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10:48 PM ET Associated Press THE COLONY, Texas — Jin Young Ko chipped in for eagle on the par-4 15th and finished a bogey-free 32-hole Saturday in near darkness with a one-stroke lead in the Volunteers of America Classic. Ko returned to overcast and breezy Old American early Saturday, playing the final 14 holes for

DETROIT—Troy Merritt didn’t lose his mind after his first career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour, even if some around him—especially some young fans standing beside the 11th tee box—were having trouble containing their excitement. But what he did lose was momentum. His ace on the 218-yard par-3 11th hole at Detroit Golf Club gave him

3:48 AM ET Overnight leader Lucas Herbert opened up a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Irish Open, carding 67 in the second round on Friday to go 13 under at the Mount Juliet Estate in Thomastown. Having carded an 8-under-par 64 on Thursday to set the clubhouse target, the Australian was three

DETROIT—After Phil and Rickie and Bryson and Bubba, perhaps the most popular player in this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic who also is recognized by just his first name is Willie. He is the hometown favorite whose followers wear T-shirts with his face printed on it. And he is advancing to the weekend in a PGA

The reporters wanted to make the angle work, and Max Homa just kept shooting them down. Homa won his first PGA Tour event in February on one of his favorite golf courses in the world, Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. Riviera is tight and lined with eucalyptus and sycamore trees. This week’s venue for

10:25 PM ET Associated Press THE COLONY, Texas — Matilda Castren shot a 5-under 66 after a six-hour storm delay Friday to take the lead in the suspended second round of the Volunteers of America Classic. With the start of play delayed by lightning and rain, the 26-year-old former Florida State star from Finland had

With the constant cheers that echoed around Phil Mickelson on Friday at Detroit Golf Club, you wouldn’t have known that a day earlier he had all but said he was going to abandon the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Mickelson, appearing in his first Rocket Mortgage, was miffed on Thursday when a story in The Detroit News

2:30 PM ET Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and withdrew from the Rocket Mortgage Classic, putting his status for The Open in two weeks in question. Matsuyama’s agent and interpreter, Bob Turner, said it was too soon to say what the ramifications would be and that details were being discussed.

Annika Sorenstam will be one of three women to accept membership at Pine Valley Golf Club, the club announced in an email to its membership early Friday morning, ending Pine Valley’s 108-year history as a male-only club. Sorenstam, a 10-time major champion and 72-time winner on the LPGA Tour, will be joined by highly accomplished

12:35 AM ET ESPN News Services Phil Mickelson entered the Rocket Mortgage Classic this week in Detroit for the first time in the event’s three-year history, but he said on Thursday it will be his last appearance. Mickelson said he won’t return because of a story published this week by The Detroit News, which obtained

Outspoken PGA tour veterans like Kevin Kisner and Joel Dahmen often talk about how shocking it is to see how good young players are almost immediately after college. Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff served as the prime examples over the last two seasons. There are plenty of others we could name too, including

DETROIT – In this the year of rediscovery among some of the very best in the golf ranks, Jason Day is just getting started, but thanks to a young boy, a hardened mental coach, and the rekindling of belief in himself, the process is showing promise. Coming on the heels of a decent showing at

1:57 PM ET Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy has fallen eight shots behind the leader in the first round of the Irish Open on the European tour. Coming into the event, McIlory was believed to be the hot favourite, but fell behind Australian Lucas Herbert who leads after Day One. The former world No. 1

The Open Championship is returning after a one-year hiatus with one more million dollars in the purse. The R&A announced on Wednesday that this year’s prize fund will total $11.5 million, an increase from the $10.5 million doled out two years ago at Royal Portrush. The overall increase also means that the payout total for

9:00 AM ET Coming off a marathon playoff won by Harris English at the Travelers, the PGA Tour now heads to Detroit for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Bryson DeChambeau enters as the defending champion. Which players are the favorites this time around, who offers good odds and what props are worthwhile this week at Detroit

Angela Stanford returns to defend her Volunteers of America Classic title as a bit of a lone veteran ranger. Over the last decade on the LPGA Tour, only four victories came from players over 40 years old. Stanford, now 43, is responsible for two of those—at Old American Golf Club last year and the 2018

Despite a number of player dropouts and, let’s be honest, a severe lack of buzz, golf remains a full go for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Those that will make the trip, however, seem quite excited, as they should be considering it could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Captain America himself Patrick Reed won’t be

2:33 PM ET A representative for Phil Mickelson took issue with a Detroit News report that linked the golfer to an alleged mob bookie in a 2007 trial. Mickelson, 51, is playing in the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Country Club for the first time. The story published Tuesday reported Mickelson’s ties to a bookie

Twitter is an odd place to start this story, but this is an odd story and that’s where it started. I was on my living room couch listening to an office-wide teleconference, which is to say I was aimlessly scrolling through social media, when this popped into my feed: “Billy Mayfair Reveals Autism Spectrum Disorder

1:05 PM ET Associated Press Nelly Korda goes to the Olympics as the No. 1 player in the world, and the Americans will have one extra player than they had in 2016. The 60-player field for Tokyo was set Tuesday, although players for the men’s and women’s competitions will not be certified until next week.

As any bettor knows, there’s no such thing as a sure thing—particularly when it comes to gambling on the PGA Tour. The fields are so deep with talent week to week: It makes our job as golf prognosticators quite challenging. This week, though, is not a difficult week to make a pick. Our experts have

As any degenerate gambler can attest, we’ve all gone the route of the mega, miracle parlay. It’s a literal lottery ticket, one that’s almost always a loser. But we continue to dream big, hoping that one day that nine-leg, cross-sport ticket will result in a massive pay day. That’s exactly what happened to one London-based

12:44 PM ET A London-based bettor won more than $1.36 million this week on a $15.50 bet, and it all came down to a 35-1 long shot battling in one of the longest playoffs in PGA Tour history. The bet — a six-leg parlay or accumulator as they are known in the United Kingdom —

Here’s that optimal lineup from last week at the Travelers: Perhaps another cheap lineup will be key again to making some money at the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic hosted at the North Course at Detroit Golf Club for just the third time. In those two previous editions, the winning score was well under-par (25-under and

5:43 PM ET The PGA Tour is set to end its COVID-19 weekly testing program at the end of July, regardless of vaccination status. Starting with the 3M Championship in Minneapolis, players will no longer need to produce a negative test before being able to compete. Only players who are unvaccinated and come in contact

Tim O’Neal is about to be 49 years old. At 17, Amari Avery could be his daughter. His granddaughter even. And there they both were at Detroit Golf Club on Monday, the very symbols of why the John Shippen National Invitational was molded into reality this year. Named after the first American-born golf professional and

With the Rolex Women’s World Rankings updated on Monday, the field was finalized for the third-ever Olympic women’s golf competition. The United States and South Korea are the two countries sending four players, with their competitors all within the top 15 of the world as of the June 28. All other nations were eligible for

6:44 PM ET Associated Press AKRON, Ohio — Steve Stricker won the Bridgestone Seniors Players Championship on Sunday at difficult Firestone for his second victory of the year and third major title. Eight strokes ahead in the third round and four in front entering the final round, Stricker closed with an even-par 70 for a

But there was one other factor, apparent to anyone who paid close enough attention: The way Phil inhaled, and the way he exhaled. “If you watched the final round, you’ll notice two things. One is he was very deliberate about breathing, but what they didn’t see was he was very deliberate about breathing out,” said

8:43 PM ET Associated Press CROMWELL, Conn. — Harris English birdied the eighth hole of sudden death to win the Travelers Championship on Sunday, beating Kramer Hickok after both birdied the final hole of regulation to force the playoff. It matched the second-longest sudden-death playoff in PGA Tour history. English shot a 5-under 65 to