Landry, Scheffler lead American Express
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Andrew Landry and Scottie Scheffler broke away Saturday at The American Express.
Landry shot a 7-under 65 at PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course to join Scheffler atop the leaderboard at 21-under 195, four strokes ahead of third-place Rickie Fowler.
Scheffler had a 66 on the adjacent Stadium Course, also the site of the final round Sunday.
“It’s a tough course. It’s a good track,“said Scheffler, the 23-year-old former University of Texas star is in his first season on the PGA Tour. “If you’re not on your game, you can really struggle. There’s a lot of trouble out there, so you’ve got to hit a lot of quality shots to keep the ball in play. Good test.“
Fowler, tied with Scheffler for the second-round lead, overcame two frontnine bogeys to shoot 70 at the Stadium Course. At the event for the first time in six years, he played the Pete Dye-designed course for the time Saturday after only taking a quick scouting drive early in the week.
“I was actually surprised by the green speed early on,“Fowler said. “They were a bit slower than what I’ve seen the last two days, so adjusting to that, really didn’t have anything go in early on until the ninth hole. But I thought I did a good job of hanging around, not getting too far behind.“
Tournament host Phil Mickelson missed the cut by six strokes.
Landry lost a playoff to Jon Rahm two years ago at PGA West. The 32-yearold Texan has found something in the desert after missing the cuts in seven of eight starts this season.
The leaders became friends when Scheffler was in college.
“I live in Austin,“Landry said. “I’ve kind of watched his career, because I work with Chuck Cook out at UT Golf Club, so I’ve known Scottie for a little while. … I’m going to feel super comfortable out there with him. And hopefully he doesn’t hit it too far by me.“‘‘
In other news:
• Inbee Park bogeyed the par-3 18th hole but still shot a 4-under 67 to take a two-shot lead over Sei Young Kim in the seasonopening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Park, a 19-time winner on the LPGA Tour, hadn’t made a bogey since November’s season-ending
CME Group Tour Championship. But she finally dropped a shot when she three-putted the difficult 211-yard par-3 18th.
• Miguel Angel Jimenez made a 12-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff with senior newcomer Ernie Els to win the PGA Tour Champions’ season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Ka’upulehi-Kona, Hawaii.
Fred Couples dropped out on the first extra trip down the par-4 18th at windy Hualalai, missing a short par putt to finish at 67. Bernhard Langer, tied for the lead with Els, Couples and Jimenez with two holes left, finished with a 71.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Wooten enters transfer portal
University of Houston offensive lineman Dixie Wooten III has entered the transfer portal.
247Sports first reported the move, and Wooten confirmed when contacted by the Chronicle.
A part of the Cougars’ 2016 signing class, Wooten made his debut last season, playing in six games and making four starts at right tackle after the loss of starter Jarrid Williams to a season-ending injury.
TENNIS Barty, Rublev win Adelaide finals
Top-ranked Ash Barty has fine-tuned for the first tennis major of the season by winning her first title on home soil with a 6-2,
7-5 victory over No. 24ranked Dayana Yastremska in Saturday’s Adelaide International final.
Andrey Rublev became the first man in 16 years to win two titles in the first two weeks of the season when he beat Lloyd Harris 6-3, 6-0 in Adelaide to follow up on his victory in Doha.
Barty conceded just two points on serve during the first set, breaking the 19-year-old Yastremska’s serve in the third and seventh games.
“This is incredible. Great start to the year,” Barty said. “I definitely feel the love out here. I love playing in Australia. I love playing at home.
“It was nice to get the ball rolling this week — I can’t wait to get started in Melbourne on Monday.“
Barty’s next match will be on Rod Laver Arena on the first night of the Australian Open against Lesia Tsurenko.
In other news:
• Elena Rybakina defeated Zhang Shuai 7-6 (7), 6-3 in the Hobart International final to win her second WTA Tour title.
The 20-year-old Rybakina surged more than 150 places in the WTA rankings in 2019 to finish at No.
37. She’ll enter the Australian Open, which starts Monday in Melbourne, as the 29th seed after reaching the final at the Shenzhen Open in China to start the 2020 season and capturing her second career title a week later.
Rybakina served 10 aces and was superior from the baseline against Zhang, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year and combined with Sam Stosur to win the doubles at the Australian Open.
“It’s amazing. I’m really happy with my win because last week I had an opportunity. I was really motivated,“Rybakina said.
Rybakina won’t get much time to dwell on her latest win, with only one day off before her firstround meeting against Bernarda Pera at Melbourne Park.