Flesch birdied the first four holes and five on the front nine in a strong start, then stalled on the back. But he got the only birdie he needed with a putt from about 8 feet on the par-5 finishing hole for a one-stroke victory over Ernie Els, Steven Alker and Paul Stankowski.

Flesch closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-round total of 11-under 205 and earned $330,000. The 55-year-old won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in May.

“I hung in there all day,” Flesch said. “I got off to a great start, but winning at Pebble Beach I think is every professional golfer’s dream.”

Alker, the Charles Schwab Cup money leader, was looking to become the first four-time winner on the over-50 tour this year. Els had the best round of the day, an 8-under 64, but came up just short of his first victory of the season.

Stankowski made just two bogeys on the week in the best Champions finish of his career, coming in his 26th start.

The victory made the 19-year-old the first LPGA Tour player in five years to win twice in her rookie season. Sung Hyun Park posted multiple wins in 2017.

Thitikul and the 29-year-old Kang finished the 54-hole event at the Pinnacle Country Club tied at 17-under.

A six-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Kang was making her third tour start since June after undergoing treatment for a tumor on her spine.

Kang briefly took the lead, chipping in from near the green for an eagle at the final hole. Playing in the group behind her, Thitukul, who shot a final-round 68, made a birdie at No. 17 to tie for the lead.

The two matched pars on No. 15, the first extra hole, and then Thitikul made a birdie putt on No. 16 to win.

“It’s emotional,” said Kang, who had a final-round 64, her best of the tournament. “I’m just really proud that I’m even here. So obviously I wanted to win, but these are like tears of joy.”

Thitukul had won the JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol earlier the season in a playoff.

The $345,000 first-place check pushed her earnings to $1,881,392 for the season. She has made 19 cuts in 20 events and added nine additional top 10s, including a solo fourth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Thitikul became the fourth player with multiple victories this season, joining Jennifer Kupcho (3), Minjee Lee (2) and Brooke Henderson (2).

Thitikul jumped into contention on Saturday with a second-round 61, the lowest 18-hole LPGA score.

Chella Choi of South Korea finished third, a shot behind the leaders. Pornannong Phatlum of Thailand was alone in fourth at 14 under, a stroke ahead of seven players.

Sure, the International team lost at least four players — maybe more — who defected to Saudi-funded LIV Golf and were deemed ineligible by the PGA Tour. It had eight rookies asked to play a new format before 40,000 flag-waving fans chanting for the home team. And the Internationals have never won on American soil since these lopsided matches began in 1994.

No matter.

The Americans are tough to beat right now in any cup, under any circumstances.

Jordan Spieth made putts from all over Quail Hollow and capped off a 5-0 week, Xander Schauffele delivered the cup-clinching point and lit up his big cigar, and the Americans won the Presidents Cup for the ninth straight time.

Anyone surprised?

“I think that the biggest challenge for us this week was staying within ourselves and not letting the outside noise get to us,” Spieth said. “We saw notes … put up all over the place that we were supposed to win and we’re favorites and all that.

“What was so cool — which has been very consistent in the previous few Cups that I’ve been involved in — is everyone’s really, really good at what they do.”

The plucky International team still made them work for it. Spieth and Patrick Cantlay were in control of their matches and set the tone. Even so, the Internationals kept it interesting, a resilient effort considering they were down 8-2 going into the weekend.

But then Tony Finau flipped his match, Collin Morikawa played like a two-time major champion, Schauffele delivered the winner and another celebration was on.

International captain Trevor Immelman referred to the LIV disruption as one of many hurdles facing his team. And he reacted strongly to any notion his 12 players — only three of them among the top 25 in the world — never had a chance.

“When you consider that we were 8-2 down on Friday evening, this team is no joke, and I’m sick and tired of it being spoken of as a joke,” Immelman said. “We love this event, and we love our team. And we cannot wait to run this back and have another shot.”

The Internationals showed plenty of fight. They just don’t have a cup to show for it. That stays squarely in the hands of an American team that was coming off a record romp over Europe in the Ryder Cup last year before another one-sided crowd.

Even the American newcomers produced, starting with Max Homa. He rallied from 3 down by winning four straight holes and then holding off Tom Kim for a 1-up victory that gave Homa a 4-0 week in his Presidents Cup debut.

The final score was 17 1/2-12 1/2, not quite the rout it was at Liberty National in 2017 when this U.S. team started to take shape.

U.S. captain Davis Love III paid tribute to Immelman for having to fill out his team three weeks ago after British Open champion Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann were among the latest batch to join the rival LIV Golf series. This was a mismatch. The Internationals still made a game of it, and at one point the matches were tight enough that a shocker at Quail Hollow was still possible. But they needed everything to go right, and it didn’t.

“Trevor and his team did an incredible job of rising to the occasion,” Love said.

Love had all 12 players ranked among the top 25 in the world ranking, and just like last year at Whistling Straits in the Presidents Cup, most of them played like it.

“We really don’t have to do much,” Love said. “All we have to do is not mess it up.”

Spieth was in the second match out and made putts from 25 feet, 20 feet and 30 feet for par after driving into the water and 45 feet that made Cam Davis feel hopeless. He closed out the Australian on the 15th hole.

Spieth became only the sixth player to win all five matches in the Presidents Cup, winning all four of his team matches with Justin Thomas. He is the first player to go 5-0-0 in the Presidents Cup since Branden Grace in 2015; the last American player to do so was Jim Furyk in 2011.

Spieth, a three-time major champion and former No. 1 player in the world, first qualified for U.S. teams when he was 20. But he had never won a singles match — 0-3 in the Presidents Cup, 0-3-1 in the Ryder Cup. And then he fell 2 down after two holes before turning it around in a big way.

“I was more nervous than I should have been because I wanted to get that monkey off my back,” Spieth said. “When you get off early on a Sunday, they’re looking for red on the board. And it feels good to provide it.”

Thomas was trying to join him, but he lost to Si Woo Kim in a match that came down to 10-foot birdie putts on the last hole.

Cantlay put red American numbers on the board quickly for a 3-up lead over Adam Scott and had lost only two holes in a 3-and-2 victory.

For Scott, it was another dose of disappointment. His first Presidents Cup was in 2003 in South Africa that ended in a tie. He has played on every team since then, all losses. Still, he saw enough out of the team and the shield on their shirts with which they are starting to identify to not lose all hope.

“It still hurts not to win,” he said. “I think the big difference I felt the last couple years is what’s going on in our team room, what’s going on between the captains and the players, the caddies, everybody involved on our team. I think good things are really starting to happen in that environment.

It was 25-year-old Migliozzi’s third European Tour win, his first for three years, and one he will remember for a very long time.

When Migliozzi finished on 16-under 268, he was one shot ahead of Hojgaard, who had two holes left to play. The 21-year-old Dane’s par on the 17th left him needing a birdie on the par-4 18th to force a playoff.

But Hojgaard, who had led since posting a superb 62 of his own in Thursday’s opening round, teed off into the rough. He landed his approach shot cleanly, but needed a 48-feet putt for birdie and fell seven feet short to finish with a 3-under 68 for 15 under overall. It was a bitter end to the tournament for Hojgaard, given his round on Thursday and the fact he led by six strokes after the second round

Frenchman Paul Barjon (70), South African George Coetzee (71) and Belgian Thomas Pieters (70) failed to apply pressure on a wide-open last day and finished four shots behind Hojgaard in a tie for third at 11-under.

Hojgaard held a slender one-shot overnight lead ahead of Coetzee after making a terrible start to Saturday’s third round and ending it with a 3-over 74. The damage was done in that round with a quintuple-bogey on the second hole.

But he cast those bad memories aside in style as he began his final round, sinking a birdie on hole No. 2 and an eagle — his first of the tournament — on the next. But he bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9 as Coetzee — a five-time European tour winner — moved level at 13-under.

Then it was Migliozzi’s turn to shine as he shot up the leaderboard with five consecutive birdies on Nos. 6-10 to move within one shot of the joint-leaders at halfway, along with Barjon and Pieters.

Coetzee fell back after a triple bogey on the 15th, and Migliozzi’s incessant pressure finally got to Hojgaard.

The tournament was not played over the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

By the time 20-year-old Tom Kim slammed his cap to the ground in a wild celebration and Cameron Davis finished with three straight birdies for another comeback win, all anyone could think about was the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah.

The Americans still lead by 4. It just felt much closer.

Kim, a young talent with a massive personality, delivered the first big moment for the International team. He gave his team a spark with a 55-foot eagle putt after driving the 11th green. And on the final hole, he made a 10-foot birdie putt in a 1-up victory over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

He took a few steps back as the ball neared the hole, dropped his putter and slammed his cap to the ground in a raucous celebration.

“I wanted that putt more than anything in the world,” Kim said.

In two matches Saturday, Kim and K.H. Lee took out world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, and he and Si Woo Kim beat the formidable Cantlay-Schauffele tandem.

The International team split the foursomes matches in the morning and won the four-balls session 3-1. It was enough to cut into a big deficit, enough to give the underdogs hope.

The Americans sure didn’t sound as though they had an 11-7 lead going into the 12 singles matches — typically their strength — as they go for a ninth straight victory.

“If anything, we’ve got to refocus, and we’ve got a lot of [ticked] off guys that want to come out really strong tomorrow,” Jordan Spieth said.

No one on the American team was at Medinah for the 2012 Ryder Cup except for Davis Love III, the captain at both.

The Americans were leading big all week that year until Ian Poulter birdied the last five holes, giving Europe a load of momentum that it carried into Sunday. Trailing 10-6, the Europeans staged the greatest comeback by a visiting team in Ryder Cup history.

“They got some momentum today,” Love said. “They started making some putts, and we’re going to have to turn around tomorrow and come out hot and try to get the momentum back.”

No one was more reliable than Spieth and Justin Thomas, a juggernaut on this mighty U.S. team. They won two matches Saturday without ever seeing the 16th hole except for riding in a car to cheer on teammates.

They became the first American tandem to go 4-0 in team matches since Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in 2009 at Harding Park.

Thomas figures he had to make only 10 putts over 30 holes in two matches because Spieth was doing so much damage on and around the green. Even on their last hole Saturday afternoon, with Thomas in tight for a 5-foot putt that would have won it, Spieth chipped in from the front of the green.

“I legitimately think I picked my coin up more than I hit putts,” Thomas said. “So yeah, my partner’s pretty good.”

At that point, the Americans had an 11-4 lead.

On the course, Sungjae Im and Sebastian Munoz were up big in match they would win in 16 holes against Tony Finau and Kevin Kisner, the only time in 18 matches this week that an International team didn’t trail at any time.

The Americans were ahead in the other two. The rout was on, and then it wasn’t.

Schauffele gave his team a 1-up lead with a 40-foot putt from short of the 15th green, only for Si Woo Kim to make a 4-foot birdie on the par-5 16th to square the match. Si Woo Kim also made a 5-foot par putt to stay tied on the 17th, a putt that had Tom Kim so nervous he covered his eyes and peeked through his fingers.

And then Tom Kim stole the show.

International captain Trevor Immelman noticed Kim some 35 yards behind everyone else in the group, 235 yards from the green with a 2-iron in his hand. Behind the 20-year-old Korean was a group of American stars — Thomas, Spieth, Collin Morikawa, all major champions — also watching. What a stage.

“And this kid pures a 2-iron to 10 feet and makes the putt,” Immelman said. “To me, that’s impressive stuff.”

Not to be overlooked was Davis, a bright spot on the International team and one of eight rookies for Immelman because of some four players who gave up the Presidents Cup for Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

The match was tight but Burns and Billy Horschel never led by more than 1 hole. Davis holed a 12-foot eagle putt on the 16th to square the match. On the next hole, Davis drilled a 15-foot birdie putt for the first lead of the match.

Davis and Scott each had about 10 feet for birdie on the final hole, and Burns hit his approach to 4 feet for what looked to be a certain birdie. Davis made a third straight birdie, another point for the International team, more momentum for Sunday.

“I kind of went numb, to be honest,” Davis said. “I was in a situation where I was going for it. But I just got in a groove that made golf feel easy for once.”

And that made it a little bit harder for the Americans.

This is why making the Presidents Cup was the top of his wish list this year, and his latest afternoon heroics at Quail Hollow exceeded expectations.

The final fourballs match was all square with two holes to play, the green surrounded by American players and caddies, captains and their red carts. Homa stepped toward the hole and slammed his fist when he made a 12-foot birdie putt for a 1-up lead.

And then it got even better. Taylor Pendrith was clutch with a 15-foot birdie putt as the Internationals tried to scratch out a third tie. Homa stepped up and delivered again with another 12-foot birdie putt for the win.

The matches felt closer. The outcome was not. Homa’s big putts at the end allowed the Americans to win another session by a 4-1 margin, stretching the lead to 8-2.

“It was pretty surreal,” said Homa, who improved to 2-0 in his debut. “The atmosphere out there is insane. There’s so many people you can feel them on the back of your neck.”

Quail Hollow was packed with 40,000 fans on a gorgeous autumn day, with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush among those at the course.

In five matches that covered 87 holes, the players combined for 67 birdies and three eagles, and three matches went the distance.

All the International team could manage were two halves. What it faces now is a task even more monumental against a U.S. team that looks well on its way to a ninth straight win in this lopsided affair.

“We feel like we’ve played some pretty good golf, some solid golf tee-to-green, particularly the last couple of days,” International captain Trevor Immelman said. “But we have absolutely been out-putted. No doubt about it.”

He was with that final match as Homa and Billy Horschel dropped key putts down the stretch. And when Pendrith dropped his birdie on the last and it look like he and Corey Conners might escape with a half-point, Homa was just as clutch.

“I was nervous as could be over that putt, but it was fun,” Homa said. “I was telling my wife, when we talk about things money can’t buy, money cannot buy that feeling. And that was something that I will remember forever, and I will tell anybody who ever wants to hear about it how that felt.”

For the second straight time on home soil, the powerful American team goes into a double session on Saturday with a mathematical chance to win the cup.

There are four matches of foursomes and fourballs, and the Americans would have to win seven of them and halve the other to clinch the cup. That sounds unlikely, except for who they have and how they’re playing.

The International teams led in one match – Mito Pereira and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, for a total of five holes – that ended in a halve with Cameron Young and Kevin Kisner.

Over two days and 10 matches, International teams have had a lead for only 10 of the 170 holes that have been played.

The 12 Americans are among the top 25 in the world and most of the are playing like it. The International team was cobbled together at the last minute with more defections to Saudi-funded LIV Golf run by Greg Norman, a former Presidents Cup captain.

Norman sent out a tweet wishing the International team well, accompanied by a photo of the team from its lone win in 1998. “Outside of all this angst – golf is golf, competition is competition; something every golfer thrives on.”

One of replies was from Immelman: “LOL.”

“I pretty much say it exactly as I’m thinking it,” Immelman said. “What I said was exactly what I was doing when I read that tweet. I was laughing out loud.”

The strength of the American team came from a pair of dynamic partnerships. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were 5-up at the turn and easily held on for a 3-and-2 win over Hideki Matsuyama and Tom Kim.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas improved to 6-2 as a team in Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup matches, leading from the fourth hole in a 2-and-1 victory over the Australian pair of Adam Scott and Cameron Davis.

As usual, Spieth and Thomas were far from dull.

They were 2 up with five holes to play when Thomas hit 6-iron that came inches away from an ace on the par-3 14th over water to a back pin for birdie. And right when it looked as though the International side might get closer, Spieth was up to his tricks.

His approach on the 15th was headed for the stream when it hit the rocks and caromed over the green into the rough. He chipped 15 feet by, and then made the putt to halve the hole.

The Spieth-Thomas and Cantlay-Schauffele teams, formed as much by friendship as their games, are 2-0 this week and are tough to beat no matter whom the International team sends out against them.

The passion came from the Presidents Cup rookies.

Horschel hasn’t played for his country since the 2007 Walker Cup and said he felt like vomiting for three hours ahead of his match. For Homa, it was the second straight day he was in the final match, and both made it to the 18th green with a big audience outside and inside the ropes.

“It’s surreal to have 10 of the best golfers I’ve ever seen in my life watching you and you’ve got to help them,” Homa said. “It’s a heavy weight. But it’s also really fun.”

Rasmus Hojgaard followed up Thursday’s course record-equalling 62 with a 65 to hold a commanding six-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Cazoo Open de France.

Morning starter Hojgaard carded seven birdies and a single bogey on day two at Le Golf National to head into the clubhouse on 15 under par.

The chasing pack tried to close the gap in the afternoon but no-one could join the Dane in double figures under par, with France’s Paul Barjon his nearest challenger on nine under.

Hojgaard was pleased with his performance at the 2018 Ryder Cup venue and vowed not to change much over the weekend as he goes in search of a fourth DP World Tour title.

Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay made short work of Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama in the opening match. They didn’t make a bogey in a 6-and-5 victory, improving their record to 5-0 in foursomes at the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, best friends since they were 14, had clutch shots to atone for their mistakes and held off Sungjae Im and Corey Conners, 2 and 1.

Another strong American team from top to bottom played at a high level on a hot day at Quail Hollow and walked off with a 4-1 lead after the first session.

“I told the guys last night we need to set the tone — us and J.T. and Jordan’s match — and we did,” Schauffele said. “Playing this format on a day like today and not making any bogeys, it’s exactly what we need.”

The International team, already an underdog in these matches, was hurt more than the Americans by players leaving the PGA Tour for Saudi-funded LIV Golf, including Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann.

All that kept the International side from being shut out were Si Woo Kim and Cameron Davis. They were 2 down with four holes to play against Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns when they seized on American mistakes and scratched out a 2-up victory.

Two of the eight rookies for the International team, Taylor Pendrith and Mito Pereira, nearly picked up another point. They were all square going to the tough par-4 closing hole when Pereira hit a wild tee shot, Pendrith could only manage the right bunker and they made bogey. Tony Finau and Max Homa walked away with a 1-up win and a point.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” Finau said.

The other U.S. point came from Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young, the PGA Tour rookie of the year, who soaked up the environment before a full house at Quail Hollow and produced a winning moment of his own.

They were in a tight match with against 20-year-old Tom Kim and K.H. Lee, all square with six holes to play. At the time, the last three matches could have gone either way. As easy as Cantlay and Schauffele made it look in the opening match, it was only one point.

The Americans regained the lead when Morikawa stuffed a wedge into 2 feet for birdie on the downwind 14th hole. The lead remained 1 up and appeared to be headed toward the 18th when Young slammed in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th to end the match.

“That moment there is about all I can ask for,” Young said. “Obviously, it’s the first day, but every point we get is important. And that’s a feeling I’ve been waiting to have for a long time.”

Cantlay and Schauffele first hooked up on the long flight over to Australia for the Presidents Cup in 2019, the first team matches for both. They have become fast friends off the course and are becoming a tough team to beat inside the ropes.

They got plenty of help from Scott and Matsuyama — the two most experienced players on the International team — who missed plenty of putts that could have won or halved holes along the way. Matsuyama missed from 4 feet on the third hole, and the Americans took the lead and ran with it.

They won three straight holes through the par-5 seventh to build a 4-up lead, and they won the final three holes with pars.

Thomas, who won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in 2017, had a wild day. He chunked a 9-iron so badly on the par-3 fourth that it came up 40 yards short of the green. He hit a shank from the bunker on the par-5 16th. He and Spieth didn’t lose either hole.

The match turned on the 15th — typically the 18th at Quail Hollow for stroke-play tournaments — when Spieth’s drive landed on the left side of a creek, Thomas did well to get to the back of the green, and Spieth ran his downhill putt some 25 feet by the hole.

Conners and Im were in position to win the hole, 7 feet away for par, and square the match. Thomas holed the par putt, Conners missed and the Americans were 2 up and headed for another point.

“You win when you pick up your partner, and he did that,” Spieth said. “That switch we had on the 15th was unreal there. Looking at going to even and instead we leave that green 2 up. It was the difference in the match.”

Next up were five matches Friday in four-balls, and each point moves the Americans closer to a ninth straight victory in these one-sided matches. They have never lost on home soil since the Presidents Cup began in 1994.

With such a dominant start, the Americans need only 11 points from the 25 matches remaining to retain the cup.

Rasmus Hojgaard equalled the course record with his nine-under-par round of 62 to hold a two shot lead after the opening round of the Open de France on Thursday.

Alexander Bjork lies in second place at seven-under par after an impressive round that included no dropped shots.

Paul Barjou is third at six-under-par, while Jamie Donaldson, James Morrison and Julien Brun share fourth place.

Hojgaard, 21, has won three DP World Tour titles.

Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told ESPN that he walked out of Norman’s lunch meeting with the Republican Study Committee and described his lobbying efforts as “propaganda.” He also took to Twitter to question Saudi Arabia’s connections to the 9/11 attacks and its role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. citizen.

“It’s propaganda,” Burchett said of Norman’s meeting. “I don’t want to hear about that. It’s not Congress’ business to settle a fight between a bunch of billionaires over a game of golf. They need to take it to the courts. Congress made a big mistake by getting involved in Major League Baseball. Here we are dealing with a [league] being funded by some Saudis. I just thought our priorities were out of whack.”

Norman told reporters after the lunch meeting that he wanted lawmakers to have “both sides of the story for them to understand what LIV is all about,” according to a report from The Hill.

“Don’t come in here and act like you’re doing some great thing, while you’re pimping a billion dollars of Saudi Arabian money,” Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told reporters after the lunch meeting.

“I respect Greg and his [right] to go out and do whatever he wants to do,” Roy told ESPN on Wednesday. “But it’s not as simple as he tries to make it out to be. He says they just want competition, and it’s like there are hummingbirds and butterflies flying around everywhere. The big, bad PGA Tour and its monopoly are preventing them from having their awesome little competition. It’s much, much more complex than that.”

Roy said he questioned Norman about why LIV Golf and its employees aren’t registered as foreign agents with the federal government. Norman told reporters that LIV Golf is a commercial operation, “so we’re here just to grow the game of golf.”

Roy said Norman tried to avoid talking about LIV Golf’s connections to Saudi Arabia.

“They honestly just didn’t want to talk about Saudi Arabia,” Roy said. “That’s the honest truth. I think it was pitched as something to come in there and kind of explain that and talk about it, but I felt it was very clear they didn’t want to talk about it. Former President Trump, who by the way is financially interested in LIV, has said this is a billion dollars of publicity for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They’re just kind of dismissing it.”

Roy said about 75 members of Congress attended the meeting, in which Norman spoke for about 20 minutes. Other lawmakers questioned Norman about the impact it would have on the PGA Tour and its charity work, while others had “some interest in whether there was some sort of competition question and is there any interference going on or is the PGA Tour blocking competition.”

“This isn’t about pure competition,” Roy said. “Don’t come in here and try to sell me something that is not what you’re actually selling. You’re selling something that is very much in bed with the Saudis, so the Saudis can accomplish their objective and Greg can accomplish his. He’s always wanted to have a rival operation to take on the tour, and he’s been unable to do it until he got a billion-dollar sugar daddy known as the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether the PGA Tour is illegally trying to squash competition. The PGA Tour has denied the allegations.

LIV Golf and a handful of its players have also filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour for suspending members for playing in LIV Golf events, and for allegedly pressuring vendors, broadcast networks, agents and others to not work with the new league.

The Washington Examiner reported Wednesday that Norman also met with senior Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, including Jim Jordan of Ohio and Matt Gaetz of Florida, and told the lawmakers that he was willing to testify in front of Congress to discuss antitrust issues.

ESPN confirmed on Wednesday that Norman also met with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Clyburn’s spokesperson said the lawmaker had also recently met with PGA Tour leadership.

“I’m very encouraged that Mr. Norman offered to give testimony to the House Judiciary Committee during my discussion with him today,” Gaetz said in a statement to ESPN. “He has a wealth of knowledge regarding the role of golf in culture and in the world. I believe the country would benefit from hearing more about his perspective.”

Past Masters champions Adam Scott of Australia and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan will play Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in the opening match.

After that, the U.S. team, which has won 11 times in the past 13 Presidents Cups, including eight in a row, figures to have a sizable advantage, at least on paper. The U.S. team’s 12-man roster includes five of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking. The International team has none.

On Thursday, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas will face Sungjae Im and Corey Conners in the second match; Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa will play Tom Kim and K.H. Lee in the third; Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns will battle Si Woo Kim and Cam Davis in the fourth; and Tony Finau and Max Homa will square off against Taylor Pendrith and Mito Pereira in the final match of the day.

“This team was a little bit different than ones we’ve had in the past,” said U.S. team captain Davis Love III, who has captained two Ryder Cup teams. “There was a lot of obvious pairings, and there was a lot of guys that really get along well. So the obvious ones made the other ones a little bit harder because everyone does get along well, and there’s not really anybody that you say, well, ‘That guy’s hard to pair.’ It’s just hard to pick two to sit out. That’s our problem.”

Kevin Kisner and Billy Horschel are sitting out Thursday’s action for the Americans, and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz aren’t playing for the International team.

The teams will compete in foursomes (alternate shot) on Thursday, followed by five four-ball (best-ball) matches on Friday. Each match is worth one point; ties earn a team a half-point. There are 30 matches over four days, and the team that gets to 15½ points wins the Presidents Cup. There is no playoff if the teams are tied after Sunday’s 12 singles matches.

David Feherty is leaving NBC and is expected to join the breakaway tour as an analyst for eight to 10 tournaments annually, the New York Post reported Monday, citing sources.

Feherty, known for his unique style and personality, has been a regular on NBC golf telecasts and the Golf Channel since signing with the network in 2015. NBC and Feherty declined comment to the Post on his exit and expected move.

The LIV tour, which will hold its third event later this month at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey, already has Arlo White as its host for tournaments, which are streamed on YouTube and the LIV website. White was the longtime lead Premier League play-by-play commentator for NBC before leaving for LIV earlier this year.

TNT’s Charles Barkley said last week on the “Next Round” podcast that he has agreed to meet with LIV about an unspecified media role with the tour, which has been criticized because it is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The award honors Stewart, who died in a plane crash in October 1999, the year he won the U.S. Open. It is given to players to demonstrate character, sportsmanship and a commitment to charity.

“It’s very special. Payne was unbelievable to me and I got to know him very well. I’m speechless really, to think that now I’m part of this elite group of past recipients who have all done it the right way,” Andrade said.

After winning his first PGA Tour title in 1991, Andrade joined with fellow Rhode Islander Brad Faxon to create the Billy Andrade/Brad Faxon Charities for Children Inc. for southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It has generated more than $30 million through its various efforts, which include the CVS Health Charity Classic.

Each May at East Lake Golf Club, which hosts the Tour Championship, Andrade and fellow Atlanta resident Stewart Cink host the East Lake Invitational, a charity pro-am that benefits neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Andrade will be honored Aug. 23, the Tuesday night before the Tour Championship.

In a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Stenson wrote that LIV Golf officials had worked with him to ensure that he could fulfill his Ryder Cup obligations, but Ryder Cup Europe wasn’t willing to allow him to do it.

“While I disagree with this decision, for now it is a decision that I accept,” Stenson wrote. “I have huge respect and admiration for the Ryder Cup and those individuals behind it I know are doing their utmost to act in the best interests of the historic event.”

Ryder Cup Europe said in a statement earlier Wednesday that Stenson would not serve as its captain next year.

“In light of decisions made by Henrik in relation to his personal circumstances, it has become clear that he will not be able to fulfill certain contractual obligations to Ryder Cup Europe that he had committed to prior to his announcement as captain on Tuesday March 15, 2022, and it is therefore not possible for him to continue in the role of captain,” the statement read.

Ryder Cup Europe said a new captain would be named “in due course.” England’s Luke Donald, Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn might be in the running to replace Stenson as captain.

Stenson, 46, informed DP World Tour officials Tuesday night of his decision to join LIV Golf. Like other players who have left established tours for LIV Golf, Stenson said he hoped to play on multiple circuits in the future.

“It is a shame to witness the significant uncertainty surrounding the Ryder Cup, who will be eligible to play, etc.,” Stenson wrote. “I sincerely hope a resolution between the tours and its members can be reached soon and that the Ryder Cup can act as a mechanism for repair amongst various golfing bodies and their members.”

A handful of PGA Tour players told ESPN at The Open at St. Andrews, Scotland, last week that Stenson was prepared to give up his Ryder Cup captaincy to sign a multiyear contract with LIV Golf that could be worth as much as $40 million.

When Stenson was selected as the Ryder Cup captain, he signed a contract that prohibited him from playing on any circuit other than the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

One of Stenson’s main sponsors, Mutual of Omaha, whose logo has been featured on the front of Stenson’s hat in tournaments, has already taken action with the former tour player joining LIV.

A spokesperson for the company said Mutual of Omaha and Stenson mutually agreed to end their sponsorship deal, effective immediately. Boss, Stenson’s other prominent sponsor, did not return messages on the future of their relationship.

Stenson and England’s Paul Casey are expected to make their debuts in the next LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey from July 29 to July 31. LIV Golf announced much of the field Tuesday, and longtime PGA Tour players Jason Kokrak and Charles Howell III also joined LIV Golf on Wednesday.

Stenson’s departure is another blow for the Ryder Cup European team, which has already had several of its most notable players, including Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, defect to the breakaway LIV Golf circuit.

Stenson, who is ranked 171st in the Official World Golf Ranking, won the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon with a major championship 72-hole scoring record of 264. Stenson’s six PGA Tour victories include the 2009 Players Championship and 2013 Tour Championship. His most recent victory on the PGA Tour was the 2017 Wyndham Championship.

“Henrik Stenson adds yet another outstanding resume to LIV Golf’s global roster of elite players,” LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman said in a statement. “His career performances spanning majors, season-long individual championships and international competitions have cemented him as a leader in today’s game.”

When Stenson was asked at The Open what his upcoming schedule would include, he said he was “undecided.” He did talk about scouting the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, located about an hour from Rome. It will host the Ryder Cup from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, 2023.

Sorenstam and Sagstrom shot a 5-under 65 in alternate-shot play at Midland Country Club for a share of the first-round lead with fellow late starters Pauline Roussin and Dewi Weber.

“It is different because it’s a team format,” Sorenstam said. “I have a great partner. I mean, I guess, I really don’t think about it, but it’s nice to see your name on the board somewhere. I just try to focus on my game and do what I can with the skill set I have today.”

Sorenstam, 51, is making her second LPGA Tour start of the year and only her third since retiring after the 2008 season. The teams will play better ball Thursday and Saturday and alternate shot again Friday.

“It really was fun,” Sorenstam said. “I think we had really good chemistry. We had a good time. I was excited to be here and I told that to Madelene on the range. I was really kind of pumped and looking forward to playing.”

Sorenstam missed the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open last month, then tied for fourth last week in Nevada in the American Century Championship against mostly men.

“I really didn’t feel any pressure from my partner,” Sorenstam said. “I just felt good about most of the shots. I mean, there were a few that obviously could have been a little better and maybe a little bit more aggressive on my putts, but overall, it was calm golf. It was fairways. It was greens.”

Sagstrom won the 2020 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio for her lone tour title. They made the turn in 3 under, ran off three straight birdies on Nos. 12-14 and dropped a stroke on the par-4 16th with their lone bogey.

“I was, like, ‘This is too perfect,'” Sagstrom said. “It worked out so great. I hit some good drives too to give her some good opportunities. We just took advantage of some of the opportunities we had. We had plenty more, but it was overall just a really fun day.”

Weber and Roussin are both winless on the tour. They had a bogey-free round, finishing on the front nine just after Sorenstam and Sagstrom completed play on the back nine.

“We’re Team French Fry and Apple Pie,” Weber said.

Sorenstam and Sagstrom played alongside Lexi Thompson and Brittany Altomare, with the Americans shooting 71 in the round delayed 2 hours, 40 minutes because of morning rain.

The teams of Jodi Ewart Shadoff-Emma Talley, Jillian Hollis-Lauren Stephenson and Pornanong Phatlum-Pavarisa Yoktuan shot 66. Allison Emrey and Katherine Perry-Hamski followed at 67.

Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas topped the group at 68. Sisters Nelly and Jessica Korda were at 69, with 47-year-old Karrie Webb and Marina Alex.

Defending champions Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn shot 73.

The tournament is scheduled to end Saturday so players can head to France next week for the fourth major of the year at the Evian Championship. That will start the European portion of the LPGA Tour schedule that includes the Women’s British Open at Muirfield.

Tied with Sorenstam and Sagstrom after an opening 5-under 65 in alternate-shot play Wednesday, Roussin and Weber had a 61 at Midland Country Club in the better-ball round to reach 14-under 126. The teams will play alternate shot Friday and finish Saturday with better ball.

“We’re just going to do more of the same,” Weber said. “I know that sounds so boring and I’m so sorry for that, but we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing. I think what we’ve been doing has been working really well.”

Sorenstam and Sagstrom slipped back with a 66.

Sorenstam, 51, is making her second LPGA Tour start of the year and only her third since retiring after the 2008 season. The Hall of Famer missed the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open last month, then tied for fourth last week in Nevada in the mostly male American Century Championship.

“I really like this format and, of course, playing with Madelene,” Sorenstam said. “It’s a highlight. She’s one of the upcoming stars and has done so well. We’ve been playing together a little bit in Orlando. I have a great friendship with her.”

Roussin, the Frenchwoman playing on Bastille Day and her mother’s birthday, aced the par-3 seventh with a 46-degree wedge.

“It helps when you have people around you to just talk to,” Roussin said. “We’re having fun both with our caddies as well, so we created that bubble I would say, and it just helps to think about the next shot once you’ve hit the previous one.”

Roussin and Weber, from the Netherlands, didn’t know each other very well before this week.

“We both last minute happened to be looking for a partner,” Weber said. “I knew her game a little bit. I knew she was quite fun to be around, so I just texted her and said, ‘Hey, I heard you’re looking for a partner.'”

U.S. Solheim Cup partners Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas were second, also shooting 61.

“I think for the most part I felt like I was just there cheering her along, but in the end I hit a couple of good putts,” Kupcho said. “Ham and egged it pretty well.”

The teams of Matilda Castren-Kelly Tan and Sarah Kemp-Alena Sharp each shot 61 to match Tiffany Chan-Haeji Kang (62), Jodi Ewart Shadoff-Emma Talley (64) and Pornanong Phatlum-Pavarisa Yoktuan (64) at 10 under.

Sorenstam and Sagstrom were 9 under with Karrie Webb-Marina Alex (62), Sophia Popov-Anne van Dam (61) and A Lim Kim-Yealimi Noh (62). Sisters Nelly and Jessica Korda (63) were 8 under.

Lexi Thompson and Brittany Altomare followed an opening 71 with a 65 to miss the cut by a stroke. Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, also dropped out, shooting 73-64.

The tournament is scheduled to end Saturday so players can head to France next week for the fourth major of the year at the Evian Championship. That will start the European portion of the LPGA Tour schedule that includes the Women’s British Open at Muirfield.

Gooch carded a 3-under 69 on Friday to sit 7 under after the first two rounds at St. Andrews. With Dustin Johnson in fifth place at 9 under and Sergio Garcia shooting a 6-under 66 in the second round, players from the breakaway LIV series are firmly in the mix for the Claret Jug entering the weekend.

In all, 11 of the 24 LIV golfers who played this year’s Open made the cut and will play the weekend at the home of golf. Five were sitting in the top 20 after the second round Friday. Johnson and Gooch were in the top 10.

Their play comes on the back of criticism leveled in LIV Golf’s direction from the R&A and other golfers. Rory McIlroy said it would be “better for the game” if a LIV player did not win this year’s Open, while Tiger Woods said those who had joined LIV had “turned their back” on the sport.

Gooch has heard some of the criticism, and when asked whether this had motivated the LIV golfers to perform at St. Andrews, he answered: “Yeah, for sure. Everybody, it feels like, is against us, and that’s OK. Like you said, it’s kind of banded us together, I think.”

LIV golfers like Lee Westwood had promising first rounds, while Sadom Kaewkanjana, Abraham Ancer, Ian Poulter and Bryson DeChambeau are also in the mix chasing leader Cameron Smith at 13 under.

“I think there’s some strong players [in LIV], no doubt. The credentials of everyone speaks for themselves,” Gooch said. “It’s obviously cool for me to see other guys that are out there playing well. We’ve caught a lot of flak for what we’ve done here recently.

“I think one thing that cannot be questioned is the quality of players that are there.”

But Johnson said the criticism wasn’t a motivating factor for him.

“Not me because, honestly, I don’t read anything,” Johnson said. “So I wouldn’t know what you were saying or if there was anything negative being said. I don’t pay attention to it.”

While those who have joined LIV have not taken a backward step this week in their conviction that it was the right call to join the breakaway group, Gooch did backtrack on previous comments concerning the new series.

After playing in the LIV event at Pumpkin Ridge outside Portland, Oregon, Gooch was asked about the atmosphere and said, “I haven’t played a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup, but can’t imagine there’s a whole hell of a lot of difference.”

Asked about those comments after his round Friday, Gooch said some players had questioned his view.

“Yeah, a bunch of players came up, and they’re like, ‘Really? Really?’ I was like, ‘Hold on a second, guys. Give me a little break. I just won,'” Gooch said. “I was in the moment. I might have gotten a little aggressive with the comments.

“We were pumped. I watch F1. I was so pumped to be able to spray champagne like they do in F1. I was in the moment. Maybe a little aggressive of a comment. Rightfully so, I’ve taken a little bit of heat for it.”

All times ET

3:35 a.m. — Richard Mansell

3:45 a.m. — Trey Mullinax, Kevin Kisner

3:55 a.m. — Tony Finau, Adri Arnaus

4:05 a.m. — Justin De Los Santos, Robert MacIntyre

4:15 a.m. — Francesco Molinari, Dean Burmester

4:25 a.m. — Lars Van Meijel, Robert Dinwiddie

4:40 a.m. — Sebastian Munoz, Jordan Smith

4:50 a.m. — Sungjae Im, Aaron Jarvis

5 a.m. — Wyndham Clark, Sam Bairstow

5:10 a.m. — Christiaan Bezuidenhout, John Parry

5:20 a.m. — Anthony Quayle, Chris Kirk

5:30 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau

5:45 a.m. — Jamie Rutherford, Jason Scrivener

5:55 a.m. — Joaquin Niemann, Paul Casey

6:05 a.m. — Marcus Armitage, Adrian Meronk

6:15 a.m. — Justin Thomas, Jason Kokrak

6:25 a.m. — Danny Willett, Corey Conners

6:35 a.m. — Billy Horschel, Cameron Tringale

6:50 a.m. — Laurie Canter, Thomas Pieters

7 a.m. — Russell Henley, Dylan Frittelli

7:10 a.m. — Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood

7:20 a.m. — Kurt Kitayama, Garrick Higgo

7:30 a.m. — Ian Poulter, Sam Burns

7:40 a.m. — David Law, Filippo Celli

7:55 a.m. — Sergio Garcia, Will Zalatoris

8:05 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Nicolai Hojgaard

8:15 a.m. — Victor Perez, Brad Kennedy

8:25 a.m. — Joohyung Kim, Patrick Reed

8:35 a.m. — Harold Varner III, Jon Rahm

8:45 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Thirston Lawrence

9 a.m. — Thomas Detry, Xander Schauffele

9:10 a.m. — Lee Westwood, David Carey

9:20 a.m. — Yuto Katsuragawa, Abraham Ancer

9:30 a.m. — Aaron Wise, Lucas Herbert

9:40 a.m. — Barclay Brown, Sadom Kaewkanjana

9:50 a.m. — Min Woo Lee, Matt Fitzpatrick

10:05 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Sahith Theegala

10:15 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott

10:25 a.m. — Talor Gooch, Tyrrell Hatton

10:35 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson

10:45 a.m. — Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy

10:55 a.m. — Cameron Young, Cameron Smith

Because of the R&A’s rota, The Open probably wouldn’t return to the Old Course at St. Andrews until 2027 at the earliest. Woods will be 51 then. He isn’t sure his surgically repaired right leg or fused back will be in good enough shape to still be playing at a high level at that time.

Woods’ return to St. Andrews, where he won two of his three Open Championship titles in 2000 and 2005, didn’t go down as he had hoped. He carded a 6-over 78 in the first round and a 3-over 75 in the second. His total of 9 over was well outside the cut, so he won’t be around for the weekend at the 150th playing of The Open.

“To me, it felt like this might have been my last British Open here at St. Andrews,” Woods said. “And the fans, the ovation and the warmth, it was an unbelievable feeling. I understand what Jack [Nicklaus] and Arnold [Palmer] had gone through in the past. I was kind of feeling that way there at the end.

“They understand what golf’s all about and what it takes to be an Open champion. And I’ve been lucky enough and fortunate enough to have won this twice here. And it felt very emotional, just because I just don’t know what my health is going to be like. And I feel like I will be able to play future British Opens, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to play that long enough that when it comes back around here, will I still be playing?”

After watching Woods compete in three majors over the past four months, what do we make of his comeback and what comes next?

The state of Woods’ game

It’s still kind of difficult to gauge the state of Woods’ game because it’s evident his surgically repaired right leg keeps bothering him, and he’s not playing very much golf at all.

The 15-time major champion is currently No. 994 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He doesn’t seem ready to commit to any additional tournaments outside of the majors. After he skipped the U.S. Open in June, it became clear that he doesn’t feel like he even has to play in all of them. He’s going to pick and choose his spots going forward, depending on the course and how he’s feeling.

Despite Woods’ disappointing score, there were some bright spots at St. Andrews. He had a 412-yard drive, the longest of any player Thursday. He averaged 338.9 yards off the tee, which ranked among the top 25 players in the field after two rounds. He hit 65.6% of fairways and 72.2% of greens in regulation.

Woods’ problems came on and around the Old Course’s expansive greens. He used to have the best short game in the world, but he’s playing so little now, it might be difficult for him to turn on and off those “feels.” He needed 70 putts and had four three-putts over 36 holes.

“My two-day play, I made my share of mistakes,” Woods said. “I struggled again [Friday] to get the feel of the greens. I left a lot of putts short again. Same as [Thursday]. I had hit a couple of poor shots, ended up in bad spots. And, again, I just never got anything going.”

Woods’ days of competing for major championships might very well be in his rearview mirror. Then again, no one thought he would win another major before he captured his fifth green jacket by winning the Masters in 2019. But this comeback seems different, more arduous.

The state of Woods’ health

Woods was asked Friday whether he might play additional tournaments outside of the majors to better prepare for those events, the ones that really matter. He said he didn’t think his body could handle it.

“I understand all that,” Woods said. “I understand being more battle-hardened, but it’s hard just to walk and play 18 holes. People have no idea what I have to go through and the hours of the work on the body, pre- and post-[round], each and every single day to do what I just did. That’s what people don’t understand — they don’t see. And then you think about playing more events on top of that, it’s hard enough just to do what I did.”

Woods had said at the Masters and PGA Championship that his surgically repaired right leg would get stronger over time. Earlier this week, he said the leg was stronger and he did appear to walk with more confidence. He walked 58 holes on the Old Course before the start of the tournament.

“Playing Augusta, I didn’t know,” he said. “My leg was not in any condition to play 72 holes. It just ran out of gas. But it’s different now. It’s gotten a lot stronger, a lot better. Hopefully it will continue to get that way. But again, as I said, having a lot of hardware in there makes it a little bit of a challenge.”

Because Woods was so seriously injured in a car wreck outside Los Angeles in February 2021, after which he said doctors nearly had to amputate his right leg, it’s easy to forget that his body already contained more hardware than a Home Depot.

About a month before the wreck, Woods had his fifth back operation in the past seven years. The procedure was his fourth microdiscectomy, which was supposed to alleviate nerve pain in his lower back, and his first back surgery since a spinal fusion in April 2017. He also had surgeries on his left knee and missed extensive time because of leg, Achilles tendon, elbow and neck injuries.

“Well, my body certainly can get better, but realistically not a whole lot,” he said before The Open. “It’s been through a lot, and at 46 you don’t quite heal as well as you do at 26. So it is what it is.”

What’s next for Tiger?

Woods didn’t say when his next tournament appearance would come. He isn’t committed to any event, although it’s difficult to imagine that he won’t play in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in November. He is the event’s host and the tournament benefits his foundation and other charities.

It also would be a surprise if Woods didn’t play in the PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida, on Dec. 15-18 with his son, Charlie. The pair finished second in the event last year. It was the first time Woods had played since the car wreck.

Woods’ competitors hope they’ll see more of them on the PGA Tour.

“Wish him nothing but the best,” Jon Rahm said. “Obviously, he’s done amazing things here and amazing things everywhere in the world. At this point, [I’m] hoping he can stay healthy and live a normal life from now on. You can tell he’s in pain. I know he puts a front out there and he tries to walk normal, but you can tell in certain moments going down some of the hills. You can tell he’s suffering.

“So hopefully they can — not fully fix it, I don’t know if they’ll be able to — but minimize it and [he can] have a normal life. As normal life as Tiger Woods can have obviously.”

LIV’s initial event took place in early June and attracted minimal betting at U.S. sportsbooks, but bookmakers are expecting increased interest this week in the handful of states that allow wagering on the fledgling golf tour.

Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and Washington are among the states that granted approval for licensed sportsbooks to take bets on LIV events. Tennessee, according to gaming industry sources, declined sportsbooks’ requests to allow wagering on LIV events. (The Tennessee Sports Wagering Committee did not immediately respond to an email from ESPN seeking comment.) Other states, including New York, also have been hesitant to deem LIV tournaments as approved betting events, according to the sources.

BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbooks, DraftKings, PointsBet and the SuperBook are among the sportsbooks planning to offer betting on the LIV event in the approved states. DraftKings also is offering a daily fantasy contest on this week’s event. FanDuel and Circa Sports have not posted odds on the LIV event yet.

Dustin Johnson is the consensus favorite, listed at 8-1 at the SuperBook. Louis Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer are each 12-1. Phil Mickelson is 80-1.

The SuperBook is offering odds to win the tournament and a select few head-to-head matchups. It is not offering any bet on the team event, which takes place throughout the LIV tour season.

Jeff Sherman, a longtime Nevada bookmaker with the SuperBook, said the first LIV tournament in London attracted roughly one-seventh of the betting handle that was drawn by the RBC Canadian Open, the PGA Tour event that took place the same week.

“The handle was a little bit higher than I thought it would be for the first LIV event,” Sherman said.

Sherman is expecting increased betting interest in this week’s LIV event, but still believes the John Deere Classic will generate more handle.

“You’re not going to find any PGA Tour field as poor as this one [at the John Deere Classic]. For a standalone PGA event, this is about as poor as it gets for quality of field,” Sherman said. “We’ll be interested to see how much LIV stands up to that.

“I have my doubts that it’s going to pass it, even though the LIV field is much more attractive name-wise,” Sherman added. “With the PGA Tour, the TV and visibility is a big difference. I think we’ll improve off the first LIV, because now it’s in the United States versus being in London. I’d still make the PGA Tour a small favorite to have higher handle, but I think it’s going to be really close this week.”

The Saudi Arabian-financed LIV Golf circuit has been surrounded in controversy since its start. Saudi Arabia has been accused of human rights violations, and the country’s leadership was linked to the 2018 kidnapping and murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to U.S. intelligence. Players have faced pointed questions from the media on their willingness to participate in the LIV tour.

Sportsbooks around the world, however, are moving forward with offering betting on LIV. But it hasn’t been a smooth start. Issues with the data feed and broadcast hindered betting on the first LIV event at some European sportsbooks, especially with live wagering, which has become increasing popular in golf.

“While it did not meet the turnover of the RBC Canadian, we expect that to increase given the stronger and better field in comparison to the PGA tour this week,” Rachael Kane, a spokesperson for Irish sportsbook Paddy Power, told ESPN in an email. “It’s been enjoyable to watch and to trade on, despite the leaderboards being top heavy. The laggy coverage has been challenging from a trading point of view too, but thankfully it hasn’t had any impact on our customers with all markets still available.”

The PGA Tour has embraced the expanding legal sports betting market in the U.S., forming partnerships with American sportsbooks and working with data companies to fuel live betting on tournaments. A spokesperson for LIV told ESPN that while the circuit is not ready to immediately jump into the betting space, it is “excited about the prospect as our format and team play creates new opportunities.”

Many upstart sports leagues have looked to betting as a vehicle to increase popularity and exposure, but some stakeholders in the betting space haven’t seen the demand yet for LIV.

“It’s always fascinating to see what these new up-and-coming challenger leagues are trying to do in the [betting] space,” said David Woodley, CRO and president of Playmaker, a multiplatform media outlet that provides betting content to its younger audience base. “You have to have the demand there too. What is LIV going to do to get someone to bet on it versus the PGA? And I just don’t know.”

Brett Eagleson was 15 years old when he lost his father in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Nearly 3,000 people were killed on that day in 2001.

“We want the golfers to know who they’re getting in bed with, who they’re doing business with,” Eagleson said. “Any golfer that chooses to go play for the LIV tournament should have to listen to the family members and look us in the eye, and explain to us why they’re taking the Saudi money and why they’re playing in this tournament. And we want the ability to educate the golfers on what we know about the Saudi role on 9/11.”

Eagleson, now 36, is among those criticizing the LIV tournament and it’s connection to a regime that has flouted human rights. All but four of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were Saudi citizens, and the Saudi kingdom was the birthplace of Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaeda and mastermind of the attack.

The LIV Golf Invitational starts Thursday at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, about 20 miles west of downtown Portland.

Eagleson is especially disheartened over Phil Mickelson, one of this childhood heroes, and his decision to join LIV Golf. The tour, run by Greg Norman and funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has offered signing bonuses — some reportedly topping $100 million — that some players have found irresistible.

“Now to see him, kowtowing into the Saudis, and saying that he doesn’t give a crap, he doesn’t give a crap about the struggles and the pain and the misery. Three-thousand dead Americans. He doesn’t care because he got offered a paycheck? It’s just the worst form of greed,” Eagleson said.

In addition to Mickelson, fellow majors winners Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau have also joined LIV Golf. Mickelson did not speak to reporters before the Oregon tournament.

As much as the upstart tour no doubt wants to escape criticism, it can’t avoid it. At the pre-tournament news conferences, golfers were asked about the Saudi connection and gave similar, pat answers to questions about the topic, repeating variations of the message that golf can be a “force for good.”

But well before LIV Golf arrived in tiny North Plains, the city’s mayor and those from surrounding cities wrote the Texas-based owner of the club to protest the event, saying it didn’t align with the community’s values. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden called the event “sportswashing” to distract from human rights abuses.

The Portland stop is the second of eight LIV Golf events this year. The families of the Sept. 11 victims and the survivors also spoke out against the inaugural event outside London earlier this month.

Koepka, who recently joined LIV Golf after initially denouncing it, downplayed the concerns about the Saudi funding.

“They’re allowed to have their opinions. You know, we’ve heard it. I think everybody has. It’s been brought up,” said Koepka, a former world No. 1 and four-time majors champion. “But look, like we said, our only job is to go play golf, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to grow the game.”

Part of LIV Golf’s allure is the money. In addition to signing bonuses, the 48-man field will compete for a $20 million purse, with an additional $5 million prize fund for a team competition. Charl Schwartzel won the London event (and team portion) and made $4.75 million.

LIV tournaments are played over 54 holes with no cut, and even the last-place finisher gets $120,000. Organizers promise exciting events they say will attract new fans.

The PGA Tour has responded to LIV Golf’s challenge by suspending every active member who competed in the first LIV event. Those who play in Oregon will also be suspended unless they resign their tour memberships.

The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic takes place in Illinois this week.

Former Masters champion Fred Couples is leading a U.S. team of athletes competing in an exhibition at Liberty National in New Jersey starting Thursday. Couples, a Hall of Famer, has been outspoken against LIV Golf and said he hopes his event would draw more spectators.

“I find it so weird that the only way they could get these guys to leave the tour is to throw them money. There’s no other reason. All the other stuff is B.S.,” Couples said. “It’s not bettering the game. They’re playing eight to 10 tournaments here. How is that bettering the game?”

A total of 17 players were suspended by the PGA Tour ahead of LIV’s inaugural event in St. Albans, England, earlier this month. Some players, including two-time major winner Dustin Johnson, chose to resign their membership from the tour, meaning they are no longer eligible to compete in tour events or the Presidents Cup.

Further players, including Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, have since joined LIV Golf, which will host its first event in the U.S. in Portland, Oregon, starting Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference ahead of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, Zach Johnson was asked about the challenge of making captain’s picks for the 2023 Ryder Cup.

“So what I know is this: In order to play on the Ryder Cup team whether you’re top-six or a pick, you must garner Ryder Cup points through the PGA of America,” Johnson said. “In order to garner Ryder Cup points through the PGA of America, you have to be a member of the PGA of America. The way that we’re members of the PGA of America is through the PGA Tour. I’ll let you connect the dots from there.”

Johnson, a 12-time winner on tour and two-time major champion, pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour but said he still has respect for golfers who have defected.

“I got some friends that have decided to go that route,” he said. “A lot of individuals that I’m for. I mean, these are my friends. I’m for them. I want them to do well. I want them to, you know, find contentment or happiness in whatever it may be. It’s not for me to say how that develops or how they find that. I will say I have the utmost respect for them individually.”

Patrick Reed, whose “Captain America” nickname derives from his performances in three Ryder Cup appearances, said he has contemplated not being picked for U.S. team events, but he added that his decision to join LIV Golf was right for his family.

“I’ve thought about it [not being at the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup]. Who wouldn’t?” Reed said ahead of this weekend’s LIV event. “But at the end of the day, I felt like, when my family and I sat down and we just weighed all of our options, we felt like joining LIV Golf, especially with talking to some of the guys that played in London, that this was definitely the right decision. The right decision for us mainly mentally and physically. Just the quality of life. Being able to spend more time with the kids because that’s been the hardest thing.”

Neither Team Europe captain Henrik Stenson nor the DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour, have commented on how they will handle the ongoing issue ahead of next year’s Ryder Cup matches.

Longtime Ryder Cup players Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood are among the European golfers who have joined LIV Golf. Earlier this month, the DP World Tour fined defecting golfers £100,000 ($123,000) each and banned them from competing at three events co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour.

Said Garcia, when asked whether he knew before joining the LIV Series that it could impact his eligibility for the Ryder Cup: “You never knew how everyone was going to act. Obviously you were hoping that it wouldn’t change. We still hope that it won’t affect it.”

The 2023 Ryder Cup is scheduled to take place at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia Montecelio, near Rome.

“I mean, why should it [Cup eligibility] be threatened?” Westwood said. “I’ve been playing Ryder Cup golf since 1997, and the criteria has been to be a member of the European Tour. Now, the criteria for being a member of the European Tour is to play four events. Why should they change that now?

“I’ve been a member of the PGA Tour and still played four events on the European Tour, and why would the European Tour change their rules so dramatically because another tour doesn’t like it or feels financially threatened? There’s just a bit too much protection going on for my liking and not enough transparency.

“I think as long as you fulfill the criteria to be a European Tour member, then you should still have the opportunity to try to qualify for the Ryder Cup team.”

Starting the day ahead by 1 stroke, Li was 5 under for the day and 20 under for the tournament. He was nearly further ahead but for a bogey on the 18th.

“It’s actually a lot [more] comfortable than I thought. Quite surprised,” Li said. “It’s just another perfect day for me.”

Li completed the par-5 sixth at Golfclub München Eichenried in 3 shots on Thursday and Friday, but Saturday was the pick of the bunch as he hit a 21-yard chip into the hole. “Somehow it managed to go in,” he said.

Li has two wins on the European tour at the 2016 China Open and the 2018 Dubai Desert Classic. The latter win, when he beat Rory McIlroy by one stroke, made him the first Chinese player to be ranked in the men’s top 50.

Thomas Pieters moved into second with a 6-under 66 including an eagle and three birdies on the back nine. “I just look forward to a really lovely day tomorrow and hopefully a lot of birdies,” he said.

Jordan Smith was 1 shot further back at 16 under in third place, while Darius van Driel and Ryan Fox were another stroke back after Van Driel managed the joint-best score of the day with an 8-under 64.

Li sank to the ground with loud exclamations of joy and relief after beating Thomas Pieters with a 40-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole. It was a huge turnaround from 2021, when he only made the cut at two European tour events all year and considered leaving the sport behind.

“Ten months ago … I just literally decided to quit golf. Somehow, where I am now, it’s hard to describe,” Li said. “I had no idea I could win this playoff. Luckily, things happened for me again.”

Li had led the tournament since a course record-equaling round of 10-under 62 on the opening day. However, his 2-under 70 Sunday was his worst of the tournament and Li looked like he might have blown his chance when a bogey on the 15th left him in a three-way tie with Pieters and Ryan Fox.

A symbol of Li’s struggles was the par-five No. 6, where he had bogey after eagles in his previous three rounds

Li recovered with birdies on the 16th and 17th but missed a birdie putt which could have won the tournament on the final hole.

Li then won a playoff for the first time in his career with a birdie as Pieters failed to sink a 10-foot putt.

The tournament took place amid simmering tension over players signing with the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV series.

Unlike the PGA Tour, the European tour stopped short of issuing indefinite suspensions from all its competitions even if players took part in the lucrative inaugural LIV tournament in England this month, but it did issue fines on Friday and suspended them from three tournaments co-sanctioned with the PGA, including the Scottish Open.

Ten golfers who played the first LIV event were in the field in Munich, with Pablo Larrazabal the best performer, finishing five strokes off the lead, and Louis Oosthuizen one stroke further back.

Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer played this week and said the European tour’s warning of future punishment for golfers who continue with LIV won’t stop him playing more Saudi-run tournaments.

“I’ll play all of the LIV tournaments until the end of the year and let’s see how the sanctions look again after that,” Kaymer said in comments reported by Germany’s dpa agency.

“You don’t like to get some kind of sanctions each week because you’ve played a tournament somewhere else.”

A shaky third round cut her lead at the Women’s PGA Championship in half.

Chun shot a 3-over 75 on Saturday, leaving her 3 strokes ahead going into the final round at Congressional Country Club. On a day the leaders had plenty of trouble, Chun was holding her own until she made a double bogey on the par-5 16th hole.

“Looking forward to an exciting final round already,” she said. “If it’s going to be too easy, then I feel it is boring.”

It looked like the final round might be boring — or at least anticlimactic — as Chun maintained a comfortable lead through much of Saturday. She bogeyed Nos. 1 and 11 but birdied 2 and 12. Her lead was at 5 when she had to play her third shot from some tall grass on the 564-yard 16th.

That shot put her in even more trouble, in an area with tall grass and some trees. She took an unplayable lie and went back to the previous spot to re-hit.

An 8-iron from there went over the green, but Chun did manage to get up and down for a 7. The two-time major champion from South Korea led by 5 shots after the first round and 6 at the halfway point. After the third round, she had an 8-under 208 total.

Lydia Ko (76) and Jennifer Kupcho (74) — Chun’s playing partners — had their own problems, but Lexi Thompson and Hye-Jin Choi both shot 70 and were tied for second with Sei Young Kim (71) at 5 under.

Thompson will play in the final group as she tries for her first major victory since 2014.

“You always want to be in the final group in any tournament,” Thompson said. “I love that the hard work has been able to pay off for me. I’ve been putting in the time, so to see it pay off and pay dividends means the world to me.”

Ko wasn’t able to take advantage of Chun’s struggles. She bogeyed four of five holes during one stretch on the front nine then birdied four of the next seven. She wrapped up the round with four straight bogeys.

Kupcho had three birdies and three bogeys in the first seven holes and couldn’t gain much ground on the leader.

Kim, who won this event two years ago, had a comparatively drama-free round with two birdies and a bogey. Choi shot 34 on the back nine while playing in a group with Thompson. They’ll be together again Sunday.

“It was the first time playing with her, and I actually watched her as a fan when I was an amateur,” Choi said. “It was a good experience to play with her. Of course, I tried to focus on my game.”

Thompson made three birdies on the back nine, including a putt from about 30 feet on No. 15. She has 11 LPGA Tour victories but none since 2019. She has played her way into contention after a first-round 74.

She finished second at Crown Colony in February and at Upper Montclair last month.

“I know I’m in a good state with my game and just my mental state, so going out tomorrow enjoying the walk with my caddie and hopefully a lot of fans out there supporting us,” she said. “Whatever score I shoot, I shoot.”

Hannah Green (72) was fifth at 4 under, a stroke ahead of Atthaya Thitikul (68), who was so far behind at the start of the day she was in one of the groups sent off on No. 10. Brooke Henderson (73), Kupcho and Jennifer Chang (73) were tied for sixth with Thitikul.

Schauffele had a 17-under 193 total at TPC River Highlands. Cantlay shot 63.

Rookie Sahith Theegala was third at 14 under after a round of 64, and Kevin Kisner had a 66 to get to 13 under.

Schauffele began the day at 14 under with a 5-stroke lead. The Olympic champion birdied the second hole for the third time this week and had another at No. 6, part of a career-best run of 48 holes without a bogey.

But he put his tee shot at 13 in the water and briefly fell into a tie for the lead after a bogey. He broke his minor birdie drought at 16 then hit the pin on his approach at 17 and sank another.

“I would love to have that tee ball back on 13,” he said. “For the most part, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to protect a lead, especially when it’s 5 shots and it’s easy to get comfortable.”

Cantlay’s bogey-free round was the best of the day.

Schauffele and Cantlay have been close friends since being paired together at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia, and they combined to win the Zurich Classic this season.

“If only it was a combined score again this week, we would be doing well,” Cantlay said jokingly. “It’s always nice to be out with him, if he’s on my team or if he’s not. I’m going to go out there tomorrow and try as hard as I can and let the chips fall where they may.”

Schauffele is looking for his sixth individual title and first since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions. He also is shooting for his sixth straight top-20 finish. He and Cantlay finished tied for 14th last week in the U.S. Open.

“I’ve been looking forward to playing with Pat in a final round,” Schauffele said. “We don’t get paired together very often in regular tournaments, only in those team ones. So there’s a certain level of comfort we have playing with each other, and hopefully that pays off and hopefully we can make a lot of birdies.”

Theegala had an eagle on 13 to go with four birdies. The 24-year-old Californian hit his second shot on the par-4 17th over the course’s signature lake to about a foot from the pin, briefly tying Schauffele for the lead. But he bogeyed the final hole.

He is looking to become the 18th player to get his first tour win in Connecticut. Ken Duke was the last to do it in 2013.

“I’m definitely going to be nervous, definitely going to be excited,” Theegala said. “Every single week I’m out here, I feel like I’m getting more and more comfortable.”

Former U.S. Junior champion Michael Thorbjornsen shot a 66 to put himself in contention. He started the weekend at 7 under, just the third amateur to make a PGA Tour cut in 2022. The Stanford star is in a group of four tied for seventh place, but he said he wasn’t feeling much pressure.

“One thing that might help is winning or coming in second or third, I’m not getting paid either way, so it’s another tournament for me,” he said. “It’s just another round for me, and I’ll just try to go out there and do the same thing I did today.”

Harris English, who is trying to become the second player to successfully defend his title here after Phil Mickelson won in 2002, shot a 69 and was in a group at 10 under.

Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler was also in that group after shooting a 65. He began the weekend 9 strokes behind Schauffele.

“Maybe I’ll go out tomorrow and do something crazy and we’ll see what happens,” Scheffler said.

First-round co-leader Rory McIlroy (72) got in trouble early Saturday, hitting his tee shot on No. 2 off a nearby tree and into the tall grass 108 yards across the fairway to the right. After a 39 on the back nine Friday, he shot 36 on the front nine Saturday and finished 2 over for the day and 6 under for the tournament, 11 strokes off the pace.

There was also a buzz at the tournament Saturday around a player who was no longer even in Cromwell.

Jason Kokrak was disqualified Friday after launching his final shot on the ninth hole over the green and the fence behind it. Kokrak, who would have missed the cut anyhow, left the course without replaying the shot.

William McGirt, who was playing in the same group, said Kokrak simply didn’t see any point in finishing the hole.

“He was like, ‘I’m not going to hold anybody up,'” McGirt said. “He didn’t storm off the golf course.”

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 5-shot lead going into the final round of the Senior Open.

Starting the third round with a 1-shot lead over Steve Stricker, his Ryder Cup captain foe from Whistling Straits, Harrington birdied the opening two holes and was on his way.

He was at 12-under 201, 5 shots clear of former U.S. Senior Open champion Gene Sauers, who birdied the final two holes for a 68, and PGA Tour Champions rookie Rob Labritz (69).

“When you’ve got a lead like this — in not even a perfect world, but in dreamland — you think you’re going to go out there and play well and run away with it, which is a possibility,” Harrington said. “I could play good tomorrow and have a nice, comfortable day. I could play average tomorrow, and someone will have to come at me. Or I could play badly tomorrow, and I’ll still have a chance.

“I’ve basically given myself a lot of hands to win this.”

Stricker couldn’t keep up after an opening birdie, and the par 5s are where the winning U.S. Ryder Cup captain really lost ground.

Harrington drilled a fairway metal into 25 feet on the 568-yard sixth hole, while Stricker hit a tree and had to flight a chip under the branches. He came up short of the green and made bogey. It was a 2-shot swing when Harrington two-putted for birdie for a 4-shot margin.

On the 12th, Harrington blasted his 5-wood over the corner of the rough to a pin tucked on the left side. Stricker’s wedge went just through the green, his chip down the hill was too strong, and he made another bogey. This turned out to be a 3-shot swing when Harrington holed the eagle putt.

Harrington, who turned 50 in August and is playing his first U.S. Senior Open, stretched his lead to as many as 9 shots. He had two bogeys over the last four holes, his first dropped shots since the opening round.

Otherwise, it was a pure power show, even for the 50-and-older set. The way he swung with force during rehearsal swings, reminiscent of Bryson DeChambeau, showed how much Harrington has emphasized speed in his swing to get more distance.

“Padraig is tearing it up,” Sauers said. “He’s playing a 6,500-yard golf course, and I’m playing a 7,500-yard golf course.”

Harrington was never like that in his prime, relying on a clean strike and plenty of grit to capture The Open in successive years (2007-08) and the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els had a 67 and was 7 shots behind.

“He’s got a lot of length out here,” Els said of Harrington. “He’s probably the longest off the tee on the Champions Tour. When he has it under control, like he has this week, you’ve got to watch out. It’s good to see. He’s playing with a lot of freedom.”

Stricker never found his putting stroke all day and shot 73, leaving him 8 shots behind along with Steven Alker and 68-year-old Jay Haas, who each had a 71.

“It wasn’t really what I had in mind today,” Stricker said. “No. 6 kind of jumped up and got me again today. I hit a beautiful 3-wood. I thought I could cover that tree that’s on the corner and rattled in there and kicked it over into the woods and ended up making a bogey there when you’re trying to get a birdie opportunity there.

“And just some sloppy play at times. I didn’t make any putts, didn’t get it up and down. I thought I hit it a little bit more solid today and just made too many mistakes.”

Zalatoris, the world No. 12, missed a 14-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have put him in a playoff with winner Matt Fitzpatrick on Sunday at the Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

“This one, in particular, hurts pretty hard,” Zalatoris said after his sixth top-10 finish in nine major starts, including three second-place finishes.

Also withdrawing from the Travelers on Monday were Russell Henley and Patrick Rodgers. Replacing the trio are Dawie van der Walt, Brett Drewitt and Joshua Creel.

This week’s Travelers field is still stacked, with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Jordan Spieth among the notables set to compete.

CBS announced Tuesday that Trevor Immelman of South Africa, who won the 2008 Masters and will captain the International team for this year’s Presidents Cup, will step in for Faldo starting next year.

Faldo, a three-time winner of both the Masters and the Open Championship, went to CBS in 2007 as the lead announcer after having previously worked at ABC. His last broadcast on CBS will be the final round of the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 7.

“Nick brought the same passion and dedication that propelled him to the world’s No. 1 golfer to our broadcasts,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said. “He combined his profound knowledge of golf with his wit and charm, enlightening viewers and elevating our coverage.”

Immelman is only the fourth lead golf analyst for CBS in the past 50 years, following Faldo, Lanny Wadkins and Ken Venturi, who spent 35 years with the network.

The four-time major champion is joining the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

Koepka, 32, is one of the highest-profile players to join the breakaway circuit, which is being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and is fronted by two-time Open winner Greg Norman.

LIV Golf formally announced the addition of Koepka on Wednesday. Koepka, who is ranked 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking, will compete in the first LIV Golf event in the United States, at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon, starting June 30.

LIV Golf has now signed eight of the top 50 players in the world; Bryson DeChambeau (ranked 30th) and Patrick Reed (38th) are expected to compete in the event in Portland as well.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suspended 17 players, including two-time major winner Dustin Johnson and six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, for competing in LIV Golf’s inaugural event outside London two weeks ago. Monahan had said that tour players who competed in future LIV Golf tournaments without a conflicting-event release would face similar punishment.

Mark Hubbard will take Koepka’s place in the field for the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.