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      At the P.G.A. Championship, Club Pros Get a Chance to Play

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      They have the opportunity to play their way into the field. Michael Block did it last year and impressed the sport by finishing 15th.Michael Block, the club professional from Southern California, electrified the crowds at last year’s P.G.A. Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., holding his own against the best touring professionals in the world.But after making the cut, his first hole didn’t bode well for a successful weekend.“I had 25 feet — the easiest two-putt in the world — and I three-putt it,” Block recalled last week. “I started to think, ‘Oh no, this is how it’s going to go today.’ As we’re walking off the green, Justin Rose puts his arm around me and said, ‘Let’s settle in, Blockie, and have a good day.’ For him to say that?”Rose, a major champion and Ryder Cup stalwart, was like so many other people at last year’s P.G.A.: supportive of a magical, if improbable run.Block, 46 at the time, did settle in and eventually finished tied for 15th, which got him an automatic invitation into this week’s P.G.A. Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. But more than the highest finish for any country club pro in the modern era of the P.G.A. Championship, he captivated the audience, inspired other club pros and earned the respect of touring pros who saw how well Block, who had been running his pro shop a week earlier, could play.“Watching Michael Block do what Michael Block did gave all of us this inner sense that it’s doable,” said Matt Dobyns, the head golf professional at the Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, N.Y., who will be making his sixth start in the P.G.A. Championship this week. “That’s part of the challenge for us — believing you can do it. I’ve played with Michael. He’s a great player, but I can play with him.”“His play gives you this glimmer that it’s possible,” Dobyns added. “It’s tough when you have a full-time job and playing golf is just one part of it.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Local Guys Bought the Valhalla Club, and Now They’re Hosting a Major

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      A group of Kentucky businessmen are trying to give the P.G.A. Championship a Louisville feel, complete with nods to Churchill Downs.The quality of a major championship venue is defined by its champions, and Valhalla Golf Club, the site of this week’s P.G.A. Championship in Louisville, Ky., has a list of past winners that stands out at every level.Tiger Woods won the 2000 P.G.A. Championship at Valhalla, and Rory McIlory won it there in 2014. Hale Irwin won the 2004 Senior P.G.A. Championship at Valhalla, and Tom Watson won it there in 2011. At the 2008 Ryder Cup, the United States squad, led by Paul Azinger, beat the European Team.Even on the junior side, the course has hosted elite players. Akshay Bhatia, who at 22 has two PGA Tour victories, won the 2018 Boys Junior P.G.A. Championship there. Anna Davis, now 18, won the 2021 Girls Junior P.G.A. Championship at Valhalla and went on the next year to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.What its new owners, a group of Kentucky businessmen who bought Valhalla in 2022, said it didn’t have was a club presence to go with its illustrious championship history. So when the P.G.A. of America, which runs the championship, decided to sell Valhalla, the new owners moved in to change that.“We couldn’t let it go to an out-of-town golf management firm,” said David Novak, the co-founder and former chief executive of Yum Brands, which owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. “We felt they’d be more interested in making money than building Valhalla’s reputation.”Rory McIlory won the 2014 P.G.A. Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.Brett Hansbauer/Sports Illustrated, via Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Breathtaking Shots of the P.G.A. Champion Gary Player

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      He won the P.G.A. Championship twice and his 150-yard shot in 1972 is still talked about. But Player said he was proudest of one he hit at the 1968 British Open.Gary Player of South Africa, a nine-time major winner, captured the P.G.A. Championship in 1962 and 1972 and made an impressive run for a third crown in 1984 at age 48, finishing second to Lee Trevino.In 1972, at Oakland Hills Country Club outside Detroit, Player rebounded from bogeys at 14 and 15 to pull off one of the more memorable shots in tournament history: a 9-iron approach on No. 16 from about 150 yards that went over trees and a lake to within about four feet of the pin. He converted the birdie putt and went on to prevail by two strokes.With this year’s event beginning on Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., Player, 88, recently reflected on what the P.G.A. meant to him.The following conversation has been edited and condensed.Was the shot at 16 the greatest one you ever hit?No. The greatest shot I ever hit was in the [1968] British Open [at Carnoustie in Scotland.] The wind’s blowing like crazy and I’m playing with Jack Nicklaus. I take the 3-wood [on No. 14] and hit it inches from the hole.Another one was the second shot on 17 in the 1974 Masters?My caddie said to me when I arrived [at the ball], “I need a roof on my house.” I said, “We’re going to get you a roof this week.” As I hit the 9-iron, I just took the club and gently tossed it towards that bag and said, “We’re not even going to need a putter.” It was inches behind the hole.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Peter Oosterhuis, British Golfer Turned Broadcaster, Dies at 75

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      He won 20 tournaments before moving into TV. “He explained the game that was going out in front of him in a very relaxed manner,” a former CBS producer said.Peter Oosterhuis, a British golfer who won 20 tournaments around the world, played in the Ryder Cup six times and later distinguished himself as a commentator for CBS and Golf Channel, died on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C. He was 75.His wife, Ruth Ann (DuClos) Oosterhuis, said that his death, at a memory care facility, was caused by complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He retired from CBS in early 2015, almost two decades after he began working there and several months after being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.That year, Oosterhuis (pronounced OH-ster-house) spoke to Golf Digest about his life and career.“The specific memories of those events are fading, but I have this nice overall impression of things,” he said. One detailed memory he still had: “In the 1973 Ryder Cup, I played Lee Trevino in one of my singles matches. Lee told his teammates, ‘If I don’t beat Oosterhuis, I’ll come in here and kiss your butts.’ Lee didn’t beat me.”Oosterhuis finished second in the 1974 British Open, four strokes behind Gary Player. Eight years later he took second place again, in a tie with Nick Price, one stroke behind the winner, Tom Watson. The Guardian said that Oosterhuis’s final-round 70 in the 1982 Open was “due reward for the stoutest heart and most patient temperament that British golf has produced in the modern era.”Oosterhuis at the 1972 Open Championship, held at the Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland.R&A Championships, via Getty ImagesOosterhuis was, for a time, one of Europe’s best golfers. He won the Harry Vardon Trophy, for the best scoring average on the European Tour, four consecutive times, from 1971 to 1974. He won seven titles on the European Tour, now called the DP World Tour. And while his six Ryder Cup teams (first Britain, then Europe) lost to the United States from 1971 to 1981, he had his share of success, including a record of 6-2-1 in his singles matches in the biennial competition.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Tiger Woods teases huge announcement with golf legend expected to take new job owing to friendship with ex-Man Utd owner

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      TIGER WOODS could soon be named as the USA’s Ryder Cup skipper for 2025 – two years earlier than expected.The golf legend was already tipped for the job in Ireland in 2027 – due to his friendship with the Adare Manor golf-course owner and ex-Manchester United majority shareholder JP McManus.Tiger Woods has thrown his hat into the ring for the Ryder Cup captaincyCredit: ReutersWoods is a pal of ex-Man Utd majority shareholder JP McManus, leading many to think he’d skipper the USA team at Adare Manor in three years’ timeCredit: SportsfileBut the 15-time Major winner, 48, is a strong contender to lead his country at Bethpage Black on Long Island, New York in September next year.Woods has even hinted an announcement could come soon.It follows a mixed Masters last week for the Californian, who has overcome serious injuries, in particular back problems, to resume his top-level career.Woods set a record for making the cut at Augusta 24 times in a row.READ MORE ON TIGERBut he then finished last of the remaining players on 16-over par.His aggregate total of 304 was also his highest ever in 26 appearances at the Masters – worse than the 301 he shot over four rounds in 2022.And although he insists he is knuckling down for the other three majors from May to July, it’s off the course where he could make his next big impact.Woods finally spoke out about the Ryder Cup captaincy when questioned in Augusta.Most read in FootballHe said he would be renewing discussions over the role with the PGA of America’s CEO Steve Waugh following the tournament.Woods explained: “We’re still talking about it.Tiger Woods gives fans ‘all time favourite Masters moment’ by ‘shaking hands with a tree’ on Augusta course“It’s something that Seth and I are going to sit back and talk about after this event.”The US team are smarting from a 16.5-11.5 mauling in Rome in 2023.Unsurprisingly, Team Europe have already announced that Luke Donald has retained the captaincy, with Thomas Bjorn staying as vice-skipper. More

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      At the Masters, Champions Past, Present and Future

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      Seventy-five years ago this past week, Sam Snead won the Masters Tournament and became the first champion to receive one of Augusta National Golf Club’s green jackets.Until he died in 2002, the jacket was his to wear every time he returned to Augusta. These days, it is a sartorial symbol of how, beyond a freighted history and marvelous azaleas and golf’s geopolitical machinations and gallery roars that ripple from Amen Corner to the clubhouse, Augusta National is more enchanted by champions than most places.Since the start of the month, Lottie Woad has captured the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Eight children were named champions of a junior golf competition after playing at Augusta. More than 30 past Masters winners gathered for dinner to honor Jon Rahm, last year’s champion, and Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson hit tee shots to start this year’s tournament. Many of their brethren played afterward, because they are allowed to for life. On Sunday, someone — perhaps someone new, perhaps someone already admitted to the locker room reserved for past champions — will win the 88th Masters.There may be no place in men’s golf where hope, dazzle and ambition are as abundant as Augusta.But this past week, all of the possibilities seemed to be on greater display than usual. There was the solar eclipse on Monday, when fans peered skyward, just as Ben Crenshaw and Nick Faldo did here, too. Later on, Tiger Woods, 48 years old and two years removed from the last time he finished a major tournament, made his record 24th consecutive Masters cut. But he faded on Saturday. Higher up the leaderboard during the third round, players like Ludvig Aberg, Nicolai Hojgaard, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele hunted for their debut major title, while Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Cameron Smith looked to build on the magic that had made them champions elsewhere not all that long ago. Scottie Scheffler occasionally stumbled but was still at once contending for another Masters victory and wondering if he could lock it down before the birth of his first child.Golf enthusiasts often regard a trip to the Masters as the stuff of dreams. It certainly is for players. The Masters represents a shot at becoming one of those champions written into history, with the green jackets and the possibility of forever enchanting Augusta.Spectators cast their eyes skyward to witness Monday’s solar eclipse.Winners of the Chip and Putt competition.Honorary starter names are placed at the first tee.Scottie Scheffler, left, hits out of the bunker as Stewart Hagestad, right, hits out off the bunker on the 12th hole during a practice round.Tiger Woods looks at his tee shot on the third hole.Bryson DeChambeau, center, carries a Masters sign along the 13th fairway.Luke List watches his shot on the seventh hole.Danny Willett reacts after making a birdie.Collin Morikawa stretches as he walks along the 15th fairway. More

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      My dad was a footballer who scored against Man Utd in Champions League – I’m making my own way playing at The Masters

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      FROM scoring Champions League goals to teeing off at The Masters – there are sports genes in the Pavon family.Michel Pavon is a former French footballer, who played for the likes of Toulouse and Bordeaux.Michel Pavon’s son is playing at The MastersCredit: EPAPavon Snr [right] played for Bordeaux and scored versus Man UtdCredit: EPAHis son Matthieu Pavon is a pro golferCredit: GettyThe 55-year-old made 378 Ligue 1 appearances during his lengthy career and won the division title in 1999.Pavon Sr also starred in the Champions League for Bordeaux and scored against Manchester United in a 2-1 defeat 24 years ago.The midfielder found the back of the net against Sir Alex Ferguson’s iconic Treble-winning side from distance after poor goalkeeping from Raimond van der Gouw.After hanging up his boots, he went on to manage Bordeaux for two seasons from 2003.READ MORE IN GOLFPavon Sr married golf coach Beatrice, with the couple’s son choosing the fairway over the football pitch.And Matthieu is now competing at The Masters.Pavon Jr is the current world No25 and he secured his maiden PGA Tour title at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year.It was the first event won by a Frenchman since 1907.Most read in GolfCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSThe 31-year-old makes his debut at Augusta this year, having made just two appearances at majors before.And it turns out that the Pavon family have even more links to sport as granddad Ignacio Pavon was a footballer for Marseille in the 1960s.Eight ways you can play golf at the Augusta National course that hosts MastersMASTERS 2024 LIVE More

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      The Masters: How to Get an Invitation

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      There’s a long list of possible ways, like being a past winner, but the creation of LIV Golf has complicated the process.Despite a missed putt on the 18th hole at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, Stephan Jaeger still punched his ticket to Augusta National Golf Club, where he will be playing in his first Masters Tournament this week.There are many ways to get an invitation to the Masters, and Jaeger, 34, found one of them.But first, he missed a putt that would have clinched a victory over the former Masters champion Scottie Scheffler. Then Scheffler missed a shorter putt that would have forced a playoff with Jaeger.In the end what mattered was that Jaeger won the tournament, not how he did it, and in doing so he earned an invitation to the Masters.“I couldn’t have thought, dreamed up a better week to do it,” he said after his victory.The Masters, the season’s first major for men, is an invitational, which means it is up to the members of Augusta National to send invitations and create the field of men who will compete for the coveted green jacket. This is unique among the major championships.This year extra attention has been paid to how players secure their invitation largely because of the rise of LIV Golf, the league that has poached a dozen top players. (More on that later.) But how players earn their Augusta invitations has been part of a bigger story around getting into the PGA Tour’s top tournaments, which have the strongest fields and high prize money.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More