Golf
Rory McIlroy was one stroke back, and Phil Mickelson was way back after carding a 78.
Series has some serious cash and serious PR issues, but money rules the world.
Mickelson said his preference would be “to be able to choose which path I’d like. One or the other or both.”
PGA champion Justin Thomas and four-time major champion Rory McIlroy welcomed the decision.
In return for tons of money, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, et al., are willing to overlook Saudi Arabia’s horrific record on human rights.
The USGA decision announced Tuesday puts the open nature of the championship over a player’s decision to play in the Saudi-funded rival league.
Woods looked strong in the early parts of the PGA Championship in May but struggled with his injuries in the second and third rounds.
Mickelson will be joining Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and three other former major champions in a 54-hole tournament at Centurion Golf Club with $25 million in prize money and $4 million going to the individual winner.
White, who works a handful of Fire games and co-hosts a team-produced podcast, joined the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour as its lead play-by-play announcer.
Bryant, who once beat Tiger Woods to win the biggest paycheck of his career, was killed when a truck slammed into his SUV while he was stopped in a line of vehicles on a central Florida road for a construction crew.
He defeated Will Zalatoris in a three-hole aggregate playoff at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Hours after Woods limped his way to a 9-over 79 in the third round at Southern Hills, he informed the PGA of America of his withdrawal.
Zalatoris hit the ball on the button whether he was in the fairway or the rough, running off three straight birdies in gentler afternoon conditions for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Mito Pereira of Chile.
Tiger Woods winced his way to a 4-over 74 on the same course where he won the 2009 PGA.
Both have thrown their support behind LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed company operating out of a country known for its human rights abuses.
The debut tour stop will be June 21-23 at Cog Hill Golf Club.
Bet on it: Allow handicapper Wes Reynolds to give you some Major suggestions
Scottie Scheffler joined Ian Woosnam in 1991 as the only players to win a major — the Masters in both cases — in their debuts at No. 1 in the world.
Tiger Woods shot a third-round 78 and is 16 shots behind
In his debut as the No. 1 player in the world, Scheffler looked the part. He was bogey-free on the final 15 holes for a 5-under-par 67, tying the Masters record by building a five-shot lead going into the weekend.
“He looks the exact same,” Fred Couples said when asked to compare Woods’ present state with how he looked back in 2018 and 2019 during a practice round at Augusta National.
Woods will play nine more practice holes on Wednesday before making a final decision, but will be doing so with the intention of playing Thursday. “As of right now,” Woods said, “I feel like I’m going to play.”
Woods has not said anything publicly that suggested he would be ready to play his first major — and first PGA Tour event — since the Masters in November 2020.
Woods has a record-tying 82 wins on the PGA Tour, along with 15 majors
Mickelson said that it was worth getting in bed with the Saudis, despite their history of human rights abuses, if it meant a chance to change the PGA Tour.
Goalby was among the players who led the move to create what is now the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.
It can’t be easy for Jim Nantz to give up a visit to Torrey Pines. But when it conflicts with his biggest NFL broadcast of the season, he’ll do what he must.
It’s one thing for the 15-time major champion to play with 12-year-old son Charlie. It’s another to tee it up in front of thousands of spectators and on network TV.
The unofficial event is Woods’ first time in a tournament since seriously injuring his leg in a vehicle accident in February.
The superstar golfer had nothing to say about his February car wreck in his first news conference since the crash.