Golf

7:51 PM ET Associated Press PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Sergio Garcia rushed to the first tee and raced to the finish line Thursday in the Players Championship. Most importantly, he avoided the kind of wreck that allowed TPC Sawgrass to live up to its reputation as the course where anything can happen to anyone

7:27 PM ET PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Steve Stricker began the week as the fifth alternate in the Players Championship field. He woke up early Thursday morning in Naples, Florida, realizing he was one player withdrawal away from getting into the tournament. A few hours later, he was on his way to PGA Tour

5:08 PM ET PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — His opening tee shot suggested it was not going to be a fun day for Rory McIlroy. Set up to cut his drive into the 10th fairway — his first hole of the Players Championship — McIlroy hit what pros call a “double-cross” and instead hooked his

4:35 PM ET Brooks Koepka‘s status for the Masters is in doubt as he will undergo medical evaluations on his right knee to determine how to proceed. Koepka’s agent, Blake Smith, confirmed a Golfweek.com report in which Koepka said he sprained his right knee last week. The four-time major champion on Sunday withdrew from this

1:54 PM ET Rory McIlroy suggested in an interview with Jimmy Fallon that Tiger Woods could be headed home soon after spending the past two-plus weeks in the hospital following a serious car accident on Feb. 23. Woods suffered multiple fractures in his right leg in the accident, requiring several hours of surgery at a

7:29 AM ET A year ago, the Players got one round in before the world stopped. But now, the best field in golf is back at TPC Sawgrass, with players searching for both a prestigious win and a huge paycheck of $2.75 million. Here’s who our experts think takes home the trophy and the cash:

8:00 AM ET After bombing his way to victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bryson DeChambeau and the rest of the PGA Tour’s best head to TPC Sawgrass for The Players Championship. Rory McIlroy, who faded over the weekend but still finished tied for 10th last week, is the defending champion. Which players are the

3:39 PM ET PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Call it the Bryson Rule. The PGA Tour announced Tuesday that “in the interest of safety, volunteers and other personnel,” it would be instituting internal out of bounds on the 18th hole of the TPC Sawgrass for this week’s Players Championship. Bryson DeChambeau was not cited, but

3:57 PM ET Former Masters champion Danny Willett had to withdraw from the Players Championship on Tuesday due to a positive COVID-19 test taken as part of the PGA Tour weekly protocols. Willett, who tied for 31st last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, is the first player since Padraig Harrington at the AT&T Pebble

1:46 PM ET PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rory McIlroy is the defending champion of a tournament that wasn’t played last year. That’s strange enough, but McIlroy actually shot a 72 on the first day of the Players Championship that was later canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic a year ago this week. “I think

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

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

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

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

5:22 PM ET Tracey Stewart, the widow of PGA Tour golfer Payne Stewart, is selling more than 200 items from her late husband’s personal collection with The Golf Auction, available now through March 14. Stewart died in a plane crash in 1999 at the age of 42. He was survived by Tracey and their two

1:57 PM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — Steve Stricker wore red and black in honor of Tiger Woods on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and said he hopes to have his longtime friend at the Ryder Cup this fall “in one way, shape or form.” But the U.S. Ryder Cup captain would not go so

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

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