thomas three clear at RBC Heritage after sizzling 61
Justin Thomas tees off on the 18th hole at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina en route to a 10-under-par opening round (Andrew Redington) Justin Thomas fired a sensational 10-under-par 61 to open up a three-shot lead after the first round of the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage at Hilton Head in South Carolina on Thursday. The 31-year-old two-time major champion rattled off 11 birdies with only one bogey on the Harbour Town Golf Links to make a dream start to the $20 million signature event. Advertisement Thomas, who finished tied for 36th place at last weekend's Masters, revelled in the tight fairways and firm conditions of the links course. "I just played really solid," Thomas said. "I feel like I didn't do anything crazy; I just drove the ball well and put the ball in a spot that I had a lot of good numbers. "I didn't play well last week. Put some really good work in leading into the start today and I felt prepared -- it was just about going out and doing it, and it was nice to do so." A star-studded field is lurking on Thomas's shoulder, with defending champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler tied for second alongside Russell Henley on seven under. Advertisement Scheffler, who finished fourth at the Masters on Sunday, three shots adrift of winner Rory McIlroy, reeled off seven birdies in a bogey-free 64. "I felt like if you compared my four rounds last week to today, today would be a much less stressful round of golf in terms of scrambling for a par," Scheffler said. "A lot of the stuff I had to do last week I felt like I didn't have to do today to shoot a good score...I was in position most of the day today." Wyndham Clark is four shots off the lead after carding a six-under-par 65, while five players including England's Matt Fitzpatrick and in-form Brian Harman, the recently crowned Texas Open champion, are a further shot back on five under. Advertisement "I've been waiting on some good golf," Harman said after his 66. "I've been playing a lot better than I've been scoring, so just going to try and advantage of some good form and see what I can make out of it." Another Englishman, Justin Rose, is in a cluster of 11 players tied for 10th on four under. Rose, who lost to McIlroy in a thrilling playoff finale at the Masters on Saturday, closed with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to stay in touch. rcw/sev
USA Today
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Who is Corey Conners' wife? Meet Malory Conners.
Who is Corey Conners' wife? Meet Malory Conners. Canadian golf star Corey Conners has won twice on the PGA Tour -- both at the Texas Open -- and has played well at the Masters, with three top-10s to his name. And he's got a family with his wife, Malory, who we've seen by his side over the years at tournaments (we've seen them at the Masters Par-3 tournament too!), including at those wins. They've been joined by Reis Conners, their daughter and now they have No. 2 in their son Tate. Thy got married back in 2018 and we've seen photos of the family all over his Instagram page. Here's a sampling: Sweet!
New York Times
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Top 5 phrases TV broadcasters shouldn't say while covering the Masters
Golf Channel TV analyst Brandel Chamblee was on a Barstool Sports' golf podcast earlier this week, and there is a fascinating clip where Chamblee reviews the words or phrases that TV broadcasters are given guidance on not to utter when covering the Masters. They are replaced with more hifalutin expressions that are more on-brand for the event and its organizers at Augusta National. Here's the clip: Broadcasters aren't allowed to say "fan", "driving range", "back nine" & more on air at The Masters @ForePlayPod — Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 8, 2025 It goes without saying (and isn't that unreasonable) that an event like the Masters won't ever let announcers name-check other event sponsors (it's never 'Valero Texas Open,' it's just 'Texas Open.) Here are the five I found most interesting, ranked in order of how overly self-serious they seem: Can't say: 'Fan' Can say: 'Patron' Advertisement As Chamblee says, there is a concern that 'fan' is shorthand for 'fanatical.' Can't say: 'Rough' Can say: 'Second cut.' For a tournament defined on TV by the dulcet tones of Jim Nantz, I get it — the concept of 'rough' doesn't exist at a country club — sorry, it's always 'golf club' — like Augusta National. Can't say: 'Sand trap' Can say: 'Bunker' Again, the notion of anything at Augusta National being a 'trap' does not fit at all with its finely manicured image. Can't say: 'Driving range' Can say: 'Tournament practice facility' 'Rough?' 'Trap?' I can at least see the outline of negative connotations ascribed to the event. And while the range is certainly there for more than just driving, this feels on-brand but unnecessary. Can't say: 'Back nine' Can say: 'Second nine' It's not that I mind one over the other, but 'back nine' is such a standard part of golf vernacular that it feels like Augusta National is just trying to make a point about how much they can get TV announcers to bend. I asked colleague Richard Deitsch if there is any kind of formal policy. He said an industry source (given anonymity because, after all, this is a story about what you're not supposed to say) told him that there is no written sheet given to broadcasters, but producers and on-air talent know what Augusta National's expectations are about how things will be described. (Photo of Dottie Pepper: David Cannon / Getty Images)
