Brad Faxon on playing golf with the President, working with Rory McIlroy, and correcting last year's U.S. Open “girlfriend gaffe”

Not everything that makes the best clubs great is easily apparent.

HORSE RACING

NEW YORK (AP) Justify defied all the odds on his way to achieving Triple Crown immortality.

The late bloomer won the Belmont Stakes by 1} lengths on Saturday, giving the sport its 13th Triple Crown champion. American Pharoah ended a 37-year drought in 2015 and now just four years later, racing is celebrating another sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.

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Justify began his racing career on Feb. 18, a scant 77 days before the Derby. He won his first three races by a combined 19 lengths, making trainer Bob Baffert a believer.

The big chestnut colt with the appetite to match burst onto the national scene with a 2 -length victory on a sloppy track in the Derby. Two weeks later, he survived a challenge in the fog-shrouded Preakness, winning by a half-length, again in the slop to set up a Triple Crown try.

On a cloudy 80-degree day at Belmont Park, Justify proved a cool customer.

At 6-0, he joins Seattle Slew in 1977 as the only two..

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the U.S. Open:

100 years ago (1918)

For the second straight year, the U.S. Open was canceled because of World War I. That didn’t stop Bobby Jones from making his own contributions, even at age 16. Jones took part in a series of exhibitions to raise money for the war effort through the American Red Cross. After two years, some $150,000 was raised. The U.S. Open, at this point only 23 years old, would resume the following year. It would be five more years before Jones won the first of his four U.S. Open titles.

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75 years ago (1943)

World War II canceled the U.S. Open for the second straight year, but the USGA remained active. It sponsored Pearl Harbor Tournaments that raised enough money to buy an ambulance for the Hawaii chapter of the Red Cross. It appointed Fanny Fern Davis the acting director of the USGA Green Section, making her the first woman to hold this position. George Blo..

His irons are sublime, his driver for the most part long and straight.

If we’ve learned anything from his latest comeback, Tiger Woods can still putt a bit, too.

A decade ago that would have made him the overwhelming pick to win the U.S. Open. Heck, a decade ago he won the U.S. Open basically on one leg for what, incredibly enough, was his last major championship win.

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But as Woods docks his yacht near Shinnecock Hills this week, he’s still a golfing enigma of sorts. His scores are decent, if not spectacular, but he’s yet to win and has only been in serious contention once in nine tournaments this year.

Is the real Tiger finally back?

The answer to that question may be that no one has an answer to that question. And that might include Woods himself, who must still have trouble reminding himself he’s only the No. 80 player in the world.

Everything looks good. Everything – including the massive crowds that follow him everywhere – has the feel of the old ..

NEW YORK (AP) The president’s company is hoping a new clubhouse opening at a Trump golf resort in New York City will boost its fortunes as it lays big bets on golf properties around the world.

Donald Trump’s two adult sons are cutting the ribbon on a clubhouse at the Trump Golf Links in the Bronx on Monday with hopes it will attract more visitors. Data from the city obtained in a Freedom of Information request by The Associated Press show revenue at the course fell 7 percent last year versus the year earlier.

Just how Trump’s golf business in general is faring in the second year of the presidency is difficult to tell given that the company is private. The few figures that are available to the public suggest a few courses are struggling, but temporary shutdowns and weather may have hurt those businesses.

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The Trump Organization oversees 17 golf courses, generating $221 million in revenue last year, according to the president’s latest financial disclosure r..

NEW YORK (AP) The president’s company is hoping a new clubhouse opening at a Trump golf resort in New York City will revive its fortunes, one of several of his courses posting disappointing numbers recently.

Donald Trump’s two adult sons are cutting the ribbon on a clubhouse at the Trump Golf Links in the Bronx on Monday with hopes it will attract more visitors. Data from the city obtained in a freedom of information request by The Associated Press show revenue at the course fell 7 percent last year, echoing trouble at a few of Trump’s other 17 courses for which figures have been made public.

Greens fees fell last year at Trump’s Los Angeles course, and his two Scottish resorts and one in Ireland posted losses in 2016, the latest year available.

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Here's a breakdown of the entire earnings for all the competitors who made the cut at the at the FedEx St. Jude Classic

We're guilty of using the “you see something different every time you go to a baseball game” cliche quite often, but that's because it's true. What other sport produces such insane, unique plays like Brian Dozier's near homer that got stuck in the wall in Minnesota, or Yoenis Cespedes' homer that landed in a trash can, or a dude named Jumbo smacking a dinger into space and celebrating like a champ afterwards? The thing about those three though, is that it was players on the field providing the WTF moments. At the Oakland A's game on Sunday, it was a fan in the stands that made his submission for play(s) of the year.
In the bottom of the sixth A's shortstop Chad Pinder fouled one sky high behind home plate and a fan snatched it up, a catch good enough to get a little reaction from the crowd. Not bad, but fans catch foul balls all the time, so whatever, right? Wrong! On the VERY NEXT pitch, Pinder fouled it off in the same direction, and the fan/basebal..

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Dustin Johnson emphatically reclaimed the No. 1 ranking Sunday, holing out for eagle from 170 yards on the final hole for a six-stroke victory in the St. Jude Classic.

Johnson shot a 4-under 66 for his second PGA Tour victory this year and 18th of his career to take back the No. 1 ranking he held for 64 straight weeks before dropping down a month ago. He won the event for the second time, finishing with the eagle, three birdies and a bogey for a 19-under 261 total.

Andrew Putnam started the final round with a share of the lead for the first time in his career. He shot 72 and finished at 13 under.

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Preparing for the U.S. Open, Johnson took the lead to himself with a par on No. 1, while Putnam double-bogeyed, and cruised to the $1.18 million winner’s check. Johnson turned in the lowest score under par by a winner here since David Toms won at 20 under in 2003, and that was before the course was redesigned with par dropped from 71 to 70 af..