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      The Players to Watch at the U.S. Open

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      The Open starts this week, and these are the five players, including Phil Mickelson, to keep your eyes on.In April, history was made at Augusta National Golf Club when Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese male golfer to win a major championship. As other contenders at the Masters faltered, Matsuyama shot a seven-under 65 in the third round for a 4-shot lead heading into Sunday. He won by a stroke.In May, history was made again in the P.G.A. Championship when Phil Mickelson, 50, became the oldest golfer to win a major. It was his sixth major title.Both players have never won the United States Open, but have finished second. If either of them captures this week’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, history will be made again, Matsuyama as the first Japanese player to win the Open and Mickelson as the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam.Here are the players, including Mickelson, to watch at the Open, the third major of the year.Phil MickelsonAfter he won last month’s P.G.A. Championship, how can one not keep on eye on the now 51-year-old Mickelson?Mickelson’s failure to win this tournament has been well chronicled; he has finished second a record six times. None was more heartbreaking than the collapse in 2006 when a par on the final hole would have given him the championship. He ended up with a double bogey, losing by one stroke to Geoff Ogilvy.Mickelson, a San Diego native who has played Torrey Pines countless times, will likely hit his share of poor shots this week. He will also likely hit his share of wonderful shots. In other words, he will be the same person golf fans have come to expect. It will be great theater no matter what happens.Tannen Maury/EPA, via ShutterstockJon RahmRahm, leading by six strokes after three rounds, was well on his way to a victory at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio about two weeks ago when he tested positive for Covid-19. He immediately withdrew. Rahm was in isolation until June 12, when he had two negative Covid tests in a 24-hour period.The course certainly seems to fit his game. His first tour triumph was in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in 2017, where he recorded two eagles on the final six holes. The second eagle came on No. 18 when he made a 60-foot putt from the fringe, capping a seven-under 65. Earlier this year, Rahm tied for seventh at the Farmers.Rahm, the No. 3-ranked player in the world, has not won since the BMW Championship last August, but has been in good form for most of the year. Including the Genesis Invitational in February, where he tied for fifth, he has finished in the top 10 in six of his last 10 starts.He’ll have to keep his emotions in check when things go wrong, which they often do at the Open. Bogeys will come. The key will be to avoid any double bogeys or worse. Rahm, 26, is high on the list of the best players in the game who have not won a major.Jared C. Tilton/Getty ImagesBrooks KoepkaForget about the way he struggled in the final round of the P.G.A. after he seized the lead from Mickelson. Koepka, who shot a two-over 74 and finished in a tie for second, was making only his third start since knee surgery in March.Koepka, ranked No. 10, seems to always be in contention in the majors.In his last 20 majors, going back to the 2015 British Open, he has finished in the top 10 13 times, including four victories and three seconds. If he were to win this week, Koepka, 31, would become only the 20th player to capture at least five majors.It has been an up-and-down year for Koepka, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. He has missed the cut in five of nine tournaments.Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesDustin JohnsonGranted, Johnson, 36, hasn’t been on his game in recent months.He has recorded only one top 10 — a tie for 10th in last week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree in South Carolina — since he finished in a tie for eighth at the Genesis Invitational. Worse yet, he missed the cut in the Masters and the P.G.A. In four rounds at those two majors, he failed to shoot lower than a 74.Johnson is the game’s No. 1-ranked player, and by a good margin. In South Carolina, he was in contention on the back nine on Sunday before he made a triple bogey on No. 16.Johnson has played extremely well in previous Opens. In addition to winning the 2016 championship, he has posted five other top 10s, including a tie for sixth last year.Sam Greenwood/Getty ImagesCollin MorikawaAfter his performance in the Memorial Tournament, where he lost in a playoff to Patrick Cantlay, Morikawa is now ranked No. 4, his highest. At 24, his future is very bright.He has been on a roll since the Masters. In his last five starts, he has finished in the top 20 four times. Morikawa has missed just one cut since October. In February, he captured the WGC-Workday Championship at the Concession in Florida by three shots.Morikawa was brilliant in last year’s P.G.A. Championship. On the drivable, 294-yard par-4 16th hole, his tee shot came to a rest only seven feet away. He made the eagle putt and went on to win by two strokes over Johnson and Paul Casey. In his final two rounds, Morikawa shot a 65 and 64. More

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      Rose Holds Slim Masters Lead as Johnson Misses the Cut

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      After shooting a 75 on Friday, Dustin Johnson, who won the Masters in November, became the latest defending champion not to advance into the weekend.AUGUSTA, Ga. — To most every player at the Masters Tournament, the 530-yard, water-guarded hole called Firethorn is a back-nine destination for earning back a stroke. To Bernd Wiesberger, that hole, No. 15 at Augusta National Golf Club, can teeter toward the nightmarish.In November, it dealt him a double bogey. On Thursday, his putt for eagle rolled and rolled and rolled across some of the firmest greens in Masters memory before it slipped clear into the drink. And so there Wiesberger stood on Friday, having gained four shots before coming upon the pine-lined nemesis that had left him “a little bit too excited” a day earlier.His first shot on Friday went 305 yards and landed in the rough. The second vaulted his ball beyond the tree canopy. The third moved him onto the green, positioning Wiesberger for a 6-foot putt that, mercifully, did not have him aiming toward water. Birdie.“I’ve been playing really solid golf yesterday and today, obviously,” said Wiesberger, an Austrian whose second-round six-under-par 66 matched Tony Finau for the day’s best score and by sundown had him in a six-way tie for sixth place that also included Finau. “Just today, I kept the mistakes off the card.”But there were plenty of other shots that went wayward elsewhere on the course as the cut, set for the second consecutive year at the lowest 50 scores plus ties, loomed.Dustin Johnson, the 2020 champion, struggled with his putting and, at five over par across two days, failed to move into Saturday’s third round. Rory McIlroy, who arrived at Augusta National in search of the Masters victory he needs to complete a career Grand Slam, logged a double bogey at No. 10 and did not advance. Brooks Koepka, who is ranked No. 14 in the world, faltered and did not make the cut, nor did Sungjae Im, who finished second in November’s tournament, which organizers had postponed from April because of the coronavirus pandemic.Johnson leaning to inspect the 15th green, where his ball went into the water.Doug Mills/The New York TimesAugusta National played far differently back then, offering players a soft course on which 43 golfers finished below par and Johnson won at 20 under, a tournament record. The grounds have proved far more vicious this week, with one player after the next declaring the greens — famously fast and firm — more perilous than they had ever seen them.Not that Augusta National was concerned. “We have the golf course where we want it,” its chairman, Fred S. Ridley, said this week.Justin Rose, who entered Friday with a four-stroke lead, remained atop the field after shooting a 72. But his advantage narrowed to a single shot on a day when he had three fewer birdies than in his opening round and doubled, to four, the number of bogeys.“I think it was just a classic day at Augusta National when you’re slightly off,” Rose said. “You can be a foot or two out on certain occasions and you end up struggling.”Will Zalatoris chipping to the ninth green.Doug Mills/The New York TimesWill Zalatoris, who is aiming to become the first person to win his Masters debut since Fuzzy Zoeller did it in 1979, birdied the final three holes to climb into second place, a shot behind Rose and alongside Brian Harman, who made birdie on No. 18 when his second shot rolled downward and set up a 10-foot putt that had just enough power.Marc Leishman and Jordan Spieth were tied in fourth place, while Cameron Champ, Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas joined Finau and Wiesberger in sixth. (Augusta National said Friday evening that Matthew Wolff, who was not in contention, had been disqualified after he submitted a scorecard with an inaccurate tally for No. 17.)Finau’s six-stroke swing into the tournament’s upper ranks began early in his round, when he sized up the second hole, a par-5 that, at 575 yards, is the longest on the course. He was 8 feet from the pin after a pair of strokes. His putt slid right, tracing a crescent on its way toward an eagle.With the predicted rain looking less likely before the start of Saturday’s round, Finau professed himself unbothered by the conditions that had thrilled and terrified others.Tony Finau after making a birdie on the sixth hole.Doug Mills/The New York Times“I really like the conditions fast and firm,” said Finau, who finished in a tie for fifth at the 2019 Masters, his best showing at Augusta National. “With my ball flight, I think it’s a big advantage. I put plenty of spin on it. I enjoy the golf course the way it’s playing — I guess I wouldn’t say enjoy, but I think it’s a good setup for me.”Johnson was another story: a defending champion who three-putted six times in two days, but whose demise this week was not quite sealed until late in his Friday round. His second shot on Friday at No. 15, the hole that had so frustrated Wiesberger, wound up in the water and fueled a bogey there. Two holes later, his second shot lifted him onto the green — before a pair of putts streaked past the pin. Adding to the turmoil, his first putt fell short on No. 18.“I don’t know,” he said afterward. “I just didn’t have a good beat on the speed the last two days.”He will still be at the club this weekend, of course, to drape the green jacket on someone else. It has happened recently: Johnson became the third reigning winner to miss the cut in five years, after Danny Willett and Sergio García stumbled.“I like this golf course,” Johnson said after his round. “I feel like I play it very well. I just didn’t putt very good. It’s pretty simple.” More

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      At the Masters, Justin Rose Is an Outlier, and Establishes an Early Lead

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      Unlike last year, when the Masters was played in November, a firm Augusta National course fought back, punishing many golfers through the first round, though Rose managed six birdies on the back nine.AUGUSTA, Ga. — A golf course does not have feelings.Or does it?It would be the easiest way to explain the revenge Augusta National Golf Club exacted on the field in the first round of the Masters tournament on Thursday, after the course was routed by many of the same players last year.Five months ago in November, a month when Augusta National is typically just waking from a good slumber, the world’s best golfers arrived to play the 2020 Masters, which was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The course was somnolent and unprepared, especially since it got good and sloshed by rain the night before the event began.Golf’s elite took no pity on the venerable, if vulnerable, aristocrat of major championship golf courses. Dustin Johnson’s winning score of 20 under par was a tournament record, and 43 players finished the event under par.Apparently, Augusta National has a good memory. In the first round of the 2021 Masters, the course was roused, ready and itching for retaliation.When the last shot was struck on Thursday, Justin Rose was the outlier with a sparkling seven-under-par 65, which included six birdies on the back nine. That score put him in the lead, four strokes ahead of Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama who were tied for second after matching scores of 69.But only 11 other players were under par, and Rose, Harman and Matsuyama were the only golfers breaking 70. Contrast that with the first round in 2020, when a tournament record 24 players scored in the 60s and a whopping 53 were under par.Hideki Matsuyama on the 17th tee. He finished the first round with a three-under-par 69.Doug Mills/The New York TimesPerhaps the field should have been forewarned on Tuesday when Fred Couples, the 1992 Masters champion playing in his 36th Masters, said the Augusta National conditions were the most difficult he had seen in decades. Asked about the greens, which have been drying out all week, Couples said, “If they get any firmer, look out.”The prophecy, aided by swirling winds, came to life on Thursday around the grounds. Jordan Spieth, a former Masters winner, was on a run up the leader board at the midpoint of his round until an errant tee shot on the par-4 ninth hole, followed by a recovery shot that ricocheted off a tree, eventually led to a three-putt and a garish triple bogey. Spieth rallied with an eagle on the 15th hole and consecutive birdies on the 16th and 17th holes, to finish with a one-under-par 71, which left him tied for eighth.The reigning United States Open champion Bryson DeChambeau shot a four-over-par 40 on the front nine, then had an up-and-down final nine. His four-over-par 76 left him in a tie for 60th.After his round, DeChambeau had a lament shared by golfers who have yet to master Augusta National’s subtleties, most notably having to hit approach shots from a downhill lie to an uphill green. Asked how often he sees such a shot on the P.GA Tour, DeChambeau answered: “Not very often, just at Augusta. That’s why I don’t have a problem anywhere else.”Rory McIlroy had an eventful first round and finished with a four-over-par 76.Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated PressRory McIlroy, who needs a Masters title to complete the career Grand Slam of all four major golf championships, shot an eventful four-over-par 76. McIlroy not only had six bogeys, he also plunked his father, Gerry, in the back of the leg with a wayward second shot on the seventh hole.The elder McIlroy appeared to be fine, walking away after his son’s golf ball caromed off him. Afterward, McIlroy said he was aiming at his father because he was standing in a good spot. Gerry McIlroy later joked that he wanted an autograph from Rory, which is a customary thing for a player to give a fan who is struck by a shot.“I think he just needs to go and put some ice on,” Rory said, referring to his father with a grin. “Maybe I’ll autograph a bag of frozen peas for him.”Rose opened his round with a one-under-par 35 on the front nine but then blitzed the closing holes with birdies on the 10th and 12th holes, two of Augusta National’s biggest challenges. Rose birdied both par 5s on the back nine, as well as the par-3 16th and daunting par-4 17th hole.His performance was especially impressive because he had not played a competitive round of golf in a month, having withdrawn from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March with a back injury. In the end, the layoff may have been beneficial in a variety of ways. For one, it lowered Rose’s expectations for the Masters, something he acknowledged on Thursday evening.“You can just run off instinct a little bit,” Rose, the 2013 United States Open champion, said. “Obviously I’ve competed in these big tournaments quite a few times, and I’ve got one of them to my name, but we’re looking for more.”He also used the time off to spend more time working with his old swing coach Sean Foley, who Rose reunited with late last year. The two first began working together in 2009 and had a brief, recent separation, which is common in the golf world.“Everything I’ve achieved in the game of golf I’ve done it with Sean by my side,” Rose said, adding: “I was tailing off a little bit with my own game through 2019, and I think the lockdown, just being left to my own devices for a little bit too long was probably not a good thing.“So it’s great to be back with Sean, and I trust him implicitly. He knows what works for me and my game.”Four players were five strokes behind Rose at two under par: Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, both former major champions, and Will Zalatoris and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.“With how difficult it was out there today, with how firm and fast this place played, and the wind picking up,” Reed said. “I’ll definitely take a round of two under par. ”Simpson echoed Reed’s sentiments.“Guys are going to shoot themselves out of the golf tournament on Day 1 in these conditions,” he said. “I knew it would be tough today, but I didn’t know we’d be dealing with gusty winds like we were. So I’m very happy with my score.“I think it’s been five years at least from last time I remember it being this firm, this rough. But it’s fun, too. This golf course is more fun this way because you really have to think, you really have to use the slopes. Otherwise, you can put yourself in some really bad spots.” More

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      U.S. Women’s Open: December Date for Brings New Challenges

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesBritain’s Vaccine RolloutVaccine TrackerFAQ: Vaccines and MoreAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDecember Date for U.S. Women’s Open Brings New ChallengesGolf’s final major tournament is set to play in Houston with coronavirus-related challenges, an unprecedented two-course format, and one of women’s golf’s largest purses.Former world No. 1 golfer Ariya Jutanugarn, left, and her sister Moriya both tested positive for the coronavirus in November. “It’s tough because I know my body isn’t 100 percent yet,” Ariya said Wednesday, ahead of opening round of the U.S. Women’s Open.Credit…Carlos Osorio/Associated PressDec. 10, 2020Updated 8:16 a.m. ETHOUSTON — The PGA Tour does not have a 72-hole stroke play event this week, and several weekend college football games, including the marquee matchup between Michigan and Ohio State, have been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus, leaving the best female golfers in the world well positioned to fill the TV viewing void.This weekend, the L.P.G.A. contests the United States Women’s Open, its most lucrative major tournament, pushed back six months from its original date by the pandemic, on a stage cleared of some of the usual obstacles that can overshadow women’s golf in America. The spotlight it offers is in many ways tailored for Ariya Jutanugarn.Jutanugarn, 25, a former women’s world No. 1 from Thailand, generates tremendous clubhead speed and can produce birdies in bunches when she gets on a roll. But she tested positive for coronavirus before an L.P.G.A. event in Florida last month. In her final practice round this week, Jutanugarn did not look like the same player who was crowned Open champion in 2018 or even the same one who tied for sixth during an L.P.G.A. stop in Georgia in late October.Playing the back nine of the Cypress Creek course in a group that included her older sister, Moriya, 26, Jutanugarn consistently fell a few paces behind the others because of what she described as a lingering effect of the virus.“Every time when I play I walk really slow because my heart rate is up so high. But I just have to deal with it.”A month after her diagnosis, she continues to grapple with fatigue and headaches. The barbecue for which Texas is famous, a staple in players’ dining, is largely lost on her because she hasn’t regained her sense of smell or taste.“It’s tough because I know my body isn’t 100 percent yet,” Jutanugarn said. “I just have to deal with it and do my best, and make sure I take good care of my body.”They’re playing in a Christmas-themed bubble.The poinsettia centerpieces on the Nos. 1 and 10 tee snack tables don’t fool the players. They are acutely aware that Christmas isn’t quite here yet.“Coming into these two weeks, this past week or two that I was home, I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to be in a bubble,” said Lexi Thompson, the No. 11-ranked player. “I’m not taking the chance of testing positive coming into the two most important weeks of the year.”Tim Tucker, center, is moonlighting this week on the bag for Lexi Thompson, right. He usually caddies for the P.G.A. golfer Bryson DeChambeau.Credit…Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesStill, it’s 2020. So despite the best made bubbles, stuff happens. On Wednesday, the United States Golf Association announced that Andrea Lee, who had tested negative for the coronavirus before the Volunteers of America Classic outside Dallas and spent last week ensconced in the L.P.G.A. bubble, tested positive for the virus upon arriving in Houston and had withdrawn from the Open.Jutanugarn breathed a sigh of relief Monday after passing her pre-event coronavirus test. Despite being in a featured group alongside two other former champions, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu, Jutanugarn said her expectations were low.In her return to competition after quarantining, she finished tied for 62nd. Moriya, who had tested positive at the same time as her sister, also made her competitive return at the Volunteers of America Classic and tied for 16th.“Last week when I walked 18 holes I passed out because I was so tired,” Ariya Jutanugarn said.All is not necessarily lost. Last month, Dustin Johnson won the rescheduled Masters a month after testing positive for the coronavirus in a pretournament test. Like Jutanugarn, he isolated for at least 10 days and returned for the final tuneup event.On Masters Sunday, Jutanugarn said, she turned on the TV, intending to watch Johnson’s final round. But she was feeling feverish and her head was throbbing. “I fell asleep for four hours, I woke up and he had finished,” she said.It’ll take two courses to get the full field in before dark.The challenge for Jutanugarn, and the rest of the Open’s competitors, is compounded because this year, for the first time, the tournament is being played on two courses to accommodate a full 156-woman field in fading winter daylight.Cypress Creek, where three of the four rounds will be contested, is long, with massive greens. The second course, Jackrabbit, where each contender will play one of the first two days, is a tighter layout, with contouring around the smaller green complexes. To play both well requires the versatility of a Formula One driver who could also be competitive in NASCAR.Stacy Lewis, a two-time major winner who is a member of Champions Club, knows both courses well. “I think in everybody’s head you say, ‘We’re going to play Cypress three times, my focus is going to go that way more than the other one,’” she said. “And then you have a bad day on Jackrabbit and you’re not even playing the next two. I know people have asked me and I’ve told them, ‘Pay attention to Jackrabbit.’”There’s a lot of money on the line this weekend and next.For Jin Young Ko, the U.S. Women’s Open is only her third L.P.G.A. event in 2020. The world No. 1 has remained in her native South Korea since the Covid-19 outbreak took hold in America.Credit…David J. Phillip/Associated PressThe next two weeks have the players’ full focus. Both the U.S. Women’s Open and next week’s finale in Florida offer a winner’s check of at least $1 million. The U.S. Open will pay out $5.5 million and the purse for the Tour Championship will be the fifth-highest in the women’s game this year at $3 million, a haul that makes this stretch comparable only to the mid-August-to-September span during which two other majors — the Women’s British Open and the AIN Inspiration — were contested.“To be honest, it feels weird because I’m playing in December around Christmas Day, so it’s the first time,” said Jin Young Ko, the women’s world No. 1. “But the course is tough and then everyone look nervous, too, so it’s fun.”Fun? Danielle Kang, who has won twice since the tour’s July restart, is accompanied this week by her boyfriend, Maverick McNealy, who plays on the PGA Tour. McNealy is one of several male players, including major winners Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau, who have thrown their support behind the L.P.G.A. this week by posting messages on social media with the hashtag #WomenWorthWatching. DeChambeau’s regular caddie, Tim Tucker, is moonlighting this week on the bag for Lexi Thompson.Asked the best piece of advice that she has received from McNealy, Kang, a one-time major winner, said, “Just relax. It’s the U.S. Open. Everyone is stressed out.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More