Oliver Hardt/Getty ImagesJordan Smith celebrates after winning his first European Tour title at the 2017 Porsche European Open.For the second straight week on the European Tour, a guy called Jordan emerged victorious. Not Spieth this time, of course, but Smith. Taking advantage of defending champion Alex Levy’s miss from no more than three feet at the first extra hole of their sudden-death playoff, the 24-year old Englishman made birdie his second time around on the 517-yard par-5 18th hole at the Green Eagle course near Hamburg to clinch the Porsche European Open title and the winner’s check of €333,330.
The pair had earlier tied on 13 under par, two shots clear of Sweden’s Johan Edfors and the unlikely figure of Siddikur Rahman from Bangaldesh. It was the five-foot-five, 32-year-old Asian Tour regular’s second-highest finish on the European Tour. In 2016, he was runner-up at the Mauritius Open, a feat that helped him qualify for last year’s Olympic Games in Rio.
For all that, the big..

Phil InglisBernhard Langer celebrates after winning the 2017 Senior British Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club by three strokes.To win the Senior British Open and add a 10th major to his already record total on the PGA Tour Champions, Bernhard Langer once again defied convention. This time, the 59-year-old took down the old axiom that you can’t win a golf tournament in the first round, you can only lose it.
With a two-under 69 on Thursday at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, in windy and rain conditions that saw the scoring average come in a 76.8, Langer established a lead that would not be topped. He then spent the next three days toying with the rest of the field, posting scores of 74-65-72 to win by three strokes over Corey Pavin.
It was Langer’s third Senior British Open title, going with wins at Carnoustie in 2010 and Porthcawl in 2014. The victory was also his third major triumph of 2017, letting him join Jack Nicklaus as just the second golfer to ever win three in one calend..

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..