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[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: 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] 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] 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] LOS ANGELES: Celine Boutier birdied the first playoff hole to edge Georgia Hall for the LPGA Drive On Championship title on Sunday at Superstition Mountain, Arizona. Boutier's third LPGA title is the most of any French golfer on the tour, surpassing Patricia Meunier-Lebouc and Anne-Marie Palli. "It's unbelievable," Boutier said. "I mean, I don't really know how to express it. Anne Marie is here today watching, and so I think it's very special. "I definitely feel like I was trying not to think about it just because it's so crazy to think that I'm making history in any way." Boutier had taken a one-stroke lead into the final round and carded a four-under par 68 to join Hall on 20-under 268. England's Hall had climbed up the leaderboard with a seven-under par 65 that featured an eagle at the par-five 13th and seven birdies. Hall had launched her day with back-to-back birdies at the first and second and birdied the ...