Illustration by Alex WilliamsonMore gambling goes on during PGA Tour practice rounds than you might guess. Some players, mostly earnest rookies, go out to chart the course and work on their games, but I'd say the majority of groups on a Tuesday or Wednesday have action going. If there's a standard bet out here, it's a $100 nassau with partners. You also see a lot of $200 and $300 closeouts. Even if I link up with another single for just a handful of holes, I like to play for something. It's a way to stay sharp.
It's a rule that there's no gambling allowed, so tour officials don't like it. But there are a lot of things they do that we don't like.
If you really want to get amped and are looking for a game “with a comma,” it's a more select crowd. But not hard to find. Some guys are pretty loud about the money games they organize, where the stakes get to five or eight or even 10 grand during a normal week. Away from tour events, the games can g..

Paul Mounce – CorbisDustin Johnson hits his second shot on the 18th hole at Riviera Country Club during the final round of the PGA Tour's Genesis Open.The USGA may well have answered the question we jokingly posed earlier this week. Would it be crazy or brilliant to shrink the classic 18th hole at Riviera Country Club to a drivable par 4 during a handful of match-play rounds at next month’s U.S. Amateur Championship?
After tournament director Ben Kimball mentioned the possibility of doing just this on Fox Sports Radio on Monday, USGA officials have told Golf World that they have decided it's best to leave the 475-yard home hole as is.
Social-media feedback we received after the idea was floated was for the most part negative, as many who have become familiar with the course and the finishing hole from it host the annual PGA Tour stop in Los Angeles felt tinkering with yardage was unnecessary. The dogleg-right hole is already considered difficult even by modern standards.
It a..

Copyright USGA/Steven GibbonsErica Shepherd holds the trophy after winning the championship match of the 2017 U.S. Girls' Junior at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo.Less than 24 hours after shedding tears of frustration and sadness at Missouri’s Boone Valley G.C., Erica Shepherd was crying again, only this time out of joy. The 16-year-old from Greenwood, Ind., had accomplished a lifelong golf dream by capturing the U.S. Girls’ Junior title, defeating Jennifer Chang in the 36-hole championship match, 3 and 2.
Growing up, Shepherd’s friend and golf mentor has been Leigh Anne Hardin, a former junior golf prodigy from Indiana who won the Girls’ Junior title in 1998. Shepherd’s middle name is Leigh, and the screen shot on Shepherd’s cellphone is a photo of Hardin with the Girls’ Junior trophy that has served as motivation.
“Ever since I was little, I’ve always told everyone when making my goals, this is the goal that I have to accomplish,” Shepherd said, her emotions obvious.
The ..

Vaughn RidleyOAKVILLE, ON – JULY 29: Charley Hoffman of the United States plays his shot from the 11th tee during the third round of the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club on July 29, 2017 in Oakville, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)Charley Hoffman's name appearing at the top of the leader board has become a regular ritual. The four-time PGA Tour winner is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, with two finishes inside the top 3 and 11 inside the top 25. He hasn't been able to secure that fifth victory yet though, but he's put himself in great position to do so at the RBC Canadian Open. A seven-under 65 on Saturday at Glen Abbey Golf Course outside of Toronto has given him a one-stroke lead at 17-under 199.
Hoffman, 40, began his round with three straight pars, and then turned it on at the par-3 fourth. He made a birdie there and two more at the fifth and ninth to turn in three-under 32, following it up with a four-under 33 on the home nine…