PATRICK REED SHOOTS FOR HIS FIRST LIV WIN IN NATIVE TEXAS
Patrick Reed moved closer to his first career win on the LIV Tour by carding a 4-under-par 68 in the second round on Saturday for a three-shot advantage at the LIV Golf Dallas in Carrollton, Texas.
The first-round co-leader with 4Aces GC teammate Harold Varner III after 5-under 67 scores, Reed posted birdies at Nos. 2, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 14 to counter bogeys at the par-4 holes at No. 10 and 15 for 9-under 135 after 36 holes at Maridoe Golf Club.
“Really, the mindset is the same as it’s been all week, just go out, feel like everyone is starting at even par and try to win the day,” said Reed, 34, a San Antonio native who also is going for his first professional win in his home state. “I think the biggest thing for me is I feel like the golf game feels pretty solid. Everything seems to be tight and where I want it to be. The biggest thing is going out there and not trying to press, not trying to force anything and really just go out and try to win the day as if it’s a Monday qualifier.”
England’s Paul Casey of Crushers GC shot 67 on Saturday and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer of Fireballs BC posted a 69 to move into a tie for second at 6 under.
Casey spaced birdies across Nos. 1, 2, 6, 7, 13, 16 and 18. He bogeyed the par-4 No. 9 and par-3 No. 14. Ancer was streaky with birdies at Nos. 4-7, 13-14 and 16, but also bogeys at Nos. 9-11 and 15.
“I’m satisfied, yeah. It could have been better,” Ancer said after his second straight round of 69. “It could have been way worse, as well. I grinded it out. It’s a big-time golf course; if you’re not in the fairway, it’s really tough to make pars. You can make some big numbers.”
Varner shot even par and slipped to a tie for fourth at 5 under with England’s Tyrell Hatton (7-under 65 on Saturday) of Legion XIII, England’s Richard Bland (69) of Cleeks Golf Club and Spain’s David Puig (69) of Fireballs GC.
4Aces GC, with Reed and Varner again leading the way, combined for a 3 under for the round and 12 under for the tournament to remain atop the team standings. Legion XIII and Crushers GC are four strokes back at 8 under with one round to play.
The 4Aces team, which also includes captain Dustin Johnson (T15, even) and Belgian Thomas Pieters (T24, 2 over), has three podium finishes in the last five starts.
“I feel like the guys are starting to take care of business, play some solid golf and really it’s one of those things that you have to go out and play well as a team,” Reed said. “Every guy when you count four scores has to play well, and we haven’t had that yet this season. We’ll have certain guys play well one week and then next week it won’t be.”
After a meltdown and withdrawal in the first round, Brooks Koepka did not return to the tournament on Saturday. The five-time major winner was 6-over-par through eight holes on Friday.
After hitting a tee shot on the par-4 9th, Koepka hammered the tee marker towards the crowd in a show of apparent frustration. He posted a bogey on the 9th then withdrew, citing illness.
Koepka could have returned to play this weekend, though per LIV rules, his scores would have counted only toward the team standings. He was replaced by reserve player Luis Carrera for the remainder of the first round.
SARAH SCHMELZER AND ALBANE VALENZUELA TAKE ONE-STROKE LEAD AT DOW CHAMPIONSHIP
Sarah Schmelzer and Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela teamed up to birdie three of four holes mid-round and grabbed a one-stroke lead at 13-under par at the Dow Championship at Midland (Mich.) Country Club.
Saturday’s third round was played in foursomes (alternate shot), and the play in the final round will replicate Friday’s best ball competition. The tournament is the lone team event on the LPGA Tour.
A pair of duos were knotted at 12-under, one stroke off the lead. The Korean duo of Jin Hee Im and Somi Lee shot a 2-under par 68, while Belgium’s Manon De Roey and France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard posted a 69.
Three teams, including overnight leaders Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire stood at 11-under par after 54 holes.
Schmelzer and Valenzuela started Saturday play one shot behind the leaders, but birdied the first hole to get to 12-under. They lost a stroke on the fifth hole, but birdied Nos. 6, 7 and 9 to record a 32 on the first nine. The duo had an unfortunate bogey on the par-5 11th, but parred the final seven holes to card a 2-under par 68 and finish at 13 under.
“I mean, just kind of know it’s not going to be perfect,” said Schmelzer regarding today’s format. “Albane did a really good job if I didn’t do something great of really keeping me in it. It’s all about consistency and not getting your partner in trouble.”
Im and Lee played bogey-free golf and recorded birdies on Nos. 1 and 9.
“These days my driver is pretty good, but sometimes my iron and then putter is so-so,” said Lee.
De Roey and Roussin-Bouchard were even for the day until posting a birdie on the par-4 17th.
“For me, this is my favorite event. I love this tournament,” said Roussin-Bouchard. “That’s what I was telling Manon earlier, it feels like a bubble because there’s not many things around it.
“The people are just amazing. The vibe from the crowd is just insane. (Hole) 18 with some kind of island green around, it’s just so cool that we can show off for everyone and create a fiery atmosphere.”
Maguire and Kupcho, who finished second alongside Ally Ewing in 2024, fell into a tie for fourth place, but the Irish player was optimistic after the duo finished birdie-birdie.
“I think it gives us a chance going into tomorrow,” said Maguire. “Just really got nothing going today, but tried to stay patient, tried to keep giving ourself chances; eventually did on the last holes. Jen holed two great putts.”
Valenzuela, a three-time Olympian but a non-winner on the LPGA tour, contemplated the switch back to best-ball play on Sunday.
“I just let Sarah drive first because she hits it so straight and then I just have to copy that. We’re really having a great time out there. Four-ball is fun. You can be a little bit more aggressive sometimes. I think we have a really good game plan, a lot of fun with the caddie, so just do the same tomorrow.”
–Field Level Media
3-WAY DEADLOCK CONTINUES AT U.S. SENIOR OPEN
Coming into the day at the U.S. Senior Open, three golfers were tied atop the leaderboard. And by the end of the day Saturday at Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, the same three golfers continued to share the lead.
Stewart Cink, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and Australia’s Mark Hensby shot matching 2-under-par 68s on a windy day to go into the final round at 8-under 202 for the tournament.
“I thought all of us played really similar,” Cink said. “No, I’m not surprised. The level of golf on the PGA TOUR Champions and especially at a tournament like this is just really, really high, and you’ve got to play really good golf to even be in the mix, much less win.”
Cink and Harrington matched one another’s pace, with four birdies over the front nine placing each in strong position. Yet each struggled on the back nine.
Cink, chasing his second win of a strong 2025 season, couldn’t break par again, suffering bogeys on Holes 13 and 16.
“We had it going (early),” Cink said. “We’d forgotten who made birdies on what holes. That was a good thing. Unfortunately, it didn’t last more than another two holes after that because the back nine was a little more — it played more difficult, but it was also a little scrappier.
It was much the same for Harrington, who won this event in 2022, as he had a disastrous double bogey on 12, followed by a bogey on 15, before he rescued a birdie on 18 to save a share of the lead.
“It’s always great to chip in,” Harrington said. “It was great to chip in on the last hole. It was straightforward on the green, but I was chipping against the grain. There was quite a bit of grain on that slope. So getting good contact was never going to be easy.
“Yeah, I was very happy with the chip, and it was a big bonus that it went in.”
Hensby, who was even par through eight holes, stepped onto the par-5, 547-yard ninth a full three strokes behind Cink and Harrington. But his three-shot eagle put him right back into contention. He maintained the pace with bogeys on 10 and 17 and back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14.
“Listen, when you get two great players (Harrington and Cink) like that who start off as well as they did, you kind of expect it to a certain extent, but I just felt like I’ve just got to play my game and try and just do the best I can do all day and see what happens,” Hensby said. “Fortunately, some things started to go my way, got a couple of nice breaks, and yeah.”
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who was three strokes behind the leaders on Friday, is now just one stroke behind after his 4-under 66 kept him in solo fourth place. Bjorn is chasing his second win of the season (American Family Insurance Championship).
The only other golfer within four of the leaders is Steve Flesch, who made up a stroke with his 3-under 67 and sits alone in fifth.
There’s a three-way tie for sixth at 3 under between Australia’s Steven Alker (66), Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Paul Stankowski (67).
Billy Andrade shot an even-par 70 to stay at 2 under in ninth place.
South Africa’s Ernie Els (68) and Japan’s Katsumasa Miyamoto (67) are tied for tenth at 1 under.
–Field Level Media
