Connoisseur

SAN ANTONIO — Charley Hoffman is just a few years from a major milestone, one that will afford him the opportunity to compete on multiple tours. The San Diego native is less than three years from hitting the big 5-0, meaning he’ll be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions as well as the PGA Tour. But this week at the Texas Valero Open, the wily veteran is celebrating an even bigger number as he makes his 500th PGA Tour start. After playing collegiately at UNLV, Hoffman made his PGA Tour...

It’s the final stop of a Texas two step before the season’s first major championship. The PGA Tour is in San Antonio, Texas, for the Valero Texas Open. TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course is the host, and Corey Conners is the defending champion. He has two PGA Tour victories, and both have come at the Valero. Also in the field are world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa, past champion Jordan Spieth and many others looking to get their final Masters prep in. Here’s...

It was a low scoring first day of the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. South Carolina junior Hannah Darling holds the solo lead at 6-under 66 after a ANWA-record eight birdies in the opening round. She leads by a shot over Ingrid Lindblad, the top-ranked female amateur in the world, Francesca Fiorellini and Eila Galitsky. Florida State’s Lottie Woad and Florida’s Maisie Filler sit at 4 under. There were 11 rounds in the 60s on Wednesday, the best scoring day in ANWA history. After the first two rounds Wednesday and...

Justin Thomas will have a new caddie next week at the Masters. He announced Wednesday on social media he was splitting with Jim “Bones” Mackay, calling the decision “incredibly difficult for me to say.” Mackay joined Thomas’ bag in late 2021, and the duo won the 2022 PGA Championship together. Mackay was the longtime looper for Phil Mickelson before the duo split in 2017. Then, Mackay went to work full-time for NBC Sports and Golf Channel doing commentary. He was the fill-in lead analyst for NBC during the PGA Tour...

PGA Tour and LIV Golf players finally have something to agree on – the divide and current state of professional golf is unsustainable. Rory McIlroy has been outspoken on the topic over the last few months, and a week before the two sides reunite for the first major of the year at the 2024 Masters – 13 LIV players will tee it up at Augusta National – a handful of LIV’s captains explained why the game needs to come back together sooner rather than later. “The fans are what drive...