World number one Dustin Johnson was improving Thursday after suffering a back injury and was set to test his swing before deciding about playing in the Masters, his team said. The reigning US Open champion was moving and hopeful of making his 2:03 pm (1803 GMT) start time at Augusta National despite a serious fall … Read more
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson, uncertain for the Masters after suffering a lower back injury in a “serious” fall, added more drama to the intense atmosphere ahead of Thursday’s start at Augusta National. The reigning US Open champion fell at his rented home Wednesday afternoon, about 23 hours before his scheduled start in the final group at … Read more
World number one Dustin Johnson and top rivals Rory McIlroy and Jason Day will face brisk winds on a rain-soaked Augusta National layout when the 81st Masters begins Thursday. Johnson, having won his past three starts, is favored but Northern Ireland’s second-ranked McIlroy and Australian world number three Day are among the top rivals expected … Read more
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson is favored to capture the 81st Masters but plenty of golfers see Rory McIlroy as a green-jacket threat when the year’s first major championship begins on Thursday. A showdown of global greats at the 7,435-yard Augusta National sees Johnson arrive on a three-tournament win streak and second-ranked McIlroy, a four-time major champion, … Read more
Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and first-time Masters starter Jon Rahm, two of Europe’s top-rated golfers, play together for the first two rounds at Augusta National in pairings announced on Tuesday. Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, trying to win a green jacket to complete a career grand slam, and Spaniard Rahm, fresh off a runner-up finish at … Read more
World number one Dustin Johnson, the first player in 41 years to enter the Masters on a three-event win streak, is an oddsmakers’ favorite in this year’s first major championship. But the 32-year-old American knows it will take far more than his trademark long-driving skills to capture a green jacket come Sunday at Augusta National … Read more
Australian amateur Curtis Luck insists he is just out for a good time at the Masters, his last tournament before he turns professional. Luck, 20, from Perth, is one of five amateurs in the Masters draw but is unique in that he managed to qualify twice, as both the US Amateur champion and the Asia-Pacific … Read more
Severe thunderstorms shortened Monday’s first official practice session for the 81st Masters, but the outlook brightened for Australia’s Jason Day ahead of the year’s first major. World number three Day played nine holes at Augusta National, his fourth consecutive day on the fabled course, before it was closed in the early afternoon when the area … Read more
Masters stars pushed Monday for banning television review penalties like the one that cost Lexi Thompson the first women’s major title of the year. “There’s no question it should be ended,” eighth-ranked American Rickie Fowler said. “I don’t think you could find one player who would say otherwise.” Thompson was hit with a four-stroke penalty … Read more
Tommy Fleetwood is no one’s favorite to win the 81st Masters, but the understated 26-year-old Englishman with the flowing locks and the tidy short game won’t let that get him down. Favorites have a habit of coming unstuck at the Masters and this year all eyes are on what the course holds for world number … Read more
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson enters next week’s 81st Masters confident about his first Augusta National outing as a major champion and a heavy favorite after three consecutive PGA triumphs. The 32-year-old American, who grew up only an hour’s drive from the famed layout, shook off a history of major near-misses to win the US Open last … Read more
Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth, the 2015 Masters champion who bungled a repeat bid, begin play Thursday at the PGA Houston Open with the Masters looming next week. Also in the field a week before the year’s first major championship at Augusta National are England’s Justin Rose, Australia’s Adam Scott, reigning British … Read more
Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm advanced to the final of the World Golf Championships Match-Play Championship, setting up a showdown between world No. 1 and one of the game’s brightest stars. Johnson defeated Japanese star Hideto Tanihara 1-up Sunday in the semi-finals of the $9.75 million PGA Tour event. Spain’s Rahm had an easier time … Read more
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson and five-time major champion Phil Mickelson advanced to the World Golf Championships Match-Play Championship quarter-finals with impressive triumphs on Saturday. Reigning US Open champion Johnson defeated fellow American Zach Johnson 5 and 4 while Mickelson downed Australia’s Marc Leishman 4 and 3. Johnson, who has led after all 60 holes he has … Read more
Australia’s Marc Leishman sank a 51-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole Sunday and held off a charging Rory McIlroy and two others to capture the Arnold Palmer Invitational. One-putting the last four holes at Bay Hill, the 33-year-old Aussie surged late to claim his first US victory since 2012. “It just all came together,” … Read more
Arnold Palmer will loom large over the Bay Hill Club & Lodge this week as the tournament which bears the golf legend’s name takes place for the first time since his death. Australia’s defending champion Jason Day and world number three Rory McIlroy will headline an event which is expected to unfurl as a four-day … Read more
World number one Dustin Johnson held off Spanish rookie Jon Rahm and England’s Tommy Fleetwood over Sunday’s final holes to win the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship by one stroke. The reigning US Open champion became only the fifth player to capture his first event after moving atop the world rankings, matching a feat done … Read more
Five-time major-winner Phil Mickelson was enjoying the challenge of the high-altitude Chapultepec Golf Club Thursday as he seized a share of the first-round lead in the WGC-Mexico Championship. The 46-year-old American, seeking his first victory since the 2013 Open Championship, posted six birdies with two bogeys, capping his four-under 68 with a 16-foot birdie putt … Read more
Rory McIlroy showed no ill effects from his recent rib injury Thursday as he launched his WGC-Mexico Championship campaign with a three-under par 68. The Northern Ireland star, competing for the first time in seven weeks after recovering from a stress fracture, had two birdies and an eagle with one three-putt bogey at Chapultepec Golf … Read more
Canada will host a local qualifying event for the US Open for the first time, the US Golf Association announced Tuesday, with Beacon Hall north of Toronto getting the nod. In all, 114 18-hole local qualifying events will be conducted in 44 states and Canada from May 2-18 for the 117th US Open, to be … Read more