Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, it’s about to get rocky out there. The Korn Ferry Tour Championship gets underway on Friday, an event that is sure to haunt a few players for years to come. In other news, Jin Young Ko made a bogey, the Euros went deep in Switzerland, and history was made at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.

Today’s the day

Because of Labor Day, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship doesn’t get underway until Friday morning and will run through Monday. Our Wednesday newsletter previewed the event, but here are a few helpful links to help you prepare for this weekend’s madness.

  • Korn Ferry Tour Finals Top 25 List
  • The 25 List (for the entire season; No. 1 will be fully exempt on the PGA Tour in 2020)
  • Korn Ferry Tour Championship Tee Times

Chocolate and neutrality

It’s a truly international affair at the Omega European Masters this weekend. Ten nationalities are represented among the top 11 on the leaderboard with Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Matthias Schwab leading the way. Both Lorenzo-Vera and Schwab shot 63s on Thursday, and MLV did it with a double bogey. MLV also made a point to say that he likes the changes made to Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club, saying it is more “fair”

Nine other players, including Tommy Fleetwood (65) and Erik van Rooyen (65), are within two shots of the lead. Sergio García (66), Lucas Bjerregaard (66), Thomas Pieters (67), Luke Donald (67), and Rory McIlroy (67) are within shouting distance. Omega European Masters Leaderboard

Cease and desist

The LPGA Tour co-opted the PGA Tour motto on Thursday as more than 90 players broke par during the first round of the Cambia Portland Classic. Mi Jung Hur and Hannah Green led the way with a first-round 65s, but 11 players are within two shots. Perhaps the real story, though, was Jin Young Ko, who during her opening-round of 68 made her first bogey in 114 holes. Her streak broke the 110-hole record set by Tiger Woods in 2000. Based on Thursday’s scores, there will be a ton of action this weekend at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Leaderboard

They still got it!

Both the U.S. Men’s and U.S. Women’s Senior Amateurs finished up on Thursday morning.

The women’s side featured an unprecedented repeat of the 2018 championship match and ended in the exact same fashion. Lara Tennant defeated Sue Wooster 3&2 for the second-consecutive year. You read that correctly, Tennant defeated Wooster 3&2 in the final of both the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs. Gotta feel for Wooster! A former University of Arizona golfer, Tennant has also played in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open the past two years. Scoring

Bob Royak defeated Roger Newsome 1-up at Old Chatham Golf Club to win the U.S. Senior Men’s Amateur. Royak dabbled in professional golf in the early 1990s but has been on the amateur circuit since. He was the 2017 Georgia Senior Player of the Year, and he qualified for the 2018 U.S. Senior Open at the Broadmoor. Scoring

Quick Hooks

College golf is back! The Carmel Cup gets underway at Pebble Beach on Friday. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt headline the field for the first big event of the season. Scoring

Justin Thomas joined Phil Mickelson to discuss practice-round etiquette. Video

On Wednesday at the European Masters, Rory McIlroy made some characteristically candid comments about the new major championship schedule. Sounds like he’s not a fan! Full Story

The Latest

Shotgun Start: Rory critiques new major schedule, Poulter’s pool woes, and Web Tour flashbacks

A truncated Friday episode will wet your whistle heading into the holiday weekend. We begin with some scores from Europe, where Westy is lurking and Rory continued living under par. We address some comments on the “fair” test of the Swiss course from Mike Lorenzo-Vera, and start to compile a list of similar euphemisms. Then we move to Rory’s comments on the new major schedule and if his point about spreading them out over nine months, like in tennis, works for golf. We also discuss Ian Poulter’s extreme frustration with the pool cleaning service. Then in Flashback Friday, the occasion of the KFT Championship prompts a look back at a Web Tour Finals of yore that prominently featured golf’s most famous retiree, among others. Listen on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher.

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