Ryan Armour was practicing under the broiling sun of late afternoon when his quiet routine was interrupted by thousands of fans jostling for space on the path along the chipping area as they raced to the 10th tee.

Tiger Woods was making the turn at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm two weeks ago.

Armour understands the fuss.

They were linked together in a memorable encounter 25 years ago that served as a reminder that nothing comes easily in golf.

He was beating Woods in the final of the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur, 2 up with two holes to play, when Woods birdied the last two holes and won with a par on the first extra hole for his third straight USGA title .

Woods kept winning. Three straight U.S. Amateurs followed, and then 79 titles on the PGA Tour, including 14 majors.

Armour kept grinding.

All the hard work paid off that week at the TPC Potomac when Armour closed with a 68 for a runner-up finish, earning a spot in the British Open. It will be his first major. He is 42, two months..

GULLANE, Scotland (AP) Robert Rock was already heading to Carnoustie next week to work at the British Open in a coaching capacity.

He might now have to take his clubs.

Rock, ranked No. 244, set the record for the lowest 36-hole total since the Scottish Open was launched by the European Tour in 1972, adding a 7-under 63 in the second round Friday to his 64 on Day 1. So far, he has made 13 birdies and not dropped a shot.

Not only did it give the English golfer a two-shot lead on 13-under 127 at Gullane, it also gave him a great chance of earning one of the final qualification spots for the British Open just up the east coast of Scotland.

”It’s everything for me,” Rock said.

On a day when players shot low scores because of a lack of wind, the course record was broken twice – by Connor Syme of Scotland (62) and then Hideto Tanihara of Japan (61). The layout has only been played once before, at the Scottish Open in 2015.

Tyrrell Hatton (64) and unheralded Swede Jens Dantorp (65) were ..

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) How well do you know the British Open? Try this quiz:

1. Who won the first British Open?

a.) Old Tom Morris

b.) Willie Park

c.) Harry Vardon

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2. Who had the lowest 18-hole score in the British Open?

a.) Rory McIlroy

b.) Branden Grace

c.) Phil Mickelson

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3. Paul Lawrie won at Carnoustie in 1999 after Jean Van de Velde made triple bogey on the last hole. Who else was part of the three-man playoff?

a.) Craig Parry

b.) Justin Leonard

c.) Greg Norman

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4. Two of the 12 players with three legs of the Grand Slam never won the British Open. One was Raymond Floyd. Who was the other?

a.) Sam Snead

b.) Walter Hagen

c.) Byron Nelson

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5. Of the previous six Open champions at Carnoustie, who is the only one to lead going into the final round?

a.) Ben Hogan

b.) Tommy Armour

c.) Gary Player

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6. Tom Watson won the claret jug on four of five courses in Scotland currently on the rotation. Where did he not win?

a.) Carnoustie

b.) St. Andrews

c.) M..

Kevin Na on his “unusual ratio,” battling his slow play reputation, and overcoming actual golf nightmares

From Shinnecock to National Golf Links to Maidstone, the Hamptons knows how to do a golf course. That includes in one's backyard.

Patrick McDermottT.J. Oshie has had a pretty damn good summer. First, he won the Stanley Cup. Next he partied with the Stanley Cup. Then he partied with the Stanley Cup some more. Now he's in Tahoe playing some golf after hanging out in Truckee all weekend playing some golf. For most mere mortals, that would be a solid summer vacay—time pack up the ol' Ticonderoga no. 2's and schlepp it to the bus—but not for Oshie. To get a glimpse of the Caps winger's seemingly eternal summer, we caught up with him on the range at the American Century Championship to chat about everything from Alexander Ovechkin's liver to his slap-shot swing. A word of warning though: This is going to make you VERY jealous.
So you just won the Stanley Cup—has that sunk in yet?
Oh man it really hasn’t. It’s been crazy—a dream come true.
Is Ovi still alive?
I haven’t seen him since the Championship Parade, but I haven’t seen any headlines so I’m sure he’s doing fine. He definitely enjoyed cele..

SILVIS, Ill. (AP) Steve Wheatcroft shot a career-best 9-under 62 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead in the John Deere Classic.

Wheatcroft birdied seven of the last nine holes to finish a shot ahead of Michael Kim. Johnson Wagner, Nick Taylor, Andres Romero and Joel Dahmen shot opening-round 64s. Francesco Molinari, who won the Quicken Loans National two weeks ago, was among a group of players three strokes back.

Zach Johnson shot 69 and three-time John Deere winner Steve Stricker finished at 1-under 70.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, the highest-ranked player in the field, withdrew because of a right shoulder injury.

DeChambeau, who won the Memorial Tournament earlier this season, first tweaked his shoulder on a shot out of the rough on the second hole. He pulled out after an awkward tee shot on No. 16.

”Look, I’m 24. I’m not that old. But I’ve used my body quite a bit. I’ve hit a lot of golf balls,” DeChambeau said. ”I’ve just got to take care of my body a little better.”..

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) Considering the historical importance for women’s golf, Elaine Crosby realized this round carried a good deal of significance.

Crosby shot a 3-under-par 70 Thursday at Chicago Golf Club for the lead after one round of the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

”It’s history for women’s golf,” said Crosby, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour. ”We’ve worked really hard.”

A winner of two tournaments in 17 LPGA seasons, the 60-year-old Crosby owns a one-shot advantage over England’s Trish Johnson, Laura Davies and Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann heading into Friday’s second round.

Unlike the men, women professional golfers haven’t enjoyed an expansive senior tour with only a handful of events held on The Legends Tour.

So the chance to play a major USGA event for the first time has been important to the sport’s future.

”I mean, just being here, it’s just an amazing feeling,” Neumann said

Crosby had to qualify to play in the first senior open and on Thursday made the most of..

SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) For only the second time in her seven-year career, Thidapa Suwannapura took the overnight lead at an LPGA Tour event.

Suwannapura shot a 6-under-par 65 on Thursday at the Marathon Classic and led seven players by one shot. The Thai player grabbed the outright lead with a birdie on the par-5 18th at Highland Meadows – her 10th birdie of the day.

”I’m really happy about the way I played today,” she said. ”I didn’t really look at the leaderboard, and did not even expect anything. I have a chance, so let’s see how it goes.”

Suwannapura, who has three top-10 finishes in 120 career LPGA Tour starts, last had the overnight lead after the first round of the 2013 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, where she faded in the second round and finished in a tie for 65th.

The 25-year-old Suwannapura’s best career finish was seventh at the 2014 Kingsmill Invitational. That was also her last top 10. This season, her best performance was a tie for 18th three weeks ago in Arkansas.

Se..

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) Kenny Perry and Mike Small shot 7-under 65s to share a one-stroke lead in the first round of the Constellation Senior Players Championship on Thursday.

Bart Bryant, Glen Day and 2015 U.S. Senior Open champion Jeff Maggert were one stroke back in the fourth of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions schedule.

Defending champion Scott McCarron was in a pack at 5 under, while three-time Senior Players winner Bernhard Langer and Vijay Singh were another shot back at Exmoor Country Club. David Toms, coming off a win at the U.S. Senior Open, shot 2 over.

The 57-year-old Perry made eight birdies and one bogey to put himself in contention for his fifth senior major.

Small is the longtime golf coach at Illinois and has never won on the PGA Tour Champions.