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Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Austin Eckroat's career-low round enough to match Scheffler after first day at Travelers Championship
CROMWELL – From above the 18th green, Austin Eckroat was out of sight. All that was visible from behind the scoreboard off to the left side of the fairway was the reflection of the sun on his club face. It was tight, but Eckroat was able to see the pin and managed to lift his second shot 128 yards onto the left side of the green. The putt – 17 feet, five inches – was no problem for the 26-year-old who also sunk a 35-footer for eagle on No. 13 and went into the clubhouse at 8-under-par 62, topping the leaderboard he was hidden behind. Advertisement 'I was on that side-hill lie, it was kind of thick, I was afraid if the heel caught, I could hit (the scoreboard) and that was really all my question was. But to get relief it had to be more in my way,' he said. 'Luckily it came out great, and I was able to make birdie.' It completed the best round of Eckroat's professional career, which began on a sponsor's exemption at the Travelers in 2021. Yet, it wasn't enough to hold onto the lead by the end of Thursday's opening round. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world defending his 2024 Travelers crown, matched Eckroat's eagle on No. 13 to tie the lead and jumped into the top spot with a birdie on No. 15 about three and a half hours after Eckroat finished. Advertisement Scheffler hit from the rough, across the water and over the green on No. 17. His fourth shot on the par-4, a 16-foot putt, missed right of the hole and left him with bogey to drop back into a tie with Eckroat at 8-under. Still, it was Scheffler's lowest-scoring round in five career appearances in Cromwell. 'I actually got a pretty good lie in the rough,' Scheffler said. 'I got a lucky break and wasn't able to take advantage of it, but overall, I hit a lot of good shots, gave myself a lot of looks. I got off to a good start, and like I said, it was challenging out there late in the day. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and I was able to hit some really nice shots to get some good looks.' The temperature got up to around 87 degrees by the time Eckroat's round finished and Scheffler's started. The wind picked up with the passing storm later in the day as the bogey count rose to 150, 10 more than the first round last year. Despite the threat of thunderstorms throughout the afternoon, none reached the River Highlands. There were 259 total birdies recorded, six less than the opening round in 2024, three eagles and 850 pars. Advertisement Eckroat, responsible for six birdies, came into the media tent smiling through sweat. Although he has two career wins, he has finished outside the top 25 in 13 consecutive events. 'It's funny, a lot of Wednesdays I've felt really good going into the tournament and then Thursday comes around and it hasn't been there,' he said. 'I don't know if it's just the stress of playing in a PGA Tour event, but this one, it was nice to feel good on Wednesday and then actually take it into Thursday.' Eckroat hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation on Thursday, crediting the success to a minor grip adjustment. 'It was just an easy fix, which is always annoying. You want it to be – in your mind it seems like it's something crazy, but it really isn't, it's just something minor, which is nice, obviously. But it's frustrating because it was just one piece away the whole time,' he said. 'I just went a little weaker with my right hand and I was able to release the club properly at that point. I wouldn't say it was weak, it had just gotten really strong, and I hadn't paid attention to that. I was focusing on the other aspects of the golf swing, so just a little bit weaker, more on top of the club.' Advertisement World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, 2023 Travelers champion Keegan Bradley and 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark will each enter Friday's second round two strokes back at 6-under. Cameron Young sits alone in sixth place after recovering from a double bogey on the first hole to shoot 5-under 65. He is followed by a group of eight players at 4-under: Davis Riley, Nick Taylor, Jason Day, Adam Hadwin, Max Greyserman, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Brian Harman. Tom Kim, who tied Scheffler after 72 holes in last year's tournament to force a playoff, received a sponsor's exemption to play this year and shot 3-under 67. The Travelers is the eighth and final PGA Tour Signature Event of the season. It has a $20 million purse with $3.6 million and 700 FedExCup points to the winner. Scheffler holds a lead of more than 1,000 points in the FedExCup standings ahead of McIlroy; Eckroat is 34th. Advertisement Scheffler will tee-off with U.S. Open winner JJ Spaun, who shot 3-over 73, at 10:35 a.m. on Friday. Eckroat will hit off the first tee at 12:30 p.m. with Byeong Hun An. 'I felt confident, which it was nice to feel that this season,' Eckroat said. 'It's been a while.'
National Post
11-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
PGA Tour-LIV Golf war could be ready to explode with 2026 free-agent frenzy
OAKMONT, Pa. — Expect another big shakeup in the world of professional golf next year. Article content With numerous LIV Golf contracts set to expire at the end of next season, 2026 could be a seismic season for the future of the game. Article content Article content Between now and the end of the next LIV Golf season, players and the league's Saudi-backers will have some important decisions to make. And so will the PGA Tour. Article content Many of LIV's top golfers will have to decide whether they are happy where they are and whether they are ready to once again commit their future to a rival tour that made them unfathomably rich, but in many ways is still trying to gain traction with golf fans and sponsors. Article content On Tuesday at the U.S. Open in Oakmont, Bryson DeChambeau became the first top player to openly discuss this future. Article content 'Yeah, next year is when it ends,' DeChambeau said of his LIV contract. 'We're looking to negotiate end of this year and I'm very excited. They see the value in me. I see the value in what they can provide and I believe we'll come to some sort of resolution on that.' Article content Article content DeChambeau is unique among LIV players as he is likely the only one who has raised his profile and status in the game — largely through his wild success on YouTube — since leaving the PGA Tour. Article content 'Super excited for the future. I think that LIV is not going anywhere. (Yasir Al-Rumayyan) has been steadfast in his belief on team golf and whether everybody believes in it or not, I think it's a viable option,' DeChambeau said. Article content DeChambeau also said that his Crushers team is growing in the right direction financially and that some teams are now making money. Article content Article content 'How it all works with the game of golf, who knows, but I know my worth. I know what LIV brings to the table. And I'm excited for the future of what golf is going to be.' Article content Al-Rumayyan, the money man behind LIV Golf, will also have to decide whether the golf league he clearly has a passion for is accomplishing its goals, or is at least on the path to eventual success. And he'll also have to decide whether another billion dollars or so of athlete contracts (Bryson won't come cheap) is a bridge too far, for, what has so far been, very questionable returns. Article content If the goal was to shake up the game of golf, that has been accomplished. The real goal, however, always has been to get Saudi money and Saudi influence into the North American sports mega-complex, namely with PGA Tour's mega-sponsors and perhaps even NFL owners. Article content That goal seemed close to being achieved with the PGA Tour-LIV Golf framework deal and, with NFL owners such as Arthur Blank and Rob Walton cozying up to the sport and investing in golf's simulator league TGL.
National Post
07-06-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Adam Hadwin finally seeing hope in 'hardest period' of golf career
CALEDON, Ont. — The thing with professional golf is that, unless you're Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler, nobody pays much attention when you're not playing well. Article content With the golf world's eyes on the RBC Canadian Open this week, there is one native son quietly hoping that this trip home will be the turning point he has been searching for. Article content Article content 'This is the most comfortable I've felt with my golf swing in six months,' Adam Hadwin said after Friday's round. 'It's been a while. I feel like I'm finally able to kind of set up over the golf ball and have some sort of clue of where it's going.' Article content It's been nothing short of a dreadful season for Hadwin, who has seen his world ranking drop from 59th at the end of 2024, to 105th entering the Canadian Open. Article content 'It's been hard. I've struggled,' he said after his Friday round of 68. 'But I feel like every single week I have a good opportunity to play well, and it just never happens.' Article content Hadwin isn't particularly close to the top of the leaderboard after two rounds at TPC Toronto, but he's not near the bottom either. The 37-year-old Abbotsford, B.C. native is in the mix at five-under par, and for the first time in 2025 he is seeing results that have daylight in sight through the woods he has been lost in. Article content On the course, the camera hasn't been following him much these days. Although there was a somewhat embarrassing moment of frustration at the Valspar Championship — the site of his lone PGA Tour win in 2017 — when he slammed his club, broke a hidden sprinkler head, and set off a dazzling water display he would quickly apologize for. Article content Article content Admirably, Hadwin has never been one for making excuses. On Friday at TPC Toronto, after making the normal media rounds that follow one of Canada's most popular golfers, Hadwin spoke to the Toronto Sun away from the bright lights. Article content Article content 'This has by far been the hardest period that I've dealt with in my career,' he said. 'I've been through swing changes before but I've been able to put together results kind of working through it. With this one, for whatever reason, I haven't been able to do that.' Article content Speaking with him after disappointing rounds at big tournaments in the past you would rarely know anything was bothering him: the smile was always there, the sense of humour intact, the professionalism never wavered. Article content Article content For years, Hadwin's greatest strength on the golf course has been that he has no glaring faults. He won on the PGA Tour, he shot a 59, and he played in the Presidents Cup because he found a way to do a little bit of everything well and get the ball into the hole with whatever game he brought to the course. But recently, that last and most vital part has escaped him. Article content 'Doubt, lack of confidence in what I'm doing, probably all of the above,' he explained as reasons. 'Mixed in with the golf swing stuff.' Article content At home in Wichita, Kansas, Hadwin frequently takes a backseat to the popularity of his wife Jessica, whose often-hilarious insights into life on the PGA Tour have developed a cult following among golf nerds. Article content For the most part, Hadwin is fine with his private life gaffes often being made public. As the comedy straight-man in a social media life that he didn't exactly sign up for, he happily does his part most of the time.
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Wyndham Clark apologises for throwing driver at US PGA Championship
Wyndham Clark has issued an apology for his temper tantrum that marred Sunday's final round of the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Clark, the 2023 US Open champion, turned and launched his driver into an advertising hoarding after finding a bunker from his tee shot on the 16th hole. In a statement on X, Clark wrote: 'I would like to sincerely apologise for my behaviour yesterday on Hole 16. 'As professionals, we are expected to remain professional even when frustrated and I unfortunately let my emotions get the best of me. 'My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on. 'I hold myself to a high standard, trying to always play for something bigger than myself, and yesterday I fell short of those standards. 'For that I am truly sorry. I promise to better the way I handle my frustrations on the course going forward, and hope you can all forgive me in due time.' Clark had made a poor start to his round and had just fallen further back after scoring a bogey on the par-five 15th. He went on to finish in joint 50th place, wrapping up another frustrating performance in a major championship. Clark has not finished in the top 30 since his triumph at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jhonattan Vegas battles fatigue for solid PGA Championship second round
Jesse Droemer's injury-riddled journey back to professional golf The PGA Championship boasts one of the strongest fields. This year is no exception with 49 of the top 50 players in the official world golf rankings teeing it up at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. There will also be 20 PGA of America Golf Professionals competing this week including Jesse Droemer, who has overcome a lot in his life to be competing in his second career PGA Championship. 1:57 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
