Saturday – Golfing Agency

2022 Houston Open leaderboard, scores: Tony Finau separates as inclement weather pushes Round 2 to Saturday

detlef32 — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 22:20:39 +0000

After playing his final nine holes in 5 under on Thursday, Tony Finau kept his foot on the gas pedal early Friday morning at the 2022 Houston Open. Beginning his day with a crucial par save, the four-time PGA Tour winner tacked on 10 birdies against two blemishes over the course of his next 17 holes to tie the course record with an 8-under 62 at Memorial Park Golf Course.

“I thought I just took the momentum that I had from yesterday. I finished 5 under on my last nine yesterday and I just rolled that momentum right into today,” said Finau. “I thought I made a huge putt for par on No. 1 and then I was kind of off to the races. I almost made a hole-in-one on No. 2 and just kind of cruising from there. It was a really nice round of golf.”

Standing at 13 under, the 33-year-old is four strokes clear of his nearest pursuer as the conditions worsened in the Houston area in the afternoon hours and caused play to be suspended until Saturday morning when the second round will resume at 7:45 a.m. ET. With this weather expecting to persist, and with half the field still needing to complete their second rounds, this margin possessed by Finau cannot go overlooked as he attempts to fend off the competition over the weekend.

Last year’s runner-up and world No. 2 Scottie Scheffler remains a threat as he sits at 5 under through 13 holes in his second round. Still eight strokes off the pace, he is all but assured to be around for the weekend, unlike his good friend Sam Burns. Burns entered the week the second highest-ranked player in the field. After an opening 7-over 77, however, Burns is unlikely to recover and make the cut.

The leader

1. Tony Finau (-13)

Despite missing the cut last week in his season debut, Finau knocked off the competitive rust at Mayakoba. Staying put in Mexico to spend quality time with the family and play a couple rounds of golf with his children, Finau was looking to rediscover the sharpness that propelled him into a memorable last few months of the 2021-22 season.

During this span, Finau teed it up in 13 tournaments — winning twice, finishing runner-up another two times and collecting four additional top-15 finishes. Through 36 holes, his search appears to have been a successful one.

“Winning just breeds confidence. I’ve always felt like I was confident to win, but you’ve got to do it, you’ve got to make it happen. Having done that back to back, I think it just breeds confidence more into my belief and to my game,” said Finau. “I would say that’s been a nice part over these last couple years is just getting more comfortable at the top of the leaderboard. I always am trying to get better and each day that’s all you can ask of yourself is just try and push yourself to be the best you can be, and the result of that is I think I’ve been better each year of my career and each season and hopefully I continue that trend.”

Other contenders

2. Patrick Rodgers (-9)

T3. Tyson Alexander, Alex Noren (-8)

T5. James Hahn, Carl Yuan (-7)

T7. Wyndham Clark, Mackenzie Hughes, Aaron Rai, Ben Griffin, Ben Taylor, Trey Mullinax, Aaron Wise (-6)

This is an eclectic pack on the chase featuring journeymen, rookies, European stalwarts and everything in between. Hahn, Mullinax, Wise and Hughes are the only PGA Tour winners of the bunch, and it is the Canadian being featured in the spotlight. Playing alongside the leader the first two days, Hughes got a front row seat to Finau’s exquisite play.

Not possessing his best stuff on Friday, Hughes, who won earlier this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship, kept himself in this tournament thanks to a scrappy performance. One of the best putters on the PGA Tour and recently adding some distance, Hughes could be worth a look over the weekend.

“I kind of joked with Joel [Dahmen] a little bit there that Tony [Finau] had a long pro-am day today with him and I going alongside,” said Hughes. “And yeah, just felt like I was all over the lot starting out and just trying to find a way to make some pars. Was doing a good job of that for the most part. Then I got a little bit of a semblance of a swing the last five, six holes there and was able to finish the round quite nicely. All in all, it was probably about as good as I could have shot today.”

Homeless Hubbs heading home early after DQ

This was a peculiar moment in the second round as Mark Hubbard was disqualified for adding an extra golf club to his bag around the turn. Standing at 9 over for the tournament through 27 holes, Hubbard was never going to make the cut and instead looked to test a different driver before packing his bags. Unbeknownst to him, his actions were grounds for disqualification.

2022 Houston Open updated odds and picks

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

Tony Finau: 5/7
Scottie Scheffler: 8-1
Alex Noren: 9-1
Patrick Rodgers: 11-1
Aaron Wise: 14-1
Wyndham Clark: 60-1
Trey Mullinax: 60-1
Davis Riley: 65-1
Carl Yuan: 70-1
Mackenzie Hughes: 70-1
James Hahn: 80-1
Aaron Rai: 90-1

Two days into this tournament and only 12 players find themselves with odds lower than 100-1. A credit to what Finau is currently doing, I would be shocked if the current leader is unable to convert the edge into his fifth victory on the PGA Tour. He is performing adequately in every aspect of the game, and in particular his putting where he ranks third in the field.

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2022 Presidents Cup pairings, tee times: Foursomes, teams, complete schedule for Day 3 on Saturday

detlef32 — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 15:47:42 +0000

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The United States won Day 2 by a 4-1 margin — the exact same as Day 1 — and now takes an insurmountable lead into eight Saturday team matches, starting early with four foursomes in the morning.

It’s the foursomes where the U.S. has historically dominated this event. Based on its play over the first two days of this year’s Presidents Cup, that is expected to continue on Saturday as Davis Love III’s team could feasibly clinch the trophy by winning 7.5 of 8 possible points across two sessions on Day 3.

The International team has to find a spark just to keep the week respectable, but the U.S. is clearly trying to keep that from happening by rolling out Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in foursomes (alternate shot) early. The American duo have garnered a 2-0-0 record together thus far and will go against Sungjae Im and Corey Conners in a rematch of Day 1 action.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Saturday’s morning session is who isn’t playing. The dynamite pair of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are sidelined, as are Billy Horschel and Kevin Kisner, for the Americans.

The internationals are sitting Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Mito Pereira, who captured a half point in four-ball on Friday. Taylor Pendrith and Sebastian Munoz both performed admirably on Day 2 and will join them on the bench. Captain Trevor Immelman’s team is up against the wall, and a massive morning session will be needed if there is any hope of a historic comeback.

Here’s a look at all the pairings on Day 3 of the 2022 Presidents Cup. Don’t miss our complete Presidents Cup TV schedule and coverage guide so you can check out the action all weekend long. All times Eastern

2022 Presidents Cup pairings

Day 3 — Foursomes

1	Jordan Spieth & Justin Thomas	Sungjae Im & Corey Conners	7:12 a.m.
2	Cameron Young & Collin Morikawa	Adam Scott & Hideki Matsuyama	7:24 a.m.
3	Scottie Scheffler & Sam Burns	K.H. Lee & Tom Kim	7:36 a.m.
4	Tony Finau & Max Homa	Si Woo Kim & Cam Davis	7:48 a.m.

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2022 BMW PGA Championship to resume Saturday following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, shortened to 54 holes

detlef32 — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 22:12:09 +0000

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After halting play Thursday following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the DP World Tour has decided to move forward with the remainder of the 2022 BMW PGA Championship. Play will resume Saturday at 6:40 a.m. local time in Surrey, England, (1:40 a.m. ET) with several groups still needing to finish their first rounds.

“The second round of the BMW PGA Championship will resume at 6:40 a.m. on Saturday morning and all original second round tee times will remain the same,” the DP World Tour released in a statement. “Those players who are yet to complete their first round will do so from 7:30 a.m. onwards from the place on the golf course where they stopped on Thursday afternoon.”

The tournament, the biggest on the DP World Tour, will be cut down to 54 holes in lieu of the standard 72 holes.

“The Rolex Series event will now be contested over 54 holes with the intention to finish on Sunday as scheduled,” the statement said. “It is not possible to play the full 72 holes and finish on Monday as we cannot guarantee the staff, facilities or security of the venue on Monday due to the on-going plans for the state funeral. Across the weekend at Wentworth, black ribbons will be made available for people to wear and flags will continue to fly at half-mast.”

This means the opening rounds of 8-under 64 courtesy of Englishmen Andy Sullivan and Tommy Fleetwood and Norwegian Viktor Hovland hold even more weight as the trio possessed the co-lead at the conclusion of play on Thursday. With only 36 holes to play, the task to chase down those at the top of the leaderboard becomes all the more difficult for pursuers.

There was no mention of a change to the cut in the DP World Tour’s statement, so it should be safe to assume it will take place following the initial 36 holes. With Rory McIlroy and defending champion Billy Horschel four strokes off the pace, and Matt Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm even farther back, flawless golf will need to be played over the weekend if they are to raise the biggest trophy on the DP World Tour.

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BMW PGA Championship suspended following the Queen’s death, play to resume on Saturday

detlef32 — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 08:08:24 +0000

Play at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth was suspended late on Thursday following the announcement that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away earlier in the day.

As a mark of respect, no play will take place on Friday, with the tournament restarting at 6.40am on Saturday. The tournament has been reduced to 54 holes to enable a Sunday finish.Those players who are yet to complete their first round will do so from 7.30am onwards from the place on the golf course where they stopped on Thursday afternoon.

A statement from the European Tour Group said: “On behalf of our members and everyone connected with the European Tour group and the BMW PGA Championship, it is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She truly was an inspiration to people the world over. Out of respect for Her Majesty and the Royal Family, play has been suspended at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club for the remainder of Thursday and flags at Wentworth Club will be lowered to half-mast. Furthermore, no play will take place at the BMW PGA Championship on Friday and the golf course and practice facilities will be closed. Further updates on the resumption of play will be provided in due course. Our deepest sympathies and condolences are with the Royal Family at this time.”

Across the weekend at Wentworth, black ribbons will be made available for people to wear and flags will continue to fly at half-mast. In addition, there will be a two minute silence at 9.50am on Saturday morning across the venue to commemorate the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with the proclamation of King Charles III being shown on the television screens in the Championship Village from 10am.

The concerts and evening entertainment planned for Saturday and Sunday night has been cancelled.

First round recap

With the West Course softened by recent heavy rain, Tommy Fleetwood, Andy Sullivan and Victor Hovland took full advantage of being able to target the pins with all three players carding eight-under-par 64s to share the first-round lead.

Fleetwood made six birdies on the back nine in a bogey-free round, while Sullivan dropped one shot at the first. Hovland ended his bogey-free round with successive birdies at 16 and 17 and an eagle at the 18th hole.

Matthew Jordan made three successive birdies three times on his way to a 65, while Shane Lowry shares third on six under. Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy opened with a 68, with birdies at 16 and 18 turning an average round into a good one. It was a score matched by defending champion Billy Horschel.
US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick got his tournament under way with a three-under 69.

Of those that have signed up to the LIV Tour, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer are the highest placed on four under. Ian Poulter, who caused controversy by wearing a shirt which bore the logo of his LIV Golf team, Majecticks, is at -3, while Lee Westwood is at -2.

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