The “Open” part of the U.S. Women’s Open was missing in 2020, the USGA salvaging the championship in December at Champions Golf Club in Houston while sacrificing the qualifying process due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the dream of anybody entering the event and having the chance to win has been rekindled for 2021, with
News
8:48 PM ET Associated Press KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Lydia Ko went low again, shooting a 9-under 63 at Kapolei Golf Club on Thursday to take a 3-stroke lead midway through the second round at the Lotte Championship. Ko, a two-time major champion who’s seeking her first win since 2018, is 24 under par her last
Brace yourselves, folks. Scorching hot take incoming. Cameron Smith is a better golfer than he is a fisherman. Now that you’ve recovered from that five-alarm fire, we will provide the proof to back it up. Prior to settling Harbour Town ablaze with a nine-under 62 on Thursday in the first round of the RBC Heritage,
It’s a moment that only happens once in a player’s career, if it happens at all—that transitional day, or week, or month, when he steps out of the shadow of relative anonymity and becomes Somebody You Know. If you’re a serious golf fan, 24-year-old Will Zalatoris has been on your radar for a while now.
1:07 AM ET Associated Press KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Fast finishes put Yuka Saso and Brittany Altomare at the top of the Lotte Championship leaderboard Wednesday morning with rounds of 8-under 64. No one caught them in ideal afternoon conditions at Kapolei Golf Club. Fourth-ranked Nelly Korda came closest, shooting a 65 that left her tied
The putts weren’t falling on Brittany Altomare’s front nine on Wednesday in the opening round of the LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship in Hawaii. She decided it was time for a mid-round analysis and had her caddie, Charlie Ryan, read the first couple of putts after the turn as she played the front nine at Kapolei
7:04 PM ET ESPN News Services Hideki Matsuyama made history on Sunday as the first male golfer from Japan to win a major championship. Ten years after making a sterling debut as the best amateur at Augusta National, Matsuyama claimed the ultimate trophy with a victory in the Masters. Matsuyama, 29, closed with a 1-over
A fascinating detail emerged from Hilton Head earlier this week when an operations worker at the RBC Heritage tweeted out a photo of the back side of the driving range at Harbour Town, where a secondary net supported by two boom lifts rose above the regular net at the back of the range, jutting out
Because as challenging as closing the deal on becoming the first Japanese-born male golfer to win a major championship clearly was during Sunday’s frenetic finish, now the shy, workman-like Matsuyama stands at the forefront of what one long-time Japanese golf business observer called “an epoch-making event.” Japan may comfortably stand as the world’s second largest
11:04 AM ET The PGA Tour is putting a retail sportsbook at TPC Scottsdale, one of golf’s most raucous environments. The PGA Tour announced Tuesday that DraftKings will operate the first-of-its-kind sportsbook at TPC Scottsdale and become the exclusive sports betting partner of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Three locations at TPC Scottsdale are being
Brooke Henderson was flying higher than a flock of Canadian geese at the end of 2019. She had just set the record for the most LPGA wins (nine) by a Canadian in only five years on tour and polished off her fourth straight season with multiple victories. At 22, her career trajectory was as high
1:54 PM ET The PGA Tour will no longer require players and caddies who are fully vaccinated to take weekly COVID-19 tests at tournament sites as a condition of competition. The Tour sent a memo to players that was obtained by ESPN that lays out the broad details, with more information to come. “As the
Juli Inkster is a two-time U.S. Women’s Open winner (1999, 2002) who has played in the USGA’s signature women’s championship 35 times during her Hall of Fame career, the last in 2014. However, she’s hoping to make it 36. The 60-year-old has signed up to compete in a 36-hole qualifier at Half Moon Bay Golf
Sunday evening’s post-Masters swoon was very real, this year especially. There won’t another one in six months like we had this year, which means the 12-month wait for the next one will feel more like 24 months. But there’s a very quick way to get your post-Masters fix – the Western Intercollegiate, which is being
8:33 PM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — Xander Schauffele, perhaps the best golfer on the planet without a major championship victory, stood on the tee box at the par-3 16th in Sunday’s final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Schauffele had just made four consecutive birdies to cut Hideki Matsuyama‘s lead to 2
SAN DIEGO — Through all of the logistical challenges that COVID-19 has created for professional golf tournaments, from safety protocols to testing to managing fans on-site, it appears that the two biggest events on the USGA’s calendar this year—both scheduled for California in June—are going to come down to a problem that few saw coming:
12:54 AM ET Associated Press TOKYO — Led by Japan’s prime minister, the country celebrated golfer Hideki Matsuyama‘s victory in the Masters — the first Japanese player to win at Augusta National and pull on the famous green jacket. “It was really wonderful,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said with his country struggling to pull off
You’re forgiven if you have a bit of a Masters hangover after last week. So will some of the players as they arrive at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C.—a favorite stop of many on the PGA Tour. The field is stacked, despite Bryson DeChambeau withdrawing on Monday, with five of the
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Japan, rejoice. Hideki Matsuyama satisfied the cravings of a golf-mad nation by winning the Masters, becoming the first man from the Land of the Rising Sun to win a major championship. That will be the enduring memory from the 2021 Masters. But, as always, a golf tournament is about so much more
6:39 AM ET The Masters came upon us quickly in 2021, with the previous installment having just ended only five months earlier and without another major championship between them. Dustin Johnson’s time with the green jacket was short, and Hideki Matsuyama lifted up a nation in winning this one. Here are a few things we
Until Hideki Matsuyama gave Japan its first major championship in the men’s game with his one-stroke victory Sunday in the 85th Masters, Isao Aoki had come the closest to winning a major title, finishing second in a duel with Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. The first
9:14 PM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — Hideki Matsuyama smiled as he walked from the front nine to the back on Sunday, never looking toward the giant scoreboard to his right. He held a three-shot lead in the Masters, going out in 2 under. Nine holes remained between him and a major championship, the first ever
Jon Rahm was 11 strokes off the lead when he teed off Sunday at the Masters, where, with a deficit that large, the afternoon was more about simply trying to shoot the lowest score he could, enjoying the walk around Augusta National and perhaps picking up some crystal. Then he birdied the first, eagled the
Eighteen holes separate Hideki Matsuyama from Masters enshrinement. His would be the rare win that transcends self, as his home nation of Japan desperately craves its first male major championship winner. Certainly Matsuyama is a fitting candidate: 14 worldwide wins, seven career major top-10s, four Presidents Cup appearances and reaching as high as No. 2
8:57 PM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — A dangerous weather situation that caused the evacuation of Augusta National and was followed by a brief period of heavy rain was all it took to throw Justin Thomas off his game and out of contention at the Masters. Things were going quite well for Thomas before weather intervened.
If Hideki Matsuyama wins the Masters on Sunday, he won’t be a stranger to Augusta National Golf Club’s Butler Cabin. In 2011, the 19-year-old Asian Amateur Championship winner from Japan earned low-amateur honors and sat beside Charl Schwartzel during the green jacket ceremony. It was a triumphant moment for the teen, but unfortunately, his mind
8:45 PM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — For the first nine holes on Saturday, the leaderboard at the Masters was crowded. Then, after a weather delay, Hideki Matsuyama blistered the second nine at Augusta National, shooting 30 on his way to a 7-under 65 in the only bogey-free round at this place this year. So can
The PGA Tour will no longer require fully vaccinated players to take COVID-19 tests in order to play in events. The tour informed players of the decision in an email earlier this week, a copy of which was obtained by Golf Digest. “As the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more readily available, more individuals are being
By now you are likely aware there are limited fans at Augusta National this week, as evidenced by the mere smattering of people in the background of golf shots. In the absence of official figures—Augusta National is not big on those—the popular estimate is there are about 20 percent of fans in attendance compared to
8:17 PM ET AUGUSTA, Georgia — Defending Masters champion Dustin Johnson won’t be around for the weekend at Augusta National Golf Club after missing the cut. Neither will four-time major winners Brooks Koepka or Rory McIlroy. But after England’s Justin Rose came back to the field a little bit in Friday’s second round, there still