Final round of the PGA at Aronimink is cooking. Scottie Scheffler, five shots back, is on the course. Leaders go off in just over 2 hours. We have thoughts w/ @gabbyherzig.bsky.social & @brodymiller.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/728...

Rory, Rahm lead the pack chasing Alex Smalley at the PGA Championship. Who can win?

There’s 22 golfers that history says have at least a shot at hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday night outside of Philadelphia.

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New for @theathletic.com: With the Saudi PIF out after 2026, are private investors really interested in LIV Golf? I spoke to 8 sports business heavyweights about the steep uphill financial battle the rebel league faces. "The math is never going to work." www.nytimes.com/athletic/724...

Can LIV Golf work without the Saudi billions? Sports investors predict a ‘free fall’ (Gift Article)

The inner workings of LIV Golf’s business model are a lot bleaker than what the league is boasting publicly.

nytimes.com

At The Masters, there are no VIPs at Amen Corner. No suites. No phones. No shortcuts. For four days at Augusta National, celebrities and fans experience the game the exact same way — side by side, in the moment.

Saw mid-am champ Brandon Holtz hanging out by the oak tree. He changed into shorts after the round and promptly ordered himself a whiskey on the rocks. He told me he's just going to chill at the course for the afternoon with friends. First Masters at 39 years old. Why not?

So we asked Rory McIlroy what ~his~ five favorite shots from the 2025 Masters were. With @gabbyherzig.bsky.social, a deep dive on those five shots, some which might surprise you, and how he pulled off of one the wilder weeks in recent memory. @theathletic.com www.nytimes.com/athletic/717...

Rory McIlroy tells us his 5 best shots from the 2025 Masters

Not necessarily the most famous or the flashiest. These are the ones that were the most important to him.

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come for Gabby's opening anecdote on the fickle world of player-caddie relationships. stay for a hell of a good read. via @gabbyherzig.bsky.social ... www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

‘Did you tell him you’re firing him yet?’ The brutal reality of golf’s most intimate partnership

There’s no contracts. No job security. A caddie can get hired or fired at any time. But when a pair is together, they’re together.

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In one infamous tale, a tour caddie takes a swing video for his player on the range, and a text pops up from the player's wife: "Did you tell him you're firing him yet?" Exploring the brutal realities of the caddie-player relationship: www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

This rocked @gabbyherzig.bsky.social ‘Did you tell him you’re firing him yet?’ The brutal reality of golf’s most intimate partnership www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

‘Did you tell him you’re firing him yet?’ The brutal reality of golf’s most intimate partnership

There’s no contracts. No job security. A caddie can get hired or fired at any time. But when a pair is together, they’re together.

nytimes.com

New on @theathletic.com, w/ @gabbyherzig.bsky.social Trump threatens to seize control of Washington, D.C.’s public golf courses www.nytimes.com/athletic/688...

Trump threatens to seize control of Washington, D.C.’s public golf courses

The Trump administration’s interest in Washington’s public golf courses is part of a larger plan to revamp the capital’s footprint.

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Charley Hull’s Instagram tells a story. So does that viral photo of her smoking at the U.S. Open. This summer, I spent time with Hull at her home in England, and it revealed a different picture of the golfer — a much deeper one. www.nytimes.com/athletic/687...

Charley Hull’s Instagram tells a story. A trip to her English home told the real one

“People think I’m a party girl," Charley Hull admits, but her actual home life is nothing like that.

nytimes.com

A new story I'm pretty pumped to share. It's about words, and our pastime, and changing your traumas by changing your patterns. On Matt Berninger, and the baseballs of writing:

Matt Berninger traded his notebook for a baseball. And the words kept coming

For The National’s frontman, the way forward was written on rawhide.

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morning read from @gabbyherzig.bsky.social that I deeply enjoyed — and the comments are generally lovely, to boot. www.nytimes.com/athletic/670...

I made a 12 during the biggest golf tournament of my life. Here’s what I learned

The Athletic's Gabby Herzig recently competed in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She gained a deeper appreciation for the sport she covers.

nytimes.com

From @theathletic.com: Tommy Fleetwood's win on Sunday was a long time coming. His arc, with 30 top-five finishes in eight years on the PGA Tour but zero wins, has been a relatable one because of how difficult it often felt to watch, our columnist writes. nyti.ms/4oQeZfy

Tommy Fleetwood finally did it. On Sunday, he wasn’t just a winner on tour, he was *the* winner on tour. I followed Tommy until I couldn’t anymore, as he went through all the stops, all the emotions of victory. For @theathletic.com: www.nytimes.com/athletic/657...

Inside Tommy Fleetwood’s triumphant Tour Championship win

Fleetwood learned from heartbreaking losses this summer, recognizing what he needed to do to win on the PGA Tour for the first time.

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The latest sports scam: Fans of a golfer are contacted by a fake account, lured to WhatsApp/Telegram, offered VIP access, dinner or investments for crypto or gift cards — then ghosted once payments stop. Inside the social media scheme turning fans against athletes: http://dlvr.it/TMVp5j

New for @theathletic.bsky.social and @nytimes.com Art Spander has seen everything. The Miracle on Ice. Kirk Gibson. The Catch. But nowadays? The view is changing and time is moving. On the life and love of a true original: www.nytimes.com/athletic/643...

One more story from the last of his kind

Why is Art Spander, nearly blind and unable to type his own stories, still covering events at 86? Because he is the job. And because of Liz.

nytimes.com

NEWS: Brian Rolapp of the NFL is expected to be announced soon as the PGA Tour’s new CEO, sources confirmed to @gabbyherzig.bsky.social and @andrewmarchand.bsky.social: He will lead the tour’s new for-profit arm, PGA Tour Enterprises. More details:

NFL executive Brian Rolapp leaving for PGA Tour CEO position

Rolapp, responsible for the NFL's massive media rights deals, will lead the PGA Tour's for-profit arm.

nytimes.com

You probably did not know that Oakmont’s famed church pews (possibly maybe probably) trace back to a course 20 miles outside Philadelphia and a pioneering woman in golf course architecture Required pre-US Open reading from @gabbyherzig.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/641...

What is Oakmont’s church pew bunker? History behind distinctive U.S. Open course feature

The church pews — 13, long grassy tufts which act as islands within a seemingly endless pit of sand — were never part of the original design

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Plastic greens. A trip to Augusta National. Meditation in the dark. Over several interviews these past two months, I learned about how Luke became Luke Clanton. On the PGA Tour’s next star, for @theathletic.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/640...

Dreaming in darkness: Luke Clanton’s journey to becoming the PGA Tour’s next big star

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What’s it like to play Augusta National the day after Rory’s win at the Masters? I found out. 3,200 words of Q&A on a day that simply felt fake. I have never been so happy to share a scorecard with a 9 on it: www.nytimes.com/athletic/628...

What’s it like to play Augusta National the day after Rory’s Masters win? I found out

I have post-round depression, and in an attempt to alleviate it, here are answers to your questions about my day at Augusta National.

nytimes.com

Now read @gabbyherzig.bsky.social on Justin Rose's Indian summer www.nytimes.com/athletic/627... And @brodymiller.bsky.social on Angry Jon Rahm www.nytimes.com/athletic/627... And the great Justin Ray www.nytimes.com/athletic/627... And today's live action www.nytimes.com/athletic/liv...

It's already inevitable. A Sunday that ends among familiar shadows, a long walk up Augusta’s 18th, a hat brim pushed up off his forehead, a final putt, a final roar, and a 44 Long. Hyperbole, of course. But not really. On Scottie Scheffler: www.nytimes.com/athletic/627...

Scottie Scheffler’s air of inevitability is on display again at the Masters

After Scheffler rolled in a 62-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fourth hole Thursday, visions of another green jacket began arriving.

nytimes.com

Is scar tissue real? Ahead of the Masters, I talked to Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and top performance psychologists about confronting past failures — and the lengths players will go to process them. Rory: “I’ve been put in hypnotic states.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/626...

How do you get over losing the Masters? Hypnosis, exposure therapy and ‘whatever helps’

"So many things have happened in my career and my life that I can sort of laugh about it now. But it’s still there.”

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“I would equate Scottie Scheffler to an incredible handyman." Why does Scottie thrive at Augusta National? It's a three-part answer, but it all starts with his full set of tools. First 2025 Masters preview for @theathletic.bsky.social, here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/626...

Why does Scottie Scheffler dominate the Masters? He’s ‘an incredible handyman’

Scheffler will try this week to become the first golfer to win back-to-back at Augusta National since Tiger Woods 23 years ago.

nytimes.com

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods are all meeting with Donald Trump in the White House today. News from @gabbyherzig.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/614...

Yasir al-Rumayyan, Donald Trump to meet with PGA Tour officials Thursday: Sources

Jay Monahan, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott are also expected to attend the meeting at the White House, sources briefed on the plans confirmed.

nytimes.com

In 2024, the WM Phoenix Open lost the plot. Event leadership has made big changes, but they’ve also cultivated a raucous party culture for years. Can “The People’s Open” really dial things back? www.nytimes.com/athletic/611...

They built golf’s most raucous party. Now they need everyone to be cool

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I’ve been at the A T&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am all week for @theathletic.bsky.social. Here’s a thread of my coverage so far. First: Slow play is again the biggest tension point in golf. What can be done? www.nytimes.com/athletic/609...

The PGA Tour’s slow play problem is again golf’s biggest tension point. What can be done?

When a respected voice called out tour pros amid a 5 1/2-hour round last week, everyone was listening.

nytimes.com

There's a list out there on the internet, one tallying h.s. basketball's highest single-season scorers. The name on top isn't a familiar one. It's one that was without a story. That's where we begin... www.nytimes.com/athletic/607...

The search for an all-time scorer that time forgot

The unwritten history of Finell White, who went from Harlem playgrounds to South Carolina countrysides and rewrote the record book

nytimes.com

The brand new TGL is just one event old, and Gabby and Mark already have suggestions! 🏌️‍♂️ @gabbyherzig.bsky.social thinks tour exemptions could be a potential incentive, but who would YOU want to see added to the teams? 🫵

Kevin Kisner was just announced as an assistant captain for the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team. I called up Kiz to talk about his new role, broadcasting for NBC and what he wants to see from the PGA Tour's top stars. New Q&A for @theathletic.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/604...

Q&A: Kevin Kisner on the Ryder Cup, NBC and what he wants from PGA Tour stars

Kisner will still play PGA Tour events in 2025 but is envisioning this season as a fork in the road moment for himself.

nytimes.com