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7:51 AM ET There is a hometown story no one can avoid at this U.S. Open: Phil Mickelson, trying to pick off that missing major win, chasing the career Grand Slam at Torrey Pines. But there is another hometown story, one with a greater possibility of happening given how unlikely it would be for Mickelson

If you’re like us, true degenerates, that is, there is still a ton of last-minute cramming to be done, and plenty of time to do it (West Coast life, baby!). We’re here to help with our eight favorite, last-minute prop bets for Torrey Pines. As any good procrastinator knows, some of your best work gets

Phil Mickelson’s fan approval has always been good for golf. But that popularity has several sportsbooks worrying this week. Following his victory at the PGA Championship last month, Mickelson has been attracting a lot of backers heading into the 2021 U.S. Open. In fact, he’s been attracting the most backers. And it’s not even close.

7:49 AM ET SAN DIEGO — As Patrick Reed was finishing up his practice round on Tuesday in preparation for this week’s U.S. Open, he threw two balls into the rough on the ninth hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines. One ball hopped into the rough, the other in the kikuyu, an aggressive

Tuesday at a major championship means another parade of the top-ranked players in front of the media. A few of the headliners this week at Torrey Pines avoided the set list on Tuesday. The local Phil Mickelson rolled through for an early Monday interview to pay his compliments to the conditioning and mostly bite his

8:01 AM ET Phil Mickelson, coming off an improbable win at the PGA Championship that made him the oldest winner of a major title in history at age 50, is now headed to the one that has always gotten away. This week at Torrey Pines, he will be appearing in his 30th U.S. Open, still

Tiger Woods’ rehab appears to have progressed to the weight-bearing stage—at least according to a video that surfaced on social media Tuesday. The video, first posted by TMZ, showed Woods putting some weight on his injured right leg. Reportedly Woods was at a Los Angeles airport, and he can be seen walking with the aid

In the time between last month’s PGA Championship and this week’s U.S. Open, the feud between Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka—which was re-ignited by a rogue, viral video—has dominated our sport’s discourse. Who’s side are you on? Is it good for the game? And, perhaps most saliently: Should they be paired together at the U.S.

8:00 AM ET SAN DIEGO — There’s nothing quite like playing in your hometown PGA Tour event, on a course you got to know as a kid, in front of family and friends, at a place where you’ve had success. It’s even better when it’s a major. The U.S. Open is on the South Course

SAN DIEGO—How do you like the sound of the U.S. Open being played at Eucalyptus Grove? Not very sexy, we’d all admit. And the logo would sure look different. Hard to make a small artistic rendering of what Aussies call “gum trees,” unless there’s a koala clinging to it. In realty, though, the municipal golf

6:18 PM ET To: The United States Golf AssociationFrom: Kevin Van Valkenburg, ESPN senior writer (current 8.8 Index) Greetings to all my friends and fellow golf obsessives (golf nerds?) at the USGA! I hope this finds you well. I realize this is an extremely busy time for the organization, what with the 121st playing of

SAN DIEGO—It is U.S. Open week, and how can you not be romantic about this U.S. Open? Torrey’s Pacific backdrop and a return to Father’s Day elict gushiness, sure, but also a return to the ethos of this tournament. The most egalitarian of majors felt anything but in 2020 with qualifiers canceled and no fans

In the 13 years since Tiger Woods’ one-legged triumph at Torrey Pines, professional golf has been inundated with information. Walk down a PGA Tour range on a Tuesday and you’ll see nearly every player consulting a launch monitor. Seeing a ball soar through the preferred window is no longer sufficient evidence of a pured shot—the

8:00 AM ET The U.S. Open arrives with plenty of drama. Jon Rahm has been in isolation since having to leave the Memorial. Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka have been feuding. And there’s Phil Mickelson, fresh off his improbable win at the PGA Championship, arriving in his hometown searching for that elusive U.S. Open title.

SAN FRANCISCO — As the final group stood on the first tee at Lake Merced Golf Club on Sunday, the last rays of sunshine beaming ahead of their biggest round of their lives, Matilda Castren, Min Lee and Lauren Kim combined for just one top-10 finish in 146 career starts. Thirteen players outside of the

7:30 AM ET The U.S. Open returns to Torrey Pines for the first time since 2008. That year, Tiger Woods famously won the tournament on a broken leg, defeating unlikely challenger Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole Monday playoff. Woods won’t be here this time while he recovers from his February car accident. Still, there are

There aren’t many home games in professional golf, but for Jerry Kelly, the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis., is one of them, and his comfort level again paid off on Sunday. Kelly, a Madison native, resident and fan favorite, won the tournament for the second straight time, prevailing at University Ridge Golf Course

Last month’s PGA Championship reinforced two valuable life lessons. First, age is just a number. Second, trying to forecast golf tournaments is a fool’s errand. Phil Mickelson’s history-making triumph at Kiawah Island was as unlikely as it was remarkable—Lefty didn’t have a top-20 on the PGA Tour in 10 months and had fallen outside the

Jun 11, 2018 Editor’s note: As the U.S. Open returns to Torrey Pines for the first time since 2008, we look back at that event and Tiger Woods‘ playoff win over Rocco Mediate. This story was originally published on June 11, 2018, as part of the 10-year anniversary of that event. Just 12 feet of

The Tain Lee storybook tour of Congaree Golf Club was absolutely magical on Saturday. Until it wasn’t. Until the inward nine, which turned into an outright disaster—the extent of which could end up even worse, depending on events still to be decided. A Monday qualifier with no World Ranking points and playing in just his

6:46 PM ET Jon Rahm is out of isolation and able to travel. The third-ranked player in the world said via Twitter on Saturday that he had two negative COVID-19 tests 24 hours apart, which allowed him to end his quarantine in Ohio and prepare for next week’s U.S. Open. Rahm, 26, tested positive for

The golfer many are choosing as their favorite to win the U.S. Open next week is now officially cleared to play. Jon Rahm tweeted on Saturday that he received consecutive negative tests for COVID-19 in a 24-hour span and can now get ready for the major at Torrey Pines, where the Spaniard won the 2017

Stefan Schauffele is searching for the right word. He speaks four languages, so his ever-fertile mind must flash through pages of a variety of dictionaries. He’s trying to describe what finishing second nine times in the last two years has meant to his son, Xander, the sixth-ranked golfer in the world. Scar tissue? No, that

10:48 PM ET Associated Press DALY CITY, Calif — Danielle Kang birdied the par-5 18th hole for a 6-under 66 and a one-stroke lead Friday in the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship, the tour’s second straight event on the San Francisco Peninsula. Coming off a 35th-place tie last week in the U.S. Women’s Open at nearby Olympic

Chesson Hadley cracked himself up. After taking the solo lead at 11 under by backing up a first-round 65 with a 66 on Friday in the Palmetto Championship, he was describing how hot he’s been with his putter. “So, if I can just keep riding the putter—she’s a sweet girl. So, I’ll just ride her

7:50 PM ET Associated Press MADISON, Wis. — Miguel Angel Jimenez had two eagles in a 7-under 65 in hot and humid conditions Friday to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ American Insurance Championship. “Hot, sweat like a pig,” Jimenez said. Jimenez eagled the par-5 16th and second holes and had four

It was the strangest and most innocent of mistakes, but no matter how unintentional the error was, it didn’t help the bottom line on Mark Hensby’s result in the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. In the first round on Thursday, Hensby suffered an eye-popping 10-stroke penalty that he called on himself for using the wrong ball.

The volunteers were on the back of a shuttle that was barreling past the store fronts of Mamaroneck, N.Y., to a town playground that was serving as a parking lot. It was late, later than they thought they’d leave Winged Foot, even on a final-round Sunday. Most were tired, and a vocal few were miffed.

11:04 PM ET Associated Press DALY CITY, Calif. — Irish rookie Leona Maguire shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Lake Merced to take the first-round lead in the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship, the tour’s second straight event on the San Francisco Peninsula. Lexi Thompson followed her Sunday back-nine meltdown in the U.S. Women’s Open at

SAN FRANCISCO — Only four days after one of the more difficult rounds of her career, Lexi Thompson shot a one-under 71 to open the LPGA Mediheal Championship at Lake Merced Golf Club. Her success, in light of the demoralizing finish at Olympic Club, isn’t necessarily the most surprising part. That might be that she