championship

LPGA: Dow Championship sees pair of former World No. 1s win title lpga,dow,championship,sees,pair,of,former,world,no,s,win,title,sbnation,com,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

On: June 30, 2024 By: admin

Although Nelly Korda currently occupies the top spot in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, Ruoning Yin and Atthaya Thitikul looked like the best players on the planet on Sunday.

Yin and Thitikul, both 21, briefly held the World No. 1 moniker last fall but have since given that distinction to Korda. Yet, these two players, who hail from China and Thailand, respectively, carded an 8-under 62 in best ball format to win the Dow Championship by one.

The Dow Championship is not unlike the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour, which employs a two-man format with two rounds of Alternate Shot and two rounds of Best Ball. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry won this year’s event at TPC Louisiana, marking McIlroy’s 25th career win on the PGA Tour and Lowry’s third.

Sunday’s win for Yin and Thitikul marked their third career LPGA victory, as they defeated 54-hole leaders Jennifer Kupcho and Ally Ewing by a stroke.

Kupcho and Ewing began Sunday’s final round at 15-under, while Yin and Thitikul sat at 14-under. The Americans went on to shoot a 6-under 64, but it was not enough. Kupcho and Ewing made pars over the final three holes, while Thitikul stuffed one inside of 10 feet on the par-3 18th hole. She then made the birdie putt for her and Yin, which proved to be the difference in the end.

The LPGA will have one week off before the Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth major of the season. France’s Celine Boutier won this title last year at the Evian Resort Golf Club, which sits along Lake Geneva on the French-Swiss border. Surely, Yin and Thitkul will arrive in France for the Amundi Evian Championship as two of the favorites.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Travelers Championship: Fans’ sensational trolling after protest on 18 travelers,championship,fans,sensational,trolling,after,protest,on,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-fan-reactions

On: June 24, 2024 By: admin

The Travelers Championship saw another playoff finish, but before Scottie Scheffler could earn his sixth PGA Tour win, a distraction happened on the 18th green.

A group of protestors from the Extinction Rebellion interrupted Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia’s group to run onto the course with colored smoke and powder substances.

Police tackled them and quickly put the group into custody. However, they still were able to cause some damage on the 18th green. The protestors did not stop once in handcuffs, though; they challenged officers all the way off the course.

As the agronomy team cleaned up the 18th green, fans chanted USA-USA-USA, sang the Star-Spangled Banner, and chanted profanities at the disrupters. The situation caused the agronomy team and officials to change the hole location for the playoff.

While things settled and the crew made the changes, golf fans on social media took the incident and ran with it. They were quick to make jokes about the situation at hand and even made a dig at the expense of Scheffler.

Check out some of the top-notch reactions to the protest at the Travelers Championship.

The Scheffler tracker gave a live look at the whole incident.

No Laying Up made jokes at Kim for playing slow and blamed the protest on him. Kim seemed to slow things down as the round continued, and watching him over the ball was brutal.

Another hilarious tweet was directed at Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin. Nick Taylor won last year’s RBC Canadian Open. Hadwin tried to celebrate by running onto the green, but instead, a policeman tackled him.

A reaction to this protest would not be the same without Kyle Porter’s “normal sport” joke. There are so many moments in golf that make fans scratch their head, and this protest was one of them.

Thankfully it does not seem anyone in attendance was harmed. The golf course took most of the blow, but nonetheless, fans got a good laugh as the Travelers Championship ended.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Round 3 tee times, Lexi Thompson’s edge kpmg,women,s,pga,championship,round,tee,times,lexi,thompson,s,edge,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

On: June 22, 2024 By: admin

The LPGA is in the Pacific Northwest at Sahalee Country Club for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

After a grueling first two days of play, the Top 60 players and ties will play the weekend.

Among those in contention is Lexi Thompson, who fired off an even-par 72 on Friday to sit tied for third place at 4-under.

She is chasing Sarah Schmelzel and Amy Yang, who both signed for 6-under 66s. Jin Young Ko and Thompson will play together alongside Hae Ran Ryu in the second-to-last group.

Some other notable names within reach are Leona Maguire at 3-under. Madelene Sagstrom and Ally Ewing are both at 2-under.

Charley Hull, Maja Stark and Celine Boutier sit at 1-under ahead of moving day. A solid third round could benefit them. Moving Day is for these ladies right in the mix to move up the leaderboard and give themselves a late tee time for Sunday.

Check out the complete tee time list below for Saturday at Sahalee.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Round 3 Tee Times (ET):

*indicates going off the 10th tee

12:44 p.m.* — Elizabeth Szokol, Georgia Hall, Lizette Salas

12:49 p.m. — Ruixin Liu, Yu Jin Sung, Akie Iwai

12:55 p.m. * — Linn Grant, Peiyun Chien, Hyo Joo Kim

1:00 p.m. — Pajaree Anannarukarn, Minjee Lee, Mao Saigo

1:06 p.m. * — Arpichaya Yubol, Esther Henseliet, Azahara Munoz

1:11 p.m. — Allisen Corpuz, Ayaka Furue, Xi Yu Lin

1:17 p.m. * — Rio Takeda, Morgane Metraux, Jiwon Jeon

1:22 p.m. — Malia Nam, Minami Katsu, Gaby Lopez

1:28 p.m. * — Paula Reto, Lydia Ko, Mi Hyang Lee

1:33 p.m. — Lilia Vu, Brooke M. Henderson, Ariya Jutanugarn

1:39 p.m. * — Ashleigh Buhai, Gabriela Ruffels, Grace Kim

1:40 p.m. — Bianca Pagdanganan, Lauren Coughlin, Hye-Jin Choi

1:50 p.m. * — Rose Zhang, Atthaya Thitikul, Ruoning Yin

1:55 p.m. — Patty Tavatanakit, Jennifer Kupcho, Celine Borge

2:01 p.m. * — Hannah Green, Na Rin An, Frida Kinhult

2:06 p.m. — Charley Hull, Lindsey Weaver-Wright, Caroline Inglis

2:12 p.m. * — Moriya Jutanugarn, Aditi Ashok, A Lim Kim

2:17 p.m. — Stephanie Kyriacou, Maja Stark, Celine Boutier

2:23 p.m. * — Yuka Saso, Cheyenne Knight, Lindy Duncan

2:28 p.m. — Ally Ewing, Lauren Hartlage, Aline Krauter

2:34 p.m. * — Mariah Stackhouse, Maria Fassi

2:39 p.m. — Miyu Yamashita, Leona Maguire, Madelene Sagstrom

2:45 p.m. * — Angel Yin, Yealimi Noh

2:50 p.m. — Lexi Thompson, Jin Young Ko, Hae Ran Ryu

3:01 p.m. — Sarah Schmelzel, Amy Yang, Hinako Shibuno

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Nelly Korda among big names to miss cut kpmg,women,s,pga,championship,nelly,korda,among,big,names,to,miss,cut,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

On: June 22, 2024 By: admin

The LPGA’s third major championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, is halfway over. Sahalee Country Club showed its teeth through the first two days.

After Friday’s round, half the field went home, and among those was World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

Korda will not play on the weekend for the second major championship and the third straight week. She started the season with five consecutive wins and earned her sixth at the Mizuho’s Americas Open.

Since that victory, though, things have not gone her way. To miss the cut, Korda shot an 80-70 at the U.S. Women’s Open. This week, she tallied 69-81, her highest professional career score.

It was not a good day for the top-ranked player in the world, especially after a strong start to the week on Day 1. Korda started her day by making five bogeys in six of her first holes. She added two more bogeys at the 9th, 11th and 14th before a double bogey at the par-4 15th completely derailed her.

Korda did add one birdie to the card on the par-5 18th, but it was too late.

She is not the only one headed home early. Other notable names who missed the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship include Anna Nordqvist, Alexa Pano, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Robyn Choi, Nasa Hataoka, Andrea Lee, Danielle Kang, Sophia Popov, Carlota Ciganda, Gemma Dryburgh, Stacy Lewis, and Brittany Lincicome.

Sahalee gave these ladies quite the test, and they were sent home after 36 holes.

Travelers Championship Rd. 3 tee times, LIV Golf Nashville party travelers,championship,rd,tee,times,liv,golf,nashville,party,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-opinions,golf-news,liv-golf

On: June 22, 2024 By: admin

Welcome to Playing Through’s new morning ritual: Golf Talk Today.

Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, in which the crew will discuss various elements of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and other professional golf tournaments.

It is Saturday at the Travelers Championship, the final PGA Tour Signature Event, and LIV Golf begins its second round in Music City.

Tom Kim leads by two shots over Collin Morikawa, Akshay Bhatia and Scottie Scheffler. It is a birdie fest at TPC River Highlands, so expect moving day to feature a lot of birdies, much like Friday did.

Shane Lowry and Robert MacIntyre fired off 8-under 62s on Friday to jump up the leaderboard. The Irishman moved up 27 spots, while the Scottish player went up 35 places.

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf do not have cutlines this week. Let’s look at the round 3 tee times for the Travelers Championship and take a look at the LIV Golf leaderboard.

Travelers Championship Round 3 Tee times (ET):

*All players will go off 1st tee*

8:00 a.m. — Eric Cole, Justin Rose

8:10 a.m. — Adam Schenk, Russell Henley

8:20 a.m. — Andrew Putnam, Davis Riley

8:30 a.m. — Adam Scott, Ben Griffin

8:40 a.m. — Jason Day, Max Homa

8:50 a.m. — Chris Kirk, Nick Taylor

9:00 a.m. — Jake Knapp, Peter Malnati

9:10 a.m. — Emiliano Grillo, Chris Gotterup

9:25 a.m. — Billy Horschel, Sepp Straka

9:35 a.m. — Nick Dunlap, Matt Fitzpatrick

9:45 a.m. — Cameron Young, Jordan Spieth

9:55 a.m. — Harris English, Taylor Moore

10:05 a.m. — Stephan Jaeger, Victor Perez

10:15 a.m. — Adam Hadwin, Viktor Hovland

10:25 a.m. — Mackenzie Hughes, J.T. Poston

10:35 a.m. — Lee Hodges, Seamus Power

10:50 a.m. — Lucas Glover, Thomas Detry

11:00 a.m. — Austin Eckroat, Corey Conners

11:10 a.m. — Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley

11:20 a.m. — Michael Thorbjornsen, Brian Harman

11:30 a.m. — Matthieu Pavon, Ludvig Åberg

11:40 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Cam Davis

11:50 a.m. — Webb Simpson, Christiaan Bezuidenhout

12:05 p.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris

12:15 p.m. — Sam Burns, Adam Svensson

12:25 p.m. — Kurt Kitayama, Wyndham Clark

12:35 p.m. — Brendon Todd, Tommy Fleetwood

12:45 p.m. — Patrick Rodgers, Denny McCarthy

12:55 p.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Rickie Fowler

1:10 p.m. — Tom Hoge, Patrick Cantlay

1:20 p.m. — Tony Finau, Robert MacIntyre

1:30 p.m. — Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas

1:40 p.m. — Xander Schauffele, Sungjae Im

1:50 p.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Scottie Scheffler

2:00 p.m. — Tom Kim, Collin Morikawa

LIV Golf Nashville Update

The Saudi-backed tour is in Nashville for the first time, and the crowds have flocked to the Grove.

Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC leads the teams after they posted a combined 14-under. The Crushers GC posted the second-best team score at 10-under.

Abraham Ancer posted a bogey-free 64 on Friday to hold a one-shot lead over Tyrrell Hatton, who signed for a 6-under 66.

U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau continues to win over the crowds, except for Brooks Koepka’s son, Crew. DeChambeau shot a 4-under 67 at The Grove and is three shots back. He is tied for fourth with three other players. His fill-in teammate, John Catlin, fired off a 5-under 68. He shot the best among the Crusher GC.

While DeChambeau may have some fatigue from last week, that did not stop him from entertaining the masses. He put on a show at the party hole, the par-3 15th, and the fans absolutely loved it.

ICYMI: Top stories from across professional golf

Tom Kim in control again; fires impressive round at Travelers to celebrate 22nd birthday

Proud Dad Moment: Brooks Koepka’s son gives Bryson DeChambeau an incredible slight

LIV Golf pro calls out South Africa Olympic team, PGA Tour players should step aside

The Bryson DeChambeau effect is in full force after incredible U.S. Open victory

Travelers Championship: PGA Tour players take advantage of conditions, make golf course look easy

Lexi Thompson delivered at KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to remain in contention

Travelers Championship: PGA Tour players make golf course look easy travelers,championship,pga,tour,players,make,golf,course,look,easy,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

On: June 22, 2024 By: admin

The eighth and final PGA Tour Signature Event is an all-out birdie fest at the Travelers Championship. In the second round, there were 297 birdies and 10 eagles made.

TPC River Highlands has ideal conditions and a field of golfers itching to go low.

This is one of the five no-cut tournaments, and some of the world’s top-ranked golfers are taking advantage of it.

The U.S. Open and Memorial Tournament challenged the best players, so seeing the shortest track on the PGA Tour schedule seems welcomed among the 70 players in the field.

There were 30 players at 67 or better, and only 13 scores over par on Friday.

Shane Lowry and Robert MacIntyre posted the lowest scores of the day, signing for 8-under 62.

Collin Morikawa fired off a bogey-free 7-under 63. He went out in 29 strokes with six birdies. The two-time major winner added his seventh birdie at the 16th.

“It’s been steady. I haven’t made too many errors, and when I have missed greens, I’ve been able to have stress-free pars and good looks for pars, at least,” Morikawa said. “Shots are going where I want. [I’m] putting the ball in the fairway, and that’s key out here, especially with some nasty rough. Just got to continue that for the next two.”

Tom Hoge and Justin Thomas also shot 7-under 63s. Five guys signed for 6-under 64, including Scottie Scheffler, Sungjae Im and Michael Thorbjorsen, who made his PGA Tour debut this week.

The birthday boy and leader by two shots, Tom Kim, followed his Thursday 62 with a 5-under 65.

Joining Kim with a 65 on Friday are Akshay Bhatia, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Brendon Todd, Matthieu Pavon, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Chris Gotterup. Friday’s 65 marked Schauffele’s second straight round of 65.

Cameron Young carded a 4-under 66 to sit at 2-under total. Eleven different players finished Friday’s round with a 3-under 67.

The field made 32 more birdies and three more eagles in round two of the Travelers Championship. A rain delay halted play, but the entire field finished before darkness took over. Could the course play easier now that it has gotten some moisture on it?

If scores continue, the 54-hole and 72-hole records that Keegan Bradley set last year could be in jeopardy. How low will the final score be on Sunday? Sound off in the comments below.

Lexi Thompson delivered KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to contend lexi,thompson,delivered,kpmg,women,s,pga,championship,to,contend,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

On: June 21, 2024 By: admin

Lexi Thompson shot an even-par 72 on Friday to remain in contention at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

She is two shots off the leader, Sarah Schmelzel, who fired a 5-under 67 to move to 6-under.

Thompson sits at 4-under through 36 holes and sits in a tie for second place with the afternoon wave left to tackle Sahalee Country Club.

“Honestly, even is a great score out here, too,” Thompson said after her round on Friday. “Just a difficult golf course.”

“Pars are good out there. Always important to start off with a good round especially yesterday shooting 4-under. So very grateful and took it into today. Had a great front nine and had a few hiccups on the back nine, but it happens out here. Also made a lot of good putts, so going to build on that.”

The 29-year-old started her round on the back nine and made three birdies to turn in 33 strokes. However, her second nine holes were a grind.

She made a double-bogey on the par-5 2nd and dropped another shot at the 4th. Thompson picked up her fourth birdie at six. However, she made a bogey on the par-4 8th to drop her back to even par.

Thompson explained how this golf course is one to stay patient on.

“There will be bogeys. Take advantage of the few birdie opportunities you get out there,” she said.

Despite the tough stretch, the veteran LPGA player felt she still played well.

“You’re going to hit bad shots. You just got to take it, know there will be a bogey or two in there, and move on,” Thompson said. “Could have been worse, so I stayed positive and made a birdie on the back nine as well and made some good putts. Just build on the positives, not focus on anything else and take that into the weekend.”

She will continue to keep that patient mindset heading into the final 36 holes as Thompson chases down her second major championship.

Her first came at 19 when she won the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

It has been 10 years since that victory, and the 11-time LPGA winner is playing some of her best golf. Thompson finished T2 last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic after she missed four straight cuts. Before those four early weeks, she recorded a T3 at the inaugural Ford Championship.

In the three events that she played all four rounds, her worst finish was a T16 at the season opener, the LPGA Drive On Championship. An injury in her hand and wrist kept her from playing her best. It also seems to be why she missed so many cuts in a row.

Thompson appears healthy now after shooting another impressive round to keep her in contention at Sahalee.

KMPG Women’s PGA Championship: Nelly Korda delivered, contends again kmpg,women,s,pga,championship,nelly,korda,delivered,contends,again,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news,all-womens-sports

On: June 20, 2024 By: admin

Nelly Korda fought hard throughout her Thursday round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She signed for a 3-under 69 and currently leads the field by one stroke with half the field left to play.

Korda began her day on the back nine and went out in 33 strokes. She recorded four birdies in her first five holes.

Despite carding a 69, the Florida resident had to scramble throughout her first round. The Douglass fir, red cedar and hemlock trees on the Sahalee Country Club course did their jobs as they made Korda work for her score.

“If you try and be aggressive when you’ve hit it offline, it just bites you in the butt,” Korda said after her first round. “Overall, I think I played pretty well. I took my chances where I could and I played safe the majority of the round.”

She made birdies on holes 13-15 before to get to 3-under. Korda moved to 4-under after a birdie on the 4th. However, the 25-year-old coughed up two shots on the fourth as the 14-time LPGA winner made a double-bogey.

“This entire golf course is so demanding. I had to make some pretty good up-and-downs,” Korda said.

Korda closed her round with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 9th to get back to 3-under on the day, giving her some much-needed momentum.

It is a much better start than her last major championship start. Three weeks ago, Korda shot an 80 at Lancaster Country Club in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open. She shot 10 strokes better on Friday with an even-par 70 but missed her first cut of the 2024 season.

The 2-time major winner also missed the cut at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic after she shot a 76 and 67. It is the first time all season that the No. 1 ranked player in the world missed consecutive cuts. Prior to that, she won the Mizuho Americas Open for her sixth victory of the year.

Korda made history by winning five straight before she settled for a T7 at the Cognizant Founders Cup.

She will tee off with Ruoning Yin and Hannah Green at 1:28 p.m. PT or 4:28 p.m. ET for her second round of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship.

Jessica Korda’s informative KPMG PGA Championship advice to Nelly Korda jessica,korda,s,informative,kpmg,pga,championship,advice,to,nelly,korda,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news,all-womens-sports

On: June 20, 2024 By: admin

This week, the LPGA hosts its third major championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington.

It has been eight years since the LPGA played Sahalee for the Women’s PGA Championship.

The last time the venue hosted the major was in 2016 when Brooke Henderson defeated Lydia Ko in a playoff.

Jessica Korda played in that event before ultimately missing the cut. She returns to Sahalee in 2024, but this time to cheer on her younger sister and current World No. 1, Nelly Korda.

She explained the best way to attack this tree-lined track.

“Sahalee is one of the purest tracks I think we’ve ever played. It’s such a great test of golf and an amazing major championship host,” she said to the LPGA social media team.

“All you see are these big trees, the roughs up — you got branches in the way. So paying attention to where the pins are — coming in at the right angles from the fairway, those are all going to be really important things. You would say it’s a second-shot golf course, but it’s not. It’s an every-shot golf course.”

Pine trees line the fairways at Sahalee, making it a challenge to take home the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship trophy on Sunday.

Korda has been on quite the run in 2024, already racking up six victories on the LPGA Tour She won five straight, finished T7 at the Cognizant Founders Cup and won the Mizuho Americas Open the following week.

However, since that sixth victory, her game has gone cold.

Korda missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club earlier this year and the Meijer LPGA Classic last week. She looks to bounce back and play the weekend at this major championship.

The 14-time LPGA winner posted a 3-under 69 to sit atop the leaderboard after her round on Thursday. The afternoon group still has to play, but she leads by one shot.

Korda set the tone with six birdies, a bogey, and one double bogey.

“As long as she can keep it in the fairway, she’s going to be fine,” Jessica Korda said. “But she does scramble really well. So, as long as she can score, I think that’s going to be the most important thing.”

Nelly’s double bogey was rough, but she bounced back with a birdie on her 18th hole to reclaim the lead.

Travelers Championship: SB Nation staff predicts winners travelers,championship,sb,nation,staff,predicts,winners,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

On: June 18, 2024 By: admin

The final Signature Event of the 2024 season has arrived, as 71 golfers will tee it up at this week’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

Rory McIlroy will not be there, as he opted to take some time off following his heartbreaking finish at the U.S. Open. But Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, and Ludvig Åberg will be. So, too, will defending champion Keegan Bradley, who blistered a soft course last year en route to shooting 23-under-par, setting a new tournament record in the process.

But this year’s course will play much firmer and faster with temperatures hovering in the 90s throughout the week. Luckily, this limited-size field will not have to endure the speed and difficulty of Pinehurst No. 2, but the weather will feel more or less the same as it did in North Carolina. The Northeast is experiencing a heatwave this week, with heat advisories extending from the Great Lakes through the Mid-Atlantic and all the way through New England. That means everyone at TPC River Highlands will need to hydrate, including the putting surfaces, which will turn crisp quite easily in these conditions.

This golf course is also the shortest one played on the PGA Tour all season, requiring precision into the greens and an exquisite short game. Get ready for a birdie barrage, too; although, with this week’s weather, scores likely will not go as low as they did a year ago.

So let’s get to our Staff Picks, with Jeanna Kelly from SB Nation’s NFL site stepping in as our guest picker this week:

Jack Milko — Staff Writer, Golf

For the third time this season, a Canadian will emerge victorious on the PGA Tour.

I am going with Corey Conners, fresh off a strong tie for 9th at the U.S. Open, to break through at the Travelers Championship and win for the third time on tour. Funny enough, Conners won a pair of Valero Texas Opens, in 2019 and 2023, but this time, he finally wins an event outside of the Lone Star State.

Last year, Conners finished in a tie for 9th at TPC River Highlands, shooting four impressive rounds in the mid-60s to finish at 17-under. His best score came on Saturday, when he posted a 5-under 65. But what I love about Conners is that he is one of the best iron players on the PGA Tour. He ranks second in strokes gained approach, sixth in greens in regulation percentage, and seventh in total birdies made, as Conners has poured in 253 par-breakers to date.

The one knock on him is his putting and short game, but both facets showed up at Pinehurst No. 2, relatively speaking. Conners ranked 28th in strokes gained around the greens and 30th with his putter at last week’s U.S. Open, which featured some of the most diabolical greens seen anywhere in the world. But best of all, his tie for ninth helped him clinch a spot in the 2024 Olympics, giving him plenty of confidence and momentum going into the summer.

With all of this in mind, I believe the stars have aligned for Conners to win, especially on a week when plenty of other top players mail it in after a grueling major.

DraftKings Odds: +3500

Corey Conners, U.S. Open — Corey Conners at the 2024 U.S. Open.

Jeanna Kelley — Associate Director, SB Nation NFL

When I make NFL picks, I consider many factors: recent performance, injuries, weather forecasts, and so on. Since this is my first time making golf picks, I tried to follow a similar strategy.

Obviously, the easy pick here would be Scottie Scheffler, who’s once again the odds-on favorite to win. Prior to the U.S. Open, and depending on that outcome, I thought I’d pick Rory McIlroy, but he’s withdrawn from the Travelers after last week’s fiasco. So I’m actually going with Collin Morikawa this week. He’s been playing really solid golf the past several weeks. His putting hasn’t been a liability, and eventually, these factors are going to lead him to a win. It might as well be this weekend.

DraftKings Odds: +1200

Collin Morikawa, U.S. Open — Collin Morikawa during the 2024 U.S. Open.

Savannah Richardson — Staff Writer, Golf

I am going with Ludvig Åberg this week. He tied for 24th last year, but now he returns to TPC River Highlands with some familiarity with the course.

His game is in good form, but he just had a weird weekend at the U.S. Open, where two triple bogies stymied him.

But this golf course suits him, given his exquisite iron play. He ranks 11th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach and ranked 15th in that metric last week at Pinehurst No. 2. Luckily for him, TPC River Highlands does not have any greens like the 13th at Pinehurst or as difficult as the par-4 2nd, so he should not make any more triples this time around.

I think he runs away with it.

DraftKings Odds: +1400

Ludvig Åberg, U.S. Open — Ludvig Åberg on the 6th hole at Pinehurst No. 2.

For all other sports betting content, check out SB Nation’s DraftKings site.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.