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[ad_1] AUGUSTA: Viktor Hovland wore a shocking pink and white polo shirt for Thursday's opening round of the 87th Masters, but his game was simply electrifying. The 25-year-old Norwegian broke 70 for the first time at Augusta National, firing a seven-under par 65 to grab a share of the 18-hole lead with Spain's Jon Rahm and American Brooks Koepka. "You know a good score is out there, but you can't really force it," said Hovland. "You've just got to let it happen and if you have some makeable putts, you've got to make them and then you can get into a rhythm. "But it's one of those things, you push too hard and it will backfire." World number nine Koepka made five birdies and an eagle at the par-5 second on a 25-foot putt to dazzle the crowd. "Got off to a nice start," Hovland said. "Just kept hitting great shots on the front nine and made some putts, and before I knew it, somehow I was 6-under through 11 and j

[ad_1] SAN FRANCISCO: American Allisen Corpuz captured her first LPGA victory in dramatic fashion on Sunday, firing a three-under par 69 to win the US Women's Open by three strokes. The 25-year-old from Honolulu finished 72 holes at Pebble Beach on nine-under 279 to defeat England's Charley Hull, who fired a final-round 66, and South Korean Shin Ji-yai, who shot 68. "Unreal. This week has just felt like a dream come true," Corpuz said. "It has been just awesome to be out at Pebble this week." Japan's Nasa Hataoka, the 54-hole leader, finished with a 76 to share fourth on 285 with American Bailey Tardy while Japan's Ayaka Furue and South Korean Kim Hyo-joo shared sixth on 286. Corpuz had shared a major lead at the Chevron Championship earlier this year before settling for fourth, a hint of the promise she made real at the iconic California seaside course where such legends as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have hoisted trophies. "I&

[ad_1] CNN  —  “The Island Green” – three words that have struck fear into the hearts of even the most talented golfers . A short, 125-yard par-three surrounded by water, TPC Sawgrass’ iconic penultimate hole has drowned many a dream at The Players Championship for more than four decades. On Thursday, Hayden Buckley had other ideas. After making a steady start to his first round at the PGA Tour’s flagship event, the American — having started from the 10th hole – teed up at the 17th at one-under par, tied for eighth. One swing later, he was level for the lead. Using a pitching wedge, the 27-year-old had sent his ball sailing over the water and comfortably onto the green; his ball bouncing three times before settling and curling leisurely into the cup. A rapturous crowd roared their del

[ad_1] AUGUSTA: Sixty years after Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player became golf's Big Three champions, another top trio is challenging for the monicker – Scottie Scheffler , Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. Defending champion Scheffler has the world number one ranking entering this week's Masters but third-ranked Rahm and world number two McIlroy can each overtake him with a victory on Sunday at Augusta National. The threesome has separated itself from rivals in the world rankings, motivating each other to new heights by challenging each other. "We've been able to rack up more wins than anybody else. Just being able to get it done," Rahm said. "You create your own luck, playing in good form and feeding off each other, Scottie starting it last year and myself later in the fall." Rahm, who won his first major title at the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines, made a sizzling start to the PGA season by winning the Tournament of Champions, American

[ad_1] LOS ANGELES: Uncertainty and controversy over a potential merger with LIV Golf's Saudi backers loom over the US PGA Tour as its 2024 season tees off Thursday in Hawaii. The PGA's tournament of champions, now dubbed The Sentry, again will be played at Kapalua, this time in support of wildfire-devastated host Maui following last August's tragedy. A field of 59 will compete in the $20 million opener with four-time major winner Rory McIlroy the only qualified player skipping the event to begin his 2024 campaign later. Even as the PGA Tour returns to a calendar-year format, the impact of last June's shock announcement of a framework merger deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and DP World Tour lingers over the series. Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm of Spain, who won last year's Kapalua crown, will not defend his title, having jumped to LIV last month for rich financial guarantees. That signals the upstart series can drain top PGA tale

[ad_1] LOS ANGELES: Phil Mickelson says he will be "at peace" if he never plays in a PGA Tour event or Ryder Cup again, nearly one year after his explosive remarks about the Saudi-funded LIV golf series triggered uproar. In an interview with Sports Illustrated published on Monday, the six-time major winner said he was not bothered about the possibility of being frozen out of PGA Tour events for good. Mickelson was suspended by the PGA Tour last year after being one of the earliest big names to defect to the controversial LIV circuit. The 52-year-old embraced LIV despite telling a US journalist that the circuit's Saudi backers were "scary" with a "horrible" human rights record. Mickelson said in June last year he hoped to play on the PGA Tour again. However in his remarks to Sports Illustrated, the veteran said he was now indifferent to playing on the circuit again. "If I were never to play another PGA Tour event, I'm totally at

[ad_1] CNN  —  Few tuning in to watch the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday will have been surprised to learn that former Real Madrid star Gareth Bale is good at golf. After all, the Welshman made no secret of his love for the game throughout a glittering soccer career that he called time on in January. Yet, just how natural the former Tottenham Hotspur and Real forward looks on the fairways has taken many aback after an impressive first round showing on his PGA Tour debut in California. Playing alongside professional partner Joseph Bramlett, Bale carded a seven-under 65 on the notoriously challenging Spyglass Hill course to finish the day five shots behind the Pro-Am’s leading duo, the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes’ owner Tom Dundon and American pro golfer Will Gordon. As a five-time Champions League winner and one of the most decorated players of his generat

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: Kathy Whitworth, the most successful LPGA golfer with a record 88 titles, has died at the age of 83, the women's tour announced Sunday. Her wins are six more than Sam Snead and Tiger Woods, who hold the career record for the men's game. "It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that LPGA Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth has died at the age of 83," the tour said on its official Twitter account. A statement on the LPGA's website by Bettye Odle, Whitworth's long-time partner, said that "Kathy passed suddenly Saturday night celebrating Christmas Eve with family and friends." As well as her 88 tournament victories – which included six majors – Whitworth was runner-up 93 times in a career which started in 1959. "I was really fortunate in that I knew what I wanted to do," Whitworth once said. "Golf just grabbed me by the throat. I can't tell you how much I loved it. I used to think everyone knew what

[ad_1] MIAMI: Matt Wallace birdied four of the last six holes on Sunday to win the PGA Corales Puntacana Championship for his first triumph in nearly five years. The 32-year-old Englishman made four consecutive birdies from the 13th through 16th holes to fire a six-under par 66 and finish 72 holes at the Dominican Republic resort on 19-under 269. That was good enough for a one-stroke victory over Denmark's 22-year-old Nicolai Hojgaard, who missed a 20-foot birdie putt at 18 to force a playoff. Wallace, who captured his first US PGA Tour title, was a four-time winner on the European Tour, the most recent of those having come at Denmark in September 2018. Wallace capped his birdie run at the windy 16th, where he dropped his approach in swirling winds within inches of the hole and tapped in for a two-stroke lead. He then closed with back-to-back pars. "Very happy," Wallace said. "Down those last few holes I knew I could do it. I played great all week. Just

[ad_1] ROCHESTER: Dustin Johnson says LIV Golf stars have nothing to prove at this week's PGA Championship and that was true before three players finished in the top six at the Masters. Two-time major champion Johnson is among 16 players from the Saudi-financed breakaway series who will compete this week at Oak Hill, six of them past major winners. Record $25 million purses helped LIV attract big names from the PGA Tour when it debuted last June, the tour banning those who departed. The feud is set for a trial next May. "I would hope at some point we can all co-exist and work together," Johnson said. "That would be nice." In the meantime, the majors are the only place where PGA Tour and LIV players compete. Any concern LIV's 54-hole events and lighter schedule might hurt stars were answered when Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson shared second behind Masters winner Jon Rahm last month at Augusta National. But for Johnson , a past Masters champi

[ad_1] ROCHESTER: Top-ranked Jon Rahm seeks his second consecutive major title, Rory McIlroy wants his first major victory since 2014 and Jordan Spieth just hopes to play when the PGA Championship tees off on Thursday. A field of 156 players, 16 of them from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, chase the Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill, where discipline and patience will be as vital as any club. "Discipline is going to be a huge factor this week," McIlroy said. "You've got to keep it out of those fairway bunkers. "If someone can keep their discipline and not start firing at those pins and know that middles of the greens is a pretty good leave on most holes, I think that's (key)." Oak Hill offers tricky pin locations with thick rough and shifting tee box areas to make every challenge unique. "Discipline is a really good way to describe what one needs this week," Rahm said. "It's challenging, but it's one of those where if

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: Tony Finau chases his fifth PGA Tour triumph in the past year this week at Detroit, where he will finally defend a title on the same course where he won it. The 33-year-old American enters the Rocket Mortgage Classic after wins last July at Detroit Golf Club and the 3M Open, at the Houston Open last October and the Mexico Open two months ago. "This is actually crazy. This is the first time I'm defending on the same golf course that I won on," Finau said Tuesday. "It's different. I'm kind of experiencing new – I don't know if you call it nerves or excitement, but it's new. It is really nice to be back." World number 14 Finau , who along with ninth-rated US compatriot Max Homa are the top-ranked players in the field, won his first PGA title at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open but did not defend. He ended a five-year title drought at the 2021 Northern Trust at Liberty National near New York, a tournament played the next year

[ad_1] Congressional lawmakers are expected to grill two PGA Tour officials on Tuesday in a hearing focused on the organization's controversial deal with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf . Ron Price, the PGA Tour's chief operating officer, and Jimmy Dunne, a member of the group's governing board, are set to appear before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Price amid criticism that the alliance between the once bitterly competitive professional golfing  enterprises amounts to "sportswashhing" Saudi Arabia's record of human rights abuses. Lawmakers also have raised concerns that the deal violates federal antitrust laws as it would merge two golf organizations into one super league where the world's most talented golfers would compete, monopolizing the sport.  "The PGA Tour brazenly announced the deal as an agreement to 'merge commercial operations under common ownership,'" Sena

[ad_1] CNN  —  Matt Fitzpatrick conquered reigning champion Jordan Spieth in a playoff to seal an emotional RBC Heritage victory at Hilton Head on Sunday. With the duo unable to be separated at 17-under par after an enthralling final day battle, the Englishman broke the deadlock in stunning fashion on the third playoff hole, punching his approach shot to within inches of the cup before tapping home for birdie to clinch his second PGA Tour title. His first had come after a similarly close-fought final round at the US Open in Brookline last year. There had been a late scare then when his last tee shot found the bunker, and the 28-year-old’s heart rate will have been just as high when both of Spieth’s putts for birdie across the first two playoff holes looked destined to settle in the cup. Yet once again, Fitzpatrick endured, weathering the storm to become only the second Engli

[ad_1] MEXICO: Austin Smotherman, chasing his second Mexican Open title and first PGA victory, closed with four consecutive birdies to fire an eight-under par 64 for the first-round clubhouse lead on Thursday. The 28-year-old American captured his first professional title at the 2018 Mexican Open when the event was part of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica developmental circuit. The tournament became a main PGA Tour event last year and was won by Spain's Jon Rahm, the world number one and defending champion who captured his second major title three weeks ago at the Masters. Smotherman, a college teammate of 2020 US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau at Southern Methodist, fired a bogey-free round to seize an early two-stroke lead over Canada's Taylor Pendrith, American Eric Cole and Germany's Stephan Jaeger. "Nice little finish," Smotherman said. "Just feeling good. I feel like my game's in a good spot." World number 342 Smotherman, who began on t

[ad_1] LOS ANGELES: Jon Rahm used two late birdies to power past Max Homa for a victory in the Genesis Invitational on Sunday that moved the Spaniard back to number one in the world. Spain's Rahm grabbed his third US PGA Tour title of 2023 after wins at the Tournament of Champions and the American Express in La Quinta, California. It was his fifth win in his last nine worldwide starts, a run that included his third Spanish Open triumph in October and victory in the DP World Tour Championship in November. Rahm was thrilled to capture a win at Riviera Country Club, the classic course west of downtown Los Angeles that has produced such champions as Ben Hogan but where, Rahm noted, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have never won. Woods, who hosted this week's event, was in the spotlight as he returned to competition for the first time since missing the cut at the British Open. The 15-time major champion, still limited by the severe right leg injuries he suffered in a Fe

[ad_1] AUGUSTA: The world's greatest golfers face each other on Thursday for the first time since the bitter LIV Golf-PGA Tour split divided the sport and appropriately it is the timeless tranquility of Augusta National that provides the arena. Given the tradition of the Masters tournament, with the famous winner's green jacket, the striking absence of advertising, the pristine course and the palpable sense of historic significance, it is perhaps not surprising that both sides of the divide caused by the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV Golf League have been observing an informal cease-fire. Legal battles remain to be fought and the name-calling may well resume next week but the words of those involved in the first major tournament of the year have been a refreshing acknowledgement that Augusta is no place for public squabbling. "I think this tournament is bigger than all of that," said Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy , the world number two. "It's

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: United States lawmakers on Wednesday invited the chiefs of the PGA Tour , LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to testify at a hearing looking into their shock deal that has rocked the golf world. Richard Blumenthal, chair of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said the panel wanted more details of how the new golfing entity would work, describing it as a "Saudi takeover" of "a cherished American institution." PGA Tour chief executive Jay Monahan, LIV golf chief executive Greg Norman and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan have all been asked to appear before the subcommittee. "Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be," Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in the letter sent to the three men. "Major actors in the deal are best positioned to provide this information, and they owe Congress -- and the American people -- answers in a public setting.&q