ON THE LINKS Friday’s pro golf results
GENESIS OPEN
Kuchar apologizes, pledges $50K to caddie
LOS ANGELES
Matt Kuchar apologized Friday for what he said were insensitive comments about the caddie he used at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico last fall and said he would pay the $50,000 the caddie requested.
He also said he would make a donation to the tournament to be distributed to charities in the Cancun area.
Kuchar’s regular caddie couldn’t make the trip to Mexico in November, so he used David Ortiz from El Camaleon Golf Club. Kuchar won for the first time in more than four years and earned $1,296,000.
Ortiz received $5,000.
Thomas, Scott share lead at Riviera
LOS ANGELES
Justin Thomas put together enough birdies in a cold rain at Riviera to reach 10-under par and share the lead with Adam Scott when the second round of the Genesis Open was halted by darkness.
Thomas, who opened with a 66 earlier Friday morning, went eight consecutive holes without a par — six birdies, two bogeys — when he ended his day with a two-putt par on his 12th hole of the round at No. 3. He was 5 under on the day. Scott, who won at Riviera in 2005 when rain shortened it to 36 holes, also was 5 under on his round.
Tiger Woods was 1 under after playing 30 holes. He had a 70 in the morning, a round slowed by four three-putts, and followed a 45-foot eagle putt with two bogeys as the rain got stronger.
J.B. Holmes, who made a hole-in-one when he opened with a 63 for a one-shot lead after the first round, was at 9 under through nine holes.
CHUBB CLASSIC
Lyle, Ames share PGA Tour Champions lead
NAPLES, Fla.
Playing partners Sandy Lyle and Stephen Ames matched the course record at 8-under 63 to share the first-round lead Friday in the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic.
Lyle topped a leaderboard for the first time in 155 career starts on the 50-and-over tour. The 61-year-old Scot won the 1985 British Open and 1988 Masters.
Ames had a hole-in-one with a 9-iron on the 141-yard 12th hole at The Classics at Lely Resort. He won the 2017 Mitsubishi Electric Classic for his lone senior title.
WORLD SUPER 6
Pieters shoots 66 to tie for second-round lead
PERTH, Australia
Thomas Pieters battled the wind to shoot a 6-under-par 66 and move into a four-way tie for the lead after the second round of the European Tour’s World Super 6 on Friday.
Pieters is joined by Panuphol Pittayarat, Matthew Griffin, and Ryan Fox at 8 under at Lake Karrinyup.
Playing in calm conditions in the morning, Fox’s second 68 moved him on to the leaderboard where he was later joined by Panuphol, who finished with a 66, and Griffin, who shot 70.
WOMEN’S AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Webb has moment to forget, falls behind
ADELAIDE, Australia
Karrie Webb had one of those moments during the Women’s Australian Open on Friday that might have made her feel like one of the weekend golfers following her behind the spectator ropes at The Grange, or watching on television.
Short-siding herself in a bunker on the par-3 14th, five-time champion Webb hit it across the green and watched it dribble into a bunker on the other side.
She ended up taking a double-bogey 5 on her way to a 74 and is seven strokes behind second-round leaders Wei-Ling Hsu and Madelene Sagstrom.
Sagstrom had her second straight 67 while Hsu shot 69. They were both at 10-under 134 in the LPGA tournament.
Associated Press