Unheralded American Ryggs Johnston has won his first professional title by claiming the Australian Open by three stokes, while South Korea’s Jiyai Shin claimed her second Women’s Australian Open which was played concurrently at two courses on the famed Melbourne sand belt.

Jon Rahm earned quite the payday on Sunday.

The PGA Championship field next week at Valhalla includes everyone from the top 100 in the world.

Talor Gooch of LIV Golf gets to play in at least one major this year.

Abraham Ancer regained just enough of the composure that helped him pull out to a five-stroke lead after two rounds to beat Cameron Smith and Paul Casey in a playoff and win the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in Hong Kong on Sunday.

LIV Golf has given up on hopes of being recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking.

Joaquin Niemann is a winner again on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.

Here’s how things seem to work regarding LIV Golf and Rory McIlroy: Someone says something, the other side responds, and the cycle just keeps repeating from one topic to the next.

Joaquin Niemann now has something money can't buy.

Joaquin Niemann outlasted Sergio Garcia well after sunset Sunday in the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba, making a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the fourth hole of a playoff with the green lit by a large video screen.

Matthew Wolff is finally making news for his golf.

"Just being here on this property is special," said Joaqun Niemann.

Some LIV Golf players have arrived for the British Open facing the prospect of playing in a major for the last time because of the uncertain future in golf.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is describing a landscape of two rival leagues going down different paths.

The matches were close at the end.

The Americans have the stronger team and they looked the part at the Presidents Cup.

The Americans are big favorites in the Presidents Cup.

So much has changed since the International team nearly won the Presidents Cup the last time.

British Open champion Cameron Smith has his first LIV Golf trophy.

Bryson DeChambeau insists he has “no buyer's remorse” about jumping from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series.

Trevor Immelman is using five of his six captain’s picks on Presidents Cup rookies.

Dustin Johnson is finally a winner again for the first time in 19 months.

Talor Gooch has a one-shot lead over Joaquin Niemann in the LIV Golf Invitational-Boston event.

Matthew Wolff is now a footnote in LIV Golf history.

LIV Golf has made it official.

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy can each claim a roller coaster day in the Tour Championship.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic, nestled between the British Open and FedEx Cup playoffs, could have been a tournament to skip for all of the world’s best players.

This is turning out to be a strong group of rookies on the PGA Tour, including three players with one thing in common down the home stretch: None has won yet.

Billy Horschel figured he didn't have to anything special with a five-shot lead at the Memorial.

Shaun Norris is headed home to South Africa to see his young children and decide on his future.

Mito Pereira had a one-shot lead in the PGA Championship when he sent his tee shot into the water on the par-4 18th hole at Southern Hills.

Will Zalatoris is leading the PGA Championship with great shots and a good draw.

Sebastián Muñoz is atop the leaderboard again at the Byron Nelson after shooting 66.

Ryan Palmer shot a 10-under 62 on Friday at the Byron Nelson for a share of the second-round lead with Sebastián Muñoz and 40-year-old tour rookie David Skinns.

Cameron Young showed it doesn’t always take years of practice to go low at Harbour Town Golf Links, shooting an 8-under 63 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in his RBC Heritage debut.

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

Tiger Woods was back in the Masters some 14 months after a car crash that shattered his right leg.

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

Tiger Woods is back.

As tradition dictates, there is now very bad news to report about Canadian golfers Mike Weir and Mackenzie Hughes.

Golf has a bright future and isn't quite ready to let go of Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods is planning to play in the Masters and he thinks he can win.

Maverick McNealy was the last man to get into the Dell Technologies Match Play.

The opening day of the Dell Technologies Match Play has had its share of pillow fights.

Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge share the lead after a long and wet start to The Players Championship.

Kurt Kitayama came into the Honda Classic with 25 previous appearances on the PGA Tour, most of them ending by missing the cut.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is not ready to declare the threat of a rival Saudi league over.

Megan Watanabe is the first woman to be president at Riviera Country Club.

Greg Norman has had his share of rough Sundays in major championships.

Joaquin Niemann has finished off a wire-to-wire victory at Riviera.

Joaquin Niemann has another scoring record at Riviera and is one step closer to winning the Genesis Invitational.

Joaquin Niemann returned from his best day of golf at Riviera and had another round just like it.

Jaoquin Niemann knew Riviera was playing as tough as advertised for the Genesis Invitational by looking at the morning scores.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama overcame cold temperatures and often steady rain showers to shoot a 2-under 68 and take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship.

Cam Davis won the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title when Troy Merritt missed a 6-foot par putt on the fifth hole of a playoff.

Troy Merritt aced the 219-yard 11th hole at Detroit Golf Club and shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Joaquin Niemann in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Joaquin Niemann and Tom Lewis topped the jam-packed leaderboard heading into the weekend in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Augusta National was behind the idea of the Asia-Pacific Amateur that was created in 2009.

Chris Kirk putts on the 13th green during the third round at the Sony Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Honolulu. Na finished one shot ahead of Joaquin Niemann and Chris Kirk, and only one of them got a consolation prize. Niemann chipped in for birdie from 55 feet on the par-3 17th and got up-and-down with a long bunker shot on the 18th hole for a 66. Needing nearly 150 FedEx Cup points at the Sony Open, his tie for second was worth 245 points. He looked comfortable even when the Sony Open appeared to be slipping away.

Brendan Steele lines up his putt on the ninth green during the third round at the Sony Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)HONOLULU – Brendan Steele knows he can play well at the Sony Open whether it's windy or calm, in sunshine or rain. One year after Steele lost a late lead at Waialae and lost in a playoff, he delivered the lowest score of his career Saturday in ideal conditions with a 9-under 61 that gave him a two-shot lead going into the final round. “You hope that you come back and you play well and erase whatever negative memories there are,” Steele said. It was wide open on Saturday, and it's not likely to be any different in the final round.

Nick Taylor hits from the eighth fairway during the second round of the Sony Open golf tournament Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. Taylor gave himself at least some separation with a gap wedge to 6 feet for birdie on No. 8, and then even his worst swing of the day turned into a birdie on the par-5 ninth. “I think it's probably harder out here to make double (bogey) and there's a lot of birdie opportunities,” Taylor said. Cink already won the season-opener in the Safeway Open in September, his first victory since the 2009 British Open at Turnberry.

(AP Photo/Jamm Aquino)HONOLULU – Joaquin Niemann had no regrets about the 18th hole at the Sony Open. “Spent a few days thinking about that last hole, but taking all the positives from the week and pull it out for this week.”They weren't easy days for Niemann. The 22-year-old from Chile is still too young to have experienced the inevitable losses that pile up in this sport. Niemann's only bogey was when he fell asleep on a 25-foot birdie putt above the hole at No. We talked for an hour about the whole tournament, not for that 18th hole.

Schauffele is among 16 players in the Tournament of Champions who didn't win last year. His girlfriend came down with COVID-19 in the middle of December, and a few days later, Schauffele tested positive and eventually had minor symptoms. Schauffele is among 16 players at Kapalua who failed to win an official event, though he did have the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship. The winners-only field is including players who reached the Tour Championship because golf was shut down for three months due to the pandemic. Schauffele already has played four times in the new season, which began in September, and that includes two majors.

“Just thinking about him, I love him and his family, and they're really nice,” Niemann said after taking a full minute to compose himself. “I think it's kind of like a mission for me to help out for them.”Niemann has had few troubles in life. “He needs expensive medicine to keep living and 100 days to get the medicine,” Niemann said. He said soccer players in Chile are sharing the news on social media, and Niemann is trying to do his part. Niemann missed his return to Augusta National last week when he tested positive for the coronavirus and self-isolated for 10 days.

Instead of Augusta National members and their guests, the course was filled Monday with Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth, all of them playing a practice round on a course that only looked the same. The COVID-19 pandemic that shut down golf for three months forced a reconfigured major championship schedule unlike any other, particularly at the Masters. "The things that will be the same is it still means the same to us all, and maybe even more so because we return to Augusta National every year. This is the Augusta National hardly anyone gets to see. When it means going to Augusta National to get ready for the Masters — April, November, doesn't matter — it takes the sting off.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)AUGUSTA, Ga. – Sergio Garcia pulled out of the Masters on Monday after informing Augusta National he tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the second player to withdraw following a positive test. Garcia won his only major at the Masters three years ago in his 19th appearance, the most of any player before winning a green jacket. “After 21 years of not missing a major championship, I will sadly miss the Masters this week,” he tweeted. He brings to 15 the number of PGA Tour players who have tested positive since golf returned in June from the COVID-19 pandemic-caused shutdown. Adam Scott tested positive a week later in California and also had to withdraw.

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, file photo, Bryson DeChambeau, of the United States, reacts after sinking a putt for par on the 18th hole to win the U.S. Open golf tournament in Mamaroneck, N.Y. DeChambeau's first major validated his work at getting bigger and stronger. He is the favorite going into the Masters. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

DeChambeau walked over to his bag, removed a wrench and tightened the screws on the bottom of his driver. It hit a small tree right of the fairway, dropping straight down and robbing DeChambeau of what he figured would have been a 400-yard drive. Moments like these are why DeChambeau is the talk of golf going into the Masters. He believes DeChambeau is headed done the right path with his program and his relentless passion to think outside the box. And now he goes to the Masters as the betting favorite in a year in which five players other than DeChambeau have reached No.

Dustin Johnson holds up the FedEx Cup trophy after winning the Tour Championship golf tournament on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 at Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

For the PGA Tour player of the year, the candidates were Johnson, Thomas, PGA champion Collin Morikawa (two wins), Webb Simpson (two wins) and Jon Rahm (two wins). Johnson won the Travelers Championship and The Northern Trust to go along with his FedEx Cup title he won at the Tour Championship. He also was runner-up to Morikawa at the PGA Championship. More interesting will be the vote for PGA Tour rookie of the year. ... Country singer Colt Ford, who once played professionally, is making his PGA Tour Champions debut on a sponsor exemption.

Jon Rahm reacts after making his putt on the first playoff hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. I was fully confident it was going to come into a playoff and hoping to win it. They were the only five players under par at Olympia Fields. Rahm won for the second time this year on the PGA Tour, and the 11th time in his career worldwide. He now gets two weeks off before the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and Olympia Fields proved to be a good test for that.

Every par at Olympia Fields is hard work, and Johnson played the final 13 holes Saturday with nothing worse than that. It's what carried him to a 1-under 69 and a share of the lead with Hideki Matsuyama, leaving them as the only players under par going into the final round. I feel like it's fairly similar, just obviously these conditions and the greens are a lot more difficult," he said. Rounds like that go a long way at Olympia Fields, the former U.S. Open course playing like one with its thick rough and rock-hard greens and enough wind to make the fairways look tighter than they are. All of them are one round away on a golf course where small mistakes can lead to bogeys or worse on just about every hole.

Tyrrell Hatton of England had one of six rounds at 63 as he tries to win back-to-back starts for the second time in his year. Abraham Ancer rode his strong iron play to a 65, while Ryan Palmer had a 66 to join the lead at 15-under 198. A week ago at the Charles Schwab Challenge, 14 players were separated by three shots going into the final round. The six rounds at 63 marked the third time since October that at least six players shot 63 in a round. There were seven such rounds at the RSM Classic in November, about 80 miles down the Atlantic coast at Sea Island.

(AP Photo/Matt York)HONOLULU, HI – Patrick Reed needed a 12-foot birdie putt to win at Kapalua and return at least some attention to his bullish brand of golf. The man didn't say it until the putt on the final hole — a birdie Reed knew he needed to keep playing — was halfway to the hole. The heckling was harsh, and Reed didn't help matters by pretending to use a shovel after winning a hole. Reed shot 66 in 35 mph gusts three days later. He twice had putts to win, from 30 feet for eagle on the first extra hole at the par-5 18th, and from 12 feet for birdie on the second playoff hole.

(AP Photo/Matt York)KAPALUA, HI – The only thing that resembled paradise to Xander Schauffele at Kapalua was his name atop the leaderboard Friday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Schauffele is trying to become the first repeat champion of this winners-only event in 10 years. Schauffele finished with a birdie, a two-putt par from just under 100 feet, and a 7-foot birdie on the final hole. That gave him the lead at 9-under 137, the highest 36-hole score to lead at Kapalua since 2008. It was a sign that Kapalua would play longer than ever, and that much was evident throughout the day.

Rickie Fowler hits from the second tee during first round of the Tournament of Champions golf event, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. 4, which he called his best shot of the day, his other six birdies were all from 10 feet or closer. Thomas, who won at Kapalua three years ago, played bogey-free and made five birdies over his last eight holes for a 67. That was barely enough to offset his double bogey on the par-5 ninth and four other bogeys, most of them because of wild tee shots. His only mistake was a tee shot into the weeds right of the third hole for a double bogey.

He raised his hands over his head in applause to salute a brilliant play by Justin Thomas that led to another hole won. His match won, Woods took the radio and inserted the ear piece as he resumed his role as U.S. captain. Ernie Els and his inspired International team won the day, and won it big. The middle three matches is where the International team seized control in the opening session. It was only the fourth time the International team has led after the opening session, and it was their largest margin after one day.

Tiger Woods was a senior in high school, six months away from winning his first U.S. Over the next two decades, no one finished runner-up to Woods more than Els, a rivalry as one-sided as the Presidents Cup. The Presidents Cup starts Thursday, and Woods is attracting all the attention as the first playing captain in 25 years. Els, unlike Woods, has no influence on the outcome except for his plan and his leadership. "He told us his plan early on, and he's going 100% on that.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)Ernie Els filled out his International team already loaded with newcomers by choosing two more Presidents Cup rookies with his captain's picks Wednesday night. Day is playing the Presidents Cup for the fifth time, but first as a captain's pick. He would be the first playing-captain since Hale Irwin at the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994. Unlike the Ryder Cup, where the captain's picks are decided two weeks before the matches, the Presidents Cup is still six weeks away. Niemann, the first player from Chile to be in the Presidents Cup, earned his PGA Tour card the year he turned pro.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA - SEPTEMBER 15: Joaquin Niemann of Chile poses with the trophy after winning A Military Tribute At The Greenbrier held at the Old White TPC course on September 15, 2019 in White Sulphur Springs, WestWHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) - Joaquin Niemann is going to give International Team captain Ernie Els something to think about when he makes his captain's picks for the Presidents Cup. Niemann birdied the final three holes to finish at 21-under 259 at Old White TPC, which has quickly become one of his favorite venues. "It's a really good team this year. In 2017, Niemann finished tied for 29th as an amateur at The Greenbrier after receiving a sponsor's exemption. Niemann is the first third-round leader to win at The Greenbrier since its debut in 2010.

Niemann shot a 2-under 68 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead in A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. The 20-year-old Niemann was 15 under with a round left in the season-opening event at the Old White TPC. "I'm just really happy the way I've been playing," Niemann said. Shelton was tied for the lead with Niemann and Scheffler after the second round. Kevin Chappell couldn't capitalize on the 11-under 59 he shot Friday, the 11th sub-60 round in tour history.