Latest news with #NCAADivisionIMen'sGolfChampionship
Toronto Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Luke Clanton on turning pro, turning up in Canada, and turning down LIV Golf
'I think the moment it hit me was when we were flying to Canada. We had to bring a passport and everything.' Get the latest from Jon McCarthy straight to your inbox Luke Clanton tees off on the 11th tee during the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. Getty Images CALEDON, Ont. — Luke Clanton had never been to Canada and has never played a golf tournament as a professional. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account This week, one of the game's top prospects will be checking both off his list at the RBC Canadian Open. The magnitude of the occasion hit the 21-year-old while in the air on his way to TPC Toronto, where the action begins on Thursday. 'I think the moment it hit me was when we were flying to Canada,' he said on Tuesday. 'We had to bring a passport and everything. I remember I got on the flight and I was like, 'dang, this is my first PGA Tour start ever.'' The world's No. 1-ranked amateur golfer already has played 13 PGA Tour events over the past two years, including runner-up finishes at both the RSM Classic and John Deere Classic last year. But this week is different. 'To be here and to call myself a professional is a little bit, honestly, a little bit weird,' he said. 'It's amazing. I'm just excited to come out here and compete. It's not about the money. It's not about any of the fame. It's about competing with these guys on Tour. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's something I've chased for my whole, entire life and especially my family.' Read More With the college season at Florida State recently finished and after securing the points he needed to earn PGA Tour membership via the PGA Tour University Accelerated program, Clanton's professional career is set to begin. As one of the game's brightest young talents, he was asked on Tuesday whether any advances were made to him by LIV Golf and gave a clear answer without technically answering the question. 'I want to play the PGA Tour, pretty simple,' he said. 'I want to play against the best, I want to compete in majors, and that's it. Simple.' Toronto & GTA Other Sports Ontario Toronto & GTA Golf
NBC Sports
28-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
THE 80TH U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN PRESENTED BY ALLY AT ERIN HILLS & PGA TOUR MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT HEADLINE NBC SPORTS' LIVE GOLF COVERAGE THIS WEEK
U.S. Women's Open Coverage Begins Thursday Morning at 8:40 a.m. ET with Featured Groups on Peacock and Noon ET on USA Network; Weekend Coverage on NBC and Peacock; Golf Central Live From the U.S. Women's Open On-Site Pre- and Post-Round Analysis on GOLF Channel NBC Sports to Utilize Drone Tracing Technology In Partnership with Rolex For First Time at Women's Major; Final Hour of Thursday-Sunday Coverage on NBC and USA Network Uninterrupted In Partnership with Rolex U.S. Women's Open Featured Groups on Peacock Presented by American Express Headlined by Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Rose Zhang, Charley Hull & Lexi Thompson PGA TOUR Memorial Tournament on GOLF Channel – Thursday-Friday at 2 p.m. ET, Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday at 1 p.m. ET Final Round of NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship Tonight at 6 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel STAMFORD, Conn. – May 28, 2025 – The 80th U.S. Women's Open Presented by Ally from Erin Hills Golf Club in Erin, Wis., and the PGA TOUR's Memorial Tournament – hosted by Jack Nicklaus – headline NBC Sports' live golf coverage across NBC, USA Network, Peacock, and GOLF Channel. This week's live golf coverage on GOLF Channel also includes the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship match between Virginia and Oklahoma State tonight at 6 p.m. ET, as well as the PGA TOUR Champions' Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines and the DP World Tour Austrian Alpine Open. USGA/LPGA TOUR: U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN This year's U.S. Women's Open field is once again led by World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who has finished inside the top 30 at all seven of her LPGA Tour starts this season but is still in search of her first win of 2025 and her first U.S. Women's Open title. Yuka Saso is the defending champion, capturing her second U.S. Women's Open last year at Lancaster Country Club, defeating fellow Japanese player Hinako Shibuno by three shots. Current World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul finished in a tie for sixth last year. Live Thursday-Friday championship coverage begins with at Noon ET on USA Network and shifts to Peacock exclusively at 6 p.m. ET. Saturday's coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET exclusively on Peacock and continues on NBC and Peacock at 3 p.m. ET. Sunday's final round coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. This year's coverage will also include Featured Groups on Peacock Presented by American Express showcasing two groups in each of the morning and afternoon waves Thursday through Sunday. For the first time at a women's major championship, NBC Sports will utilize Emmy Award-winning drone tracing technology in partnership with Rolex for its championship coverage across NBC, USA Network and Peacock. Additionally, NBC Sports will present the 'Rolex Hour' each day, featuring uninterrupted coverage of the final hour of play on NBC and USA Network. Thursday/Friday Featured Groups on Peacock 8:40 a.m. ET/2:25 p.m. ET – Yuka Saso/Lydia Ko/Rianne Malixi(a) 8:51 a.m. ET/2:36 p.m. ET – Jeeno Thitikul/Lilia Vu/Rose Zhang 2:25 p.m. ET/8:40 a.m. ET – Nelly Korda/Charley Hull/Lexi Thompson 2:36 p.m. ET/8:51 a.m. ET – Minjee Lee/Mao Saigo/Jin Young Ko 80th U.S. Women's Open Broadcast Team Play by Play: Dan Hicks / Cara Banks Analyst: Morgan Pressel / Karen Stupples Holes: Tom Abbott On-Course: Jim 'Bones' Mackay / Karen Stupples / Paige Mackenzie / Kay Cockerill Reporter: Amy Rogers Featured Groups Broadcast Team Play by Play: Damon Hack / George Savaricas Analyst: Amanda Blumenherst On-Course: Emilia Doran / Julia Johnson How To Watch – Thursday, May 29 – Sunday, June 1 (all times ET) TV – NBC, USA Network Streaming – Peacock, and the NBC Sports app GOLF CENTRAL LIVE FROM THE U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN GOLF Channel surrounds the 80th U.S. Women's Open with nearly 20 hours of live studio coverage from Erin Hills its critically acclaimed Golf Central Live From the U.S. Women's Open Pre-championship continues today at 1 p.m. ET and pre- and post-round coverage will air live from Erin Hills through the conclusion of the championship. Broadcast Team Hosts: Anna Jackson Analysts: Brandel Chamblee / Mel Reid / Paige Mackenzie Reporters/Contributors: Beth Ann Nichols / Amy Rogers TRANSCRIPT – DAN HICKS, MORGAN PRESSEL, KAREN STUPPLES AND KAY COCKERILL PREVIEW 80TH U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN AT ERIN HILLS Last week, members of NBC Sports' broadcast team – play-by-play commentator Dan Hicks, analyst Morgan Pressel, and on-course reporters Karen Stupples and Kay Cockerill – previewed the 80th U.S. Women's Open on a media conference call. Following are excerpts from the call. Click here for a full transcript. Hicks on Nelly Korda: 'For all the talent and all the wins and all the victories that she's had, it's just been the U.S. Women's Open that has really kind of been one of those championships that she hasn't put it together. We all remember the 10 she made at the par-3 at Lancaster last year. I think she's got a couple of top 10s in her great career in U.S. Women's Opens, which is underperforming for Nelly. Maybe this will be the kind of canvas where she can let the driver loose and show us what she can do at the biggest championship they play.' Pressel on young players in women's golf: 'I'd say even in the last five years, certainly, with the changes to amateur status and NIL and things like that. I walk up and down the range at the Augusta National Women's Amateur, and it looks like I could be at a Tour event. They all have launch monitors. They bring their coaches with them. That wasn't part of amateur golf when I was competing in those events. So I think those sorts of things have really prepared some of these amateurs better to actually make the transition to professional golf.' Stupples on the strength of young players on the LPGA Tour: 'It's the same as they have in the pros, the college teams. They all prepare themselves for the moment. They get to show on TV, as you saw yesterday. Everything about the amateur game is moving in a more professional direction, and the top amateurs literally could go on to the LPGA Tour and compete any given week.' PGA TOUR: MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT The Memorial Tournament is the seventh Signature Event on the PGA TOUR season in 2025 and has been hosted by Jack Nicklaus since its inception in 1976. Nicklaus won the championship in 1977 and 1984. Last year, Scottie Scheffler defeated Collin Morikawa by one shot and looks to become the first back-to-back winner of the Memorial since Tiger Woods won the event three consecutive times from 1999 to 2001. GOLF Channel's early-round coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday. Saturday's coverage airs at 2 p.m. ET and Sunday's coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET. Peacock will also stream coverage of the Memorial Tournament Honoree Ceremony – featuring this year's recipient, Barbara Nicklaus – today at 1:30 p.m. ET. GOLF Channel Broadcast Team Play by Play: Terry Gannon Analyst: Frank Nobilo Holes: Curt Byrum On-Course: Smylie Kaufman / Johnson Wagner Reporting: Todd Lewis Notable Players This Week Scottie Scheffler Collin Morikawa Xander Schauffele Justin Thomas Hideki Matsuyama Patrick Cantlay Viktor Hovland PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS: PRINCIPAL CHARITY CLASSIC The Principal Charity Classic is held at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa, and been hosted there since 2013. Ernie Els won last year's event by one shot over Stephen Ames. GOLF Channel's coverage begins Friday at 9 p.m. ET, followed by second round coverage on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET and Sunday's final round coverage at 2:30 p.m. ET. Friday-Saturday coverage will stream live on and the NBC Sports app at 3 p.m. ET. Ernie Els Angel Cabrera Padraig Harrington Retief Goosen Darren Clarke David Toms COLLEGE GOLF: NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF Channel presents live coverage of the national championship match in NCAA Division I men's golf tonight at 6 p.m. ET, as Virginia looks to win its first-ever title against perennial powerhouse Oklahoma State. Virginia advanced to the final match by beating Florida in the semifinals while Oklahoma State defeated Ole Miss. Steve Burkowski (play-by-play), John Cook (analyst), Jim Gallagher Jr. (holes), Emilia Doran (on-course) and Billy Ray Brown (on-course) will have the call from Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. DP WORLD TOUR: AUSTRIAN ALPINE OPEN This event at Gut Altentann Golf Club in Salzburg returns to the DP World Tour schedule for the first time since 2021. Bernhard Langer won the inaugural event in 1990. Notable champions include Alex Cejka, Paul McGinley, and Dylan Frittelli. Coverage on GOLF Channel begins at 6:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and at 7 a.m. ET on Saturday. Dylan Frittelli Luke Donald Rafa Cabrera Bello John Catlin Eugenio Chacarra Brandon Wu --NBC SPORTS—
NBC Sports
24-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Michael La Sasso has seen it all – stomach bug, flu, sea urchin – but making most of normal golf at NCAAs
CARLSBAD, Calif. – Ole Miss head coach Chris Malloy was preparing for dinner with some coaching friends and their wives ahead of the Cabo Collegiate last March when his phone rang. It was Malloy's assistant, Emerson Newsome, who was with the Rebels' players at a nearby beach. 'Hey, we've got a problem,' Newsome said to Malloy. Malloy responded: 'Of course we do.' Malloy has seen everything over the years, dating to 2019 when one of his players lost a ball after hitting a bird late in the final round of the NCAA Stanford Regional, were Ole Miss missed by a shot. Last spring, Malloy's star player Michael La Sasso was among several guys to contract a stomach virus during the SEC Championship. La Sasso didn't play that week and didn't count the next event at regionals, as Ole Miss again finished a shot shy of advancing at Stanford Golf Course. And then there was the Puerto Rico Classic to kick off this spring; not only did all five players battle through the flu, but Newsome ended up in the emergency room after taking a driver to the forehead. So, when Newsome informed Malloy that La Sasso had stepped on a sea urchin and had dozens of black spines stuck in his right foot, Malloy already had a doctor on speed dial. For the next four hours, La Sasso sat there as each spine was surgically – and painfully – removed from his foot. Luckily, the tournament permits carts, and La Sasso powered through for a T-13 finish despite the urging of Malloy to sit out. 'I've personally fought a s--- ton of stuff these last two years since I've been at Ole Miss,' La Sasso said, 'and I feel like I'm a pretty gritty guy.' La Sasso has avoided adversity through two days of the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. He's carded 12 birdies and an eagle while shooting 68-67 and joining Arizona State's Connor Williams, a local kid, atop the individual leaderboard at Omni La Costa. As a team, the Rebels, No. 1 for much of the season and ranked third entering this week, overcame a slow start (5 over in Friday's opening round) to shoot 1 under on Saturday. At 4 over, Ole Miss is firmly in contention to make the final eight after Monday's final round of stroke play. 'Compared to last year, anything is smooth sailing,' Malloy said. 'This team is pretty good when we just have normal things happening.' La Sasso wasn't a big-name recruit when he initially signed with North Carolina State out of high school. He transferred to Ole Miss prior to last season and has since developed into not only a flashy player with the ability to pile up birdies, but also a consistent scorer who prides himself on hitting fairways and isn't afraid to carry a 3-hybrid, which he's used a ton around La Costa. He's not just in great position to win an NCAA individual title, but he'll make his PGA Tour debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July and he's nearing lock territory to make the 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team that will compete at Cypress Point in September. Regardless of what happens, this summer should be much better than last. La Sasso lost 22 pounds after his bout with that stomach illness, which also 'screwed up' his mechanics. He competed in the Arnold Palmer Cup at Lahinch, and it wasn't pretty. 'Like every hole is dogleg left, wind off the left,' La Sasso said, 'and I started seeing these major slices and kind of started to freak out a little bit. I was fighting it for a while.' La Sasso didn't crack the top 50 in limited action that summer. He also tweaked his back in the gym right before the U.S. Amateur, and he missed that cut by a mile, tying for 191st. When La Sasso arrived back in Oxford, his confidence was shot. 'It was like a week before school started, and I'm just sitting there on the putting green,' La Sasso said. 'My assistant coach comes up to me and he's like, 'Dude, you have got to snap out of it.' I had this victim mindset. I had missed first-team All-American; I was the only kid on the Palmer Cup team who wasn't. I was wondering to myself, like, am I not meant to be here? Am I a fluke? 'Emerson's like, 'You're plenty good enough. You have to be more optimistic.'' With some guidance from Ole Miss alum Braden Thornberry, the former Haskins Award winner and Walker Cupper who finally earned his PGA Tour card this season after years of grinding on the developmental tours. Thornberry's main advice to La Sasso was don't worry about the accolades; only your play will get you to the PGA Tour. 'He just has to be him,' Malloy said of La Sasso. In La Sasso's case, be where your feet are – just watch out for sea urchins.
NBC Sports
24-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Cole Ponich wasn't sure if he'd play at high level again; he and BYU now off to nice NCAA start
CARLSBAD, Calif. – BYU is used to kicking off national championships. Because of religious reasons that prohibit the Cougars from competing on Sundays, BYU has played its third round on Thursday afternoon after the practice round in each of its past five NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship appearances, including this week at Omni La Costa. The Cougars are also accustomed to slow starts. BYU made its first trip to nationals in over a decade in 2018 at Karsten Creek, where the Cougars started with a flurry of birdies and even an albatross off the club of Peter Kuest. But a two-hour thunderstorm delay washed away their momentum, and BYU would eventually shoot 24 over en route to a T-24 finish. The next year BYU finished last, 46 shots out of match play, followed by a T-21 finish in 2022 and a T-23 in 2023, where the Cougars fired the worst third-round score and didn't even stick around for Sunday. 'We've butchered that round in the past,' BYU director of golf Todd Miller said. 'We just didn't want to blow ourselves out of the water this year.' Mission accomplished. BYU posted 1 over on Thursday afternoon at La Costa, a score that should play well come Sunday, especially considering only one team broke par for 72 holes last year. 'It's by far the best we've done on this Thursday round,' said senior Cole Ponich, who was one of two BYU players to shoot even par, one shot worse than Zac Jones' 1-under 71, which led the team. 'It's a tough round to play well if you don't have that overwhelming self-belief. It's just a different atmosphere being out there solo, not seeing other shots affected by wind, not seeing other putts.' Added Miller: 'This is the first time I saw them play their normal golf on this Thursday. For me as a coach, this feels like a victory.' Miller calls this year's squad the most mentally tough team he's been around. Ponich describes it as the hardest-working bunch in program history. The sixth-year senior is a big reason why. Ponich was a two-time AJGA All-American, a contemporary with the likes of John Pak, Ryan Gerard an Joe Highsmith, a recent PGA Tour winner whom Ponich traveled with frequently in junior golf. Ponich's issue when he arrived in Provo was his small frame, weighing in at just 120 pounds. 'I was small, and I put everything I had in my body into my golf swing to be able to keep up with these guys,' Ponich said. By his junior year, Ponich had developed a back injury that crept into his left rib cage. Every shot was painful, and eventually Ponich shut it down for six months, only chipping and putting. He didn't play competitively for over a year, losing his power and his feel, the latter of which was especially debilitating for a competitor who prided himself on one of the best short games in amateur golf. 'He just never felt good day in and day out,' Miller said. 'That injury pulled him away from being able to practice. For him, that was really hard to see his game go down because he couldn't practice and he didn't feel the strength he normally felt.' Added Ponich: 'At one point there it was looking like I might not be able to compete with these guys anymore, and I kind of lost some of the passion and drive. But I randomly just said, hey, I'm tired of not being where I used to be.' The 24-year-old Ponich's resurgence started last summer, when he rededicated himself to practicing, including six to eight hours every day of chipping and putting, and working out. He gained about 30 pounds of muscle, and he capped his summer by winning the Utah State Amateur. 'That sparked the old confidence I had in myself and kind of brought back a new life,' Ponich said. 'Ever since then, I've just slowly worked my way into being confident again and believing in myself.' Ranked No. 77 in the country entering nationals, Ponich posted four top-5s this season, including a runner-up showing at the NCAA Reno Regional, which BYU won as a team. He's had an impact on the Cougars with more than his score, too. 'He's like a Ryder Cup captain within the team,' Miller said. 'He says the right things, he builds the guys up, so as a coach it's been really fun to see him finish this way.' BYU, which at No. 19 in the nation earned the final spot in the top wave at La Costa, followed Thursday's round with a first-round, 1-over 289, which has them inside the current match-play cut line at T-8 with Colorado. It's unfamiliar territory for the Cougars, but one they're certainly pleased to be in. Arguably no one is happier than Ponich.
USA Today
16-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Meet the 10 finalists for the 2025 Haskins Award, men's college golf's Player of the Year
Meet the 10 finalists for the 2025 Haskins Award, men's college golf's Player of the Year And then there were 10. After NCAA Regionals concluded Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship field is set for May 23-28 at Omni La Costa's North Course in Carlsbad, California. With one tournament left in the 2024-25 men's college golf season, the best players across the country have separated themselves from the rest, but only one can win the Haskins Award. The Fred Haskins Award presented by Stifel honors the Player of the Year in men's college golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. Finalists for the Haskins Award were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters. They are listed alphabetically. If you fit one of the listed criteria above, here's a link to cast your vote: More: Meet the teams, individuals who advanced to the 2025 NCAA Div. I Men's Golf Championship Meet the 10 finalists for the 2025 Haskins Award: Josele Ballester, Arizona State Class: Senior Wins: 1 (Fighting Illini) Top-10 finishes: 5 Stroke play events: 8 Ranking: No. 9 Luke Clanton, Florida State Class: Junior Wins: 4 (Watersound, Seminole Intercollegiate, Lewis Chitengwa, NCAA Tallahassee Regional) Top-10 finishes: 7 Stroke play events: 10 Ranking: No. 3 David Ford, North Carolina Class: Senior Wins: 5 (Ben Hogan, Williams Cup, Valspar, Augusta Haskins, Tar Heel) Top-10 finishes: 9 Stroke play events: 13 Ranking: No. 1 Ben James, Virginia Class: Junior Wins: 1 (Valero) Top-10 finishes: 7 Stroke play events: 10 Ranking: No. 12 Jackson Koivun, Auburn Class: Sophomore Wins: 3 (Inverness, SEC Championship, NCAA Auburn Regional) Top-10 finishes: 9 Stroke play events: 12 Ranking: No. 2 Michael La Sasso, Ole Miss Class: Junior Wins: 2 (Hamptons, Old Waverly) Top-10 finishes: 6 Stroke play events: 11 Ranking: No. 4 Christiaan Maas, Texas Class: Junior Wins: 1 (Pauma Valley) Top-10 finishes: 8 Stroke play events: 12 Ranking: No. 8 Phichaksn Maichon, Texas A&M Class: Senior Wins: 2 (SeaBest, Aggie Invitational) Top-10 finishes: 9 Stroke play events: 13 Ranking: No. 20 Preston Stout, Oklahoma State Class: Sophomore Wins: 2 (Cabo, Big 12 Championship) Top-10 finishes: 7 Stroke play events: 12 Ranking: No. 7 Brendan Valdes, Auburn Class: Senior Wins: 1 (General James Hackler) Top-10 finishes: 7 Stroke play events: 12 Ranking: No. 6
