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Keegan Bradley goes from last man in to leading BMW Championship
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. | Keegan Bradley went from a bundle of nerves waiting to see if he would advance in the PGA Tour postseason to a blissful day of birdies in mile-high air Thursday that led to a 6-under 66 and the lead in the BMW Championship.
Bradley, the newly appointed U.S. Ryder Cup captain, was the last man to get in the 50-man field at Castle Pines and he had to sweat it out Sunday. He was in his hotel room with the TV going, the FedEx Cup standings on another screen and his phone buzzing.
“One of the toughest afternoons of my PGA Tour career,” Bradley said. “It was really brutal. It’s such a relief to be here. I just felt a lot calmer today. But I played really, really well.”
It showed on a course that could dole out punishment without a moment’s notice. Bradley missed only two fairways and two greens, took advantage of the par 5s and made it look relatively easy on the 8,130-yard course, the longest in PGA Tour history.
Hideki Matsuyama, the winner in the playoff opener last week, was at 5 under in the middle of the 18th fairway when the opening round was suspended by lightning in the area, a common occurrence during the days of The International at Castle Pines.
Rory McIlroy was just settling over a 20-foot par putt on the 18th when he heard the horn to stop play, smiled and marked his ball. He was likely to wait three hours to putt.
Adam Scott, among two players who were at Castle Pines during its two-decade run on the PGA Tour, made a long par-saving putt on the 18th for a 68 and was joined by Sungjae Im, Alex Noren and Corey Conners.
Double major winner Xander Schauffele opened with a 69 while playing alongside Scottie Scheffler, who worked through some mild soreness in his back for a 71. Scheffler is assured of being the No. 1 seed at the Tour Championship next week unless Schauffele were to win.
It’s all about numbers at Castle Pines, and that’s not just the math required to figure out how far the ball is going in elevation at 6,300 feet above sea level. The simple math is take 10% off the yardage, simple enough except when a pond is guarding the front of the green.
The other number is 30, the players who advance to East Lake next week to compete for the $25 million FedEx Cup title. The higher the seed, the better the chance.
Bradley had reason to think he could join them the way he played, even with three rounds to go. The key was getting to the BMW Championship, which allows him to plan a schedule that will put him in the same place as players aspiring to be on the Ryder Cup team.
“I want to be out there with the guys on the Ryder Cup team,” he said. “I want to be playing with them, on the range with them, in the locker room, in the tournament. It was really important for me to be in this top 50.”
It was a good start for Noren, who has never been to the Tour Championship and is No. 45 in the FedEx Cup. Ditto for Scott at No. 41.
The Australian’s experience at Castle Pines is a little overrated. Scott was a 20-year-old who received a sponsor exemption in 2000 to play his first regular PGA Tour event. He remembered a few of the holes, the elevation changes, the tough walk and the beauty.
“I remember being around all the players that I’d looked up to my entire childhood and feeling really not prepared for it, to be perfectly honest,” he said. “But it gave me inspiration to get better and work on my game and make sure I’m good enough to be out here.”
Scheffler stretched his neck to the side a few times, but then on the 17th he appeared to grab his lower back on a long iron shot to the par 5. His last two full shots looked fine, as did so much of the rest of his round. Scheffler said it was nothing to be alarmed about.
“I woke up just a little sore this morning. I had trouble kind of loosening it up,” he said. “I was laboring most of the day to get through the ball. On 17, I was trying to hit a high draw, and that’s a shot where I’ve really got to use a big turn, big motion. Really just felt it a little bit. But other than that, all good.”
Scheffler had a neck issue at The Players Championship and nearly withdrew in the middle of the second round. Two days later, he rallied from five shots behind to win. And the he won the Masters three weeks later.
“He was stiff at the Masters, at The Players and had to get worked on all those times,” Schauffele said. “I guess it’s a bad sign for everyone else.”
Charley Hull shoots 67 to lead wind-swept Women’s British Open
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland | Golf balls wobbled on the tees and greens. Players wore big earmuffs and neck warmers and donned oven-style mitts between shots. American star Rose Zhang said she lost balance simply standing up.
Gusts of up to 40 mph (64 kph) played havoc with the best female golfers in the world at the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews on Thursday.
Charley Hull dealt with it the best.
The No. 10-ranked English player rolled in a 6-foot putt on No. 18 for the last of her six birdies at the home of golf to shoot 5-under 67 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the year’s fifth and final major.
Hull, seeking her first major title, has plenty of high-profile company at the top of the leaderboard.
Not least her playing partner, top-ranked Nelly Korda, who birdied No. 17 — the famous Road Hole — and also the 18th to join fellow major champion Ruoning Yin of China on 4 under.
Among those a further shot back was defending champion Lilia Vu, who produced two monster birdie putts on the front nine of the Old Course — hosting the Women’s British Open for the third time — in her round of 69.
Some were just glad to get through it.
“Definitely some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in, for sure,” said England’s Georgia Hall, the 2018 champion who eagled her last hole — No. 9 — for a 71.
Hall is the last British player to win her home major. Now her close friend is looking to do the same.
By the time Hull walked down the last, the wind had dropped and she was looking cool in her sunglasses as she waved to the spectators lining the fairway. She would be a popular winner, not least because of her approach and attitude.
Not forgetting the aggressive way she plays golf, either.
Hull was regularly the longest driver in the marquee group containing Korda and Vu, with one tee shot — on the 14th — going 336 yards.
Level par after a bogey on No. 8, she made five birdies on her last 10 holes. There was a 12-footer on No. 12, an 8-footer at No. 15 to join Yin in a share of the lead before Hull played the last — that glorious hole back into town — perfectly by driving to the front of the green, hitting the second to 6 feet and making no mistake with the putt.
Hull was slightly concerned watching the early starters on TV in the worst of the windy weather.
“I said to my coach, it feels like they could call it at any minute because I don’t know how the balls are staying on the green,” said Hull, who was second by six shots to Vu at the British Open last year.
“You know what it’s going to be like before the beginning of the round, so you kind of just mentally prepare for that before.”
That was half the battle on a tough day.
Korda, who won the Chevron Championship for a second major amid a dominant 2024 for the American, wound up enjoying the grind.
“There’s something fun about playing in these conditions,” she said, adding: “Not that I would do it every single time.”
Yin, ranked No. 6 and the winner of the Women’s PGA Championship last year, took it all in her stride.
“The conditions were tough but it’s the same for everyone,” she said. “You’ve just got to try to make the wind your friend.”
Vu was in a six-way tie for fourth place with Jenny Shin and Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea, Andrea Lee of the United States, Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and Mao Saigo of Japan.
Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and WR coach suspended for recruiting violation
IOWA CITY, Iowa | Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and an assistant coach will be suspended for the No. 25 Hawkeyes’ opener against Illinois State on Aug. 31 over a violation while recruiting a player.
Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz said Thursday the suspension of Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr was self imposed. Seth Wallace, assistant defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, was named assistant head coach in January and will fill Ferentz’s role for the game against the Redbirds.
“There’s a line,” Ferentz said at a news conference. “I crossed that line.”
Ferentz informed his staff and players of the penalty, which also includes a loss of one week of off-campus recruiting, on Thursday morning.
“The bottom line is this — I tell our players that we abide by the rules,” Ferentz said. “In this specific case, I did not do that. I made a mistake in the recruiting process.”
Ferentz is beginning his 26th season at Iowa, where his 196 wins rank third all-time among Big Ten coaches. The Hawkeyes have won 10 games three of the past five seasons and reached the Big Ten championship game last year.
Ferentz did not name the player whose recruitment was at issue. The Athletic, citing an unnamed source, reported it was quarterback Cade McNamara. He transferred from Michigan before the 2023 season and started the first five games before a knee injury ended his season. Ferentz said Thursday that McNamara is Iowa’s No. 1 quarterback entering the opener.
Goetz said the NCAA informed Iowa of the investigation into the Level 2 violation earlier this year but did not disclose details because the NCAA investigation is ongoing.
Goetz praised Ferentz’s character but said, “In this situation, as he noted, he used poor judgment.”
Ferentz said it was important to take the penalty now.
“The last thing we wanted was this hanging over our heads the next couple of months,” he said.
It will be the first game Ferentz has missed in his time at Iowa. Ferentz said he planned on watching the game at home.
“It is going to be hard to be away,” he said. “Games are important. It’s going to be strange, it’s going to be difficult.”
The suspensions follow a series of events that cast an unwanted spotlight on the Hawkeyes the past two years.
Iowa in early 2023 agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle a 2020 racial discrimination lawsuit brought by a dozen former players who alleged Ferentz and his staff created an unwelcoming environment for Black players.
Last summer, the Hawkeyes had several players caught in a state law enforcement sting targeting college athletes illegally wagering on sports. Goetz announced at midseason Brian Ferentz, Kirk’s son, would be fired as offensive coordinator effective at the end of the season.
In February, Iowa announced it would self-report an NCAA Level 3 (minor) violation for tampering after a football staff member texted a message of encouragement to Alabama offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor after he struggled in a game. Proctor is from Des Moines and was a five-star prospect coming out of high school. He transferred to Iowa in January and transferred back to Alabama two months later.
Seattle Mariners fire manager Scott Servais in midst of collapse
SEATTLE | The Seattle Mariners reportedly fired manager Scott Servais on Thursday with the team in the midst a two-month long collapse having blown a 10-game lead in the division and tumbling to the fringes of playoff contention in the American League.
The Athletic reported the decision by the Mariners, citing unnamed sources. The report said former catcher Dan Wilson would be taking over.
The decision to move on from Servais during his ninth season in charge came on the heels of a disastrous 1-8 road trip that dropped the Mariners back to 64-64 after sitting 13 games over .500 at one point in mid-June.
The Mariners trail Houston by five games in the AL West and are 7 1/2 back in the wild-card standings. But nothing in the way Seattle has played since leading the division by 10 games on June 18 has provided optimism there will be a turnaround over the final five weeks of the regular season.
Servais arrived in Seattle before the 2016 season, brought on in lockstep with executive vice president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto. Servais was 680-642 during his time with Seattle, going through a significant rebuild midway through his tenure that ultimately made the Mariners competitive but not good enough.
—From AP reports
