Michael Thorbjornsen Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Thorbjornsen earns place at 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:17:33 +0000

Michael Thorbjornsen has earned a place in the field at the 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic after finishing the fall college golf season as the PGA TOUR University’s number one player.

The 35th edition of the prestigious Rolex Series event will be played at Emirates Golf Club from January 18-21, and this is the third year that the event has offered an exemption to PGA TOUR University’s top-ranked player.

The 22-year-old, who won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2018, competed at this year’s edition of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on a sponsor’s invitation, finishing in a share of 20th place in his first start on the DP World Tour and earning low-amateur honours.

Thorbjornsen has also made four cuts on the PGA TOUR, with a fourth-place finish at the 2022 Travelers Championship a highlight.

Michael Thorbjornsen alongside Rory McIlroy last year – Getty Images

Sam Bennett (2022) and Ludvig Åberg (2023) were the first two players to earn the PGA TOUR University exemption into the event. Since their starts, Bennett went on to win the 2022 U.S. Amateur and finished T16 at this year’s Masters Tournament, while Åberg earned maiden victories on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, and also made his Ryder Cup debut at Marco Simone.

“Helping develop the next stars of tomorrow – both locally and overseas – is very important for us and our partnership with the PGA TOUR provides a platform for golf’s young rising stars to not only compete against the world’s best professionals but also gain vital competitive experience that will help them take their game to the next level,” said Simon Corkill, executive tournament director of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

“We look forward to welcoming Michael Thorbjornsen to the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January following an impressive year on the PGA Tour University calendar.”

PGA TOUR University ranks collegiate players based on their average performance in NCAA Division-I men’s team competitions, official PGA TOUR tournaments and select DP World Tour events over a two-year ranking period.

The Number One player in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking on May 27, 2024, will earn PGA TOUR membership.

Images: Getty Images

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US Amateur favourite withdraws with injury that also will sideline him for next month’s Walker Cup at St Andrews

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 08:12:46 +0000

Michael Thorbjornsen. Kathryn Riley

At No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and already a selection for the US Walker Cup team competing next month at St Andrews, Michael Thorbjornsen would have been among the favourites next week to contend at the US Amateur at Cherry Hills. Instead the 21-year-old rising senior at Stanford announced that a back injury will sideline him for the next few month, forcing him to miss both the US Amateur and the Walker Cup.

“I’m disappointed to share that I am unable to compete in next week’s US Amateur and upcoming Walker Cup due to a stress fracture in my back,” the Pac-12 player of the year wrote on Instagram. “My medical team has recommended a period of inactivity for the fracture to heal properly. While the timing is unfortunate, I anticipate being back to full health this fall. I’ve given it my all this summer and made some great memories. It hurts missing our national amateur championship and not representing Team USA at St. Andrews, but I’m very grateful to the USGA for the honor and their support. I can’t wait to get back with my teammates at Stanford and back on the course as soon as possible.”

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A post shared by Michael Thorbjornsen (@michaelt_1)

A native of Welleley, Massachusetts, Thorbjornsen has had a steady summer, led by qualifying for the US Open for the third time in his amateur career and finishing 17th at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic. (In 2022, he finished fourth at the Travelers Championship.) Last week, he reached the match-play portion of the Western Amateur after winning the title in 2021. He is also ranked No. 1 entering the 2023-24 college season on the PGA Tour University ranking, which provides a direct pathway to earning a PGA Tour card in 2024.

A year ago, Thorbjornsen was among four co-medallists in the US Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club before falling in the first round. In previous appearances, he reached the second round of match play at Oakmont in 2021 and was a quarter-finalist in 2020 at Bandon Dunes.

Thorbjornsen’s USGA success also includes winning the US Junior Amateur title in 2018.

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UAE team arrive in France for Eisenhower Trophy

Matt Smith — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 11:34:16 +0000

By Matt Smith
Fresh from their preparations in Morocco, the UAE men’s national team arrived in France for the World Amateur Team Championships — the Eisenhower Trophy, as it is affectionately known.

Abdullah Al Musharrekh and Ahmad Skaik were training in Morocco this past week and joined captain Khalid Yousuf in Paris as they prepare to take on the best amateur golfers in the world.

Denmark are the team to beat as champions, but as always the United States and England look formidable, as 72 teams take part in the biennial competition.

England has Gareth Jenkins, Sam Bairstow and Arron Edwards-Hill in the line-up, while the US will field Diana Murphy, Gordon Sargent, Michael Thorbjornsen and Austin Greaser.

The UAE will be looking to place well ahead of hosting the 2023 event next year. This year’s event is the first since 2018 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Dubai’s Josh Hill goes down fighting at US Amateur Championship

Matt Smith — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 11:30:48 +0000

By GolfDigestME.com
Dubai born-and-bred Josh Hill went down fighting at the US Amateur Championship on Wednesday, suffering a 2&1 loss to Campbell Kremer in the round of 64.

Hill had qualified for the match play section of the tournament by progressing placed T30 after two rounds of stroke play at Ridgewood Country Club and Arcola Country Club in New Jersey.

It was similar bad news for pre-tournament favourite Michael Thorbjornsen in the race to claim the Havemeyer Trophy.

Playing against No. 63-seeded Andrew Von Lossow, Thorbjornsen failed to reach the 17th hole, falling 3&2 to the 34-year-old from Spokane, Washington.

“That was awesome playing Michael,” Von Lossow said. “First time meeting him, had heard about him, and I know he’s a great player. Then seeing how he hits the ball and everything, it was awesome.”

Andrew Von Lossow. Kathryn Riley

Von Lossow created a bit of a buzz with the colourful shirt he was rocking Wednesday morning during the 15-for-11 playoff to reach the match-play bracket. After making par and advancing, he created far more buzz with his stunning upset of the sixth-ranked amateur in the world.

“Just apply pressure,” Von Lossow said of his strategy. “I didn’t hit every fairway but I could muscle a few out of the rough. Then my caddie, my buddy Brian, he caddies here, Brian Roth, and he got me in the right spots around the greens. Just around here you have to be below the hole or just know if you have more room left or right of the holes. Had a few good numbers on the back nine where I could kind of hit some flighted shots and some full shots.”

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PGA Tour: Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2022 Travelers Championship

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 11:55:31 +0000

GolfDigestME.com
At 17-under, Xander Schauffele held a one-shot edge entering the final round of the Travelers Championship, which sounded like a good thing. The problem, however, was that sticking the landing at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, on Sunday is often a challenge.

For starters, Schauffele’s track record when holding a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour is poor. All four previous occasions he’s been in this position, he has failed to convert, finishing T-2 three times and T-3 once.

More interesting perhaps than Schauffele’s past finishes are the tournament’s. In the last 10 years of the event, only two 54-hole leaders had won (Jordan Spieth in 2017 and Chez Reavie in 2019). And four of the eight who rallied on Sunday did so from at least three shots from behind.

Enter Sahith Theegala, a 24-year-old PGA Tour rookie who started the day three shots off the lead, but came to the 72nd hole at 19-under, one ahead of Schauffele after making five birdies over the first 17 holes. But Theegala hit his tee shot on the last into left fairway bunker off the tee, the ball coming very close to the front lip. And he got aggressive with the second shot, trying to get it to the green only to have it hit the lip and move just four inches.

Theegala played this third out of the bunker short of the green, and hit his fourth to 12 feet, but failed to make the bogey putt.

Enter (again) Schauffele, who made birdie on the last hole to finish with a two-under 68 and a two-stroke win at 19-under 261. And it was a big win, his first individual PGA Tour title since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions and the sixth of his career. No one questioned Schauffele’s talent — 35 top-10 in his 133 career starts, with five wins, 10 runners-up and six thirds — but being on top after 72 holes is difficult for anybody, including the 28-year-old Californian.

MORE: Xander ends his PGA Tour drought

With the victory, Schauffele claimed the $1.494 million first-place prize money payout. The overall purse the Travelers is $8.3 million. Below is the prize money payout for each golfer who made the cut at TPC River Highlands.

Win: Xander Schuaffele, -19, $1,494,000
T-2: Sahith Theegala, -17, $738,700
T-2: J.T. Poston, -17, $738,700
4: Michael Thorbjornsen, -16, Amateur
5: Chesson Hadley, 266/-14, $406,700
T-6: Kevin Kisner, 268/-12, $320,587.50
T-6: Keith Mitchell, 268/-12, $320,587.50
T-8: Nick Hardy, 269/-11, $243,605
T-8: Brian Harman, 269/-11, $243,605
T-8: William McGirt, 269/-11, $243,605
T-8: Chez Reavie, 269/-11, $243,605
T-8: Scott Stallings, 269/-11, $243,605
T-13: Patrick Cantlay, 270/-10, $159,775
T-13: Tony Finau, 270/-10, $159,775
T-13: John Huh, 270/-10, $159,775
T-13: Martin Laird, 270/-10, $159,775
T-13: Scottie Scheffler, 270/-10, $159,775
T-13: Webb Simpson, 270/-10, $159,775
T-19: Keegan Bradley, 271/-9, $106,101.67
T-19: Luke List, 271/-9, $106,101.67
T-19: Rory McIlroy, 271/-9, $106,101.67
T-19: Matthew NeSmith, 271/-9, $106,101.67
T-19: Harris English, 271/-9, $106,101.66
T-19: K.H. Lee, 271/-9, $106,101.66
T-25: Ryan Armour, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Bill Haas, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Lee Hodges, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Mackenzie Hughes, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Nate Lashley, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Adam Long, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Seamus Power, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Brendan Steele, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Kevin Streelman, 272/-8, $61,835
T-25: Adam Svensson, 272/-8, $61,835
T-35: Wyndham Clark, 273/-7, $43,243
T-35: Christopher Gotterup, 273/-7, $43,243
T-35: Charles Howell III, 273/-7, $43,243
T-35: Sam Ryder, 273/-7, $43,243
T-35: Robert Streb, 273/-7, $43,243
T-40: Michael Gligic, 274/-6, $36,105
T-40: Aaron Rai, 274/-6, $36,105
T-40: Matthew Wolff, 274/-6, $36,105
T-43: Hayden Buckley, 275/-5, $31,125
T-43: Conrad Shindler, 275/-5, $31,125
T-43: Harold Varner III, 275/-5, $31,125
T-46: Tyler Duncan, 276/-4, $23,678.72
T-46: Ben Silverman, 276/-4, $23,678.72
T-46: Matt Wallace, 276/-4, $23,678.72
T-46: Tommy Fleetwood, 276/-4, $23,678.71
T-46: Mark Hubbard, 276/-4, $23,678.71
T-46: Andrew Novak, 276/-4, $23,678.71
T-46: Andrew Putnam, 276/-4, $23,678.71
T-53: Paul Barjon, 277/-3, $20,003
T-53: Stewart Cink, 277/-3, $20,003
T-53: Matthias Schwab, 277/-3, $20,003
T-56: Jonas Blixt, 278/-2, $19,007
T-56: Joseph Bramlett, 278/-2, $19,007
T-56: Cam Davis, 278/-2, $19,007
T-56: Luke Donald, 278/-2, $19,007
T-56: Kelly Kraft, 278/-2, $19,007
T-56: Hank Lebioda, 278/-2, $19,007
T-56: Taylor Moore, 278/-2, $19,007
63: Austin Cook, 279/-1, $18,343
T-64: Patton Kizzire, 280/E, $18,011
T-64: Peter Malnati, 280/E, $18,011
T-64: Davis Riley, 280/E, $18,011
67: Kevin Tway, 281/+1, $17,679
68: Morgan Hoffmann, 282/+2, $17,513
69: Joel Dahmen, 284/+4, $17,347
T-70: Lucas Glover, 285/+5, $17,098
T-70: Harry Higgs, 285/+5, $17,098

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Amateur Michael Thorbjornsen’s reaction to finishing fourth at the Travelers was pretty amazing

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 11:27:03 +0000

Michael Thorbjornsen. Tim Nwachukwu

By Ryan Herrington
Stanford All-American Michael Thorbjornsen promised to be a nice side story on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, no matter how he finished. The 20-year-old from Wellesley, Massachusetts, had local ties to the tournament, having grown up 90 minutes away from TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. He was playing on a sponsor’s exemption, continuing the tournament’s tradition of inviting young up-and-comers to take some early swings on tour. And he started the day six strokes off the lead, close enough to keep the dream of becoming the first amateur winner on the PGA Tour in 31 years alive.

That dream looked a lot more real through 11 holes of the final round, when Thorbjornsen, who’ll be a junior in the autumn, made his fourth birdie of the day (along with an eagle) to rise to 16-under for the tournament and sit just one stroke back of leader Xander Schauffele.

Only five times in 70 years has an amateur won a PGA Tour event, the last coming with Phil Mickelson’s victory at the Northern Telecom Open in 1991. The best an amateur had ever finished in the Travelers was back in 1966, when Jim Grant finished T-6.

“I felt pretty comfortable out there,” said Thorbjorsen, a former US Junior Amateur who missed the cut two weeks ago at the U.S. Open at The Country Club after qualifying for the championship. “Maybe a little too comfortable.”

Indeed, his torrid stretch cooled when he made bogey on the par-4 12th. Then on the par-5 13th hole, Thorbjornsen hit into the water off the tee, a poor swing he insisted rather than pressure mounting. The ball submerged, he impressively got it out to the fairway, only to hit his third shot into the water guarding the green. He walked off with a bogey.

To his credit, he would make pars on his final five holes, scrambling at times but still posting a four-under 66 final round and a 15-under 265. He’d wind up four back of Schauffele in solo fourth, having to forego what would have been a $406,700 payday.

“It was surreal. It was crazy,” Thorbjornsen said of the best finish by an amateur in a PGA Tour event since Lee McCoy’s solo fourth at the 2016 Valspar Championship. “I think it was louder here compared to last week at the US Open. It felt like home. It was pretty cool.”

A valiant effort by the 20-year-old amateur.

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The fans on 18 give Michael Thorbjornsen a well-deserved ovation as he finishes his final round. pic.twitter.com/DoFevWVxrK

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 26, 2022

Next up for Thorbjornsen: A flight to London to play in an Open Championship qualifier, followed by a trip to Switzerland to play for the US in the Palmer Cup. He’ll be bringing a lot of positive energy with him.

“It gives me some confidence. I think the thing is that I played well, I felt like I played well, but I didn’t feel like I played like incredible out there,” Thorbjornsen said. “Definitely left a couple shots out there, had some miscues, mental errors throughout the week. But it feels good. I played solid and finished in fourth, I think.”

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Xander Schauffele finally ends his PGA Tour victory drought, but not without a little luck

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 06:04:32 +0000

By Shane Ryan
Ask any golfer who has ever won a PGA Tour event and they’ll tell you that to ring that bell, you almost always need a little bit of luck. Sometimes you need a lot. What they don’t tell you is that sometimes, you need bad luck to lose.

On a normal Sunday, Schauffele’s first individual PGA Tour win in more than three years (in the interim, he won the Zurich Classic paired with Patrick Cantlay, and the Olympic gold medal) would be the story of the day. However, when the final putt fell at the Travelers Championship, there was no question that the most memorable moment belonged not to the winner, but to Sahith Theegala, who finished in a tie for second.

After draining an impressive 10-foot birdie putt on 17 to take a one-shot lead on Schauffele, Theegala, a 24-year-old former college player of the year at Pepperdine turned tour rookie, hit a drive on 18 at TPC River Highlands that didn’t cut the way he wanted, and got the worst possible break when the ball ran through a bunker to the very front edge. He had a decision to make; rather than play passively, risk bogey and watch his dream of a first tour win evaporate with a Schauffele birdie, he judged that he had enough room to clear the lip and keep the pressure on his opponent behind him.

So, with Schauffele looking on from the tee, Theegala took a crack at the most difficult option, and when the cloud of sand had cleared … the ball was almost right where he left it.

The leader is in trouble on 18. pic.twitter.com/UsJ7VpYSPY

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 26, 2022

Theegala played it safer then, and hit a solid pitch to 12 feet to give himself a bogey look. Then, as if the sand fiasco wasn’t enough heartbreak for one hole, this happened:

The cruelest of cruel.

A double bogey on 18 for @SRTheegala drops him out of the lead. pic.twitter.com/7ZoAG8NK9m

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 26, 2022

Schauffele had already striped his drive 338 yards down the right side of the fairway, and with that double bogey from Theegala, it was all over — he simply had to reach the green from 105 yards away and two-putt. He did better, making birdie to reach 19-under and win by the deceptive margin of two shots.

The pain is doubly acute for Theegala because of how well he played the rest of the round. Coming off a 64 on Saturday, he played bogey free through 17 holes, holing two long putts on the front nine to go out in 33, and dialling in his best play for the closing stretch by making a tap-in birdie on the par-5 13th, driving the green on the par-4 15th, and then burying the clutch 10-footer on 17 that seemed to give him the edge he’d need to win. Everything seemed to be building to a Sunday tour de force for a guy who had every right to feel nervous, and then it all blew up.

“Never in a million years did I think I would allow myself to blade it,” Theegala said. “All I had to do was chunk it. We even said, like, this is a 50/50 ball in terms of I got to try and just basically hit it just a hair behind it. Somehow my body just, I just straight bladed it. I had room there. I don’t know how it looked, but I had room there. Just didn’t think I would let myself blade it. But I guess the moment was…and then from there it’s, like, got to try and make 5 now. Had a little more room. And I did the same thought process. I nearly bladed it again.”

On social media, where Theegala had generated a good deal of buzz on Sunday, there were rampant questions about the choice to use driver, the aggression in the sand, and the general mindset on 18. Theegala, however, stood by his play when asked what he might do differently if given a second chance.

“Nothing,” he said. “I did everything I thought I had to do, and it just happened to be everything bad culminated on one hole.”

Sahith Theegala reacts to a missed bogey putt on the 18th green during the final round at TPC River Highlands. Michael Reaves

Schauffele, the 54-hole leader, was playing with Cantlay, his friend and partner from both the Ryder Cup and the Zurich Classic. Cantlay’s day quickly developed into a nightmare, with three birdies in his first four holes, and it never got much better. After starting one off the lead, he finished with a 76, the second-worst score on the course on Sunday, but it didn’t seem to faze Schauffele. He was steady, if unspectacular, atoning for a bogey on 2 with a 15-foot birdie on 4 and a 10-footer on 6. It was mostly pars from there on out, and the final birdie on 18 gave him a two-under 68 on the day.

It’s an important win for Schauffele, who has been a top-15 player in the world for years now (his highest ranking was fourth, though he has slipped over the past year), but who, despite winning that gold medal in Tokyo and his pairs successes, had begun to develop a reputation for coming up short on Sundays (he was 0-for-4 in his career previously when trying to convert a 54-hole lead into a W). When a moderator joked with him in the post-round interview about how long it had been since his last win, he responded: “Don’t remind me.”

“It feels really good,” he said of his long-awaited triumph. “Everyone talks about how hard it is, and I only had the Olympics to sort of fall back on having a [54-hole] lead and kind of closing it. I’ve never done it on the PGA Tour … I mean to do it in Japan and then sort of have that experience, I really tapped into that today.”

He spoke about staying in the moment, and how that hasn’t always been his best skill.

Schauffele didn’t need reminding that he hadn’t won an individual title since the 2019 Tournament of Champions. Michael Reaves

“I think it’s probably something that’s been more developed,” he said. “I haven’t really had a hard time focusing growing up. My wife tells me I’m the worst multi-tasker on the planet, so that usually bodes well if you can only focus on one thing. I think in the past when I had 54-hole leads or close to the lead, my Sundays feel really fast. And I’d be kind of sitting back in the hotel or at a house on Sunday sort of thinking, ‘what happened today?’”

Schuaffele adjusted this week by attempting what so many professional golfers strive for and fail to achieve, which is the simple task of staying present and bringing full attention to every shot. He told his caddie Austin Kaiser to hold him accountable, and together they dialled in early and did enough to win.

Nearly lost in the late drama was the incredible performance of the 20-year-old amateur Michael Thorbjornsen, the 2019 US Junior Amateur winner and rising junior at Stanford who made the field on a sponsor’s exemption after playing in the US Open last week. He was the 2021 Massachusetts Amateur champion and playing in front of a home New England crowd in Cromwell, Connecticut. Not only did he make the cut (after an MC at The Country Club), but came closer than most predicted from winning the whole thing. A front-nine 31 on Sunday had him crawling up the leaderboard, and he followed that with two straight birdies on 10 and 11 to move just one back of Schuaffele. He finally cooled off, making bogey on 12 and 13 before five straight pars to end his round, but the final result was 15-under and solo fourth. That’s the highest finish for an amateur at the Travelers Championship.

“It was incredible,” he said. “It was surreal … It’s better than how I dreamed about it. It’s so loud. It was very welcoming. I can’t wait to come back next year and the following years.”

Rory McIlroy, who co-led after a first-round 62, which ended up being tied with JT Poston for the best score of the week, followed two days of fading with a Sunday 67 to finish T-19. Poston fared better, closing with a 64 to tie Theegala for second. It’s Poston’s best finish on tour since a solo second at the 2021 Barbasol Championship.

The lingering image for this year’s Travelers, though, will be Theegala’s shot out of the sand on 18, and though he’ll do his best to put it behind him — he seems to have very few regrets, which is a good start — he did let the armour down for a moment when a journalist asked if he was still in shock.

“I don’t know what … yeah,” he said. “I don’t know what you want. Do you want me to say no to that? Yes, I am. Thank you.”

When the bad luck hits, and it’s this expensive, it’s hard to figure out how to be anything but dazed.

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Travelers Day 3 takeaways: Patrick Cantlay is at it again, an amateur seeks to make history and don’t sleep on a comeback winner

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 05:48:42 +0000

Xander Schauffele (left) and Patrick Cantlay at the Travelers Championship. Tim Nwachukwu

By E. Michael Johnson
At a tournament named after an insurance company that provides some certainty and a sense of steadiness for people, Patrick Cantlay is about as steady as they come. And he proved that again during Saturday’s third round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, where a seven-under-par 63 has him within one shot off the lead headed into the final round.

In his last five starts covering 19 rounds, Cantlay has been under par in 17 of them and over par in just one with a scoring average of 67.11. He has not finished outside of the top 15 in the last four Travelers, but remarkably, he hasn’t cracked the top 10 either. Now that’s steady!

Also steady was a third round that saw Cantlay produce seven birdies and no bogeys in his 63, which was the day’s low round. Of course, when four of those birdies come from inside three feet (including a near ace at the par-3 11th) and only one from outside 10 feet, well, that’s pretty steady, too, as is hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation.

Cantlay, who shot a 60 as an amateur during his first appearance in the Travelers in 2011, is (sorry!) one of the steadiest players on tour, with seven top-10s in 13 starts this year. Still, for the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year who had four wins last season, this campaign has to feel like somewhat of a disappointment so far.

His lone win on the season came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a team event where he partnered with Xander Schauffele, who holds the lead by one over Cantlay and will be paired with his buddy again for the final round. Cantlay’s game also has been scratchy at times, explaining why he is ranked outside the top 60 in driving distance, driving accuracy and greens in regulation.

Working with his instructor, Jamie Mulligan, Cantlay has cleaned up some flaws in his fundamentals. “I’m in Florida all year and when it’s blowing 20 you have a tendency to get on your left leg at setup to control the ball into the wind,” he said. “So just getting a little more on my right side at setup, and it’s cleaned up a lot of stuff in my swing. … My swing feels like it’s in a really good spot. The little cut shot with a little off on my 9-iron on the 17th hole really shows how much work I’ve put in and how it’s paying off.”

It also has him sniffing at a trophy once again.

A ‘comfortable’ amateur seeks to make history

Amateur Michael Thorbjornsen plays from the 15th tee during third round of Travelers Championship. Tim Nwachukwu

Those watching the coverage on Saturday probably had a reaction along these lines when ‘Thorbjornsen (a)’ popped up on the first page: Who is this guy?

Well, for starters, apparently a pretty solid player. The 2018 US Junior champion is a rising junior at Stanford, where he led the Cardinal in scoring average and to a berth in the recent NCAA Championship. He also made the cut in the 2019 US Open, becoming just the second 17-year-old to do so in the last decade (Beau Hossler did it as well in 2012 at Olympic).

Those chops were on display on Saturday where Thorbjornsen backed up a Friday 65 with a 66 to stand at T-7, six shots back of Schauffele and with an outside chance to become the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open in Tucson. Oh, and if you think six shots is too large a deficit, keep reading.

Thorbjornsen’s round included a trio of big putts — a 36-footer on the par-3 fifth hole; a 30-footer on the par-3 11th; and after a 20-foot birdie on the 14th hole, he rose to a tie for second. He fell back with a bogey at the 15th.

Despite the cool European-sounding last name, Thorbjornsen was born in Ohio and lives in Massachusetts, meaning his appearance at last week’s US Open was a bit of a home game and the 90-minute drive to TPC River Highlands to take advantage of a sponsor exemption wasn’t too bad on gas — not unimportant when it’s running five bucks a gallon and you’re not getting paid to play.

Thorbjornsen’s impressive week is despite battling a nagging wrist injury that has required a fair amount of physio attention. However, while he might be having some physical issues, mentally he’s in a good place, thanks partially to some advice from Collin Morikawa.

During a practice round for last week’s US Open at The Country Club, Thorbjornsen asked Morikawa for the one piece of advice he would give him. After some thought, Morikawa provided an answer.

“He told me just to stay comfortable,” Thorbjornsen told CBS after his round. “Whatever it takes to be comfortable out there, playing with these big guys, these big players, and I kind of took that to heart.”

If he keeps that mindset a lot more people will know his name sooner than later.

Theegala continues to show his potential

Sahith Theegala reacts to his shot on the 18th hole during the third round of Travelers Championship. Michael Reaves

Oh, Sahith …

After playing 17 holes of relentless good golf, Sahith Theegala made a messy bogey on the final hole, turning a potential 63 into a 64. Still, let’s give the man his due.

The score still was the day’s second lowest and produced a solid look at a golfer much was expected of coming out of college where he became just the fifth collegiate golfer to win the Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Haskins awards.

Theegala came into this season having missed more cuts than he had made in his brief PGA Tour career but has played consistently and often — his 86 rounds are the most of any player on tour this season. He’s made the cut in 20 of 25 events, including a T-3 at the WM Phoenix Open.

Recharged after a week off because he did not qualify for the US Open, Theegala played a pedestrian but useful front nine, birdieing the short par-4 second and then the par-5 sixth before breaking out with a 31 on the back despite the closing bogey. Key was an iron from 208 yards to five feet at the par-5 13th leading to the only eagle of the day there. In all, Theegala picked up nearly four shots on the field tee-to-green in the third round.

During the COVID quarantine period when the tour was on hiatus, Theegala took the time to improve his chess game and found some useful commonality with golf. “Chess is like golf — your current move sets up the next one,” Theegala told Golf Digest last year. “It also helps keep the mind sharp.”

His game seems pretty sharp, too, as he seeks his first PGA Tour victory — one that would be special regardless, but more so if it were to happen at the Travelers. Theegala made his professional debut on a sponsor’s exemption in 2020. He missed the cut, but his appreciation for having been given a spot has stayed with him.

“It would mean the world to me [to win here],” he said. “This tournament will always hold a special place in my heart.”

No lead, no problem (most of the time)

Schauffle might be kicking tail and taking names, but he is no lock to win the Travelers Championship despite a red-hot 63-63-67 start that has him one shot in front of Cantlay. But it’s not just Cantlay that Schauffele needs to concern himself with.

That’s because the Travelers has a habit of being a haven for come-from-behind wins. And not just one-shot-back type of comebacks, either. In the previous 10 playings at TPC River Highlands, only two 54-hole leaders have hoisted the silverware (and it’s a lovely piece of silverware at that). That means eight have made up ground on Sunday. You do the maths on the percentages.

Among that group, Marc Leishman (2012) and Bubba Watson (2018) were six shots in arrears after three rounds. Kevin Streelman was four back in 2014. Russell Knox three behind in 2016. You get the idea. It’s still anyone’s game — at least for those within six shots of the lead, and there are nine players who fit that criteria.

Still, Schauffele, seeking his first solo PGA Tour win since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions and first full-field victory since his inaugural win at the 2017 Greenbrier Classic, was focused on his nearest pursuer, Cantlay.

“I’ve been looking forward to playing with Pat in a final round,” said Schauffele, who is 0-for-4 when trying to convert 54-hole leads into wins. “We don’t get paired together very often in regular tournaments, only in those team ones. So there’s a certain level of comfort we have playing with each other and hopefully that pays off and hopefully we can make a lot of birdies.”

If not, he might find himself looking over his shoulder, too.

The post Travelers Day 3 takeaways: Patrick Cantlay is at it again, an amateur seeks to make history and don’t sleep on a comeback winner appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.