Author: Aaron Nicholson

ADELAIDE, Australia — Talor Gooch upstaged the more-fancied names on the LIV Golf tour by shooting a 10-under 62 Friday to take a four-stroke lead after the first round of the inaugural Australian tournament at The Grange. The 31-year-old American started with a par on his opening hole in the shotgun-start format — the par-3 12th — but then had 10 birdies, including five in a row. Two more players in the unfancied category — Richard Bland and Dean Burmester — shot 66s and were tied for second. Five players were tied for fourth, including Danny Lee, who won the second LIV event in Arizona in mid-March.…

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jon Rahm, the No. 1-ranked player in both the SI World Golf Rankings and OWGR, withdrew from the Players Championship on Friday afternoon due to illness. Rahm, who has won three times in 2023 on the PGA Tour, opened the tournament with a 71 and was grouped with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who were scheduled to see off for the second round at 12:56 p.m. After a stretch of 10 straight worldwide tournaments with no finish outside of the top 10 and five victories dating to August, Rahm finally had a rough week at the Arnold Palmer…

Matt Fitzpatrick believes players who joined LIV Golf should never be allowed to return to the PGA Tour, although is open to the idea of them competing in the Ryder Cup. Players who joined the breakaway circuit since its launch last June have been indefinitely suspended by the PGA Tour, with The Players champion Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson among the major champions to make the switch. Jay Monahan said ahead of The Players that their position on LIV members had not changed, with no pathway currently in place should a player wish to return to the PGA Tour, with…

Tom Kim’s rise to the International Presidents Cup TeamIt was pro-am day at the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course, everyone in that liminal state somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when the horn blew. With play done for the day, the soaked players scrambled for shelter in the clubhouse. Tom Kim, another force of nature and the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice on the PGA TOUR before turning 21, sat in the middle of it all on a plush couch in front of a World Cup game he wasn’t really watching. (His beloved South Korea would…

Our golf man is hoping the leaderboard stays at it is in the Mauritius Open, where he’s also picked out a Sunday two-ball double. French players have so often threatened in the Mauritius Open and with the tricolore flying high on the leaderboard once more, perhaps one of them will win the event for the first time. Antoine Rozner came so close to doing so when last it was played, in 2019, only to lose a play-off in one of his first DP World Tour starts. Now a two-time champion with eyes on a Ryder Cup place, he’s two shots…

Charlie Woods is hurting, too? Charlie Woods is hurting, too. But you can exhale. “You know these kids: They’ll be running by tomorrow,” Notah Begay said. Indeed. That’s the good news. But the unfortunate update is that Charlie, the 13-year-old son of 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, may be slowed for this weekend’s PNC Championship, the event that pairs major winners with family members. A left leg limp from the younger Woods was noticeable during Friday’s pro-am, and on the Golf Channel broadcast, Begay, an analyst and Woods family friend, said it came after he rolled his ankle while hitting on the range. After the round,…