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.

U.S. Open. Day 1 Washout.

 

Sadly day 1 of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club got washed out by the weather.

 

Oakmont today / getty images

Andrew Landry sits on top of the leaderboard, at -3 under par, he has completed 17 first round holes on a stop start day. The first rain delay lasted 79 minutes, the second delay lasted 2 hours, 22 minutes, as  the players and fans alike were constantly getting on and off the course in order to avoid the lightning threats and the pouring rain.

Playing in his first Major, Andrew had already told his father;

“I’m going to win this tournament.”

Bubba Watson shares second place with Danny Lee, both at -2 under par. Bubba has played 14 holes, while Danny has completed one less at 13.

Bubba was the only player to birdie the 258 yard par  -3 eighth;

“I got lucky and made a 30-footer.”

Amateur player Scottie Scheffler with a  completed round, is tied in fourth place with Kevin Streelman, 16 holes, Lee Westwood, 13 holes and Harris English, 12 holes, all at -1 under par.

Scottie was happy to finish his round;

“I was excited to get done on 18. I tapped in a 2 ½-footer kind of quickly, which maybe wasn’t the smartest idea.”

“I wanted our group to get done so we didn’t have to come back in the morning because we were up at 4 a.m. this morning.”

“Some rest would be good tonight, and honestly, I really wanted to watch the basketball game tonight. I wanted to get done so I could stay up late and watch that.”

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, I played pretty solid.”

“My lag putting was really good on the greens and I made some good 8-footers that kind of helped me keep the round going.”

Lee was frustrated by the weather;

“It’s obviously a frustrating day having to keep coming off, but there’s nothing you can do about the weather.”

Just nine players have completed their first rounds, with another 78 yet to play at all. Looks like some players will have to play 36 holes tomorrow, to keep the tournament on time, not a good scenario for such a tough contest.

 

 

 

 

Shenzhen International. More Rain Delays Mean Monday Finish.

More rain delays mean there will now be a Monday finish for the Shenzhen International in China, at Genzon Golf Club.

Alex Levy waiting in the rain / getty images

Thunder and Lightning storms brought round four of the Shenzhen International to a grinding halt on Sunday. There will now be a Monday finish, with Lee Slattery of England, Soomin Lee, South Korea and Alex Levy  from France tied at the top of the leaderboard, with -14 under par totals.

Brandon Stone, Joost Luiten and Scott Hend share second place at -13 under par, Scott is the only player in the top six to have completed his last round, the rest of them will return early Monday morning for a scramble to the finish line.

Two-time Major Championship winner Bubba Watson has finished his tournament with a final round -6 under par 66  for -10 under total and T7 alongside Nacho Elvira, Rikard Karlberg, Thorbjørn Olesen Bradley Dredge and Julien Quesne.

Bradley and Thorbjørn still have holes to play.

Even in these atrocious conditions great things can happen, and Scott Hend hit a stunning albatross on the 17th hole towards the end of the delayed second round;

Shenzhen International. Levy and Lee 1st Round Leaders.

Alex Levy and Soomin Lee are the 1st round leaders in the Shenzhen International at Genzon Golf Club in China, before bad light stopped play.

Alex Levy / getty images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alex and Soomin both shot first rounds of -6 under par 66 to top the leaderboard in the  Shenzhen International in China.

Alex has won on the  Genzon Golf Club before, at the Volvo China Open in 2014, and was happy to be round in under par again;

“I have some very good memories here and it’s always nice to play this golf course when you have your first win.”

“I just played great today, and I played well last week and a few bad rounds with the wind. I feel my game is in a good way.”

“It’s nice because you have some big memories and, for me, it’s really nice to play on this place.”

“It’s always nice to shoot under par”

Soomin, from South Korea, has changed his putting technique, and the hard work is paying off, carding a bogey free round today;

“It’s good, because really I needed to change, it was really a problem for me in Perth through Thailand, so I changed.”

“I had three weeks in Korea, so I’m all practicing putting and then change.”

“I think this course seems like Malaysia, good for me. Small greens, narrow greens and heavy rough.”

“I just tried to keep in the fairway and greens and then completed some putts.”

Currently in third position is Brandon Stone, he is one of the players still to finish his first round, having completed 17 holes, with a -5 under par total.

 Raphaël Jacquelin, Gary Stal, Eduardo de la Riva, Paul Dunne and Joost Luiten are T4 with completed rounds of -4 under par 68.

Defending champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat along with two-time Major Championship winner Bubba Watson are in the large group at -1 under.

There was a long 45-minute delay due to lightning in the afternoon, which meant 32 players will be returning to finish their rounds on Friday morning.

WGC Dell Match Play. Rory, Jordan and Jason Through to Last 16.

Day 3 of Group Play at the  WGC Dell Match Play tournament has been completed at Austin Country Club, with Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy through to the last 16.

Rory McIlroy / Getty Images

Rory commented after his round

“I feel like my game has gotten a little bit better as the day’s gone on. I know I will have to play very well again tomorrow to try and beat Zach.”

Todays Results

Group 1 Jordan Advances

Jordan Spieth 3 & 2 over Justin Thomas. Jamie Donaldson 1 up over Victor Dubuisson.

Group 2 Jason Advances

Jason won his match against Paul Casey, due to Paul becoming ill on course and he had to concede. Thongchai Jaydee halved his maych with Graeme McDowell.

Group 3 Rory Advances.

Rory won in a playoff with Kevin Na after they finished all square in their match, forcing them into sudden death, where Kevin sent his second tee shot into water on his way to a bogey, while Rory made par, to win.

Group 4 Patton Advances

Patton Kizzire 2 up over Emiliano Grillo. J.B. Holmes 1 up over Bubba Watson.

Group 5  Byeong Hun An Advances

Byeong Hun An won in a play-off against Scott Piercy after his match with Rickie Fowler ended all square. Scott defeated Jason Dufner 1up.

Group 6 Bill Haas Advances

Bill 1up over Adam Scott. Thomas Pieters 3&2 over Chris Wood.

Group 7 Matt Kuchar Advances

Matt 3&2 over Justin Rose. Anirban Lahiri 4&2 over Fabian Gomez.

Group 8 Dustin Johnson Advances

Dustin 2&1 over Jimmy Walker. Kiradech Aphibarnrat 1up over Robert Streb.

Group 9 Patrick Reed Advances

Patrick, in the surprise result of the day defeated Phil Mickelson 5&4, while  Daniel Berger conceded to Matthew Fiztpatrick.

Group 10 Brookes Koepka Advances

Brooks lost his match 4&3 to Danny Willett, but the other result went in his favor, with Billy Horschell losing 2&1 to Jaco Van Zyl.

Group 11 Chris Kirk Advances

Chris 3&2 over David Lingmerth and Branden Grace 5&4 over Russell Knox. This result lead to a play-off between Chris and Branden, which Chris won when Branden sent his first play-off tee shot in a bunker.

Group 12 Rafa Cabrera Bello Advances

Rafa halved his match against Soren  Kjeldsen, the half point gained was good enough to advance him. Hideki Matsuyama 3&2 over Kevin Kisner.

Group 13 Ryan Moore Advances

Ryan 3&1 over Lee Westwood. Sergio Garcia 5&4 over Marc Leishman.

Group 14 Zach Johnson Advances

Zach 4&3 over Shane Lowery. Martin Kaymer 4&3 over Marcus Fraser.

Group 15 Brandt Snedeker Advances

Brandt 5&3 over Charl Schwartzel. Charley Hoffman 4&2 over Danny Lee.

Group 16 Louis Oosthuizen Advances

Louis 4&2 over Andy Sullivan. Matt Jones and Bernd Wieberger halved their match.

 

ROUND OF 16 MATCHES
32. Bill Haas	vs.	56. Chris Kirk
3. Rory McIlroy	vs.	15. Zach Johnson
30. Matt Kuchar	vs.	20. Brooks Koepka
2. Jason Day	vs.	17. Brandt Snedeker
29. Byeong-Hun An	vs.	54. Rafa Cabrera Bello
65. Patton Kizzire	vs.	47. Ryan Moore
9. Dustin Johnson	vs.	10. Patrick Reed
1. Jordan Spieth	vs.	18. Louis Oosthuizen

WGC Dell Match Play. Day 2.

Day 2 of Group Play at the  WGC Dell Match Play tournament has been completed at Austin Country Club.

That putt went the wrong way for Rory / Getty Images

Todays Results

Group 1

Jordan Spieth 5&4  over Victor Dubuisson. Justin Thomas lost 2 up to  Jamie Donaldson

Spieth 2-0, Dubuisson 1-1, Donaldson 1-1 Thomas 0-2, eliminated. Jordan in control,

Group 2

Jason Day 5&3  over Thongchai Jaidee. Graeme McDowell Halved with Paul Casey.

Day 2-0-0, Jaidee 1-1-0, Casey 0-1-1, McDowell 0-1-1. Jason in control, Thongchai Jaidee can force a playoff with a win. Paul and Graeme eliminated.

Group 3

Rory McIlroy 3&1 up over Smylie Kaufman Thorbjorn Olesen lost 3&2 to Kevin Na.

McIlroy 2-0, Na 2-0, Kaufman 0-2, Olesen 0-2 Its Rory verses Kevin, the winner will advance.

Group 4

Bubba Watson 2 Up over Emiliano Grillo. Patton Kizzire Halved  with J.B. Holmes.

Watson 1-0-1, Grillo 1-1-0, Kizzire 0-0-2, Holmes 0-1-1. Bubba needs a win over J.B. If he loses then just about anything could happen !!

Group 5

Rickie Fowler Halved with  Scott Piercy.   Byeong Hun An 2 up over Jason Dufner.

An 1-0-1, Dufner 1-1-0, Piercy 0-0-2, Fowler 0-1-1. Byeong needs a win to advance, other wise its complicated.

Group 6

Adam Scott 3&2 over Chris Wood.   Bill Haas 4&2 over Thomas Pieters.

Haas 2-0-0, Scott 1-0-1, Pieters 0-1-1, Wood 0-0-2.  Bill must get a  win or tie. Adam must defeat Bill to advance Chris and Thomas eliminated.

Group 7

Justin Rose Halved with  Anirban Lahiri.  Fabian Gomez Halved with Matt Kuchar 

Rose 1-0-1, Kuchar 1-0-1, Lahiri 0-1-1, Gomez 0-1-1. Justin and Matt face off for the win. Fabian and Anirban eliminated

Group 8

Dustin Johnson 5&4 over Kiradech Aphibarnrat.  Jimmy Walker 4&3 over Robert Streb.

Johnson 1-1-0, Walker 1-1-0, Aphibarnrat 1-1-0, Streb 1-1-0.  This one is wide open, anyone could win.

Group 9

Patrick Reed 4&3 over Matthew Fitzpatrick.  Phil Mickelson 1 up over Daniel Berger.

Reed 2-0, Mickelson 2-0, Fitzpatrick 0-2, Berger 0-2. Phil and Patrick face off, Daniel and Matthew eliminated.

Group 10

Danny Willett lost 3&2 to  Billy Horschell. Brooks Koepka 5&4 over Jaco Van Zyl.

Koepka 2-0-0 Horschel 1-1-0, Willett 0-1-1, Van Zyl 0-1-1. Lots of permutations but baically Brookes just needs to win.

Group 11

Branden Grace 4&3 over  David Lingmerth.  Russell Knox 2&1 over Chris Kirk. 

Knox 1-0-1,Grace 1-1-0, Kirk 1-1-0, Lingmerth 0-1-1. Chris needs a win to advance, the only certain thing here is David has been eliminated

Group 12

Hideki Matsuyama 4&2 over Soren Kjeldsen.  Rafa Cabrera Bello 4&3 over  Kevin Kisner.

Cabrera Bello 2-0-0, Matsuyama 1-1-0, Kisner 1-1-0, Kjeldsen 0-2-0. Raphael  will advance with a win or tie, otherwise its also complicated.

Group 13

Ryan Moore 1 up over Sergio Garcia . Lee Westwood 1 up over  Marc Leishman.

Moore 1-0-1, Garcia 1-1-0, Westwood 1-1-0, Leishman 0-1-1. Ryan needs to beat Lee, again the certain thing is Marc has been eliminated.

Group 14

Zach Johnson 8&6 over Martin Kaymer.  Marcus Fraser Halved with Shane Lowery 

Johnson 2-0-0, Kaymer 1-1-0, Lowry 0-1-1, Fraser 0-1-1. It’s between Zach and Martin, Marcus and Shane have been eliminated.

Group 15

Brandt Snedeker Halved with Danny Lee.  Charl Schwartzel 3&2 over Charlie Hoffman.

Schwartzel 2-0-0, Snedeker 1-0-1, Lee 0-1-1, Hoffman 0-2-0. It’s between Brandt and Charl, Danny and Charlie eliminated

Group 16

Louis Oosthuizen 2&1 over Bernd Wiesberger.  Andy Sullivan 3&1 over Matt Jones.

Oosthuizen 2-0, Sullivan 2-0, Wiesberger 0-2, Jones 0-2. Andy and Louis could advance, Matt and Bernd eliminated.