News

6:45 AM ET Golfer Rory McIlroy has backed Naomi Osaka’s decision to take a break from tennis following the Japanese world No. 3’s elimination from the U.S. Open last week, saying that it was important that athletes did not let results define them. A tearful Osaka told reporters that she would be taking some time

9:35 PM ET A week ago, as Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was going through warm-ups for his team’s final preseason game, a golf epic was unfolding on televisions inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Patrick Cantlay held off Bryson DeChambeau in a six-hole playoff for the BMW Championship and in doing so, picked up the moniker “Patty

TOLEDO, Ohio — It was still early Sunday morning at the Solheim Cup when an American fan suffered a fainting spell, and, well, if you’d seen the board plastered in blue and watched the European team emphatically—and quite regularly—plucking the ball out of the cup, you might get light-headed, too. Somehow, though, America’s team members

8:52 PM ET ATLANTA — The system is one Patrick Cantlay still dislikes, one that saw him earn $15 million on Sunday as the PGA Tour’s season-long champion despite not shooting the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship. No matter. Cantlay followed the format, and he hit the big shots when necessary to hold

Jon Rahm was nine holes away from winning the Northern Trust, and with it Rahm would have secured Player of the Year. But Rahm stumbled down the stretch at Liberty National, and a mere 13 days later the POY title is very much a debate with Patrick Cantlay inserting himself in the conversation with a

3:46 PM ET Associated Press GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — The man who contributed the most to Europe’s team in the 2018 Ryder Cup triumph will almost certainly be missing from this month’s competition at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin. Still recovering from a back problem that kept him out of this year’s PGA Championship and Tokyo Olympics,

ATLANTA — On Sunday morning, those near the top of the Tour Championship leader board had $15 million on their mind. For the man on the bottom, however, the magic number was 1 hour and 59 minutes. That’s how long it took Kevin Na to play his final round at the 2016 Tour Championship, which

8:09 PM ET Associated Press ATLANTA — Patrick Cantlay finished with a 25-foot birdie putt that gave him a two-shot lead over Jon Rahm in the Tour Championship on Saturday and set the stage for a sprint to the $15 million prize. It might not be a two-man race at East Lake, anymore. Cantlay’s final

ATLANTA—After Justin Thomas missed his five-foot par putt on the 18th hole, slipping from 16 under to 15 under, he fielded questions from the media stoically, with just a hint of irritation. As he stood in front of the microphone, a hanging TV showed Patrick Cantlay hitting a 23-footer on the 18th green to finish

TOLEDO, Ohio – Beware Spanish dancers on American soil in these biennial match-play events. A Senorita in a red flamenco dress, waving the European colors, danced beside the first tee at Inverness Club Saturday afternoon as the second session of the Solheim Cup commenced, a fair representation of Europe’s mood on an opening day it

8:28 PM ET ATLANTA — Just one day remains in what is likely the longest season on record for the PGA Tour, a “super season” that included 50 events, six major championships, COVID-19 concerns and a good bit of golf parity. After all of that, it is more or less come down to two players

6:56 PM ET Associated Press GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. — Gene Elliott won the U.S. Senior Amateur on Thursday, beating Jerry Gunthorpe 1 up at the Country Club of Detroit. The 59-year-old Elliott, from West Des Moines, Iowa, won for the first time in 36 starts in USGA events. He also won the Senior British

There’s nothing quite like it in golf. The first tee at the Solheim Cup is loud, it’s packed, it’s passionate, it’s not your normal tournament. The Solheim Cup has its own form of etiquette on the first tee: Instead of quiet fans, if you ask them for noise, you’ll get it. Danielle Kang loved the

7:50 PM ET Associated Press ATLANTA — Patrick Cantlay met his goal in the first round of the Tour Championship on Thursday, and it had nothing to do with the score on his card or the size of his lead. As the top seed in the FedEx Cup, he started with a 2-shot lead over

ATLANTA — U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker will name his six captain’s picks on Wednesday, but it sure sounds like only one remains a mystery. It’s natural to think this week’s Tour Championship would double as an audition of sorts—one last chance to make a case and all—but both Stricker and players on the

ATLANTA—If you picture Patrick Cantlay’s season as a classic video game, in which he climbs the levels one after the other and faces a fearsome boss at the end of each one, then the Tour Championship represents the grand finale of his quest. He chased down Justin Thomas with a brilliant Sunday at the Zozo

7:14 PM ET Associated Press ATLANTA — For the second day in a row, no one had a better score than Jon Rahm at the Tour Championship. That’s just what he needed to make up ground on Patrick Cantlay going into a weekend chase for $15 million. Rahm birdied his last three holes Friday for

TOLEDO, Ohio—“I’ll play with anybody that doesn’t give up,” Lexi Thompson said on Friday, all at once in that one sentence asserting her competitive philosophy in the Solheim Cup and underscoring her role as the de facto leader of an American team that isn’t lacking strong voices. When the 17th edition of the biennial matches

8:23 AM ET Charlotte GibsonESPN Two years have passed since Europe won the Solheim Cup thanks to a jaw-dropping putt by captain’s pick Suzann Pettersen. Now, on Saturday at Inverness in Toledo, Ohio, the United States is trying to get the cup back on its own turf. “With everything that as going on, there was

Even with a two-stroke lead to begin the Tour Championship, Patrick Cantlay was not the consensus, solo favorite to win. He shared that designation with Jon Rahm, who, while clearly in peak form, started four strokes behind Cantlay. Not an insurmountable deficit, but one you’d rather not face when betting a golfer at a short

4:59 PM ET ATLANTA — Patrick Reed said he feared for his life two weeks ago when he was hospitalized for double pneumonia in the Houston area. Reed said Thursday he is “getting stronger every day” after playing his first full round of golf in a month at the Tour Championship, but most of his

ATLANTA — The PGA Tour didn’t post any videos of Bryson DeChambeau on Thursday, but the Golf Channel did, and commenters raced to make the same joke. “Good shot, Brooksy.” “Nice swing, Brooksy.” “Let’s go Brooksy.” This is no surprise; if social media’s takeover of society has made one thing clear, it’s that Keyboard Confidence

3:36 PM ET A Brooks Koepka moment that doesn’t actually include Bryson DeChambeau? Well, yes, that is possible. On Thursday, during the first round of the season-ending Tour Championship — the final stop in the $15 million-for-the-winner FedEx Cup playoffs — Koepka got off to a hot start. And he needed it. Given the staggered

2:52 PM ET Phil Mickelson took another shot at the United States Golf Association on Thursday, reiterating in a three-minute Twitter video that the governing body is wrong to limit the length of driver shafts as a way to combat some of the issues in the game. Mickelson, who did not qualify for this week’s

Tour pros know their stock yardages to the exact number (looking at you, Lee Westwood), which is why you’ll often hear them yell “GO IN” after a perfectly struck iron shot. Chances are it’s going to be within 10 feet of the hole when they shout that, but asking it to go in is still

12:39 PM ET ATLANTA – Patrick Cantlay is the leader of the FedEx Cup heading into the final event of the season at the Tour Championship. Cantlay has a 2-shot lead on the field, including a 10-shot advantage over those who are at the bottom of the 30-player field. And he’s not a big fan

Phil Mickelson has been a part of every Ryder Cup since 1995. That streak will continue this fall at Whistling Straits. Just in a different capacity. United States captain Steve Stricker announced Wednesday that Mickelson and Fred Couples have been added to the team as vice captains. “I’ve been staying in close contact with both

3:07 PM ET ATLANTA — Phil Mickelson is going to the Ryder Cup, but not as a player. U.S. captain Steve Stricker on Wednesday named Mickelson one of his vice captains — along with Fred Couples — for the matches, which will take place Sept. 24-26 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. That also means

A diamond’s brilliance forms under the perfect combination of time, pressure and heat. The gem rises to the surface through volcanic eruptions and other natural phenomena, then becomes mined from the land. In much the same way, Mina Harigae, 31 and winless on the LPGA Tour since first earning her card in 2010, was mined

4:47 PM ET The FedEx Cup playoffs conclude this week with the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Which players are the favorites this time around, who offers good odds and what props are worth considering? Sports betting deputy editor David Bearman and betting analysts Chris “The Bear” Fallica, Tyler Fulghum