Henderson, Leblanc at the LPGA major Chevron Championship.... Thursday TEE TIMES

 LPGA: Chevron Championship Thursday TEE TIMES here

Don't be fooled by the name, this is still, for this year at least, the old "Dinah Shore" at Mission Hills in California, most recently sponsored by ANA Inspiration.

It's sponsorship expired last year, Chevron stepped up, increased the prize money to $5m, and will move it to their headquarters in Houston next year.

So it will be the last leap into Poppy's Pond, and the walk up 18 past the Wall of Fame and the bronze statue of Dinah.

Brooke Henderson returns to play and remember 2 years ago she was in a virtual match play with Nelly Korda until Miram Lee chipped in 3 times including from a drop in front of the grandstand, then beat them both in a playoff. It was over 100*f that week, so hot caddies were allowed to ride in golf carts. There were no spectators due to COVID.

Much has been made of the new ruling banning Brooke's 48" driver which goes into effect this week where she will play with a 46". This doesn't seem like much, since Brooke att 5'3" chokes up on all her clubs and has done since she played amateur at 15 years. Pros get all their equipment completely customized and notice just the slightest changes, so we'll see if it makes any difference to her game.

She has a late tee time with Lydia Ko at 1.27 PST.

Maude Aimee Leblanc who was just shots away from winning last week ay the JTBC in Carlsbad, has been invited to play and she tees it up at 8.59 PST. 

Follow all the live action on my link here

Bryan Angus

Valero Texas Thursday TEE TIMES.. 6 Canadians

 PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open..Thursday tee times TEE TIMES

Coming off his 3rd place finish at The Dell Match Play, Corey Connors leads this weeks Canucks in San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open.

Adam Hadwin with 2 top 10's in his last 2 events is off first at 7.30am local, Roger Sloan at7.52am, Nick Taylor next at 8.47am,  Adam Svensson at 9.09am, Michael Gligic at 2.15pm and past champion Corey Conners 1.09pm with hometown boy Jordan Spieth and Charlie Hoffman.

After all the golf Corey played at the Match Play last week in Austin, he has taken Monday and Tuesday off with his family and friends to unwind and recharge for today's event. He is now ranked 32nd in the world, and importantly 8th in the President Cup standings, which would make him an automatic choice, a big goal of his this year.

He is in the words of veteran Canadian Richard Zokol "on the verge of stardom, trending in the right direction". He obviously loves this TPC San Antonio Oaks course, and by the way his game which features a draw, is perfectly suited for Augusta, where he has a top 10 finish.

Rory McIlroy has decided to play this week looking to sharpen up for Augusta where he spent a couple of days this week to see the changes to the course which include 3 brand new greens.

Bryan Angus

"Would the real Tiger Woods please stand up "

 One of TV's most popular TV game shows growing up in the 60's was "To tell the Truth" where panelists had to guess which of the three competitors was the real person. After questioning the host would say "would the real (whomever) please stand up"

While the show first aired on CBS in 1956 the tenant of the contest was the actual real person of the three had to answer questions truthfully while the other two could say what they wanted.

After a week of wild speculation, (which began with a bizzillion tweets about Tiger's private plane heading for Augusta) I'm here to tell you "the real Tiger Woods is about to stand up" on Friday.

And furthermore the answer to the panelist who asked him, "will you be playing this year?" will be " No "

Speculation was fuelled by some because every player who's qualified is listed on the participants page of masters.com and stays on it until they tell the committee they are not playing. They have until Friday to do so.

In 2015 he waited until Friday to say he was, but in 2016, 2017 he said he wasn't.

Unless Tiger has had a visit from the Vulcan grip of  Dr Spock in the last month he will not be fit enough to walk Augusta and play like a champion for 5 days, he nearly had his foot amputated !

Furthermore for goodness sake, he hasn't played with real bullets for well over a year, no matter how much he practices at home, no matter what clips he issues showing him hit a 7 iron, he is not going to return to shoot 78 76 and head home to watch on TV. He's had no reps, no rounds, no build up at other tournaments, his tournament game more likely than not sucks right now.

No amount of rhetoric about playing on a broken leg, a torn acl, a superman who can play withstanding excruciating pain is forgetting that he won't play unless he can win, he told us all that in his last interview at Riviera.

Tiger is at Augusta this week meeting privately with friends and not so publicly, trying to test himself on Augusta National, so he can rule out any chance of playing, and put the inevitable media frenzy to bed, and he will do that on Friday.

Furthermore, and here's my real angst. If Tiger were fool enough, which he isn't, to say I'm playing, the Masters stops being the great golf tournament that Tiger has played such a memorable role in, and will just become the Tiger Woods show, to the exclusion of all the great story lines, great players who ARE the stars of this generation, and deserve all of our attention, all of our admiration, all of our respect.

Tiger cannot with all due respect, due to his well documented circumstances, play at their level right now, and possible ever again.

To throw his hat into the ring for this Masters would be nothing more than self serving and he is not that. It's time the media made that clear, ended this silly speculation, and look forward to his recovery that may have him in the field at St Andrews for the Open in mid July.

Bryan Angus

 

Canada, Conners , Kerri and Leafs provide a memorable weekend...

It was a frigid winters day in the GTA on Sunday, but right across Canada it turned out to be a warm wonderful one in this country's sporting history.

WGC Dell Technology Match Play 

For me Sunday began early from Austin Texas, where it was a windy 90*f at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. Corey Conners was in the semi final against an "annoying" little terrier and past champion Kevin Kisner. 

Corey was playing great from the get go on Wednesday "driving the ball better than ever" in his words. His first match against Paul Casey lasted about 20 minutes before the affable Englishman had to W/D with a wonky back. He went on to beat Louis Oosthuizen 2&1, then Alex Noren 3&2 to win his Group 10, 3-0-0.

In the round of 16 he beat Takumi Kanaya 5&3 then in the quarter finals, Abraham Ancer 2up.

In a tense match with Kisner, there was nothing in it between them and eventually after losing the 17th to go 1 down, it ended for Corey when he missed his birdie putt at the 18th. 

He went out in the afternoon in the consolation match and won the first 3 holes against Dustin Johnson and never looked back winning 3&1 for 3rd place, a cheque for $825,000 and most important the confidence gained from the respect of his peers and the US media.

Maybe his dramatic first win at the Valero Texas Open in 2019, and his week following at Augusta were the toppers, but this week was special.

If he carries that form to Augusta in 2 weeks watch out for him. He says the course suits his high draw.

Scottie Scheffler went on to beat Kisner 4&3 and become the world's #1 ranked player.

Womens World Curling Championship : 

Canada skip Kerri Einarson throws a stone against Germany

On Sunday afternoon, Kerri Einarson  from Manitoba went out and won an emotional bronze for Canada in the Women's World curling championship in Prince George. It was a thriller coming down to her final rock in the 10th end for the 8-7 victory over 3rd ranked Sweden.

Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4-2

Sunday evening the Leafs, having lost to arch rival Montreal on Saturday, came out flying and beat the odds on favourites to win the cup this year, the star studded Florida Panthers 5-2 with fan favourite Mitch Marner the play maker in fine form and the super star Austin Matthews putting the icing on the cake with his 48th into the empty net.

Canadian Men's Soccer team qualifies for the World Cup

Meanwhile down at frozen BMO field, 30,000 flag waving Canadian fanatics had gathered for a 4pm kick off with a giant prize in mind. 

After years of indifferent, inept attempts at pro soccer in Toronto, MLS expanded in 2007 and Toronto FC was born, and they were immediately embraced, with a flurry of world reknown players and coaches in it's early years. BMO field was the place to be, sold out, I remember Mayor David Miller calling me at my office asking if I could get him tickets !

In 2018 they won the domestic treble (MLS Cup, Supporters Shield and Canadian Championship).

The Canadian men's team by comparison were completely over shadowed by the women led by Christine Simpson and coached by a young Englishman John Herdman who led them to back to back Olympic bronze medals, and had them playing in front of 60,000 at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.

Canada's Tajon Buchanan does a backflip after scoring against Jamaica 

The passion for the men's game was there, but never more so than last night. Herdman was hired to coach the men in 2018, and the results were soon improving. Canadians were playing all over Europe, many with roots in the Caribbean including a budding superstar Alphonso Davies.

This year they were the best team in CONCACAF, outscoring opponents 54-1 with 12 clean sheets, and after a disgusting match in Costa Rica on Wednesday where the hosts cheated and dived there way to a 1-0 "win", a place in Qatar was waiting, and this time Jamaica, where many of this years teams parents came to Canada from, were the opponents.

Despite the fact that millions across the country missed the first 25 minutes on TV as a Sportsnet channel decided to stay with a Jays pre season game in Dunedin, missing the emotional National Anthem, and the first and winning goal, the game finally came on, and it had been settled by then.

Jamaica were out gunned, gave it their best but for the first time since Canada qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with a 1-0 win over Honduras in St John's NL, this team, this football team sent the stadium into pandemonium with a 4-0 win for the ages.

'We're going to the World Cup" repeated over and over, "a long time coming" said Dwayne de Rosario, echoed by former goalie and now commentator Greg Forrest who was one of many relegated to tears of joy. Out came the big bass drum to mid field as the team, fans clapped in rhythm. Several impromptu versions of O Canada sung with great gusto rang through the night air.

It was right up there amongst this young country's biggest sporting moments. 1972 Canada beating Russia, Ben Johnson's 100 yd's in Seoul 1988, Donovan Bailey beating Carl Lewis in Atlanta 1996, 14 gold medals in Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010,  several Olympic gold and World Junior hockey gold medals, Blue Jay World Series 1992, 1993, Mike Weir winning the 2003 Masters, all come to mind.

What a Sunday. It won't ever be forgotten. Glad I was here to see it all.

Bryan Angus

 

 ......Special mention to Maude Aimee Leblanc who was lost in all the hoopla, after she ended up T4 68 68 70 68 -14 just 2 shots out of the playoff won by Atthaya Thitikul at the JTBC Classic out in Carlsbad California. Importantly for her growing confidence she tied with her playing partner and undisputed world #1 Jin Young Ko. She will be added to the women's first major of the year this week in Rancho Mirage.

Maude-Aimee Leblanc in contention at JTBC Classic in California.

 LPGA : JTBC Classic Sunday leaderboard here 

Just a word if you haven't had a chance to see, Maude Aimee Leblanc has fired 68 68 70 -10 and is right in contention today T3 4 shots off the lead out in Carlsbad, California at the  JTBC Classic. 

Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen leads 66 67 69 -14.

Maude-Aimee Leblanc

Maude is very tall for a woman at 6' and hits it a mile, and had this to say after her Saturday round.

" Tee to green was really good, it's an advantage when I can use my length, I don't hit many drivers out here, maybe 2 or 3, so I have to take advantage of hitting shorter irons into the greens. (average 301yds with driver).

I feel like I left a lot of putts out there today, not because of bad strokes, it's just the way it is out here for me. I try not to let it hurt my confidence.

I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities today, hopefully I will take that with me tomorrow"

Maude is playing with the Tiger Woods of the LPGA Tour world #1 Jin Young Ko today in the penultimate pairing.

Maddie Szeryk in her rookie year MC 72,78.

Brooke Henderson chose to stay at home this week after her fortnight in Asia.

Bryan Angus

**UPDATE ..Corey Conners beats Ancer 2up... advances to Sunday morning semi final ... live scoreboard

 WGC Dell Tech Match Play results  here

Corey Conners proved to be too much for the rising young Japanese star Takumi Kanaya who conceded the match on the 15th green with Connors 4up. The final score 5&3.

The tall Canuck says he's never driven the ball better than he is right now, none more so than a 360 yd bomb at the par 5 12th which led to the clinching birdie.

However his putter is working so far as well which is when he is a real handful, especially in match play.

He plays Mexican, Abraham Ancer this afternoon who simply shellacked Collin Morikawa who the talking heads in the broadcast booth were acclaiming the "world's best iron player" just recently. 7&6 was the final.

****SUNDAY EDIT .. Corey has defeated Abraham Ancer 2up to advance to the Sunday morning semi-finals, 18 hole elimination against an in form Kevin Kisner at 9.20am CST.

" I'm excited to be standing here, I'll have some adrenalin pumping that will help get me through tomorrow. I'm really driving the ball well and my irons are good and some putts are going in, so yes, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

It got windier here this afternoon and I expect that will be the case tomorrow. It's hot out there but living in Florida it doesn't bother me. I like playing in Texas"

The other match is getting all the attention Dustin Johnson vs Brooks Koepka off at 9.05am cst,

Bryan Angus

Howling wind, packed leaderboard, Cockerill charges up, live leaderboard at Qatar Masters

 DP World Tour: Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Leaderboard

Matthew Jordan goes into the final round of the 2022 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters locked alongside Adrian Meronk at the top of the leaderboard after producing a fine finish in extremely difficult conditions on Saturday afternoon.

Englishman Jordan had to show patience and mental toughness on Moving Day after carding three bogeys and no birdies on the front nine at a windswept Doha Golf Club.

And he got his reward after the turn, with birdies at the tenth, 12th, 15th, 16th and 18th taking him home in 31 as he signed for a 70 to get to eight under par.

He was joined at the summit by Meronk after the Pole got up and down at the 18th to close his third-round 72 with a birdie.

The duo, who are both searching for a maiden DP World Tour win, lead by one shot from Kalle Samooja, who posted a remarkable 66 earlier in the day.

Long-time leader Pablo Larrazábal is in a three-way tie for fourth on six under after following up a spotless front nine with a back-nine 40 which contained five bogeys.

Jordan said on Friday that his aim was to stay in contention over the weekend but that dream looked in danger of slipping away early on.

He started the day three shots behind Larrazábal on six under par but fell back to three under after bogeys at the second, fifth and eighth.

He bounced back with a birdie at the long tenth before picking up another shot on the 12th.

Jordan made another birdie at the 15th when the flag somehow trapped his long, speedy putt in the hole, and he followed that up with another on the 16th to grab a share of the lead.

He took the outright lead with a six-foot birdie on the last before being joined by Meronk shortly afterwards.

"I find the front nine is probably tougher, maybe - a couple less chances anyway," said Jordan.

"I wasn't doing too much wrong, I just couldn't get up and down, couldn't hit fairways great, it just wasn't quite happening - but I knew I wasn't that far off.

"I just kept going and fortunately enough it all started to click.

Meronk also got off to a shaky start, with bogeys on the first, fifth and seventh but made amends with a chip-in birdie from a tough lie at the eighth before getting another shot back on the ninth.

He then mixed two more birdies with two bogeys over the next six holes before finishing his round with a close-range birdie to grab a share of the lead.

“I’m very pleased to be honest," said Meronk. "It was super tough. I knew it was going to be tough, it was a grinding day but I’m very satisfied with the result and looking forward to tomorrow.

With the wind howling, Canadian Aaron Cockerill who lost his playing privileges on this tour last year, was in the first pairing out and took advantage of fresh greens and lighter wind to post his best round of the week -3 69 (72 72) with 5 birdies and just 2 bogeys including a 3 putt at the 18th.

He is T19 in a large group 5 shots off the lead, in fact their are 32 players within 5 shots.

The wind is expected to be even worse tomorrow, so who ever can harness it best will be richly rewarded.

Bryan Angus (edit europeantour.com)

Conners makes the sweet 16. Hughes knocked out.....results, Saturday Matches

 WGC Dell Tech Match Play...Results and Saturday matches here 

With the round robin of the WGC Dell Tech Match Play decided late last night, the "Sweet 16" round begins this morning, 8 matches and you can see them all by clicking here

Corey Conners, right, and Mackenzie Hughes

Corey Conners emerged from a tough match with Alex Noren the winner 3&2 to finish 3-0-0

I'm obviously really happy, I've played well the last 2 days, that was a hard fought match,Alex played solid, we diidn't give anything away and I'm ;ucky to come out n top. 

I feel like I'm striking the ball really well, I'm driving it as well as II ever have and that's really important out here gettting into good position to attack some of these pins and make some birdies.

He plays Japan's Takumi Tanaya 8.41 local this morning

Mac Hughes birdied 3 of his last 4 holes to edge Matthew Wolff 1 up and finish his group 2-1-0 however Dustin Johnson beat Max Homa 1up to finish 3-0-0 and advance, knocking Hughes out.

Saturday 16 notables Leaderboard

Apart from the Conners match, I have to love England's John Bland (Blandy) at 49 surviving the round robin to take on Dustin Johnson in this morning's David vs Goliath match up. Blandy halved with DeChambeau, beat Talor Gooch and Lee Westwood.

'Of course he's the favourite but I'd like to think he has a match on his hands. I'm the obvious underdog so I have nothing to lose, let's see what happens."

Jon Rahm vs Koepka will be TV's marquee match, let's hope the director decides to spread the coverage around.

Scottie Scheffler's purple patch continues, after surviving a 6 hole playoff with Matt Fitzpatrick, he's first out this morning with defending champion Billy Horschel.

Format

Saturday : Round 4 this morning is the round of 16, 8 elimination matches

Round 5 will follow this afternoon with the quarter- finals, 4 elimination matches

Sunday:  morning Round 6 is the semi finals, 2 elimination matches will proceed to Round 7 in the afternoon, the championship match and the consolation match for 3rd and 4th.

Bryan Angus

Larrazabal fights to retain lead, Cockerill makes cut, round 2 scores Qatar Masters

 DP World Tour : Commercial Bank Qatar Masters... Leaderboard

Pablo Larrazábal produced a remarkable fightback on the back nine to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the 2022 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Spaniard Larrazábal began the day two shots clear after Thursday's 64, but found himself four strokes off the pace at the turn after a front-nine 40 which contained a double bogey, three bogeys and a solitary birdie.

The six-time DP World Tour winner did not let that affect him, though, as he bounced back with an eagle at the tenth before birdies at the 11th, 16th and 18th saw him sign for a 71 and grab the outright lead on nine under par.

He has a high-quality chasing pack breathing down his neck, with Adrian Meronk, Wilco Nienaber and Chase Hanna just one stroke behind him.

Although Marcus Kinhult's 65 was the lowest round of the day, Larrazábal's may well go down as the best because of his stunning comeback.

With early starter Meronk matching Larrazábal's first-round total early in the day, the 38-year-old found himself two shots behind after he made back-to-back bogeys on the second and third.

After finding a fairway for the first time today, Larrazábal opened his birdie account at the fourth courtesy of a delightful long putt.

He produced an excellent par save at the sixth after getting into tree trouble off the tee, but made another bogey at the eighth to slip back to six under.

And things went from bad to worse at the ninth, where he ran up a double bogey after an errant tee-shot to fall four behind.

But instead of losing hope, Larrazábal battled back, holing from 16 feet for an eagle on the tenth before making a 23-foot birdie at the next.

Four straight pars followed before Larrazábal got his next birdie at the 16th, tapping in from close range to regain a share of the lead.

And he finally returned to the summit on his own with a bit of magic on the 18th, bravely finding the green in two before rolling his monster eagle putt to within tap-in range for a closing birdie.

Meronk made five birdies and three bogeys in his 70, while Nienaber and Hanna carded no bogeys as they shot rounds of 68 and 66 respectively.

Romain Langasque was alone in fifth on seven under after his 71.

Canada's Aaron Cockerill shot his 2nd successive E 72 which has made the cut right on the number T60. He had a mixed bag again today, 4 birdies offset by 4 bogey's,10 pars. He is 2nd pair out in the early wave on Saturday. There is another blistering hot day in store with plenty of wind, if anything the early starts get fresh greens, cooler temperature and usually less wind, so all that should work in his favour.

After his round, speaking about his tale of two nines, leader Larrazábal said: "It was a tough start. I didn’t expect the drive on the first to go so far right. I started par-bogey-bogey and that wasn’t in the plans for Friday.

"I went bogey-double bogey on eight and nine to shoot 40 on the front nine but I said to (caddie) Raul, come on, yesterday we shot six under on the back and we know that we like the back.

"It was one of those days where you have to keep working and believe in the way you’ve been playing the last month or so and to keep fighting. There are a lot of birdie chances on the back and I took a few.

“It is even harder mentally when you shoot 40 on the front nine and you’re two over after three. Mentally you have to recover, you have to believe in the shots you plan and the shots you hit.

"That’s what we did and it paid off. To shoot one under par after going four over, it proves to us that we are in a good mental spot. We are ready to make mistakes and to recover them.

Bryan Angus (edit europeantour.com)

***UPDATE ....Taylor, Gligic, make the weekend at Corales Puntacana Championship... Saturday live scoring

 PGA Tour: Corales Puntacana Championship live scoring click here

With round 2 over at the windy Corales Puntacana Championship the cut  fell at -1 at the end of play 

Adam Svensson

Here are the scores for the 5 Canadians.

Nick Taylor 72, 68 -4  T23

Michael Gligic 72, 70 -2 T38

Adam Svensson 74, 74  M/C

David Hearn 74, 71 +1 M/C

Roger Sloan  72, 73 +1 M/C

The lead is -12 for  Ben Martin 66 66-12 then comes American Alex Smalley 69 65 -10 -10. Next we have 67, 68 -9  for Adam Schenk, with Graeme McDowell 68 68 -68 -8 

Saturday see's 2 Canucks... Taylor T23 and Gligic T38 in play

 

Bryan Angus

Canadian thursday results from WGC Dell Match Play... Friday matches, full scoreboards

 PGA Tour: WGC Dell Tech Match Play (all results and live scoring) here.

In the end Thursday was a good day for the 2 Canadians at the WGC Dell Tech Match Play, neither played all that well, but neither did their opponents, and they did enough when they needed it to win their matches.

Corey Conners, right, and Mackenzie Hughes

Corey Conners started his week on Wednesday and was finished after a hole and a half when Paul Casey who is fighting a wonky back conceded on the 2nd fairway.

On Thursday he faced Louis Oosthuizen who is alike Corey in that he is a reknown striker of the ball blessed with an enviable swing. However neither have that same reputation on the greens.

Corey birdied the 8th and 9th to turn 2up, then after some sloppy play Louis won the 11th and 13th to tie the match, before Corey won the 16th. had a sublime iron to 4 feet at the par 3 17th, to close out the match 2&1.

"I felt I played well on the front nine and got 2 up, then struggled for a few holes on the back nine but got away without losing too many, then won 2 at the end, a nice birdie at 17, I got a good read from his putt."

Corey at 2-0-0 plays an in form Alex Noren at 1.45 local time today. They are both 2-0-0 so this match will decide the group.

"He's been playing really well and so have I so hopefully we'll have a good match, we're both fierce competitors, Im looking forward to it." 

Paul Casey has already conceded today's match to Oosthuizen who ends up 1-2-0 

Mac Hughes hasn't had his best stuff yet this year, and he lost his first match 3&2 against Dustin Johnson on Wednesday, so in this round robin format Thursday was important.

"Mid to late front nine it wasn't loking good for me, but towards the end of the back nine Max and I both made a mess of a dew holes which kept me in it."

Homa was 2 up early and 1 up at the turn. and he soon made that 2up after winning the 10th, then the sloppy play. Hughes won 13 with a par, then 14 with a birdie to tie, another bogey by Homa at 15 let Mac win with a par, now 1up soon became 2up with an eagle at 16. 

Homa made a birdie at 17, but Hughes sealed the match in style with a birdie of his own at 18 for the 2up win.

In Group 8, Hughes is 1-1-0 playing Matt Wolff 0-2-0 at 11.21am local today.

In the other Group 8 match Dustin Johnson is in control 2-0-0 playing Homa who is 1-1-0, If DJ wins he will advance undefeated.

If he loses to Homa there will be a sudden death playoff with whomever ends up 2-1-0.

Here's how Hughes see's it.

 "I think knowing this format anything can really happen, That lends itself to you thinking, alright, if I can keep putting pressure on him, let's just hang in there, you never know, someone can potentially make a mistake and let you back in there. So its easier to stay patient."

Notables: Defending Champion Billy Horschel is 2-0-0 playing the tough in form Belgian Thomas Pieters

Others at 2-0-0 going into play today include England's Matt Fitzpatrick, Ireland's Seamus Power, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Kevin Kisner and Lucas Hebert.

Follow all the action by clicking here

Bryan Angus

Slow start for Aaron Cockerill at Qatar Masters, full leaderboard..

 DP World Tour: Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Leaderboard

The 2022 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters returns to Doha Golf Club for the first time since 2019 after a two-year stay at Education City Golf Club as one of two events this week on the DP World Tour.

Despite being a familiar venue on the DP World Tour, Doha Golf Club has a new look, having undergone a number of changes while the past two editions of the tournament were hosted at Education City Golf Club.

All 18 greens on the Championship Course have been completely re-laid , the first time they have undergone major renovation since opening in 1997.

The most striking new feature on the Peter Harradine-designed course – where every edition of the tournament was played from 1998 to 2019 - is the double green on holes 9 and 18, positioned behind an existing lake, to create the potential for drama when the tournament reaches its climax.

While missing the cut last week, Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal who won 3 weeks ago, has opened with a sparkling -8 64 for a 2 shot lead over 4 players at -6 including in form Sharma Shubhankar all at 66.

Defending champion Antoine Rozner is seeking to join a select group of players to have won the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on multiple occasions after landing his second DP World Tour title courtesy of an incredible 60-foot birdie putt on the last at Education City Golf Club.

He has posted a first round -4 68 T8th. 

While Branden Grace secured his double in 2015 and 2016 at Doha Golf Club, if he were to win this week, Frenchman Rozner would be unique in going back-to-back around two different venues.

The first Major of the year is just a fortnight away, with this week's event in Doha and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Texas offering the final opportunities to move in to the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking and secure a spot in the field at The Masters.

Of those playing in the Arabian Peninsula, Dean Burmester is best placed to grasp the opportunity before next Monday’s deadline, after a runner-up finish behind fellow South African Shaun Norris at the Steyn City Championship last week moved him to a career-high 64th place

He has opened his account earlier today with -2 70 T28th.

Needing to at least match his finish last week to be in with the possibility of a debut appearance at Augusta National, Burmester is in no mood to let the opportunity pass by.

“It’s something that is hard not to think about,” he said.

Temperatures as expected reached the high 30's today, and more of the same is expected on Friday, but conditions are forecasted to change over the weekend.

Winds will begin to become strong on Saturday afternoon with gusts up to 30mph, while Sunday will see the strongest winds of 35mph throughout the day to provide a stern test for those who make the cut. 

Canada's Aaron Cockerill is back after a week off, and after opening brightly with 2 birdies in his first 4 holes, a bogey at the 5th saw him out in -1 35 at the turn. He got in trouble with his approach at the 12th resulting in a drop and double bogey 6, followed by a bogey on the par 3 13th from the rough behind the green. 

However he bounced back with a birdie at the par 4 14th, and 2 more, at the par 4 16th where he nearly drove the green and the par 3 17th where he is tee shot finished 6' away. A back nine 37, 72 sees him T60.

He is ranked #350 owgr and after his T2 in Kenya, 33rd in the DP World Tour ranking. 

Bryan Angus (edit europeantour.com)

Canadian tee times in Puntacana, Weir withdraws, LPGA in Carlsbad

 PGA Tour: Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship leaderboard here

The alternative PGA Tour event this week is in DOM for the annual Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship. The field is full of hopefuls, regulars and has-beens..

Here are today's Canadian tee times:

Mike Weir was in the field but has withdrawn his name, no reason given.

Adam Svensson 1st tee 7.51am

Michael Gligic 10th tee 8.02am

David Hearn 1st tee 11,41

Nick Taylor 10th tee 12.03

Roger Sloan 1st tee 12.25

Maude-Aimee Leblanc returns

LPGA Tour: JTBC Classic leaderboard TEE times here

The LPGA has flown from Thailand to California for the next 3 weeks, this time it's the JTBC Classic 

Here are today's Canadian tee times:

Brook Henderson is not playing

Maude-Aimee LeBlanc 1st tee 8.39 local

Maddie Szeryk 10th tee 9.01 local 

Bryan Angus

 

Hughes loses tight match to DJ, Casey concedes to Conners...WED results, Thurs MATCHES

 WGC Dell Tech Match Play: WED results THUR matches here

On a cool sometimes breezy day in Austin Texas, this WGC World Match Play event sponsored by Dell Tech got under way with all 16 groups of 4 in action.

ROUND 1: 

Corey Conners wasn't playing for long, Paul Casy won their first hole, then pulled his back driving the ball on the second, went over to Corey in the fairway, shook hands conceding the match, before heading to the physio to seek if can can continue today.

Later Mac Hughes and Dustin Johnson had a tight match, he was 1up through 8 and all square through 13 until DJ birdied 14,15,15 to win the match 3&2.

Notables : Spieth fought back to beat Keegan Bradley 2up, Luke List beat Justin Thomas 3&2, Maverick McNeely ranked 64th, had the romp of the day 8&6 over Joaquin Niemann

Collin Morikawa edged Scotland's Bob McIntyre 2&1, Ian Poulter was beating Scottie Scheffler until the hottest player in golf birdie 15,16 17 to win 2&1, England's ever green 49 year old Richard Bland drew with Bryson DeChambeau  world  #1 Jon Rahm 4&2 over Seb Munoz of Colummbia.

ROUND 2: (Sunny, cool, very little wind)

Corey Conners 1-0-0 is 1st off vs Louis Oosthuizen 0-1-0 at 1030am est.

Mac Hughes 0-1-0 plays Max Homa 1-0-0 at 1.50pm

All the live results are here

Bryan Angus

Weir in at Puntacana, Hadwin, Conners WGC Dell matches...details...

 PGA Tour : Corales Puntacana Championship field 

Mike Weir has been promoted from alternative to playing this week at the Corales Puntacana Championship joining Roger Sloan, Nick Taylor, Adam Svensson, David Hearn.

WGC Dell Technologies Matches for Wednesday March 23/22 TEE TIME

Here are the times for Mac Hughes and Corey Conners

Mac Hughes is in a group with DJ, Max Homa and Matthew Wolff

Conners is in a group with Louis Oosthuizen, Alex Noren and Paul Casey

Format: In each group they play each other once and the best player advances to the single elimination round of 16 on Saturday. 

Ties in the group play are settled by a sudden death playoff

Play begins on Wednesday where Hughes plays Dustin Johnson at 2.06 Texas time. Connors begins at 10.59 vs Paul Casey.

Bryan Angus 

Hadwin has another good week 7th, Burns repeat champion at Valspar Championship...final results

 PGA Tour: Valspar Championship final results here.

When it was all said and done, Adam Hadwin had another good week on the Copperhead course at this year's Valspar Championship.

In complete control of his game on Thursday 64 and Friday 66 with 14 birdies and a share of the lead at -12, the birdies dried up on Saturday with 3 offset by 2 bogey's -1 70 leaving him 5 shots behind going into Sunday. 

He birdied the opening par 5, then posted 12 straight pars before finding trouble off the tee at the 600yd par 5 14th and eventually making his 1st bogey which ended his challenge, then pars at 15,16, 17 and ending with a bogey 5 at the last 72 -12 T7th worth $228,930.00

It was his 2nd top 10 in a row after a T9 at the Players last week.

Of the 5 players including Hadwin, who were in contention come the final 9 on Sunday, last years winner Sam Burns won again with a birdie on the 2nd playoff hole to beat his college friend and tour rookie Davis Riley who both finished at -17.

Bruns and Riley, both 25,

It was Burns 3rd win in the last 10 months, worth $1,404,000.

Canadians: Adam Svensson 71 68 67 73 -5 T39, $29,250 then Nick Taylor who had 8 bogey's and a double on Sunday,  69 70 68 79 +2 T70 $15,912.

That ends the "Florida swing". Next week it's off to Austin, Texas for the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play, for the top 60 where Mac Hughes and Corey Connors will play.

The rest are in Punta Cana DOM for the Corales Championship with David Hearn, Michael Gligic, Taylor Pendrith, Roger Sloan, Adam Svensson and Nick Taylor are in the field with Mike Weir as an alternative. 

Next it's the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio before the Masters April 14-17.

Bryan Angus

Shaun Norris feel good win at Steyn City.. final results

 DP World Tour: Steyn City Championship Results

Home favourite Shaun Norris claimed his first DP World Tour title in dramatic fashion after producing a tremendous fightback in a final-round battle with Dean Burmester to win the 2022 Steyn City Championship by three shots.

The 39-year-old began the day with a four-shot lead but was overtaken at the summit by a charging Burmester after just seven holes as he made a slow start.

Fellow South African Burmester had extended his advantage to two strokes by the tenth hole but Norris then sprang to life, carding three birdies in his next six holes to grab a share of the lead.

And the thrilling contest swung Norris' way at the 17th as he made another birdie and watched Burmester run up a double bogey, handing Norris a three-shot lead heading to the 18th tee.

And Norris safely parred the last to sign for a closing 70, finish the week on 25 under par and claim his tenth win worldwide surrounded by his family. He only made 3 bogey's all week.

Burmester finished alone in second place on 22 under, three shots clear of Oliver Bekker and Matti Schmid in a tie for third.

Norris went into Sunday's final round four shots clear of his nearest challenger but saw his lead cut early on as he made bogeys at the second and fourth to fall back to 21 under.

Burmester then closed the gap to one stroke with a birdie at the sixth, as Norris' slow start continued.

The turning point came at the par-four seventh, where Burmester holed his second shot from a tricky spot to the right of the green for an unexpected eagle to catapult himself into the lead.

A strong par save at the eighth followed for Burmester before he parred the ninth to head to the turn with a one-shot advantage.

After finding the tenth green in two blows, Burmester tapped in his birdie putt to move two clear, as Norris made a sixth successive par.

Burmester then drove the green at the par-four 11th before carding a two-putt birdie to make it two in a row, with Norris finally opening his birdie account at the same hole.

A two-shot swing looked to be a possibility at the short 14th as Norris sent his tee shot to within a few feet of the cup and Burmester missed the green.

But Burmester was able to limit the damage with a fine par save, as Norris tapped in to return to 23 under - which is where he began the day - and close the gap to a single shot.

TURNING POINT: Norris then made his third birdie of the day at the 16th to join Burmester at the summit on 24 under. Burmester was clearly rattled after a poor eagle attempt, led to a missed birdie.

There was a three-shot swing at the 17th as Norris made a magnificent birdie and Burmester still angry, hooked his drive, then hit his blind approach over the green, pitched back across and right off the green eventually carding a double-bogey six.

And Norris was able to enjoy his victory on the 18th, sharing the moment with family on the green.

An emotional Norris, who was joined by his baby daughter Riley-Grace, said: "I don't think words can describe how I feel right now.

Bryan Angus (europeantour.com)

"It's been a tough journey and having my brother on the bag, my wife here, my little girl - splendid, I can't explain.

"It's absolutely beautiful doing this in front of my home crowd and in front of my family.

Birdies on the menu for Hadwin's Sunday breakfast... live scoreboard

 PGA Tour: Valspar Championship leaderboard here.

Canadians are famous for our back bacon, but if Adam Hadwin is ordering his breakfast at this famous Innisbrook Resort, home of the Copperhead course and the Valspar Championship, it will be "just birdies please !"

On Thursday I mentioned the importance of 4 low rounds in this benign weather, especially with soft greens and after 64 66 -12 Adam was right on course , however with 7 straight pars on his closing nine after a birdie at the 11th, he lost ground to those on the birdie fest around him with his -1 70 -13, 5th on moving day.

Relative unknowns like rookie Davis Riley (62) -18 1st, and Matthew NeSmith (69) -16, 2nd, are setting course records and having career weeks  then world stars like Justin Thomas (66) -15 and defending champion Sam Burns (67) -15 T3, are all hell bent on winning for reasons of their own.

So that's the scenario as Hadwin tees off, 5 shots behind, at 1.40pm in the 3rd last group with Robert Streb. 

Weather: more of the same, hot, very little breeze, greens a little firmer, ideal, scoring will be low..

The first hole, a par 5 has been on of the easiest, playing at 4.46 and Adam has birdied it all 3 days so far, going on to 8 birdies on Thursday and 6 more on Friday. He'll need more of the same today, and some help from those around around him.

In my opinion Riley and NeSmith have had their 62 and 61 respectively and are likely to come back to the field today, Justin Thomas is not ranked #8 in the world for nothing, and there is always someone in the pack who always throws caution to the wind and shoots the low round of the day. Xander Schauffele at -11 comes to mind.

Canadians : Adam Svensson 71 68 67 -7 T21, and Nick Taylor 69 70 68 -6 T34 have been playing well in spots this year so will be looking to improve on their finish as well.

Hadwin has played so well at this course with his win in 2017, and in complete control Thursday and Friday, I just have a feeling his 70 was his "bad" round of the week, he's talked about feeling much more relaxed here, not letting bad shots bother him as much, staying in the moment on each shot..

All sounds great, so let's see if he got those "birdies please" for breakfast !!

Bryan Angus

 

Shaun Norris sets the standard at Steyn City... full leaderboard

 DP World Tour : Steyn City Championship full Leaderboard

Shaun Norris remained on track for a maiden DP World Tour victory as a third-round 67 handed him a four-shot lead heading into the final day of the 2022 Steyn City Championship.

The South African had entered the weekend with a three-shot advantage after a blistering 64-62 start and while he could not quite maintain that pace, he moved to 23 under with just one bogey all week.

Countryman Dean Burmester was his nearest challenger after a 66, one shot clear of German Matti Schmid and two ahead of Dane Joachim B. Hansen and Swede Sebastian Soderberg.

Norris came through the Qualifying School in 2010 and while he is making his 114th start this week, he has yet to truly establish himself on the DP World Tour while having huge success elsewhere.

A truly international player, he has six wins on the Japan Golf Tour - including last year's Japan Open Golf Championship - to go with another win on the Asian Tour and two on the Sunshine Tour.

He finished third at the season-opening Joburg Open to match his best ever DP World Tour Championship result but will be looking to take his worldwide win tally into double figures in his native Johannesburg.

Schmid birdied the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth to turn in 31 and when he holed from 30 feet on the tenth for an eagle, he was right in the mix.

The reigning Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year found water on the next but hit back on the 12th before dropping another shot on the 15th, with an up-and-down from the sand on 16th and an 18-footer on the 17th seeing him sign for a 64.

Hansen made seven birdies and two bogeys in his 67, a score matched by Soderberg, who holed a bunker shot for an eagle on the 16th to go with four birdies and a bogey.

Bryan Angus edit europeantour.com