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Associated Press Jul 27, 2023, 08:17 PM ET BLAINE, Minn. — Lee Hodges got off to a good start in his bid to make the FedEx Cup playoffs, shooting an 8-under 63 on Thursday for a one-stroke lead in the first round of the 3M Open. Two-time major champion Justin Thomas, who’s trying to make

It was an eventful first round for Nick Hardy at the 3M Open, but ultimately a successful one. He just needs to replace one of his clubs before Friday. In the matter of a few holes at TPC Twin Cities, the 27-year-old had one of the luckiest lip-ins and one of the most brutal lip-outs

Jul 27, 2023, 12:25 PM ET Former champion Cameron Champ withdrew from the 3M Open before Thursday’s opening round following the birth of his first child. Champ and his wife, Jessica Birdsong, welcomed a baby boy into their family Sunday night, according to Golfweek. Chris Stroud replaced Champ in the field at TPC Twin Cities

The Senate finance committee has introduced legislation that would revoke the PGA Tour’s tax exemption status and deem Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund ineligible for lucrative tax breaks. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the committee, announced two new bills Wednesday evening, “The Sports League Tax-Exempt Status Limitation Act” and “The Ending Tax Breaks for

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sent a wide-ranging memo to players Wednesday, informing membership of updates on its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund along with the tour’s stance against the USGA’s proposed rollback of the golf ball. Monahan, who returned to his job last week following a health-related absence, announced initiatives on a

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 26, 2023, 09:01 PM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia The PGA Tour has notified the R&A and the United States Golf Association that it will not support a proposed modified local rule that would allow tours

Cheating in professional golf isn’t prevalent, but it certainly happens from time to time as we were reminded by what took place at last week’s PGA Tour Canada event. Heck, we did (Plug alert!) an entire Local Knowledge podcast on it last year: But before you listen to that, let’s talk about an old story

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 26, 2023, 09:46 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia And just like that, the 2023 major championship season is over in men’s professional golf. Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka each won another major championship title. World

Ask 10 people to name the strangest major championship they can remember, and you might get 10 different answers: Jean Van de Velde, Chambers Bay, the COVID majors, and maybe even DiVicenzo’s scorecard error. Almost nobody will mention the year 1876, and the Open Championship at St. Andrews. At almost 150 years old, it’s buried

With his win last week in the Barracuda Championship that was played in Truckee, Calif., opposite of the Open Championship, Akshay Bhatia now has four top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, including three top-4s. The 21-year-old has earned $1.9 million, and in most cases, he’d be a lock to compete in the highly

Jul 25, 2023, 06:10 PM ET Erik van Rooyen will have a familiar face in his threesome when he tees off Thursday afternoon in the PGA Tour’s 3M Open. Alex Gaugert, who regularly caddies for the South African, earned a spot in this week’s field when he Monday qualified for the event. On Tuesday, tournament

In a heartbreaking post, LIV golfer Pat Perez said on Monday that his younger brother Mike, who was 43, has died. “This is the saddest day of my life,” Perez, 47, wrote on Instagram. “My little brother Mikey has passed. I don’t know what to say as I thought this day would never come. We

Associated Press Jul 23, 2023, 09:33 PM ET TRUCKEE, Calif. — Akshay Bhatia birdied the closing hole in regulation then capitalized in sudden death when Patrick Rodgers found a divot in the fairway. It was enough for Bhatia to win his first PGA Tour title at the Barracuda Championship on Sunday. The 21-year-old Bhatia, who

Looking for some part-time work in the Minneapolis area? Then, boy, do we have a nice gig for you. Well, one PGA Tour pro does, rather. It involves long hours and carrying a heavy bag, but there’s a big potential payoff. Of course, we’re talking about caddying. And one tour pro, Erik van Rooyen, is

As PGA Tour Canada officials continued an investigation into whether Justin Doeden had changed his scorecard after it was signed during last week’s Commissionaires Ottawa Open, the 28-year-old tour pro Minnesota native took to Twitter on Monday and confirmed that in fact he had cheated in the event. Doeden withdrew from the tournament after playing

Jul 24, 2023, 08:39 PM ET After another disappointing performance at the final major of the season, Justin Thomas entered next month’s Wyndham Championship, the final tournament of the PGA Tour regular season. The Wyndham will be a chance for Thomas to not only earn FedEx Cup points, but also to prove he belongs on

The question that we’re about to pose here is a tricky one, but first we want to make it clear what questions it’s not: It’s not a question of whether Brooks Koepka should be on the Ryder Cup team, and it’s not a question of whether Zach Johnson should use a captain’s pick on him

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJul 23, 2023, 05:26 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — The final major of the year has come and gone, and yet plenty of questions regarding the makeup of both the United States and European Ryder Cup teams still remain. Editor’s Picks 1 Related Nearly two months out from the event, the Open Championship

The most inspiring story in golf last week came 3,500 miles away from Royal Liverpool. Jane Park teed it up for the first time in two years on the LPGA Tour at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, making her first tour appearance since her now 2-year-old daughter, Grace, suffered brain seizures that led Park

The Barracuda Championship on Sunday came down to a tale of two prodigies, one a decade stuck in neutral, the other sprinting toward stardom—Patrick Rodgers, 31, vs. Akshay Bhatia, 21, in a playoff at the Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif. Bhatia, at 6-1 and 130 pounds a walking 2-iron, prevailed with a par on

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 23, 2023, 05:11 PM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — More than a dozen years later, Georgia men’s golf coach Chris Haack still remembers what Brian Harman said to him as he walked off

To listen to Brian Harman, he essentially won the Open Championship on Saturday, after hearing something from the gallery that did not sit well with him. The 36-year-old was fresh off a Friday 65, which was 8½ shots better than the field average for the day at Royal Liverpool. He was holding a large lead

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 22, 2023, 12:50 PM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — Matt Fitzpatrick was hoping his younger brother, Alex, would finish the third round of the 151st Open Championship at 2 under, so they’d have

Author’s note: During the 2014 season, when Brian Harman won his first PGA Tour event, I sat down with him for long interviews on two occasions. The excerpts that follow about how he got into golf are taken from those interviews and are presented with only light edits for clarity. Everything that follows is Harman

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — On a renowned site dedicated to flight, Kiara Romero committed the worst kind of faux pas, overshooting the runway on her approach. It is never a good time to do so, but it was especially egregious on the 36th hole of a national championship, the outcome hanging in the balance. Romero

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJul 22, 2023, 05:16 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — After 18 holes had passed on a wet and gloomy Saturday at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Max Homa and Rory McIlroy were separated by only one shot, but their outlooks on their games felt worlds apart. Editor’s Picks 2 Related McIlroy beelined to the

HOYLAKE, England — Whenever Tommy Fleetwood drives past the Southport Municipal course where he first played golf as a young lad, a broad grin lights up his famously bearded face. Every time, his eyes are drawn to a hump in the fairway about 50 yards or so off the first tee. “I can still remember

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJul 21, 2023, 03:50 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — Justin Thomas is trying to solve an impossible riddle. He knows it, but he still asks the question, still wonders aloud if there’s an answer to why he can go from hitting a shot befitting of the best player in the world, to hitting

There are a lot of lip readers on social media. Some may be professionals. Most are not. In the case of Xander Schauffele and what he said to reigning Open champion Cam Smith on the sixth tee Friday after he hit an excellent shot into the green on the par 3, the chatter was so,

HOYLAKE, England — In football terms, and we’ll put it in football terms because that was the language spoken by the Royal Liverpool galleries on Friday, Tommy Fleetwood’s five-shot deficit through 36 holes to Brian Harman at the Open Championship is not unlike his beloved Everton F.C. being a few goals down at halftime in