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☆ Serena and Venus Williams invest in golf with franchise ownership in Tiger Woods' new competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Now, Serena and Venus Williams are turning their talents to golf. A head-spinning week of revelations in the golf world continued Thursday as the Williams sisters’ Los Angeles Golf Club (LAGC) were announced as the first franchise of the TGL – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s tech-infused stadium golf competition set to launch in January 2024. LAGC is the first of six franchises set to compete in the TGL, a competition formed in partnership with the PGA Tour. TGL/TwitterOn Twitter, Ohanian announced that his and Williams’ daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., would be a co-owner in LAGC. Twelve PGA Tour players have been confirmed to feature, including Woods, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and Collin Morikawa.

Persons: Serena, Venus Williams, Williams, Woods, Rory McIlroy’s, Alexis Ohanian, Mike McCarley, Ohanian, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, “, Amy E, Price, ”, LIV Golf, McIlroy, Mike Ehrmann, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa Organizations: CNN, Angeles Golf, Ohanian, National Women’s Soccer League, Angel City FC, LAGC, PGA Tour, Twitter, Olympia, TMRW Sports Locations: Ohanian, Angeles, LAGC, Saudi, Palm Beach , Florida

☆ Ohanian and Williams sisters taking up golf with TGL ownership
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

June 8 (Reuters) - In a week that has seen a reshaping of golf's landscape a new player emerged on Thursday with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Serena and Venus Williams securing the first franchise in the TGL, the tech-forward team golf league developed by Tiger Woods. "I knew I wanted to do this team and I knew I wanted to bring Serena in so I was like, babe come on board," Ohanian told Reuters. Ohanian, Serena and her sister Venus are the first of what will be six team ownership groups that will make up TGL, an innovative, new primetime golf league that fuses technology and live action. For the Williams sisters, who emerged from the hard-scrabble streets of Compton to reign over the tennis world, TGL will represent another opportunity to give back to their community and open more doors in another sport. While he is a board member of the Tiger Woods Foundation, Ohanian said golf was not on his radar until Olympia began taking up the sport.

Persons: Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, Venus Williams, Tiger Woods, LIV, Serena, Ohanian, Venus, Woods, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Williams, Olympia, Steve Keating, Ed Osmond Organizations: PGA, of Fame, Los Angeles Golf Club, Reuters, Angel City FC, NFL's Miami Dolphins, Tiger Woods Foundation, Olympia, Thomson Locations: Serena, Saudi, Palm Beach , Florida, Compton, Los, Olympia, Toronto

☆ Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams are building a mini-sports empire in Los Angeles
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Alexis Ohanian and the Williams sisters have bought another sports team to bring to Los Angeles. Ohanian and the Williams sisters are the first to buy a TGL golf league team. Ohanian is already the principal owner and founding investor of LA's National Women's Soccer League team, Angel City FC. Alexis Ohanian said in a tweet that their daughter Olympia is also a co-owner of the new golf team. A rendering of the TGL golf league venue in Florida.

Persons: Alexis Ohanian, Williams, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Ohanian, Serena Williams, Venus, Eva Longoria, Jessica Chastain, Christina Aguilera, Charles Krupa, Woods, McIlroy, Mike McCarley, McIIroy, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, LIV Golf, LIV, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, There's, LIV Golf's Organizations: TGL, Angel City FC, Morning, Los Angeles Golf Club, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, Seven, Los, LA's, Women's Soccer League, Williams, Serena Ventures, TMRW Sports, PGA, NBC Sports, Golf, PGA Tour, Tour, Masters Locations: Los Angeles, Angeles, Olympia, Palm Beach , Florida, Florida, Saudi Arabia

☆ Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams are building a mini-sports empire with a new golf team that's part of a league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's the first team for TGL, a new pro golf league established by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. The couple, along with Williams' sister Venus, have bought the first golf team for TGL, a new league developed by golf greats, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Ohanian and the Williams sisters are the first to buy a TGL golf league team. Alexis Ohanian said in a tweet that their daughter Olympia is also a co-owner of the new golf team. A rendering of the TGL golf league venue in Florida.

☆ Koepka chasing PGA Championship hat-trick as sun returns to Oak Hill
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROCHESTER, New York, May 21 (Reuters) - After a nasty week of frost, wind and torrential rain the sun returned to Oak Hill on Sunday for the final round of the PGA Championship with Brooks Koepka holding a one shot lead looking to complete a Wanamaker trophy hat-trick. The big-hitting American will head out onto the challenging East Course at 2:30 pm ET (1830 GMT) paired with the 11th ranked Hovland. A victory by Koepka or DeChambeau would not end the human rights questions but would give the tour a bit of the credibility and legitimacy it seeks. McIlroy, an honorary member at Oak Hill, has looked out of sorts all week but the battling Northern Irishman has managed stay in the hunt at five back. Block, who has "Why Not" written on his golf balls, has become the every man bluecollar hero and gallery darling at Oak Hill by carrying the hopes and dreams of every duffer who has picked up a club.

☆ Michael Block shoots sensational hole-in-one to cap storybook PGA Championship ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Hollywood screenwriters might have rejected the script for being too unbelievable, but Michael Block would not be denied the storybook ending to his PGA Championship fairytale. The 46-year-old – head pro at a public golf club in California – drilled a hole-in-one to put the gloss on a remarkable performance at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York on Sunday. Or, based on what he charges for an hour-long session at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, 1,922 golf lessons. “If it makes any sense, the one thing in the world that makes me cry is golf,” an emotional Block told reporters. They kind of documented my big goal this week was to be the low club pro; right?

☆ Brooks Koepka wins third PGA Championship to seal fifth major title
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship for the third time on Sunday, clinching his fifth major title at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. A commanding final round showing saw the American finish on nine-under par, two shots ahead of compatriot Scottie Scheffler and Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who played his part in a pulsating final day duel. The 33-year-old’s triumph sees him become the first golfer to win a major while playing on the LIV Golf Series. Australia’s Cameron Smith joined the Saudi-backed breakaway tour a month after his victory at The Open Championship in July 2022. In doing so, he joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as only the third player to win the PGA Championship three or more times in the strokeplay era.

☆ Michael Block: The club pro set for a potentially life-changing payout after PGA Championship fairytale
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —It’s been a Block party all week at the PGA Championship, and the man at the heart of festivities is not done partying just yet. Michael Block, the 46-year-old club pro who teaches golf lessons at a public course in California, is schooling many of the game’s biggest stars on New York’s notoriously challenging Oak Hill East Course. In the 105 years of the PGA Championship, no PGA Professional has ever finished inside the top 10. Not since Steve Schneiter in 2005 has a PGA pro finished inside the top-40. Should he remain eighth at the end of play, Block will earn $545,000, according to CBS Golf – even 30th place would see him take home $110,000.

☆ As Rahm Emanuel Pushes Japan on Gay Rights, Conservatives Bristle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Motoko Rich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since taking up his post as U.S. ambassador to Japan last year, Rahm Emanuel has lavished his host country with enthusiastic tweets about riding the world-class bullet trains and subways, hiking Mount Fuji or sampling local delicacies and festivals. But a recent string of messages about gay and transgender rights, culminating in a video Mr. Emanuel released on Twitter earlier this month, has drawn considerable ire among conservatives in Japan. Critics say the ambassador has overstepped the bounds of diplomacy and crossed into unwanted interference in domestic policy. As Japanese lawmakers debated a contentious bill declaring that there “should be no unfair discrimination” against the gay and transgender community, Mr. Emanuel marshaled a group of 15 foreign ambassadors in Tokyo to record a four-minute video nudging Japan to embrace L.G.B.T.Q. Japan is the only Group of 7 country that has not legalized same-sex unions.

☆ PGA Championship: Jon Rahm takes out frustrations on camera and microphone as struggles continue in third round
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Enjoying a season of unparalleled success, the sun has shone on Jon Rahm almost permanently in 2023. Another bogey at the second hole extended the 28-year-old’s nightmare start. It was a camera operator’s turn to take the brunt of the golfer’s frustrations at the eighth hole. “Stop aiming at my face when I’m mad, it’s all you guys do,” Rahm could be heard saying on broadcast. It marked the start of a run of three straight bogeys, but as the weather began to improve, so did Rahm.

Washington CNN —A pair of Democratic lawmakers from California have asked President Joe Biden to once again raise the case of a US Navy officer jailed in Japan with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima. Lieutenant Alkonis’ case remains stalled in the Japanese system,” the pair wrote. Biden raised the Alkonis case with Kishida during the prime minister’s visit to the White House in January, and the two countries agreed to establish a working group to solve the problem. “I’m not doing that good,” he wrote in a letter dated April 30, which was shared with CNN. “Lieutenant Alkonis’ service records make clear that he is an extraordinary officer, and we believe he deserves better,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote.

☆ Brooks Koepka Surges to the Lead at P.G.A. Championship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Alan Blinder | Desiree Rios | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Four years ago, less than a week before he won his second consecutive P.G.A. Championship, Brooks Koepka allowed the world inside his swaggering mind. “You figure about half of them won’t play well from there, so you’re down to about maybe 35,” he added. And now he is in the mix this weekend at the P.G.A. Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, where he fired a field-best four-under-par 66 on a rain-soaked Saturday, giving him a one-stroke lead over Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland with a round to play.

☆ Scheffler, Hovland, Conners grab PGA Championship lead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] May 19, 2023; Rochester, New York, USA; Scottie Scheffler hits a tee shot on the seventh hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA... Read moreROCHESTER, New York, May 19 (Reuters) - World number two Scottie Scheffler, Norwegian Viktor Hovland and Canada's Corey Conners grabbed a share of the PGA Championship second round lead on Friday, while an unforgiving Oak Hill left some of golf's biggest names fighting to make the cut. Conners had started the day level with Scheffler one back of pacesetting Bryson DeChambeau and finished it in the same position also signing for a 68. World number 11 Hovland began his round with back-to-back birdies and then drained a five-foot birdie putt at the 18th to join Conners and Scheffler on five-under 135. "The tournament is halfway done," said Scheffler, who can reclaim the number ranking with a win on Sunday.

☆ How to watch the PGA Championship: Start time, channels, and other things to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Rob Schumacher/USA Today Network Tiger Woods walks the 18th green during the second round on Saturday, April 8. David J. Phillip/AP Fred Couples waves to patrons after finishing his second round on Saturday. Patrick Smith/Getty Images Patrick Cantlay plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole on Saturday. Rob Schumacher/USA Today Network Adam Scott plays a bunker shot on the second hole Thursday. Rob Schumacher/USA Today Network Hideki Matsuyama, who won the tournament two years ago, looks over a putt on the second hole.

☆ Steady Scheffler stays hot on cold day at PGA Championship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

While Scheffler, Masters champion in 2022, failed to make the cut last year in Tulsa, he has been a contender at the other two PGA Championships he has contested. "I came into today's round just trying to play solid golf," said Scheffler. "No matter what position I'm in going into tomorrow, I would be grinding it out. "You just try and stay in position, make the important par putts and just keep the momentum going. Reporting by Steve Keating in Rochester, editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ LIV Golf's DeChambeau grabs PGA Championship clubhouse lead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Keegan Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship, was two shots off the pace with Norway's Viktor Hovland and New Zealand's Ryan Fox. DeChambeau, who missed last year's PGA Championship as he was recovering from surgery on his left hand, started on the back nine and reached the turn at one under. "It was a grind today," said 2022 Masters winner Scheffler. It marked the first time the top player in the rankings had carded a six over or higher at the PGA Championship since Greg Norman in 1987. It marks Mickelson's return to the PGA Championship for the first time since 2021 when, aged 50, he defied the odds to become the oldest major winner in history.

☆ PGA Championship: Eric Cole soars but Jon Rahm sinks in frost-delayed first round
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —American golfer Eric Cole raced into an early PGA Championship lead following a scintillating start at Oak Hill Country Club on Thursday. Now, on his PGA Championship debut and only his second major appearance, the 34-year-old is enjoying a look at the leaderboard. 1 is bidding to become only the fourth golfer – and the first since Jack Nicklaus in 1975 – to win both the Masters and the PGA Championship in the same season. Jordan Spieth will need a strong response if he is to achieve golfing immortality come Sunday, as the three-time major champion opened with a three-over 69. The American is a PGA Championship title away from becoming only the sixth men’s golfer to win all four majors in the modern era.

☆ Rahm, Smith and Fitzpatrick form PGA Championship major attraction
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] May 15, 2023; Rochester, New York, USA; Jon Rahm tees off on the 8th hole during a practice round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Oak Hill Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA... Read moreROCHESTER, New York, May 16 (Reuters) - Spaniard Jon Rahm, Australian Cameron Smith and Briton Matt Fitzpatrick were put together on Tuesday in a star-studded group of major champions for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship. Another power threesome of PGA Championship winners heads out at 8:11 AM ET (1211 GMT) with reigning champion Justin Thomas opening the defence of his crown in the company of Northern Ireland's four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and double major winner Collin Morikawa. World number two Scottie Scheffler will partner twice PGA Championship winner and LIV Golf hope Brooks Koepka and 2019 U.S. Open winner Gary Woodland. Also carrying the LIV flag will be Phil Mickelson, the six-time major winner, partnered with world number four Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler who will go out in the afternoon wave.

☆ PGA Tour and LIV take feud to PGA Championship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ROCHESTER, New York, May 15 (Reuters) - The PGA Tour and LIV Golf take their feud to Oak Hill Country Club for the PGA Championship this week with the Saudi-bankrolled rebel circuit again seeking major validation. That was until world number one Spaniard Jon Rahm came to the PGA Tour's rescue, finishing top of the leaderboard to leave Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson runners-up. Like the Masters there will be 18 LIV members in the field led by twice PGA Championship winners Koepka and 52-year-old Mickelson and Australian Cameron Smith, who signed on with LIV after winning last year's British Open. Rahm and world number two Scottie Scheffler both are in top form coming into Rochester. Spieth, who withdrew from the Byron Nelson citing a left wrist injury, needs only a PGA Championship to join the elite club that includes, Woods, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.

☆ ‘The Diplomat’ vs. Reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Lauren Jackson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Here’s what other ambassadors told my colleagues working in Mexico, Australia, China and elsewhere:What the show gets wrongPart of the fun of “The Diplomat,” as with any workplace show, comes when it departs from reality. “I have a different memory of the confirmation process,” Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, told my colleague Motoko Rich. “The show may get the diplomatic life right, but their grasp of American politics and the U.S. Senate? “The speeches every diplomat wants to give his or her boss. Not exactly the daily course of business.”A Vogue photo shoot: Multiple former ambassadors said the racks of outfits in the show were unrealistic.

☆ Tee-k Tock: The ‘appalling’ slow play controversy riling golf’s biggest stars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Koepka, whose frustrations with slow play lit the touchpaper of a fiery feud with rival Bryson DeChambeau in 2019, made no secret of his grievances. It does become frustrating when you are waiting so long.”1-on-1 with newly minted PGA Tour winner Matt Fitzpatrick 03:48 - Source: CNNFurther complaints came from beyond the confines of the PGA Tour. I was penalized on LPGA for slow play … and it forced me to speed up,” Alvarez said. “It’s not very pleasant to watch somebody stand over the ball for half an hour.”Nicklaus is not a fan of slow play. “We want to keep the focus where it should be: on world-class shot-making.”Solutions: Golf’s shot clock eraSo how do you solve a problem like slow play?

☆ Tony Finau caddies for young sons, just hours after Mexico Open win
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hours after clinching the Mexico Open title with a three-shot win over world No. On Sunday, his sixth PGA Tour victory fell on El Día Del Niño – Children’s Day in Mexico – and Finau had a message for youngsters. If you do that, then you can do some great things.”Finau and his family celebrate his Mexico Open win. Having finished joint runner-up to Rahm at last year’s Mexico Open, Finau derailed the Spaniard’s title defense to clinch his fourth win in his last 18 starts and jump five places to world No. Finau denied Rahm back-to-back Mexico Open titles.

☆ Jon Rahm sets new PGA Tour earnings record with four months still to play
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —It’s been quite the year for Jon Rahm – and he’s got the prize money to prove it. A runner-up finish at the Mexico Open on Sunday took the Spaniard’s PGA Tour season earnings to $14,462,840, setting a new Tour record for money earned in a single season. With $49,486,883 in total earnings since joining the PGA Tour in 2016, Rahm looks set to pass the $50 million mark imminently upon his return. The American had finished joint-second, one shot shy, of Rahm at last year’s event, but improved his total by eight shots to end on 24-under and clinch his sixth PGA Tour title. Orlando Ramirez/Getty ImagesGiven his form, Rahm looks well-placed to add to his two majors and 11 PGA Tour titles this year, but the 28-year-old is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

☆ Rahm sets record for most money earned in a PGA Tour season
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 30 (Reuters) - Jon Rahm fell short in his bid to successfully defend his Mexico Open title on Sunday but the Spaniard's second place finish set a new benchmark for the most money won in a single season on the PGA Tour. World number one Rahm, who counts a Masters triumph among his four PGA Tour wins this season, made $839,300 for finishing second at Vidanta Vallarta, bringing his 2022-23 season total to $14,462,840. That tops the previous record of $14,046,910 set last season by 2022 Masters winner Scottie Scheffler. While disappointed in falling short, Rahm said this week offered a good reminder that past results and one's standing in the world of golf are no guarantee of future success. "A great reminder that what you've done means absolutely nothing, you still have to go out there and do it.

☆ Virginia Governor Youngkin 'humbled' by talk of possible presidential run
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Tim Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) - Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin did not rule out a run for president in 2024, saying on Thursday that he was "humbled" by the question of whether he would seek the Republican nomination. Youngkin was in Japan as part of an Asian trip, including stops in Taiwan and South Korea, to promote his state. In Tokyo, he met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who on Monday sat down with would-be presidential candidate Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis. Biden, 80, on Tuesday said he will seek re-election in 2024 in a contest that could once again pit him against leading Republican candidate former President Donald Trump. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday, 44% of Democrats said Biden was too old to run.

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