80º

INSIDER

MAX HOMA

Garcia comes up aces on a frenetic Friday at Match Play

Already the most fickle event in golf, the Dell Technologies Match Play on Friday was an endless frenzy. “You just never know what can happen out there," Billy Horschel said after beating Max Homa on the third playoff hole. 64 seed in Match Play history to make it to the weekend. 60 seed, while Erik van Rooyen (62) advanced by beating Daniel Berger with a par on the second playoff hole. The eight playoffs to decide group winners broke the previous mark of five in 2017 since group play began six yeas ago.

Homa gets another chance and wins hometown event at Riviera

Homa won on the second extra hole when Finau failed to save par from a bunker, missing a 10-foot putt. We grew up idolizing him, idolizing Riviera Country Club, idolizing the golf tournament. He closed with a 7-under 64, the best score of the final round. The victory sends him back to the Masters, along with the next three World Golf Championships. 61 in the world, he is ineligible for a World Golf Championship for the first time since he became a PGA Tour member.

Homa gets another chance and wins hometown event at Riviera

Homa won on the second extra hole when Finau failed to save par from a bunker, missing a 10-foot putt. We grew up idolizing him, idolizing Riviera Country Club, idolizing the golf tournament. He closed with a 7-under 64, the best score of the final round. The victory sends him back to the Masters, along with the next three World Golf Championships. 61 in the world, he is ineligible for a World Golf Championship for the first time since he became a PGA Tour member.

Sam Burns holds his own on a tough, windy day at Riviera

Burns went 31 consecutive holes with a bogey, a streak that ended on No. When the third round was halted by darkness, he made back-to-back bogeys that dropped him to 10-under par, two shots ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick. “Even the downwind holes weren’t that much easier because it was hard to stop it there on the green,” Burns said. “It’s a hard course with no wind,” Burns said. Fitzpatrick was at 3 under for the day through 17 holes, the low score of the round so far.

Si Woo Kim holds off Cantlay to win The American Express

Six groups ahead of him, Cantlay shot a 61 and surged out of 13th place to the front while breaking the Stadium Course record by two strokes. “I had to know what’s going on, so I knew how to play my game in the final round,” Kim said. “I knew Cantlay played really well. Tony Finau (68) finished fourth after starting the final round with a share of the lead in his quest to land his long-awaited second PGA Tour win. The 28-year-old Cantlay made 11 birdies in the final round, including six in eight holes on the front nine.

Homa, Finau, Kim share 3rd-round lead at American Express

If he can keep up the relentlessness Sunday, Homa could have his second career PGA Tour trophy in his arms. Richy Werenski also shot a 65 and moved within a shot of the lead at PGA West near Palm Springs. Finau and Kim both shot 67 and finished strong in the rain, joining Homa in prime position for a win. “I wouldn’t say it’s ever easy to make birdies, but I’ve given myself a ton of looks,” Homa said. “Fortunately for me, I’ve had a lot of opportunities, so hopefully everything that I’ve learned, I’m going to bottle up,” Finau said.

Late entry Brandon Hagy opens with 64 at American Express

Hagy took the first-round lead Thursday with an 8-under 64 on the Nicklaus course, staying one shot ahead of South Korea's Byeong Hun An in the opening tournament of the PGA Tour's West Coast swing. Hagy racked up 10 birdies, including three streaks of three in a row. But the tournament kept its tradition of providing every opportunity for low scores: the once-feared Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West are among the most generous in the sport, with birdie opportunities abounding. Hagy started with a bogey on the first hole of the Nicklaus course, but then the birdies came in bunches. After making eight cuts last year, Hagy is back at full health after a solid offseason of preparation.

Koepka matches career best round for lead at WGC in Memphis

The defending champ matched his career best with an 8-under 62 to take a two-stroke lead over Rickie Fowler and Brendon Todd after the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Then Fowler two-putted for bogey after putting his tee shot in the left rough on his final hole to finish at 64. He hit his tee shot on the par-3 No. ... Tee times for the second round were moved to Friday morning to avoid predicted thunderstorms. ... With no fans allowed at an event that has benefited St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital since 1970, St. Jude had to get creative to raise both money and attention for a hospital that never bills its patients.

Werenski takes advantage of Thompson's late stumble; 3M tied

Michael Thompson chips on the 9th hole of the during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament in Blaine, Minn., Thursday, July 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton- King)BLAINE, Minn. Richy Werenski birdied three of the last four holes Saturday to erase a four-stroke deficit and catch Michael Thompson for the 3M Open lead. After sharing the halfway lead, Thompson and Werenski traveled on vastly different paths to each shoot 3-under 68 before walking together to the clubhouse even again. Charl Schwartzel shot a 66 in the third round, pulling even with Tony Finau for third place at 13 under. Werenski, whose 63 in the first round is tied for the low score of the tournament, birdied that hole.

Richy Werenski leads 3M Open; Dustin Johnson WDs after 78

Tony Finau tees off on the fourth hole during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament in Blaine, Minn., Thursday, July 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton- King)BLAINE, Minn. Richy Werenski made a short birdie putt on the par-5 18th for an 8-under 63 and the first-round lead Thursday in the 3M Open, while Dustin Johnson withdrew because of a back injury after a 78. The 24-year-old Werenski is winless in on the PGA Tour and ranked 248th in the world. Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood and Finau were the only entrants in the top 25 of the world ranking. At the end of his first nine, Johnson started the 599-yard, dog-leg 18th hole with a solid drive off the tee.