Paige Spiranac is the most followed golfer on Instagram, beating out Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Paige Spiranac just scored what will probably be the most important hole-in-one of her life.

On Monday, the social media sensation — known for her sultry golf content — hit an ace in front of golf legend Gary Player, while at the Berenberg Invitational.

Danny Willett celebrated his birthday in style with victory at Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews.

The 2016 Masters winner, who turned 34 on Sunday, started the final round on the Old Course with a three-stroke lead and remained at the top of the leaderboard throughout the day, making the turn in three under par.

His fifth birdie of the day followed on the tenth hole and he parred his way home to sign for a four under 68, a two-stroke victory, and his first win since the 2019 BMW PGA Championship.

Willett, whose victory lifted him from 164th to 101st in the world rankings, said: “To win here, at the Home of Golf, is very special. Hopefully it will serve to give me a little bit of momentum going into the last couple of months of the season.”

“It’s been a good week. I’ve always said if I get a bit of a sniff, I’m usually all right. And today was a nice example of that. Scoring was pretty low on that front nine, and we were able to fend off a few guys and play really solidly on the back nine.

“It’s been a relatively average year till this. Fingers crossed now we’ve got six or seven events left till we put the clubs down at Christmas, so hopefully we can push on a bit from this.”

He added: “I’ve always liked the Old Course. I finished sixth here at the Open in 2015 when I was playing alongside Zach Johnson. It gives you ways out. If you are nervous, you aim down the left on any hole you want. If you’re out of position a little bit too much, you can’t get to a few of the flags. It was nice to step up on a few of them on the back nine and put them in A-1 position.”

Two-time Dunhill Links winner Tyrrell Hatton recorded his second runner-up finish at the event in the space of three years on 16 under par, joined on that number by Joakim Lagergren. The Swede finished inside the top four for the fourth time in just six starts in the popular Pro-Am tournament. Sharing fourth were last week’s Ryder Cup debutant Shane Lowry and Betfred British Masters champion Richard Bland.

Northern Irishman Michael Hoey, who won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2011, and his amateur partner Maeve Danaher took the team honours, with Danaher becoming the first woman to add her name to the Team Championship roll of honour. The pair recorded a team score of 36 under par, beating Australian cricket star Shane Warne and New Zealander Ryan Fox, who were tied on the same score, thanks to Hoey’s eight under par tournament total.

DeChambeau, the seventh-ranked golfer in the world, is coming off a Ryder Cup win with the USA
PGA star Bryson DeChambeau is putting together a week for the ages. Three days after powering the U.S. to a Ryder Cup win, the 28-year-old advanced to the third round of the Professional Long Drivers Association World Championships.

In Wednesday’s second round in Mesquite, Nev., DeChambeau recorded the longest drive in three of his five sets and placed second in the rest. His longest drive of the day went 355 yards, 12 yards shy of Scottie Pearman’s group-leading 367. The yardage was lower than usual for all golfers because they were battling a headwind.

DeChambeau finished Day 2 a mere 75 points behind his group’s winner, Martin Borgmeier. The PLDA awards golfers scores of 25-200 for each drive based on their distance relative to the competition.

On Day 1 of the PLDA Championships DeChambeau sent five of his 30 drives 400 yards or longer to place second among his 16-man group. His longest shot went 412 yards, only one yard less than Pearman’s long of 413 and Josh Cassaday’s field-leading 417. DeChambeau accounted for four of his group’s 11 400-plus yard drives.

“I felt like I just won something today, I won a big PGA tournament, even though I just qualified for the next day, because it’s my first time,” DeChambeau told ESPN on Tuesday. “Being out there the first set was a little nerve-wracking for me, I wasn’t comfortable. But going through the second, third, fourth, fifth, I just got more comfortable as time went on.”

DeChambeau hopes to carry that comfort into the rest of the tournament. On Thursday he’ll compete in the penultimate round, when two groups of 16 will battle head-to-head for spots in Friday’s final round. Those 16-man groups have yet to be announced.

The PGA’s most powerful golfer, DeChambeau led the PGA Tour with a 323.7-yard driving average with a long of 414 in 2021. DeChambeau, the No. 7 golfer in the World Golf Rankings, won the U.S. Open in Sept. 2020.

DeChambeau will face stiff competition over the final two rounds, most notably in top-ranked long driver Kyle Berkshire. Berkshire won the PLDA Championships in 2019, but didn’t get a chance to defend his title in 2020 as the COVID-19 forced the event’s cancellation.

A DeChambeau-Berkshire third-round battle could be in play, and DeChambeau is embracing the challenge.

“(Thursday) is going to be tough,” DeChambeau told ESPN on Wednesday. “But I’m having so much fun.”

The 2021-22 PGA Tour season resumes with this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi. The full-field event follows Team USA’s dominant victory at the 2021 Ryder Cup. Below, we look at the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.

There’s a quality field in Jackson this week, led by Will Zalatoris, who enters the week at No. 17 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. He makes his second appearance at the Sanderson Farms Championship following a missed cut last year. Sergio Garcia is in attendance off of the Ryder Cup loss to defend his 2020 tournament victory.

The course measures 7,461 yards and plays to a par of 72. It’s the eighth time the Sanderson Farms Championship is being held at this venue with no winning 72-hole score worse than Nick Taylor’s minus-16 in a two-stroke victory in 2014.

2021 Sanderson Farms Championship picks – Favorite

Sungjae Im (+2000)
Im has had a disappointing 2021 that has dropped him from No. 18 to No. 29 in the Official World Golf Ranking since the end of the 2020 calendar year. He has just one third-place finish and three other top-10 results through 27 events, but that year-to-date best result was at the BMW Championship as the penultimate event in the FedExCup Playoffs.

He tied for 28th in this event last year with 0.79 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 1.11 SG: Putting per round. He was the runner-up in 2019 with 2.19 SG: Tee-to-Green per round to rank fifth among those who made the cut.

Im struggled around the greens last season, but he has had success at this venue and can lean on his driver and putter.

2021 Sanderson Farms Championship picks – Contender

Matthew Wolff (+5000)
Wolff limited the 2021 portion of his 2020-21 season schedule to just 14 events. He missed the cut in three of those, withdrew from two of them and was disqualified from the Masters due to an incorrect scorecard. However, he was playing his best golf last fall with back-to-back runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open and Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

His inaccuracy off the tee won’t be as much of a detriment as usual at the Country Club of Jackson, and his length will be an advantage over a field lacking most of the Tour’s longest hitters.

Wolff ranked as high as 12th in the OWGR last fall and he won’t be offered at these odds for long should he show some early signs of promise this season.

2021 Sanderson Farms Championship picks – Long shot
Doc Redman (+20000)
Redman’s worth a flier with the 200-1 value.

He missed the cut in 11 of 21 events last year, but he also had a runner-up finish at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree and a T-9 at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He made the cut in each of his two appearances in the Sanderson Farms Championship, with a T-28 last year while averaging 0.64 SG: Off-the-Tee per round.

Though Ryder Cup players don’t receive any official compensation for participating in the biennial event, ever since 1999, when top players Tiger Woods, David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Mark O’Meara caused a kerfuffle when they questioned why they didn’t have more say in the multi-million dollar proceeds generated by the exhibition, American players now receive a specific sum of money that they’re allowed to allocate to charities of their choice.

This year, a total of $2.85 million was given to the the 43rd Ryder Cup Outreach Program, which benefits charities and youth-development programs around the country. Each U.S. player — as well as captain Steve Stricker — receives $200,000 — half of which is earmarked for youth charities like the PGA Jr. League, Drive, Chip & Putt Championship and the KPMG Future Leaders Program, while the other half is left to donate at the player’s discretion.
The five U.S. vice captains are each allotted $50,000, which is distributed in the same way. Since 1999, over $28.6 million has been donated, benefitting over 200 different charities.

While the majority of players opt to donate their personal share of the charity money to their namesake foundations, other’s break the $100K into smaller donations for multiple charities. Check out the breakdown below to see where every dollar of Team USA’s charity money was directed
2021 Ryder Cup player charity fund designees
Steve Stricker – Steve Stricker American Family Foundation $100,000

Daniel Berger – Mia’s Miracles Foundation $50,000
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital $50,000

Patrick Cantlay – Patrick Cantlay Foundation $100,000

Bryson DeChambeau – The Bryson DeChambeau Foundation $100,000

Harris English – Harris English Foundation $50,000
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital $25,000
St. Simons Island Athletic Association $25,000

Tony Finau – Tony Finau Foundation $100,000

Dustin Johnson – The Dustin Johnson Foundation $100,000

Brooks Koepka – Brooks Koepka Charitable Fund $100,000

Collin Morikawa – Make-A-Wish $25,000
American Humane $25,000
Feeding America $25,000
Animal Network $25,000

Xander Schauffele – Xander Schauffele Foundation $100,000

Scottie Scheffler – Behind Every Door Ministries, Inc. $20,000
College Golf Fellowship $20,000
Advocates for Community Transformation $20,000
West Dallas Community School $20,000
The Human Impact $20,000

Jordan Spieth – Jordan Spieth Family Foundation $100,000

Justin Thomas – Justin Thomas Foundation $100,000
2021 Ryder Cup vice captain charity designees
Fred Couples – TGR Foundation $10,000
Eat, Learn, Play Foundation $10,000
An ALS Foundation (TBA) $5,000

Jim Furyk – Jim & Tabitha Furyk Foundation $25,000

Zach Johnson – Zach Johnson Foundation $25,000

Davis Love III – Davis Love III Foundation $25,000

Phil Mickelson – Phil & Amy Mickelson Foundation $25,000

Team US regained the Ryder Cup on Sunday following a historically dominant performance over Europe at Whistling Straits.

Having been beaten convincingly in 2018 at Le Golf National, France, the hosts were on top from the outset, racing into a 9-3 lead after the first three sessions.
Although the visiting Europeans hinted at a comeback on Saturday afternoon, the US was able to enter Sunday leading 11-5.
And during the Singles matches on Sunday, Collin Morikawa claimed the decisive half point to ensure the US had the required 14.5 points to regain the Ryder Cup and the famous trophy remained in the US.
Rory McIlroy set a good opening tone for the Europeans on Sunday, beating 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele, but after, it was a run of American winners, bringing the victory home for the hosts in impressive fashion.
For Morikawa himself, he’s had a breakthrough 13 months, winning two majors at the PGA Championship and the Open. But being the man to clinch the winning half point at the Ryder Cup means “everything,” according to the 24-year-old.
“It means so much, everything, wanting to make that putt, it was a great match against Viktor (Hovland),” he told the media afterward.
“I don’t think he really missed too many shots. I had to earn my birdies. But to clinch this and bring the Cup back to home soil, it feels so good.”

It’s the first time the US has won back-to-back Ryder Cups on home soil since 1979-1983.
After Daniel Berger beat Matt Fitzpatrick in the final singles match, it clinched a 19-9 victory for the US team, the biggest winning margin in Ryder Cup history.
The US surpassed the previous record of nine points. Under the modern scoring setup with 28 points available over the three days, the previous largest winning margin was nine points, which was achieved once by the US in 1981 and twice by Europe in 2004 and 2006.
Team US poses with the trophy at the closing ceremony of the Ryder Cup.
No team since 1979 has won 19 points in a single Ryder Cup.
Stricker called his team the “greatest team of all time” in the presentation ceremony afterwards.
“You are trying to make me cry, aren’t you … this is very special, growing up a couple of hours from here, to be with these guys,” an emotional Stricker said.
“This is a new era right here, they are young, motivated, they came here determined to win. We put them in their groupings, communicated with them, there were no ra-ra speeches — am I going to give them a ra-ra speech? They are the best in the world.
“I have never won a major, but this is my major right here.”
Strong from the start
The value of experience or the benefit of being unscarred by previous bad experiences?
Those were the options weighed up by team captains Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington.
The two opted for differing approaches, with Stricker picking six rookies in his team while Harrington turned to the tried-and-tested veterans who have had success in recent years.
And from the opening session of foursomes, Stricker looked vindicated. The pairings he chose won three of the four matches, giving the hosts the perfect start as they aimed to reclaim the Ryder Cup after losing it three years ago.
For Harrington and his team, it only got worse from there.
In Friday’s afternoon fourballs and Saturday’s morning foursomes, the US went 3-1 in both sessions, building an impressive 9-3 after three sessions.
It was the largest lead for either side after three sessions of the Ryder Cup since the US led by 7 points in 1975.
The Europeans showed some fight Saturday afternoon, splitting the four matches 2-2 but leaving a momentous effort needed to mount a comeback.
McIlroy, who had previously had an unsuccessful time of it, looked back to his best in the opening singles match Sunday, impressively beating Schauffele 3&2 to add to his extensive resume.
But McIlroy needed some help from his teammates, but it wasn’t forthcoming against some impressive US golf.
Patrick Cantlay, the FedExCup Playoff winner earlier this month, was unflappable in his victory over Irishman Shane Lowry, and Scottie Scheffler was dominant in beating world No. 1 Jon Rahm.
Unfortunately for the Europeans, the star-studded US team didn’t let up, with Bryson DeChambeau also recording an impressive victory.
And that meant it was left to the 24-year-old Morikawa to wrap up the one-sided victory. Playing another Ryder Cup rookie with plenty of potential, Viktor Hovland, he remained nonplussed, losing the last hole to the Norwegian but reaching the required 14.5 points to regain the trophy.
The imperious Dustin Johnson created his own bit of history in beating Paul Casey, becoming just the third player ever to win all five of his matches in one Ryder Cup.
Justin Thomas wrapped up a comfortable victory against Tyrrell Hatton, before Ian Poulter gave the European fans something to cheer for, beating Tony Finau.
For the experienced Poulter, who remains unbeaten in Ryder Cup singles with the victory, it was an emotional moment, as he sunk to his knees immediately afterward.
Brooks Koepka claimed another US point before Lee Westwood claimed a rare point for Europe.
Jordan Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood halved their high-quality encounter before Berger won the record-setting point, the largest Ryder Cup margin of victory since 1979.

Steve Stricker, in introducing his six captain’s picks for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, described Harris English as “an older guy,” and the peanut gallery began to chirp.

For those who don’t know, English is an ancient 32.

“I didn’t know that being 32 was considered old these days,” English said.

“​​I didn’t know 32 was old, Harry,” said Tony Finau, a fellow captain’s pick. “I’m going to turn 32 next week, so I guess I’m going to be right there with you.”

“Thirty-two is not old,” said Xander Schauffele, another captain’s pick. “I’m happy that 32 is on the ‘older’ side for our team. I think it’s a good time for a younger influx of players and really excited to run with these guys.”
Schauffele was right, and he wasn’t. Thirty-two is not old. (What is, am I right?!) But 32 on the American team that will tee it up beginning Friday at Whistling Straits? A bonafide fossil. Especially when compared to the European dozen.

At 37, Dustin Johnson is the oldest American. English and Finau are second-oldest. And Brooks Koepka, at 31, is the only other player over 30. The total combined age of the U.S. team is 349, an average of 29.08. (Their ages, from youngest to oldest: Collin Morikawa, 24; Scottie Scheffler, 25; Xander Schauffele, 27; Bryson DeChambeau, 28; Jordan Spieth, 28; Justin Thomas, 28; Daniel Berger, 28; Patrick Cantlay, 29; Brooks Koepka, 31; Tony Finau, 32; Harris English, 32; Dustin Johnson, 37.)

On the other side, the Europeans have eight players who are 30 and older — and four who are 40 and beyond. Their total combined age is 415, an average of 34.58. (Their ages, from youngest to oldest: Viktor Hovland, 24; Jon Rahm, 26; Matthew Fitzpatrick, 27; Tyrrell Hatton, 29; Tommy Fleetwood, 30; Rory McIlroy, 32; Shane Lowry, 34; Bernd Wiesberger, 35; Sergio Garcia, 41; Paul Casey, 44; Ian Poulter, 45; Lee Westwood, 48.)

The difference in team age is maybe best described this way: When Westwood played in his first Ryder Cup in 1997, the Americans’ youngest player, Morikawa, was just seven months old. Still, Stricker’s automatic selections were youthful (Johnson, Koepka, Cantlay, Thomas, DeChambeau and Morikawa), then he kept the theme going with his picks. And it wasn’t simply that Stricker, 54, wanted to feel young himself.

“They bring in an excitement level that is unmatched, I think, and they are eager, they are willing to learn, they just want to have that opportunity and they will do anything for that opportunity,” Stricker said. “I see that much in these six guys here as well in that they are just eager to get in there and play and they are excited to be a part of this.

Billy Horschel carded a seven-under final round of 65 to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth by one shot.
He finished on 19 under to become only the second American after the legendary Arnold Palmer in 1975 to win the European Tour’s flagship event.

England’s Laurie Canter, who shot 67, failed to force a play-off after missing a 15-foot birdie on the 18th.

Lee Westwood carded 77 but still sealed his spot in the Europe team for this month’s Ryder Cup.

Ireland’s former Open champion Shane Lowry began the day in a tie for seventh and could have replaced Westwood with a top-eight finish at Wentworth.

However, he ended up tied for 17th following a final round of 71 after going bogey-double bogey on the 14th and 15th while Bernd Wiesberger’s tie for 20th knocked him out of the Ryder Cup side.

Englishman Westwood, 48, and Austrian Wiesberger, 35, join Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland in the team.

Europe will seek to defend the Ryder Cup against the United States at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin from 24 to 26 September.

Rose finished joint sixth at Wentworth following a round of 65 which will have enhanced his claims for a wildcard.

Welshman Jamie Donaldson (66) – hero of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles – and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat (64) were in the joint lead before Horschel birdied the 18th to secure victory.

“Add my name to Arnold Palmer, that’s legendary stuff,” Horschel said.

“If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have this modern era of golf to play in front of thousands of fans and big sponsors.

“Tiger Woods took it to another level but Arnie is the one who started it. So to have my name on that trophy is pretty special. To win this event means a lot.”

Horschel won the WGC Matchplay in March but missed out on a Ryder Cup wildcard for the American team and did not even get a call to say he had been considered by US captain Steve Stricker.

“It sucks not making the team,” Horschel added. “I didn’t play consistent enough and well enough after I won the Matchplay to warrant a pick or to get enough points to be an automatic selection.

“I was a little gutted I didn’t get a call this week.

“I was a little ticked. Gave me a little bit of fire in my butt. There was a little more added motivation this week for that.”

Tiger Woods has not appeared in golf tournament since 2020
Tiger Woods has not been seen on the golf course since his devastating car crash in Los Angeles in February that left him with some gruesome leg injuries.

But there is hope he will be swinging the driver again.Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker told SiriusXM Radio on Wednesday that Woods is rehabbing vigorously in hopes of playing again.

“I’ve talked to Tiger a lot,” Stricker said. “He’s a part of this Ryder Cup family; he won’t be able to be a captain’s assistant this time around just because of his ongoing rehabilitation to try to get better and try to play golf again, and that is going well. He’s progressing, he’s doing well, things are moving in the right direction.”
There was an inkling of hope Woods could return to the course as a vice-captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but Stricker said last week that wasn’t going to happen.

Woods has been seen around the Los Angeles area in recent months with a brace around his leg. He still didn’t look anywhere close to 100% in the photos. However, Stricker’s remarks give some glimmer of hope that the legendary golfer will be back on the course.

Stricker is the captain of the Ryder Cup team. The event is set to be played at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay qualified for the U.S. team. Stricker picked Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Harris English, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler to fill out the rest of the roster.