AUGUSTA, Ga. — The case can be made that Rory McIlroy will hit the ground running this week, that his play has been ascendant, that he was runner-up here just two years ago, that his patience will finally be rewarded and that he will cap his historic career by completing his career Grand Slam with a victory in the 88th Masters.

The case can ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. – While each Masters Monday is pregnant with anticipation and is a Golden Corral, all-you-can-eat buffet for the senses, there has never been a scene to quite match this Monday’s.

After all, how often in all the 87 previous times they’ve gathered here in the name of golf had the sun been put on a dimmer switch?

When, in all ...Read more

ATLANTA — Another Masters arrives just in time to remind us of what golf might be like if it weren’t as divided as Congress. If Saudi Arabia hadn’t gotten bored and taken up the game as a hobby. And if only all the world’s best players would have been content making merely an embarrassing amount of loot, not Bond super-villain money.

...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — There are countless activities and behaviors that have jumped the shark in the minds of many Americans.

Among them: Social media influencers, reality TV shows, superhero movies and cable news.

But in the myriad of conversations, email exchanges and social media interactions with frustrated fans in recent months, I believe I ...Read more

PONTE VEDRA BEACH — A Tiger Woods sighting didn’t happen as many had hoped during the 50th edition of The Players Championship.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler picked up the slack and delivered a pretty good impression of golf’s ultimate closer. He also did something Woods didn’t at the PGA Tour’s showcase event.

With a bogey-free 8-...Read more

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Xander Schauffele welcomed the chance to look Wyndham Clark in the eye and make him uncomfortable Saturday at The Players Championship.

Schauffele believed it was the only way to slow Clark’s roll at TPC Sawgrass, where he led by four shots after 36 holes and was positioned to turn the PGA Tour’s showcase event ...Read more

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The three times Wyndham Clark has won, it meant a little more and moved the needle.

With Brooks Koepka gone to LIV Golf, Clark has become the PGA Tour’s big-game hunter.

A victory at The Players Championship — where he leads by 4 strokes after 36 holes — would fit the profile of the reigning U.S. Open champion...Read more

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Golfer Rory McIlroy turned a wake-up call Sunday at Bay Hill into his best-ever start at TPC Sawgrass to grab a share of the lead at The Players Championship.

But like pretty much everything in golf these days, McIlroy’s opening round at the PGA Tour’s showcase event in its 50th year featured controversy and ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scottie Scheffler’s Sunday stroll at the Arnold Palmer Invitational ended a nearly year-long drought, secured his spot atop the world rankings and validated a recent putter change.

Scheffler’s 5-shot victory also turned an event known for final-round fireworks into a dud.

A closing 6-under-par 66 was the day’s low score...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Will Zalatoris was in command, bogey-free and turning the Arnold Palmer Invitational into a runaway.

But nobody gets too far these days at Bay Hill before the golf course trips them up.

Zalatoris exited the 18th hole battered, bruised and holding a tattered scorecard following a pair of double-bogeys on the final four holes. ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Keep roaring, Rory.

Keep speaking your mind.

Keep being fearlessly outspoken instead of timidly cautious.

I hope Rory McIlroy never changes because we need more athletes who are willing to give us their unfiltered opinions, no matter whom they might offend. Unlike other say-nothing professional golfers, Rory is not afraid to...Read more

Arnold Palmer still stands unwaveringly tall despite the unsteady landscape in the sport he popularized.

The 13-foot, 1,400-pound bronze statue at Bay Hill depicting the late, great Palmer finishing one of his mighty golf swings epitomizes the power and prestige his tournament — The Arnold Palmer Invitational — still has on the PGA Tour.

...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Kurt Kitayama’s stunning win at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational was the journeyman’s first victory on the PGA Tour, or on any relevant tour.

These days, first-time winners are popping up everywhere.

Four of nine champions in 2024 had never reached the winner’s circle and reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark was...Read more

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Did Patrick Cantlay call it Saturday afternoon?

He led by five shots after Friday’s second round of the Genesis Invitational, the largest 36-hole lead at Los Angeles’ PGA Tour stop since 1983. Saturday, the former Servite High and UCLA golfer played as if his main goal was to stay out of trouble, and while he ...Read more

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — We received a cruel reminder Friday of just how much Tiger Woods still means to the PGA Tour, and to golf in general.

He is no longer the Old Tiger, more like an old Tiger. He has a new personally-branded line of apparel — named after those red shirts he always wore on those Sundays when he was in the hunt — ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Has there ever been an influencer like Tiger Woods?

Yes, that’s a rhetorical question. Because, no, of course not.

How could you even begin to quantify how many golfers are golfers because of him? How would you truly measure his impact? Gigantic seems too little.

But there’s influence and then there’s infrastructure — ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods will have a new look when he hosts and plays in the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades this week.

In a lot of ways, it will be pretty similar to his old look.

Weeks after Woods parted ways with longtime sponsor Nike, the legendary golfer famous for wearing red on Sundays has ...Read more

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — A few hours after delaying the fourth round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, officials canceled play for the day Sunday and scheduled the pending final round for Monday.

Strong winds and rain Saturday continued overnight. By mid-morning Sunday, the rain had eased, but the winds had just picked up strength, often blowing...Read more

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The new era of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am became historic Saturday but not because the tournament was cut in half, played without a cut or is offering a $20 million purse.

Instead, Wyndham Clark made the history, shooting a 12-under-par 60 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, the lowest score ever posted on the course, in the ...Read more