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.”

Get in the Hole !!!

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.

Get in the Hole

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.

 

 

 

WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play. Rory Out.

Rory McIlroy is out of the  WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play, at Austin Country Club in Texas.

Søren Kjeldsen / getty

Soren  Kjeldsen beat Emiliano Grillo, to advance to the last 16 of the WGC Dell Match Play tournament, and at the same time eliminating Rory McIlroy, because Soren will win the group with a walk over point in round three.

Soren was happy to progress out of a tough group;

“Right now, I’m very pleased to make it through, obviously I was in a very, very, very tough group and I got through that. I’m happy with that.”

Top winners included Bubba Watson 4-3 over Scott Piercy, World number 1 Dustin Johnson 3-2 over Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson 5-4 over Daniel Berger and Jordan Spieth 4-2 over Yuta Ikeda.

Unfortunately the two pull outs have changed the complexity of the competition.

Sergio Garcia set up an intriguing winner-takes-all encounter with Jon Rahm following his 4 and 3 victory over Kevin Chappell;

“It wasn’t easy. It was so gusty, the wind was blowing so hard.”

“Normally you need to hit a good putt, but you have to get lucky with catching the gust at the right time. I felt like I played really well today.”

“That’s what I wanted at the beginning of the week, for both of us on Friday to play to get through so at least one of us Spaniards goes through. I am excited.”

Jon is looking forward to the battle;

“We really want to play each other. We wish it was in the final. But we’re going to pretend like it’s a final.”

“We’re both very excited. Mathematically whoever wins tomorrow is going to go through. I think that is a good thing for us that at least we will have the showdown tomorrow.”

The Barclays. Two at the Top

There are two players tied at the top of The Barclays tournament after the first round at Bethpage Black, in New York. Patrick Reed and Martin Laird share top spot at -5 under par following rounds of 66.

Patrick Reed / getty

Patrick, bogey free today and Martin also bogey free are tied at the top of The Barclays after carding -5 under par 66 in round one at Bethpage Black.

Patrick is winless this year, but sits at #8 position in the Ryder Cup standings;

“Of course it’s on my mind, but really at the end of the day, it’s just trying to get better and play this tournament, because if I play well, that means those other guys are going to have to play even better to try to catch me.”

These guys are followed by four players on -4 under par, all with opening rounds of 67, Rickie Fowler, Kevin Chappell, Emiliano Grillo and J.B. Holmes.

Rickie wants to make the Ryder Cup team for the U.S.A.;

“That’s the No. 1 priority coming into the year.”

“I’d say that’s always one of the main goals coming into a Ryder Cup year.”

“Even in the off year, you’re thinking about it. That was the whole reason playing last week, trying to get more points.”

“It would be nice to have a chance to make that team without having to get picked.”

J.B. has been searching for a putting inspiration, and thinks he may have found it;

“It was really good, had to stay calm today and tried to let go of the results.”

World number one Jason Day is in touch with the early leaders, a first round -3 under 68 has him T7.

In the huge group who finished the day at even par 71 were, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson.

Jordan said Bathpage Black was one of the toughest courses had played;

“It’s up there in the top few toughest courses I’ve ever played.”

“If they made the greens firm today, it would have been unplayable on a few holes.”

“It was very tough, challenging, but fair today. We just had it really, really tough in the afternoon with those winds so high.”

 

 

 

Travelers Championship. Three Tied at the Top.

 

 

There are three players tied at the top of the Travelers Championship leaderboard after the first round at TPC River Highlands.

Vaughn Taylor, Andrew Loupe and Jerry Kelly share top spot at -6 under par.

Jery Kelly / getty

Jerry, Andrew and Vaughn all carded -6 under par 64 to share the top spot on the Travelers Championship leaderboard.

Vaughn said he played well but the putts would not drop;

“I played good early, just couldn’t get the putts to go. Just didn’t hit it quite close enough really.”

“I was playing well and just needed something to kind of get me going.”

“That was a nice little run and I needed that.”

“I’ve had to work on my swing a little bit. And putting and chipping. A little bit of everything.”

” That’s golf. Just when you think you got it, you kind of got reassess. It’s good this week. Played well last week. Hopefully keep moving.”

Jerry does not suffer the same crowd reaction as the likes of Bubba Watson;

“I’m not that man who has people constantly yelling wherever I go.”

 “I kind of take those good vibes and run with it. It’s fun.”

“Canada was the first week that I really played with this swing, I really feel comfortable with what I’m doing right now. “

“Every once in a while you get a golfer who says, Oh, if I had a time machine. If I could go back.”

“I feel like I just learned how to swing the golf club. I’ve said that a whole bunch of times during my career.”

“I would like this one to last a little bit longer. Being a feel player, all those feels tend to wear out with me.”

“I feel like I’m mechanically much better than I ever have been. I’m hitting much better shots than I ever have, and I don’t feel like I am as much of a timing striker.”

Jon is relishing the invites he is getting to tournaments, and also spoke about the good experience ha gained from the Canadian Open;

“It’s obviously great to be able to get unlimited invites.”

 “It’s unfortunate that it’s so late in the year and there are only three tournaments left.”

“Overall, pretty balanced day. I will say five under is, I mean, even if it was big difference between the nines, a pretty balanced score.”

“I was leading after two days, and on the weekend I did everything a little bit faster.”

 “I started walking fast, my routine was faster, my swing was faster.”

“That’s probably why I couldn’t hit the driver the way I did the first two days at Congressional. So that’s something I learned that day and I put in play in Canada.”

Ben Martin, Marc Leishman and Jon Rahm share fourth place at -5 under par.