Rory the Story day 1 at the US Open...full Friday TEE TIMES

 USGA : US Open Tee Times

The quiet man Patrick Cantlay leads after round one at tough Pinehurst #2, without much ado as usual -5 65, but a bogey free late 65 by newly reconciled Rory McIlroy grabs all the headlines..

If you have ever split up with the wife (and kids) even filed for divorce THEN reconciled, you will know it's a sobering, loving usually horny experience giving great relief all around !

That in itself may be the ticket to give Rory something extra this week at the US OPEN under a blazing hot 90*f  North Carolina blue sky.

He hasn't gone bogey free in a major for 10 years and he won then. Pinehurst is only going to get tougher with no rain in the forecast and little wind, #2 will just bake out getting firmer, more penal and with just 2 par 5's in a par 70 there isn't much room for error. That's why -5 is the lead and don't expect it to get much lower.

Swedish star Ludvig Aberg was 2nd at the Masters, he is 2nd again -4 66 after just 1 year as a pro. Another DP World Tour stalwart Matthieu Pavon is 3rd -3 67 along with LIV jumper Bryson Dechambeau.

Thus -1 69 by Canadian Corey Conners is a great start, however 6 others joined him T9.

Other Canadians

Taylor Pendrith T34 +1 71

Mac Hughes T50 +2 72

Adam Svensson T65 +3 73

Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin T86 +4 74

Ashton McCulloch T105 +5 75

Tiger started brightly but fell away with too many bogey's T86 +4 74

Friday Tee Times click Tee Times

Bryan Angus

Solid start for Corey Conners at US Open

 USGA : US Open  Leaderboard

It was a solid start for Canadian 32 year old Corey Conners at Pinehurst #2 in this years US Open.

After a double bogey 6 at the 2nd he bounce right back with a 40 foot eagle 3 putt at the long par 5 5th. He was out in +1 36, back in -2 33.

13 pars, 1 double, 1 bogey, 1 eagle, 2 birdies including a 3 at the 18th on this tough, hard fast Pinehurst #2 course.

Tees and greens in regulation, a must at US Opens, were his staple today, with some great drives and iron play, lots of 4 footers for par, and he avoided any penal mistakes.

The late wave are now playing with Mac Hughes, Nick Taylor, Adam Svensson and Taylor Pendrith.

This morning Adam Hadwin T77 +4 74, while amateur Ashton McCulloch is still in play as I post this.

Tiger T77 +4 74, the leader is the quiet assassin Patrick Cantlay -5 65, with 2 DP World stars Ludvig Aberg 2nd -4 66 and Mattieu Pavon 3rd -3 67 

The feature group have just begun with Rory, Scottie and Xander off the 1st.

The weather is sunny and hot low 90*f (32*c).

More to follow, and follow all the scores on my link Leaderboard

Bryan Angus

US Open TEE Times including 7 Canadians

 USGA : US Open Pinehurst GC #2

Tee Times

The tee times are just out for this weeks US Open at Pinehurst #2 where the late Payne Stewart made history winning in 1999..before his hired private jet lost compression in mid flight and killed all on board when it ran out of gas and crashed into a mid west corn field.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Feature

1.14pm 1st Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele

Canadians

7.18 1st    Corey Conners, Stephan Jaeger, Emilio Grillo

7.51 1st    Adam Hadwin, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson

8.57 10th  Ashton McCulloch (a) Richard Mansell, Willie Mac III

12.41 10th Adam Svensson, Mark Hubbard, Chesson Hadley

1.03 10th  Mac Hughes, Nick Taylor, Robert MacIntyre

2.09 1st    Taylor Pendrith, Brendon Todd, Alex Noren

Jon Rahm who was born with a club foot has had to W/D with an infected foot. He has had a poor season golf wise, so far on LIV, where their money for joining was all paid up front. Rahm got $350,000,000.

The defending champion is American Wyndham Clark and Tiger is in the field..

729 10th  Tiger, Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris

Weather for Pinehurst resort NC.

Expect a hot week in the 90's F (32*C) and a fast, firm Pinehurst #2 which has been closed to guests for 12 days of preparation. This is in contrast to the soft greens for the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Kentucky.

Tiger has called the hard fast greens "borderline" with a chance to get worse in the hot dry weather.

Thursday

Weather: Mostly sunny
Rain Probability: PM 20%
Lightning Probability: 20%
Rainfall: N/A
Temp (Low/High): 68˚/90˚
Wind: SSE 5-10 mph G10-15

Friday

Weather: Partly sunny with chance of PM t-storms
Rain Probability: AM 20%, PM 40%
Lightning Probability: 40%
Rainfall: N/A
Temp (Low/High): 70˚/94˚
Wind: SW 5-10 mph G10-15

Saturday

Weather: Partly sunny with chance of PM t-storms
Rain Probability: AM 20%, PM 40%
Lightning Probability: 40%
Rainfall: N/A
Temp (Low/High): 68˚/92˚
Wind: N to E 5-10 mph G10-15

Sunday

Weather: Mostly sunny
Rain Probability: 20%
Lightning Probability: 20%
Rainfall: N/A
Temp (Low/High): 66˚/90˚
Wind: E 5-10 mph G10-15

Bryan Angus

Els wins again PGA Tour Champions..final results

 PGA Tour Champions : American Family Insurance Championship Results

When Steve Stricker made birdie at the 12th hole, he led by four shots with six to play. It was clear who this party would belong to ... right up until it wasn’t.

In a word, the finish to the American Family Insurance Championship was, well, shocking. There he stood one of the best putters in the game, the hometown hero, standing over a 3-footer on the first playoff hole against Ernie Els to extend their playoff to another hole.

But this is golf, and golf can be cruel just as often as it wants to follow the anticipated script. With Els already in for par, Stricker pulled the putter back to match him, kept the blade slightly open, and his par putt carrying too much pace spun off the right edge of the hole. There would not be another playoff hole. No more golf on this day.

Ernie Els celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Champions Tour Principal Charity Classic golf tournament, Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

This was Stricker’s party, for sure, played in front of robust and cheerful Wisconsin galleries in Stricker’s adopted hometown of Madison. But it was Els, the big South African, a four-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Famer, who was making away with the title, his second in as many weeks.

Els, 54, was delighted to win again, but his initial cold-bucket splash of emotions was no different than any other person who had witnessed the final scene. “What can I say?” Els told Golf Channel’s John Cook just off the edge of the 18th green, the title now his. “I’m just shocked right now. I really feel for Steve. What a great guy. He's the best putter we have probably in the world,” Els said of Stricker, “and as I said, conditions were tough. The short putts when that gust comes, it throws you off a little bit, so it can happen to the best of us.”

Els won for the fifth time as a member of PGA TOUR Champions, adding to the championship he captured in Des Moines (Principal Charity Classic) one week earlier.

Els and Stricker began the day tied for the lead, and each shot 3-under 69 on Sunday, getting to 12-under 276 for the tournament. Australia’s Cameron Percy closed with 67 to finish alone in third, three back, his best showing on PGA TOUR Champions. Stephen Ames (67), who overtook Steven Alker for the lead in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup standings, tied for fourth at 280 along with Doug Barron (66) and Thomas Bjørn (69).

pgatour,com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Hadwin wins his place at 152nd Open Championship

 PGA Tour : the Memorial  Results Prize Money

So as expected Scottie Scheffler won the Memorial despite a closing 74, his 5th win of the year at -8, and another $4,000,000 on a tough day for scoring on Jack's Muirfield Village GC, with the breezes blowing and the small undulating greens playing hard and fast. 

He has shattered the PGA money record for a year at over $24,00,000 and it's only June.

Only 6 players broke par, the average score was nearly 75 much to the delight of Mr Nicklaus "I have always loved a tough golf course "

It was also a great week for Adam Hadwin who played some of his best golf this year 66 72 72 74 worth $1,400,000 and a spot in the Open Championship at Royal Troon along with Mac Hughes, Corey Conners and Nick Taylor.

He also is now in 2nd place with Nick Taylor for the Canadian team at the Olympics in Paris and is in the field this week for the US Open at Pinehurst #2, one of the toughest tests in golf.

" This was either great prep for next week, or we just got our butts kicked heading into next week" said Hadwin

Other Canadians

Corey Conners T20 +3 $259,500

Adam Svensson, Nick Taylor  T27 +5  $143,500

Taylor Pendrith T33 +6 $106,500

Seven Canadians this week's US Open at Pinehurst #2 where Payne Stewart won in 1999.

Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Mac Hughes, Taylor Pendrith, Ashton McCulloch (a) Adam Svensson

Monday practice times Monday Practice

Bryan Angus

Sweden's Linn Grant beats the men Scandinavian Mixed.

 DP World Tour : Scandinavian Mixed ..Final results   

Linn Grant made yet more history as she won the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed for the second time, chasing down overnight leader Sebastian Söderberg courtesy of a flawless final-round 65 in her hometown of Helsingborg.

Grant, who became the first female winner in DP World Tour history at this event two years ago, started the day 11 shots behind runaway 54-hole leader Söderberg.

But as he slipped backwards throughout the afternoon Grant made seven birdies and no bogeys to set the clubhouse target at -17 

And with her countryman Söderberg finishing his final-round a disastrous +5 77 with a double bogey at the 18th to miss out on a play-off, Grant was gifted her second DP World Tour title in dramatic circumstances, winning by a single shot.

Söderberg finished in joint-second alongside Scotland's Calum Hill on -16, with Swedish Ladies European Tour star Johanna Gustavsson three shots further back in a tie for fourth with Englishmen Alex Fitzpatrick and Andy Sullivan.

Grant flew out of the blocks on day four, making four birdies in five holes from the second to close the gap.

The 24-year-old took dead aim at the ninth to set up a six-foot birdie before holing from 15 feet on the tenth for back-to-back birdies.

Grant gave herself further chances down the stretch but could not add to her birdie count until the 18th, where she chipped in from the bank around the green to finish with a flourish.

She said: "I'm so surprised.

"Standing here, now as a winner again in my hometown. Amazing.

Grant's hole-out birdie on the last proved to be the shot that won her the tournament and saw her become the first woman to win twice on the DP World Tour.

She added: "It was unbelievable. I think I celebrated it good enough when I was there. So I'm not looking back on that wishing it was me on the last hole."

The Swedish flag featured prominently on the leaderboard as three home players finished in the top four.

Grant said: "It’s amazing playing on home soil and seeing a lot of players play so well.

"I think it shows all the fans coming out here that we really enjoy playing at home.

"We’re all very happy at the moment. Just finding a way to celebrate tonight and have a nice week off.

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)

Scheffler again, this time at the Memorial..Sunday TEE TIMES

 PGA Tour : the Memorial Sunday Tee Times

This is Scheffler's tournament now, though he still has to face a Muirfield Village course that is getting drier and windier and harder. Scheffler has four wins this year, but he has never gone into the final round leading by more than one.

Getty Images

“I’m going to go out tomorrow and try and have a good round of golf, keep my head down and stay in my own little world out there," Scheffler said. “I'm not going to really pay attention to what anybody else is doing. I'm just going to try and do my best.”

He hit out of a bunker over the green and into the water. He hit a tee shot over a boundary fence and made a triple bogey. He three-putted his last hole. All that, and he posted a 1-under 71 and increased his lead to 4 shots Saturday in the Memorial.

In his final start before the U.S. Open, Scheffler seized control despite a couple of blunders on a tough Muirfield Village Golf Club course. He still built a four-shot lead, moving closer to his fifth PGA TOUR victory of the year.

Scheffler was at -10 206, four shots ahead of Collin Morikawa, who played bogey-free for a 68, and Adam Hadwin, who made all his mistakes on one hole and shot 72.

He stayed in range until he caught a wedge so fat it didn't reach the green on the 14th. He pitched on to about 15 feet and three-putted for double bogey. The bogey on the 18th was his only other mistake.

Defending champion Viktor Hovland also was lingering in range until an atrocious back nine that started with a shot in the water on the par-5 11th led to bogey. He went long on the 12th for bogey, short on the 13th for bogey and long into the back bunker on the 14th for bogey.

Hovland then put his tee shot into the water on the par-3 16th for a triple bogey, shot 42 on the back nine and found himself nine shots out of the lead.

Rory McIlroy, who had a 73 and was eight back.

So ho hum...another $20,000,000 signature event all but in the bag for this quiet Texan with 18 to play and the US Open next..sounds familiar doesn't it.

pgatour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)