Category: Golf

• Australian forced to make changes to planned Augusta wardrobe
• Former No 1’s outfit fell short of tournament standards last year

Jason Day turned plenty of heads with his outfit choices at last year’s Masters but said on Tuesday he will not be sporting such bold ensembles this week after Augusta National requested he sport a more reserved look.

The Australian former world No 1, who left Nike in early 2024 to join Malbon Golf, had some interesting outfits ready for the year’s first major this week but has since had to make changes.

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After his ‘fairytale’ success last year, the Scottish golfer has his heart set on Masters glory

What a mistake it would be to presume the boy-next-door demeanour means a lack of competitive instinct. Robert MacIntyre’s love for Oban, shinty and all associated is endearing. He has also proved that he is perfectly comfortable in the company of golf’s aristocracy.

MacIntyre missed the module where sportspeople are advised not to speak about lifetime aspirations. Mention the Masters to the Scot and he lights up. Absence makes the heart grow fonder; after impressing at Augusta National in 2021 and 2022, he failed to qualify for the next two stagings. MacIntyre returns for the 89th edition as the 17th-ranked player in the world.

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• Golf left in limbo just days from opening major of season
• PGA Tour deems PIF’s demands unacceptable

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has failed in an attempt to persuade the PGA Tour to deliver serious concessions in exchange for a $1.5bn (£1.14bn) investment, leaving elite golf no closer to reconciliation just days from the season’s first major.

The PGA Tour’s stance will give credence to the rising sense that the organisation has increasing confidence in its position after a turbulent period caused by the formation of the Saudi-backed LIV Tour.

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• Turf at Turnberry’s Ailsa Course ripped up by protesters
• Course has been closed since October due to renovation

Turnberry’s famous Ailsa Course will not open as planned on 1 May after serious damage caused to the Ayrshire venue – owned by the US president, Donald Trump – by a pro-Palestine group. Tour operators and those with individual bookings at Turnberry are in the process of being informed it will be June before the Ailsa, which is routinely ranked among the finest golf courses in the world, is available for play.

The clubhouse at the Ayrshire resort was daubed with graffiti and red paint in the early hours of 8 March. More significant in respect of the championship course – that has staged the Open on four occasions – was the ripping up of greens and on turf approaching them. The course has been closed since October due to planned renovation of the 7th and 8th holes.

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• Golfer announces relationship on social media
• Vanessa Trump was married to Donald Trump Jr

Tiger Woods has confirmed he is in a relationship with Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump.

Woods announced the news on Sunday. “Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together,” Woods wrote on X to his 6.4 millions followers … At this time we would appreciate privacy for all those close to our hearts.”

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• Northern Irishman wins ‘fifth major’ for second time
• American opponent found water in three-hole decider

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrated St Patrick’s Day by winning a three-hole aggregate playoff against JJ Spaun to capture his second title at The Players Championship on Monday morning.

McIlroy took a one-shot lead when he birdied the par-five 16th hole, and the task of protecting that advantage became much easier when Spaun hit his tee shot over the famed island green at the par-three 17th and into the water.

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• Fred Couples speculated a PGA return would happen
• Koepka’s LIV contract runs through 2026

Brooks Koepka did not entirely dismiss recent comments by Fred Couples that the five-time major champion wants to return to the PGA Tour, but said that he does intend to fulfill his LIV Golf contract.

Couples stirred speculation about Koepka’s future by telling a Seattle radio station last week that he “really wants to come back and play the Tour.” Koepka said he texted with Couples after the comments were made, but that the two did not go into much detail about future plans.

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• Couples suggested Koepka may return to PGA Tour
• Mickelson offers fierce riposte on social media

Phil Mickelson has opened a war of words with a fellow Masters champion, accusing Fred Couples of a “low class jerk move” with comments relating to Brooks Koepka.

Speculation has swirled for some time that Koepka, who joined the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV circuit in a $100m deal in 2022, is seeking a return to the PGA Tour. The lack of competitive rounds available on LIV is supposedly of concern to Koepka. Couples fuelled that suggestion when speaking to a US radio station this week. “He wants to come back,” Couples said of Koepka. “I will say that I believe he really wants to come back and play the tour.”

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• Australian Ryan Peake served five years in jail for assault
• Former Rebels gang member wins New Zealand Open

Former motorcycle gang member Ryan Peake described his New Zealand Open triumph as a life-changing moment after victory booked his spot at the Open Championship.

The Australian claimed a one-shot win at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown, shooting a final-round 66 to finish on 23 under par. Peake’s victory comes after he served five years in prison for assault when he was a part of the Rebels biker gang.

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• Player pulls off feat at the South African Open in Durban
• Odds of two aces in one round estimated at 67,000,000-1

The Englishman Dale Whitnell made two holes-in-one during a once-in-a-lifetime round on day two of the South African Open.

The 36-year-old, whose DP World Tour breakthrough came in the 2023 Scandinavian Mixed, aced the 179-yard 2nd in soft, calm conditions at the Durban Country Club and then repeated the feat at the 149-yard 12th. It is estimated the odds of making two holes-in-one in the same round are 67 million to one.

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• Woods joins PGA delegation at White House on Thursday
• LIV representatives also present in Washington

Donald Trump’s involvement in professional golf’s peace talks has ramped up, with Tiger Woods among those afforded an audience with the US president at the White House on Thursday afternoon.

Woods joined the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, his fellow board member Adam Scott and representatives of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a meeting hosted by Trump amid increasing hopes the fractured sport can unite over the coming months. Key sticking points were expected to surround the precise role for Yasir al-Rumayyan, PIF’s governor, in golf’s new world and where the Saudi-established LIV Tour sits on the sport’s schedule.

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• PGA Tour board members met Trump at start of February
• ‘I think things are going to heal quickly’ says Woods

Tiger Woods has claimed LIV golfers could make a sensational return to the PGA Tour this year after the direct involvement of Donald Trump in the sport’s unification talks.

Elite golf has been in a fractured state since the launch of the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV circuit in 2022. A key upshot was the generally acrimonious departure of several big names from the PGA Tour to LIV. Despite the signing of a framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in the summer of 2023, the pace of progress has been glacial.

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• Chilean finishes on 13 under to beat Abraham Ancer by two shots
• Fireballs GC take home team crown at the Grange Golf Club

Chile’s Joaquin Niemann has produced a stunning final round to win LIV Golf’s Adelaide tournament.

Niemann carded a stellar seven-under 65 on Sunday at the Grange Golf Club to pip Mexican Abraham Ancer by two shots.

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