Golf

C.T. Pan could become a footnote in history at Augusta National. Imagine qualifying for his first Masters and then having to wait 571 days before he can hear the most understated announcement in golf. One week after Tiger Woods slipped on a fifth green jacket, Pan won the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head to qualify for the Masters the following April.

When Augusta comes up, one instantly thinks of the Masters. If Omaha is mentioned, it’s often in the same breath with the College World Series. It's hard to imagine Louisville without the Kentucky Derby.

Trevor Immelman of South Africa has big shoes to fill as the next International captain for the Presidents Cup, and that goes beyond a figure of speech. Immelman was introduced Tuesday as the seventh player - and third South African - to be captain of a team cobbled together from every country outside the U.S. and Europe. The International team has won only once since the matches began in 1994, and the Americans have won the last eight times.

Francesco Molinari, winner of the 2018 Open Championship, demonstrates how he gained 20 yards with the driver and maintained his trademark accuracy. Plus, his keys for consistent irons and wedges, and the secrets to effective practice.

South Africa's Trevor Immelman has been named captain for the Internationals team in the 2021 Presidents Cup, the US PGA Tour announced Tuesday. The 2008 Masters champion, who took part in the 2005 and 2007 editions of the tournament, served as an assistant captain under compatriot Ernie Els in December, when player-captain Tiger Woods guided the United States to a 16-14 triumph at Melbourne, Australia. "The Presidents Cup and the PGA Tour have been a massive part of my career," Immelman said.

The 1954 Masters was voted No. 6. AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- - Sam Snead gambled with the "graveyard of the Masters," the tortuous thirteenth hole, and beat Ben Hogan by a stroke in an 18-hole playoff for the Masters golf title Monday. Snead won by a score of 70 to Hogan's 71 in a duel that carried right up to the final green.

No pensad en vosotros mismos en momentos como estos - pensad en vuestros seres queridos. Vuestros padres. Y los amigos de vuestros padres.

Don’t think of yourselves in a moment like this — think of your loved ones. Your parents. Your friend’s parents.

Augusta National picked Nov. 12-15 as the best date to move the Masters, postponed from this week because of the coronavirus. “The Masters has their rescheduled dates, and the change places our tournament as the premier tournament to once again be played the week prior,� said Giles Kibbe, president of the Houston Astros Golf Foundation. The Houston Open, previously run by the Houston Golf Association, took a risk in 2007 by moving a week before the Masters.

Nobody would have given odds on this. Inside the glittering casinos that line the Las Vegas Strip, the slot machines were turned off and the sportsbooks were dark. No big national championship game bets, no wagers on Tiger Woods to win the Masters.

The Masters goes from that annual rite of spring to two weeks before Thanksgiving. The U.S. Open now is scheduled in September for the first time since amateur Francis Ouimet took down Britain’s best at Brookline in 1913 to put golf on the map in America. Golf organizations tried to salvage a season unlike any other Monday with a series of changes, starting with the British Open being canceled for the first time since 1945.

Alison Curdt shows you how to curb the excessive motion in your swing with just your posture and two chairs.

Alison Curdt shows how to check your backswing positioning with any object at home.

Alison Curdt has a drill to check the positioning of your lower body in your golf swing, and all you need is a basketball.

Director of Instruction at Pronghorn Resort Jeff Ritter shows you how to check and improve your line of sight while you putt.

Golf seems to be the easiest sport to return amid the pandemic. The proposed new dates of these tournaments can lead to an amazing stretch of action.

The British Open has been cancelled for the first time since World War II due to the coronavirus. The 149th Open was scheduled to take place at Royal St George's Golf Club in Kent in July. "The Open was due to be played in Kent from 12-19 July but it has been necessary to cancel the championship based on guidance from the UK Government, the health authorities, public services and the R&A's advisers," organisers R&A said in a statement on Monday.

Three US-based major golf championships announced rescheduled 2020 dates Monday in the wake of the British Open being called off until 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The PGA Championship is now scheduled to be played August 6-9 at Harding Park in San Francisco. The Masters, which was to have been played this week at Augusta National, has been rescheduled for November 12-15.

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the British Open will not be played for the first time since 1945. The Masters could be played in November.

There are desert rain downpours and tee box confusion with top prizes of only $4,500 (4,167 euros), but golf's Outlaw Tour is playing through in Arizona despite the coronavirus pandemic. The four-year-old men's developmental circuit typically attracts players in their 20s for 54-hole mid-week events with entry fees of $775-$875 and is set to play four final season events in April. After two events since the PGA Tour halted play, the Outlaw Tour will stage the Orange Tree Classic at Scottsdale, Arizona, starting Tuesday with an 80-player field over a 6,739-yard layout.

From honing their short games in the garden to giving their children dubious haircuts and chatting to footballers, golfers have been finding ways to fill the time without competitive sport. The world's major golf tours have all been suspended until late May at the earliest due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the Masters and PGA Championship suspended indefinitely and three of the five women's majors rescheduled. Former Ryder Cup winner Edoardo Molinari is in his native Italy, which has been one of the hardest-hit countries by the COVID-19 outbreak, with the virus causing over 15,000 deaths in the European nation.

President Donald Trump talked to many U.S. pro sports leaders about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he was looking forward to the resumption of competitions “as soon as we can.� “I want fans back in the arenas,� Trump said later in a briefing at the White House. A person with direct knowledge of the call said Trump believes the NFL season — scheduled to begin Sept. 10 — will start on time with fans in seats.

For the real shotmakers, like Tiger Woods, playing a shot to curve away from trouble is the safest bet. In this case, Tiger shows you why it would be much harder to miss left with a slice swing than with a draw swing.

The Masters and PGA Championship have been postponed indefinitely with the US Open and British Open expected to follow suit, while the coronavirus pandemic has prompted three of the five women's majors to be rescheduled with tour action suspended until late May at the earliest. With the leading men's and women's tours across the US and Europe on hold for the next two months, a rematch of the November 2018 one-on-one showdown between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson could be the next event on the golf calendar. Reports indicate NFL greats Tom Brady and Peyton Manning could feature alongside Woods and Mickelson in a two-on-two sequel.

"I'm kidding. I don't have drugs."

What the R&A does with The British Open will have a major impact on the rest of the golf world’s rescheduling efforts this fall.

The LPGA Tour pushed back the resumption of its schedule until the middle of June and found slots for three tournaments that have been postponed. Commissioner Mike Whan keeps looking at the calendar at a dwindling number of dates and trying to figure out how it will fall into place, missing one key piece of information brought on by the spread of the new coronavirus. “Not knowing when our restart button gets pushed,� Whan said Friday.

Next month's Senior PGA Championship joined the lengthy list of golf events to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday as US officials confirmed cancellation of the May 19-24 tournament. A statement from the PGA of America said the tournament scheduled to take place at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Michigan, had been axed after state authorities issued a stay-at-home order on March 23. "While we are incredibly disappointed, we all understand that protecting public health is the highest priority," said PGA of America chief executive Seth Waugh.

The tournament had been scheduled to be held on the Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club in Houston but will now also be played on the Cypress Creek layout because of the reduced daylight in December. "The USGA remains committed to hosting the U.S. Women’s Open in 2020," said USGA CEO Mike Davis in a statement. The ANA Inspiration, which was scheduled for April 2-5 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California was earlier moved to Sept. 10-13.

The NCAA says hearings and oral arguments in infractions cases have been suspended through May 31 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The NCAA announced the move in a statement on its website Friday. The U.S. Tennis Association says its best not to play the sport right now because of the coronavirus pandemic.

US Golf Association executive Craig Annis conceded in comments to Golf Week magazine that it is "increasingly likely" that the US Open will be postponed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an article posted online on Thursday, Golf Week reported that USGA officials are holding off on an announcement about the major championship, scheduled for June 18-21 at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, as golf governing bodies around the world scramble to come up with a modified schedule for a season up-ended by the virus. "At this point we are not in a position to confirm any specific dates," Annis, the USGA's chief brand officer, told Golf Week.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan says he is working on three scenarios for a possible return to competition, knowing any firm timetable depends on global success in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Whan, in comments to the No Laying Up podcast posted Thursday on the women's tour's website, said it has been "a busy, stressful time" trying to juggle options for the first LPGA event since February 16 in Australia. "Just like any other tour you talk to, we've got three scenarios -- a scenario that says we start playing in the next month, a scenario that says we don't start playing until mid-July, a scenario that says we don't start playing until mid-September," Whan said.

The Senior PGA Championship will not be played this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the PGA of America announced Thursday. It was scheduled to be played May 21-24 at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Mich. The event was to be the second of five majors on the Champions Tour this season.

Jeff Ritter shows you his best at-home putting trick to better your setup.

Brian Manzella shows you a speed drill you can do at home. All you need is some space and a driver.

Three of the four major championships have been postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus.

Major League Soccer has extended its training moratorium through April 24 because of the coronavirus outbreak. MLS teams were two games into the season when it was suspended on March 12. Golden Gate Fields in the San Francisco Bay area has been closed for live racing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Golf Australia on Thursday reiterated its recommendation that all golf courses in the country should be closed until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic after some clubs continued to allow play this week. Australia has instructed people to stay inside unless shopping for food or taking exercise as it tries to contain the virus, which has infected more than 5,200 and killed 25 in the country. According to the most recent golf club participation reports, Australians play more than 10 million rounds of golf a year and there was some anger when Golf Australia first recommended that courses be shut down.

Caddies are golf's unsung heroes but they will never earn the riches made by some of the players and many will struggle during the European Tour suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic, their chairman says. The pandemic has also brought a halt to conversations that Sean Russell and his association were having with prospective sponsors after he negotiated a groundbreaking agreement with the European Tour. Some caddies have been sacked the week after a player has won a tournament.

The 149th edition of the championship is set to take place from July 16-19 at Royal St George's in Sandwich, Kent. Coronavirus has caused havoc with the sporting calendar, including the postponement of the first two golf majors of the year, the Masters and the US PGA Championship. "We are continuing to work through our options for The Open this year, including postponement," R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said in a statement.

Former swing coach Hank Haney was fired from his SiriusXM radio show last year after making racist and sexist comments about the LPGA.

The report, which sourced an unnamed person familiar with the negotiations, said the charity match would be held at an undisclosed location without fans and is being organised by the PGA Tour and AT&T's WarnerMedia. The negotiations are still being finalised but the match pitting 15-times major champion Woods and Manning against five-times major winner Mickelson and Brady could be aired on live TV and is unlikely to be featured on pay-per-view, the report said.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are in talks to stage a golf event to help coronavirus relief efforts that would also include NFL stars Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, according to multiple reports Wednesday. Golf.com and CNBC reported the 18-hole match, which has yet to be approved by US PGA Tour officials, will be played and feature two-man teams with each major golf star joined by an NFL quarterback legend. Mickelson defeated Woods in 2018 in a one-on-one matchup for $9 million in a pay-per-view event staged in Las Vegas.

Organizers of the US PGA Tour's Canadian Open, the final tuneup for June's US Open, were reassessing options Wednesday in the wake of Toronto city officials canceling event permits. World number one Rory McIlroy is the defending champion at the Canadian Open, the longest-running tour event outside the US and British Opens, dating to 1904. Toronto officials voided all event permits and access to city services through June 30 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson II (with a little Tom Brady and Peyton Manning) is exactly what we need during the coronavirus shutdown.

The 41st Curtis Cup, a biennial women's amateur golf showdown between US and British and Irish teams set for June 12-14 in Wales, has been postponed until 2021. The US Golf Association (USGA) and the R&A, golf's world governing bodies, announced Wednesday that the match, the first to be staged in Wales since 1980, would be moved to next year at Conwy Golf Club due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The decision to postpone this year's Curtis Cup match did not come lightly," USGA senior managing director of championships John Bodenhamer said.

Europe captain Padraig Harrington says it would be better to stage the Ryder Cup on schedule this September with a shortened qualification period than postpone the biennial showpiece. Paul Casey, a member of the winning Europe team in France in 2018, has called for the tournament to be put back 12 months. Three-time major winner Harrington is set to skipper Europe at Whistling Straits in the United States and would rather the event took place this year, even if it means changing the qualification criteria.

One twister caused significant damage to homes near a golf course in Alabama.

The move was expected, yet no less exceptional, when the IOC decided to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until next year. It brought mixed reactions from so many Olympic athletes. Kat Holmes, on her way to earning another shot at the Olympics in fencing, just got accepted into medical school and had plans to go straight from Tokyo to orientation.

Jin Young Ko figures to be plenty rested whenever the LPGA Tour resumes. Ko left the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, on Nov. 24 as the No. 1 player in women's golf, capping off her four-win, two-major season as the LPGA player of the year and winner of the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. The next event on the LPGA schedule is May 14 at the Pelican Women's Championship in Florida, and that's looking more doubtful with each rapid development of COVID-19.

Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson hinted that a possible one-on-one rematch against Tiger Woods is in the works, one that could be contested despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Mickelson, a left-hander who turns 50 in June, defeated Woods, a 15-time major winner and reigning Masters champion, in "The Match" -- a 2018 pay-per-view, winner-take-all duel for $9 million at Las Vegas. Asked in a Twitter chat Sunday night about the chances for a rematch with Woods, Mickelson tweeted, "Working on it."