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Golf - Latest: US PGA Championship, Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York (8-11 August)


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Tiger Woods warms up for US PGA with eighth win in Ohio

 

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Tiger Woods warms up for US PGA with eighth win in Ohio

 

THE BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL: FINAL LEADERBOARD

-15: Woods (US)-8: Bradley (US), Stenson (Swe)-6: Johnson (US), Dufner (US), Jimenez (Spa), Selected: -5: Wood (Eng)-4: Donald (Eng)-1: Rose (Eng)

 

World number one Tiger Woods warmed up for the final major of the year, the US PGA Championship, with a seven-shot win in the Bridgestone Invitational.

 

Starting the final round seven shots clear, the American coasted to victory to secure his eighth title at Firestone Country Club in Ohio.

 

Compatriot Keegan Bradley finished tied second with Swede Henrik Stenson.

 

Woods, 37, starts his challenge at Oak Hill Country Club on Thursday looking for a first major win since 2008.

 

After Friday's career-equalling best 61, he looked content to cruise towards victory as he carded nine straight pars to remain 15 under.

 

He registered his first birdie of the day on the 10th, holing from seven feet, and with Bradley dropping a shot on the 12th after a wayward tee shot, the lead was up to nine shots.

 

He still had some way to go to match his record margin of victory, having won the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots, and when Jason Dufner birdied the 13th the gap was back to eight.

 

Woods three-putted the 14th for a bogey to finish with a round of 70, but the only real matter of interest by now was the battle for second place.

 

Bradley gained the upper hand with a birdie from 20ft on the 17th to reach eight under, one shot ahead of Dufner and Stenson with former Masters champion Zach Johnson in the clubhouse on six under after a closing 67.

 

Stenson then also birdied the 17th to tie with Bradley in second.

 

Ryder Cup hero Martin Kaymer had gone one better with a 66, the former world number one recovering from an opening 74 with three rounds in the 60s to finish four under.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/23570815

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Rory McIlroy wants 'bounce' back for US PGA defence at Oak Hill

 

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Rory McIlroy wants 'bounce' back for US PGA defence at Oak Hill

 

US PGA Championship - Venue: Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York

 

Rory McIlroy has been gearing up for the US PGA with videos of past glories in a bid to rediscover the form that took him to a record win last year.

 

The Northern Irishman clinched his second major by eight shots at Kiawah Island and ended the season top of the rankings on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

But McIlroy has struggled this year and Tiger Woods is favourite after winning his fifth title of the year on Sunday. "I'd love to get my game back and be able to challenge him," said McIlroy.

 

World number one Woods won the last of his 14 major titles five years ago but his seven-shot win in Ohio gave an ominous indication of the state of his game ahead of the year's final major, in upstate New York.

 

Defending champion McIlroy has cut a dejected figure on the course at times this season with a string of poor results following a multi-million dollar change of equipment, a high-profile lifestyle with tennis player girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki and legal issues with his management company. At the Open, he spoke of feeling "unconscious" and making "brain dead" decisions after a first-round 79 on the the way to missing the cut.

 

"I've been watching a few videos of last year at Kiawah and watching some videos of some of my best weeks that I've played and it sort of lifted me a little bit and I took some good things away from that," said McIlroy at his pre-tournament news conference at Oak Hill. "I just haven't been swinging it the best this year. I got into a couple bad habits with my golf swing and it's just taken me a little bit longer to get out of them. When you're fighting that so much, it's hard to play the golf that I want to play, which is fluid and free-flowing. That's the way I play my best.

 

"I think everyone sees when I walk and I'm playing well, I have that little bounce in my step, so just trying to get that going again and trying to get that positive energy back. There's been times this year where I've really gotten down on myself and that's something that hasn't helped at all, and something that I'm trying to get better at. But I'm sitting here as confident as I have been all year, so I'm looking forward to getting going this week."

 

McIlroy, the world number three, experienced a similar "slump" before his US PGA win last year before going on a remarkable end-of-season run that yielded further back-to-back wins in the US.

 

"I love proving people wrong," said the 24-year-old, who hosted a dinner for past US PGA champions at Oak Hill on Tuesday. "I loved sitting up here last year on the Sunday night and I proved a lot of people wrong."

 

Open champion Phil Mickelson is another hoping for a final-day showdown with Woods at Oak Hill. The 43-year-old's first Claret Jug , and fifth major in all, means he has now won three of the game's four major titles with just the US Open missing.

 

The left-hander has been second in the US Open a record six times, including behind Justin Rose at Merion in June, and is desperate to complete the career Grand Slam after clinching what he called the "most elusive" title for him to win at Muirfield.

 

"I think the Open really changed some of my perception of myself as a player," said the world number two. I think that had I won another green jacket [at the Masters], that would not have done the same thing as what winning the Claret Jug has done, because in my mind it is an accomplishment in my career that makes me more of a complete player. I feel very confident in my ability to get the ball in play off the tee and I feel very confident in my ability on the greens now; where I've turned weaknesses into strengths, I believe, and this serves me well in major championships. I'm as motivated as ever to compete and to get the best golf out of me to hopefully play against Tiger when he's playing his best. That would ultimately be the goal; if I can play as well as I can at the same time he's doing the same, I would love that opportunity."

 

Woods has a 13:35 BST start alongside 2011 winner Keegan Bradley and 2012 US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love, while McIlroy is due off at 18:25 BST on Thursday with former champions Vijay Singh and Martin Kaymer.

 

Mickelson is also among the later starters and has been grouped, as is traditional, with the other two majors winners of 2013, Masters champion Adam Scott and England's US Open champion Rose.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/23606533

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Can Tiger Woods end wait for a major at the PGA Championship?

 

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Can Tiger Woods end wait for a major at the PGA Championship?

 

As the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, predicting the outcome is astonishingly difficult. The backdrop to the final major of the year could not be more intriguing.

 

As always, the winners of the three preceding majors are grouped together. It is a stellar line-up. Masters title holder Adam Scott (Masters), US Open winner Justin Rose and Open champion Phil Mickelson share each other's company for the first two rounds.

 

This contrasts to a decade ago, when the first three grand slam events had been won by Mike Weir, Jim Furyk and Ben Curtis. Somewhat in keeping with the 2003 trend for the unheralded, the PGA winner was Shaun Micheel.

 

The 2013 majors have yielded as champions the current world numbers five, four and two, so perhaps we are due another elite winner this week. The glaring omissions are top dog Tiger Woods and the number three Rory McIlroy.

 

Yet again Woods goes into a major off the back of a significant and emphatic victory following his win at Firestone in the WGC Invitational. How the bookmakers must love the 14-time major champion. Repeatedly he turns in a pre-major display to provoke a slashing of his odds and the waging of a welter of money on his chances.

 

On each occasion in the past five years, though, he has flattered to deceive and left punters counting the cost. Will it be any different this time? The portents aren't good, even though Woods has an enviable record of putting himself in position to challenge in the majors.

 

Converting the potential into the substance of victory has proved beyond the world number one. Since the start of 2012, Woods is eight under par overall for the first two rounds of all the grand slam events put together and 25 over par in the last two.

 

He has been prone to pushing too hard at weekends. His putting touch deserts him and inflexible game plans come up short at the point where he needs to pounce. The X-factor that Mickelson displayed at Muirfield to romp home on the back nine three weeks ago appears beyond his great rival these days.

 

Memories of Oak Hill aren't encouraging either. In 2003, Woods failed to break par in any round and finished 12 over as he struggled to a share of 39th place. There is no doubt Woods has become a horse for certain courses. The winner of five PGA Tour titles this year is unstoppable at places such as Firestone.

 

This week, Oak Hill is less likely to fall into that category. He will have to buck a dispiriting trend to claim major number 15 - having not won any of his previous 17 since lifting the US Open in 2008. McIlroy doesn't need to remember anywhere near as far back for his last major triumph. He is the defending champion this week.

 

Twelve months ago, he arrived at Kiawah Island and looked out on the course with a feeling that something good was about to happen. Anyone who witnessed the Northern Irishman's quiet confidence in his pre-tournament news conference that week would have been encouraged to have a small wager on his chances.

 

Those who backed their instincts were duly rewarded when McIlroy romped to victory by eight strokes. But that was with his old sticks and a more settled management background. Life appears a lot more complicated now with one of his hardest objectives to fathom the art of finding a fairway with his new driver.

 

McIlroy has always been capable of clicking back into form. All year he has suggested the moment is just around the corner but the road to that junction has an eternal feel at the moment. Now the pressure to find the right route is at its greatest. From here on, he defends the bulk of his world ranking points and a continuation of current form would lead to a significant fall down the rankings.

 

The margins are so fine at the top of the game and there are so many potential winners. In the decade since our last visit to Oak Hill, there have been 26 different major winners. Only Woods (six), Mickelson (five), Padraig Harrington (three), McIlroy (two) and Angel Cabrera (two) have won more than one in this period.

 

This is the last chance of 2013 for the world's best to join that roll of honour. It is, though, no longer "Glory's Last Shot", as the PGA of America liked to market their major. At the behest of PGA Tour boss Tim Finchem, the slogan has been dropped. The Commissioner has successfully argued that there remains plenty more scope for glory in his upcoming FedEx Cup series.

 

The pay-back was an extra week's break between the climax of his multi-million dollar jamboree and the start of the 2014 Ryder Cup. So this week, we don't officially have the last shot at glory - just the final opportunity for players to claim victory in one of the four events that define a career.

 

Can Lee Westwood or Luke Donald break their majors duck? Can McIlroy find a semblance of form? Can Woods translate tour form to the major arena? Will there be another stellar champion or an unheralded hero?

 

These questions and more tumble at the rate of the nearby Niagara Falls. A decade's worth of clues leave us no nearer knowing the answers.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/23575118

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US PGA Championship 2013: Scott and Furyk lead at Oak Hill

 

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US PGA Championship 2013: Scott and Furyk lead at Oak Hill

 

FIRST ROUND LEADBOARD

-5: J Furyk (US), A Scott (Aus)-4: L Westwood (Eng), D Hearn (Can)-3: P Casey (Eng), R Garrigus (US), M Kuchar (US), S Piercy (US), M Fraser (Aus), J Day (Aus)Selected: -2: J Rose (Eng)-1: R McIlroy (NI)+1: T Woods (US), P Mickelson (US)

 

Masters champion Adam Scott and US veteran Jim Furyk edged into a one-shot lead after the first round of the 95th US PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

 

The pair hit five-under 65s to head Lee Westwood and Canada's David Hearn in the year's final major. England's Paul Casey ended three under with Americans Robert Garrigus, Matt Kuchar and Scott Piercy and Australians Marcus Fraser and Jason Day.

 

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson carded 71, while Rory McIlroy shot 69.

 

The 43-year-old Furyk, who won his sole major at the 2003 US Open, made his score in the morning after heavy overnight rain softened the course. Furyk, who missed the cut in the Open and US Open, reached six under before dropping one at the last to set the clubhouse lead.

 

Australia's Scott led the Open late in the final round before finishing third at Muirfield three weeks ago, and the 33-year-old continued his form in the afternoon wave at Oak Hill with five straight birdies from the fourth.

 

Following a delay of more than an hour because of storms and the threat of lightning in the Rochester area, Scott added another birdie at the 14th before stumbling with a bogey on 17 and fighting hard to save par at the last.

 

"I got on a bit of a roll and hit a few shots clean," said Scott, as he and Furyk flirted with the course record of 64 set by Ben Hogan and Curtis Strange. "You've got to take advantage of that if it happens because it doesn't happen very often at majors. I hung in there and that was a great par at the last."

 

Westwood, who took a two-shot lead into the final round of the Open before ending alongside Scott and Ian Poulter, had a bogey-free round as he chases a first victory in his 63rd major. The 40-year-old Englishman has now finished in the top three a record eight times in majors without winning one.

 

"Somebody was asking me the other day, 'Does it get you down and do you get stressed when people go on about not winning a major championship?"' he said.

 

"I said, 'No, you really don't get stressed about golf any more'. I've played golf for 20 odd years out here on the best courses in the world and I get up every day and go and do something that I love.

 

"Golf doesn't stress me or disappoint me very often any more. In fact I can't remember the last time it did. Just get on with it and just realise how lucky you are."

 

Casey, who recently won the Irish Open, is beginning to show signs of the form that took him to number three in the world in 2009. The 36-year-old, who broke his collarbone in a snowboarding accident at the end of 2011, bogeyed the 10th, his first, but followed with eight pars and then made five birdies on the way home with just one dropped shot.

 

Woods went into the tournament as hot favourite to clinch a 15th major title and first since 2008 after storming to his fifth win of the year in the WGC-Invitational on Sunday.

 

But the world number one's form was a touch off all day and he double-bogeyed his last after fluffing a chip from thick rough into a greenside bunker.

 

"I'm still right there," said Woods. "I'm only six back and we have got a long way to go. I played really well."

 

Defending champion McIlroy, who won by a record eight shots last year, cut a different figure to the often disconsolate sight at the Open where he described his play as "brain dead". The 24-year-old was three under after four holes before swapping two more birdies with four bogeys.

 

"I got off to a really good start and was feeling good," he said. "Bogeys on 10 and 11 halted my momentum a little bit but overall one under isn't a bad start. I feel a lot sharper with my game.

 

"I had a chance to shoot a few lower there but anything in red figures on the first day of a major is not a bad thing."

 

Mickelson, who surged to his first Open title with a final-round 66 at Muirfield, slumped to three over after four holes but rallied well with four birdies either side of the weather delay before dropping two shots at the last after tangling with trees.

 

US Open winner Justin Rose, playing alongside Mickelson and Scott in the traditional major champions group, dropped a shot at the last for a two-under 68 alongside colourful Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, who was on for a 66 before a double-bogey on 17.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/23627458

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US PGA 2013: Jason Dufner sets course record for Oak Hill lead

 

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US PGA 2013: Jason Dufner sets course record for Oak Hill lead

 

SECOND ROUND LEADBOARD

-9: J Dufner (US)-7: A Scott (Aus), J Furyk (US), M Kuchar (US)-6: J Rose (Eng), H Stenson (Swe)-5: R Garrigus (US), S Stricker (US)Selected: -1: L Westwood (Eng), P Casey (Eng), G McDowell (NI)Level: R McIlroy (NI)+1: T Woods (US) +2: P Mickelson (US)

 

Jason Dufner just missed out on the lowest round in major history but hit a course-record 63 to grab a two-shot halfway lead in the US PGA.

 

The American, 36, was short with his 12ft birdie putt for a 62 but ended nine under par to take control of the year's final major at Oak Hill. The 2011 runner-up led Adam Scott (68), Matt Kuchar (66) and Jim Furyk (68).

 

US Open champion Justin Rose shot 66 to end six under but Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy endured difficult days. World number one Woods was unable to recreate the spark that yielded a fifth title of the year on Sunday and hit a level-par 70 to end one over.

 

Defending champion McIlroy was in danger of missing a second straight cut at a major after slipping to four over for the tournament through 10 holes during the worst of a morning deluge. But the 24-year-old fought back well with four birdies in his last seven holes for a 71 and level par.

 

Lee Westwood, who was tied second overnight, also dropped back with a three-over 73 to leave him one under. But the day belonged to Dufner, still chasing a maiden major after several recent near misses, who made the most of a favourable draw and went out in warm afternoon sunshine on a course softened by its earlier soaking.

 

The fireworks began when his approach to the second span back 20ft and dropped into the hole for an eagle. He made a long birdie putt on the fourth green, picked up another shot at the fifth and holed a lengthy putt to save par on the seventh to go out in 31.

 

Turning for home, the laconic two-time PGA Tour winner made further birdies at 11, 13 and 16 before firing a pin-point approach into the 18th green, only to leave his history-making putt short. "It's tough," said Dufner, who became the 24th player to shoot 63 at a major. "I showed a little bit of nerves there leaving it short. It's one you would like to gun and have a chance at history (but) I am in pretty good company.

 

"The history of the game is something that is dear to my heart. To be part of history is a neat accomplishment, I never thought a guy from north east Ohio would be able to do these things."

 

But Dufner's was not the only round close to the history books. American Webb Simpson was on course for an early 62 but faltered late on to equal the then course record of 64, set by Ben Hogan in 1942 and then again by Curtis Strange in 1989. The former US Open champion ended four under alongside 2010 US PGA winner Martin Kaymer (68) and American Charley Hoffman (67).

 

While others were making hay, Woods mixed four birdies with four bogeys and cut a frustrated figure as he chases an elusive 15th major and first since 2008. "Obviously I'm going to have to put together a really good weekend," Woods said. "I'm going to have to do my job and shoot a good round but then again, I'm so far back that if the leaders go ahead and run off with it and shoot a low one I'm going to be pretty far behind."

 

Scott, who made his major breakthrough at the Masters in April, continued the form that saw him lead late on during the Open last month and set the clubhouse target at seven under at Oak Hill, dubbed "Soak Hill" after the torrential morning rains.

 

"I think the platform has never been better for me to go on and win multiple majors," said Scott. "I guess you've got to take the confidence and form of winning a major and run with it. I can't take my foot off the gas just because I achieved something great at Augusta."

 

Scott's playing partner Rose, who is also targeting a second major of the season after winning his first at Merion in June, fired a stunning homeward nine of 29 for his 66.

 

"It's wonderful to be in this situation right now, talking about having done it, talking about feeling like you can win more, believing in yourself and not talking about how I hope it could happen this week. So I think that alone makes it easier," he said.

 

Only Gene Sarazen (1922), Ben Hogan (1948), Jack Nicklaus (1980) and Tiger Woods (2000) have won the US Open and US PGA in the same year, while Nicklaus was also the last man, in 1975, to win the Masters and US PGA in the same season.

 

Open champion Phil Mickelson, playing with Scott and Rose, signed for a second 71 to end two over, just inside the three-over cut mark which claimed Luke Donald, Martin Laird, Paul Lawrie, Bubba Watson, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/23642147

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US PGA 2013: Jim Furyk leads Jason Dufner at Oak Hill

 

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US PGA 2013: Jim Furyk leads Jason Dufner at Oak Hill

 

THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD

 

-9: J Furyk (US)-8: J Dufner (US)-7: H Stenson (Swe)-6: J Blixt (Swe)-5 : S Stricker (US), A Scott (Aus)-3: L Westwood (Eng), R McIlroy (NI)Selected: +1: J Rose (Eng)+4: T Woods (US) +10: P Mickelson (US)

 

American veteran Jim Furyk will a take a one-shot lead over countryman Jason Dufner into the final round of the US PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

 

Furyk, 43, shot a two-under 68 to reach nine under on a gripping third day as overnight leader Dufner took 71, with Henrik Stenson (66) one back and fellow Swede Jonas Blixt (64) six under.

 

Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood moved to three under with rounds of 67 and 68.

 

Tiger Woods carded 73 to end four over and Phil Mickelson took 78 for 10 over.

 

Furyk, the 2003 US Open champion, was two adrift in a share of second going into the third round but hit the front at the 10th and duelled with Dufner down the back nine on a sunny, breezy day in upstate New York.

 

A long putt for birdie on 17 and another lengthy effort to save par after a poor drive on 18 gave the experienced Furyk the lead going into Sunday.

 

"It was big," Furyk said. "On 18 I made a bad swing, but this week I have not let too much bother me. I was able to wedge it on and make par and it was a nice way to finish the day."

 

Furyk, who clinched the last of his 16 PGA Tour wins in 2010, has worked hard on his driving and putting recently with father Mike, his career-long coach, and is starting to see the fruit after missing the cut at this year's US Open and Open.

 

But the eight-time US Ryder Cup stalwart will be mindful of the fact he held or shared the lead after 54 holes in four tournaments in 2012 and failed to win any, including the US Open at the Olympic Club.

 

The 36-year-old Dufner, who equalled the lowest score in major history with a course-record 63 on Friday, is chasing a first major title after blowing a five-shot lead and losing in a play-off to Keegan Bradley in the 2011 US PGA. A double-bogey at the fifth on Saturday slowed his charge, but after one further bogey sandwiched by two birdies he parred his way home to remain firmly in the hunt.

 

"There were a couple times when I was a little frustrated with things, a little perturbed, but you have to keep your head," Dufner said.

 

"It's important to stay even keeled for the most part. You have got to let things go in these majors and just plod along out there."

 

The resurgent Stenson, 37, who was second behind Mickelson at the Open and second behind Woods at the WGC event on Sunday, and 29-year-old Blixt, playing in his first US PGA, are bidding to become the first Swedish man to win a major title.

 

Adam Scott, meanwhile, is targeting a second major of 2013 after making his breakthrough at the Masters in April. But he slipped back from a share of second overnight with a two-over 72, including a double-bogey at 16, to end five under.

 

The 33-year-old Australian, who blew a four-shot lead with four to go at the Open in 2012, also led the Open at Muirfield late on before finishing tied for third.

 

American veteran Steve Stricker, 46, is also well placed to win a first major after a level-par 70 left him alongside Scott in fifth.

 

McIlroy, who looked likely to miss his second straight cut in a major after 11 holes of Friday's second round, climbed 21 places to end in a tie for seventh.

 

The 24-year-old was still level par for the tournament after 12 holes of his third round but birdied the 13th and holed from 50ft for another birdie on the 17th before chipping in on the 18th.

 

"It's getting there. It was good to feel that sort of rush again," said defending champion McIlroy, who has struggled so far this season.

 

Westwood displayed his usual patience as he mixed five birdies with three bogeys to make up 15 places after Friday's disappointing three-over 73.

 

The Englishman, who held a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Open at Muirfield last month before finishing third, said: "I figured somewhere around 67 might give me a chance."

 

American Dustin Johnson climbed 51 spots with a five-under 65 to finish on two under, while countryman Kevin Streelman rose 41 places with a 66 to join him.

 

US Open champion Justin Rose, who was tied second overnight, collapsed to a 77 to finish one over.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/23653332

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Matt Kuchar plugs it in the bunker. <a href="https://t.co/RHpCgQivTl">https://t.co/RHpCgQivTl</a></p>— Phillip Booth (@pabooth89) <a href="https://twitter.com/pabooth89/statuses/366617500479275011">August 11, 2013</a></blockquote>

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