Golf

    Billy Horschel was scheduled to contest the $8.1 million 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota this week, but he didn't show up for yesterday's opening round at the TPC Twin Cities. Probably had something to do with his near-miss at The Open at Royal Troon last week, where he led by one stroke at 4 under par after three rounds (79-68-69-209).

    The popular ex-Gator posted a 3-under 68 in the Sunday finale, but his 7-under score left him two behind Xander Schauffele, who closed with a 6-under 65 and took home $3.1 million. Billy's take for his second-place deadlock with Justin Rose was $1,443,500 and he now has earned $39,221,692 since leaving Gainesville. Earlier this season he won the Corales Puntacana Championship.

    Ocalan Louis Oosthuizen missed the cut (+6) with 78-72; Tiger Woods imploded to 79-77; and such as Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Bryson Dechambeau, Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley all missed the cut, too.  

    What would have been the odds that if there were two Gators and two Seminoles playing in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, followed by the John Deere Classic, that the only one left standing for both weekends would be a Seminole junior, and he would be a major factor in both.

    That's how it has transpired over the last two weeks: Gators Tyson Alexander and Camilo Villegas and Seminole Daniel Berger sitting on the sidelines after all three missed both cuts, while amateur Luke Clanton was a possibility at the Rocket Mortgage only to fall into a tie for 10th with a Sunday 72, but still very much alive at the John Deere today at 16 under par, five strokes behind leader Davis Thompson and in a tie for sixth. 

    Clanton shot 69-68-65-72 in Detroit, and the 72 finale left him at 14 under, still just four strokes behind winner Cam Davis, and three behind runner-up Davis Thompson. If he had already turned pro, Clanton would have cashed a check for more than $200,000.  

    Looking for his first PGA Tour victory, Thompson has continued his stellar play at the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois this week (63-67-62, 21 under) and leads Eric Cole (62-65-64) and Aaron Rai by two strokes with 18 holes to play. His runner-up finish behind Davis was worth $616,400.

    Clanton (63-67-67) is 16 under, and tied for sixth. No word yet if the 20-year-old will remain in Tallahassee or turn pro and stop throwing away all that cash. He might let us in on it late this afternoon. 

    The best news that the field received pertaining to the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit beginning Thursday is that Scottie Scheffler is sitting this one out.

    Apparently, the winner's share of a measly $9.2 million purse isn't enough to lure Scottie away from home and his new baby. Of course, his playoff victory over Tom Kim Sunday in the Traveler's Championship was worth $3.6 million, same as the RBC Heritage, another of his four signature victories among his total of six this season, tying Tiger for most in one season and it's not over yet. Scottie collected $4 million in his other two signature scores, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial.

    All in all, he's won nearly $28 million this season, eclipsing the record of $21 million he ran up last year. At this rate, Tiger's career record of $120 million is in serious jeopardy. 

    Scottie's out this week but Gators Tyson Alexander and Camilo Villegas and Seminole Daniel Berger are in.  

    Thursday a. m. - Tiger tees off on the 10th hole of the U. S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 and, naturally, gets the biggest ovation as he is introduced. Then he goes out and birdies the hole, and, like the days of old, his name is on top of the leaderboard.

    Tiger pars the next five holes, making some 10-footers along the way, and at one point, reaches No. 1 again. But bogeys on 16 and 17 drop him to one over, one on a three-putt green, as he falls prey to several missed putts by an inch. He pars 18 and turns in 1-over-36, tied for 32nd, three strokes behind leader and former Seminole Brooks Koepka. He hit 6 of 9 greens. No sign of a limp. But on the front nine, Tiger's putting failed him and he wound up with a 4-over 74, tied for 86th, but not out of it as far as the cut goes. He missed four putts inside 10 feet and had 32 for the round. 

    Once again, the best of the PGA Tour, including No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 Xander Schauffele and No. 3 Rory McIlroy, are pitted against the top LIV golfers, including Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson. Dustin won it in 2016, Bryson in 2021, Koepka in 2017 and 2018.

    Two other Seminoles are in, veteran Daniel Berger and 3-time All-American Frederik Kjettrup, from Denmark, a Korn Ferry member. Gators playing the par-70, 7,548-yard course are Billy Horschel and amateur Parker Bell, who just graduated.   

    The TV analysts are almost all of the opinion that even par could win it come Sunday evening. 

    More to come.

    At the close of day. Patrick Cantlay and Rory are tied at 5-under 65, one ahead of Ludvig Aberg. Billy Horschel shot 73, same as Daniel Berger. Koepka is at even par and FSU rookie Frederik Kjettrup debuted with 72. Gator rookie Parker Bell skied to 77. Red-hot Scottie Scheffler was off all day, and posted a 71.  

    The possibilities for the PGA Championship beginning tomorrow at famed Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville are endless, as they were in the last sporting event contested in the area 12 days ago. 

    There's Tiger Woods, who is always worth a few thousand words, along with PGA stalwarts Scottie Scheffler, the brand new father who probably has no room on the shelf for another trophy, also Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and many more; LIV big guns Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka, who won it last year and put $3,159,000 in the bank. The former Seminole who knows a little something about building up a storage of Majors also won in 2018 and 2019. Then, there's the old guard - John Daly, Padraig Harrington and a pair of winners who have come out of the woodwork, Shaun Micheel and Rich Beem. And don't forget the two Gators, Billy Horschel and Camilo Villegas, who like Stella appear to have their groove back, both celebrating recent victories.

    But - the biggest galleries- at least for the first two days - will be reserved for Tiger. And if he makes the cut, they'll be tearing the clubhouse down trying to get a good vantage point for two more days. Tiger looks good, and doesn't appear to be limping, but these days, his physical status is always a question mark going in. His last win in this event came in 2007. Thomas won in 2017 and 2022, Mickelson in 2021, and Rory in 2012 and 2014.

    It promises to be one heckuva show.   

    Ted Potter's back and he made it into the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA Tour's team event at the TPC Louisiana in Avondale. Ted's partner was little-known Alejandro Tosti, and they shot a 6-under-par 66 in Thursday's first round, five strokes off the pace behind four teams who posted 11-under 61s, including the power duo of Rory McIlroy and Steve Lowry. 

    But the partnership fell short as Ted and Tosti shot even-par 72 on Friday and remained at 6 under; it took 9-under to make the cut to continue play on the weekend. 

    Ted had played in just one previous event in 2024, the Puerto Rico Open in March, and he missed the cut despite shooting 2 under par (72-70) 142. Ted has been stuck at $6,194,109 in career money for several months now after losing his exempt status.

    The Gator team of Billy Horschel and Tyson Alexander also missed the cut with 67-73-140, 4 under par. Horschel was coming off a victory in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic where he shot 67-69-66-63-265, 23 under par, and two strokes better than Wesley Bryan. Billy collected $720,000, ballooning his career total to $36,692,854. He picked up 300 FedEx Cup points. Tyson shot 69-70-69-75-283, 5 under, and tied for 55th, good for a check for $9,280. A mini tour player just two years ago, Tyson has now banked $1,772,017.             

    Saturday is known as moving day in professional golf, and there may never have been a moving day like yesterday at Augusta.

    Scottie Scheffler wound up the day with a one stroke lead in the Masters after he posted a 1-under-par 71; he begins today at 7 under. Collin Morikawa's impressive 3-under 69 put him second at 6 under, one ahead of Max Homa, who shot 1-over 73. Fourth belongs to Ludvig Aberg at 4 under after a 2-under-70 (who in his ancestry decided it was pronounced O-berg). He's followed in fifth by Bryson DeChambeau, who began the day leading under and ended at 3 under after a sloppy 75. 

    At one time or another during the round, they all spent time on the lead, or tied, or close to it.

    After the wind killed many rounds on Friday, the cut line ballooned to plus six, and a host of big guns didn't make it, including Dustin Johnson (+13), Fred Couples (+12), Bubba Watson (+10), Jordan Spieth and Brian Harman (+9), Viktor Hovland (+8), and Mike Weir, Sergio Garcia and Justin Thomas, all at plus 7. 

    Gator Camilo Villegas made the cut at 5 over, as did Seminole Brooks Koepka , at 2 over. However, yesterday they both shot 76 and out of contention for a high finish. 

    And then there was a fella named Tiger. After making the cut with ease at 1 over (73-72), golf's No. 1 ambassador  imploded yesterday with a career high 10-over-par 82 and left the networks with one less major story. He dropped from a tie for 22nd into a tie for 53rd.  

    Even with only a one-stroke lead going in, Scheffler has to be the choice today, but after moving day's problems, it's really anybody's guess. 

    The last Gator to win on the PGA Tour was Camilo Villegas in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November. Since then, the Colombian hasn't been the same, adding a bunch of missed cuts and way down-the-list finishes.

    Camilo will try again starting tomorrow in the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, along with two other Gators, Billy Horschel and Tyson Alexander. Camilo missed the cut at last week's Texas Children's Houston Open with rounds of 73-82, and he's only made three cuts in 2024 with earnings of $94,964. But he won't need a gofundme effort on his behalf since he's earned $22,882,415 since joining the Tour.

    Horschel, on the other hand. whose lifetime earnings have reached a gaudy $35,972,854, is in top form as witnessed by his tie for seventh in the Valero (71-68-67-64-270) and a check for $276,412, which ballooned his 2024 haul to $790,194. He's cashed in five events so far and his Sunday 64 was the best round of the day.

    Tyson had a monumental rookie year in 2022-2023 with earnings of more than $1 million, but so far hasn't been able to duplicate that season. He put together rounds of 70-67-76-68, and the poor third round was responsible for a tie for 64th and a meager check for $19,383. His best this season was a tie for sixth in the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches and a check for $137,250, but even with that healthy cash he's only made four cuts and earned $197,502. 

    The defending champ at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course is Corey Conners, who shot 15 under par and collected $1,602,000.

    Stephen Jaegar (69-66-66-67-268) was the upset winner last week at 12 under par and he took home $1,638,000. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (65-70-66-68-269), who never seems to miss the top 5, was one stroke behind.     

    Daniel Berger will carry the torch for the Seminoles in San Antonio.

    The Players Championship is geared up for a bang-bang finish today in Ponte Vedra, with Xander Schauffele, at 17 under par, leading by one stroke over Wyndham Clark, who is one more ahead of lefty Brian Harman. Clark gave up the 36-hole lead he had forged by a pair of 7-under 65s, adding a Saturday 2-under 70 for his 16-under 200. Xander took the lead with a 7-under 65, while Harman made a huge jump with his 8-under 64 over the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course.

    There are six players within five shots of Xander, but he will be tough to run down if he continues his hot hand. 

    All the Gators missed the cut of 1 under: Camilo Villegas with 73-82, Billy Horschel with 71-74, and Tyson Alexander with 71-74. Senior Steve Stricker, the Champions Tour leader, took time out from the elderly tour but missed the cut with 72-74. 

    The leaders tee off just before 2 p. m., so it will be around 6 when a champ is crowned. 

    The Puerto Rico Open always brings out various groups: including former big-time PGA Tour players who are not riding the big wave anymore, and a slew of newbies looking to break through for a full-time exemption.

    Among the former group is Ocala's Ted Potter, who hasn't been seen in a while after spending a decade or so with the big guns, winning twice and running up more than $6.1 million in prize money. Ted played in this one at Grand Reserve Golf Club (par 72, 7,506 yards) last year and finished tied for 59th at 1 under par, earning a check for $8,664.

    Also among the huge group of "formers" are Bill Haas, Brandt Snedeker, Geoff Ogilvy, Sean O'Hair, Jeff Overton, Jason Dufner, Aaron Baddeley, Ben Crane, Ricky Barnes and D. J. Trahan. Barnes tees off with Ted and Martin Trainer in tomorrow's first round, starting at 6:34 a. m. 

    Nico Echavarria is the defending champ; the Columbian won at 21 under last year and collected $684,000. He'll be joined this time by fellow Columbian and ex-Gator Camilo Villegas, a recent winner on Tour. In last week's Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, Nico tied for 21st at 10 under par. Austin Eckroat won the event that for years was the Honda Classic, and he collected $1.6 million. Gator Billy Horschel tied for ninth at 12 under and Tyson Alexander (68-70-69-66-273) tied for 16th at 11 under.

    Seminole Daniel Berger is also in the entries in Puerto Rico. 

    At Bay Hill, all the remaining elites (who haven't defected to the boring LIV golf tour) are among the short field of 69 honoring Arnie. They include Jusin Rose, Jason Day, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood, Jordan Spieth and Shane Lowry.

    Unfortunately, for the average fan, the problem of identifying most of the 6' 2" same-build players from behind makes the TV coverage less enjoyable. Not like the days when Arnie, Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, Watson, Mickelson and others could always be picked out, no matter what angle the cameras had on them. \

     Of course, the LIV problems go much deeper, but that's a column for another day.