BRENDAN STEELE

INZAI CITY, Japan — (AP) — Brendan Steele finished with four consecutive birdies and shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the PGA Tour's Zozo Championship. “Everybody says if you birdie 18, dinner tastes better,” Steele said. “Loved the course last year — really happy be back.”The Zozo Championship is the only PGA Tour event in Japan and has a purse of $11 million. “Nice for us to be able to get out the hotel a little bit this year and enjoy the culture a little bit," Steele said. Adam Schenk was a shot back after a 65 on a rainy day on the course on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Brendan Steele finished with four consecutive birdies and shot a 6-under 64 to take the first-round lead in the Zozo Championship.

Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama says players who left to compete in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series should be entitled to earn ranking points.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama had three birdies in five holes on the back nine and eagled the 18th for good measure for a five-stroke victory at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama held on to a one-stroke lead at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship after a 2-under 68 which included a bogey on his last hole to make things interesting for Sunday's final round.

Collin Morikawa is the champion golfer of the year.

Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman outlasted Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel to win the Zurich Classic in a playoff that capped a tight and tense final round Sunday.

Jones won the Honda Classic by five shots Sunday, a final round of 2-under 68 good enough to finish the week at 12-under 268 at PGA National. J.B. Holmes was in the final group with Jones, three shots back to start the day, and his chances were gone very quickly. He ended up with a costly final-round 79 for Holmes; second place, where he started the day, paid Hagy $763,000 while the tied-for-46th finish paid Holmes $19,070. AdHe went on to make double bogey there, and when Jones birdied the par-5 third Holmes’ deficit had gone from three to eight shots in about 45 minutes. “You can't get a tougher golf course to win on than this one, in these conditions," Jones said.

Chris Kirk putts on the 13th green during the third round at the Sony Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Honolulu. Na finished one shot ahead of Joaquin Niemann and Chris Kirk, and only one of them got a consolation prize. Niemann chipped in for birdie from 55 feet on the par-3 17th and got up-and-down with a long bunker shot on the 18th hole for a 66. Needing nearly 150 FedEx Cup points at the Sony Open, his tie for second was worth 245 points. He looked comfortable even when the Sony Open appeared to be slipping away.

Brendan Steele lines up his putt on the ninth green during the third round at the Sony Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)HONOLULU – Brendan Steele knows he can play well at the Sony Open whether it's windy or calm, in sunshine or rain. One year after Steele lost a late lead at Waialae and lost in a playoff, he delivered the lowest score of his career Saturday in ideal conditions with a 9-under 61 that gave him a two-shot lead going into the final round. “You hope that you come back and you play well and erase whatever negative memories there are,” Steele said. It was wide open on Saturday, and it's not likely to be any different in the final round.

The PGA Tour is at Muirfield Village for the second straight week, and it only looks like the same course. Bryson DeChambeau pounded his tee shots one of them went 423 yards and still couldn't get his wedges terribly close. Steele overcame an early bogey with solid golf the rest of the way for a one-shot lead over Charles Howell III. That goes for the fairways, the greens, Steele said. And then the wind stopped when he hit the shot, and his ball sailed some 15 yards over the green.

McCarthy became the third PGA Tour player to test positive for the virus since its restart and the second this week, joining Cameron Champ who withdrew on Tuesday. Gordon, a 23-year-old Vanderbilt graduate playing his fourth PGA Tour event on a sponsor's exemption, is 12-under 128 after 36 holes. The Travelers field continued to shrink after Denny McCarthy tested positive for the coronavirus. McCarthy, who shot an opening-round 67, said he began began feeling sick Thursday night and tested positive for the virus on Friday morning. McDowell and Brooks Koepkas caddies both tested positive.

Steele shot a 3-under 67 on Friday, getting to 5 under for the week and putting himself a shot clear of J.T. This is Steele’s ninth time playing the Honda and the first time he’s ended any round at PGA National with the lead. I don't feel like it's a course you can just jump out your first time and have it nailed. ... Michael Thompson’s record streak of Honda rounds without a ball in the water on the Bear Trap is over. Thompson put his tee ball on the par-3 15th in the water, his first such mistake in 30 Honda rounds at PGA National.