The PGA Tour's relationship with video-game mega giant EA Sports dates back to 1990, with the hugely popular Tiger Woods franchise debuting in 1999, drawing millions into golf's video-game universe. It appears that partnership has now ended, at least for the time being.
The tour announced on Monday an agreement with lesser-known developer HB Studios to produce the tour's licensed video game starting in 2019. The game will be called “The Golf Club 2019,” keeping the name from the developer's previous golf game “The Golf Club,” which included the ability to design your own golf courses. According to GameSpot.com, all existing Rory McIlroy PGA Tour games will be pulled off the shelves, but an EA Sports representative also told the gaming website: “We continue to have an ongoing relationship with the PGA Tour.” It's unclear what that might mean for the future, but for the time being, the licensing agreements have not been renewed for a new game this year.
“The Golf..

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) If the U.S. Open was suffering from an identity crisis, then a return to Shinnecock Hills should cure that.

But only to a point.

Jack Nicklaus was the strongest voice of concern a year ago, and it was easy to see why. The U.S. Open went to two modern courses in three years, Chambers Bay in 2015 and Erin Hills in 2017. The landing zones at Erin Hills were nearly wide enough on some holes to fit three fairways from a U.S. Open that Nicklaus grew up playing. It wasn’t necessarily a bad test, just a different one.

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And for those who spent the better part of four decades playing them, it was puzzling.

”I think the USGA has gotten away from their identity with what they’re doing,” Nicklaus said, though he conceded that Chambers Bay was unique and he had not been to Erin Hills or seen the way courses were set up.

He remembers a U.S. Open with narrow fairways, thick rough and firm, fast green. The ultimate test, he called it.

”I’m old-fa..

Looking for something more than just a tie to give to dad this year? Check out our selection of golf (and non-golf) items that will show him how much you care.

In recent years, we've enjoyed several videos of young Sam Blewett. An avid golfer by the time he could walk, the little tyke with incredible hand-eye coordination works often works on his game around the house, either by hitting ice cubes or swinging various household items around. Well, apparently Sam's younger brother, appropriately named Rory, has also caught the golf bug. And their dad trusted Rory to hit a golf shot off his face. Predictably, it did not turn out well:
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Ouch. At least for dad. Rory and Sam seemed unfazed.
Our advice to Rory is to study film of the greatest to ever pull this trick shot off: John Daly. And to keep practicing — just maybe without dad's face for a bit.

Strikeouts are king in daily fantasy baseball. While using career strikeout rates for pitchers and opposing hitters is a good way to identify high strikeout potential matchups, we also want to find ways to identify pitchers whose strikeout rates should move relative to their career averages.

One way to do this is by analyzing a pitcher’s swinging strike rate (SwStr). A pitcher’s swinging strike rate is the percentages of his pitches that a hitter swings and misses at. Intuitively, it makes sense that generating swings and misses would be linked to strikeout rate, and the math supports this claim.

In general, a SwStr rate above 14 percent is elite and linked to an average strikeout rate over 30 percent. On the flip side, a SwStr rate below 6 percent is terrible and linked to an average strikeout rate of around just 15 percent. The league average strikeout rate this season is on the rise and sits at 22.5 percent.

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So far this season, the qualified starting ..

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) Arizona was one putt away from being eliminated at the NCAA Women’s golf championship.

One day later, the Wildcats earned a shot at the title.

Bianca Pagdanganan delivered another clutch moment on the par-5 18th as Arizona beat top-seeded UCLA in the quarterfinals Tuesday morning. Gigi Stoll and Sandra Nordaas led the Wildcats to a victory over Stanford in the afternoon to reach the championship match against Alabama.

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”We’re just keeping the momentum going,” Arizona coach Laura Ianello said.

The Wildcats have one big step remaining. Alabama is rolling, particularly its Big Three. Lauren Stephenson, Kristen Gillman and Cheyenne Knight were named All-Americans and then played like it by winning both matches in victories over Kent State and Southern California. Collectively, they trailed only two holes in the 99 holes they played at Karsten Creek Golf Club.

The surprise, however, was Arizona.

The Wildcats appeared to have blown the..

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) Bianca Pagdanganan delivered for the second straight day with a birdie on the final hole Tuesday for a 1-up victory that enabled Arizona to knock off top-seeded UCLA and advance to the semifinals of the NCAA women’s golf championship.

Pagdanganan made eagle on the par-5 18th at Karsten Creek that got Arizona into a playoff for the final spot in quarterfinals, rallying from a late deficit to defeat Patty Tavatanakit in the fifth and final match for a 3-2 victory.

Arizona moved on to play Stanford, which beat Northwestern when Andrea Lee won the final match for a 3-2 victory by the Cardinal.

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Southern California defeated Duke, 3-1-1, to advance to the semifinals against Alabama, a 4-1 winner over Kent State.

If you’re a PGA Tour pro, you might swap golf balls every few holes because you get them for free. But what about the rest of us?

The year was 1999. “…Baby One More Time” was ruling the airwaves, certain millennium apocalypse was barreling down on us like the cruise ship from Speed 2, and the Mariners were in the midst of the single most ridiculous MLB promotion night in the history of ridiculous MLB promotion nights: Turn Ahead the Clock Night, in which Ken Griffey Jr. and co. unleashed a bold vision of baseball in 2027, featuring a DeLorean, a first pitch-throwing robot, and, of course, sleeveless nylon jerseys:
Now, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a night designed to celebrate a 50th anniversary 28 years in the future, the Mariners are reviving 'Turn Ahead the Clock Night' for another evening of retro-futuristic fun, including, most notably, the throw-forward throwbacks to end them all:
https://twitter.com/Mariners/status/998677315616993280
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'Turn Ahead the Clock Night' redux goes down June 30th (20 years to the day after the original, for those of you keeping..

Patrick SmithOn Wednesday night, Doc Emrick, the undisputed GOAT of broadcasting, will utter the greatest two words in sports: “Game 7.” Then, he'll follow with an epic, voice-cracking monologue that will likely trigger Washington Capitals fans with lowlights of Alex Ovechkin's sad face after past crushing playoff losses in the hopes of making them believe this is the night it will all change. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.
The thing is, there is no reason to believe this is the time the Caps finally get it done, especially on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have had a knack for responding in big games throughout this entire Stanley Cup Playoffs. In round one, the Bolts dropped game three on the road in New Jersey, cutting their series lead to 2-1 with all the momentum in the Devils' favor. After going down 1-0 early in game four, the Lightning flipped a switch, going on to win 3-1 and then dominating at home in game five to close out the se..