The Northern Trust. 4-Way Tie at the Top

There is a 4-Way tie at the top of The Northern Trust leaderboard at the end of day two at Glen Oaks Club in New York. Jhonattan Vegas, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth share the honor.

Rickie and Jordan / getty

Rickie, -4 under 66 today, Jordan, -5 under 65, Dustin, -1 under 69 and Jhonattan, -5 under 65, all share The Northern Trust lead at -6 under par for the tournament.

Jhonattan has other things on his mind, like  Hurricane Harvey heading towards his home;

“It’s hard. It’s hard not being home, not being able to help with the house and with everything.”

“I think I’m a little bit fortunate that we live up north in The Woodlands, and historically, by the time hurricanes come into Houston, it takes a little longer to get into Houston.” 

“Obviously it’s something that it’s going to be in the back of my mind for the next few days.”

Rickie has been very consistent driving, but not as long as DJ, but good putting makes up the difference;

“I think the biggest thing is it continue to drive it well to give myself a legitimate chance this week and continue to make putts. Stuff that I think I’ve done well all year.”

“I would say there are some holes, certain carries and stuff like that, that open it up for DJ a little bit but by no means does that mean I can’t go out and beat him.”

DJ is feeling fine now after injury;

“I’d have liked to play better in the majors.”

“Getting hurt before Augusta, which is going right into the major season, didn’t really help, especially for the momentum and how good I felt like I was swinging, and everything was going in a really good direction.”

 “But I feel like I’ve got it back on the right track. I feel like I’m swinging well again.”

Close behind these guys, at -5 under are Bubba Watson, -2 under 68 today, and Matt Kuchar, -6 under 64.

The leaderboard is still tightly packed, and anyone could make a significant move on Saturday.

 

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WGC Bridgestone Invitational. Thomas Pieters Leads.

Thomas Pieters, from Belgium, leads the Bridgestone Invitational after the first round at Firestone Country Club.

Thomas Pieters / getty

Thomas fired a first round -5 under 65 to lead the Bridgestone Invitational by one shot at Firestone.

Thomas has problems with his driver, good putting was the key;

“I can’t hit the damn thing.”

“Off the tee I was very bad but managed to find a lot of greens and I didn’t leave myself too many downhill putts.”

“I only had two putts from above the hole, the rest of them were just pretty straightforward putts. I think that was the key.”

“I hit plenty of three woods.”

“When I hit driver, I shouldn’t have, I was just not confident with it.”

“So I’ll have to do plenty of work on the range this afternoon, I’m sure I’ll get it back.”

In second place at -4 under is Russell Knox. Scotland, with his opening round 66, he said he was happy using his old putter;

“I figured it did work at one point.”

“I rolled the ball beautifully. I switched iron shafts, which I haven’t done in five years. That seemed to make it a little easier for me.”

Six players are all tied in third position at -3 under par, World Number Four Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland, Ross Fisher, England. Jon Rahm, Spain, with Open Champion Jordan Spieth, Kevin Kisner and Bubba Watson, all from the USA.

Rory, for some unknown reason has just sacked his longtime caddie, the new one Harry Diamond was good;

“Awesome, we both did the numbers and I sort of consulted him a couple of times. It was good.”

“There was a couple of shots that I hit or a couple of clubs that I pulled that I maybe should have just thought a little bit more about, but, no, really good.”

Jordan had a moment with his caddie when he decided to try a difficult pitch shot, which he pulled off;

“I said, Michael, just put the bag over there, stand over there and watch this.”

”I split a hole that was 60 yards in front of me and cut it to get onto the green.”

”It was really a cool shot. I was shocked I pulled it off.”

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RBC Canadian Open. Five Way Tie at the Top

There is a five-way tie at the top of the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club, Ollie Schniederjans, Hudson Swafford. Kevin Chappell, Matt Every and Brandon Hagy share the lead.

Ollie

All five players fired in matching -7 under par opening rounds of 65, in the RBC Canadian Open, as play was suspended for the day due to bad light. after a rain delay had halted play earlier.

Ollie carded two Eagles today;

“I took advantage of the par fives and just played real consistently well off the tee.”

“I was in good positions all day. Just a solid round.”

In the huge group at -6 under par, are Smiley Kaufman and Bubba Watson, who was bogey free today, and has said he is practically nearly Canadian;

“We’re back to playing American golf this week. I know we’re in Canada, but I’m part-Canadian since I married a Canadian.” 

“I had a couple, I would say, maybe two wayward shots, two mistakes that I can think of.”

“Other than that, though, it was a good day.”

Smiley has had good starts before;

“I’ve had starts like that in my career, so it’s kind of tough to keep it going as low as it felt like I was going. Definitely was on point with everything to start the round.”

“It was one of those days kind of got some good breaks and I also got some bad breaks, too.”

“I was able to kind of stay as levelheaded as possible and just try to bounce back and do as well as I can the next hole.”

Top placed player from Canada is McKenzie Hughes, he is in the next large group at -5 under par, and said he was happy with his start, and his putter;

“If you hit it in the fairway, you can be aggressive.”

“The few fairways I missed, I was just trying to make par and you have to be a little bit defensive. All in all it was a great day.”

“Probably could be a bit better, but I made a couple nice par putts, too. Overall, happy with my start.”

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Memorial Tournament. Daniel Summerhays has the Advantage, Jason Dufner in Reverse.

Daniel Summerhays has the advantage going into the final round of the Memorial Tournament, as Jason Dufner went into reverse in the third round at Muirfield Village.

Daniel Summerhays

Daniel carded -4 under 68 in the third round of the Memorial Tournament to post a -13 under par total, and a three shot lead.

Daniel is aware of the perils on this course;

“A train wreck can happen at any moment, and that’s why it’s such a great golf course because it does test everything.”

“Legitimately from the first hole to the 18th hole, there’s a double bogey somewhere in there.”

“Whatever happens is going to happen, honestly, that’s Muirfield Village.”

Matt Kuchar holds second place at -10 under par, a -5 under 67 today helping him up the leaderboard.

Matt summed up his excitement about being in contention;

“Sundays when you have a chance to win a golf tournament are very exciting.”

“Any time you have a chance on the PGA Tour it’s a thrill.”

“Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament, it’s certainly a special place. I think anybody within four or five or six shots of the lead is going to be awfully excited going into tomorrow.”

Three players are tied in third spot, Bubba Watson -4 under 68 today, Justin Thomas, -3 under 69 and the reversing Jason Dufner, +5 over par 77.

Jason was up front about his play today;

“Today was pretty pathetic on all accounts, so have to play better tomorrow.”

“The tournament is not over, it will be over tomorrow.”

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Shenzhen International. Lightning Halts Play.

The threat of lightning halted second round play in the Shenzhen International, but not before Bernd Wiesberger grabbed the lead in China.

Bernd Wiesberger / getty

Bernd has a completed second round of -7 under 65, which catapult him to the top of the Shenzhen International leaderboard at -12 under par, before play was suspended due to the weather conditions;

“Malaysia was a while back now but I think my game, especially the last couple of weeks in the States starting at the WGC and the Masters, I’ve felt like I have played good golf.”

“It’s a really nice golf course, obviously the layout is good and it has some variety, it has some shorter ones and some longer ones, the par fives are all reachable if you want to go a bit more aggressive so it’s going to be a fun week here.”

“It’s my first year here in Shenzhen, I hadn’t made the trip over here yet for the first couple of stagings but from what I have heard it’s a great event.”

“All of the guys are really happy with how everything is run and the course looks to be in great shape.”

Sharing second place are Dylan Frittelli and Thorbjørn Olesen, both at -8 under for the tournament after their completed second rounds of -4 under 68.

First round leader Bubba Watson is currently -1 under through five second round holes, and is tied with  Richie Ramsay who completed his second round at  -4 under par, and Gregory Bourdy -2  after four holes. These players are  at -7 under par.

Shenzhen International, Big Hitting Bubba Leads.

Big hitting Bubba Watson, from the U.S.A. leads the weather delayed 1st round of the Shenzhen International at Genzon Golf Club in China.

Bubba / getty

Bubba had an early tee time which enabled him to finish his opening round, before the weather delay, at the Shenzhen International tournament, carding -6 under par 66, to sit on top of the leaderboard.

Bubba said good putting was the key to his round;

“You know anytime you shoot six under, shoot in the 60s, you’re happy with it but every golfer can pick and choose what they wish they did better, but all in all a great day and a good start.”

“I just made putts today. Most of my swings and most of my shots were really good today and there were no bad swings in there so it just made the score better.”

“The more you play the golf course, the more you are going to learn it and get better at it and, like the saying is, this is our home course, so after two years of playing it I should know by now.”

Five players currently share second place, all with completed rounds of -5 under par 67; Dean Burmester and Haydn Porteous from South Africa,  Grégory Bourdy, France, Thongchai Jaidee Thailand and  Maximilian Kieffer from Germany.

Play for the first round resumes at 0630 on Friday, and it is possible that the leaderboard could change before the start of the second round.

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WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. The Final 16. Sergio Blitzed By Jon.

WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play has a last 16 for the weekend  at Austin Country Club in Texas. Spain’s new wonder kid Jon Rahm blitzed the old one Sergio Garcia, 6-4.

Jon and Sergio / getty

Jon eased past Sergio 6-4 to win group 7, he told reporters

“I’d rather not play a fellow Spaniard. Obviously, representing Spain, we want as many Spaniards to make it as far as possible. But worse came to worse, and luckily whoever won today was going to make it through. Out of that, at least we are happy that was going to happen.”

Sergio said he did not perform well;

“Obviously Jon is playing well. It is nice to see at least a Spanish player going through. . “At the end of the day, you have to perform and if you don’t do it then you get beat.”

World number 1 Dustin Johnson won group one, saying;

“I like match play, it’s fun and it’s exciting to watch. Yeah, I feel like I’ve got a little bit of an advantage just because I’m playing really well.”

The last sixteen knockout matches begin tomorrow, lining up like this;

Kevin Na USA v Bill Hass USA

Marc Leishman Australia v Phil Mickelson USA

Jon Rahm Spain v Charles Howell 111 USA

Soren Kjeldson Denmark v William McGirt USA

Hideto Tanihara Japan  v Paul Casey England

Ross Fisher England v Bubba Watson USA

Alex Noren Sweden v Brooks Koepka USA

Dustin Johnson USA v Zack Johnson USA.

It is sad that this years  Championship has been blighted by mid-term with withdrawals, which left Rory McIlroy with no chance to progress. after Jason Day retired. Other groups also had the same misfortune, with Gary Woodland withdrawing for personal reasons, and Francesco Molinari with an injury.