The first tee at the Solheim Cup is as good as women’s golf gets

David CannonWEST DES MOINES, IA – AUGUST 18: United States team supporters on the first tee during the morning foursomes matches in the 2017 Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf Coutry Club on August 18, 2017 in West Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)DES MOINES, Iowa — There are more spectators at the Solheim Cup than any other LPGA event. And this year at Des Moines Golf Club, crowds are expected to be at a record-high. Ticket sales are on track to break the previous record of 120,000. Judging by the long line of people waiting to get through the main entrance on Friday morning, those numbers check out.
The grand stands at the first tee are packed. A Justin Bieber song plays as U.S. captain Juli Inkster walks around the tee box, dancing and egging on cheers from the crowd. Fireworks go off before the first pairing takes the tee.
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Chants of USA-USA echo through the stands as players make their way to the tee box. European fans counter. The energy a..

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Laura Davies to become first woman to compete in senior tour event

Mark RunnaclesTROON, SCOTLAND – JULY 27: Laura Davies of England plays her tee shot to the 12th hole during the first day of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links Golf Course on July 27, 2017 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)Laura Davies has over 80 professional victories in his distinguished career, including four major championships. Though she hasn't found the winner's circle in quite some time, the 53-year-old is about to add another accomplishment to her mantle.
Davis is set to become the first woman to compete in a men's senior tour event, accepting an invitation to next year's Shipco Masters.
“My golfing career has been played in parallel with a number of players who are currently on the Senior Tour,” said Davies in a statement. “I'm really looking forward to testing my wits against them.”
The competition, part of the European Senior Tour, is set for June in Denmark at Denmark's Simon's G..

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Beau Hossler pulls off rare feat on disastrous hole at Web.com Tour event

Earlier this month, we learned of an assistant pro carding an 11 in a tournament just three holes after making an ace. But even big-name golfers are capable of double-digit disasters. Enter Beau Hossler.
RELATED: Behold what might be the craziest scorecard ever
In Thursday's first round of the Web.com Tour's News Sentinel Open, the rising star needed 11 shots to complete one hole himself. What made the blowup even more unusual, though, was that none of those shots were putts. Well, at least, not technically. Take a look at the play-by-play of Hossler's fifth hole at Knoxville's Fox Den Country Club:
FacebookPinterestObviously, that photo was taken before Beau shot himself out of the tournament on one hole. But as you can see, his 11th and final shot came from the fairway. Since there's no yardage listed or video, we don't know from how far away (he could have been putting from the fringe), but it goes down in the stats as a zero-putt. A rare zero-putt 11, ..

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Paul Thomas, Justin’s grandfather pro, relishes a win he could only dream of

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Justin Thomas’ victory in the 99th PGA Championship Sunday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., seemed like a long time coming, even though he is 24 years old and in just his third full season on the PGA Tour. But in a sense, it was 68 years in the making.
“It’s like a dream,” said Paul Thomas, Justin’s grandfather, who with his wife Phyllis watched every shot on television from their living room couch. Not that that was different from just about any other day of the week.
FacebookPinterestPaul Thomas holds up a full-page ad of his grandson that appeared in USA Today.

“It’s pretty much all golf all the time around here,” Phyllis said. “The cable company makes you buy 150 channels to get golf. We’d be happy if we just had Golf Channel and nothing else.”
For some insight into the making of Justin Thomas and his quick rise to the upper echelons of golf – not quite as fast as good buddy Jordan Spieth, but fast nevertheless – one need only get to know the man who blaze..

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What are tour players working on before big events?

Stuart FranklinWEST DES MOINES, IA – AUGUST 17: Danielle Kang of Team USA talks with her coach David Leadbetter during practice prior to The Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club on August 17, 2017 in West Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)DES MOINES, Iowa — David Leadbetter is a busy man at the Solheim Cup. He has four athletes competing in the event, two on each side. He’s probably the only guy wearing a shirt with both an American flag and European team flag on it. On the eve of Friday's matches, Leadbetter was working on the range with Danielle Kang for a while, and then moved down the range to check-in on Michelle Wie. Then it was up to the putting green with Caroline Masson, then back down to the range with Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
It’s common for players to work with their coaches in the days before and even during a tournament. But what kinds of things could a player be working on? Hasn’t all the work already been done? How much can you actuall..

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