Vaughn Ridley(Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)No one has ever described Dustin Johnson as a peashooter, and with good reason: the 32-year-old's routinely among the sport's long-drive leaders, boasting a tour-best 313 yards off the tee this season (highlighted by a 413-yard rocket earlier this year at Muirfield Village). Even in that cadence, what the 2016 U.S. Open winner did on Thursday at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is absurd.
On Firestone South's par-5 16th, DJ sent his drive soaring through the Ohio skies. Perhaps “sent” is the wrong word; let's go with “pummeled,” as his ball traveled an absurd 439 yards:
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/893111898492641282
Admittedly, Akron is the site of some of the longest belts of the season; the last time the tournament was conducted in the August humidity (it was moved last year due to Olympic scheduling), a third of the field averaged over 325 yards on the week.
Still, 439 yards? That's a long piece of nec..

Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesMichelle Wie looks on with her caddie during the first round of the Ricoh Women's British Open at Kingsbarns Golf Links.ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Predictably, Michelle Wie enjoyed her early morning stroll around the picturesque links of Kingsbarns out there on the East Neuk of Fife. Opening the Ricoh Women’s British Open with an eight-under par 64—a new course record for the 17-year-old Kyle Phillips design— will do that, of course. Making nine birdies wasn’t too shabby either, especially after an ugly bogey at the par-5 second hole, the result of a skulled lob-wedge from the “perfect” lay-up spot, that turned out to be nothing more than a false alarm.
Indeed, that early dropped shot was merely the harbinger of greater things ahead. And lots of “fun.” Such was her peace of mind, the 27-year-old Hawaiian even had time to take in the stunning vistas across the “ocean” that is actually the indeterminate border between the Firth of Tay and the North Sea known a..

In the 1929 U.S. Open at Winged Foot G.C., Bobby Jones made a clutch putt on the 72nd hole to tie Al Espinosa and then obliterated Espinosa the following day in a 36-hole playoff. Many said it was the springboard to Jones’ Grand Slam the following year. And now a little bit of that history is for sale.
Starting today, Pure Golf Auctions is accepting bids on a lot that features Jones’ official, signed scorecards from that playoff. According to Tom Stewart of Pure Golf Auctions, the item is expected to fetch between $25,000 and $45,000.
Other items include a signed Babe Ruth scorecard from Bermuda’s Mid Ocean Club (Ruth famously once tried to drive the green on the water-laden, par-4 fifth hole and emptied his bag of golf balls in the attempt) as well as a signed invitation from Bobby Jones to former USGA president Ike Grainger to join Augusta National Golf Club.
Pinehurst-based Pure Golf Auctions was founded by Tom Stewart and although it specializes in golf-related memorabilia, its lot..

Photos by Alan P. PittmanThat gurgling sound is often from people attempting to negotiate the 494-yard, par-4 finishing hole, the conclusion to the three-hole stretch known as the green mile.On the afternoon of Sunday, May 8, 2016, even before James Hahn had defeated Roberto Castro on the first hole of sudden death to win the Wells Fargo Championship at Charlotte's Quail Hollow Club, crews were busy on the front nine, preparing the course for the 2017 PGA Championship. Not by trimming tree limbs or spreading fertilizer, but by removing all the sand from bunkers and preparing the greens to be gassed, stripping all the grass from them. The next day, bulldozers moved in to rip apart three holes on the front nine and one on the back. Chainsaws were soon fired up, and clusters of tall pines came tumbling down.
Were they mad? The PGA, to be played Aug. 10-13, was only 15 months away. The year preceding a major championship is supposed to be spent tightening fairways, growing rough and f..