Category: Golf

• 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.”

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• American golfer showered by crowd after ace on Watering Hole
• Cameron Smith makes steady start on day one at Grange Golf Club

American Patrick Reed has sparked wild scenes and been showered in drinks after sinking a hole-in-one during the first round of the LIV Golf event in Adelaide.

The former US Masters champion aced the famous watering hole on just his second hole of the day as the tournament got off to a raucous start at Grange Golf Club on Friday.

• Broadcaster to show 41 rounds from 41 tournaments
• The 2025 LIV season has just started in Saudi Arabia

LIV Golf has struck its latest blow to the sport’s establishment by securing a free-to-air television deal in the UK. ITV will screen 41 rounds from 41 tournaments of the Saudi Arabian-backed rebel tour in what marks a stark change for golf in the UK broadcast market.

The BBC’s gradual withdrawal from showing live golf means Sky essentially controls all coverage of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and majors. It had been widely assumed there was no appetite for free-to-air golf in this market. However, LIV surprisingly announced it had bucked the trend just as its 2025 season teed off in Riyadh. Round two of that event will be the first to appear on ITV.

• Former world No 1 announces death of mother at 78
• Kultida Woods attended son’s TGL match last week

Tiger Woods announced on Tuesday that his mother Kultida had passed away, paying tribute to her as “my biggest fan”.

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I want to share that my dear mother, Kultida Woods, passed away early this morning,” the 15-time major champion wrote on Instagram.

• McIlroy highlights include eagle on par-five 14th
• Ireland’s Shane Lowry secures second on his own

Rory McIlroy claimed the 27th PGA Tour title of his career with an impressive victory at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. McIlroy made an eagle and five birdies in a superb final round of 66 to finish 21 under par, a shot outside the tournament record set by Brandt Snedeker in 2015.

Playing partner Shane Lowry birdied the 18th to secure outright second on 19 under, with Justin Rose making an eagle on the same hole to share third place with American Lucas Glover. “Some people would argue the golf courses I have won on are not up to a Pebble Beach or an Augusta, but to win at one of the cathedrals of golf is really, really cool,” McIlroy told CBS.

• Irish golfers hit perfect shots at first round in California
• Rory McIlroy hits 66 and trails Russell Henley by two

Rory McIlroy celebrated a hole-in-one on his way to carding a score of 66 in the opening round at California’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The 35-year-old Northern Irishman found the cup with a sand wedge on the par-three 15th hole at Spyglass Hill Golf Course and will now head into Friday’s second round sitting two shots behind leader Russell Henley.

The hole-in-one marked the second career ace for McIlroy, who made his first during the 2023 Travellers Championship.

• Europeans get a taste of Bethpage mood over PA system
• Luke Donald says tournament has ‘massive importance’

Luke Donald gave his potential Ryder Cup players a taste of what to expect at Bethpage as he hailed the “massive importance” of this week’s Team Cup. Footage posted on social media showed players forced to listen to chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A” over the PA system before practice rounds at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.

The Team Cup, which effectively filled the gap left by the Seve Trophy, was revived in 2023 to boost Europe’s chances of regaining the Ryder Cup, a move which paid off with a resounding victory under Donald’s captaincy in Rome. Donald will captain the side again in New York in September – where a hostile atmosphere is expected – and is also overseeing the Team Cup, where Francesco Molinari will bid for a second win as captain of Continental Europe against a Great Britain and Ireland side led by Justin Rose.