Matt Kuchar thrived in tough conditions at the Memorial Tournament that sent Tiger Woods to the worst nine holes of his US PGA Tour career on Saturday.
Kuchar survived a nasty combination of swirling wind and fast greens at Muirfield Village for a two-under 70, giving him a two-shot lead over Kevin Chappell and Kyle Stanley going into the final round.
“It was a bit of survival,” Kuchar said. “I was fortunate to make a handful of birdies. I think anytime you make a birdie in these conditions, you feel like you’re really up on the field here. Most of these holes, you’re looking at just getting out with a par.”
Photo: Reuters
Woods did not get away with anything.
Going for his sixth win at the Memorial, and his fourth victory in his past five tournaments, Woods had two double-bogeys and a triple-bogey on the back nine for a 44, breaking by one shot his highest nine-hole total as a pro. And he made that without a penalty shot.
“The conditions were tough and when I missed, it cost me,” Woods said through a tour media official. “I caught the wrong gusts at the wrong time, made a couple bad swings and all in all, it just went the wrong way.”
He wound up 16 shots out of the lead. Woods was to tee off late yesterday, but on the opposite side of the course in the two-tee start because of weather.
The tournament was happy just to complete 54 holes after mid-afternoon storms avoided Muirfield Village.
Kuchar was at eight-under 208, among 10 players separated by only four shots.
Bill Haas, the 36-hole leader, ran off three straight bogeys late in his round for a 76, and he was not all that upset about it. Haas was still only three shots back, and it was not hard to determine that par was a good score.
That is what made Chappell’s round so impressive — a 68 to match the low score of the third round, his only bogey on the par-five 11th hole when he drove out-of-bounds, and his second tee shot nearly did the same.
Like so many other players, Chappell was not sure which way the wind was blowing. On the 14th hole, with a wedge in hand from 105 yards, he felt the wind coming into him from the right, yet the flag was blowing in the opposite direction.
“I kept saying: ‘Wow, this is tough here.’ You hit a good shot and end up in a bad spot,” Chappell said.
Past winner Justin Rose had a 71 and joined Haas and Matt Jones (70) at five-under 211. Masters champion Adam Scott had a 69 and was in the group at four-under that included Charl Schwartzel, who was within one shot of the lead after completing the second round in the morning. The South African bogeyed both par-fives on the back nine and took double bogey on the 14th. He had a 41 on the back for a 76.
That was still better than Woods, whose round was somewhat of a mystery — not only because the world’s No. 1 player was in great form coming into a course where he has won five times, but because he was in good position off the tee. Woods, who started the round on No. 10, missed only one fairway on the back nine.
He took double bogey on the par-three 12th when he was in such a bad spot in the front bunker that he had to play out sideways to the wrong side of a long green, and then he three-putted. On the par-five 15th, he pulled his second shot well to the left, and then took two chips to get onto the putting surface only for the ball to run through the green. He really was fooled on the 18th, with a chip that spun back down the hill and a three-putt from short range.
He had three birdies on the front nine to avoid his worst score as a pro. That was an 81 at another Muirfield — the real one — in the third round of the British Open that cost him his best shot at the calendar Grand Slam in 2002.
Kuchar surged into the lead with two birdies on the front nine and did not drop a shot until the ninth hole, when he missed the green to the left. The wind got him on the 15th, when his high fairway metal drifted beyond the bunker and into a hazard that Kuchar did not know existed, leading to bogey.
He saved par with a 10-foot putt on the par-three 16th, and made regulation pars coming in to give himself the 54-hole lead for the second straight week. He also was atop the leaderboard at Colonial, only to finish second to Boo Weekley.
“If you’re not on good form, these conditions are really going to beat you up,” said Kuchar, the Accenture Match Play winner in February. “If you’re not hitting the ball solid, you don’t have a chance.”
Rory McIlroy had a 75, and part of him was happy to do that. He was safely inside the cut line when he returned in the morning to finish his round, and he birdied the 15th hole. He followed with back-to-back bogeys, and then came up short of the green and had to get up-and-down to avoid missing the cut. He made a 4-foot par save.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS