BETHESDA, Maryland (AP) ― If he keeps playing like this, Rory McIlroy’s next chance to close out a major should come very soon. McIlroy, who blew a four-shot lead in the final round of the Masters, is on top at the U.S. Open, shooting a 6-under-par 65 on Thursday to take a three-stroke lead over Yang Yong-eun and the man who wound up taking the green jacket, Charl Schwartzel. There’s still a lo...

BETHESDA, Maryland (AP) ― Golf’s second major championship of the year seems to have a new name. It’s the U.S. Wide Open. Only a small part of that is because of Tiger Woods. He’s not at Congressional because of injuries to his left leg, and he has been missing from the top of leaderboards for more than a year. This is the first U.S. Open since 1999 that Woods is not No. 1 in the world. The to...

BETHESDA, Maryland (AFP) ― Not until Choi Kyung-ju captured two key PGA tuneup events for major championships in 2007 did the Korean golf star start thinking he had the talent to win a major title himself. Four years later, and after yet another impressive triumph at last month’s Players Championship, Choi heads into Thursday’s start of the 111th U.S. Open confident on a Congressional Country Cl...

Mindy Kim sits 1 shot behind SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (AP) ― Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot her second straight 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Mindy Kim in the LPGA State Farm Classic Tseng reached 17 under, birdieing all four of Panther Creek’s par 5s in her bogey-free round. She won the season-opening LPGA Thailand for her sixth tour title in four years. Kim, the leader after...

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (AP) ― Mindy Kim shot a career-low 64 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round lead of the LPGA State Farm Classic on Thursday. Sarah Kemp and Jiyai Shin were tied for second at 6-under at the Panther Creek Country Club. Brittany Lincicome, last week’s winner at the ShopRite Classic, birdied the final hole to finish at 67 and in a tie for fourth with Yani Tseng and J...

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP) ― Tiger Woods pulled out of the U.S. Open on Tuesday because of lingering issues with his left leg, leaving him uncertain how soon he can resume his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record for major titles. It will be the first time Woods has missed the U.S. Open since 1994, when he had just graduated high school. “I am extremely disappointed that I won’t be playing in the U...

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (AP) ― Cristie Kerr was in the zone on the range before the second round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic and even a double bogey on the 12th hole didn’t cause her to lose focus. “Yeah, I think it’s maturity,” the 33-year-old Kerr said Saturday after shooting a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Catriona Matthew heading into the final round. “But I recognize tha...

Korean professional golfer Choi Kyung-ju will host his own tournament on his native land this fall, the country’s top PGA Tour player said this week. Better known as K.J. Choi in the U.S., the 41-year-old golfer said the tournament has been tentatively named the “KJ Choi Invitational” and will be held from Oct. 20 to 23 at the Ocean Course of the Sky 72 Golf Club in Incheon, about 40 kilometers ...

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ― Charlie Wi took advantage of playing partner David Tom’s third-round collapse Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Colonial. Wi, seven strokes behind Toms at the start of the round, shot a 4-under 66 to reach 13 under. After opening with bogey-free 62s to tie the PGA Tour record for the first 36 holes, Toms had a 74 to fall to second. Wi took t...

GLADSTONE, New Jersey (AFP) ― Top seed Choi Na-yeon advanced to the second round of the $1.5 million LPGA Match Play Championship by beating Scotland’s Catriona Matthew 3 and 2 but second seed Shin Jiyai was eliminated. South Korea’s Choi, claiming the top seed by virtue of leading last year’s LPGA money list, was level with her European rival until a birdie at the par-4 15th and a bogey by Matt...

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) ― Choi Kyung-ju is giving $200,000 from his win at The Players Championship to help victims of the tornados that ravaged the southeastern United States. Choi says that while winning The Players was a defining point in his career, those affected by the tornados are going through a low point. He wants the victims to know that their troubles are not being ignored. T...

GLADSTONE, New Jersey (AP) ― The Sybase Match Play Classic hasn’t started, but the advantage already belongs the long hitters on the LPGA tour. More than nine inches of rain fell on the Hamilton Farm Golf Club last month and the hilly course became even wetter on Monday and Tuesday. To make matters worse, there’s more heavy showers predicted on Wednesday. The draw for the 64-player field was he...

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida. (AP) ― Tiger Woods says he did no more damage to his left leg at The Players Championship and expects to play the U.S. Open next month. Woods made it only nine holes last week at The Players ― his shortest tournament ever ― when he withdrew after nine holes because of what he described as a chain reaction of pain from his left knee to left Achilles tendon and tighteni...

Clutch Choi Kyung-ju outlasts David Toms in Players playoff PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) ― In a playoff for the first time on the PGA Tour, Choi Kyung-ju conquered an island green and more pressure than he can remember Sunday to win The Players Championship. He won’t forget the way it ended ― and neither will David Toms. Toms went from narrowly missing an 18-foot birdie putt for the win on ...