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7:09 AM ET PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — One of the most-liked and popular players on the PGA Tour is struggling. He has sniped at his long-time caddie, whom he has known since childhood. He has admitted it has been hard not taking his troubles on the course home to his wife. Rickie Fowler is

Last week, we took a deep statistical dive that asked a simple question: How hard is the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, really? The “island green” is an entity that comes with its fair share of menace, but is the reputation earned? What we found is that yes, it’s about as tough as they come

8:32 PM ET Phil Mickelson has fallen out of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since 1993, when he won the International tournament for his second PGA Tour victory. He stayed in the top 100 for a record 1,425 weeks. Mickelson, 50, who did not play this week’s

One of the best weeks on the golf calendar is upon us, with the 2021 Players Championship upon us at Pete Dye’s masterpiece, TPC Sawgrass. Though we never quite know what to expect and who will play well at this nuanced, ultra-difficult design on the site of a former swamp, the finishing holes always seem

There are two reasons why a round just five years old is now folklore. The first is straightforward: It was—statistically and empirically—one of the best performances in PGA Tour history, a score instantly recognized as special against the chaos that surrounded it. Yet the number and its praise were merely groundwork for the round’s mythos,

7:20 AM ET PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — One year ago, on Thursday afternoon at the Players Championship, Rory McIlroy wasn’t worried about a virus. He was annoyed. The defending champion at the PGA Tour’s signature event, he had just opened with even-par 72, sat 9 shots behind leader Hideki Matsuyama and was staring at

ORLANDO — In golf, the long-drive scene has always been a sideshow. The guys who swing out of their shoes and grunt after impact and raise their arms like they hit a grand slam—they’re a fun diversion. Something you flip on ESPN2 late-night, after a few beers, but a totally separate entity from the touring

8:31 PM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Arnold Palmer might have given Bryson DeChambeau a few quizzical looks. He might have wondered about DeChambeau’s single-length irons and the wild diet and all the talk about science. Surely, he would have made fun of the Ben Hogan cap. But the late namesake of the tournament DeChambeau won

ORLANDO — On the micro scale, Jordan Spieth did not win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In and of itself, that’s a disappointing result. Spieth entered the final round just two shots back in his first competitive visit to Bay Hill, and he had ample opportunities to challenge the leaders on Sunday but he failed to

It was at this tournament last year when “normal” went out the window. On Tuesday of the Players Championship in 2020, thousands of maskless fans packed the 17th hole to watch the Chainsmokers perform. By Friday morning, players were clearing out their lockers, and golf—and the rest of the world—was on hold. The world’s best

7:00 PM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Bryson DeChambeau has relished the opportunity to try to drive the green at the Bay Hill Club’s par-5 sixth hole and celebrated as if he had done so Saturday during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. DeChambeau’s drive, which cut across a huge lake, ended up 50

We’re used to the Jordan Spieth experience by now. Saturday, it was in peak form at Bay Hill. And for the third time in his last four starts, the 27-year-old will have a chance to end a nearly four-year winless drought after a three-under 69 that leaves him two back of leader Lee Westwood through

7:41 PM ET ESPN News Services ORLANDO, Fla. — Lee Westwood made a pair of 30-foot putts over the final three holes Saturday, one for eagle and the other a closing birdie, posting his lowest score ever at Bay Hill with a 7-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau and Corey

ORLANDO — Well, he finally did it. Sort of. Bryson DeChambeau has been toying with the idea of trying to drive the green on the par-5 sixth hole at Bay Hill all week. He attempted the straight-line carry—to the front edge from the tee box, it’s about 340 yards in the air—in the practice round

One early morning not long ago, Scottsdale-based golf course architect David Kahn and his wife, Karen, were woken by their 10-year-old daughter Makenzie calling to them from the hallway outside their bedroom. “Daddy, Mommy, there’s something wrong with my foot!” she yelled. Groggy from sleep, David went to the hall to find Makenzie sitting on

7:11 PM ET Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. — Corey Conners spent more time grinding out pars than chasing birdies, and that proved to be the right recipe Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as Bay Hill began to bake under a warm sun. Conners surged into the lead with a 25-foot eagle putt on the

Give this to Phil Mickelson. The 50-year-old has been, at times, a carnival barker throughout his career, but at least Phil attempts whatever outlandish thing he said he could do. Bringing us to Bryson DeChambeau, who spoke of his desire to drive Bay Hill’s winding par-5 sixth hole this week. As crazy as that may

Mar 2, 2021 So this NFL rookie kicker walks into a pro shop … Sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? But if a Josh Scobee movie was ever made, that would be the very first golf scene. At one point, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ all-time leading scorer was the top-ranked golfer from another sport.