PADRAIG HARRINGTON

Tiger Woods has struggled with injuries since a car accident last year, but fellow veteran golfer Padraig Harrington believes Woods' winning days have not completely passed.

PHOENIX — (AP) — Steven Alker shot 3-under 68 to finish third behind record-setting Padraig Harrington in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Sunday, completing his climb from career journeyman to champion of the PGA Tour Champions. Harrington needed to win and have Alker finish outside the top five for Harrington to claim the season-long Charles Schwab Cup in his second season on the PGA Tour Champions. Harrington finished at 27-under 257 to break the PGA Tour Champions 72-hole record of 258 set by Tom Lehman at the 2012 Schwab Cup Championship. Alker trailed Harrington by five shots heading into the final round, but the players behind were his only concern in terms of the Schwab Cup. The PGA Tour Champions gave Alker another opportunity in a career that took him around the world.

Shanshan Feng was planning to retire after 10 years of professional golf.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland — (AP) — Darren Clarke birdied the last hole to beat a resurgent Padraig Harrington and win the Senior British Open by one shot on Sunday. Clarke and Paul Broadhurst were level at 9 under overall after the third round but it was Harrington, a three-time major winner, who soared into contention at Gleneagles with a 3-under 67 to pressure Clarke on the last hole. The 53-year-old Clarke held firm with a birdie to post a 69 to finish 10-under 270 overall and add a senior major to his Claret Jug at the British Open in 2011. Play was suspended following heavy rain in the early evening with Clarke and Broadhurst still having five holes left when play resumed at 8 p.m. local time. Broadhurst fell back with a 1-over 71 and finished one shot ahead of Scotland's Colin Montgomerie after he hit a 69.

The dry conditions at the British Open turned a beautiful day for golf into a long slog for many of the players.

Newlyweds Alex Wrigley and Johanna Gustavsson had wide smiles as they posed for photos on the Swilcan Bridge under bright sunshine near the end of a practice round on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

AKRON, Ohio — (AP) — Alex Cejka birdied two of the final three holes for a 6-under 64 and a two-stroke lead Thursday in the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship. Alker, with three victories, and Jimenez, with two, are the only multiple winners on the PGA Tour Champions this year. The tournament is the second of three straight majors on the PGA Tour Champions schedule. Padraig Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open two weeks ago at Saucon Valley. He went from the U.S. Senior Open to the Irish Open and next week is at St. Andrews for the British Open.

Harrington never lost the lead at Saucon Valley on a day when he made it hard on himself. He is the third straight player to win the U.S. Senior Open in his debut, following Jim Furyk last year and Stricker in 2019. Before Stricker could make his final birdie, Harrington made his 30-footer to be assured of staying in front, and his lag putting was superb when it needed to be. Harrington won three majors on the regular tour, the first one at Carnoustie in 2007 when he rallied to win the British Open in a playoff. Harrington and Stricker each have a senior major this year, with Stricker winning the Regions Tradition in Alabama a month after returning to the tour from a six-month break recovering from a virus.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — (AP) — Padraig Harrington finally knows what it's like to overpower a golf course, and it has the Irishman on the verge of a U.S. Senior Open title. Harrington reached both par 5s in two, hitting 5-wood to 7 feet on the 608-yard 12th hole at Saucon Valley, and his 5-under 66 enabled him to open a five-shot lead going into the final round of the Senior Open. He was at 12-under 201, five shots clear of former U.S. Senior Open champion Gene Sauers, who birdied the last two holes for a 68; and PGA Tour Champions rookie Rob Labritz (69). Harrington, who turned 50 last August and is playing his first U.S. Senior Open, stretched his lead to as many as nine shots. “He's got a lot of length out here,” Els said of Harrington.

US Senior Open Golf Stephen Dodd tees off on No. Stricker, whose U.S. team of stars throttled Europe in the Ryder Cup, did some nifty work of his own to overcome a sloppy start. Jay Haas, the 68-year-old who on Thursday became the fifth player in U.S. Senior Open history to shoot his age with a 67, had to settle for Tom Watson's age Friday. Rob Labritz, the longtime club professional who earned a PGA Tour Champions card this season, had another 69 and was two shots behind Harrington. Harrington who turned 50 last August, is playing his first U.S. Senior Open and still has plenty of speed in his swing to handle the thick rough still wet from Thursday's rain.

Here's a look back at key anniversaries from the U.S. Open.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — (AP) — Steve Stricker shot a 4-under 68 to maintain a two-stroke lead Friday over Scott McCarron and Padraig Harrington in the second round of the Regions Tradition, the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors. He had only his first bogey of the tournament on the par 5 fifth hole but never lost his lead. “The three-putt kind of put a little skid into my round really quick,” said Stricker, who was captain of the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits last year. McCarron, who started on the back nine, had a five-birdie, six-hole stretch before his only bogey of the round on No. 15 to highlight a 70 after joining Wes Short Jr. in second place after the first round.

If you didn't know much about pro golfer Steven Alker before he turned 50, there's a reason.

On The Fringe Golf FILE - Tiger Woods reacts as he wins the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. In a survey, this rated as his second-most significant win of his five Masters titles. In between was his most historic Masters victory — the Tiger Slam — when Woods made it a clean sweep of the four professional majors in a span of 294 days. The late Lee Elder, who became the first Black golfer to play in the Masters in 1975 — the year Woods was born — was among those watching it unfold. “That was the closest to emotional I ever got watching a golf tournament.”Emotion was a big part of it.

Tiger Woods has won five Masters.

This Masters is all about Tiger Woods to start the week.

Tiger Woods already is the greatest of his generation.

A devastating fire swept through the century-old clubhouse Thursday at Oakland Hills Country Club, the suburban Detroit course that housed artifacts of some of golf’s biggest stars and the championships they won there.

Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are finally getting their day in the sun.

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

This was not a bad European team, just a team that wasn't performing well away from home. The question going forward is what Europe will look like when the Ryder Cup goes to Italy. “The Ryder Cup in Europe represents the European Tour as much as Europe itself,” Harrington said when he announced his three picks. Wiesberger was the only Ryder Cup player for Europe who wasn’t a PGA Tour member. The PGA Tour and European Tour are starting to work together, such as the Scottish Open being part of the U.S. schedule and European Tour members having access to lower-tier PGA Tour events.

Um, how is it jeans season already?

In the post-defeat dissection that’s sure to come for Europe's Ryder Cup team, certainly the disappearing act by Rory McIlroy will be one of the top talking points.

All the drama Saturday at the Ryder Cup was to see if Europe could make a game of it.

Nobody has collected more wins at the Ryder Cup than Sergio Garcia.

Europe trails the Ryder Cup 6-2 after an opening day that saw Rory McIlroy lose twice and the entire team post only one victory.

Youth is being served for this U.S. team in the Ryder Cup.

Sergio Garcia blew a kiss to the crowd.

Europe’s perennial Ryder Cup underdogs have the Americans exactly where they want them. According to golf’s most reliable metric — strokes gained — Yanks top the list in driving (Bryson DeChambeau), approach play (Collin Morikawa), sand saves (Brooks Koepka) and scrambling (Patrick Cantlay). In fact, the only category in which they trail their counterparts from across the pond is confidence. With good reason: Europe has won seven of the nine Ryder Cup matches played this century, including a split of the four on U.S. soil. “We all know in Ryder Cups, there’s a fine line between playing too much, trying to stay fresh, fine line, 36 holes a day,” Harrington said.

No team in sports embraces the underdog label like Europe's Ryder Cup squads.

No team in sports embraces the underdog label like Europe's Ryder Cup squads.

One of last year’s many casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic was the Ryder Cup, which had to postpone its biannual event one year, to this fall.

The Americans always seem to bring the better players to the Ryder Cup.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood, half of the most celebrated pairing at the last Ryder Cup — dubbed “Moliwood” — will have to forge on with a new partner or two at Whistling Straits. He says Woods wasn't always wearing red at the Ryder Cup unless that was the Sunday outfit for the U.S. team. Schauffele won the gold medal at the Olympics this year. He says his priority for watching golf on TV were the majors, The Players Championship, the Ryder Cup and then later the Presidents Cup. Thomas Bjorn followed through on his promise in France three years ago by getting a tattoo of the Ryder Cup on his buttocks.

He says Woods wasn't always wearing red at the Ryder Cup unless that was the Sunday outfit for the U.S. team. He says his priority for watching golf on TV were the majors, The Players Championship, the Ryder Cup and then later the Presidents Cup. ___11 a.m.What started as a pledge now appears to be a tradition in the Ryder Cup: Padraig Harrington says he'll be getting a tattoo if Europe wins. Thomas Bjorn followed through on his promise in France three years ago by getting a tattoo of the Ryder Cup on his buttocks. ___10:20 a.m.What better way for the Europeans to lure fans to their side at the Ryder Cup than by wearing Green Bay Packers colors and donning Cheesehead hats while they're in Wisconsin?

Ryder Cup Golf Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington talks to Team Europe's Shane Lowry during a practice day at the Ryder Cup at the Whistling Straits Golf Course Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, in Sheboygan, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall)SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — (AP) — The Latest on the Ryder Cup, the golf showdown between the United States and Europe (all times CDT):___11 a.m.What started as a pledge now appears to be a tradition in the Ryder Cup: Padraig Harrington says he'll be getting a tattoo if Europe wins. Thomas Bjorn followed through on his promise in France three years ago by getting a tattoo of the Ryder Cup on his buttocks. European captain Padraig Harrington said team managers had suggested a green motif for some of the uniforms as a way of honoring his Irish homeland. Europe holds the cup and has won nine of the last 12 meetings. ___More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Ryder Cup Golf Team Europe wears cheeseheads on the first tee during a practice day at the Ryder Cup at the Whistling Straits Golf Course Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in Sheboygan, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) (Jeff Roberson)SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — (AP) — The Latest on the Ryder Cup, the golf showdown between the United States and Europe (all times CDT):___10:20 a.m.What better way for the Europeans to lure fans to their side at the Ryder Cup than by wearing Green Bay Packers colors and donning Cheesehead hats while they're in Wisconsin? Clad in white pullovers with green and yellow striping down the sides, the European players did all they could to endear themselves to the crowd on the first tee box Wednesday. Pairings for the opening round will be released Thursday evening, with play starting with alternate-shot matches Friday morning. Europe holds the cup and has won nine of the last 12 meetings. ___More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

“Moliwood” is no more.

As if there wasn’t enough suspense and second-guessing of the Ryder Cup captains in past years, a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic could make things more topsy-turvy than usual this time around. The last time the envelope was actually opened was at the Belfry in 1993, when Scotsman Sam Torrance had to withdraw because of a foot injury and his match against Lanny Wadkins — whose name was in the U.S. envelope — was ruled a tie. Under the current agreement, Stricker would be able to replace a single player with anyone he chooses — from non-playing assistant captain Phil Mickelson to a player who flies in at the last moment.

Bryson DeChambeau is determined to be a team player in the Ryder Cup and he is wasting no time proving it.

Ryder Cup Team USA captain Steve Stricker and Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington answer questions at a new conference for the Ryder Cup at the Whistling Straits Golf Course Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, in Sheboygan, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) (Morry Gash)SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — (AP) — Padraig Harrington had a tight grip on Ryder Cup trophy Monday as the European captain walked through a white-tented corridor toward the stage for the opening press conference. Brooks Koepka injured his left wrist again during the final round of the Tour Championship, and then he attracted the wrong kind of attention from a magazine interview that raised questions how much he really enjoys the Ryder Cup. He has cooled his spat with Bryson DeChambeau, who has been training as much for a Long Drive competition right after the Ryder Cup. Only one matters to Stricker, and it's wrestling away the Ryder Cup from Europe. Stricker said he has only spoken to Koepka and is confident he's ready to go.

American and European players have arrived at Whistling Straits for the Ryder Cup.

Sergio Garcia is still the youngest Ryder Cup player in history.

That marked the first time Royal Portrush had hosted the event since 1951. Even though he won the British Open in 2019 in memorable scenes at Royal Portrush, Lowry described his Ryder Cup selection as the “proudest day of my career so far.”“Playing all year, really all I wanted to do was make the Ryder Cup team,” Lowry said. It will be Westwood's 11th Ryder Cup appearance. He really leads out that team.”Poulter, who has earned the nickname “The Postman” because he always delivers in the Ryder Cup, has been given a captain's pick for the second straight time. At the end of the day, there just wasn’t enough room.”Wiesberger, the first Austrian to make a Ryder Cup team, said it had been a “really, really hard” week.

The British Open is heading back to Royal Portrush. That marked the first time Royal Portrush had hosted the event since 1951. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File) (Peter Morrison)VIRGINIA WATER, England — (AP) — Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Shane Lowry were picked by European captain Padraig Harrington on Sunday to fill out the team for the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Harrington had previously indicated Garcia and Poulter, who have a combined 15 appearances in the Ryder Cup, were in line to be selected. ___More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Shane Lowry have been picked by European captain Padraig Harrington to fill out the team for the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.

Billy Horschel became the second American after Arnold Palmer to win the BMW PGA Championship following a dramatic final round.

Despite the Legacy Fire releasing a massive cloud of smoke near Farmington, Utah, on Sept. 10, a local high school football game started their game off with a cheer.

Steve Stricker has filled out his U.S. Ryder Cup team with six captain's picks.

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 in Wisconsin.

Jon Rahm’s road to becoming a U.S. Open champion might have started with a pair of bogeys.

Rickie Fowler will have to sit out another major this year.

One of the longest days in golf just got a little longer.

So much about the Memorial felt as though golf was back to normal.

The British Open could have big crowds at Royal St. George's.

Phil Mickelson created major history at Kiawah Island as he held off Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen to clinch his sixth major title at the PGA Championship.

Phil Mickelson showed he's still the people's champion by winning his sixth and most unlikely major at the PGA Championship.

Legislation for a bipartisan commission to probe the deadly January 6 insurrection, is currently "designed" to hurt Republicans, Rubio said.

The first time for Lefty was at the 1996 PGA Championship. Rory McIlroy won in 2012 and set the PGA Championship record with an eight-shot victory. He was runner-up at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, and to Justin Thomas in the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. “I don't think it’s a case of not being able to or thinking that I can’t get the second (major),” Oosthuizen said. “Look, it’ll be great to get a second major.

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

Phil Mickelson is looking like the Mickelson of old at the PGA Championship.

PGA Championship Golf Dustin Johnson hits out of the bunker on the 16 hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament on the Ocean Course Thursday, May 20, 2021, in Kiawah Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) (Chris Carlson)KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — (AP) — The Latest on the PGA Championship (all times local):7:45 p.m.Top-ranked Dustin Johnson's run of poor form continued in the opening round of the PGA Championship. ___6:45 p.m.Phil Mickelson rallied from a dreadful start to stay in the mix with a 2-under 70 on Thursday at the PGA Championship. ___6 p.m.Canada's Corey Conners has used back-to-back birdies late in the opening round to grab a two-shot lead at the PGA Championship. ___2:45 p.m.Brooks Koepka is off to a strong start in his chase for a third PGA Championship title. ___1:20 p.m.Martin Laird is looking to surprise at the PGA Championship the way he has this season on the PGA Tour.

___6 p.m.Canada's Corey Conners has used back-to-back birdies late in the opening round to grab a two-shot lead at the PGA Championship. Harrington's counterpart, American Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, is holding his own at the Ocean Course, too. ___2:45 p.m.Brooks Koepka is off to a strong start in his chase for a third PGA Championship title. ___1:20 p.m.Martin Laird is looking to surprise at the PGA Championship the way he has this season on the PGA Tour. McIlroy won at 13-under 275 in 2012 the other time the PGA Championship was at Kiawah.

Five players, including two-time PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, are tied for the lead at 3-under par. ___4:17 p.m.Sam Burns has withdrawn from the PGA Championship with a back injury. ___2:45 p.m.Brooks Koepka is off to a strong start in his chase for a third PGA Championship title. ___1:20 p.m.Martin Laird is looking to surprise at the PGA Championship the way he has this season on the PGA Tour. ___10:45 a.m.Bryson DeChambeau is heading in the wrong direction early on at the PGA Championship.

Five players, including two-time PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, are tied for the lead at 3-under par. ___4:17 p.m.Sam Burns has withdrawn from the PGA Championship with a back injury. ___2:45 p.m.Brooks Koepka is off to a strong start in his chase for a third PGA Championship title. ___1:20 p.m.Martin Laird is looking to surprise at the PGA Championship the way he has this season on the PGA Tour. ___10:45 a.m.Bryson DeChambeau is heading in the wrong direction early on at the PGA Championship.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson’s run of poor form continued in the opening round of the PGA Championship.

“I'm happy to go low with the ball flight and I'm probably a little more conservative when the wind is up," Jones said. That’s when his woes started, and what became a nine-shot turnaround between he and Jones began. Jones grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie at the par-4 14th. And when Wise made bogey at the par-3 15th, Jones was the outright leader again. “Just keep doing what I'm doing," Jones said.

Wise shot his second straight 6-under 64 on Friday to take a three-stroke lead into the weekend at the Honda Classic. The 128 total is the lowest 36-hole score at PGA National since the tournament moved there 15 years ago — and marks the first 36-hole lead of Wise’s PGA Tour career. Wise birdied the last to finish off the 64, the eighth round of 64 or lower surrendered by PGA National this week. He opened with a 69, then shot 62 — the fourth score that low in Honda history at PGA National — Friday. Jones (61), Wise (64) and Russell Henley (64) had the 64s or better Thursday; Hagy, Ryder, Wise, Brice Garnett (64) and Stewart Cink (64) had them Friday.

Conners surged into the lead with a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th hole — his second eagle on that hole in two days — for a 3-under 69 and a one-shot advantage over former Bay Hill winner Martin Laird (67). He was two shots behind, along with Viktor Hovland and Lanto Griffin, who each had a 68. The forecast featured plenty of rain Saturday, which figures to make Bay Hill play longer and tougher, while also keeping the greens from getting as crusty as they were last year when Tyrrell Hatton won with a closing 74. He won at Bay Hill in 2011 on a final round so tough a 75 was enough to get the job done. He played in the morning, had a pair of birdies and came to the 16th, the easiest at Bay Hill.

The league has postponed Tuesday night’s Flyers-Capitals game in Washington because of COVID-19-related issues with Philadelphia. It’s the 34th game postponed so far this season, which is roughly a quarter of the way through. Krueger allowed the team to reveal he tested positive. Ad___Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington has tested positive for the coronavirus and has withdrawn from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Three staff members and one management official have also tested positive at the club.

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.

Tiger Woods walks on the 16th hold during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)SAN FRANCISCO Harding Park is a public golf course with a history of elite champions. The San Francisco Open finally came to Harding Park in 1944. The rough is thick, even more because of the dampness from a marine layer expected to shroud Harding Park all week. All of them would fit the profile of great champions at Harding Park.

It will go to Royal St. Georges next summer. Its just very strange times for us at the minute, isnt it?Lowry said he has never seen the lunar landscape of Royal St. Georges. Id love if we were playing in front of 40,000 or 50,000 people this week in St. Georges, he said. For the week of the U.S. Open, golf was in its second week of returning from the pandemic, at Harbour Town. So everything that I miss or that I wont get to do this week, Im sure Ill get to do next year.

He accomplished that in spectacular fashion Sunday with a momentous six-shot victory over England's Tommy Fleetwood to clinch his first major title at Royal Portrush. They roared him on in thunderous fashion and chanted his name in scenes reminiscent of the raucous atmosphere at the Ryder Cup. The 32-year-old described the experience of winning the Open as "surreal," saying he can't quite believe he is a major champion. "To do it here in Portrush is even more special, it is a dream come true," Lowry told CNN Sport in the Royal Portrush clubhouse during a whirlwind tour of media engagements. He won the Open at Royal Portrush in front of an excited and proud home crowd.