World number one Dustin Johnson withdrew from the 81st Masters on Thursday, walking off the first tee due to a back injury. The reigning US Open champion had been a heavy favorite in the year’s first major golf championship after winning his three prior starts but suffered a lower back injury Wednesday in a fall … 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
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
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
Rory McIlroy made a charge into contention but Charley Hoffman closed with a 70-foot birdie putt to match Kevin Kisner for the lead after Saturday’s third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Hoffman curled in the shot of the tournament at the US PGA event on Orlando’s famed Bay Hill course to cap a closing … 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
American Paul Peterson defied torrential rain to fire a first-round 62 in the Joburg Open Thursday before the weather forced play to be suspended for the day. The 28-year-old held a three-stroke clubhouse lead over Anton Rai and Paul Waring of England, Romain Langasque of France and Jbe Kruger of South Africa. Seeking a second … Read more
Tiger Woods is on course for a good finish in his first tournament in more than a year after posting a two-under-par 70 to lie 10th going into the Hero World Challenge final round. The 14-time major champion, 40, who shot a 65 on Friday, is eight under, 11 shots behind leader Hideki Matsuyama. The … Read more
Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen shot a six-under 66 in the fourballs to give Denmark a first World Cup of Golf victory by four strokes. The Danes started the final day in Melbourne with a four-shot cushion, and seven birdies, combined with a single bogey, gave them the win on 20 under. “It’s difficult to … Read more
Rusell Knox said he forcefully had to make a birdie in his third to fourth Knox, 31, and American defending champion Justin Thomas, 23, are four shots behind leader Anirban Lahiri. The Indian, 29, shot a seven-under-par round of 65, including four birdies in his last five holes. Knox opened with birdies at the third … Read more