San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Scheffler misses on tap-in to end streak
HOUSTON — Scottie Scheffler's streak of rounds under par came to a stunning end Friday when he missed a 22inch bogey putt on the final hole of the Houston Open for an even-par 70.
Scheffler, coming off consecutive victories in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship, faced the tough afternoon wind at Memorial Park and still was poised to make it 29 straight rounds under par on the PGA Tour.
But the Texas product hit into the water with a 7-iron on the par-5 16th hole and had to scramble for par. He got back to 2 under for his round with a superb approach to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th.
Scheffler found a bunker right of the 18th green, and nearly holed the sand shot. It hit the lip and settled about 6 feet away. The par putt rolled around the lip. He then stepped up to tap in only to catch the right lip and watch it spin away.
“Obviously, a sloppy mistake there at the last,” Scheffler said. “I missed the first one, I was frustrated, and hit the second one a little quick. It
happens.”
The streak began with a 66 at The Sentry to start the year, and he was at least 2 under for every round except a pair of 1-under 70s at Riviera in the Genesis Invitational.
The double bogey left him at 5-under 135, trailing Tony Finau by four shots going into the weekend as he tries to become the first player in seven years to win three straight starts on the PGA Tour. Dustin Johnson was the last to do it.
“I put up a good fight,”
Scheffler said. “I did my best to hang in there without my best stuff.”
Scheffler now has a streak of 30 consecutive rounds at par or better that dates to his evenpar 70 in the final round of the Tour Championship at East Lake last season.
He still has a long way to go to catch Tiger Woods, who had 52 rounds at par or better from the second round of the Byron Nelson Classic in May 2000 until the second round of the Phoenix Open in January 2001.
That included three major championships.
Green has 61 round for LPGA Ford lead
Hannah Green birdied the final six holes for an 11-under 61 on Friday, giving her a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the LPGA Tour Ford Championship at Gilbert, Ariz.
“I missed short putt on the first and I was like, ‘Oh, OK, that's fine,' ” Green said. “I really took advantage of the shorter holes we had. I also holed a couple really long putts, maybe even moved the hole it was that firm. But just felt really good out there, just had a really nice morning.”
Increased wind did little to slow the low scoring in the inaugural event at Seville Golf and Country Club, with 20 players shooting 67 or better and a cut line of 5 under — tied for lowest in LPGA history.
Green set the standard at 14-under 130 after making 11 birdies, tied for second-most ever behind Annika Sorenstam's 13 during her historic 59 in 2001. Sarah Schmezel had a bogey-free 63 to match Peiyun Chien (65) at 13 under.
Azahara Munoz (68) and
Hyo Joo Kim (67) were 12 under.
Yuka Saso shot a bogey-free 63 that included two runs of four straight birdies. She was 11 under. Lydia Ko was tied with her and three others following a bogey-free 64.
Lexi Thompson moved into contention with a secondround 65. She was among 12 players at 10 under.
“The greens are firm, which is nice, but it's kind of forgiving, too, so you can be aggressive and make lots of birdies,” Munoz said.
All the low scores left topranked Nelly Korda feeling a little left out, even if she's still within reach of the lead. She closed with a bogey to shoot 68 and was four back in her bid to become the first LPGA player to win three straight starts since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016.
Korda had consecutive birdies after starting on the back nine and had two bogeys in three holes to turn in 1-under 35. She had two birdies and eagled the par-5 fifth, but dropped a shot on the long par-4 ninth when the remnants of a dust devil knocked her approach shot short left and she couldn't get up and down.
“A couple mistakes at the beginning and then obviously ending my round with a bogey didn't feel great,” Korda said.