Tiger Woods to return at his tournament in the Bahamas

Tiger Woods to return at his tournament in the Bahamas
Tiger Woods reacts on the 9th green during his second round on the day 2 of The 150th British Open Golf Championship on The Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland on July 15, 2022. (AFP/File)
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Updated 10 November 2022

Tiger Woods to return at his tournament in the Bahamas

Tiger Woods to return at his tournament in the Bahamas
  • Woods, who announced his decision on Twitter, has not played competitively since he missed the cut in the British Open at St. Andrews in July

NEW YORK: Tiger Woods made it official Wednesday by announcing he would return to competition as part of the 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Woods is the tournament host of the unofficial event on Dec. 1-4 at Albany Golf Club, where the tournament has been played since 2015.

It will be the first time Woods has played the Hero World Challenge, which benefits his foundation, since 2019.

Woods, who announced his decision on Twitter, has not played competitively since he missed the cut in the British Open at St. Andrews in July.

 

 

That was only the third tournament he played in 2022, all of them majors. He made the cut at the Masters and PGA Championship, finishing 47th at Augusta National and withdrawing after three rounds at Southern Hills.

The Hero World Challenge is the start of a busy month for Woods, who also has agreed to play in a made-for-TV exhibition on Dec. 10 with Rory McIlroy as his partner in a 12-hole match against Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

Woods also is expected to play in the PNC Championship a week later with his son, Charlie. They were runners-up a year ago in Orlando, Florida.

The 20-man field in the Bahamas receives world ranking points, with the caveat that sponsor exemptions must be among the top 50 in the world. There is an exception for the tournament host — Woods is at No. 1,245.

Woods said Tommy Fleetwood and Kevin Kisner would be the other exemptions, joining an already stacked field that has 17 of the top 20 players in the world. The only players from the top 20 not playing are McIlroy, Cameron Smith and Patrick Cantlay. Smith, the British Open champion, is ineligible because of his PGA Tour suspension for joining LIV Golf.

Also, tournament officials announced that Will Zalatoris has not fully recovered from a back injury that kept him out of the Tour Championship and the Presidents Cup. Zalatoris was replaced by former British Open champion Shane Lowry.


Mi Hyang Lee leads LPGA Tour event at Palos Verdes with 65

Mi Hyang Lee leads LPGA Tour event at Palos Verdes with 65
Updated 31 March 2023

Mi Hyang Lee leads LPGA Tour event at Palos Verdes with 65

Mi Hyang Lee leads LPGA Tour event at Palos Verdes with 65
  • Lee turned 30 on Thursday and called it ‘the best birthday round I’ve ever had’

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, California:  Mi Hyang Lee shot a 6-under 65 in her first LPGA Tour event of the year for a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the DIO Implant LA Open on Thursday.

Lee, a South Korean who earned her spot in a Monday qualifier, hit all 18 greens in regulation, played bogey-free and closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th hole in challenging conditions at Palos Verdes. Players endured intermitted rain and hail with temperatures in the 40s.

Lee turned 30 on Thursday and called it “the best birthday round I’ve ever had.”

Lee, ranked 378th in the world, has two career LPGA Tour victories, the more recent at the Ladies Scottish Open in 2017. She was runner-up at the ANA Inspiration, a major, in 2019 to reach a career-best 31st in the ranking but has struggled the past three years. She’s coming off a tie for sixth in an Epson Tour event last week.

Megan Khang and Hyo Joo Kim — a close friend of Lee’s — each shot 66. Nasa Hataoka, Lucy Li and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc were another shot behind.

“You know, I’ve come pretty close here and there,” said Khang, winless in eight years on the LPGA Tour. “I tell myself the more I give myself chances and opportunities the easier — quote-unquote — easier it’s going to get in those situations and trying to get my foot through the door. ... I know I’m capable of doing it and it’s just a matter of time.”

Second-ranked Nelly Korda and her sister, Jessica, were among the group at 3 under.

This is the fifth playing of the LA Open and the first at Palos Verdes, which hosted a different event, the Palos Verdes Championship, last year — won by Marina Alex, who shot a 1-over 72 on Thursday.


Legends of the game renew acquaintances at LIV Golf Orlando

Legends of the game renew acquaintances at LIV Golf Orlando
Updated 27 March 2023

Legends of the game renew acquaintances at LIV Golf Orlando

Legends of the game renew acquaintances at LIV Golf Orlando
  • LIV Golf Orlando takes place at Orange County National in Florida from March 31-April 2
  • Danny Lee of Iron Heads GC sank a birdie putt on the third playoff hole to claim the individual LIV Golf Tucson title

ORLANDO: The third event of the LIV Golf League, LIV Golf Orlando, takes place at Orange County National in Florida from March 31-April 2.

Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC and Charles Howell III were the team and idividual winners at the league opener, LIV Golf Mayakoba, in Mexico. 

Fireballs GC, featuring captain Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Chacarra and Carlos Ortiz, subsequently captured the team win at LIV Golf Tucson in Arizona

Danny Lee of Iron Heads GC sank a birdie putt from off the green, on the third playoff hole, to claim the second individual title, in dramatic style, in Tucson.
 
LIV Golf’s 12 teams include reigning Open Champion Cameron Smith, World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson, two-time major winner Dustin Johnson and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka.

More than a quarter (13) of the league’s star-studded, international field are major champions, with 24 major victories amongst them. The field of 48 players represents 16 different nations, includes 18 Olympians, and has made 125 combined appearances in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, with more than half of the league having competed in the biennial team events.

In total, LIV Golf League players have amassed 530 worldwide wins across multiple tours, and four players have held the title of World No. 1.

This is the first official season of the LIV Golf League, with a 14-tournament schedule being hosted in seven different countries at some of the world’s top courses. Players are in pursuit of the 2023 LIV Golf Individual Championship and 2023 Team Championship, and after two events, Charles Howell III sits atop LIV Golf`s individual standings with 56 points.

The team standings, which decide seeding for the season-ending Team Championship, are currently led by captain Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC (48 points).


Boutier beats Hall in playoff to claim 3rd LPGA victory

Boutier beats Hall in playoff to claim 3rd LPGA victory
Updated 27 March 2023

Boutier beats Hall in playoff to claim 3rd LPGA victory

Boutier beats Hall in playoff to claim 3rd LPGA victory
  • With the victory, Boutier claimed her third LPGA victory and became the winningest French player on tour

GOLD CANYON, Arizona: Celine Boutier beat Georgia Hall with a birdie on the first playoff hole Sunday to win the LPGA Drive on Championship.
Boutier forced a playoff by making a testy birdie putt at the par-5 18th to close out a 4-under 68, matching Hall (65) at 20-under 268 in the LPGA’s first full-field event of the season.
Playing the 18th hole again, neither golfer found the green with their second shot of the playoff. Boutier, chipping from nearly the same spot as she did in regulation short and right of the green, pitched to about 4 feet. Meanwhile, Hall hit her second shot into a greenside bunker, blasted beyond the hole and failed to convert her birdie effort. That set the stage for Boutier’s winning birdie putt.

Celine Boutier plays her shot on the 17th tee during the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship on March 26, 2023 in Arizona. (Getty Images/AFP )

With the victory, the 29-year-old Boutier claimed her third LPGA victory and became the winningest French player on tour, moving past Patricia Meunier-Lebouc and Anne-Marie Palli. She had previously won the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open and 2021 ShopRite Classic
After three birdie-filled rounds at Superstition Mountain Golf Club, the final round started with 17 players within three shots of the lead and stayed to form. Hall made the most of her fourth round, posting one of three 7-under par scores, including going 6 under on the back nine to charge into the early lead.
Japan’s Ayaka Furue closed with a 65 and finished third at 19 under. Na Rin An of South Korea was alone in fourth at 18 under with a closing 67, while American Ally Ewing (67) and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko (68) were another stroke back in fifth.
 


Scheffler, McIlroy at their best to reach Match Play semifinals

Scheffler, McIlroy at their best to reach Match Play semifinals
Updated 26 March 2023

Scheffler, McIlroy at their best to reach Match Play semifinals

Scheffler, McIlroy at their best to reach Match Play semifinals
  • Scheffler, who lost in the final in his Match Play debut in 2021, now has won 10 straight matches
  • McIlroy won with a 12-foot birdie putt, the proper ending to a match that both said was a testament to the quality of golf required

AUSTIN, Texas: The golf was as good as it gets. Rory McIlroy made 17 birdies in the 36 holes he played Saturday. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler rallied with six birdies in his last nine holes to reach the semifinals for the third straight year.

A little luck never hurts in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. And as great as McIlroy played, he needed some of that, too.

McIlroy never led in his quarterfinals match against Xander Schauffele. They came to the 18th hole all square, and McIlroy slumped slightly when he saw his drive headed left toward the trees. Schauffele hit his shot and quickly picked up his tee.

Imagine their surprise. McIlroy came upon a golf ball behind a tree and figured it was his. Schauffele was walking behind him and was stunned when McIlroy kept going.

“He hit a worse drive than I did and he ended up fine,” Schauffele said.

He got no argument from McIlroy.

“I expected my ball to be Xander’s ball on 18 behind that tree, and I got fortunate that mine trundled down the hill and obviously made the chip shot a lot easier,” McIlroy said. “Look, you need a little bit of fortune in these things, and that was a bit of luck for me today.”

McIlroy won with a 12-foot birdie putt, the proper ending to a match that both said was a testament to the quality of golf required. Schauffele applauded all the pivotal putts McIlroy made to stay in the fight.

It was like that all over Austin Country Club. The final version of Match Play lived up to its edge-of-the-seat reputation, with wild turns of momentum until four players remained.

Sam Burns advanced by beating Patrick Cantlay in 17 holes and then overcoming an early deficit to beat Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, 3 and 2, to reach the semifinals.

Burns advances to meet Scheffler, his best friend on tour with whom he often shares a house when they’re on the road. Their last encounter was at Colonial last year, when Burns made a 45-foot birdie putt to beat Scheffler in a playoff.

Cameron Young looked as if he had an easy time, until it wasn’t. He was 3 up at the turn, missed a chance to go 4 up on the 12th and then had to go to the 18th hole before he could dispatch of Bay Hill winner Kurt Kitayama.

Scheffler, who lost in the final in his Match Play debut in 2021, now has won 10 straight matches. He was 2 down against J.T. Poston in the morning with five holes left when he birdied the 17th to square the match and won the 18th with a par.

He was 3 down against former Match Play champion Jason Day through seven holes in the quarterfinals when he battled back, taking his first lead with a birdie on the 13th and then pulling away. He closed it out with a wedge to 2 inches on the 17th.

Scheffler said he and caddie Ted Scott had a chat when Day went birdie-birdie-eagle on the front nine to go 3 up. The eagle came on a 5-wood from 282 yards to 5 feet on the par-5 sixth hole at Austin Country Club.

“Just ride out the heater,” Scheffler said. “I had to stay patient.”

Day began to struggle with allergies on the eighth hole, and then Scheffler had a heater of his own by making six birdies over their final nine holes.

McIlroy reached the quarterfinals by making nine birdies against Lucas Herbert, and it still wasn’t decided until the 18th hole.

“I got to beaten by the best player in the world probably playing the best golf of anyone in the world would today,” Herbert said. “Pushed him all the way to the end. I just didn’t feel like there was a hell of a lot more I could have done.”

Schauffele made seven birdies against McIlroy and it wasn’t enough.

“I needed to dig deep,” McIlroy said. “He’s one of the best players in the world. I knew I was going to need to produce something similar to this morning. I was 16 under for two rounds of golf. That shows the caliber you need to play out there.”

Next up for McIlroy is Young, who finished ahead of him at St. Andrews last year with a 31 on the back nine. Young has made 31 birdies and two eagles in his five matches this week. He won his group on Friday with a 5-and-3 win. He made it through Saturday morning with a 5-and-4 rout of Billy Horschel. He was on his way to another romp against Kitayama.

But he missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 12th that would have put him 4 up. Kitayama won the next two holes with birdies. Young missed from 10 feet for birdie, 15 feet for eagle and 10 feet for birdie on the next three, all three putts burning the edge.

Ultimately, he only needed two putts from 15 feet on the 18th for the win. That was about the only easy part of his back nine.

“I don’t think I made a bogey today and I was biting my nails trying to win my match,” Young said. “I think it just shows you the quality of golf that’s played out here and how hard it is to get through even just one day like today, never mind that today was our fifth match.”

Day earlier on Saturday beat Matt Kuchar, leaving the 44-year-old American one match short of the tournament record. Kuchar leaves sharing the mark of 36 wins with Tiger Woods.

Now it’s Scheffler’s turn. Woods is the only player to win Match Play back to back. One day remains, and it feels like a long way to go.


Rahm ousted while Scheffler, McIlroy advance at Match Play

Rahm ousted while Scheffler, McIlroy advance at Match Play
Updated 25 March 2023

Rahm ousted while Scheffler, McIlroy advance at Match Play

Rahm ousted while Scheffler, McIlroy advance at Match Play
  • Rahm became the only top-six seed ousted in group play as Horschel never trailed in delivering the Spaniard’s second defeat
  • 16 group winners, 12 of them Americans, advanced to knockout rounds

WASHINGTON: Second-ranked Spaniard Jon Rahm was eliminated after Friday’s group stage finales at the WGC Match Play Championship while defending champion Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy advanced.

Rahm, a three-time PGA winner this year, lost to 2021 WGC Match Play champion Billy Horschel 5 and 4 at Austin Country Club in Texas, where 16 group winners, 12 of them Americans, advanced to knockout rounds.

Rahm didn’t make a birdie and became the only top-six seed ousted in group play as Horschel never trailed in delivering the Spaniard’s second defeat.

“To succeed on a hole-by-hole basis, on a swing-by-swing basis and just add those good swings up one after another, puts a lot of confidence in that tank that I’ve needed for a little bit of time now,” reigning Memorial champion Horschel said.

Scheffler beat South Korean 17th seed Tom Kim 3 and 2 to win his group at a perfect 3-0.

Reigning Masters champion Scheffler, who won the Players Championship earlier this month, booked a last-16 berth against US 43rd seed J.T. Poston.

“I’m just trying to go out and hit good shots, keep doing what I’m doing and executing,” Scheffler said. “I’ve seen some good results recently and I’m hoping to keep that going moving forward.”

McIlroy, the 2015 Match Play winner, never trailed in beating US 20th seed Keegan Bradley 3 and 2 to reach the last 16.

The four-time major winner from Northern Ireland won the fourth and fifth holes with birdies and the seventh on a Bradley bogey then played level from there to start 3-0.

“As every day goes by... the more and more confidence I’m getting with it, which is great,” McIlroy said.

“I struck the ball well and sort of got up early, kept pressure on Keegan. It was nice to get through to the weekend.”

Next for McIlroy is Australian 46th seed Lucas Herbert, who never trailed in beating US 62nd seed Ben Griffin 3&1 to finish 3-0.

Herbert sank a 20-foot eagle putt at the par-5 16th and a 17-foot birdie at the par-3 17th to advance.

US 59th seed Matt Kuchar, the oldest entrant at 44, routed South Korea’s Kim Si-woo 7 and 6 to advance. The 2013 Match Play champion equaled the event record set by Tiger Woods with his 36th match win.

“To tie Tiger’s mark, I don’t know if I have words to put that into perspective,” Kuchar said. “I’m hugely proud, grateful, kind of shellshocked to be in the same sentence with him.”

Kuchar, into the round of 16 for a record ninth time, will next face Australian 32nd seed Jason Day, the 2014 and 2016 winner who beat US two-time major champion Collin Morikawa 4 and 3 to stay perfect.

“He just tied Tiger’s record so that just shows how difficult he is to beat,” Day said of Kuchar. “If he has a good day on the greens it’s going to be difficult to beat him.”

Kuchar was among four lowest group seeds to advance.

US fourth seed Patrick Cantlay also made a 3-0 start, edging compatriot Brian Harman 2and 1 to book a last-16 date with US 13th seed Sam Burns, who reached 3-0 by closing with back-to-back birdies to beat Irishman Seamus Power 2 up.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, forfeited his match against US fifth seed Max Homa with a stiff neck, advancing the unbeaten American into the last 16.

Unbeaten US 61st seed J.J. Spaun birdied the last four holes to rally past Australian Min Woo Lee 2 and 1 and book a last-16 date with reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, the US sixth seed who sank a 13-foot birdie putt at 18 to edge Tom Hoge 1 up and stay perfect.

Kurt Kitayama, who won three weeks ago at Bay Hill, won a three-man playoff to reach a last-16 date with fellow American Andrew Putnam.