Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Nov. 30. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer.
On a rare windless day on the Oregon coast, Tom Doak stands a few strides from a cliff above the Pacific Ocean, gazing toward the flagstick of a long, downhill par 3. He takes a fast, fluid swing with a 4-iron but pulls his shot well left of the flag. We can't see where the ball has come to rest. "Believe it or not, that should still be okay," he says, smiling.
The world's most famous golf tournament, the Masters, takes place at Augusta National Golf Club every year. And so while relatively few golfers ever play the highly exclusive course, any fan is familiar with its signature features, from "Amen Corner" to the "Big Oak."
Since 1955, Sports Illustrated has been on the scene at the Masters. Here is a look back at 54 years of golf's greatest tournament:
The Swedish golf star and husband Mike McGee are expecting their first child
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 2. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.
NEW YORK -- Still awash in the afterglow of her Olympics win in Beijing, Elena Dementieva soaked in the magnitude of her golden moment as she flew back to her native Russia two weeks ago. Upon landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in a Moscow suburb, she was greeted by fans waving signs, flowers and flags.
The LPGA Tour boasts players from all over the world, and it wants all of them to be able to speak English
Duped tourists visiting St. Andrews will sometimes send postcards home describing the beauty of the city's most ancient links, the Old Course. Wish you were here! It's amusing, really. To me, the real postcard courses are in Ireland and Hawaii and on Scotland's west coast. Rolling duneland, crashing surf, long shadows, spongy green turf -- that whole thing. The Old Course -- in Fife, on the east coast -- is an ugly ole bastard, to my eye. The game's original 18-holer is hard and knobby, gray and urban and crowded, with weird, toothy animals darting in and out of the bushes at dusk. It's my favorite place in all of golf and all of sport. The place makes me happy. What can I say?
A smiling Irishman wins with good cheer, while Norman soars with brio and then does an all-too-familiar fade
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Nov. 30. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer.
On a rare windless day on the Oregon coast, Tom Doak stands a few strides from a cliff above the Pacific Ocean, gazing toward the flagstick of a long, downhill par 3. He takes a fast, fluid swing with a 4-iron but pulls his shot well left of the flag. We can't see where the ball has come to rest. "Believe it or not, that should still be okay," he says, smiling.
The world's most famous golf tournament, the Masters, takes place at Augusta National Golf Club every year. And so while relatively few golfers ever play the highly exclusive course, any fan is familiar with its signature features, from "Amen Corner" to the "Big Oak."
Since 1955, Sports Illustrated has been on the scene at the Masters. Here is a look back at 54 years of golf's greatest tournament:
The Swedish golf star and husband Mike McGee are expecting their first child
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 2. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.
NEW YORK -- Still awash in the afterglow of her Olympics win in Beijing, Elena Dementieva soaked in the magnitude of her golden moment as she flew back to her native Russia two weeks ago. Upon landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in a Moscow suburb, she was greeted by fans waving signs, flowers and flags.
The LPGA Tour boasts players from all over the world, and it wants all of them to be able to speak English
Duped tourists visiting St. Andrews will sometimes send postcards home describing the beauty of the city's most ancient links, the Old Course. Wish you were here! It's amusing, really. To me, the real postcard courses are in Ireland and Hawaii and on Scotland's west coast. Rolling duneland, crashing surf, long shadows, spongy green turf -- that whole thing. The Old Course -- in Fife, on the east coast -- is an ugly ole bastard, to my eye. The game's original 18-holer is hard and knobby, gray and urban and crowded, with weird, toothy animals darting in and out of the bushes at dusk. It's my favorite place in all of golf and all of sport. The place makes me happy. What can I say?
A smiling Irishman wins with good cheer, while Norman soars with brio and then does an all-too-familiar fade
Golf's U.S. Open teed off Thursday at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. We dug through the championship's history to find some crucial details (and trivial moments, too
Annika Sorenstam will retire after the season, ending an LPGA Tour career in which she has won 72 tournaments to date and delivered a defining moment when she teed it up against the men on the PGA Tour
Through the mist he appeared in a doorway of the Augusta National clubhouse, his forehead creased, his eyes heavy from haunted sleep. Out stepped Lee Elder, dressed in shades of green, carrying his thoughts into the moist Georgia morning. For months the hate mail had said he would never make it to this day in April 1975. Watch your step when you get to Augusta, other letter writers warned him. There will be blood.
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 3. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.
Justin Timberlake has the dance moves – but how's his golf game?
TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- At times Tuesday, it was hard to tell if Phil Mickelson was a promoter for the PGA Tour or a contender for the PGA Championship.
TULSA, Okla. -- It seemed like 2000 again in Akron, Ohio, on Sunday, when Tiger Woods won the Bridgestone Invitational by eight strokes, lapping the field at Firestone Country Club. It was the sixth time he's won on Firestone's South Course.
Home Girls St. Andrews finally opened its arms to the greatest female players in the world last week, and the Women's British Open at the Home of Golf was a raging success, although two blips kept it from being all it could have been. First, number 17, the Road Hole, a 453-yard par-4 in Open Championships, was played from the normal tee but as a par-5, making par for the course 73. The reason: Officials feared that bad weather would make the hole unreachable. Really? Why couldn't they simply find a forward teeing ground to use in foul conditions instead of messing with history, the most storied second shot in golf and the value of par? Second, the pace of play was atrocious, with multiple six-hour rounds clogging the course. Earlier this year the LPGA did an admirable job of establishing and enforcing new pace-of-play regulations. Rounds were noticeably faster, and the players were policing themselves beautifully. Since mid-May, though, the pace seems to have crept backward. Granted,
AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Tiger Woods looked as unbeatable as everSunday at Firestone.
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) -- Lorena Ochoa won her first major title Sunday with a four-stroke victory at the Women's British Open - the first women's professional tournament played at venerable St. Andrews.
AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- No longer affiliated with Tiger Woods or the tournament he won five times, American Express signed an endorsement deal Friday with the PGA of America that showed how it has shifted its strategy in golf.
AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- No longer affiliated with Tiger Woods or the tournament he won five times, American Express signed an endorsement deal Friday with the PGA of America that showed how it has shifted its strategy in golf.
This week brings a change in the Golf Power Rankings. Our old formula worked well, but perhaps too well as it mirrored the FedEx Cup points list and the money list very closely. In order to bring something new to the table and add a little volatility the ranking will now reflect the 10 players who've earned the most FedEx Cup points over the previous six weeks, therefore providing an accurate snapshot of who's playing the best at the current time.
The knock on Woods
Jim Furyk's back-to-back Canadian Open titles doesn't even merit a blip on the radar of this season's surprises.
Welcome to this week's edition of the Monday Awards, where ESPN has packed Dick Vitale back up in a box until late October and it's unclear why Knick fans are excited about Zach "I won't get into any trouble in NYC" Randolph.
What ever happened to Tiger Woods? You remember him, right? Big smile, flawless putting stroke and an aura so intimidating that other players' mock turtlenecks would get tighter at the very sight of his name on the leader board. Woods may lead the PGA Tour in victories, scoring average and all-important FedEx Cup points, but the story of the year in golf is that something has gone missing in Tiger's game. The most ruthless closer the sport has known has developed a vulnerability when it matters most, and it cost him last week's U.S. Open, just as it did the Masters earlier this year.
If you're going to use that invisible golf club then you better hit this invisible golf ball. -- Mark, Roanoke, Va.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Rory Sabbatini knows he will need to take a break to avoid becoming fatigued and frustrated.
CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- Paula Creamer is playing the Corning Classic for the first time in her three years on the LPGA Tour. Considering her history and the built-in cheering gallery that will be on hand, it's a wonder it took so long.
The putt was so easy a child could have made it. Stewart Cink, playing with Davis Love III and leading in the final round of the 2000 Colonial, went to tap in, to get out of Love's way, to tidy up on the 5th hole ... and missed.
(AP) -- John Daly withdrew from five tournaments and missed the cut in eight others on the PGA Tour. His best finish was third place at the Skins Game, which had only four players. And that didn't really count because it was after the 2006 season, the worst of his career.
EAST MOLINE, Ill. (AP) -- Michelle Wie accepted a sponsor's exemption Tuesday to play in the John Deere Classic for the third straight year, continuing her effort to make the cut in a men's event.
VIRGINIA WATER, England(AP) European captain Nick Faldo picked Jose Maria Olazabal and Paul McGinley as his assistants Tuesday for the 2008 Ryder Cup - provided they don't make the team as players.
So far, 2007 has not resembled golf's Golden Age. Here are the ten biggest disappointments thus far in golf this year:
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- Masters champion Zach Johnson won the AT&T Classic on Sunday, beating Ryuji Imada with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Defending champion Brad Bryant staged another final-day comeback at the Regions Charity Classic, then beat R.W. Eaks on the third hole of a playoff Sunday to become the first player to win the tournament twice.
CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) -- Lorena Ochoa only set her sights higher after validating her status as the No. 1 player in women's golf by winning for the first time since supplanting Annika Sorenstam.
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Bob Gilder overcame back problems to take the second-round lead in the Regions Charity Classic, shooting a 6-under 66 on Saturday that included putts for eagle and birdie on two of the final three holes.
CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) -- Sarah Lee went shot for shot with defending champion Lorena Ochoa and got the best of the No. 1 player in women's golf.
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Seve Ballesteros got off to a terrible start in his Champions Tour debut Friday, opening with a double bogey and finishing with a 6-over 78 to fall 13 strokes behind leader Scott Hoch in the Regions Charity Classic.
CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) -- Sarah Lee presumably was long gone from the Upper Montclair Country Club by the time Lorena Ochoa finished her round Friday in the Sybase Classic. That might have been a good thing.
CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) -- Had it not been for been Sarah Lee, defending champion Lorena Ochoa would be atop the leaderboard again at the Sybase Classic.
On Sunday afternoon, moments before he stepped to the 1st tee at the Players Championship for the most momentous round he has played in a while, Phil Mickelson offered his new swing coach a soul handshake and a manly slap on the back. "Thanks for everything, Butch," said Mickelson, and those four little words added yet another layer of intrigue to the ongoing melodrama that is his career. Butch would be Claude Harmon Jr., known far and wide by his nickname and for his work as Tiger Woods's former instructor, most notably during Woods's run from 1999 through 2002, the most dominant golf ever played.
PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) -- Michelle Wie will celebrate her 18th birthday this fall by playing in the Samsung World Championship for the fourth straight year, joining the 20-player field at Bighorn Golf Club where she made her professional debut.
(AP) -- Tiger Woods was once so nearsighted he said he would be considered legally blind without glasses or contacts. He had Lasik surgery in October 1999 after the Ryder Cup, won the Disney Classic in his first tournament back and has done fairly well since.
In his heyday Seve Ballesteros would periodicallygive us Statesiders a chanceto know him. Never amountedto much. He'd play our windlesscourses and eat our dull foodand retreat quickly to his homein Spain and to his tour in Europe,where he was king.
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) -- Dakoda Dowd failed to advance to the second round of qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open, shooting a 78 on Monday while her cancer-stricken mother rested in a hotel room near the Imperial Country Club.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Todd McCorkle's sudden decision to resign as the women's golf coach at Georgia last week followed complaints from players about his inappropriate sexual comments and jokes, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., May 13 -- He could've been crushed. He could've been angry. He could've been tearful.
Tim Finchem was asked if The Players was a major earlier this week. After saying that he's been asked that for 13 years, and that he's been consistent on the matter, the PGA Tour's commissioner artfully dodged the question. (Although this fact pretty much sums up the Tour's position: the winner of the Players gets as many FedEx Cup points as the winner of any of the four majors.)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Fourteen people watched Joey Sindelar size up his tee shot on the 471-yard, par-4 fifth hole. But it's easy to get carried away when estimating crowd size, and to be fair the group of spectators included his caddie, the walking scorer, the standard-bearer, one writer and a half-dozen blue-shirted marshals.
LAKEWAY, Texas (AP) -- Scott Hoch fired a final-round 68 Sunday to capture his first Champions Tour victory, winning by two shots over D.A. Weibring at the FedEx Kinko's Classic.
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -- Mi Hyun Kim won a playoff on the first extra hole with Hall of Famer Juli Inkster to capture the SemGroup Championship on Sunday, the South Korean's first LPGA Tour victory of the year.
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -- Lorena Ochoa's charge fizzled Saturday in the second round of the SemGroup Championship.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Rory Sabbatini holed out for eagle from the first fairway and picked up even more ground with a birdie on the final hole on a thrilling Saturday at the Wachovia Championship, giving him a share of the course record with an 8-under 64 and a final pairing he wanted with Tiger Woods.
LAKEWAY, Texas (AP) -- Scott Hoch moved into position for his first Champions Tour victory, shooting a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead over D.A. Weibring into the final round of the FedEx Kinko's Classic.
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -- Nicole Castrale shot a 4-under 67 in muddy conditions Friday to take the first-round lead in the SemGroup Championship.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Tiger Woods hit his stride early with three birdies through five holes and a collection of par saves that kept his round going. Vijay Singh came to life late with an eagle-birdie flurry to rescue an otherwise shaky round.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Unlike many, Trevor Immelman had to work to gain weight.
MILAN, Italy (AP) -- Joakim Backstrom shot a course record 10-under 62 Thursday to come within one stroke of matching the lowest round of the European Tour season in the first round at the Italian Open.
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) -- The Old Course at St. Andrews is giving women's golf a new look.
The most pressing question in golf is not who will win the Smurfy blue jacket that goes to the winner of the Wachovia Championship. It's not whether Phil Mickelson can get any less popular with the rank and file after getting a free pass out of last week's EDS Byron Nelson pro-am.
Even Iron Byron, the robot hitting machine featured in those old golfgear ads; even the giant Nelson statue at the TPC Four Seasons; even themost hardened cynic couldn't help but shed a tear at how this one turnedout.
IRVING, Texas, April 29 -- You didn't need to see any of the 66 shots Scott Verplank played Sunday in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship's final round. You didn't need to see the two-footer he shook in for the victory that meant so much, the win of a lifetime.
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) -- Silvia Cavalleri became the first Italian winner in LPGA Tour history Sunday, closing with a 7-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Mexican star Lorena Ochoa and Paraguay's Julieta Granada in the Corona Morelia Championship.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Luke Donald barely held onto the lead at the Byron Nelson Championship.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Luke Donald is finally leading the Byron Nelson Championship after all his under-par rounds in the event.
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) -- Lorena Ochoa shot a 5-under 68 on Thursday in the Mexican star's first round as the No. 1 player in the world, leaving the defending champion a stroke behind leader Stacy Prammanasudh in the Corona Morelia Championship.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Sean O'Hair wants to be known for his game, not how he was pushed into the professional ranks while still in high school by an overbearing father.
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) -- The timing was perfect for Lorena Ochoa.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- One thing Brett Wetterich treasured about his first PGA Tour victory was the personal congratulation from tournament namesake Byron Nelson.
(AP) -- The Viking Classic in Annandale, Miss., already was feeling minimized by getting a spot on the PGA Tour calendar after the FedEx Cup competition was over. Then came the announcement from Augusta National that PGA Tour winners again would automatically qualify for the Masters -- but only those events that offered full FedEx Cup points.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Byron Nelson's presence is still profoundly felt at the tournament that bears his name.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- After missing two chances to become No. 1 in women's golf, Lorena Ochoa finally replaced Annika Sorenstam at the top Monday without even hitting a shot.
Phil Mickelson is changing coaches, saying Monday he will start working with Butch Harmon with hopes of sorting out driver issues that cost him a chance to win the U.S. Open last year at Winged Foot.
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) -- Tiger Woods got his first look at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday as he began preparations for the U.S. Open.
AVONDALE, La. (AP) -- Third-year PGA Tour pro Nick Watney was in New Orleans, with all of its renowned restaurants, and ate at a fast food restaurant for dinner.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- Defending champion Jay Haas won the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on Sunday, making up four shots in the final eight holes before beating Tom Kite in a playoff for his second Champions Tour victory this season.
AVONDALE, La. (AP) -- Yet another potential first-time PGA Tour winner topped the third-round leaderboard in the Zurich Classic.
(AP) -- David Duval hasn't played the PGA Tour in two months and could play only sparingly through the summer because his wife is having a difficult pregnancy with their second child and will be on bed rest until the baby is due in August.
AVONDALE, La. (AP) -- Never heard of Kyle Reifers?
REUNION, Fla. (AP) -- Annika Sorenstam was on her feet for nearly two hours, hosting a golf clinic for children, speaking to sponsors and dignitaries from behind a podium, cutting the ribbon to officially open the Annika Academy and giving her guests a tour.
Ernie Els has been beaten down the stretch by Vijay Singh, by Retief Goosen, by Phil Mickelson and, of course, by Tiger Woods. Add a new guy to the list: Boo Weekley of Jay, Fla. Ernie has it all, the major titles and the big contracts and the private jet, but on Monday afternoon at gusty Hilton Head, S.C., Weekley had something Els did not: tremendous good luck. On the final two holes Weekley duffed pitch shots for birdie, then holed pitch shots for par. Now he has the tartan coat, the delightfully gaudy wrap the winner of the Verizon Heritage Classic is draped in each year. (Els is still looking for his first one.) Now Weekley has secured a berth in the 2008 Masters, thanks to the reintroduction of the win-and-you're-in rule. (Els hasn't officially qualified yet.) Now Weekley is ninth on the 2007 money list. (Els is 19th.)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden(AP) Annika Sorenstam will play fewer golf tournaments this season and focus on the majors because of a back injury.
In a final-round duel between the legendary Ernie Els and the career grinder Boo Weekley, you know who wins, right?
CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) -- Lorena Ochoa discovered one of the pitfalls of being right behind top-ranked Annika Sorenstam in the world of women's golf.
REUNION, Fla. (AP) -- Without swinging a club, Annika Sorenstam found Monday to be among the most fulfilling days of her career.
HILTON HEAD, S.C., April 16 -- All stand now for the re-emergence of the Tour character, the Tour character with game, the golfer out of an old Dan Jenkins novel. Thomas (Boo) Weekley is not a smoothie, not a schmoozer, not even a good putter. What he is is an excellent ball-striker with a hard, simple swing, an action that brings to mind another self-taught player who, like Boo, never sniffed the American college golf factories, Ian Woosnam.
Nobody had Zach Johnson penciled in on the list of the game's best players who hadn't won a major. Now that he's won the Masters, he'll never make the list.
REUNION, Fla. (AP) -- Brittany Lincicome had a small bag that held a new necklace, one of the gifts for winning the Ginn Open.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) -- Jerry Kelly's hole-in-one helped move him past a fading Ernie Els on Saturday in the Verizon Heritage.
REUNION, Fla. (AP) -- For three days, Lorena Ochoa and Laura Davies have matched each other shot for shot at the Ginn Open, finishing every round knotted atop the leaderboard.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) -- Jerry Kelly routinely overcomes his own quirky emotions to excel on the PGA Tour. So he's not going to let a spring cold stand in his way at the Verizon Heritage.
REUNION, Fla. (AP) -- Laura Davies has been telling friends and family members all year that she felt like something good was about to happen to her on the LPGA Tour.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) -- The Big Easy is making it look, well, easy again.
The golfing great offers a hole-by-hole guide to the links he personally designed for the Red Sky Golf Club in the Colorado mountains.
REUNION, Fla. (AP) -- Annika Sorenstam has 69 LPGA Tour victories, 10 major titles and one of the largest fan followings in women's golf.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) -- Ernie Els smiled after his 6-under 65 to open the Verizon Heritage. He wasn't in front, but he wasn't out of it either, as he's been so often at tournaments the past few seasons.
REUNION, Fla. (AP) -- Lorena Ochoa would prefer a head-to-head victory against Annika Sorenstam to become No. 1 in the women's world rankings.
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