Until Wednesday, Matt Kuchar didn’t fully appreciate being the last man standing — the last player on the PGA Tour to have qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs every year since its inception in 2007 — because it was an accomplishment realised through the most mundane of purposes. At least that’s way he sees it.

“I laughed originally,” he said of learning the news. “It was 17 straight years of keeping my job. I thought that’s what we were supposed to do.”

Kuchar, 45, did what he was supposed to do yet again this season, and amid a more challenging competitive framework. Only the top 70 advanced to this week’s FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, whereas in many of the previous years the top 125 on the points list advanced to the postseason. Largely forgotten is that the playoff field was 144 players for the first two seasons.

Thanks to four top-10 finishes, all before the Masters, Kuchar finished 60th in the standings to keep his streak intact. Adam Scott fought to join him with a furious finish at last week’s Wyndham Championship, but eventually ended up 72nd for the season.

2007 vs. 2023

Matt Kuchar is the only player to qualify for the #FedExCup Playoffs in every season of its existence. pic.twitter.com/TS4jGRppQw

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 9, 2023

Kuchar wasn’t inclined to pat himself on the back too much until he arrived at TPC Southwind and received a fair bit of affirmation from his peers. “I had a bunch of players congratulate me in the locker room as I walked through,” said the nine-time tour winner. “I was going, holy cow, that’s really cool. It hit home a little more when kind of had some peers say something.

“I think when I heard it basically through the media, I chuckled a bit at it because it’s not a goal of anyone’s to be in this position and make this streak. Certainly, it’s a nice feather in the cap, but today to hear from players was a great feeling, kind of put a little more perspective to the accomplishment.”

Kuchar said he expects a few current players will surpass his streak but acknowledges that no one else can trace the mark to the beginning of the playoff concept. And even though he’s dismissive of the feat in general, the Florida native and former US Amateur champion figures that he’ll remain in select company for years to come.

“There’s only so many players out here that have that potential. So the pool of us is small. It’s not like there’s thousands of guys with this chance,” he said.

A secret to his longevity and his consistency, he said, is having the right kind of goals. As you can probably guess, those goals centred on intangibles as opposed to wins or status on a points list.

“I’ve kept most things pretty simple throughout my career, and in that simplicity, the constant goal has always been to get better,” he explained. “I’ve never been one to set sights on, I want multiple wins or a major or putting definite numbers on it. My goal is to try to get better every year. If it’s one percent better, it’s better, and if you multiply that over a 20-some-odd-year career, hopefully it’s a lot better. I certainly feel like a better player now than I was. Haven’t had the results, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the process, and that continues to be the process.

“This is not something that anybody as a player shoots out to try to do,” he added. “But, certainly in my case, I love doing what I do. I love being able to play golf for a living, be out and play PGA Tour events week in and week out, and to do it for this many years has been a treat. It’s flown by, I assure you. I still feel like a kid. I still feel like I’m fresh out of college, but here I am in the 17th straight playoffs.”

The post FedEx Cup Playoffs: Matt Kuchar is starting to appreciate a streak that makes him the last man standing appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With the most lopsided win of his WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play career — a no-doubt 7-and-6 drubbing of previously undefeated Si Woo Kim — 44-year-old Matt Kuchar won his group and, more historically, tied Tiger Woods for the most match wins in the history of the tournament. He needed two wins coming into the week to reach 36 total victories, and after getting there, on Saturday morning, against Jason Day, he’ll have a chance to set the record outright.

“That’s something I still find it hard to comprehend that I’m saying that I tied one of his records,” Kuchar said, wearing his trademark grin. “So I’m hugely proud, pleased. There’s 300 more records I’m sure, to go, but it’s a fun one to be able to say you’ve kind of got something you tied Tiger with.”

He wasn’t aware that he was so close until he was told ahead of the week, but Kuchar admitted that it crossed his mind on Thursday when he missed a five-footer for birdie to beat Chris Kirk, having to settle for a tie instead. Following that match, the transcript of his interview seems to indicate he was less than pleased with himself, and not in the best of moods:

I wasn't there for this interview yesterday after Kuchar missed a short putt on 18 and settled for a tie against Chris Kirk, but needless to say, he was much happier after beating Si Woo Kim today. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/Ynub48aDtj

— Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere) March 24, 2023

Friday, things changed completely. He reflected for a bit on his career in this event — he didn’t remember that his first ever-win had come against none other than Anthony Kim — and aside from his championship win against Hunter Mahan in 2013, he pinpointed a consolation win against Bubba Watson in 2011 as his favourite match.

“Just entertaining, two completely different types of games,” Kuchar remembered. “Going through the rest — those finals, you get in the final it really stands out. And then I’ve got a final loss, which I’d like to forget.”

That was a reference to 2019, when he beat Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia, and Lucas Bjerregaard on the weekend before falling to Kevin Kisner in the championship.

Overall, Kuchar’s record is now 36-11-5, and his wins and losses since his first go-round in 2010 run the gamut of names great and small from the last decades: Jeev Milkha Singh to Jordan Spieth to Hiroyuki Fujita to Bo Van Pelt. (It seems like one of the few big names he never played was Woods himself.) The latest of Kuchar’s four top-three finishes came in 2021, when he lost to Scottie Scheffler in the semi-final but beat Victor Perez in the consolation match.

If you’re looking for an asterisk here, perhaps you could point out that Kuchar, currently ranked 71st in the world, would likely not have made the field this year without the LIV Golf breakaway, or that the current format, with at least three guaranteed matches, benefits him since Woods played more of his Match Play events in the single-elimination format. Nevertheless, a win is a win, and Kuchar is feeling bullish on his game after this result and a top-10 finish at Riviera last month.

“I’m very, very pleased, very excited about it,” he said. “I’ve got kind of this week and next week with long shot hopes of getting back into the Masters. That’s certainly a big goal of mine.”

In order to break into the world’s top 50 and reach the Masters this year, Kuchar will, at minimum, have to beat Day on Saturday and score at least two other wins and finish at least in third place. Along with that goal, there’s always the lingering question of whether Kuchar will ever get another chance to break Tiger’s record; this is the final Match Play in Austin, and even if the event resurfaces down the line (which is not at all clear at this point), there’s no guarantee that Kuchar will qualify.

It’s fitting that he’ll play Day. Along with Woods and Geoff Ogilvy, Day is the only player who has won this tournament twice, and like Kuchar, his game seems to be resurfacing after a dormant period.

The last time these players met at the Match Play was the 2013 semifinal, which Kuchar won 4 and 3 en route to his only title. The very next year, Day came back to beat Victor Dubuisson in an epic final to capture the first of his two titles.

Asked if he would trade any text messages with Woods now that they share the record, Kuchar thought for a moment.

“No,” he said. “If tomorrow goes well, I might, though.”

The post Matt Kuchar has a chance to break Tiger Woods’ record at WGC Match Play appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
These days, it usually takes going exceptionally low to win on the PGA Tour, and it’s apparently no different in qualifying for the US Open.

In the first final qualifier played in North America on Monday at two courses in Dallas, 11-under for 36 holes was the number to be the medallist — and there were four players who achieved that — while seven-under was the score that got players into next month’s major at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

In a qualifier that featured numerous PGA Tour pros, the top 13 out of 98 entrants advanced, and a six-man playoff was required for the final two spots. Those positions went to Davis Shore and Roger Sloan, while Adam Hadwin and Austin Cook were the first and second alternates, respectively.

The day’s low score was a 62 fashioned by Matthew NeSmith, who made nine birdies in the morning round at Royal Oaks Country Club. NeSmith, a third-year PGA Tour player who has competed in only one major, shot 69 in the second round at Lakewood Country Club and joined Americans Kurt Kitayama (65-66) and Sean Crocker (64-67), and Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma (68-63) at 11-under.

Among the notables not advancing were 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Aaron Baddeley, Rory Sabbatini and James Hahn.

The other more recognisable names to advance were Canadians Mackenzie Hughes (nine-under) and Nick Taylor (nine-under) and American Scott Stallings, who was solo 11th at eight-under.

There was one amateur who reached from this final: University of Texas junior Travis Vick, who shot nine-under. Vick was a semi-finalist at last year’s US Amateur at Oakmont.

The remaining nine final qualifiers — eight in the US and one in Canada — will be contested on Monday, June 6.

You might also like:
Here is everyone who has qualified for the US Open so far
The most infamous 72nd hole major collapses
Rory and the PGA have a major problem
18 takeaways from the PGA Championship
Justin has a drive to win
Mito the surprise leader at PGA Championship
Tiger withdraws ahead of PGA Championship final round
Zalatoris putting things right
McIlroy misses big chance at PGA Championship
Rory McIlroy swing analysis
Is Tiger’s style holding him back?
Rory leads the way at Southern Hills
Forget Dubai, check out the prices for drinks at PGA Championship
Dubai golfer Amelia McKee going pro

The post US Open 2022: These scores were ridiculously low, even in a US Open qualifier appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Jordan Spieth’s 55-foot, triple-breaking eagle conversion at TPC Craig Ranch’s par-5 18th on Thursday was going to be an impossible highlight to top this week, especially for himself. But this is Jordan Spieth we’re talking about, a man who can fill up half of SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays just on the back nine when he wants to.

Not only did Spieth top it, he topped it on the very same hole, once again to close out a low round that has put him firmly in contention heading into Sunday at the AT&T Byron Nelson. This, folks, is what the pros call a zero-putt eagle:

ANOTHER walk-off eagle. ?

Go on, @JordanSpieth He’s 2 back. pic.twitter.com/soaS0Hh10b

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 15, 2021

The late-round heroics were exactly what the three-time major champion needed after back-to-back bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes, a rare lapse in an otherwise stellar 54 holes. The finishing eagle gave Spieth a six-under 66, which has him just three off the lead of Sam Burns. Both Burns and Spieth are looking to capture their second wins of the season on Sunday.

“Once it got on the green, it looked good,” Spieth said of his final putt. “Started the putter raise and I wasn’t positive it was going in because the angle it was coming in at. I wanted to do the no look to the crowd, but, I mean, it was a really cool moment.”

Rolling in eagle putts from everywhere and scheming on how he’s going to celebrate before they actually drop? Yeah, he’s all the way back.

Four other takeaways from Saturday at the Byron Nelson

Icon Sportswire
Sam Burns looks on after his chip to the first green during the third round of the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Sam Burns might go ‘full Camilo’
A long time ago, going “full Camilo” was an inside Golf Twitter joke for players who would go low in the opening round of tournaments, then either miss or almost miss the cut on Friday, something Camilo Villegas was once notorious for. Fortunately, Villegas is playing much better golf of late, and that’s not the type of “full Camilo” Sam Burns is going for.

Should Burns go on to win Sunday (he’s three clear at 20 under), he’d become the first player since Villegas in 2008 to win his first two PGA Tour events in consecutive starts. Remarkly, Villegas actually did it in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, winning the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. For Burns, it would be the Valspar and the Byron Nelson, which would still be wildly impressive, and the type of “full Camilo” we can all celebrate.

Matthew Stockman
Matt Kuchar hits from the bunker on the 18th hole during round three of the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Matt Kuchar is playing Matt Kuchar golf again
Outside of a brief pop at the Match Play, Matt Kuchar hasn’t looked like Matt Kuchar over the last year or so. That has changed of late, however, with Kuchar picking up two top-20s in three starts since the Match Play, and now with him reaching 17 under through three rounds in Dallas. The secret? Kuch is Kuch again.

“Thankfully it’s turned the corner,” Kuchar said Friday evening. “It was a frustrating stretch with the COVID restart. My game was not where I wanted it to be and it’s taken a little while to find form again. Thankfully as of kind of the week in Austin, Match Play tournament, things have rounded back into kind of playing Matt Kuchar golf again.

“It’s been a whole lot more fun. It’s a whole lot nicer when you somewhat know where the ball is going to go when you’re standing over it.”

Matt Kuchar golf has been very good to Matt Kuchar over the years. If Matt Kuchar can play some more Matt Kuchar golf on Sunday, Matt Kuchar has a legitimate chance to end a two-plus year win drought (Matt Kuchar’s last win came at the 2019 Sony Open).

Icon Sportswire
Charl Schwartzel lines up his putt on the first hole during the third round of the AT&T Byron Nelson.

There’s some serious spoiler potential
Given the volatility of the scoring, and the quality of players chasing Burns, there’s a good chance somebody goes crazy low and comes from a few back to win this thing. Charl Schwartzel, who had a ton of love in the betting community this week, is at 17 under and clearly playing some great golf right now. K.H. Lee, who nearly won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February, is just one back at 19 under. Alex Noren, a 10-time European Tour winner in search of his first PGA Tour victory, is among the group at 17 under. Doc Redman, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Harris English are all lurking, too. Burns is red hot and definitely the favorite, but just about anything could happen Sunday.

Weather wreaking havoc on TV schedule, Pray 4 Golf Twitter
If you’re looking for real entertainment Sunday, skip the golf and scroll Golf Twitter when the golf should theoretically be on TV. Bad weather in the forecast forced the tour to move up tee times, meaning coverage will start at 10 a.m ET on Golf Channel and end at 11:45 a.m. It will then move to CBSSports.com and PGATour.com for streaming at noon—which rarely sits well with the vocal minority on social media. Of course, all it takes is one tech-savvy person in your home to figure out how to get it on your big screen, but that can often be a rather large obstacle for some. Hey, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

The post Spieth goes eagle hunting (again), Burns in line for rare feat and Matt Kuchar gets back to Matt Kuchar golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
Nick Faldo said he’d never known the rule in his 40-plus years as a professional golfer. Then it happened on back-to-back holes.

An obscure match-play rule came up twice during the Sunday’s semifinals match between Matt Kuchar and Scottie Scheffler at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. The first instance happened on Austin Country Club’s par-5 12th, where water guards the left side of the putting surface. Scheffler played first from the fairway and pulled his approach left into the drink, meaning he’d have to drop where his ball entered the hazard before playing his fourth.

Kuchar played next from the left rough and managed to find the front-right portion of the putting surface. Shotlink had his ball at 87 feet, eight inches from the cup, leaving a lengthy eagle putt. Scheffler then took his drop and had 77 yards in for his fourth.

That’s where things got a little funky: Kuchar played first, despite his ball being a good 50 yards closer to the hole.

Huh? One of the first rules of match-play golf is the player further from the hole plays first. So what happened here?

The answer lies in Rule 6.4b(1), which details the order of play when a player has a choice to play the ball as it lies or take relief. Scheffler technically fell into this camp, despite his ball lying at the bottom of lake. Theoretically, he could play his ball—as opposed to his ball being out of bounds, where he would be forbidden from playing it—or take relief from the hazard, which of course was the obvious choice.

The rule states, “the player’s order of play is based on the spot where the original ball lies [which if not known must be estimated].” So, where Scheffler’s ball lied after his drop is irrelevant to the order of play. Only the position of the original ball. Both players determined that Scheffler’s ball, although being at the bottom of the lake, was actually closer to the hole than Kuchar’s ball on the very front of the putting surface.

Kuchar, knowing the advantage that comes with hitting your ball close and putting pressure on your opponent to match that, promptly cosied his ball up within three feet. Scheffler hit a clunker and conceded the hole shortly thereafter.

The situation fascinated/puzzled Golf Channel broadcasters, and required further explanation by the resident rules expert, Steve Rintoul of the PGA Tour.

And then it happened again the very next hole.

A similar situation played out, this time on the drivable par-4 13th. Kuchar played first and hit his ball well right of the green, on dry land. Then Scheffler hit his ball right on line with the flag, but it flew about two yards too short and found water again. But again, Scheffler’s original ball lied closer to the hole than Kuchar’s, so Kuchar played his second from 30 yards before Scheffler played his third from 159 yards.

Just when you think you know everything about this game.

The post An obscure rule stumped the announcers twice during the Matt Kuchar-Scottie Scheffler match appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
As a caddie with two decades of experience for some of the game’s top players on the PGA Tour, this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui is a familiar spot for John Wood to begin his year. Instead of toting a golf bag, however, he’ll be carrying a microphone.

In August, Wood split with Matt Kuchar following a missed cut at the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. A few months later, it was announced that Wood would join NBC and Golf Channel as an on-course reporter for the networks.

Truly, the groundwork for the career change was laid five years earlier.

“Going back to 2015, I enjoyed the experience a lot more than I was anticipating,” Wood said of that year’s RSM Classic, where he joined Jim “Bones” Mackay as an on-course reporter for Golf Channel in its broadcast of the Sea Island, Ga., event. “I always kept that in the back of mind if an opportunity came up again.”

At the time, both men were employed loopers—Wood for Kuchar and Mackay for Mickelson. Two years later, one of golf’s most famous twosomes broke up when Mackay and Mickelson parted ways. Mackay joined the network full-time shortly thereafter.

Now, Wood is by his side again.

“I was ready for a new challenge,” Wood said of the career change. “I love caddying and I’ll miss it—no question—but when this opportunity presented itself, the timing was just right. You can’t caddie forever. Not all of us can be Fluff [72-year-old Mike Cowan]. I knew I could keep caddying, but I thought three, four, five years down the road would this opportunity still be here? I didn’t know.”

After Wood informed Kuchar he’d no longer be working for him, he caddied a few more times for Cameron Champ in the fall portion of the tour’s 2020-21 schedule. But his mind was already made up.

“I talked to a couple of [players] who got in touch, but I was committed to doing this once I made the decision,” Wood said. “There was no looking back.”

But even as the 51-year-old looks forward to his new role, in reality he’ll use many of the same skills—preparation, anticipation, knowing what to say and not to say—that he’s used for years. Those are just some of the reasons Wood was one of the most respected and successful loopers in the game, and why he figures to be an excellent fit for television, much the way Mackay has been.

As a caddie, John Wood worked with a number of top players, including Matt Kuchar. AR

“I was blown away how good Bones is now,” Wood said. “Not that he wasn’t good at the beginning, but watching him now, the job he does is incredible. Watching and listening to him helped me make the same decision.”

And in Wood NBC and Golf Channel gain a wealth of knowledge.

After playing collegiately at Cal, Wood spent the next 20 years on the bags of a handful of players. In addition to Kuchar, whom he began working for in 2015, he also caddied for Hunter Mahan, Kevin Sutherland, Chris Riley and Mark Calcavecchia.

Among the highlights: helping Kuchar to a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio; being part of two winning Ryder Cup teams, first for Mahan in 2008 then Kuchar in 2016; and more than a few victories on tour.

Despite that success, however, Wood said he was at a point in his life in which he was ready for a change. He’s intrigued by the inner workings of television and excited about the opportunity to provide his insights.

“You can have a plan always, but as soon as something deviates from that plan you have to think on your feet and come up with what your player wants to hear,” said Wood, who figures to work 18-20 tournaments this year and even more in the years ahead. “Now my attention will go to what will inform the viewer and what they might want to know about a shot that they might not otherwise know—what’s in the player’s head, the caddie’s head. Every week you prepare as a caddie for one player. Now I like looking at it in more ways than one.”

As for being critical of a player or reporting on something controversial? Wood plans to take the same approach he did as a caddie.

“There’s a big difference between being critical of a decision or bad shot and being personal,” he said. “Most of the guys understand that. As a caddie, you know when you screwed up, and I’m not afraid of someone saying I did. But I never want to cross that line and get personal. I just plan on calling it like I see it.”

The post Caddie John Wood takes the ‘Bones’ route in moving from the bag to microphone appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Dustin Johnson has withdrawn from a second consecutive PGA Tour event following a positive COVID-19 test last week.

The World No. 1 will not tee it up in this week’s Zozo Championship at Sherwood despite being eligible to return to play. He pulled out of the CJ Cup last Monday after experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and testing positive.

Johnson’s agent, David Winkle, confirmed his client’s WD in a text to Golf Digest.

“He is feeling much better, but still just a bit low on energy and wants to be very smart about his recovery,” Winkle said.

This week’s tournament would have been somewhat of a home game for Johnson, with Wayne Gretzky, the father of fiancee Paulina Gretzky, living on the host course, Sherwood Country Club in Thousands Oaks. Johnson broke Tiger Woods’ course record there, shooting 61 while playing with Gretzky in 2014.

Matt Kuchar will take Johnson’s place in the field. Woods is the tournament’s defending champ, although the event had to move from Japan to California this year due to the pandemic.

Johnson, the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year, has won three times since the PGA Tour restart in June while finishing T-2 and T-6 at the year’s first two majors. He is still expected to have a final tuneup before next month’s Masters at the Houston Open Nov. 5-8.

The post Dustin Johnson withdraws from second consecutive event following last week’s positive COVID-19 test appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
This time, it’s official. A decade and a half after Adam Scott “won” a rain-shortened 36-hole tournament here, which isn’t formally recognized by the PGA Tour as a victory, the 39-year-old Aussie emerged victorious once more on a frenetic Sunday at an unseasonably fiery Riviera Country Club. A final-round 70 was good for a hard-earned two-shot triumph over Sung Kang, Scott Brown and Matt Kuchar at the Genesis Invitational.

Scott has always loved this golf course, his—and seemingly many other’s—favourite on tour. But he’s only kind of been able to call himself a past champion. There was no asterisk on the portrait of him in the clubhouse, but there may as well have been. Now? There’s no doubt, no footnote, no equivocations. Adam Scott has conquered Riviera.

“It’s incredibly satisfying to win a tournament of this stature on a golf course of this stature,” Scott said. “It was a wonderful week. It was incredibly enjoyable just being here with the weather like this, the course in perfect condition and a great field. Even better to come out on top and kind of have your game really tested today. It was not easy, and that was most enjoyable—to kind of see that my game is holding up.”

Officially, Scott’s Sunday win is the 14th of his PGA Tour career. (Chris Trotman)

The victory in 2005 didn’t count toward his career PGA Tour win haul, which now totals 14. This one—his first on the U.S. circuit since March 2016, though he did win the Australian PGA Championship in his last start before this, in December—could count double, given how tough it came, the course he won it on and the field he beat.

Nine of the top 10 in the world teed it up—including new World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, who started the day in a three-way tie for the lead with Scott and Kuchar but flamed out of contention with a triple-bogey 7 on the fifth hole Sunday.

Scott was ranked No. 14 at the start of the week. But he will jump inside the top 10 on Monday for the first time in nearly two years, as he’s projected to reach No. 7 when the new World Rankings drop Monday.

“My career is in a good spot,” he said. “You know, even before winning this week, I feel like physically and somewhat mentally I’m OK after 20 years out here. I really do believe if I can maintain motivation and focus, the next five years can be my best years on tour.”

At his best, no one makes hitting a golf ball look simpler than Scott, his picture-perfect swing long-serving as a model for junior golfers everywhere. He’s equally smooth off the course, with his measured cadence and soothing Australian accent. He’s just … easy.

But Sunday was anything but.

After a room-service dinner and a phone call to his daughter Bo-Vera, who turned 5 over the weekend, Scott slept on a share of the lead Saturday night knowing he was in for a challenge. At the start of the final round, there were 16 players within four shots of the lead, including McIlroy—who Scott called a “benchmark of the game” on Saturday—and Kuchar and Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm.

Scott took the lead alone with birdies on the first and third holes, but he found himself playing catchup after going bogey/double bogey on Nos. 4 and 5. he bounced back with a birdie after nearly holing his tee shot on the par-4 sixth and then made six straight steady pars.

“On four and five, it could have really slipped away, but it’s in those moments where you just have to cliché everything and get back in your process, or stay in the moment and just do what’s been working well,” Scott said. “It’s not time to kind of get flustered and try something new on the sixth hole of the final round. I just really tried to do what I had done all week on that next swing and made a good swing and made a good putt.”

Chris Trotman

Pars were good currency all day in what can only be described as major-like conditions. February in Los Angeles usually brings with it some measure of moisture, but a dry couple weeks led to a dry course and firmer greens than any Genesis in recent memory. That, as well as a breezy afternoon and brutal pin conditions, created a golf course that simply didn’t yield many birdies. The lowest score of the day was three-under 68.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be as difficult as it was,” McIlroy said. “But everyone was finding it tough out there.”

Indeed they were. Added Kuchar: “It was one hard day out there. [Caddie] John Wood pulled me aside on the driving range—he knew I wasn’t playing my best, and he said, ‘Listen, those pin locations are harder today. You play smart, par’s going to be good on every hole.’ That was my game plan.”

Kuchar hung around all day, as did Dustin Johnson before two late bogeys cost him. Hometown boy Max Homa was in with a shout until his tee shot on the par-3 16th plugged in the bunker, and Joel Dahmen had an outside chance before missing a must-make birdie at 17. It was that kind of day—no less than 10 players looked to be legitimate threats to win at varying points of the afternoon. Tournament host Tiger Woods was not one of those players, as he shot a six-over 77 after yet another brutal day on the Poa annua greens, finishing last in the field for all players who made the cut.

Amid all the movement around him, Scott never wavered, even after he found a plugged lie in a bunker of his own on 15 and had to summon a brilliant flop shot to save bogey. After a solid par on 16, he sealed the win with a birdie on the par-5 17th, set up by a 338-yard drive that split the fairway. A two-putt par on the iconic 18th finished it.

“Hopefully it does just give me the confidence to play a little better, and certainly those feelings of what it’s like being in contention is good. Especially coming into the majors.”

The post Adam Scott’s second victory at Riviera won’t include an asterisk appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
A trio of world-class players are knotted atop a remarkably bunched leader board. A cluster of lesser-known challengers lurk behind, well within striking distance. The golf course is as good as you’ll find on the PGA Tour. As if all that wasn’t enough, Sunday’s forecast is perfect.

We’re near Hollywood, the global epicentre of clichés, so perhaps you’ll excuse this one: the stage is set for one helluva Sunday at Riviera.

Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar and Adam Scott share the lead at 10 under heading into the final round of the Genesis Invitational. Whatever the opposite of breathing room is, that’s what they have—there are 16 players within four shots of the lead, including Russell Henley and Harold Varner III one behind, and Joel Dahmen and past Genesis champion Dustin Johnson a shot further back at 8 under.

Kuchar will sleep on at least a part of the lead for the third straight night, having led by three after a Thursday 64 and by two after a gritty 69 on Friday. After a one-under 70 on Saturday, he’ll play for his 10th PGA Tour title but first in wire-to-wire fashion.

“There’s not a PGA Tour event you wouldn’t want to win, but there are a handful that are extra special, have a great list of past champions, have a great golf course,” Kuchar said. “This one’s one of those. You chalk it up as one of those sort of extra special tour events that you really hope to put your name as a past champion.”

McIlroy, as he tends to do these days, has inexorably inched his way up the leader board with rounds of 68-67-68, putting the new World No. 1 in prime position for his fifth PGA Tour win in the last 11 months.

McIlroy has lathered Riv with praise all week, lauding its ability to make the best players in the world think their way around the course rather than simply overpower it. Earlier in the week, he said he’d love to see a major return to Riviera for the first time since the 1995 PGA—especially a Riviera with greens as firm as they’ve been on this rainless, relatively warm week in Southern California.

“The course is phenomenal. The whole place. I mean, staying in Santa Monica and doing all that, it’s a really nice week, but obviously topped off by the fact that we’re playing one of the best courses that we play all year.”

And then there’s Scott, the sweet-swinging Aussie who birdied 18 for a four-under 67 and a spot in the final group. He’s won this tournament before. Well, kind of. He finished atop the leader board in 2005 here when torrential rain shortened the event to 36 holes, too short to count as an official win. He did, however, still go home with the trophy. A win on Sunday would be the 39-year-old’s first on tour since March 2016, though he did win the Australian PGA Championship just two months ago.

“I think all of that is just a bit of motivation for me to win tomorrow here and have an official victory at Riviera, and the Genesis [Invitational]. I think that would be extremely satisfying for me.”

One notable omission from the Sunday drama will be tournament host Tiger Woods, who has played his last 45 holes in nine over after shooting a four-under 31 on his first nine of the tournament. He four-putted the 13th green on Thursday and needed 33 putts overall for a five-over 76, his worst round in relation to par since an opening-round 78 at last year’s Open Championship.

“I didn’t putt well today at all,” Woods said. “I didn’t have a feel for it, I didn’t see my lines, I couldn’t feel my pace and I was just off.”

The post Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar are a Hollywood-worthy cast atop the leader board appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Tiger Woods shot himself out of contention on Saturday at Riviera C.C., stumbling to a third-round 76. But even without the 15-time major champion chasing history on Sunday, the final round of the Genesis Invitational has the potential to be the most exciting of the year on the PGA Tour.

Three players are tied at the top through 54 holes, the highest-ranked among them Rory McIlroy, who took over the World No. 1 spot earlier this week. He’s joined at 10 under by Matt Kuchar and Adam Scott, who won this event in 2005, though it does not count as an official win because it was shortened to 36 holes due to rain. Just don’t tell that to the 39-year-old Aussie.

“I count it, I’ve got the trophy,” said Scott following his third-round 67.

In terms of momentum, Scott has it all heading into Sunday. At the final hole he holed a slick, right-to-left downhill putt for birdie, his sixth of the day, earning a loud roar from the crowd. Scott’s somewhat of a fan favourite at Riviera, which he chalks up to having played so well there in the past.

“This is definitely my favourite course on the PGA Tour, that’s for sure. But it is nice being out there and getting a little love from the crowd. It’s a lot of fun for me, it’s fun that I keep getting back in late groups on the weekend here. So maybe I’m just a familiar face to them.”

McIlroy nearly played his way out of the final group at the par-4 18th, blasting a driveway right of the fairway, which forced him to play a shot left of the green. He was able to get up and down, saving a par and finishing with a three-under 68. Kuchar, who led by himself after each of the first two rounds, shot a one-under 70.

Just one back are Russell Henley (68) and Harold Varner III (69). Henley is looking to win for the fourth time on tour, his most recent victory coming at the 2017 Shell Houston Open. Varner has not yet won on tour, though he does have one European Tour victory. Dustin Johnson and Joel Dahmen lurk at eight under.

The post Three-way tie at the top sets up exciting finish on Sunday at Riviera appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.