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[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] 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] 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] 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

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: Sweden's Vincent Norrman won a playoff over England's Nathan Kimsey with a par on the first extra hole Sunday to capture the US PGA Tour Barbasol Championship. The 25-year-old from Stockholm sank a clutch seven-foot bogey putt on the 18th hole in regulation just to force a playoff, then pitched from the rough to two feet in the playoff and made a par putt for the victory. "I don't think I can process this for a while. I'm at a loss for words," Norrman said. "It's even beyond (a dream). I don't think I've dreamt this big yet honestly. It's amazing." Norrman fired a six-under par 66 to finish alongside Kimsey on 22-under 266 after 72 holes at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky. The US PGA Tour rookie claimed his first title in only is 23rd tour start, the 286th-ranked standout booking a place in next week's British Open. Norrman, whose best prior PGA result was a share of eighth in May

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, sidelined nearly a month by an unspecified medical issue, will return to work on July 17, the tour announced on Friday. Monahan's return will come six days after he misses a hearing by US lawmakers into the PGA-LIV deal. Monahan, who left his duties on June 13, was ripped by many players as a hypocrite after negotiating a merger deal with the Saudi backers of rival LIV Golf following a year of urging players to reject record financial offers to stay with the PGA Tour. Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) governor Yasir al-Rumayyan, who made the deal with Monahan, will not appear at the hearing and neither will LIV chief executive Greg Norman, citing schedule conflicts. In Monahan's place will be Ron Price, the tour's chief operating officer, and Jimmy Dunne, a PGA Tour board member who was a negotiator of the deal. Monahan revealed his return in a memo to the PGA board, tour members and staff. "Thank yo