GARY PLAYER

PGA Southern Hills Capsules Golf FILE - Tiger Woods sits next to the Wanamaker Trophy during a press conference following his win at the 89th PGA Championship golf tournament at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007. It turned out to be his last top-10 finish in the PGA Championship, the only major he never won. He was challenged briefly in the final round by an All-Star cast of challengers that included Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson and Corey Pavin. Arnold Palmer missed the cut with rounds of 79-74, his final appearance in the PGA Championship after a record 37 consecutive starts. He also had a two-shot lead and was on his way to another back-to-back title in the PGA Championship.

Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is among the golf courses with a history of hosting the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.

Masters champions get to go to the Masters Club dinner, and Scottie Scheffler has a permanent seat at that table now.

Scottie Scheffler can play in the Masters forever now.

The only color Harold Varner III has been focused on at the Masters is red.

Of all the 6,576 shots that were officially struck at Augusta National on Day 1 of the Masters, only one truly mattered.

Australian Cameron Smith overcame a pair of double bogeys to put himself in the mix after the first round of the Masters.

Masters Golf Hideki Matsuyama, of Japan, shakes hands with Justin Thomas, right, on the 18th hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (Robert F. Bukaty)AUGUSTA, Ga. — (AP) — Hideki Matsuyama is a Masters champion and apparently a master host. Spaun won for the first time at the Texas Open, earning the final spot in the field at the Masters. He had a little help: The 2020 Masters champion was more than happy to show him around. The amateur from Japan shot an even-par 72 in Round 1, the lowest score of the six amateurs in this Masters field. DIVOTSJoaquin Niemann's eagle on the par-4 ninth hole was the first at the Masters since Bill Haas in 2013.

Hideki Matsuyama is a Masters champion and apparently a master host.

Masters Golf Tom Watson, left, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus, right, hug during the honorary starter ceremony before the first round at the Masters golf tournament on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) (Charlie Riedel)AUGUSTA, Ga. — (AP) — Tom Watson didn't think eight major championships, including two green jackets, would be enough to join the company of Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus on the first tee at Augusta National. “I look at these old goats right here, I can’t carry their shoes," Watson said Thursday morning, shortly after joining Player and Nicklaus as an honorary starter at the Masters for the first time. The invitation he extended to Watson to become the 11th honorary starter since the tradition began in 1962 included the provision that the 72-year-old Watson could hit away as long as he liked. Watson couldn't help but have a little fun when he, Player and Nicklaus were asked who put together the longest drive. “Oh, come on," said Watson, who is considerably younger than the 82-year-old Nicklaus and the 86-year-old Player.

Two-time Masters champion Tom Watson has joined an elite fraternity at Augusta National.

Masters Watson Golf FILE - Jack Nicklaus, left, Gary Player, center, and Tom Watson play together during the par three competition at the Masters golf tournament Wednesday, April 4, 2018, in Augusta, Ga. The Masters said Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, that Watson will join them on the tee this year as an honorary starter. Watson, who held off Nicklaus in his Masters victories in 1977 and 1981, becomes the 11th player to be an honorary starter dating to 1963. Elder was invited to be a one-time honorary starter last year, though his health kept him from swinging a club. Nicklaus, the six-time Masters champion, has been an honorary starter since 2010, while Player started in 2012.

Tom Watson is returning to the first tee at the Masters as an honorary starter.

The PGA Tour is giving conditional releases to more than two dozen of its members who have signed up to play the Saudi International. The Saudi International is Feb. 3-6, the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The tour said it would grant conflicting event releases provided players put Pebble on their schedule once in 2023 or 2024, or twice through 2025 if it has been more than five years since they last played the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Tiger Woods can still hit great golf shots, just not that many.

Tiger Woods was in golf attire taking full swings and holing putts.

Elder broke down racial barriers and paved the way for Tiger Woods and many others to follow in his footsteps.

Reaction is coming in to the death of Lee Elder, the first Black golfer to play in the Masters.

Golf pioneer Lee Elder has died at the age of 87.

The PGA Tour is moving the Farmers Insurance Open off a big NFL Sunday.

Gary Player's wife dies Golf legend Gary Player said the "unthinkable" happened when his wife of 64 years, Vivienne, died Wednesday. ( Phil Inglis/Getty Images)Vivienne Player, the wife of Hall of Fame golfer Gary Player, died Wednesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Gary Player and Vivienne Verwey Player were married for 64 years and had six children, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, Golfweek reported. My wife of 64 years, my childhood sweetheart, my rock, and my soulmate Vivienne has lost her battle with pancreatic cancer,” Gary Player wrote on Twitter. Until then, I will miss my Viv dearly.”Statement of Gary Player on the passing of his wife, Vivienne.

South Africa's Garrick Higgo won the Palmetto Championship at Congaree for his first PGA Tour victory Sunday when leader Chesson Hadley made bogeys on his final three holes to lose his two-shot lead.

Phil Mickelson doesn’t need to be reminded of his age at the PGA Championship.

Jordan Spieth remembers being in a bad place mentally the last time the PGA Championship was at Kiawah Island.

Hideki Matsuyama almost turned down his first chance to play the Masters.

Justin Rose shot 65 on a day when only a dozen players managed to break par at the Masters.

Rory McIlroy hit his approach on the seventh hole Thursday at the Masters right where he was aiming.

Lee Elder was the first Black player to tee it up at the Masters.

The applause started when Lee Elder’s golf cart began moving toward the first tee.

Only a dozen players managed to break par in the opening round of the Masters.

While a tempest brews outside Magnolia Lane over Georgia’s voting rights law, Augusta National would prefer to keep the focus on blooming azaleas, pimento cheese sandwiches and tricky greens.

No one needed to see the colorful blooms at Augusta National to realize this will be a much different Masters than the last one.

Jon Rahm arrived at the Masters on Wednesday, after not sleeping much or touching a club for the past few days.

Rory McIlroy visited Tiger Woods recently and got a look at Woods' trophy case.

The award is one of the nation’s highest civilian honors. President Donald Trump has generally held public ceremonies when presenting the honor, but Thursday’s event was closed to the media. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany released a statement on the awards, which for Sorenstam and Player had been previously announced last March. She was an all-around athlete nicknamed “Babe,” after Babe Ruth. Zaharias was still a top-ranked professional golfer when she died from cancer in 1956.

Tiger Woods, left, walks on the 11th fairway with his son Charlie during a practice round at the Father Son Challenge golf tournament, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)ORLANDO, Fla. – Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods turned pro about the same time and have played in some 170 tournaments around the world together. “This is the first tournament I've ever played in that Tiger Woods is playing in that he's not the star of the show,” Harrington said Friday. Everybody is stopping to watch Charlie.”That would be Charlie Woods, the 11-year-old son of the 15-time major champion. Plus, he's the son of Tiger Woods. Even so, this cozy event in the holiday season has come to life with Woods playing for the first time.

The PNC Championship announced Thursday that Woods will play with 11-year-old son Charlie in the tournament that has paired major champions with their sons since 1995, the year before the 44-year-old Woods turned pro. “I can't tell you how excited I am to be playing with Charlie in our first official tournament together,” Woods said. The PNC Championship is Dec. 19-20 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando in central Florida. It allowed Fuzzy Zoeller to play with his daughter, Gretchen, and Arnold Palmer to play with his grandson, Sam Saunders. Until deciding to play in the PNC Championship, it was thought Woods ended the year at the Masters.

Paul Casey matched his lowest score at the Masters with a 7-under 65, giving him a two-shot lead among half the field fortunate to play in perfect scoring conditions. It was the fifth hole, which he bogeyed all four rounds last year when he won the Masters. He was joined by Xander Schauffele, a runner-up to Woods last year, who had seven birdies in his round of 67. The delay was the last thing the Masters needed with limited daylight hours leading to the two-tee start. The loudest cheer — applause, certainly not a roar — came for Nicklaus and Player hitting tee shots so early that they couldn't see where they landed.

Jack Nicklaus waves after hitting a ceremonial first ball before the first round of the Masters golf tournament Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

“I was pleased it was dark, because you didn’t see where my ball went,” Nicklaus told reporters afterward. No fans are allowed at this year’s event except for the players’ significant others and coaches, along with Augusta National members. Nicklaus won six times, Player three. Normally a rite of spring, the Masters has a different look and feel this year, given the move to November. A drone TV camera, allowed for the first time this year, also seemed out of place at the usually staid golf club.

Also, it’s the first bogey-free round for Woods in a major since the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine. The 43-year-old Englishman is leading the Masters after shooting a 7-under 65 in the opening round. But he turned things around in his return to Augusta National, which was delayed for seven months by the coronavirus pandemic. ___2:05 p.m.Tiger Woods is off to a strong start in defense of his Masters championship. He has six top-10 finishes at Augusta National, including a second-place finish in 2010 and a tie for second in 2016.

Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley announced Wednesday a $10 million donation to help with the redevelopment of what he said were once-thriving communities that have gone through decades of poverty, crime and unemployment. Bernhard Langer received that assurance at the Masters Club dinner Tuesday night with Chairman Fred Ridley. “But the issue is a lot larger than Augusta National and the Masters.”He was only certain that it would not change for the next Masters. And it wasn't in 1976, when Masters Chairman Fred Ridley stayed there for the first time. In fact, Masters Chairman Fred Ridley said it was decided before the pandemic forced the Masters to be postponed in April.

So much else has changed at Augusta National this week, when the first fall Masters will be held without many of the traditions that make it a tradition unlike any other. Another tradition diminished without fans: golfers trying to skip their shots across the surface of the pond in front of the 16th green. “We do think Butler Cabin is something that is really, not only part of the history, but emblematic of what the Masters is all about, giving the champion the green jacket,” Ridley said. “So we will be in Butler Cabin. The fall date also messed with the Masters' spot on the sports schedule.

It's November, and I think everybody just has to embrace that we're here and we're playing and that's a great thing." In some respects, this Masters is a celebration of what golf has done and a sendoff the sport has never had. For many, it signaled the start of golf season, whether that meant playing or watching. “All the Masters I've watched over the years in Ireland, the golfing season started normally the weekend of the Masters,” British Open champion Shane Lowry said. “I think when The Open Championship was canceled, I had serious doubts we'd play a Masters this year in 2020,” McIlroy said.

Lee Elder talks to the media at the Masters golf tournament Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, in Augusta, Ga. Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, announced today that Lee Elder, the first Black man to compete in the Masters Tournament 45 years ago, will be honored by establishing scholarships in his name and inviting him to be an Honorary Starter for the 2021 Masters. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

The Masters for some two decades has provided scholarship money for Paine College, a private, historically Black college in Augusta. The Lee Elder Scholarship will be endowed for one man and one woman on the golf team. “That is one thing that’s going to be significant to me, because 1975 was just an ordinary shot playing a golf tournament, even though it was the Masters,” Elder said. Never forget.”The connection to Paine College goes beyond it being an HBCU. He said Augusta National would pay for everything.

ESPN's College GameDay is in. Augusta National announced Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, more changes to a Masters tournament that will be unlike any of the previous 83. ESPN's “College GameDay” is in. Augusta National announced Tuesday more changes to a Masters tournament that will be unlike any of the previous 83. The most notable was in 2017 when “College GameDay” was held in Times Square.

Reid, a 33-year-old from England, is among the contenders to win the Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink. This is where Gary Player won his first PGA Championship in 1962, by one shot over Bob Goalby. Reid is a six-time winner on the Ladies European Tour but she was more than overdue for an LPGA Tour title. Last year, Hannah Green used a steely performance down the stretch at Hazeltine to make the Women's PGA her first career victory. She hopes to use the lessons learned there to be able to secure a second straight major championship.

Jordan Spieth watches from the putting green during practice for the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020. Win this major and he joins the most exclusive club in golf with the final leg of the career Grand Slam. The longest anyone went from winning the third leg to completing the Grand Slam was three years by Player and Nicklaus. If you told me that, I'd probably say that guy is kind of a jerk and I'd walk the other way, Spieth said with a smile. 2 after winning at Royal Birkdale and getting his first shot at the career Grand Slam in the 2017 PGA Championship (he tied for 28th).

After a ceremonial tee off from Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player started the Masters Tournament, the focus is on Tiger Woods following his absence from play for more than two months. Luke Elvy has you covered with everything you need to know.