75º

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.

The Latest: Playoffs are all the rage at Match Play

17 green during a third round match at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament Friday, March 26, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)AUSTIN, Texas – The Latest on the Dell Technologies Match Play (all times local):4:55 p.m. The Dell Technologies Match Play already has a No. ___4:30 p.m.Kevin Na lectured Dustin Johnson and then sent him home from the Dell Technologies Match Play. 64 seed to advance since the Match Play switched to group play in 2015.

Homa gets another chance and wins hometown event at Riviera

(AP Photo/Ryan Kang)LOS ANGELES – Winning at Riviera was always a dream for Max Homa since he first attended the PGA Tour event as a toddler. Homa missed a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for the win. 1 player in golf, started the final round two shots behind and in the final group. But it flipped on the crucial stretch of Riviera, the 12th through the 15th holes, four of the five toughest scoring holes in the final round. Needing a birdie on the final hole to join the playoff, he missed the fairway and went just over the green.

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

Homa made nine birdies and shrugged off a double bogey on the way to a 7-under 65 in the third round Saturday, joining Tony Finau and Si Woo Kim atop the leaderboard at 15-under 201. Richy Werenski also shot a 65 and moved within a shot of the lead on the Stadium Course at PGA West near Palm Springs. Finau and Kim both shot 67. Kim was bogey-free, while the streakier Finau bounced back from a double bogey on the 13th with three consecutive birdies. Precipitation finally fell in earnest when the final group reached the 18th hole, with Finau and Kim forced to pull out their umbrellas.

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.

Big finish for Woods gets him to the weekend at Memorial

DUBLIN, Ohio Five months without competition, and Tiger Woods was grinding over key shots and big putts Friday at the Memorial. None was bigger than a 7-foot par putt on his final hole. Woods missed a pair of 3-foot putts early that shut down any momentum, twice missed the green with awkward chip shots in deep rough and had to finish birdie-birdie-par for a 4-over 76. Woods last played Feb. 16 in the cold at Riviera, where he finished last in the Genesis Invitational with a 76-77 weekend. Woods is a five-time winner of the Memorial, and his next victory would set the PGA Tour career record of 83.