Tag: Aaron Rai

Ryan Fox upstages European Ryder Cup team, wins 2023 BMW PGA Championship

Fox birdied eight of his last 13 holes during Sunday’s final round.

Ryan Fox birdied the 18th hole to win the 2023 BMW PGA Championship for his fourth DP World Tour victory, pumping his fist in the air just as the ball was dropping into the cup.

Along the way, he upstaged the European Ryder Cup team.

All 12 members of the squad arrived at Wentworth Club for one last tournament of preparation ahead of the biennial matches against the Americans, and all 12 made the cut, including Tyrrell Hatton, who birdied the 18th to forge a tie atop the leaderboard at 17 under.

But it was Fox who overcame a triple-bogey 7 on the third hole with birdies on eight of his last 13 holes during Sunday’s weather-interrupted final round to post a closing 67 and win his first Rolex Series event by a shot over Hatton and Aaron Rai.

“I played great, pretty much from the third hole on, didn’t miss a shot,” he said after his round. “It was a pretty cool feeling on the last, knowing I had one to win it and actually make it.”

Fox birdied four of the first five holes on the second nine before the weather stalled the action.

“The back nine was crazy. I made birdie from the trees on 15, first hole back after the delay,” he said.

Jon Rahm grabbed solo fourth, two shots back. He had an eagle putt on the 18th hole that would’ve tied him for the lead, but he missed just left to finish 16 under.

Rai also had an eagle putt at the last and while his ball was tracking, it could only catch a bit of the edge of the cup and it lipped out.

Ryder Cup rookie-to-be Ludvig Aberg held the 54-hole lead by a shot after rounds of 68-66-66 but shot a final-round 76, his card featuring two bogeys, two double bogeys and just two birdies.

Defending tournament champion Shane Lowry tied for 18th after shooting a final-round 71 which included a 9 on the par-5 17th hole.

How the European Ryder Cup team did

  • T-2. Tyrrell Hatton, 17 under
  • 4. Jon Rahm, 16 under
  • 5. Viktor Hovland, 15 under
  • 6. Tommy Fleetwood, 14 under
  • T-7. Rory McIlroy, 13 under
  • T-10. Sepp Straka, 12 under
  • T-10. Ludvig Aberg, 12 under
  • T-18 Shane Lowry, 10 under
  • T-18. Matt Fitzpatrick, 10 under
  • T-36. Justin Rose, 5 under
  • T-45. Robert MacIntyre, 4 under
  • T-64. Nicolai Hojgaard, even

European team captain Luke Donald finished 5 under, tied for 36th.

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Four tied for early 2023 RBC Canadian Open lead as players get back to business after PGA Tour bombshell

Conners is looking to become the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954.

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NORTH YORK, Ontario – Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose were grouped together for the opening round of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open and walking down the first fairway the pair made a deal: no talk about the PGA Tour’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund until lunch.

“Rosie and I said, ‘All right, no chatting until lunch so that we can actually concentrate on what we’re doing out there,” said McIlroy, the event’s two-time defending champion who shot a 1-under 71 at Oakdale Golf and Country Club. “So it was nice to play a round of golf and focus on something else for those five hours we were out there.”

After fighting for professional golf supremacy for more than a year now, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan shocked the sports world with the news that the Tour would be partnering with the PIF, the very group it was countersuing amid its struggle with LIV Golf. With the PIF as its sole funder, the upstart circuit has long been criticized as a way for Saudi Arabia to sportswash its controversial human rights record, which includes accusations of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

And while the dust has far from settled on the announcement of the new deal that may shake up professional golf as we know it, it was back to business as usual for the PGA Tour on Thursday in Canada, where the people were just as welcoming as the golf course (so long as you’re in the fairway).

After the early wave of the first round of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, four players are tied for the lead after taking advantage of calm conditions on Thursday morning at Oakdale Golf and Country Club. Playing in his national open for the seventh time, Corey Conners fired a bogey-free 5-under 67 and sits atop the leaderboard alongside Aaron Rai, Justin Lower and Chesson Hadley.

Conners is looking to become the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954, a drought that Mike Weir nearly ended in 2004 before his playoff loss to Vijay Singh. David Hearn had a two-shot lead in the final round in 2015 as late as the 15th hole, but ultimately lost out to Jason Day. A year later, amateur Jared du Toit was a shot back on Sunday before finishing T-9, three behind winner Jhonattan Vegas.

RBC Canadian Open: Photos

“I think golf is a funny game. It’s very different on a day-to-day basis,” said Rai, who has missed four of his last five cuts on Tour. “But it’s funny, the more you try and force it and impose it on coming days, the less it seems to happen. So we’ll definitely take the positives and just try and approach the rounds with the right kind of mindset. Stay patient. Just see what happens, really.

“I’ve been really working hard on driving it better. I’ve driven it like crap all year,” added Lower. “Just really trying to get the ball in the fairway. Especially around this place with the rough being so thick.”

“Course is good. It’s penal,” echoed McIlroy. “If you miss fairways the rough is very, very thick … I certainly hit a few loose shots and got myself out of position, and the golf course does start to get quite tricky from there. So need to do a better job of just putting my ball in play off the tee. Then from there the golf course is still quite scorable.”

While he isn’t at the top of the leaderboard, one of the stars of the day was rookie Ludvig Aberg, who is making his pro debut this week after finishing atop the PGA Tour University rankings and earning a Tour card for the rest of the season. The Texas Tech product began his professional career 4 under on the front nine before signing for a 3-under 69.

“I was nervous. I mean, I think it would have been weird if I wasn’t nervous,” said Aberg of his emotions on the first tee. “But I tried to embrace it. I tried to view it as something fun.”

“I’m super fortunate to be in this position, to actually get my Tour card,” said the 23-year-old from Eslov, Sweden. “I’m just going to be prepared to play a lot of golf. Play as much as I can, get as many points as I can and kind of see where that takes me.”

Scottie Scheffler wins a bet with his caddie, Tom Hoge’s record round and Aaron Rai comes up aces among takeaways from third round at 2023 Players Championship

Scottie Scheffler would move back to No. 1 in the world with a win.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Scottie Scheffler won a year-long bet with his caddie on Saturday. On Sunday, he’s hoping to win the Players Championship, return to World No. 1 and earn the largest check on the PGA Tour.

Scheffler fired a 7-under 65 at TPC Sawgrass on Saturday to grab the 54-hole lead with a total of 14-under 202, two strokes clear of Australian Min Woo Lee.

Scheffler, who had to finish off his second-round 69 in the morning, vaulted into the lead with a birdie-eagle start in the afternoon. After pulling his second shot at the par-5 second hole, he lofted a pitch from the rough and jarred the 62-foot shot and then jawed at caddie Ted Scott having recorded his 10th hole-out…and it’s only March.

“I had a decent lie there in the rough and was able to hit a flop shot pretty much exactly where I wanted to land it,” he said. “I was definitely fortunate to see it go in, and then Teddy and I got a year-long thing going that I just beat him on and he owes me something, but he didn’t have any of it, and so he owes me. It’s an IOU from Teddy.”

Scheffler made his lone bogey at the seventh, but it barely slowed him down as he bounced back with consecutive birdies. He closed with birdies on two of his final three holes as he posted his career low at the Stadium Course and claimed his seventh career 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour. The reigning Masters champion is seeking to win for the second time this season —he defended his title at the WM Phoenix Open in February — and supplant Jon Rahm as World No. 1. But Scheffler knows that winning will take care of the latter.

“I think the ranking is just an algorithm,” he said. “For me, I would much rather win the tournament than get back to No. 1 in the world. So that will be my focus going into tomorrow is just going out and having a solid round of golf, and the rankings will be the rankings.”

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Aaron Rai aces the 17th island green at TPC Sawgrass, second hole-in-one this week at 2023 Players Championship

“It was a little bit of a blur.”

It happened again.

An ace on the par-3 17th hole at the famous island green. This time, it was Aaron Rai on Saturday during the third round of the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

On Thursday, Hayden Buckley hit one. Rai did it in similar fashion, hitting his shot about 15 feet past the front left pin before it spun back and into the hole.

“Felt at a very good number with my gap wedge,” Rai said. “Hit it great, looked great in the air and very pleased to see it go in. That was an incredible moment.”

It’s the first time in Players history there has been two holes-in-one at the 17th hole in the same year. It’s the third one in the past two years, with Shane Lowry making one in a similar location during the third round last year.

On Saturday, the par-3 17th was playing 122 yards. Here’s a look at everyone who has hit a hole-in-one on the 17th in Players history.

2023: Hayden Buckley, 1st round; Aaron Rai, 3rd round
2022: Shane Lowry, 3rd round
2019: Ryan Moore, 1st round
2017: Sergio Garcia, 1st round
2016: Willy Wilcox, 2nd round
2002: Miguel Angel Jimenez, 1st round
2000: Paul Azinger, 3rd round
1999: Joey Sindelar, 1st round
1997: Fred Couples, final round
1991: Brian Claar, 3rd round

The ace put Rai to 6 under thru 17 holes. He also birdied the par-4 18th hole after a great approach shot to finish at 7-under 65 and 9 under for the tournament.

“It was a little bit of a blur,” Rai said. “I saw it go in, and then I looked to the left to almost see, is it real and I saw almost the crowd’s hands in the air.

“In the second after that, I looked to the right towards my caddie and he came running at me. So it happened very fast, but it feels very vivid now that I’m even talking about it and remembering some of those images. So I couldn’t quite believe that it happened, but very, very special. Very special. Something I’ll always remember.”

Buckley was the first in Players history to go ace-birdie on 17 and 18. Rai became the second, but he was the first to finish birdie-ace-birdie.

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2023 Genesis Invitational: This PGA Tour pro followed Tiger Woods and met his childhood idol

“He’s been my idol since a very young age.”

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Everyone at Riviera Country Club is curious to see how Tiger Woods will play as he competes for the first time in an official PGA Tour event since July.

The course isn’t open to spectators for Wednesday’s pro-am at the Genesis Invitational but that didn’t stop a crowd from huddling around the elevated first tee at 6:30 a.m. PT to watch Tiger tee off. Among them: PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.

Tiger still loves to be a dew sweeper, even on a cold, windy morning that meant bundling up in a black puffy jacket, a gaiter for his neck and a ski cap. Woods played 16 holes and then called it quits, walking with the amateurs in his group as they played the final two holes. As Rory McIlroy described the day, it was cold, windy and not much to learn.

Tiger Woods of the United States looks on during the pro-am prior to The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 15, 2023 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

But not if you were Aaron Rai, a 27-year-old Englishman preparing to make his second appearance in the Genesis Invitational. Best-known for wearing two gloves, Rai wasn’t in the pro-am Wednesday and figured the windy conditions wouldn’t make for a quality range session, so he slipped inside the ropes to study the player who helped inspire his love of the game at work.

“He’s been my idol since a very young age,” Rai said. “I have VHS copies of his U.S. Amateur wins and majors from the early 2000s. Me and my dad would watch them 3-4 days a week.”

Rai remembers attending a Tiger golf clinic in London in 2000 or 2001 with his father and the two of them driving to Scotland to watch Tiger play a practice round at the 2014 British Open at Muirfield. Since Rai turned pro, they’ve been in the same field twice: at the 2019 WGC Mexico Championship and last year at the British Open at St. Andrews. Rai said he played about an hour ahead of Woods in the second round and when he turned in his scorecard he circled back and watched Tiger play 17 and 18 and cross the Swilcan Bridge.

On this occasion, Rai took notes and observed how Tiger scouted a course and the shots he hit. Color him impressed.

“It’s just special to be able to see him and watch him and be inside the ropes and see him go about his business. You can see even now why he’s still the greatest of all time,” Rai said. “The shots that he plays, the way that he thinks, you can tell why he’s Tiger Woods.”

2023 Genesis Invitational
Aaron Rai watches Tiger Woods during a practice round at the 2023 Genesis Invitational. (Photo: Adam Schupak/Golfweek)

Rai also took note of how Tiger, who hasn’t played 72 holes in a tournament since the Masters, was getting around on his bum ankle.

“He’s moving great even when we were walking down No. 11, there were a couple of downhill walks and pretty severe uphill walks with rough terrain. While he was talking to others, he was breezing up those slopes,” Rai said.

It was just a pro-am round – take it with a grain of salt – but Tiger’s ball-striking brilliance was on display.

“A couple of the shots he’s played in this wind, you don’t see players hit them,” Rai said. “He hit a low burner drive on 11 and then way up in the air with a ton of spin on the par-3 14th and do it again downwind at the par-3 16th those are shots which not many players can play. To have that versatility at both end of the spectrums, he looks great.”

Arguably the highlight of the day for Rai happened on the 11th hole. He admitted he was too starstruck to approach Tiger – “I never would have had the courage to say hello,” Rai said – but word got to Rob McNamara, Tiger’s right-hand man, and he made the introduction to Tiger.

“It was very conversational,” Rai said. “He asked me what time I’m playing tomorrow. We spoke about Rory [McIlroy] and JT [Justin Thomas] and how they play a little bit together back home. He told me a little bit about himself and his garden at home with his short game area. Then he wished me all the best for the rest of the week. He made me feel very welcome.”

Rai smiled wide as he recalled their conversation, which was over before he knew it, but it was a chilly morning he’d never forget.

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From worst to first, Jon Rahm struggles and welcome back Lanto Griffin among 5 things to know after Day One at Farmers Insurance Open

Here’s everything you may have missed from Wednesday at Torrey Pines.

SAN DIEGO – Sam Ryder says most of his great rounds usually start with a birdie. On Wednesday, at the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open, he did one better than that.

Starting on the par-5, 10th hole at the North Course at Torrey Pines, Ryder rolled in a long eagle putt.

“Well, that’s it for me. I’m done for the day,” Brendan Steele, one of his competitors in his grouping, recounted what Ryder said. “I was like, ‘Dude, this isn’t a best ball. You’ve got to keep playing.’ So, he just decided to go crazy.”

Ryder tallied six birdies to go along with the eagle to post a bogey-free 8-under 64 and share the lead with Aaron Rai and rookie Brent Grant. Steele did his best to keep up with Ryder, rolling in a birdie at 10, the first of seven on the round to shoot 65.

“He was always in front of me the whole day,” Steele said. “His good play was helpful. It’s nice to see balls go in the hole.”

“You do feed off that,” Ryder added of a comfortable pairing where both players were dialed in. “There’s truth to that, for sure.”

Ryder, 33, entered the tournament in a slump, having missed three straight cuts and four of his last five, but his confidence remained intact.

“I felt like I was shaking holiday rust off,” he explained. “I’ve been working hard since the start of the new year and felt good about my game. It was just, it started off the tee for me, it was drive it in the fairway and I felt like I could attack.”

Ryder tabbed it a stress-free round and it all began with the opening-hole eagle.

“There wasn’t much to the putt,” he said. “It was actually fairly straight and it was one of those when it was halfway there, it looked pretty good and it just kind of fell in perfect.”

Farmers: Thursday tee times, how to watch | Leaderboard

How low did Patrick Cantlay go? That and more in Saturday’s takeaways from the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open

Here’s what we learned from the third round in Las Vegas.

If Saturday was any indication, Sunday is going to be a heckuva finale in Las Vegas.

Moving day lived up to its mantra on Saturday at TPC Summerlin in the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open. There was a course record-tying round. There were numerous birdies and hardly any bogeys. Past champions are in the mix, and a young star is looking for yet another statement early in his career.

There’s plenty of golf left to be played, and with how many birdies and scoring chances there are in Vegas, there’s no telling who can come out on top Sunday evening. Yet the pair at the top could be a thrilling show themselves.

Here’s what you missed on moving day from Sin City.

It’s a party in New Orleans: Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay lead, but six teams sit within 3 shots

“I felt like we just have had good vibes all week and we’ve been playing really solid golf.”

AVONDALE, La. — Any follow up to a record-breaking 59 may look like a disappointment, but in a difficult format and tough conditions, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay fought for a second-round 68 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

“I think we just wanted to hit a bunch of quality golf shots, and we did that today,” Cantlay said after their round. “We really fought hard and made a bunch of those mid-range putts, especially in the middle of the round, and that kind of kept the momentum going.”

After opening with three birdies in their first four holes, the pair made six straight pars before writing another circle on the card at the par-5 2nd. They closed out their 4-under effort with six pars and a birdie.

“Alternate shot is an opportunity to do some cool things if you’re making a lot of birdies,” Schauffele said, “but for the most part you’re trying to leave your partner in a good spot to make an easy par.”

Zurich Classic: Leaderboard | PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

They did just that, limiting the mistakes to a lone bogey on the par-4 12th, their third hole of the day.

“I felt like we just have had good vibes all week and we’ve been playing really solid golf. Same game plan for the weekend,” said Cantlay.

The best-buddy tandem enters the weekend with a one-stroke lead.

One of the pairs just a shot back is David Lipsky and Aaron Rai. Lipsky has had an interesting week — it started with a car accident and now he’s in a great spot to earn his first PGA Tour win.

“This is such a fun week for us. You play with a friend, different format, and I think we’re just enjoying it,” Lipsky said. “Wherever Doc and Sam finish, I know we’re one back of Xander and Pat, but I think we’re just having fun out there. We’re both playing pretty well right now, and I’m looking forward to what we can do this weekend.”

Rai is also searching for his first win on Tour.

Doc Redman and Sam Ryder are the other tandem that sits just one back. Like the Lipsky/Rai team, both players are searching for their first win.

Wyndham Clark/Cameron Tringale and Garrick Higgo/Branden Grace are at 15 under, while Jason Day/Jason Scrivener and Sam Burns/Billy Horschel are at 14 under.

Jay Haas and Bill Haas prepare to putt on the ninth green during the first round of the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

The feel-good story of the week goes to the Haas team, as Jay became the oldest player in history to make the cut at a PGA Tour event (68). He had to do it in dramatic fashion, too, needing to drain a four-and-a-half footer for par at the last.

“That was probably as nervous as I’ve ever been over a putt of that length certainly. It sounds silly just to have a chance to make the cut,” he said.

He is just one start away from 800 on the PGA Tour.

The top 33 teams and ties made the cut to play the weekend. Saturday’s round will be Four-balls with Sunday’s final round will be Foursomes.

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Despite a car accident earlier in the week, David Lipsky feeling ‘all right’ atop the leaderboard at Zurich Classic

“Yeah, it was a little bit of a hectic beginning to the week.”

AVONDALE, La. — David Lipsky was on his way to TPC Louisiana on Tuesday morning when he was passing a scene of a broken down car. When he went to change lanes to get out of the way, he was then hit from behind, causing damage to the left rear of his rental car.

“I was driving here on Tuesday morning, and there was a car right in front of me that had broke down,” Lipsky said in his post-round press conference Thursday, “so I started changing lanes, and the guy behind me, I guess, wasn’t paying attention and slammed on the brakes and smoked me.”

“I’m all right. I think the other two drivers were fine. Yeah, it was a little bit of a hectic beginning to the week,” he said.

Lipsky must be feeling all right, because he and his partner, Aaron Rai, opened the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a best ball 11-under 61 to take an early two-shot lead in the Thursday morning wave.

Zurich Classic of New Orleans: PGA Tour Live streaming on ESPN+ | Thursday tee times, format | Leaderboard

“We did complement each other really well today. David played some incredible golf, hit some shots really close, putted well,” Rai said after their round. “And David made a lot of birdies, especially early on and around the turn, which really got things going for us. I chipped in a couple things on the back nine, but it was great to see David be a part of it.”

Lipsky made six birdies and an eagle, which came in the form of a 113-yard hole out on the par-4 8th.

Tomorrow the pair will be playing an alternate shot format, a type of golf neither one has an extensive history with.

“I’ve never played foursomes before,” Rai said.

“I played like two holes alternate shot like five years ago. That was the closest I’ve had to this type of format,” Lipsky said.

They’ll have to acclimate quickly if they plan to hold off the star-studded teams just a few shots back.

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PGA Tour rookies achieve their dreams, but can they keep their dream jobs?

Unlike some pro sports, there are no guaranteed contracts in professional golf.

NAPA, Calif. – Callum Tarren wondered when he might be getting his PGA Tour card.

The 30-year-old England native seemingly had worked a lifetime to gain admission to the big leagues. He finished tied for fourth at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship three weeks ago, a result that locked up one of the 25 PGA Tour cards given out in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals with one event still remaining. But he skipped the ceremony a week later to fly home and spend time with his first child, Sofia, born two weeks earlier.

Tarren’s friend, David Skinns, a 39-year-old journeyman pro from England who spent time during golf’s pandemic shutdown as both a bartender and DoorDash driver to make ends meet before earning his card too, made sure Tarren received the grand symbol of Tour membership at the Fortinet Championship, the first of 48 tournaments that make up the 2021-22 PGA Tour season. Skinns marked his golf ball on the putting green with Tarren’s card during a practice round at Silverado Resort & Spa’s North Course.

Tarren and Skinns aren’t the only ones who have waited a long time to achieve their dream of playing on the PGA Tour. Justin Lower, 38, attended Q-School six times, missed earning his card by a single shot in 2018, and needed to pitch to a foot from 30 yards to save par at the final hole at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana to secure the last card. Lower still wasn’t sure if he’d done enough until his fellow pros and caddies showered him with beer and champagne. When he finally grabbed hold of his coveted PGA Tour card, Lower said, “It’s heavier than I thought it would be.”

There are 27 rookies in this season’s class on the PGA Tour, the most since 2011 when 35 earned cards, and 26 of them are in the field this week (all but Matthias Schwab). Max McGreevy and Jared Wolfe are making their Tour debuts.

Some, like Aaron Rai, a 26-year-old Englishman who once holed a record 207 straight 10-foot putts at age 15, needed just three starts in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to graduate while others such as Scott Gutschewski, 44, is returning to the big leagues full time for the first time since 2011. He made just two PGA Tour starts in the past 10 years. How did he celebrate his success? He went to Denny’s.

“It ain’t Applebees, but still pretty fancy,” he tweeted.

Hayden Buckley was the last man to get into the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic in February and then birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to jumpstart earning his Tour playing privileges. Membership has its privileges. It also means having to play against the likes of World No. 1 Jon Rahm and PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson, who headline the field this week in Napa.

But there are no guaranteed contracts in professional golf. Stephan Jaeger is back for his third tour of duty. He was the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, winning his sixth career title on the circuit, tied for second most all time, but he’s yet to record a top-10 finish in 62 starts on the PGA Tour. Still, he remains undeterred.

“I’ve done a lot over the last year and that’s given me a lot of confidence that like, ‘Hey, I can do this out here,’ ” he said.

Lower shares Jaeger’s never-give-up attitude. The 11-year-pro shed tears of joy when he finally secured the job he’d always dreamed of. This week marks the arrival at his destination, PGA Tour member, but the real work had just begun.

“It means everything,” he said, “and I don’t think this is it. I don’t think my journey is over at all. I think it’s just getting started.”