OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Dustin Johnson said his game resembled last weekend, when he won the 22-game PGA Tour win. It just doesn’t look like that in the BMW championship.
Every pair at Olympia Fields Country Club is hard work, and Johnson played the last thirteen holes on Saturday with nothing worse than that. That’s what led him to a 1 low par 69 and a percentage of the lead with Hideki Matsuyama, leaving them as the players below par in the last round.
“I feel like it’s quite similar, obviously those situations and vegetables are much more difficult,” he said of the comparison with TPC Boston, that of his 11-shot and 3rd win at The Northern Trust that drove him. No. 1 in the FedEx Cup qualifiers and the official world golf rankings. “It’s pretty much a primary championship venue, and situations, the way it’s set up, is played as a primary.”
The leader of the first circular, Matsuyama, who had a three-shot lead at the start of the third circular when he made a bunker shot for the early eagle and completed a closed corner shot for birdie at No. 4, recoiled with a series of bogeys and held on. him in combination for a 69.
“Good start and we had to put up with it,” said the 28-year-old Japanese, who won five PGA Tour tournaments in 3 years that ended in August 2017. “I tried to do what I could to stay. . Array and I satisfied with the way it came out.”
Johnson, a 36-year-old American, and Matsuyama were at 1,209. Everyone else was above average before the last round.
Harris English, a graduate of Baylor School, shot a 69 – after opening with a 75 and a 71 on Friday – and tied for 21st place with 5. The Englishman entered the tournament in sixth place in the FedEx Cup qualifiers after a position finale last weekend.
Sunday offers one last chance for some players to be in the 30 most reasonable qualifying for the FedEx Cup final and, more realistically for others, adding Tiger Woods, a definitive circular to prepare for next month’s US Open at Winged Foot. equally difficult game.
Patrick Cantlay hit only five blocks and couldn’t make a birdie by falling in a lead tie with a 75 that shot him and tied for 15th, and may only be charged one place in the Tour Championship, which begins Friday east. Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Rory McIlroy had to play left-handed to escape the base of a tree of the last nine with a bogey, and ended with a shot that would be a long idea. Instead, he reached up to 70 feet away and led to a 3 putt bogey for a 73. Still only 3 shots back, assuming he played.
McIlroy said that after the tour, his wife was expecting their first child, news they had shared with a circle of family and friends, but was revealed to many others by broadcast on NBC. He said his youngest, most productive friend, Harry Diamond, had a phone in his pocket so he wouldn’t miss a call. And if it’s time, he said, “I’m out of here.”
Jon Rahm tied the day’s low lap on 66, which could have been a better chance if it weren’t for a mistake even he couldn’t believe. He forgot to put a score on the green before lifting his golf ball at number 5, and was paralyzed when he found out what happened.
“I was thinking of someone else or anything else and yes, I just picked up the ball without scoring it, as undeniable as that,” Rahm said after a circular that left him only 3 shots and tied for sixth place. “I can’t really give you an explanation. It’s one of the things that happens in golf. I never imagined that would be the case in my professional career, but here we are.”
Last weekend, on a rain-softened, windy course, Johnson in 22 fewer than 3 innings and had a five-shot lead. It’s easy. That’s not the case.
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann recorded 68 and third with 1 out of 211 with Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (69) and Australian Adam Scott (70). McIlroy, Rahm, Sebastion Muoz (67), Brendon Todd (71), Bubba Watson (70) and Kevin Kisner, who had 15 pairs, two birdies and a bogey for a 70.
Rounds like that spend a lot of time at Olympia Fields, the old US Open course playing as one with its thick vegetables like a rock and enough wind to make the fairs narrower than they are.
“I played well and badly this week, and I’ve had almost the same score every day,” said Scott, whose very good bunker game kept him close. “I saw today, however, that if I hit well, there is the possibility of making some putts. One of this leading organization will launch four minus tomorrow, four or five less, I’m sure.”
Woods, meanwhile, had a moderate start on his circular and didn’t lose much floor until he lost an exit hit in the water to the right of 17th Street, then smothered a street steel on the left. He crossed the path of a car, hitting the stick against the cement, and twice it seemed he was looking to break it. He missed a short putt for a triple bogey and pitched a 72.
Woods has yet to achieve parity this week. One more lap like this, and it will be the first time in 10 years, the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, which will have the four laps above par. I needed something close to fourth place to advance to the circuit championship for the first time since 2018.
Matsuyama tries to finish 3 years without winning. Johnson is looking to win for the moment in seven days, while positioning himself as the most sensible seed in the Tour Championship, which would allow him to start the tournament with a two-stroke lead under the tiered scoring system.
For players like Hughes, Niemann and Scott, it’s just a matter of looking to get to Atlanta. They are all in a twist on a golf course where small mistakes can lead to ghosts or worse in almost every hole.
On target, head
ROGERS, Ark. – Anna Nordqvist fired a 9 under par and 62 to take a three-shot lead over Sei Young Kim in the last circular walmart NW Arkansas LPGA Tour.
Tied in the first round after a 64- round, Nordqvist hit all 18 vegetables at the regulation at Pinnacle Country Club in their back-to-back round without a bogey.
“I played forged today and yesterday,” Nordqvist said. “I had a wonderful start. I had a lot of smart opportunities. I made some putts early and moved on. I felt like I had hit my irons very well.”
The 33-year-old Swede controlled five of the first six holes and seven of the 11 most sensitive in the circular interrupted by a storm in the afternoon. He added two more in the fifth par 3 and the 18 par five to succeed in the 16 under 126.
“There’s something about Arkansas.” Nordqvist said. “I enjoyed this place. Probably one of the few places in the United States where I can see myself, because I love the environment here.”
Nordqvist has two main titles and six more LPGA Tour victories. He recently won the 2017 Founders Cup at Phoenix and the Evian Championship in France.
“There are very low scores here, so you have to move on,” Nordqvist said. “It’s so competitive here. To win here, you actually have to be at your best. So feel smart so far, but I’m also going to have to post a weak one.”
South Korea’s Kim followed a 65-year opening with a 6four at its first start on the LPGA tour since January. He made the 18th hole and finished with a birdie in the ninth par four.
Americans Austin Ernst (65) and Nelly Korda (63) and South Korean Jenny Shin (63) tied for third with 12 bass.
“You have to shoot a very small number here to be even in the contest, so you have to be very aggressive,” Korda said after a birdie-birdie-eagle ending. “I’ll take it as low as possible. It’ll take one to win tomorrow.”
Shin made birdie in the last seven holes and Ernst made 17 and 18 eagles.
Ready to win in spite of everything
BIRMINGHAM, England – South African Justin Walters scored 3 under 69s and doubled his lead with two strokes in the final round of the British Championship.
Walters on 12 under 204 to 54 holes in the bell tower and led after each circular so far. He continues with his first name on the European circuit after being a three-time finalist.
“That would be huge, there is no lie about it. I’m 39 now; you wonder how many opportunities you’ll have with all the young people coming,” Walters said. “Maybe like an elegant red wine, I’ll go with age, but I don’t know, it would be great to enjoy it tomorrow.”
Walters his circular by sinking a foot of 20 for birdie, his first of five in the circular.
Tied to the moment are German Martin Kaymer (66), the two-time 35-year-old primary champion, and Frenchman Benjamin Hebert (70), a 33-year-old player who has never won on the European circuit but moved to him. 3 playoff losses last year.
German step up
LIVERPOOL, England – At the best time for Germany in global women’s golf, Aline Krauter recovered from an initial deficit to win the British Amateur Women’s Championship, against Annabell Fuller at West Lancashire Golf Club.
Her triumph came six days after Sophia Popov, 27, won the British Women’s Open at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland, allowing the first German to win a primary golf championship. Saturday was the time in three years when a German woman won the British Amateur Women, with Leonie Harm as champion in 2018.
Krauter, 20, who plays at Stanford, finished 3 through 4 holes in the 18-hole name game. She won six of the next 8 slots to build a 3-point lead. Fuller, who is from England and an air freshener in Florida last spring, closed the deficit to a hole with a birdie on the 17th, however, it may only fit Krauter to close.
The victory gave Krauter a position at next year’s British Open at Carnoustie Golf Links. The British amateur women’s champion wins a spot at the American Women’s Open, evian Championship and Augusta National Women’s Amateur.