8:56 PM ET Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas — Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay thrust their fists in celebration with birdies on the final hole to win, the kind of emotions typical for a final round. In the Dell Technologies Match Play, every day can feel like Sunday. The opening round of group play Wednesday featured
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Jordan Spieth has a penchant for finding trouble off the tee. He also has a flair for extricating himself from these self-inflicted dilemmas. Still, the escape he pulled Thursday morning at Austin C.C. was so brazen it makes Andy Dufresne’s getaway from Shawshank look like child’s play. Spieth’s first swing of the day against Matthew
When you think about the history of the Walker Cup, Bob Lewis Jr.’s impact is muted by the passing of time and forgetfulness. Beginning with the 2005 squad he captained to a nail-biting 12½-11½ victory, Team USA holds a 6-2 edge over Great Britain & Ireland in the biennial competition, increasing its overall advantage in
10:36 AM ET Water hazards are part of golf. A pond here. A lake there. Throw in a couple of oceans, even an island green. Typically, though, pools don’t often come into play on the PGA Tour. Well, Rory McIlroy has been struggling — even he admits that — so anything is possible. On the
If you’ve earned your way into the WGC-Dell Match Play field, you can quite literally beat any golfer on the planet, especially in a format as impossible to predict as match play. This week, there really is no such thing as an “upset.” But reminding people of that fact makes you “that guy” at parties,
Jon Rahm ‘ready to go’ at any time with first child due during Masters Jon Rahm, whose first child is due during Masters week, said Tuesday that “being a father is much more important than any golf event would ever be” and that he was ready to head home at a moment’s notice.
AUSTIN — There’s a joy in watching somebody do what they’re best at in life, and the joy is compounded when that person is the best in the world at what they’re best at in life. The glaciers will melt, the seas will boil, and when it’s time to draw one last breath of toxic
Golf as refuge—my favorite subject. Now the challenge isn’t a pandemic, but politics. As we return to our courses this spring, I’m concerned that the divisiveness in the country might spill over into golf. Do we simply check our politics at the clubhouse door and avoid all conversation about the news, or does the civility
3:13 PM ET Jon Rahm is considered among the favorites to win the Masters in a few weeks, but the golfer said that recommendation should come with an asterisk: His wife, Kelley, is expecting the couple’s first child. “All I can say is if anybody’s thinking of betting on me [at] the Masters, maybe think
Which players might have an advantage to advance from their groups? And what stats will be key to winning the 2021 WGC-Match Play? Our “Be Right” experts, plus Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan—who joined us from on-site at Austin Country Club—offer their analysis and best bets for this week. Ryan, who has covered this event for
8:00 AM ET Christiaan Bezuidenhout does not remember what happened. He was just 2 years old at the time. All these years later, though, he knows how close he came to death. Bezuidenhout, 26, might be the best golfer in the world you don’t know about. He has climbed to 35th in the Official World
Of course, this is bound to be a wild week. Just like the basketball tournaments, upsets are aplenty at the WGC-Match Play. In the last edition (2019), only five of the 16 top seeds advanced to the Round of 16—and that’s a historical trend. Per Justin Ray of the 15th club, only 36 percent of
When the PGA Tour brought the Rocket Mortgage Classic to Detroit Golf Club in 2019, diversity and inclusion were a top priority for the tournament. In a city with the largest Black population in the United States, they had to be. In turn, the event was awarded the tour’s inaugural Fair Way Award for, among
8:15 PM ET Two weeks before the Masters, Rory McIlroy is making a formal coaching addition, tapping longtime instructor Pete Cowen to help with his game. McIlroy has sought help from Cowen in recent weeks at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship and now will have the Englishman on board in a more
Take this stat: In 2019 (the event was cancelled last year), 35 percent of lineups were created sub-optimally, meaning they had absolutely no chance to win the contest’s top prize. The structure of your lineups—if done successfully—will give you a better chance than most weeks just from the start. Make sure the six players in
4:55 PM ET A bone chip in his left hand suffered in 2018 may have been part of the reason why Jordan Spieth struggled for a good bit of time since his last victory on the PGA Tour at the 2017 Open. Spieth, reluctant to give much detail or use it as an excuse, said
The past couple of days of NCAA March Madness have wetted our appetite for golf’s version. The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play commences on Wednesday (fill out your brackets or get your bets in accordingly!), and the field is star-studded, as you’d expect for a WGC. All 10 of the top-10 ranked players in the world
Type the name Matt Jones into the Google search engine and out spits a list of suggestions from the tech behemoth that indicates the guy might be a great golfer, but it’s his good fortune enjoying betrothment to a certain former Miss Idaho that stirs perhaps the most interest in the Australian native. That short
6:36 PM ET Associated Press PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — When Matt Jones won his first PGA Tour title seven years ago, he needed a 45-foot birdie putt just to get into a playoff and then a 40-yard chip-in to take the victory. This win was far less dramatic, yet just as meaningful. It got
Brooks Koepka cast further doubt on his status for the upcoming Masters after he posted images to his Twitter and Instagram accounts on Sunday that show the four-tine major champion on crutches and with a bandage on his right knee. “Only 1 way to go from here,” the cryptic caption read, with an arrow pointing
10:35 AM ET South Africa’s Justin Harding produced a flawless final round of five-under-par 66 at the Kenya Open on Sunday to seal a two-shot victory over Kurt Kitayama and his second European Tour title. Overnight leader Harding, whose maiden tour win came two years ago at the Qatar Masters, maintained his composure amid a
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin in late July following a one-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the global event will be closed off to the rest of the world. After weeks of rumors and reports, organizers officially announced the Summer Games will not allow international spectators. “Currently, the COVID-19 situation in
The beauty of a course like PGA National is that no lead is safe. Both Matt Jones and Aaron Wise have found this out in excruciating fashion over the first three rounds at the Honda Classic. First, it was Jones, who matched the course record on Thursday with a nine-under 61, which gave him a
6:56 PM ET Associated Press PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Aaron Wise had a six-shot lead during the third round of The Honda Classic, looking poised to turn the tournament into a rout. Everything went wrong from there, and Matt Jones took full advantage. Jones, a 40-year-old Australian, handled the wind at PGA National to
It’s a psychological ploy with which any disconsolate golfer can relate. Call it self-preservation. When things get tough on the course, just stop caring. It lessens the pain, takes the edge off, and maybe—just maybe—it frees up the mind for more satisfying results. Korn Ferry Tour Roberto Diaz is taking that I-don-give-a-crap philosophy to a
1:46 PM ET Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya — Justin Harding will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the European Tour’s Kenya Open after a 7-under 64 on Saturday. The South African moved to 16 under overall at Karen Country Club. American Johannes Veerman is one of three players sharing second place after
Five of the top 64 players—Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Gary Woodland and Justin Rose—will not be in Austin next week for the WGC-Match Play. The five names, while of the household variety, are not unexpected dropouts. Woods is sidelined for the foreseeable future as he recovers from a single-car crash in Los Angeles
Things aren’t getting any easier for the European Tour. Following what proved to be an unsuccessful offer from the PGA Tour to host three tournaments in Florida next month, the Old World circuit on Friday announced the postponement of the Portugal Masters. The Tenerife Open, originally scheduled for April 15-18, will now take the place
7:06 PM ET Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Scott Hend and Kalle Samooja shared a one-shot lead on Friday after two rounds of the European Tour’s Kenya Open. Hend shot the joint best round of the day with a 7-under 64 to move 11 under overall. The Australian had eight birdies and only one
As of Tuesday night he was 2,000 miles away from the tournament site. Wasn’t in the event until Wednesday. Never got a chance to play a practice round. So how the heck is Brandon Hagy in contention at the Honda Classic? “It’s been a funny week,” Hagy conceded. “You know, maybe I’m feeling like I’m