Category: Golf

One of the nation's most storied golf courses is dealing with the aftermath of Helene, the former Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on Friday

One of the nation’s most storied golf courses is dealing with the aftermath of Helene, the former Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on Friday and was downgraded to a tropical depression as it continued its wrath into Georgia on Friday.

Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement Saturday officials still are assessing how much damage was done to the iconic course, which has hosted the annual Masters Tournament since 1934. Augusta, Georgia, is located in the eastern portion of the state, along the border of South Carolina.

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Former Nigeria international on starting in slippers, hoping to inspire African golfers and that attempt to join QPR

“It’s unbelievable,” says Peter Odemwingie. “I never thought I could get so obsessed with this game.” On a cloudy Tuesday afternoon in the affluent northern suburbs of Birmingham, the former West Brom, Stoke and Nigeria striker has just ripped a drive well beyond 300 yards down the third fairway at Sutton Coldfield golf club.

Watched by Odemwingie and his friend and fellow pro Lewis Pearce from nearby Aston Wood golf club – not to mention Pearce’s pet dachshund, George – it is soon my turn to step up to the tee. Having somehow scrambled a par to win the first, my early advantage has evaporated thanks to a miscued tee shot into the trees at the second. With the match level, the pressure is on. But sadly my tee shot fails to get off the ground and comes to rest in a big patch of heather no more than 80 yards away.

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• LIV players get OK to be on US Ryder Cup team
• Rebel circuit players also eligible for US PGA

Players signed to the LIV Golf circuit will be allowed to take part in the PGA Championship and be a member of the US Ryder Cup team, the PGA of America announced Thursday.

“To ensure the PGA Championship will continue to deliver the strongest field in golf and the US Ryder Cup team will continue to have access to the best American players, the PGA of America board has determined that LIV Golf players will be eligible for both,” the organization said in a statement posted to social media.

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• Europe player says it was a ‘bitter pill to swallow’
• USA won match by three points to regain trophy

The Solheim Cup had not even ­finished before recriminations around the defeated European team began but Suzann Pettersen, the captain, appears unmoved by any criticism of her leadership.

Leona Maguire used the ­immediate aftermath of a singles win against Ally Ewing to take what was barely even a veiled swipe at Pettersen. Maguire, a star of Europe’s success in Toledo three years ago who was prominent again in Spain in 2023, featured in only one of four sessions before the Sunday singles. She said this was a “bitter pill to swallow” and, while insisting she was a “team player”, appeared to question Pettersen’s judgment.

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Men’s golf is still divided despite last year’s framework agreement and Luke Donald’s 2025 team could be weakened

Jon Rahm has made his second decision. Only time will tell if this proves more successful than his first. If not, Europe’s Ryder Cup scene is about to get messier than anybody could have expected.

By his own admission, Rahm anticipated the pace of play towards collaboration in elite men’s golf to be considerably sharper than has proven the case. He probably even expected his switch to LIV last December to accelerate talks between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and traditional tours. Instead, the sport remains in a state of flux. Each entity ploughs its own furrow.

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• Home glory slips from grasp as Rasmus Højgaard wins
• Lapse at the death follows his collapse at US Open in June

Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard produced a brilliant finish to win the Amgen Irish Open as Rory McIlroy suffered a second heartbreaking loss of the year.

McIlroy looked on course to claim his first professional win on home soil when he led by two shots with four holes to play at Royal County Down, just an hour from where he grew up. But while Højgaard completed a superb closing 65 with four birdies in the last five holes, McIlroy crucially bogeyed the 17th and then agonisingly missed an eagle putt on the 18th which would have forced a playoff.

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It was closer than many expected at the start of the day, but the USA held firm as Europe threatened a comeback, Lilia Vu emerging as the hero who regained the cup for the hosts

Megan Khang is good for her birdie on 1, and it’s enough to win the opening hole for the USA. The first splash of red on the board. But there’s also a first splash of blue, as Charley Hull does a classic matchplay number on Nelly Korda at 2. Korda clips her second to four feet, but Hull, using a combination of backstop and backspin, responds by guiding her approach to three feet. Korda, who must have thought the hole was in the bag, misses her putt. Hull tidies up and it’s not taken long for Singles Sunday to get going. Not long at all.

1UP Hull v Korda (2)
Pedersen v Khang 1UP (1)
Hall v Alison Lee

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• Day two updates, play from 12.05pm BST in Gainesville
• Report from day one | And you can drop Scott an email

The anchor match is out and about. Anna Nordqvist tees off and immediately looks at her partner with concern. Where did that ball go? She lost it in the sun. No worries, it’s straight down the middle. Nordqvist was serenaded with a chorus of “We love you Anna, we do, oh Anna we love you!” but that’s nothing compared to the mighty roars ringing in Lilia Vu’s ears as she splits the fairway. It’s all happening, then!

Lexi Thompson and Maja Stark take turns to send average approaches into 1. Thompson on the fringe front right, from where Lauren Coughlin will give Georgia Hall a read, because Europe’s ball is in the road, ten feet further up.

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• Updates from 12.05pm BST start time in Gainesville
• Event’s close contests is what golf needs | And mail Scott

This morning’s final foursomes match turns up for work. Carlota Ciganda, Europe’s hero last time round, looks well up for the battle. So too does the US’s second rookie, Sarah Schmelzel, who dances her way out of the tunnel and onto the tee. No obvious sign of nerves there. Hey, it helps when the world number two, Lilia Vu, has your back. Ciganda smiles wryly as she carves her opening drive into thick nonsense down the right. Vu, who came so close to retaining her British Open title last month, flirts with a fairway bunker but finds the short stuff. Everyone up and running now!

Match three is out. Emily Pedersen finds the first cut down the left, as does Ally Ewing. Up on the green, Celine Boutier makes up for finding the sand by draining a 25-footer to save par. Lauren Coughlin has a 15-footer to win the hole, but races her birdie putt three feet past. It’s not conceded, but Rose Zhang tidies up, then mimes a slam dunk by way of celebration. A huge smile as she leaves the grene.

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