Golf

SANDWICH, United Kingdom: The British Open makes an eagerly-anticipated return on Thursday (Jul15) after a two-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic with Englishman Richard Bland set to fire the first tee shot at Royal St George's in Sandwich, Kent. It is the 149th edition of golf's oldest major championship which was cancelled last year for the first time since 1945. Twelve months on and there will be up to 32,000 fans a day on the course, but there remains a cloud cast

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Nine months after finishing runner-up at the U.S. Open, Matthew Wolff returned in style from a mental health break, shooting one-under-par 70 in the opening round at the national championship at Torrey Pines on Thursday. Wolff has already won more than $5 million in two years as a professional, but the money was of little consolation as he found himself in a bad place while plying his trade on the PGA Tour earlier this year. Suddenly bereft of form

Chesson Hadley was on the cusp of his first PGA Tour win in seven years on Sunday until a disastrous finish at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree where he bogeyed the final three holes to finish one shot back. Hadley, who missed the cut in 10 of his last 12 events, started the final round with a four-shot lead but fell apart in spectacular fashion as he carded a four-over-par 75 at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina. That left Hadley, who

Premier League stars James Milner and Adam Lallana will be following golf's US Open and European Tour results just as closely as football's European Championship over the next month. The former Liverpool team-mates have plenty of fascination for the Euros, but both footballers share significant interest in professional golf through their directorships of a company shaping the future of one Britain's brightest golfing talents. The firm, Cheshire-based White Rose Sports Management Limited, has signed highly promising youngster Ben Schmidt following the completion of

WASHINGTON: Collin Morikawa, last year's PGA Championship winner, fired a six-under par 66 to seize the early first-round lead Thursday (Jun 3) at the US PGA Memorial tournament before thunderstorms halted play. The 24-year-old American, who shared eighth last month at Kiawah Island in defending his shocking major crown, fired seven birdies against a lone bogey to grab a one-stroke lead when competition was halted for lightning at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Morikawa, who began on the back nine, birdied the par-3

WASHINGTON: Jason Kokrak held off home-region hero Jordan Spieth down the final holes Sunday (May 31) to win the US PGA Tour Charles Schwab Challenge by two strokes. The 36-year-old American fired a level par 70 in Sunday's final round to finish 72 holes on 14-under 266 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Kokrak stumbled with bogeys at the par-4 15th and par-3 16th but closed with back-to-back pars to deny Spieth, who had ended a four-year win drought last month

KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina: Phil Mickelson is not the first middle-aged person to change his diet and engage in brain training in a quest to feel and perform better, but he is the first to win a major golf championship after turning 50. While Mickelson's performance at the PGA Championship might not open the floodgates to a sudden glut of Senior Tour-eligible winners, it at least will provide further evidence to those creeping up in age that it is not too late to

KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina: Phil Mickelson became the oldest major winner in golf history on Sunday (May 23), the 50-year-old left-hander capturing the PGA Championship by two strokes for his sixth and most iconic major title. The age-defying American took the US$2.1 million top prize with an epic victory for the ages, producing a dazzling shot-making display at windy Kiawah Island while younger rivals faded. "It has been an incredible day," Mickelson said. "Certainly one of the moments I'll cherish my entire life."

KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina: Four-times major winner Brooks Koepka recovered from a shaky start to grab a share of the early first-round lead at the PGA Championship on Thursday with defending champion Collin Morikawa lurking one back. Playing the more difficult back nine first at the windswept Ocean course, Koepka got his day off to a stumbling start with a double bogey but gathered himself to card a stellar three-under 69 and join Keegan Bradley and Norwegian Viktor Hovland atop the leaderboard. "It

KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina: Bryson DeChambeau has dismantled courses with his prodigious length off the tee and he expects more of the same as he stares down the longest one in major championship history at this week's PGA Championship. World number five DeChambeau said that while his length off the tee will be an advantage at the 7,876-yard Kiawah Island Ocean Course his biggest edge on the field will be if he can hit it straight and control the flight of balls in

KIAWAH ISLAND, United States: Rangefinders will make their major debut at next week's PGA Championship, aimed at speeding the pace of play even as several top golfers worry it will do nothing or cause slowdowns instead. The golf tech distance-measuring devices, using lasers or GPS systems, were approved last February for majors sanctioned by the PGA of America but remain banned for US PGA Tour rounds. "We're always interested in methods that may help improve the flow of play during our championships," PGA

World number one Dustin Johnson has pulled out of this week's AT&T Byron Nelson tournament with a knee injury - a week before the US PGA Championship. American Johnson, 36, who had knee surgery in 2019, said "discomfort I occasionally experience has returned". The two-time Major winner last played at the Valspar Championship two weeks ago, where he finished tied for 48th. The US PGA, the second men's major of the year, begins on the Ocean course at Kiawah Island on 20 May. "After