Golf News

Photo A golf course in Shenyang, China. Party leaders in some provinces are discouraged from playing the sport during working hours. Credit Imaginechina, via Associated Press HONG KONG â€" President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on vice and corruption in China has gone after drugs, gambling, prostitution, ill-gotten wealth and overflowing banquet tables. Now it has turned to a less obvious target: golf. In a flurry of recent reports, state-run news outlets have depicted the sport as yet another temptation that has led Communist Party officials astray. A top official at the Commerce Ministry is under investigation on suspicion of allowing an unidentified company to pay his golf expenses. The government has shut down dozens of courses across the country built in violation of a ban intended t...

The golf world gets more of Jordan Spieth, less of Tiger Woods and not enough for officials at the Wells Fargo Championship in a supply-and-demand edition of Cut Line. Made Cut Winning hearts and minds. As impressive as Jordan Spieth’s week at Augusta National was it may have been the Masters champion’s decision to honor his commitment to play this week’s RBC Heritage that says more about the 21-year-old. The Heritage is Spieth’s fifth start in six weeks, a run that has included two victories and two runner-up finishes, and few would have been able to second-guess him if he decided to politely pass on a stop at Harbour Town. Spieth, however, said he never even considered skipping the Heritage, which offered him a sponsor exemption in 2013 when he was scrambling to secure his PGA Tour card. “Any time you have the Masters champion is unbelievable. He’s such a class act and to honor his commitment ... he has no idea how important that is to the community,” said St...

At the Pelican Hill golf resort in Newport Coast, Calif., water conservation is an obsession. Yuki Shimazu/Flickr In drought-stricken California, golf is often seen as a bad guy â€" it can be hard to defend watering acres of grass for fun when residents are being ordered to cut their usage and farmers are draining their wells. But golf is a $6 billion industry in the state and employs nearly 130,000 workers, according to the California Golf Course Owners Association. So while the greens are staying green, some golf courses are saving every drop of water they can. Stephen Friedlander, vice president of golf at The Resort At Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, just south of Los Angeles, says: " When people say, 'Well, that golf course is watering their grass,' if they are talking about Pelican Hill, yes we are, and we're using recl...

Fairfax County’s Board of Zoning Appeals ruled Wednesday that the owners of a popular golf course in Reston could seek approval for new homes on the 166-acre property without first getting changes made to the county’s master plan for new development. But efforts to put new townhouses or apartments on the publicly accessible golf course could still be subject to county guidelines more specific to Reston, which is a planned community, the seven-member board ruled. And since RN Golf Management hasn’t said what it wants to build on the 45-year-old golf course, the ruling addresses only a hypothetical scenario. “There is a very long road ahead,” said board member Kevin Hart, before a unanimous vote to overrule a 2012 determination by the county zoning administrator that the Reston National Golf Course could not be altered without first changing its designation as “open space” in the county’s comprehensive plan. The ruling was the latest step in what are eventual plans ...

Twenty-one-year-old Jordan Spieth didn't just win the sport's biggest tournament on Sunday; he shattered many of its records, too. Jim Young/Reuters Before this weekend, a casual sports fan could be forgiven for not recognizing the name Jordan Spieth. The 21-year-old Dallas-born phenom, who dominated golf's most prestigious tournament, the Masters, didn't just score the legendary green jacket and a nearly $2 million bounty with his win at Augusta National Golf Club. He was also coronated as the sport's new crown prince with his record-breaking performance. Related Story The Self-Destruction of Tiger Woods " He set the record for best 36 and 54-hole score ," USA Today 's Mike Foss noted, "and tied the best 72-hole score in Masters history " by finishing 18-under par. The golfer whose record he tied? Tiger Woods. ...

Jason Sobel , Senior Golf Writer Close Covered golf since 2004 Former writer at Golf Channel Winner of four Emmys while at ESPN 0 Shares Print AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Prior to his first major championship start at the 1957 U.S. Open in his home state of Ohio, Jack Nicklaus was asked to make a prediction. "You have to pick [Ben] Hogan," the 17-year-old surmised. "He is the finest golfer in the world." Nicklaus went on to witness the iconic Hogan withdraw with a backache that week, spinning golf's axis toward a new world order and launching the Golden Bear on a path to become arguably the greatest in the sport. And if there are six degrees of separation in the game's history, Nicklaus might have spanned three or four of 'em, a career that started against Hogan, continued last week against players like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth (sure, it was just the Par 3 Contest, but he made a hole-in-one and they didn't) and ended with offering his opinio...

Jordan Spieth of the U.S. smiles as he wears his Champion's green jacket on the putting green after winning the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia April 12, 2015. Reuters/Brian Snyder (Reuters) - Golf wunderkind Jordan Spieth's resounding win at the Masters golf tournament on Sunday not only will boost his personal sponsorship deals but could give the sport a much-needed jolt. Spieth had already amassed an impressive list of endorsements before the Masters, including AT&T Inc, Rolex and Under Armour Inc, which signed a multi-year deal with Spieth in January. Under Armour did not return calls for comment. Now that he's considered one of the top gol...

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AUGUSTA, Ga. - Keep up with all the latest news and developments from the final round of the  Masters  golf tournament Sunday with live updates, leaderboards, pictures and videos. Northeast Ohio Media Group sports columnist Bud Shaw will also be in this post later in the afternoon providing his take and analysis and a compilation of social media reaction as Jordan Spieth tries to win his first major entering the fourth round with a four shot lead over Justin Rose. Chat with Shaw in the comments section below. Or use the comments now to post your golf and Masters questions for Shaw. Shaw will be interacting with readers in this post primarily during the afternoon. 2:04:  Can CBS get any more mileage out of this Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus moment? Billy Payne must have put a clause in the TV deal saying he has to be shown introducing the three legends at the beginning of every broadcast. Makes you wonder what they're going to do from now...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- My family won the golden ticket of sports: passes to the Monday practice round at the Masters. I come from a golf family, but I wouldn't call myself a fan. Nevertheless, I headed to Augusta National Golf Club this year for the rare chance to witness one of the world's most storied sporting spectacles. I was there to see the pink azaleas, the carpet-like fairways and the Carribean-white sand. I wanted to stare at the green-jacketed members, eat a pimento cheese sandwich and shop in the massive, yet somehow orderly, gift shop. • Follow Saturday's third round in a live blog featuring commentary from Northeast Ohio Media Group sports columnist Bud Shaw. Yes, the course, founded by golf legend Bobby Jones in the 1930s, is even more beautiful than what you see on TV. It's like a green utopia staffed with discreet, polite and incredibly efficient workers. There's not an empty beer can, a white hospitality tent or a long line in si...

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Follow all the news and developments at the  Masters  golf tournament with live updates, pictures and videos from Saturday's third round. Northeast Ohio Media Group sports columnist Bud Shaw will also be in this post later in the afternoon providing his take and analysis and a compilation of social media reaction as golfers try to catch Jordan Spieth, who set a Masters record with a 36-hole total of 14-under 130, good for a five shot lead over Charley Hoffman. Chat with Shaw in the comments section below, or use the comments now to post your golf and Masters questions for Shaw. Shaw will be interacting with readers in this post primarily during the afternoon. And track all your favorite golfers in a live leaderboard below from famed Augusta National Golf Club. Check out Friday's live blog. And look for a similar live updates post Sunday as the first major of the calendar year concludes. The box below features live Twitter updates, ...

Cut him some slack. The Masters are happening and a lot of people are talking about Tiger Woods. Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time, but he's been hurt and he isn't as good as he used to be. But I've been watching the Masters, and I have to tell you this. I think Tiger Woods is, like, pretty good at playing golf. And here are some reasons why: He hits the ball pretty far Tiger Woods' driving average last year was 294 yards. Wow! I don't think I've ever hit the ball 294 yards. That's pretty far. He plays golf, like, all the time I mean, I only get to play golf 5-10 times a year. Tiger Woods plays golf pretty much all the time. That's, like, his job. I bet he gets pretty good playing all that golf. He plays in a lot of golf tournaments and does pretty well When Tiger Woods plays golf he's playing against a lot of really good golfers, and he almost never comes in last. I would DEFINITELY come in last almost all the ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Keep up with all the latest developments at the  Masters  golf tournament with live updates, pictures and videos from Friday's second round. Northeast Ohio Media Group sports columnist Bud Shaw will also be in this post later in the day providing his take and analysis as Jordan Spieth looks to continue his hot start. Chat with Shaw in the comments section below, or use the comments to post your questions for Shaw. Shaw will be in the post primarily during the telecast. 1:41: Just to update some of the morning developments before I jump in the post full-time during the TV coverage: • When Raymond Floyd ran away with the 1976 Masters, he reached 12-under par in 32 holes. The 21-year-old Spieth did it in 28 holes. • Projecting political races is one thing. Projecting career wins in majors? Maybe valid, maybe not. Tiger Woods got to 2-under after 12 holes (3-under for the day) after starting at 1-over. And somehow still lost ground to...

Updated: 2:30 p.m. ET Tiger Woods will play the Masters Par 3 Contest on Wednesday for the first time since 2004. And he'll have a pair of caddies. "My two little ones are going to be out there with me," Woods said Tuesday of his two children, daughter Sam, 7, and son Charlie, 6. "It's special. As I said, this tournament means so much to me in so many different ways. We all know what happened in '97 with my dad's health, and he was pronounced â€" well, he was dead at one point earlier that year; came back, and then came here and I won the Masters. To now have come full circle and to have a chance to have my kids out there and be able to share that with them, it's special." Mark O'Meara , who practiced with Woods on Monday and Tuesday, initially told Golf Channel that Woods intended to play the nine-hole event. The last time Woods entered the annual Par 3 Contest was '04, when he played alongside Arnold Palmer and O'Me...

On March 30, Chinese authorities announced the closure of 66 "illegal" golf courses -- roughly 10% of all courses in the country -- in an apparent attempt to start enforcing a long-ignored ban on golf-related construction. The following day, the Commerce Ministry announced that one of its senior officials was under investigation for "participating in a company's golf event," thus putting him on the wrong side of President Xi Jinping's "eight rules" against extravagance among government officials. In Xi's China, being put "under investigation" is tantamount to being found guilty. Since embarking on his seemingly ceaseless anti-corruption campaign more than two years ago, hundreds of thousands of officials at all levels of government have been put in the crosshairs. The biggest names caught in the web are called "tigers." That's not a golf reference, but China's current crackdown on the sport does show how...

It’s a safe bet that Nike was happy to see Tiger Woods return to the Masters. The commercial it released Sunday evening, just a few days before the first major of the season kicks off at Augusta National, certainly seems timely. Nike has long represented Woods, and it reached a deal with now world No. 1 Rory McIlroy several years ago. The two have been in ads together before. The spot is titled Ripple to represent the ripple effect Jack Nicklaus had on Woods and Woods had on McIlroy. It chronicles a young McIlroy watching Woods on TV and in person and picking up his practice habits (and trademark fist pump) during his own training. One portion of the video was filmed at McIlroy’s childhood home. “It’s been an incredible journey for me, going from massive fan to competitor,” McIlroy said in a press release. “To think that not too long ago I was that little boy watching him on TV to where I am now. It’s been a cool journey and I’m very lucky I get to comp...

79 3 Share This Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Facing drought in an oasis of golf courses and lakes The gated community of Lake Mirage Racquet Club is built around water. Waterfalls cascade down into pools at the front gates. Ducks and swans float in artificial lakes. Every home has a lakefront view, and Try Another Audio CAPTCHA Image CAPTCHA Help {# #} Cancel Send Sent! A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Ian James, The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun 11:27 p.m. EDT April 5, 2015 For golf courses and resort communites like Lake Mirage, water is the lifeblood that makes t...