U.S. Open. Phil is in Charge

Phil Mickelson is in charge, and the only player at the U.S. Open who is in red figures at Merion Golf Club, after three rounds have been completed.

Phil Mickelson / Getty Images

Phil had an even par round today, which was good enough to elevate him to the top of the leaderboard at the U.S. Open. He has recorded five previous second place finishes in this tournament, but is now in control at Merion, leading by one shot going into the final round. Saturday is usually referred to as moving day, but no one at  the top of the board moved forward today. The good thing for Phil is that this is the first time ever he has enjoyed having the 54 hole lead at a U.S. Open, that must auger well for him;

” It’s a hard challenge, but it’s a lot of fun, every shot requires such great focus because a penalty can bite you quickly. I can’t wait to get back and playing. I feel good ball-striking, I feel good on the greens. I think it’s going to take an under-par round tomorrow.”

One shot back at even par, and tied in second place for the tournament are; Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel and Steve Stricker.

Another shot further back on +1 over par are; Justin Rose, Billy Horschel and Luke Donald.

Luke was cruising through his round, having had the outright lead until two equally poor swings on the last two holes. A 2-iron into the bunker on the par three 17th, that led to a bogey, and followed that with a shot into ankle-deep rough down the right side of the 18th green that led to a double bogey. And just like that, one of the best rounds of the day turned into a 71, and he was suddenly two shots behind. He also managed to miss three short putts as well earlier on, which in the end really hurt his final score.

Best round of the day went to Ricky Fowler, a -3 under par 67, but he is still at +3 over par for the tournament. It was tough going today for the players, but tomorrow will be even tougher, with some pins in the usual most difficult places. As I said a couple of days ago, the winner of this tournament may well not break par at the finish.

Asides;

Sad Sergio Garcia took a beating on the 15th hole, carding a 10 after going out of bounds with his tee shot,three times. He finished the round at +11 over par, when he could have been in contention.

World number one Tiger Woods had another disappointing day, a third round of +6 over par 76 has destroyed any ideas he may of had about making a late charge here on Sunday. He is currently at +9 over par for the tournament. Not fairing much better was his business buddy Rory McIlroy, the World number two finished one shot better at +8 over par, after his third round 75. The way these two are actually playing they may not be numbers one and two for too much longer.

Tiger Commented;

“It certainly is frustrating, I’m playing well enough to do it, and unfortunately just haven’t gotten it done.”

 

The Memorial Tournament. Its Kooch by Two

Matt Kuchar, Kooch to his friends and fans leads the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Course, in Ohio.

Happy Matt Kuchar / Getty

Matt managed to survive a  nasty combination of swirling wind and fast greens at Muirfield Village for a -2 under par 70, giving him a two-shot lead at -8 under par for the tournament over Kevin Chappell and Kyle Stanley, heading into the final round on Sunday.

Matt admitted it was like a survival course;

“It was a bit of survival, I was fortunate to make a handful of birdies. I think anytime you make a birdie in these conditions, you feel like you’re really up on the field here. Most of these holes, you’re looking at just getting out with a par.”

Kevin and Kyle are two shots back at -6 under par, Kevin with a great round of -4 under par 68, while Kyle struggled to +1 over par 73.

There are three players at -5 under par, including Bill Hass, the first round leader who could only manage a +4 over par round today. Joining him on that -5 under par score are Justin Rose and Matt Jones.

The next group of players are all at -4 under par, J.J. Henry also had a -4 under par round 68, Adam Scott was -3 under, Scott Piercy had a -1 under round while Charl Schwartzel collapsed with a +4 over par round.

Missing the cut are; Sang-Moon Bae, Geoff Ogilvy, Branden Grace, Brandt Snedeker, Guan Tianlang (a), Dustin Johnson, and Vijay Singh. Quite a high-profile list.

Tiger Woods +8 over and Rory McIlroy +6 over par, the world’s number one and two were lucky to make the cut.

Tiger reported after his poor round;

“The conditions were tough and when I missed it cost me. I caught the wrong gusts at the wrong time, made a couple bad swings and all in all, it just went the wrong way.”

The Memorial Tournament. Schartzel Leads.

Charl Schwartzel leads The Memorial Tournament after the first round at the Jack Nicklaus Muirfield Village Golf Course, in Dublin Ohio.

Charl Schwartzel / Greenwood / Getty Images

Charl shot a first round of -7 under par 65, to lead The Memorial Tournament by two shots from Scott Piercy. Charl will be returning to Muirfield Village in October, with the Presidents International Cup Team, and after the advice Captain, Nick Price gave him today before tee-off, Charl will be all ears again. Nick had advised him to change his grip on the putter:

” I thought I’m going to do what they say and go back to a normal grip, and it just didn’t feel very comfortable. It felt really shaky. I switched back to my finger down the shaft and sort of changed the ball position like Mark said and that felt comfortable. As you know, putting is all about comfort at the end of the day. The birdie on the last definitely will make my evening a lot better.”

Second placed Scott Piercy owes his -6 under par 66 to not hitting too many drivers;

” I’ve hit a lot of drivers and kind of pounded down golf courses, and I haven’t had much success here doing it. I thought I’d hit a lot of 3-woods today and open up the fairways and allow me to get some pins and knock them on the greens and make some putts. Maybe I’m getting older. I’ll take 66 all the time, though, it’s just learning how to play golf courses. I can hit it over almost all the corners here. But I have to hit a perfect golf shot and if I don’t I’m not in a very good spot. With the wind blowing as hard as it has been, I think it dried the golf course out. I was hitting the 3-wood 290 to 310, depending on how hard it was going. So I was still hitting a short enough iron where I felt like I could still attack rather than hitting 3-wood, 5-iron or 3-wood, 6-iron. I still had 3-wood, 9-iron, 3-wood, 8-iron. It seems like golf courses, when I succumb to it, I play well at those golf courses.”

Third place is being shared by four players, all at -5 under par, they are; Josh Teater, Russell Henley, Kyle Stanley and Charlie Wi.

 

Crowne Plaza Invitational. 2nd Round Suspended, Kuchar Leads.

Matt Kuchar is at the top of the leaderboard at the suspension of play in the second round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club.

Matt Kuchar / Heathcote / Getty Images

Matt and all the other afternoon players had to endure more than two hours of delay in the second round of the tournament, due to dangerous weather conditions, that included lightning  But that obviously did not upset Matt too much, as he climbed up to the top of the leaderboard. He currently has a one shot lead, being at -10 under par after 15 holes of his second round. The horn blew again just after Matt had hit his tee shop on the par 3, 16th, it was the second interruption of play on the day.

” That’s a bit of a bummer, it’s no fun to wake up at 4:30 to get out here and play three holes. But we get used to it for what we do. I really got off to a great start, and then I kept playing some good golf. This course can give you trouble, but if you are hitting it good, you can make some birdies out here.I was hitting it good and able to fire at some pins today.”

Graham DeLaet, who has completed his second round is currently one shot adrift of the leader, at -9 under par for the tournament, and is also the clubhouse leader. Graham admitted the dreaded Horrible Horse-shoe got to him today, three bogeys at 3,4 and 5.
“It definitely got me today.”

 

Defending champion Zach Johnson is -5 under par through 16 holes and has moved to -6 under for the tournament.

The projected cut line is -1 under par.and if that cut line holds, the players who have already finished their rounds at even par or worse include: Charl Schwartzel, 15th in the world rankings; Corey Pavin, who was making his 30th Colonial start; David Hearn, who opened with a 64 on Thursday but shot a +8-over par 78 on Friday, which included a quadruple bogey at the par-3, 13th where he hit two balls into the water off the tee.

HP Byron Nelson Championship. Keegan Crumbles, Korean Bae Wins.

Korean Sang-Moon Bae won the HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort in Texas, with a last round of -1 under par, 69,  for a total of -13 under par. Keegan Bradley crumbled under the pressure and could only manage a last round of par, finishing two strokes behind the leader at -11 under par.

Sang-Moon Bae with his first PGA Tour Trophy/ Pennington / Getty Images

Sang-Moon said winning a PGA Tournament was something he had always dreamed of;

“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of, winning on the PGA TOUR. It was surreal to have Mrs. Nelson there and with all the history, I was in awe, actually, so almost I didn’t know how to react.”

Sang-Moon’s  previous best finish on the PGA TOUR was a playoff loss to Luke Donald at the 2012 Tampa Bay Championship. He said he was happy that he played the back nine better;

” When my iron play came back in the latter part of the round, I had confidence. On that shot on 17, I knew it was short, and the wind pushed it over to the right, and I was happy and relieved that it turned out OK.”

Despite struggling all day Keegan was uplifted by a birdie putt on 15, and thought he could then go on and be the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 to win this competition wire to wire;

“I’m pretty disappointed but Moon played very well. I just didn’t play great today, but I hung in there. I chipped away. When I made that putt on 15, I was pretty confident that I was going to win.”

South African Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters Champ, shot a last round of -2 under par, 68, to finish in third place on his own third at -10 under par.

 

 

 

HP Byron Nelson Championship. Keegan Still In Front

Keegan Bradley is still in front of the chasing pack at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, despite only managing a second round of -1 under par 69.

Keegan Bradley / Pennington / Getty Images

Keegan was happy to have a three shot lead after the second round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship, after he stalled on the day, but still finished in front by three shots at -11 under par, despite making bogey on 1 and 18, again;

” I’m almost more proud of this round than yesterday because I didn’t feel comfortable all day. I don’t know what it was, I can’t put my finger on it but, you know, I bogeyed the first hole. I was a little uncomfortable and then I settled in and hit some really good shots. The first hole is probably the easiest hole out here, I don’t know why I keep making bogey on that hole.”

Keegan came to the 18th tee with his four shot advantage intact, a wayward tee shot took care of that;

” I’ve got a four-shot lead, so the last thing I wanted to do was plop it in the water. I bailed out. I didn’t hit that bad of a shot it just got in the wind. I thought it was going to be way left of where it was, but I’m going to hit good ones Saturday and Sunday.”

Tied in second place are Tom Gillis, who had a second round of -7 under par 63, and Sang-Moon Bae, with his -4 under par 66. Both players are on -8 under par.

Tom thought the course definitely played easier in the morning, and also was happy to be reunited with his coach;

” It was easier, I think the wind was down and I was hoping that we would get a fair shot like they had Thursday morning, just to see what it would be like. Definitely, I thought it played better than in the afternoon. I stepped  away for a couple of months and tried to do some things on my own and kind of got lost. We had disagreements on some things. You talk things out, work things out. People change. I think he was right all along, to be honest with you.”

Sang-Moon was also happy with his round;

” That was a little weird, I thought this course was very windy, but Thursday morning was really good weather. So yeah, different, but I shoot same score as Thursday, so I’m happy.“

 Charl Schwartzel also struggled today, in the afternoon round he shot an even par 70;

” It was a bit up and down out there, bit of a frustrating day, but I suppose it’s the mix.”

 

Chinese wonder teenager Guan Tianlang shot a second round of 77, to miss the cut. He was in good company with Boo Weekley, Robert Garrigus, John Senden, Robert Karlsson, Ryuji Imada and Y.E. Yang among those who failed to make the cut, which was set at even par.

HP Byron Nelson Championship. Keegan Crushes the Course.

Keegan Bradley crushed the TPC Four Seasons Resort course with an opening record scoring round of -10 under par 60, at the  HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Record holder Keegan Bradley / Pennington / Getty Images

Keegan Bradley set a new course record at the TPC  Four Seasons Resort course in Irving Texas, as they say, everything comes up big in Texas, and -10 under par for one round of golf is big. He now has a three shot lead over second placed Charl Schwartzel, who had a wonder round himself, shooting a -7 under par, 63. Usually that kind of round would give you the lead on the Tour, but not this week.

Keegan said the thought of a 59 had crossed his mind, talking about the putt for it, he said;

“It was going right at it, a 59 crossed my mind for a second, and it would be unbelievable if I buried this. But I had 3 feet to shoot 60, I was actually very nervous, uncomfortable over it and thank God I made it. It was rare to match up a ball-striking day and make everything. It happened today, the hole looked huge. Even the putts I missed almost went in.”

Charl was was happy they had played in the morning;

“Seems like you don’t get many of those opportunities, so being out here first was a bit of an advantage. So much rain, it softened up. Played long off the tee, but it’s a big advantage going into the greens with the second shot. You could attack flags.”

There are three players tied in third place at -6 under par for the tournament with opening rounds of 64, they are; Ted Potter Jnr, Harris English and Robert Karlsson. They must all be hoping that Keegan does not go out tomorrow and shoot another low round, which would probably wrap up the tournament.

Young Chinese player Tianlang Guan finished at even par, he was happy with his round;

“I missed a couple of birdie putts in the middle but overall not a bad round. After the Masters and New Orleans, I still feel nervous on the first tee but not too much, and I handle it pretty good in the middle fairway and kept it going.”

Maybank Malaysian Open, Champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat

The Maybank Malaysian Open Champion is Kiradech Aphibarnrat, a 23 year-old from Thailand.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat / Getty Images

Kiradech Aphibarnrat won the Malaysian Maybank Open, at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, by just one shot from Italian Edoardo Molinari. Kiradech finally finished his third round of the weather troubled tournament with a -2 under par round of 70, and a 54 hole total of -13 under par.

Edoardo had finished his round earlier, posting a club house lead of -12 under par. He then had to sit and watch Kiradech catch and the pass his total, although the result was not really finalized until the last hole, which Kiradech bogied.

Kiradech was very happy with his first European Tour win;

“This means a lot to me, I have to thank my family: my Mum and my Dad for all their support.”

Edoardo, who made his first cut since returning from a wrist injury, was pleased with his final round of -5 under par, 67;

“It’s mixed emotions because I’m very happy to have a good week for the first time in a long time, The swing changes are starting to pay off which is surprising because I thought it would take a lot longer. I’m disappointed because I had a lot of chances on the back nine. The 18th is only the second fairway I missed all day which is very disappointing. I felt if I birdied the last I might have won outright because it puts a lot of pressure on the guy coming up behind.” 

 Anders Hansen, of Denmark, finished third after one of the days best rounds of 66. South African Charl Schwartzel and France’s Victor Dubuisson finished a shot further back  at -10 under par in fourth spot.

A surging Padraig Harrington, he went through the turn in 31 strokes, then managed to  drop three shots on the back nine and slipped back into a tie for sixth place.

Maybank Malaysian Open. Advantage Aphibarnrat In Malaysian Mayhem

On a stormy day two of the Maybank Malaysian Open,  Kiradech Aphibarnrat secured a late advantage when he birdied his last hole of the day to lead by one shot, in the Malaysian mayhem in Kuala Lumpur.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat / Getty Images

More storm delays meant that only half of the field had the opportunity to complete their second rounds at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club Course.

There were 78 players who had to resume their first rounds today.  Among them were Charl Schwartzel and Ashun Wu, who went on to complete their second rounds and set the clubhouse target at nine under par with matching rounds of  -4 under par 68. That target proved to be not quite good enough as the  overnight leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat completed the front nine in -3 under par, 33 to get to -10 under par for the tournament, before darkness brought play to a close for the day. Kiradech still has eight holes to play in his second round.

Charl admitted that the tough conditions made it hard to concentrate;

” I can’t be too hard on myself because it’s extraordinarily hot out there. I lost a bit of concentration towards the end and made bad decisions on the sixth and seventh, poor club selections. I was in the middle of the fairway both times and made bogey. I hit a very poor shot on the seventh. It’s been a very long day but through it all I thought I played pretty well. At least I’ve given myself a chance. I’m playing consistently and if I had been a bit sharper today I maybe could have separated myself from the field, but I know I’m playing well and I’m feeling good.”

Ashun Wu was very happy to be in the club house in second position;

” I’m very happy today and my putting is good. I read the lines very well and that made me relax out there. I think it’s important to play with a strategy in mind this week and choosing of the right clubs to use will matter as well. I’ve been in a good form lately and I hope to maintain that. It’s great that I have the opportunity to play in this co-sanctioned event this week. It’s going to be very competitive because we’ve got all the top players from the Asian Tour and European Tour in the field.”

The weather in Malaysia is causing mayhem at the moment, and the organisers must be praying for some dry spells so that they can get this tournament back on track.

Northern Trust Open, John Merrick With Play-Off Dream Win

John Merrick / Reuters

John Merrick won the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club on Sunday, with a final tournament total of – 11 under par. He beat fellow American Charlie Beljan with a par at the second playoff hole, the drive-able par four 10th.

John said of his dream win;

“ Growing up here in LA, I just wanted to come to this tournament. Now to win it, this is a dream come true. You dream, when you’re alone sometimes, you think about different scenarios of winning tournaments. It was fun. We would always play here at UCLA and have great games out here. To be able to play the tournament was a dream of mine. But to win? I can’t describe it. It’s so much fun.”

Charlie did not think too much of hole ten as a play-off hole;

“I think you could play here 10,000 times and still not know how to play No. 10. Eighteen is a great golf hole. I just find it tough that we go to No. 10 to play a playoff hole. I think it’s a great hole, don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking it. But it’s just a tough hole to have a playoff on. We might as well go and put a windmill out there and hit some putts. I made every clutch putt that you would ever ask to make, and then to make that putt on 18 and hear the roar was really special. Obviously, not the way I wanted to end it, but you know what? You win some, you lose some, and that’s how it goes.”

Freddie Jacobson was one of three players who tied for third place, he missed a four-foot par putt on the last green that would have put him into the play-off, he bristled with indignation when asked about that missed chance;

“You want me to touch that one, only that one? I cannot speak about something else? The last putt wasn’t very good.”

Freddie was tied with the defending champion Bill Haas and Charl Schwartzel, all at -10 under par for the tournament.

Bill unfortunately let a three shot lead at the start of play on the last day slip away;

” Positives to be taken, but overall, you don’t get this many opportunities. A three-shot lead at one of the best tournaments of the year is a great opportunity that I squandered.”