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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 22, 2023, 12:50 PM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — Matt Fitzpatrick was hoping his younger brother, Alex, would finish the third round of the 151st Open Championship at 2 under, so they’d have

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — On a renowned site dedicated to flight, Kiara Romero committed the worst kind of faux pas, overshooting the runway on her approach. It is never a good time to do so, but it was especially egregious on the 36th hole of a national championship, the outcome hanging in the balance. Romero

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJul 22, 2023, 05:16 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — After 18 holes had passed on a wet and gloomy Saturday at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Max Homa and Rory McIlroy were separated by only one shot, but their outlooks on their games felt worlds apart. Editor’s Picks 2 Related McIlroy beelined to the

HOYLAKE, England — He emerged from the tunnel second, not wanting to drown in the wave of noise he knew would follow his opponent. But Brian Harman’s first-tee strategy was neutralized because he would be teeing off first, meaning he had to sit and listen as the roars for Tommy Fleetwood swallowed them whole. Make

ESPN News Services Jul 22, 2023, 10:58 AM ET Jon Rahm did all he could to get himself back into the mix at The Open. All it required was the lowest round ever at Royal Liverpool in its 13 times hosting the major. Rahm birdied seven of his last 10 holes Saturday for a 63,

There are a lot of lip readers on social media. Some may be professionals. Most are not. In the case of Xander Schauffele and what he said to reigning Open champion Cam Smith on the sixth tee Friday after he hit an excellent shot into the green on the par 3, the chatter was so,

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJul 21, 2023, 03:50 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — Justin Thomas is trying to solve an impossible riddle. He knows it, but he still asks the question, still wonders aloud if there’s an answer to why he can go from hitting a shot befitting of the best player in the world, to hitting

HOYLAKE, England — In football terms, and we’ll put it in football terms because that was the language spoken by the Royal Liverpool galleries on Friday, Tommy Fleetwood’s five-shot deficit through 36 holes to Brian Harman at the Open Championship is not unlike his beloved Everton F.C. being a few goals down at halftime in

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJul 21, 2023, 06:12 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — When Brian Harman drained a 15-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole Friday afternoon to go to 10 under, he changed the calculus of this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. The weekend will now turn into a field-wide chase of Harman,

HOYLAKE, England — A birdie on the final hole was not enough for Collin Morikawa to salvage weekend golf at Royal Liverpool. His second consecutive 73, and four-over-par total, meant the two-time major winner has missed the cut in both Open Championships since his 2021 victory at Royal St. George’s. World No. 19 Morikawa, who

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 21, 2023, 11:49 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — Justin Thomas wants to make U.S. team captain Zach Johnson‘s job easy when it comes time to decide whether he will receive one of

There’s been no shortage of talk surrounding Royal Liverpool’s shortest—and newest—hole this week at the Open Championship. Dubbed “Little Eye,” the par-3 17th has been big on controversy, including coach Pete Cowen warning it “could ruin somebody’s career.” But on Friday morning, it provided the shot of one man’s career. The 28-year-old Asian Tour pro

Mark Schlabach Close Mark Schlabach ESPN Senior Writer Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Paolo Uggetti Jul 20, 2023, 08:36 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — The first round of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club had a little bit of everything. Thursday

Sun. Shinny, bright, radiant sun. There was lots and lots of it on Thursday at Royal Liverpool for the opening round of the Open Championship. Too much, perhaps, for those golf enthusiasts who like to see the game’s top players struggle with rain and wind and other bits of foul weather when they’re competing in

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 20, 2023, 09:00 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia The last amateur to hold at least a share of the first-round lead in an Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club was Bobby Jones in 1930.

HOYLAKE, England — There has always been a bit more to Adrian Otaegui than the fact that his seven-letter surname contains all five vowels. The 30-year-old Spaniard, a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, is a protege of former Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and one of the most talented individuals on the Old

Mark Schlabach Close Mark Schlabach ESPN Senior Writer Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia Paolo Uggetti Jul 19, 2023, 05:21 PM ET HOYLAKE, England — When Brooks Koepka walked up to the first tee at Royal Liverpool Golf Club for a practice round Monday,

Top coach Pete Cowen warned Royal Liverpool’s 17th hole “could ruin somebody’s career” on the eve of the 2023 Championship. It certainly didn’t take long on Thursday for it to ruin one golfer’s first round. Lucas Herbert was cruising around Hoylake and in a tie for the lead following an eagle on the par-5 15th.

Associated Press Jul 19, 2023, 08:37 PM ET MIDLAND, Mich. — Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan shot a 6-under 64 in alternate-shot play Wednesday to take the first-round lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s lone team event. Castren, from Finland, and Tan, from Malaysia, birdied the final two holes and

The chatter about a fifth major in men’s professional golf ebbs and flows, mostly just as a talking point each year around the PGA Tour’s Players Championship. It’s an event that boasts among the strongest fields and highest purses while contested on the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course with a ton of history made there. The

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 19, 2023, 08:56 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — With the purse for The Open more than doubling over the past decade, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers on Wednesday wouldn’t rule out taking money

Zalatoris hadn’t discussed anything publicly himself until this week when he joined the “Chris Vernon Show” on the radio in Memphis as part of a media tour promoting the upcoming FedEx St. Jude Championship, where Zalatoris claimed his maiden PGA Tour win a year ago. The 26-year-old, who has been sidelined since April after undergoing

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJul 19, 2023, 08:15 AM ET HOYLAKE, England — Nine years ago, the resplendent orange Rickie Fowler wore against the backdrop of Hoylake’s cement-colored palate seemed like it glowed a little brighter. At the 2014 Open Championship, Fowler was still in his mid 20s, wearing a flat-billed, white and orange Puma hat with

HOYLAKE, England — It was a surprise to those who haven’t been paying attention, which apparently is a lot of people. Then again, Rory McIlroy is not a storyline heading into this year’s Open Championship but the storyline, an amalgamation of his recent form and local ties and his existence as the sport’s emotional fulcrum.

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 18, 2023, 08:00 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — As Rory McIlroy finished playing 14 holes during a practice round with Shane Lowry on Tuesday morning, the rain started to fall at Royal

HOYLAKE, England — Scottie Scheffler’s pre-tournament press conference at the 151st Open Championship covered a range of topics from the beloved, beaten-up 2012 Yukon XL he recently upgraded from, to video games and even using YouTube highlights of Tiger Woods’ 2006 Open victory at Royal Liverpool as homework for this week. Only one topic bothered

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 18, 2023, 09:30 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — Rory McIlroy will play the first two rounds of the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club with Masters champion Jon Rahm and

UC Berkeley can lay claim to producing plenty of brilliant minds, but we’re most thankful to the school for churning out arguably the two best characters on Golf Twitter. Max Homa, of course, is the undisputed king in those parts, but former college teammate Michael Kim has emerged as a must-follow in recent years as

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJul 18, 2023, 09:00 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia HOYLAKE, England — Royal Liverpool Golf Club, which was built in 1869 and is the second-oldest seaside course in England, underwent a facelift since the last time

HOYLAKE, England—The Ryder Cup is less than three months away and it’s still unclear if LIV Golf members will be allowed to compete for the United States team. Which is why eyebrows were raised Monday when discovering Brooks Koepka was practicing at Royal Liverpool with a certain influential person on the matter. The person in