Tiger Woods has been officially named as part of the field for next week's PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

Woods, who has clinched four of his 15 major titles at the PGA Championship, made a record-breaking 24th consecutive cut at the Masters last month.

A nightmare third round of 82 – his worst ever at Augusta National – meant he finished last of all players to make the cut on 16 over, but he immediately outlined his intention to play the remaining three majors of 2024.

On Tuesday, the 48-year-old was officially confirmed as being part of the field for next week's event in Louisville, joining 15 other past winners including Rory McIlroy and defending champion Brooks Koepka. 

Two further spots will be allocated to the winners of this week's Wells Fargo Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic.

While McIlroy won the last PGA Championship to be held at Valhalla in 2014, Woods triumphed on the previous occasion in 2000, the first leg of the 'Tiger Slam' in which he held all four major titles at once. 

Last week, Woods was given a special exemption to allow him to feature at June's U.S. Open, for which he failed to qualify after slipping to 801st in the world rankings.

Brooks Koepka believes things are trending in the right direction as he prepares to defend his PGA Championship title next week, having warmed up with a two-shot win at LIV Golf Singapore.

Koepka recorded his first triumph on the LIV circuit this year on Sunday, shooting a three-under final round of 68 to see off competition from Australian duo Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith.

A resurgent Smith shot five under in the third round in Singapore, but Koepka carded four birdies and one bogey to ensure he became the first player to win four titles on the LIV tour.

His return to form comes at an ideal time, as he gears up for a bid to win his fourth PGA Championship title – and sixth major overall – at Valhalla Golf Club next week.

"It's all starting to come around. I've put in a lot of work and I like the way things are trending," the Florida native said.

"I just need to go back next week and make sure everything continues, do the right stuff and go from there."

Kopeka had finished in a share of ninth in LIV's previous event in Adelaide one week earlier, four shots back of winner Brendan Steele.

The 34-year-old continued: "I feel good – I feel a lot better than I did last week. 

"It was about rounding the corner for me. I was improving but the results weren't there. It's nice to see some results and the hard work paying off.

"I still have the same expectations every time I go tee it up and that's to win. Those are my expectations, what I want to do. One result doesn't mean anything really in the scheme of things.

"For two weeks, a lot can change. Yeah, it does help, but at the same time, I've seen guys miss cuts and then go win and then win and then not compete the week after. It's all ebbs and flows."

Top Bajan female golfer, Emily Odwin, made history when she became the first Barbadian golfer to win an American Collegiate Conference Championship by helping the Southern Methodist University Mustangs win the American Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championship from April 15-17 at the Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Florida.

Odwin’s Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs staged a major come back from a tournament-low 12-under 276 to move up two spots.

They then overcome a nine-stroke deficit to secure the title, becoming only the second team to repeat as champions in the process.

Odwin, who is also the first Barbadian female to ever play NCAA Division One golf, had a five-under 211 to lead her team’s charge along with teammates Ellie Szerk and Mackenzie Lee. All three tied for fifth in the individual standings.

Odwin shot a three-under 33 on the back nine to shoot up the standings. 

She joined the Mustangs after transferring from the University of Texas and has played for them in seven starts this season in which she had four top ten finishes.

Tiger Woods will play in next month's U.S. Open at Pinehurst after accepting a special exemption.

The 15-time major winner had been set to miss out on competing in the event for the first time in his professional career after failing to qualify.

However, Woods – whose five-year exemption for winning the Masters in 2019 has expired – has been given a special invitation by organisers.

"The U.S. Open, our national championship, is a truly special event for our game and one that has helped define my career," Woods said.

"I'm honoured to receive this exemption and could not be more excited for the opportunity to compete in this year's U.S. Open, especially at Pinehurst, a venue that means so much to the game."

Woods, ranked 789th in the world, has played just two tournaments this year as he continues to struggle with a leg injury sustained in a car accident three years ago.

The 48-year-old finished 60th in last month's Masters after making the cut for a 24th successive time.

Woods is a three-time winner of the US Open, most recently doing so in 2008, with this year's event beginning on June 13.

Jamaica's young golfers recently completed their three-day trials at the Caymanas Golf Club where they performed well under challenging conditions.

The trials were geared towards selecting the team for this year's Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship which will also be held at the Caymanas Golf Club in early July of this year. 

Trey Williams led the boys while Mattea Issa led the girls with outstanding performances. Williams was the only golfer to post an under-par score with a two-under-par 70 on the final day. 

Williams faced six competitors in the Boys 18 and Under category. He posted eight over par 80, four over par 76 and two under par 70 for the three days respectively, for a combined total of 10 over par 226 which is his best placement in a local competition to date. 

"I feel really good about it. After the first day I was down by a good amount but I just kept my cool. I knew that I can play this course well and for the next two days I just made sure I played conservative and I gave it my all and it worked out" said Williams. 

He now looks forward to the championships.

"Seeing how the championship is at this very course and I know I can play well at this course I am going to continue to practice, make sure that my game is at the top that it can be and give it my all when the championship comes and make sure that I can do well." 

Aman Dhiman was second with scores of 72, 84 and 78 for a total score of 18 over par 234 while Ryan Lue was two strokes back on 236 (76, 83, 77). 

Issa, with scores of 81, 80 and 81 (242), said that the trials conditions were difficult. 

"To set the scene, the layout of the course was very difficult. Where they put the pins and where they put the tee boxes, they made the course as hard as possible for us kids to challenge us and then also the conditions of the course like the wind and the condition of the grass and the bunkers. That wasn't in the best condition so obviously it was unpredictable where the ball might go at certain times and the speed of the greens and things like that so you have to take that in consideration before analyzing the scores and analyzing the weekend." 

The other female competitor in the Girls 18 and Under category was Anoushka Katri. She scored 107, 99 and 94 for a three-day total of 300. 

Results in the other age groups were: Boys 15 and U - Kemari Morris - 256 (89, 81, 86), Davion Hogan 263 (85, 94, 84) and Cameron Coe 273 (92, 92, 89); Boys 13 and U - Shasa Redlefsen 245 (83, 82, 80) and Girls 13 and U - Alessandra Coe 266 (92, 88, 86). 

The team, when announced will under-go intense preparation by coach Jonathan Newnham who was himself a successful junior golfer, and coach Jason Lopez who has guided several junior teams to the CAJGC. 

Newnham was pleased with what he saw at the trials. "I feel good that everybody had enough good signs this week and we have a few months to prepare. We obviously will know the course very well by the time the champs come around so I am excited for this group and I think it's fair to say that within most if not all the categories we have a chance to do well individually, which if we do well individually that bodes well for the team championship as well." 

Lopez on the other hand was happy with the mix of players at the trials. "We have a nice new crop of guys and girls who are coming up. A lot of young players and exciting players and obviously developing players and you have some guys like Trey (Williams) who have been around for a while. I think overall the kids performed well. I think the conditions were tough which is always good to see the kids tested. Today was not an easier day because there was a lack of wind but we know that come the championship time in July it’s gonna be very windy so it's nice to see those conditions replicated. I think the kids handled it very well." 

According to Alison Reid, the convener for junior golf, the trials is "almost like a test run for the actual event because this is the course they are gonna play in the event and this is pressure condition because they are each trying to make the team so it’s like a mini tournament. It really puts them under the same amount of pressure."

With the lush greens of the picturesque Sandals Golf and Country Club in Upton at their disposal, a number of young talents took centre stage as they paraded their skills in the inaugural drive, chip and putt tournament.

Hosted by the Sandals Foundation, through their Care for Kids Junior Golf Programme, the tournament, not only treated the aspiring stars to a day of excitement, but also served as a qualifier for the prestigious Sandals Golf and Jerk Festival, scheduled for June.

Among the 13 competitors, who graced the course on Saturday was 12-year-old Cavani James, whose passion for the sport and unwavering determination shone brightly as he executed well in all three strokes to emerge victorious. James tallied a score of 75 to finish ahead of Jerone Thomas (66) and Tyreek Smith (58).

By virtue of their performances, all three junior golfers secured spots in the Sandals Golf and Jerk Festival – an exciting sports and food event –where they will be paired with their senior counterparts.

For James, golf is more than just a game, it is a lifelong dream in the making. From the moment he first picked up a club two years ago while attending Exchange Primary, James knew that he had found his calling.

His appetite for the sport intensified even more when he started attending weekend sessions under the guidance of Sandals golf pro Bill Williams, who has nurtured homegrown talents such Romaine Williams and others.

With each swing and each putt, James, fuelled by a burning desire to excel on the golf course, honed his skills, and the Ocho Rios High student recently showcased that skill with a level of maturity beyond his years.

Throughout the tournament, James faced stiff competition from older players and fellow aspiring young golfers alike. But with nerves of steel and a steady hand, he navigated the challenges with precision and poise.

"I feel very good to have won the tournament, especially because I was late in getting to the course and I thought that I wasn't going to make it, but God had other plans for me. So, I am really happy, the tournament itself was also a challenge, anybody who knows golf knows it can be frustrating when the strokes don’t come off how you want them to, but it was good,” James said.

“My expectation is very high for the Sandals Golf and Jerk Festival, I know it is going to be good for me because when I start playing in more tournaments, the better I will get because my ambitions are to go as far as possible in the sport. So, I am going to keep working on what I have to with Mr. Bill [Williams] because I would like to go far in this sport, not only for me, but also to make my mother proud,” he added.

Patrice Gilpin, Sandals Foundation’s public relations manager pointed out that the tournament was another testament of the foundation’s years of hard work and dedication. But more than that, she said it also gave a glimpse into a bright future filled with endless possibilities as the sky is the limit for the young golfing prodigies.

Beyond golf, Gilpin explained that the Care for Kids Programme, which engages kids between the ages of seven and 18 years old, through weekly mentorship training programme, also imparts life skills that prepares them to navigate whatever challenges lay ahead.

“Even if they're not sure about golf, they learn something different, something new. Sports is an amazing avenue that teaches young people personal responsibility, discipline, teamwork, how to be resilient, and how to continue to work at themselves. So, they're learning very targeted soft skills through this programme that also provides very keen mentors for them throughout these very delicate stages of their development,” Gilpin reasoned.

She continued: “So our care for kids go program has been doing an amazing job over the years. We've had kids graduate from the programme and represent Jamaica on the international level. We have two of the current students right now chosen for the Caribbean Amateur golf tournament that's coming up in July.

“So, it's been a very successful programme for us, and it was beautiful just to see the young boys and girls put their heart and souls into showcasing their skills and doing their best in order to qualify to be part of the huge, the bigger tournament that's coming up in June.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Newnham, director of golf at the Sandals Golf and Country Club, echoed similar sentiments.

“It was great to see the progress of the juniors. They were a little nervous, as expected, but they were able to gather themselves and really perform. The top three started off very rough, but produced a great comeback at the end, so I made sure to stress that as a great lesson that goes beyond the sport of golf, but for life as well. Even if you're down early, don't give. I'm really looking forward to them. getting that opportunity to test themselves against the experienced players in June, and it will only help them going forward,” Newnham noted.

Rory McIlroy said his 25th PGA Tour title was made all the more special by the fact it came alongside Shane Lowry after the Irish duo won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in a play-off on Sunday.

Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer were among the early starters in Avondale and set a target of 25 under by carding a nine-under 63 in the fourth round.

It went down to the wire as McIlroy and Lowry birdied the final hole to set up a play-off, which they won by making par after Trainer missed his par putt.

The victory took McIlroy to a quarter of a century on the PGA Tour, and he said lifting the trophy alongside a close friend made it one of his most memorable.   

The world number two said: "To win any PGA Tour event is very cool, but to do it with one of your closest friends… 

"Think about where we met and where we've come from, to be on this stage and do this together, it was just awesome to be able to do it alongside this guy."

Former Open champion Lowry, who now has three PGA titles to his name, added: "Rory brings a crowd, and people love him. 

"We've got a lot of love this week in New Orleans, we've had just the best week. We went out there, we had loads of fun, and we won the tournament. You couldn't ask for a better week."

Scottie Scheffler claimed his fourth win in five events on Monday when the weather-delayed RBC Heritage concluded at Hilton Head.

That run includes a second Masters title and has seen the world number one extend his sizeable lead over Rory McIlroy at the top of the rankings.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the facts and figures around Scheffler’s streak and how they compare to previous runs.

Winning any event on the PGA Tour is difficult, but Scheffler has claimed two of the biggest in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship, a major championship at Augusta National and the RBC Heritage, which boasted a stronger than usual field after being elevated to a Signature Event this season. Victory at Sawgrass made Scheffler the first player ever to win back-to-back Players titles. His only “failure” was a tie for second in the Houston Open.

Scheffler is the first player to win four times in five starts on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods, who did so at the end of 2007 and again to start 2008. He is also the third player in the last 30 years – after Woods and Vijay Singh (2004) – to win or finish runner-up in five consecutive starts on the PGA Tour. With many players taking a break after winning a major, Scheffler is also the first to win a PGA Tour event the week after claiming a green jacket since Bernhard Langer in 1985.

Scheffler has banked an average of £3.17million for each of his four victories and “only” £448,000 for his five-way tie for second behind Stephan Jaeger in the Houston Open. The total sum of £13.14m would place Scheffler 145th on the PGA Tour’s career earnings list and he is closing in on the single-season record of £17million he set last year. In comparison, Woods won nine times on the PGA Tour in 2000, including three major titles, and never finished worse than 23rd in 20 starts. His prize money totalled £7.4m.

In a word, yes. Ahead of the Genesis Invitational in mid-February, Rory McIlroy could have become world number one by winning at Riviera with Scheffler finishing third or worse. Now, Scheffler has more than double the total and average points of McIlroy, while the average points gap between the top two (7.6493) is bigger than that between McIlroy and the players tied for 4,123st in the standings.

Not quite. Hours before Scheffler completed his victory in Hilton Head, fellow American Nelly Korda had wrapped up a fifth consecutive win on the LPGA Tour by claiming her second major title in the Chevron Championship. Korda’s winning streak matches that of Nancy Lopez in 1978 and Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05, although her bid for an unprecedented sixth straight win will have to wait after she cited exhaustion when pulling out of this week’s event in Los Angeles. While Scheffler has earned £13.14m from his last five events, Korda’s five wins have been worth £1.94m.

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler hailed his mental strength after making it four wins in five starts with a rain-delayed victory at the RBC Heritage.

Scheffler returned to Hilton Head on Monday morning holding a five-stroke lead with three holes to play after a storm halted proceedings on Sunday.

The world number one dropped a shot at the last to finish 19 under par, three shots ahead of fellow American Sahith Theegala, with Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark another stroke back.

Scheffler is the first player to win a PGA Tour event the week after claiming the Green Jacket since Bernhard Langer in 1985 and the first to win four times in five starts on the US-based circuit since Tiger Woods in 2007-08.

Each of Scheffler’s last seven wins have come with at least eight of the world’s top 10 in the field and he is the third player in the last 30 years – after Woods and Vijay Singh – to win or finish runner-up in five consecutive starts on the PGA Tour.

“I was able to go home for a couple days and celebrate,” Scheffler said.

“I didn’t really put much thought into it. I had committed to playing the tournament here, it was part of the plan, so we stuck to the plan.

“I talked about it at the beginning of the week – I didn’t show up here just to have some sort of ceremony and have people tell me congratulations. I came here with a purpose, got off to a slow start but after that played some really nice golf.

“I do have fairly high expectations for myself and when I show up at tournaments, I try to do my best.

“I’ve talked a lot about kind of the preparation and what it takes for me to show up on a first tee ready to go, and I feel like I’ve been putting in the work and been playing some good golf, and it’s nice to be seeing some results for that with wins.

“On the course, I think the last month or so I’ve been as good mentally as I have in a long time and I think that’s why I am seeing some of the results.

“This week could be a good example of starting off and looking at the leaderboard on Thursday and everybody is just making birdie after birdie and I’m sitting there over par and I’ve had a shank on the day.

“I just did my best to stay patient and wait until I got hot.

“Had a nice finish to the round on Thursday and then had a really solid Friday where I felt like I played better than I scored, and then I had Saturday where I just played some really good golf.”

Rory McIlroy carded a final-round 74 to slip into a tie for 33rd.

Scottie Scheffler has a five stroke lead with just three holes to play after rain halted play in the RBC Heritage on Sunday.

The US Open champion and world number one continued his great form at Hilton Head in South Carolina on the fourth day of the tournament, hitting an eagle and two birdies across 15 holes.

A storm stopped play for two and a half hours with darkness forcing a finish on Monday.

Fellow American Wyndham Clark had a strong day through his 18 holes, moving into second place with eight birdies and an eagle, but two bogeys and a double bogey stopped him from further encroaching on Scheffler’s lead.

Clark is tied with American’s Patrick Cantlay and J T Poston, who have one hole left to play and Sahith Theegala, who has three holes left to play.

Scheffler is looking for his fourth win in five starts.

Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Tour dominance looks to be showing no signs of slowing down as the world number one heads into the final day of the RBC Heritage with a one shot lead on 16 under.

Fresh off securing his second Masters title in three years, the 27-year-old shot up the leaderboard at Hilton Head on Saturday with a bogey-free third round score of eight under 63.

He leads by one stroke from Austria’s Sepp Straka, while America’s Collin Morikawa sits outright third on 14 under.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy carded a second straight round of 68 to be tied for 12th place on 10 under.

Meanwhile, defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick is tied for 25th after the Englishman carded a third round score of 70.

After shooting an opening 66 at the Chevron Championship in Texas on Thursday, American golfer Lauren Coughlin has a first-round lead for just the second time in her career.

Coughlin went bogey-free with three birdies on the front nine and three on the back nine on the first day of the tournament.

She hit 14 of 18 greens, recorded 10 one-putts and needed just 26 putts overall to get through her first round.

“I think my husband and I had a really good game plan, and I wasn’t trying to be too aggressive out there. Just trying to take a 30-footer or, I might have a chip here or there, just knowing that that’s the appropriate place to be,” she said.

Her husband, John Pond, recently started caddying for her.

She added: “Not trying to be too aggressive in certain spots and taking what, certainly there’s some holes, good pins and stuff that you can go at stuff, but overall, I was just trying to take what it would give me and not trying to force anything.”

Coughlin is making her 11th appearance in an LPGA Tour major championship this week. The American has made the cut in just two of her 10 previous starts in majors, but finished T15 and T16, respectively, in the 2023 and 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Two strokes behind Coughlin are two-time LPGA Tour winner Marina Alex, eight-time JLPGA winner Minami Katsu and major champion Nelly Korda, who is chasing her fifth win in as many consecutive starts on Tour.

Defending champion Lilia Vu withdrew from the Chevron Championship moments before her first-round tee-off on Thursday due to a back injury.

Scottie Scheffler insists he will not be taking things easy in the RBC Heritage in the wake of his second Masters title in three years.

Scheffler justified his billing as pre-tournament favourite with a four-shot victory at Augusta National on Sunday, after which he made a brief trip home to Dallas before heading to Hilton Head.

It was the world number one’s third victory in his last four starts and increased his lead over Rory McIlroy at the top of the rankings to more than six points, but the 27-year-old has no intention of just making up the numbers this week.

“I won the tournament last week and now we’re here and it’s Wednesday and we’re all even par again,” Scheffler told a pre-tournament press conference.

“It seems like to me in my head that everything starts over each week, so it doesn’t matter what I’m ranked going into the week. It only really matters kind of where you sit at the end of the week.

“So going into this week it’ll be a bit more challenging than it was last week just because I think playing in contention at majors and especially winning takes a lot out of you.

“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on after the Masters on Sunday and you get home very late and emotionally I think I’m a bit drained.

“But we’re starting at even par, so I’m going to go home this afternoon and get as much rest and recovery as possible and show up tomorrow ready to play.

“I was on a radio show earlier today and Colt [Knost] asked me if I thought about withdrawing and I said, no, I committed to this tournament and I’m not showing up here just to walk around and play a little golf.

“I left my pregnant wife at home to come here and play in a golf tournament. I am here to play and hopefully play well. I’m not here just for fun.”

Scheffler stressed how keen he was to get home to his wife Meredith during his post-victory media duties, so much so that a picture of him wearing the green jacket at a bar in Dallas on Sunday evening warranted an explanation.

“I don’t know if I’d actually been to that place before,” Scheffler said.

“There was another tavern around the corner that I’d been to a few times and it’s a nice place but shockingly it wasn’t open Sunday at 1:30 in the morning. This place was open.

“On the plane ride home I was with my manager Blake and my coach Randy and then I had four of my good buddies with me, and I don’t remember who suggested it but it seemed like a good idea.

“When Meredith picked us up at the airport it still seemed like a good idea and Meredith was down so we went for probably 20 minutes and went home.

“Took a few photos, had a drink and then went home and went to bed.”

World number one Nelly Korda insists she is taking nothing for granted as she bids to secure a remarkable fifth straight win and second major title in the Chevron Championship.

Korda took a seven-week break after winning her first title of the year, the LPGA Drive On Championship, in January, and returned to win three events in the space of three weeks, including beating Ireland’s Leona Maguire in the final of the T-Mobile Match Play.

The 25-year-old is the first woman to win on four consecutive starts since Lorena Ochoa in 2008 and is also the first to enter a major on such a streak since Annika Sorenstam.

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“In 2021 I went on a run, and then in 2022 and 2023 golf really humbled me,” admitted Korda, who won four times in 2021, including her sole major title to date in the Women’s PGA Championship.

“There are ups and downs. Every athlete goes through the rollercoaster, and that is what makes the sport so great. You mature and grow so much and learn more about yourself.

“You never take these weeks for granted. You always try to appreciate and become very grateful for them.

“It makes just all the hard work so worth it. But I think I’ve learned so much about myself even through the losses.”

Korda has had one week since her last victory to recharge the batteries ahead of the first women’s major of the season at Carlton Woods in Texas, where she finished a shot outside the play-off won by Lilia Vu last year.

“Last week I was so tired,” Korda added. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that tired. I would wake up and I was ready to go back to bed but I couldn’t. It’s almost to the point where you just can’t sleep, you’re just overly tired.

“I made sure to prioritise any rest. My parents are on top of me to not overdo it.

“I always want to practice more, do more to be better. So made sure to prioritize my rest and making sure to go to sleep early and sleeping a lot, too. That’s the number one thing for recovery. Overall this week I feel really good.”

Korda and Vu have been drawn together for the first two rounds alongside Australia’s Minjee Lee, while English amateur Lottie Woad, winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this month, is in a group with Madelene Sagstrom and Gabriela Ruffels.

Rory McIlroy has dismissed a report that he was on the verge of a shock move to LIV Golf.

London financial paper City AM reported at the weekend that McIlroy, who has been among the staunchest critics of the Saudi-funded breakaway, could be about to jump ship in a deal worth USD850million (£680million).

McIlroy’s manager Sean O’Flaherty told the Irish Independent the report was “fake news” and the world number two was asked about the claim ahead of this week’s RBC Heritage.

“I honestly don’t know how these things get started,” McIlroy said in an interview with Golf Channel which he subsequently posted on his official account on X, formerly Twitter.

“I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV.

“I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.

“Doesn’t mean that I judge people that went and played over there, I think one of the things that I’ve realised over the past two years is people can make their own decisions for whatever they think is best for themselves and who are we to judge them for that?

“But personally for me my future is here on the PGA Tour and it’s never been any different.”

Asked if he knew where the rumour had originated, McIlroy said: “No, no idea.

“Jeez, I think over the last two years there’s been so many rumours of guys… and I think the one thing I’ve realised as well is guys need to keep an open mind and I’m sure there’s been players who are still playing on the PGA Tour that have talked to the guys from LIV and had offers and whatever.

“But I have no idea. It’s never even been a conversation for us and it’s one of those things.

“It’s unfortunate we have to deal with it and this is the state that our game’s in but I’m obviously here today, playing this PGA Tour event and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.”