Latest news with #Azaleas
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paige Spiranac hypes 2025 Masters by reviving sultry photo
Paige Spiranac hypes 2025 Masters with sultry photo from past It's a tradition unlike any other. To kick off Masters week on Monday, longtime golf influencer Paige Spiranac re-floated a past photo of herself on X rocking the major's celebrated green jacket, a matching mini skirt and nothing else. Advertisement 'Happy Masters Week!' she exclaimed. Spiranac, who boasts four million followers on Instagram, debuted the image years ago as part of a towel collection timed to the 2021 Masters. Paige Spiranac hyped Masters week by re-sharing a sultry photo from the past. Instagram @_paige.renee The longtime golf influencer also posted an older photo of herself at Augusta National. Paige Spiranac/Instagram ''No one will ever take you seriously if you keep posting pictures with cleavage.' So here's to continuing doing what I want,' she posted on Instagram at the time. 'I made some towels with this image and other prints! Link in bio if you want to buy or for the haters to dry their tears with.' Paige Spiraac told The Post in February 2025 she's rooting for Rory McIlroy in this year's major. Instagram She channeled 'American Beauty' for her towels the following year by posing among Azaleas, which Augusta National is known for. Hole No. 13 is also named after the vibrant bloom. Advertisement Spiranac, 32, has been counting down to the Masters since February, when she gave The Post her early predictions. 'I say this every single year, but Rory is going to win the green jacket,' she said of Rory McIlroy, who is a Masters win away from completing golf's grand slam. 'It will hit one year, I swear, I promise.' McIlroy, 35, has been riding a hot streak entering this year's tournament. Weeks after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, McIlroy emerged as The Players Championship victor in March for the second time in his career. Past heartache is McIlroy's driving force. 'The first thing you have to do is be willing to go through it,' he said last month. 'And I've went through my fair share of losses, criticism, expectations. You have to be willing to get your heart broken, and I think I went through a few years of my career where I wasn't willing to put myself out there, and I think that's why I probably didn't win as much as I probably could have from like 2015 to 2020. … But I feel like I figured it out. I've been on a pretty good stretch since then.' Rory McIlroy is Paige Spiranac's Masters pick for 2025. Getty Images McIlroy, currently ranked No. 2 in the world, tied for 22nd at the Masters last year. The world's top golfer, Scottie Scheffler, won his second green jacket in 2024. Advertisement McIlroy had his best finish at Augusta National in 2022 when he placed second to Scheffler, 28. The opening round of the Masters starts Thursday, and you best believe Spiranac — much like the rest of us — will be watching.
USA Today
11-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
It's that time of year again: Calculating college golf's Magic Number
It's that time of year again: Calculating college golf's Magic Number The conference championship season is upon us, and that means it is time to crunch the numbers. I coined the phrase 'Magic Number' nearly two decades ago, so to me, early April is not only about the Azaleas. It's Magic Number time. What does that term mean? Simply that when looking at the rankings, the Magic Number is the number needed to achieve a spot in NCAA regional play. Rarely – or should I say almost never – has the NCAA Division I Men's or Women's Golf Committee wavered from descending straight down the list to select the postseason field. However, don't bring up that topic with former Missouri head men's golf coach Mark Leroux. The Tigers were grossly overlooked by the men's committee for the 2021 postseason. Despite being well inside the Magic Number, the Tigers were not selected for regional play. The 2020-2021 season was a tough year due to COVID. The .500 Rule had been lifted, and Leroux's squad was well below the 50% head-to-head winning percentage that is usually required to qualify. Despite the .500 Rule not being a factor for that unusual season, the committee obviously took it into consideration. Normally, if a team is on the number or inside of it, that team is good to go. However, that does not prevent all of those teams considered to be on the bubble from being a bit nervous come selection day. Women's conference championships get started this weekend and on April 13, the Colonial Athletic Association and Northeast Conference will be the first two conferences to offer tickets to regional play. The first men's team to punch a ticket will come out of the SWAC on April 16. Heading into the conference tournaments, what does the Magic Number look like? We will start with the women and a new wrinkle this year: that pesky .500 Rule. This new guideline for postseason eligibility requires a team to have a head-to-head won-loss record of 50% or better. Based on the latest edition of the current college golf rankings and what I estimate head-to-head records to be, the women's Magic Number appears to be in the neighborhood of 56. The men first had the .500 Rule in place for the 2007-08 season and for the most part, the men have navigated that rule well with just one or two teams per year missing. There have also been several years when no teams fell below the guideline. This year, we may only see one team or possibly none. I would put the men's Magic Number at 68 heading into the conference championships, any upsets or teams inside that not meeting the .500 Rule requirement could push that number closer to 70. Last year, we saw just one bid stealer in all of college golf with the Indiana women's team winning the Big Ten title and claiming the AQ. Don't expect to see many upsets again this year, which will keep the Magic Number on both sides from moving much. Happy conference championship season to all!
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cameron Smith dons a blue blazer in a practice round at the Masters as he chases the green jacket
Cameron Smith dons a blue blazer in a practice round at the Masters as he chases the green jacket Azaleas are seen in front of the main scoreboard during a practice around at the Masters golf tournament, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Cameron Smith, of Australia, catches a ball on the driving range during a practice round at the Masters golf tournament, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Cameron Smith, of Australia, catches a ball on the driving range during a practice round at the Masters golf tournament, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Azaleas are seen in front of the main scoreboard during a practice around at the Masters golf tournament, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Cameron Smith, of Australia, catches a ball on the driving range during a practice round at the Masters golf tournament, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Cameron Smith went for a different look Wednesday in his final tuneup for the Masters. The Australian donned a blue blazer for a practice round ahead of Thursday's start of the tournament at Augusta National. Smith warmed up on the driving range with the blazer over a polo shirt, then proceeded to the course. Advertisement A star on LIV Golf, Smith left the PGA Tour in 2022 to join its Saudi-backed rival following his win at the British Open. He held off Rory McIlroy at St. Andrews to capture his first major. Smith finished in a tie for sixth at the Masters a year ago and BetMGM Sportsbook listed him at 50-1 odds to win the green jacket this year. ___ AP golf:
USA Today
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf fight makes Masters even more special. Yes, that's possible.
PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf fight makes Masters even more special. Yes, that's possible. Show Caption Hide Caption Rory McIlroy explains why Augusta is his forever course Rory McIlroy opens up on why Augusta is his forever course, from childhood memories to pure beauty. The Masters AUGUSTA, Ga. – Every year since the world could see the place on television, this little town near the border of Georgia and South Carolina has been the epicenter of our retreat out of a long winter and into spring. That's always been the secret sauce of the Masters. Not the exclusivity of the club, nor the difficulty of the course, nor really the fact that it's the only major championship in golf anchored to one place every year. Mostly, it's the visuals, the colors, perfectly green fairways framed by the towering pines and flowers that pop off the television screen like an invitation to once again start going outside. As always, every inch of this place is spectacular. 'A colder-than-normal January has been conducive to a near-perfect early spring bloom of Azaleas and other flowering ornamentals,' Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said Wednesday. 'One of our guests last week referred to the course as a beautiful painting, and I could not agree more.' But the biggest golf tournament in the world has only grown in prestige over the past four years – not that it needed any help. The still unresolved fight between the PGA Tour and LIV, still simmering for a third straight Masters, has only made this tournament more powerful and elevated its place atop the sport's food chain. The sad reality is that it's been nine months since Xander Schauffele won the Open Championship at Royal Troon. That's nine months since all the best players in the world were in the same tournament. Nine months since we saw Rory McIlroy go against Brooks Koepka in a significant event, nine months since Scottie Scheffler has had a chance to close out a tournament with Bryson DeChambeau breathing down his neck. Nearly two years since the so-called framework agreement that was supposed to bring the two sides into some type of merger agreement and almost three months since president Donald Trump's inauguration – an event that inspired hope of reconciliation given his ties to the game and extensive business with the Saudi government – everyone is still waiting. 'I think at some point if the players get all together, I think we could figure it out,' DeChambeau said. 'But it's a lot more complicated, obviously, than we all think.' At this point, it's almost boring to talk about. LIV does its thing, paying huge sums to Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and a handful of others to play unserious golf while drawing pathetic television audiences. (Even on the main FOX network last week, LIV Miami drew less than one-third of the 1.746 million viewers watching the final round of the Valero Texas Open.) But LIV's intrusion into the sport has undeniably made the PGA Tour a significantly lesser product, too, and not just on the margins. The Tour's so-called 'Signature Event' structure, in which eight tournaments are elevated above the others, means the top players have even less incentive to play a full schedule and so there are rarely fields packed with stars – a split within a split. Aside from The Players, has there even been a single must-see tournament yet this year? That's golf now: Weaker, less interesting, rarely relevant to the average sports fan outside of the four majors. Round and round we go, with little to suggest a solution is coming that would reunite the best players and give fans – not to mention the companies paying huge sums to sponsor most of these tournaments – a reason to keep spending their cash on professional golf. 'When I think about reunification,' Ridley said, 'I think about the having more players – all of the great players of the game – playing against each other more than just a few times a year. I'm not really in a position to say what form that should take as far as how the two organizations should come together, what legal structure that may be or what the financial aspects of that may be. But sometimes if you start kind of at eye level, and that is to encourage cooperation and trying to figure out a way to get something done, regardless of what the structure of it is, to where everyone can play together again.' For the broader good of the game, Ridley is of course correct. But as long as the split endures, the Masters benefits more than anyone. Why? Well, most golf fans could probably tell you that McIlroy comes into the Masters with as good of a chance as he's ever had, having won twice already this year including The Players. They could probably tell you how Scheffler, the defending champion here and No. 1 player in the world, has been struggling by his standards but flashed a hot putter last weekend that makes him extra dangerous this week. And they could probably tell you that Schauffele, who won two majors last year, has been way off form to start this season and is yet to record a top-10 finish. And the LIV guys? When the final major championship ends in July, they simply disappear into the ether. Yes, they are playing tournaments. Some of those tournaments even draw good crowds, particularly in an Australian market that deserves more world class golf than it gets. But if you know a single thing about how Patrick Reed, Rahm, Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith and the rest have been faring lately on the LIV tour, you are in the minority of the minority of golf fans. Now in its fourth season, there's enough of a sample size to make the following statement: Whatever you think about the concept of LIV or who's paying its bills, the results over there simply do not matter to very many people. Nothing has broken through. Nobody's really watching In fact, in four years, you can argue the only player-related LIV storyline that has been elevated to any relevance is a highly online argument between real people and social media trolls over whether four-time LIV winner Joaquin Niemann is one of the top-10 players in the world. (Given that he's never finished better than 16th at any major, I think we all know the answer to that one.) Point being, for all the significant players who took the LIV payday, the Masters is when they come out of the mothballs. Has Koepka or Rahm played well lately? Who knows. Who cares. When Masters week begins, it's like reuniting with a friend who spent the last year in western Mongolia without Internet or cell phone service. We're just happy to see them again. 'When you look back at whenever LIV started and this whole debacle started, no one really complained,' Collin Morikawa said. 'You just…we enjoyed it. But then this all happened, and you take things for granted. You look back and you're like, man, we had it pretty good. These weeks are special now. You don't take them lightly.' Make no mistake, the Masters is a colossus whether LIV exists or not. To golfers and hardcore fans, it's special because it's a major. To the common sports viewer who watches this tournament and maybe a few others, it's the visual effects – the sparkling white sand, the vividly pink flowers, the perfectly mowed grass − that inspire imagination and awe. But the PGA Tour-LIV split has made this week something different, even a level above what the Masters was before. Golf fans just don't get many tournaments like this anymore. That's a sad commentary on the state of the game but another layer of mystique for a 365-acre tract of Georgia land that was already the biggest thing in the sport.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
GreenJackets buzz off to become Augusta Azaleas for two April games
GreenJackets buzz off to become Augusta Azaleas for two April games The Augusta GreenJackets are switching uniforms for two games in April to become the Augusta Azaleas. Augusta's minor-league baseball team is undergoing a blooming name-change in April. For just two days, April 18 and 19, the Augusta GreenJackets, the single-A Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, will take the field as the Augusta Azaleas. The Azaleas will play host to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Advertisement Alternate home uniforms accented with pink and green will carry logos and lettering designed by Augusta artist Jason Craig. 'We could not be more thrilled to showcase the Augusta Azaleas at SRP Park this year,' said GreenJackets General Manager Brandon Greene. 'Nothing captures the beauty and serenity of springtime in Augusta like the azalea flower, and we can't wait for GreenJackets fans to see these jerseys on the field.' The first 1,000 fans through the gates before each Azaleas game receive Augusta Azaleas blankets. Across the two days, SRP Park in North Augusta will feature Azaleas merchandise, concession specials, live music and the traditional weekend fireworks display. Pro baseball teams in recent years have adopted alternate uniforms, colors and logos to showcase their home cities' cultures, famous baseball players or special occasions. The uniforms have been credited with heightening fan engagement. Advertisement If it sounds familiar to Augusta, it might be because the GreenJackets have made similar whimsical changes before. In August 2019, the GreenJackets took the field as the Augusta Pimento Cheese, named after the iconic sandwich associated with the Masters Tournament. The season-opener for the GreenJackets at SRP Park in North Augusta is Friday, April 4. The GreenJackets open the season at home for the second consecutive season, after opening on the road each year from 2018-2023. They'll be taking on the Columbia Fireflies, noted a news release. The three-game series with the Fireflies continues through Sunday. The first 2,000 fans through the gate on Friday will receive a GreenJackets Golf Towel courtesy of SRP Federal Credit Union. Those who arrive early will be treated to a pre-game concert on the concourse from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday's game starts at 7:05 p.m.. Saturday is a 6:05 p.m. start. Sunday's ballgame begins of 5:05 p.m. Tickets for the entirety of opening weekend are available now for purchase, while supplies last. Fans can visit call 803-349-WINS (9467), or visit the SRP Box Office at 187 Railroad Ave., North Augusta, for more information and availability. This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: GreenJackets buzz off to become Augusta Azaleas for two April games
