News

9:17 PM ET Associated Press JUNO BEACH, Fla. — Cole Hammer and Ricky Castillo each won two matches Saturday in the Walker Cup and the United States took a 7-5 lead into the final day as it goes for its fifth straight victory on home soil. Hammer teamed with Davis Thompson in the morning to

CHARLOTTE — “Hey, Rory—you got a nice butt!” A well-served woman offered that compliment to Mr. McIlroy, who couldn’t help but flash the pearly whites. He then poured in a 21-footer for birdie, his fourth in eight holes, to get his freckled nose in front. As he parted the sea of fans bordering the walkway

JUNO BEACH, Fla. — The 2021 Walker Cup was always going to be a memorable event by virtue of its host venue, the nearly 100-year-old biennial competition being played at famed Seminole Golf Club for the first time. But the rare public showing of the ultra-private Donald Ross course has been overshadowed on the eve

2:55 PM ET CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy slipped to 15th in the world this week, which in golf’s big-picture world is not a huge deal. But when you consider that it is the lowest he has been since 2009 — when he was just 20 years old — it means a good bit more.

CHARLOTTE — Environmentalists, turn away. Jokes aside, we’re going to give Bryson DeChambeau the benefit of the doubt here. When he finished his second-round 74 at the Wells Fargo Championship on Friday, he sat two over for the tournament. At the time—and again, we’re just hypothesizing here—he likely thought he was definitely going to miss

8:24 PM ET ESPN News Services CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson was 11 shots worse than his previous round at Quail Hollow. Bryson DeChambeau made an 8 on his 16th hole and headed straight for the exit. Turns out nothing was as bad as it seemed Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship. Morning gusts gave

Phil Mickelson looked to his old self on Thursday at Quail Hollow. Hitting bombs, holing birdies, treating par 5s like they’re par 4s, holding court like a high school quarterback recalling the game-winning drive in the state final. On Friday, Mickelson looked like his old self, the one who’s not so much holding court as

JUNO BEACH, Fla. — Ahead of this week’s Walker Cup, a handful of players from both the United States and Great Britain & Ireland teams have mentioned coming down with stomach bugs while in South Florida. The issue, however, is becoming a bigger concern as the 48th edition of the biennial event is set to

6:22 PM ET Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Darren Clarke took the lead Thursday in the Regions Tradition, opening with a 6-under 66 in the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors. The 2011 British Open champion from Northern Ireland had a one-stroke lead over Stephen Ames and Jerry Kelly at Greystone Golf & Country

JUNO BEACH, Fla. — In the 99-year history of the Walker Cup, there have been 310 golfers who have represented Great Britain & Ireland in the biennial matches. Of them, 84 have played for a victorious GB&I team (the Old World has won nine times in 47 matches). And of that group, a select 20

7:11 PM ET CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just last week, Phil Mickelson complained about his inability to focus properly as he struggled yet again, missing the cut at the Valspar Championship. It was Joel Dahmen who got Mickelson’s full attention Thursday at the Wells Fargo Championship, when Dahmen mentioned him in a couple of good-natured social

Some post-Masters rest, combined with Quail Hollow, a place he’s owned throughout his career, was supposed to be just the antidote for the struggling Rory McIlroy this week. He even felt good about the state of his game, which was not the case in late March, when McIlroy admitted he’d developed some bad habits in

CHARLOTTE — It’s never fun having to withdraw from an event on Thursday morning. It’s especially disappointing when that event is taking place on your home course. Quail Hollow member and resident Webb Simpson—he lives next to the seventh tee—withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship on Thursday morning with a neck strain. First alternate Tim

5:31 PM ET Associated Press PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Players trying to reach the PGA Tour soon will be competing for more money to help them along the way. The Korn Ferry Tour, the circuit right below the PGA Tour, informed players on Tuesday that prize money will be a minimum of $1 million

Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has been something of a powerhouse in Division II men’s golf in recent years, with the Sharks winning the national championship in 2012 and 2015 and finishing runner-up in 2014. Almost as notable? The lineage surrounding this year’s group as it makes a bid for another title beginning

11:55 AM ET CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson will be 51 next month and admits his golf career his winding down. So the idea of being offered a reported $100-million per year to play in a rival golf league to the PGA Tour is understandably something that would give him pause. Mickelson acknowledged Wednesday that

Texas, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Clemson, Oklahoma and Wake Forest earned top seeds when the NCAA men’s golf committee announced on Wednesday the 81 schools and 45 individuals to play in the six NCAA Men’s Regional tournaments May 17-19. The return of the NCAA postseason is a welcome sight after the 2020 NCAA Championship was

The hardest golf course I ever played was Pine Valley—backward. The practice has been discontinued, but for many years, Pine Valley members used to gather on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and play the No. 1 course in the country not from tee to green, but from green to tee (or more precisely, to the previous

8:00 AM ET Coming off last week’s Valspar Championship (won by Sam Burns), the PGA Tour heads to Charlotte for the Wells Fargo Championship. Max Homa, winner at The Genesis in February, is the defending champion at Quail Hollow Club. Which players are the favorites this time around, who offers good odds and what props

Another week, another strong field, another unbelievably difficult golf course. The PGA Tour, which stops at Quail Hollow this week for the Wells Fargo Championship, remains a can’t-miss affair right now, and we’ve already got another major in the near future. There is no quit in this Super Season. Last week, though, one of the

7:02 AM ET The PGA Championship is back in its normal spot in May after shifting to August in 2020 because of COVID-19. Last year’s event, won by Collin Morikawa, was played at TPC Harding Park without fans on-site. The spectators will be back this year as the event returns to the Ocean Course at

CHARLOTTE — Brendon Todd has withdrawn from the Wells Fargo Championship after testing positive for COVID-19, the PGA Tour announced Tuesday morning. He will be replaced in the field by J.J. Spaun. The news comes one week after four players tested positive and were thus forced to pull out of the Valspar Championship: Tyrrell Hatton,

Many of today’s top PGA Tour players base their schedules around peaking for the majors, plus a handful of other big-time events. That means picking your spots and making sure you never play too many weeks in a row, thus allowing the body to rest and recover. Sungjae Im, however, is not like his PGA

7:00 AM ET The weeks following the Masters are typically sleepy, and this year is no different. After the buildup to the year’s first major championship, it is understandable that the world of golf collectively exhales. The RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina, has a cool vibe. New Orleans is now a team event.

The title sponsor and the PGA of America’s involvement has widely expanded the profile of what now is known as the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, but like so many other major sporting events, it is at the mercy of the COVID-19 pandemic. On that note, it announced on Monday that it will restrict attendance to

4:34 PM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Amy Bockerstette is set to become the first person with Down syndrome to compete in a national collegiate athletic championship. The 22-year-old golfer will play with her Paradise Valley Community College teammates at the NJCAA national championships May 10-13 at Plantation Bay Golf & Country Club in Ormond

Great golf theater doesn’t always come at the major championships, and it doesn’t have to involve the 10 guys the PGA Tour is going to dole out $40 million to later this year for being popular. In fact, it doesn’t always take place on the PGA Tour. Sunday was an example. While Sam Burns was

In addition to being a fantastic putter, Sam Burns is also one heckuva negotiator. Turns out, those two skills are linked for the newest PGA Tour winner. Following Burns’ maiden victory at the Valspar Championship on Sunday, he confirmed a story about how he used his parents’ love of football to become a better golfer.

9:43 PM ET Associated Press THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Former Masters champion Mike Weir won his first PGA Tour Champions event Sunday when he held steady with pars down the stretch for a 4-under 68 and let John Daly made the last mistake in the Insperity Invitational. Weir and Daly were tied going down the

Maybe it was inevitable that on an exceedingly wet weekend, water would be a factor, but unmistakably it was inevitable that Mike Weir would win on the PGA Tour Champions. So it was in the rain-shortened Insperity Invitational on Sunday that Weir posted his maiden senior victory with a timely assist from John Daly. On