NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, England (AP) Tyrrell Hatton shot a 5-under 65 in miserable conditions in his second round to lead by three strokes at the British Masters, where the leaderboard was dominated by English players on Friday.

Lee Westwood, who is hosting the tournament, and Ian Poulter also shot 65 and were two of four Englishmen in a five-way tie for second behind their compatriot.

Hatton was on 12 under overall, having followed up an opening-round 63 by making six birdies in rainy and cold conditions at Close House in northern England.

”It’s good to be back in form with a big run of events coming up with huge world ranking points,” said the 29th-ranked Hatton, who was tied for third at the European Masters in early September. ”I’d like to play as well as I can and climb up the world rankings and secure (a place) in all four majors again next year.”

Westwood added a 65 to his opening 66 and has yet to drop a shot this week, despite coping with the demands of hosting the event ..

There was no doubt Matt Kuchar would be one of Team USA's loudest supporters with him sitting out the Day 2 four-ball session. But Kuchar took his rooting to the next level on Friday by joining the team's most rabid fans at Liberty National. In the grandstands.
RELATED: The latest from Day 2 at the Presidents Cup
Check it out as Kuchar, who won his opening match with Dustin Johnson on Thursday, cheered on his teammates above the first tee:
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/913805640149037057
Well done, Matt. But don't get too crazy. You're not just on the squad because of your ping-pong prowess.
RELATED: Matt Kuchar got Patrick Reed to admit Jordan Spieth outplayed him. Barely.
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It's hard to find anything that Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed did wrong during their opening match Thursday at the Presidents Cup. The pair, now 6-1-2 as a team, dominated Presidents Cup rookies Emiliano Grillo and Si Woo Kim 5-and-4, ending the match at Liberty National's 14th hole.
But…. if we have to nitpick, there was this instance on the 13th green, after Spieth rolled in a six-footer for par to halve the hole. It was a pretty big putt, considering the fact that had he missed, their lead would be cut to just 3-up with five holes to play. So, after it dropped, you better believe there were high fives all around… right?
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Wrong! Spieth got left hanging by Patrick Reed's caddie, who has absolutely no time for high fives after halved holes.
RELATED: Jordan Spieth and Jason Day battle adorable junior golfers on the Tonight Show
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When New York and sports collide—the Super Bowl, SummerSlam, All-Star Weekends, the U.S. Open, the other U.S. Open, the World Series, and so on—you can bet that some point in the build-up said sports’ biggest stars will flood the stages Midtown Manhattan to read mean tweets about themselves while throwing perishables at some milquetoast comedian in a nice suit.
This is called Late-Night TV. Late-Night TV is an American tradition.
And so it went once again this week, with Presidents Cup stars Jordan Spieth and Jason Day taking the short (but scenic) ferry ride over from Liberty National to kick it with Fallon and three of the best junior golfers on the planet for the afternoon. As is typically the case when athletes are the guests, however, they did far more than just sit on a couch tell a stupid story about J.J. Abrams, first surprising said junior golfers—a spectacle totally worth it in and of itself—before challenging them to a game of golf skee-ball (which is apparently a thing that..

Phil Mickelson's Thursday foursomes match at the Presidents Cup ended with a missed seven-footer for the win on Liberty National's 18th hole. It was a disappointing end for Phil, but the half point wasn't all bad considering he and partner Kevin Kisner had trailed going to the 17th hole. And just a few holes before that he almost had an embarrassing fall in a bunker.
RELATED: The latest updates from the Presidents Cup
Not that anyone could have really gotten on him too much for it. Kisner's approach shot on the par-4 14th hole had buried high on the face of a bunker, making it difficult to get to and get a stance. So it was a bad break that put the five-time major champ in this awkward position. Well, and Kisner. We can only imagine Phil thinking, Thanks a lot, Kiz! as this happened:
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/913532998267441152
But Mickelson avoided embarrassment — and possibly injury — with some nifty footwork and balance for a 47-year-old. It's no ..

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) Spain’s Belen Mozo shot an 8-under 64, including a hole in one on the par-3 13th, to take a five-stroke lead after two rounds of the New Zealand Women’s Open on Friday.

Mozo finished strongly with a birdie on the 18th after a double-bogey on the 17th after hitting her tee shot into the water.

She had a 14-under total of 130 on the newly-established Windross Farm course.

Three golfers shared second place – Emily Tubert of the United States, who shot 65 Friday, Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden (67) and Canada’s Brooke Henderson, the co-leader after the first round who had a 70 Friday.

Local favorite Lydia Ko shot 68 and was eight strokes behind Mozo.

Mozo used a seven iron on the 164-meter 13th. The ball pitched on the apron of the green and rolled straight into the hole.

Mozo, who hasn’t won an LPGA event since joining the tour in 2011, kissed the billboard depicting the luxury car she would have won if she had aced the hole on Saturday or Sunday.

”It..

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) Spain’s Belen Mozo shot an 8-under 64, including a hole in one on the par-3 13th, on Friday to take a five-stroke lead after two rounds of the New Zealand Women’s Open.

Mozo birdied the 18th after a double-bogey on the 17th and a 10-foot putt for par on the 16th. She had a 14-under total of 130 on the newly-established Windross Farm course.

Three golfers shared second place – Emily Tubert of the United States, who shot 65 Friday, Madelene Sagstsrom of Sweden (67) and Canada’s Brooke Henderson, the co-leader after the first round who had a 70 Friday.

Local favorite Lydia Ko shot 68 and was eight strokes behind Mozo.

Mozo shot a seven iron on the 164-meter 13th which pitched on the apron of the green and rolled straight into the hole.

Mozo, who hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since joining the tour in 2011, kissed the billboard depicting the luxury car she would have won if she had aced the hole on Saturday or Sunday.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) A brief look at the opening session Thursday of the Presidents Cup at Liberty National:

LEADING: United States 3 1/2, International 1 1/2.

FORMAT: The Americans have gone 12 consecutive foursomes sessions without losing in the Presidents Cup.

STAR POWER: The Presidents Cup for the first time had three U.S. presidents attend the matches – Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

MATCH OF THE DAY: Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar played bogey-free in 20 mph gusts for a 1-up victory over Adam Scott and Jhonattan Vegas.

SHOT OF THE DAY: Rickie Fowler holed a 70-foot pitch on the third hole to square the match. He and Justin Thomas went on to a 6-and-4 victory over Hideki Matsuyama and Charl Schwartzel.

STREAKING: Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen are 5-0 as a team in the Presidents Cup. Oosthuizen is unbeaten in his last seven matches.

NOTEWORTHY: Marc Leishman played with Jason Day, his sixth partner in his last six Presidents Cup matches.

QUOTE..

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) The opening ceremony at the Presidents Cup was unlike any other in golf with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton on the first tee.

The results were all too familiar.

The Americans led at some point in all five of the foursomes matches Thursday at Liberty National. They won the first three. And when they jumped on a ferry to take them across the New York Harbor to their Manhattan hotel, they had the lead.

Behind a new tandem of Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas, and an old one of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, the Americans jumped out to a 3 1/2-1 1/2 lead. It was the sixth consecutive time they led after the opening session in an event they haven’t lost in two decades.

”Jordan mentioned that this first session is pretty critical and we need to go out there and take care of business,” Fowler said. ”I feel like as a team, we did a really good job of that. If we can do the same thing tomorrow and win another session, it puts us in ..

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. (AP) Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson, shot a 12-under 59 on his home course Thursday in the first round of the Web.com Tour Championship.

Saunders closed with six straight birdies at Atlantic Beach Country Club – the Jacksonville-area club where he has a membership – for the seventh sub-60 round in Web.com Tour history.

Stephan Jaeger set the tour record of 58 last year in the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, California, and Notah Begay III, Doug Dunakey, Jason Gore, Will Wilcox and Russell Knox also shot 59.

Saunders had 13 birdies and a bogey. Opening on the 10th hole, he birdied the first three holes, added a birdie on 14, bogeyed the par-3 15th and birdied 15 and 18 to make the turn in 5 under. He birdied No. 2 and Nos. 4-9 for a 7-under 28 on his final nine.

The 30-year-old Saunders is trying to regain his PGA Tour card in the four-event Web.com Tour Finals after finishing 129th in the FedEx Cup standings. He entered the week 24th ..