PAUL AZINGER

It was hard not to think about Saudi-funded LIV Golf at the Presidents Cup.

Tiger Woods considers the British Open at St. Andrews to be a historic occasion.

The PGA Tour is moving the Farmers Insurance Open off a big NFL Sunday.

Brooks Koepka says in an interview with Golf Digest that Ryder Cup week is hectic and takes him from his individual routine and leaves him no time to decompress.

The American Solheim Cup team is using a “pod” system in hopes of bringing the Cup back to the United States.

The feud between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau is the dominant storyline heading into the U.S. Open.

Then, Brian Harman shot 69 to tie for third at The Players Championship and went from No. Most curious is the case of Gary Woodland, the former U.S. Open champion and a Match Play finalist in 2015. Under the PGA Tour guidelines, he has to self-isolate for 10 days. THE BOUNCEIt didn’t take Collin Morikawa long to learn how to win on the PGA Tour. A year later, he won a playoff over Justin Thomas at Muirfield Village and a major at the PGA Championship.

The legion of volunteers at The Players Championship are one of the most integral parts of the event. This week, we’re looking at several longtime volunteers who are celebrating tournament milestones in 2021. Herbert had a perfect view of one of those, carded by Paul Azinger in the third round of the 2000 event. AdHerbert spent four years in various volunteer roles before becoming a walking scorer in 1991 and has been in that position since. The ball lands, I hit, ‘shot hit,’ … a laser operator lasers that ball, and you know exactly immediately how far he hit it, 247 yards, and he’s got 185 to go to the hole,” she said.

That was the longest such streak since Woods began his career making 25 in a row. Morikawa became a youthful footnote in history at Torrey Pines last year when he was in the same group with Woods. Most notable about his three-shot victory at The Concession against another stacked field was the 24-year-old Morikawa joined Woods as the only players to win a major and a World Golf Championship before turning 25. Rory McIlroy was 25 years and three months when he had two majors and a World Golf Championship, and then he won a third major the following week. He won the PGA Championship at Harding Park by changing his plan as the situation warranted, hitting driver on the reachable par-4 16th to 7 feet for eagle.

The clothes shipped to him never arrived, so Morikawa did the next best thing at the Workday Championship. Just like Woods has done so often, Morikawa forced everyone to catch him. “We’re still playing and we miss him out here, but it was cool just to be a part of that.”After the final round, Woods Tweeted out his appreciation of the support. — Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) March 1, 2021The inspiration came from Woods. “If there was no Tiger Woods, I just the think the tour and the game of golf in general would be in a worse place.

The clothes shipped to him never arrived, so Morikawa did the next best thing at the Workday Championship. No one did, and his 3-under 69 gave him a three-shot victory for his first World Golf Championship. He became the 24th player to win a major and a World Golf Championship title, and the 24-year-old Californian joined Woods as the only players to win both before turning 25. AdWoods was 23 when he won the first of his 18 World Golf Championships. “If there was no Tiger Woods, I just the think the tour and the game of golf in general would be in a worse place.

Morikawa walked off the 12th hole with his seventh birdie in eight holes, stretching his lead to five shots with two par 5s still to play. He made bogey on both, shot a 5-under 67 and suddenly had four-time major champion Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel on his tail. “I didn’t play great the last six, but a lot to learn from heading into tomorrow,” Morikawa said. Horschel also had a late rally with an eagle on the par-5 17th hole and shot 69. “I just kept rolling in birdie after birdie.

The PNC Championship announced Thursday that Woods will play with 11-year-old son Charlie in the tournament that has paired major champions with their sons since 1995, the year before the 44-year-old Woods turned pro. “I can't tell you how excited I am to be playing with Charlie in our first official tournament together,” Woods said. The PNC Championship is Dec. 19-20 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando in central Florida. It allowed Fuzzy Zoeller to play with his daughter, Gretchen, and Arnold Palmer to play with his grandson, Sam Saunders. Until deciding to play in the PNC Championship, it was thought Woods ended the year at the Masters.

Danielle Kang follows through on her drive on the fourth hole during the third and final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Danielle Kang follows through on her drive on the fourth hole during the third and final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)TOLEDO, Ohio Danielle Kang was away from the LPGA Tour for six months during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is not to suggest she was without competition. It paid off Sunday when Kang closed with a 2-under 70 and held on for a one-shot victory over Celine Boutier in the LPGA Drive On Championship at Inverness, the first LPGA Tour event since February. I made sure I played golf as much as I did normally, not because I had to but because I wanted to, Kang said. The LPGA Tour stays in northeast Ohio next week for the Marathon Classic.

Danielle Kang hits her tee-shot on the eighth hole during the first round of the LPGA Drive On Championship golf tournament at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio, Friday, July 31, 2020. Kang finished in the early lead at six-under par. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Danielle Kang hits her tee-shot on the eighth hole during the first round of the LPGA Drive On Championship golf tournament at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio, Friday, July 31, 2020. The LPGA Tours much-awaited return from the COVID-19 pandemic brought an immediate sense of its new world. The LPGA Tour remains in northeast Ohio next week before heading to Scotland. The lone Korean among the top 10 -- a rarity given the countrys strength in womens golf -- was Hee Young Park at 70. Definitely had a really good attitude, and it was really fun to be back.The LPGA Tour is not allowing spectators, though that wasnt a problem for Kang.

The LPGA Tour was last played on Feb. 16 when Inbee Park won the Women's Australian Open. But I'm excited about what we have.Whan and his staff have been in constant contact with the PGA Tour, now in its sixth week back. The LPGA Tour is to resume July 31 with the LPGA Drive On Championship, a one-time event with a $1 million purse at Inverness Club in Toledo, site of next year's Solheim Cup. The turnaround won't be as quick as it is on the PGA Tour, which has a mobile lab on site. That compares with $75,000 for PGA Tour players who test positive.

It was vastly different from any PGA Tour broadcast on network TV, said Greg Hopfe, executive producer of PGA Tour Entertainment. With so few cameras a typical PGA Tour event on network TV has about 20 cameras players at times were held in place to allow the cameras to get in position. It all was done with a conservative return to golf, following CDC guidelines and keeping contact minimal. Everyone who worked the event 28 people at Seminole, 23 people at PGA Tour Entertainment offices in St. Augustine were tested for the new coronavirus. It's roughly 1,000 miles from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to Fort Worth, and then 1,000 to Hilton Head for the RBC Heritage, and just under 1,000 miles to Cromwell, Connecticut, for the Travelers Championship.

Tirico is one of many announcers who has had to trade the press box for a home office. Tirico will be in the corner of his office in Michigan, some 1,300 miles away. The soft return of golf includes testing for COVID-19, thermal readings, social distancing and limited access. Rich Lerner from Golf Channel is doing play by play, with NBC analysts Paul Azinger and Gary Koch. You could get a lot of people become Matt Wolff fans if he has the game he showed in Minnesota, Tirico said.