Round 4 - Brice Garnett wins first PGA event in Dominican Republic

March 25, 2018

American Brice Garnett captured his first US PGA title on Sunday, firing a two-under par 70 to win the Corales Championship in the Dominican Republic by four strokes.

Garnett, whose best prior PGA showing was sixth at Mayakoba in 2015, finished 72 holes at the Puntacana resort on 18-under par 270 after a windy and rainy final round.

Among the victory prizes for Garnett, whose breakthrough came in his 88th PGA start, is a berth in his first PGA Championship.

"It's fun. It's real fun," Garnett said. "It's crazy. A lot of hard work, a lot of determination and a lot of support along the way."

The PGA's Dominican debut gave lesser lights a chance at a top finish with the world's top players competing at the WGC Match-Play Championship this week at Austin, Texas.

Garnett, 34, birdied three of the first four holes, stumbled with back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth, but bounced back with birdies at the par-5 seventh and par-3 11th. he followed with six pars before a closing bogey.

"I just wanted to make nine pars on the back. That putt on 11 was huge for me," Garnett said. "Hard day but man it's a lot of fun to do this. I felt great all day."

American Keith Mitchell was second on 274, one stroke ahead of compatriot Kelly Kraft with American Denny McCarthy fourth on 276.

South Korean K.J. Choi, China's Zhang Xinjun and Ireland's Seamus Power and Paul Dunne were in a pack on 277 that also included Americans Andrew Putnam, Harris English, Tom Lovelady and Seungsu Han.

More scores.

Round 3 - Brice Garnett takes 2-stroke lead into final

March 24, 2018

After holding one-stroke leads through 18 and 36 holes, Brice Garnett extended his lead to six strokes at one point during the third round, before dropping three shots in his last six holes to shoot 3-under 69. His 16-under total through 54 holes leads Canada’s Corey Conners by two strokes.

Prior to this week, Garnett’s only lead after any round on the PGA TOUR was following round two of the Fort Worth Invitational where he finished T30.

The last player to win in wire-to-wire fashion on the PGA TOUR was Marc Leishman at the 2017 BMW Championship.

Garnett, a Gallatin, Missouri native, missed the cut at last year’s Web.com Tour event played at Corales Puntacana after rounds of 73-67.

In 12 previous starts this season he has claimed two top-25 finishes (T17/Safeway Open, T25/OHL Classic at Mayakoba) and comes into the week at No. 110 in the FedExCup standings.

Garnett and Rob Oppenheim (T28/-5) lead the field with the most birdies (18) through 54 holes.

Corey Conners notched six birdies with a single bogey (No. 7) to shoot 5-under 67 and sit in solo second at 14-under, two strokes off the lead.

In his rookie season on the PGA TOUR, Conners has made 10 cuts in 11 events, with a T16 at the Valspar Championship two weeks ago being his best finish. Conners held the first-, second- and third-round leads at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort after coming into that week as third alternate. He received his spot in the field when Kyle Stanley withdrew and learned of it in the field after shooting a 71 in the Monday Qualifier, which would not have been enough to play his way in. A final-round 77 contributed to the T16 finish.

After rounds of 70-69-68-73—280 (-8), Conners finished T53 in the Web.com Tour event at Corales Puntacana last year.

Former Florida Gator golfer Tyler McCumber moved into contention with a bogey-free, third-round 67, matching the low score of the day (Corey Conners, Harris English). He has played his last 39 consecutive holes without a bogey. In Saturday’s third round, he hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation, matching Martin Flores for most in the round.

With three, McCumber leads the field in eagles this week. He posted eagles on the two front-nine, par-5 holes (Nos. 4 and 7) the opening round and eagled No. 7 again in round three.

McCumber, the son of 10-time PGA TOUR winner Mark McCumber, turned professional in 2013 and owns three wins on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica.

Tom Lovelady’s 4-under 68 leaves him in solo-fourth headed into Sunday’s final round.

With rounds of 69-68-68, the University of Alabama graduate needs another under-par round Sunday to post four-sub-par rounds in a TOUR event for the first time. Lovelady’s college teammates included fellow PGA TOUR professionals Trey Mullinax and Justin Thomas, who he currently lives with in Jupiter, Florida. Mullinax sits T28 at 5-under through 54 holes, while Thomas advanced out of pool play at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas this week.

Ireland’s Seamus Power sits T5 at 10-under after a third-round 71 and seeks to improve on his best result in 36 previous TOUR starts, a T10 at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open. Following a T11 showing at this season’s CareerBuilder Challenge, Power notched four consecutive missed cuts heading into this event.

Maryland native and Jupiter, Florida resident Denny McCarthy sits T5 at 10-under. This marked the first time in 13 career starts on TOUR that McCarthy, a PGA TOUR rookie, has begun a tournament with three under-par rounds.

In just his third career start on the PGA TOUR, Seungsu Han sits T5 at 10-under. Han’s scorecard this week is a tale of two nines. He is 10-under-par on the front nine and even-par on the inward nine holes.

Emiliano Grillo, a Puntacana Resort ambassador and the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 75 in the Official World Golf Ranking, posted scores of 72-68-73—213 (-3) to sit T44.

Julio Santos, 45, the only player from the Dominican Republic to make the 36-hole cut, notched scores of 70-72-74—216 (E) to sit T68. Santos made history in Dominican golf by participating in the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open in 2010 (MC). He’s posted one top-10 in 31 career starts on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.

Six of 10 major champions who began the tournament advanced to the weekend; Geoff Ogilvy (71/T8), Retief Goosen (69/T21), Davis Love III (72/T62), John Daly (71/T51), Trevor Immelman (74/MDF) and Mike Weir (73/T68).

Troy Merritt began the third round with an eagle-2 at the par-4 first hole and went on to shoot 1-under 71. Merritt also made an eagle-2 at the par-4 16th during a first-round 69. No other player has recorded an eagle at a par-4 hole this week.

Round 2 - Brice Garnett holds on to lead, Romo crashes out in DR

March 23, 2018

American Brice Garnett, seeking his first US PGA Tour title, fired a four-under par 68 to hold a one-stroke lead after Friday's second round of the Corales Championship.

The first US PGA event staged in the Dominican Republic featured a host of lesser lights fighting for a title while the world's top players competed at the World Golf Championships Match-Play event in Texas.

Garnett birdied the par-4 third and par-5 fourth holes, holing out from a bunker at the latter, and added birdies at the sixth and par-5 seventh then closed with 11 pars to stand on 13-under 131 after 36 holes.

Americans Steve Wheatcroft and Keith Mitchell shared second on 132, each after firing his second consecutive 66 on the Puntacana resort course.

China's Zhang Xinjun and American Seungsu Han shared fourth on 134. Ireland's Seamus Power and Canada's Corey Conners were among those in a pack on 135.

Retired NFL quarterback Tony Romo, playing on a sponsor's exemption, opened with six bogeys in a row and fired an 82 to finish last in the field of 132 on 15-over 159.

Round 1 - Tony Romo shoots 77 in Dominican Republic

March 22, 2018

Tony Romo settled down after a nervous start, only to come undone on the back nine in his PGA Tour debut.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback played a four-hole stretch in a 5 over on the back nine that led to a 5-over 77 in the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship. He was 14 shots behind Brice Garnett, who had a 63 to lead by one shot.

''Over 18 holes and 72, your flaws start to show at some point,'' Romo said. ''I really hit some good shots close and I had a chance to be under par pretty easily. Then two or three shots on the back nine cost me. But that's golf.''

Romo, who now works as an NFL analyst for CBS Sports, received a sponsor's exemption to the tournament, which has one of the weaker fields of the year because it is held opposite the World Golf Championships event in Texas. He is playing as an amateur.

Garnett played bogey-free, opening with a 30 on the back nine and building a one-shot lead over Corey Conners of Canada.

Romo played with Denny McCarthy, who was among those at 66, and Dru Love. The son of Davis Love III shot a 73.

''I was nervous,'' said Romo, who opened with two bogeys before getting back to even par on the front nine. ''I think I knew going in that I was going to be trying to rely on the mechanics and the fundamentals of the swing. I hit it fine, but three-putted three times, twice early in the round. That's just nerves, and hopefully you can get that out of the way and get a couple of swings that you aren't used to doing and come back and play better tomorrow.''

Friday most likely will be his last day.

Only two players had a higher score than Romo - D.A. Points and Guy Boros at 79. The 53-year-old Boros was playing on the PGA Tour for the first time in three years.

Romo joined a short list of athletes who have tried to compete against those who play for a living.

Mark Rypien, the former Washington Redskins quarterback, played the Kemper Open in 1992. He shot rounds of 80-91 and missed the cut by 27 shots.

Ken Harrelson, an All-Star outfielder for the Boston Red Sox in 1968, qualified for the 1972 British Open at Muirfield and missed the cut by one shot. John Brodie qualified for the U.S. Open while playing for the San Francisco 49ers and later won on the PGA Tour Champions circuit.

Most recently, Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry played a Web.com Tour event outside San Francisco. He shot 74-74 and missed the cut by 11 shots.

''I had it going for a little bit,'' Romo said. ''I had it close.''

Garnett was 10 shots better than his opening round at Punta Cana last year, when it was a Web.com Tour event. He shot 73-67 and missed the cut.

''I think last year I just kind of approached the golf course wrong,'' Garnett said of the generous fairways on the resort course. ''To me, this is a second shot golf course. Everybody's in play off the tee and it comes down to a putting competition.''

Jonathan Byrd was in a large group at 66, while former Puerto Rico Open winner George McNeill was among those at 67.

Scores