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    DP World Tour: Five Events That Stood Out

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    Here are five tournaments that stood out in 2024.Another year on the DP World Tour is about to go into the books, filled, as usual, with heroics and heartaches.Which leads to this week’s finale, the DP World Tour Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where the 50 players who accumulated the most points will compete for the title.There will also be a winner — either Rory McIlroy, who has a big advantage, or Thriston Lawrence — in the Race to Dubai that will award 10 golfers a total of $6 million.Below are five events in the 2023-24 season that provided their share of suspense:Jan. 11-14: Dubai InvitationalDown the stretch, it was McIlroy’s tournament to win or lose.He lost.Up by a stroke on the 72nd hole at the Dubai Creek Resort, McIlroy of Northern Ireland found the water with his tee shot, leading to a bogey. Taking advantage was Tommy Fleetwood of England, who knocked in a 16-foot birdie putt for the victory.“I think I was very happy with the way I played today for the large majority of the round,” said Fleetwood, who prevailed by one over McIlroy and South Africa’s Lawrence.McIlroy was also on target for much of the day. He recorded three straight birdies on the back nine, but three-putted from two feet on 14 and made the costly error on 18.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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      British Open: It’s the Short Holes That Often Befuddle Golfers

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      At the British Open at Royal Troon, a short hole called the Postage Stamp has ended many title runs.The British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland this week might help answer a question vexing professional golf. Is the antidote to golfers hitting increasingly long drives creating holes that are even longer? Or is it the opposite: incredible shortness?Troon, which is hosting its 10th Open this week, is famous for the Postage Stamp, the name given to its par-3 eighth hole, which is 123 yards on the card but may play under 100 yards this week if the tees are moved up and the pin is put in the front of the green. A tiny green surrounded by five bunkers, the hole has been a feature of the course since 1909.It’s also a hole length that any golfer can hit. But under pressure, with the wind blowing and a tricky pin position, it’s a length that tests the skill of the most elite golfers.This year, Troon will also have its opposite. It will have the longest hole in Open history, the par-5 sixth hole that will measure 623 yards. It beats by three yards the 15th hole at Royal Liverpool in last year’s Open.A view of the par-5 sixth hole at Royal Troon in Scotland last August.David Cannon, R&AIn some ways, lengthening holes for top pros is akin to billionaires competing to have the longest yacht: It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Pros hit the ball so far that length alone doesn’t deter them.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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      Rory McIlroy Crashed at the U.S. Open. Here’s How He Recovers.

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      Two performance psychologists explain the mental strategies that help push past blowing a lead at a major.LONDON — Rory McIlroy was hardly the first golf megastar to falter down the stretch of a major: see Arnold Palmer at the 1966 U.S. Open and Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters.But for all the illustrious company, blowing a lead is still misery. McIlroy had not missed a putt inside three feet all season on the PGA Tour, and yet, with a one-stroke lead and the U.S. Open on the line at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina last month, he missed a par putt from 2 feet 6 inches on the 16th hole. He then missed a putt on the 18th from 3 feet 9 inches.Victory went instead to Bryson DeChambeau after a great escape from a bunker on the final hole.McIlroy, still trying to end his decade-long major drought, could only stare desolately at the screen in the scorer’s room with his hands on his hips and then trudge to his courtesy car without further comment that day.#Pinehurt quickly became a hashtag on social media.“Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer,” McIlroy posted on X the next day.Arnold Palmer at the 1966 U.S. Open where, like McIlroy, he blew a lead at the end of a major. Palmer never won another major after that loss.Bettmann/Getty ImagesHe has since withdrawn from the Travelers Championship to regroup and is set to return this week for the Genesis Scottish Open to defend his title. He will then play in the next major: the Open Championship.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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      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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      Masters 2024: Five Players to Watch

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      Among them are golfers who have won the event before and have a good chance to do it again.No golfer has repeated as the champion of the Masters Tournament, which begins on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club, since Tiger Woods successfully defended his crown in 2002.Such is the challenge facing Spain’s Jon Rahm, who closed with a 69 last year to secure his second major title. He also won the 2021 United States Open.Rahm, who signed with LIV Golf in late 2023, will be one of the favorites.Here are five other players to watch:Scottie SchefflerThe strong favorite will be Scheffler, who is so precise from tee to green. When he is making putts, as he’s been doing lately, he seems unbeatable.Ranked No. 1 in the world, Scheffler turned in a six-under 66 in the final round to capture the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month. One week later, he shot an eight-under 64 to rally to win his second consecutive Players Championship, which no player had done since the tournament — considered the unofficial fifth major — began in 1974.The true test of his greatness, however, will depend on how he fares in the official majors. Scheffler, 27, who tied for second in March at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, has one major title, the Masters in 2022.Jon Ferrey/Liv Golf/LIVGO, via Associated PressBrooks KoepkaKoepka, 33, made a run at the green jacket last year before faltering with a final-round 75 to tie for second, four strokes behind Rahm.The next month, he took the P.G.A. Championship, his fifth major. One more and he’ll match the total of Phil Mickelson, Lee Trevino and Nick Faldo.Koepka said his inability to close the deal at Augusta National last year helped pave the way for his win at the P.G.A.“I think failure is how you learn,” he told reporters at the P.G.A. “You get better from it. You realize what mistakes you’ve made.”Doug Defelice/LIVGO, via Associated PressPhil MickelsonWe 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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      Ryder Cup: Home Team Gets a Course Advantage

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      This year the competition is in Rome, which means the European team controls the course setup and can adjust it to its players’ strengths.Max Homa returned from a scouting trip to the site of this week’s Ryder Cup in Rome incredulous with how the course had been set up.Not only were the fairways reduced in width where a tee shot might land, but the rough was grown so thick, high and gnarly that slightly errant shots could disappear.“One day someone hit it over a bunker, and we just lost it in the regular rough,” Homa said. “The whole first day I didn’t see a single ball from the rough hit the green.”The one exception: Justin Thomas hit a ball in the rough onto the green from 100 yards away, a distance where touring pros are thinking about getting the ball to within a few feet from the hole, not just on the putting surface.“The rough is borderline unplayable,” Homa said. “There’s going to be the highest, highest premium placed on being in the fairway, but they’re narrow.”In other words, this sounds like a typical setup for a Ryder Cup played in Europe, where the home team hasn’t lost the biennial competition in 30 years.Luke Donald playing his way out of a bunker at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club during the Italian Open in May.Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesThe Ryder Cup, which alternates between Europe and the United States, is the rare event in elite golf where the home team has an advantage, given that it gets to determine how the course will be played. At regular professional events, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour work with local tournament directors to bring consistency from week to week. For the major championships, the governing bodies dictate how the courses will be set up, and typically lay them out in predictably difficult ways.But the Ryder Cup is different: What the captain of the home team says goes, right up until Sunday night of tournament week. And it’s codified in the Captains’ Agreement, which starts: “It is recognized that the home side has the opportunity to influence and direct the setup and preparation of the course for the Ryder Cup. It is hereby agreed that any such influence, direction and/or preparation will be limited to course architecture/course design, fairway widths, rough heights, green speed and firmness.”This year, there’s an added bit of home team advantage at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, because very few of the U.S. players are familiar with the course under any conditions. Several players on the European squad have at least played the course when it hosted the Italian Open on the DP World Tour.In the hope of getting an understanding of how the course would be set up for the Ryder Cup, Zach Johnson, the U.S. captain, took the team on a scouting trip earlier this month.“This is a course that most if not all of our guys have not played,” Johnson said in an interview. “To get their feet on the ground of Marco Simone ahead of the Cup is very important. Having some practice time there can only make a very trying, different, sometimes difficult week of the Cup that much more manageable and comfortable.”Johnson, a five-time Ryder Cup player, knows the setup gambits both sides play. “Because it’s in Europe, there are tendencies their team seems to employ, with regard to course setup among other things,” he said. “We will utilize past experiences and data to make decisions.”The setup shenanigans ultimately equal out. One of the most famous setup tweaks came when Paul Azinger, captain of the 2008 U.S. squad, set up the course at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., to take advantage of his players’ ability to drive the ball farther off the tee than their European opponents.All the hazards — bunkers, much thicker rough — were in the areas where the shorter-hitting Europeans were likely to land the ball, while the rough past the bunkers was cut shorter to make it easier for the American side to escape from wayward drives.A view of the first tee grandstand for the 2023 Ryder Cup. After visiting Marco Simone, Max Homa noted that the rough on the course was so thick and high, errant shots could disappear. Naomi Baker/Getty ImagesIn 2016, at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Davis Love III, the U.S. captain, put many pins in the middle of the greens, making it easy for the player, but less exciting to watch.The European side has historically gone with a setup that features narrow fairways and higher rough, under the premise that American golfers are less accurate, along with greens that are much slower than those typically found on the PGA Tour. This year was no different, Homa said.That leaves an obvious question: Why do the officials allow this?The Ryder Cup is jointly sanctioned by the P.G.A. of America and Ryder Cup Europe, which is a blend of three organizations in Britain and Europe. Officials at the P.G.A. of America and Ryder Cup Europe said the setup was fair and it could reward or penalize players on either team.Zach Johnson, the United States team captain, talking with reporters in Rome earlier this month. Johnson took his team on a scouting trip to the course to increase their familiarity with it. Andrew Medichini/Associated Press“You are looking for it to be tough, but fair, and provide an exciting challenge,” said David Garland, director of tour operations for Ryder Cup Europe.Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer at the P.G.A. of America, said: “The Ryder Cup is unlike our other championships in that the home captain has a lot of influence as to how the golf course is set up. Our aim is to make any Ryder Cup golf course setup fair for both teams.”Once play starts, it’s up to the officials to maintain the course as it was at the outset. “If you want six-inch rough, four-inch rough or two-inch rough, that’s what we’re trying to do,” Haigh said.Setup aside, both officials emphasized that this year’s course has some shorter holes that are meant to increase the excitement of the matches.“There are a couple of drivable par 4s, the fifth and the 16th, which are both over water,” Garland said. “The course was completely rebuilt a few years ago for the Ryder Cup with the drama of match play in mind.” More

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      Five Players to Watch at the British Open

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      Many of the best players in the world have gathered at Royal Liverpool for the last major of the year.It seems like only yesterday that the best golfers in the game were battling for a green jacket at the Masters Tournament, the season’s first major.With mid-July here, however, the stage is set for the final major, the British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, which begins on Thursday.It will be fascinating to see if Wyndham Clark, who was a surprise winner in the United States Open in June, can back it up at the British Open — and whether the world No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, whose name always seems to be on the leaderboard, will make enough putts to win his second major after taking the Masters last year.Here are five other players to watch this week.Koepka won the P.G.A. Championship this year.Charles Laberge/Liv Golf, via Associated PressBrooks KoepkaNo one has been more impressive in the majors this year than Koepka. He tied for second at the Masters and won the P.G.A. Championship.At 33, Koepka, with five major titles, is still in the prime of his career. With one more major, he’d join such greats as Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson with six. Koepka said his goal was to reach double figures in majors, and it’s not out of the question.“I think sometimes majors are the easiest to win,” he once said. “Half the people shoot themselves out of it, and mentally I know I can beat most of them.”Koepka, who signed with the Saudi-financed LIV Golf tour in 2022, is healthy again. As knee and hip injuries took their toll in the last couple of years, his game suffered as did his confidence.Rory McIlroy won last week’s Genesis Scottish Open.Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressRory McIlroyWith the arrival of each major championship, there’s the same question for McIlroy, 34: Will he win his fifth title? He has been stuck on four since he captured the 2014 P.G.A. Championship.He almost came through at the United States Open this year but failed to make a birdie on No. 8, the vulnerable par 5, and bogeyed No. 14, another par 5, to finish second by a stroke.McIlroy, who birdied the last two holes to win last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, still has time. Mickelson and Ben Hogan didn’t pick up their first major until they were in their early 30s. On the other hand, McIlroy, ranked No. 2, can’t keep letting these opportunities slip away. There are only so many.He has one big thing going for him this week. It was on the same course in 2014 that he captured his lone British Open, winning by two over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler.Justin Rose will turn 43 at the end of the month.Julio Aguilar/Getty ImagesJustin RoseTime, however, is starting to become a factor for Rose, who will turn 43 at the end of the month, in his pursuit of a second major. His first was the 2013 U.S. Open. Since 2000, only Tiger Woods and Mickelson have won majors after their 43rd birthday.Rose, of England, has shown this year he still has plenty of game. In February, he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am because of a 65 and 66 in his final two rounds. He tied for sixth at the Players Championship, tied for ninth at the P.G.A. Championship and came in eighth at the RBC Canadian Open.It’s hard to believe, but a quarter century has passed since, as a 17-year-old amateur, Rose holed out on the 72nd hole from 50 yards away to tie for fourth in the 1998 British Open. “It was something,” he said, “that was way beyond anything I could have ever imagined or experienced.”Cameron Smith is the defending champion.Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesCameron SmithHoping to defend his title is Smith of Australia, who hit a final-round 64 last year to win by a stroke over Cameron Young. McIlroy finished third, two shots back. Smith, who made eight birdies, didn’t seem to miss a putt in the final round. Most memorable was the save he made on No. 17, the Road Hole, knocking in a 10-footer after an exquisite third shot that he navigated around the bunker.“I knew if I could get it somewhere in there,” said Smith, ranked No. 7, “that I’d be able to give it a pretty good run.”Smith, 29, who won a recent LIV Tour event in London, tied for 34th at the Masters, but tied for ninth at the P.G.A. and came in fourth at the U.S. Open, closing with a three-under 67. Unless his putter cools off, he should be in the hunt.Collin Morikawa is a two-time major champion.Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesCollin MorikawaStill only 26, Morikawa, a two-time major champion, might have found something to turn his season around. Morikawa, ranked No. 19, closed with a 64 a few weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, losing in a playoff to Fowler. It was his first top 10 finish since the Masters, most surprising for a player of his ability.His first major came in the 2020 P.G.A. Championship. Morikawa, who shot a final-round 64, made a memorable eagle on No. 16 after reaching the green with his tee shot. In 2021, he won the British Open by two shots over Jordan Spieth.Morikawa hasn’t won since, however, and it’s getting to him.“I mean frustrating, frustrating’s a word I can use,” he said in June.“It’s been a while, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to” win, he said. “It’s still there.” More

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      Nick Price and the Thrill of Winning the British Open

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      He won three majors in his career, but it was taking the British Open in 1994 that meant the most.Nick Price, the former No. 1 player in the world, won the P.G.A. Championship in 1992 and 1994, but it was his victory in the ’94 British Open at Turnberry in Scotland that stands out.While playing the 71st hole, a par 5, Price of Zimbabwe felt he needed a birdie to give himself a chance. He did better than that. He got an eagle, knocking in a 50-footer, and went on to win by a stroke over Jesper Parnevik of Sweden.Price, 66, speaking by phone from his home in Florida, reflected recently on his Open triumph and why it was so special. The conversation has been edited and condensed.Where do you place your victory at Turnberry?Having been second twice, in 1982 and in 1988, it was something I really wanted badly. It’s the first major championship I ever watched on TV. It meant the most to me.What are the challenges facing the players at Royal Liverpool?I think your normal links golf. One of the real keys to links golf is to hit the ball straight. Tom Watson, who was always a master of the links courses, that was his philosophy. He said it doesn’t really matter if you miss hit the ball or whatever, but if you hit it straight you can play a links course, and no truer words were spoken.What was the Open you first watched?In 1969, when Tony Jacklin won at Royal Lytham. We didn’t have live TV in those days. The tobacco companies used to have all of these 16-millimeter films that they used to bring to the golf clubs. They would do two showings, one on a Friday night and one on a Saturday night. I can remember sitting on the floor at the golf course in the main lounge in front of the screen watching with two or three buddies. It was such an eye-opening thing. I didn’t know you could make money playing professional golf.What was the key to your win?The putt on 17 was huge, but I birdied the 16th hole, which really put me in a position to win. I played the hole absolutely perfect. I hit a driver down there so I could get my 60-degree sand wedge on it, which I had the most amount of spin with. I used a little bit of a slope behind the pin as a backboard and drew the ball back off the slope to about 15 feet and holed a very difficult left-to-right, downhill putt.What about Bernhard Langer recently setting the record for most wins as a senior?What amazes me about him is the desire. He still has the desire. For many of us who have stepped aside or retired, he’s just an amazing human being.You’re only seven months older. Can you imagine yourself doing what he is doing?No. I had an injury that put me on the downhill toward retirement in 2012. But even so, if I hadn’t that, I probably wouldn’t be playing as much — a few events, but not like he does.You were never fired up about the senior tour anyway, were you?Not really. I went flat out on the regular tour until I was 50, so I was at a little bit of burnout on my first three of four years on the Champions Tour. It didn’t inspire me.What is your biggest regret?I would have liked to have come to America earlier. Over here my progress accelerated a lot more. I should have come at the end of 1980 instead of 1983.When you play with friends these days, what motivates you?The love of the game, that’s what it comes down to. I have to keep moving my goals. It’s not what it was. Yesterday, I shot 71. I broke par. I’m playing from the second set of tees, a course about 6,700 yards. It’s still fun for me and especially with the guys I play with. I try to be selective about the courses I play. I only like to play courses I enjoy playing. That’s one of the things you can be when you get to my age. More