CHARLES HOWELL III

U.S. Open qualifying starts this week and a dozen or so LIV Golf players already have decided they won't be playing the third major of the year.

Charles Howell III has won the LIV Golf opener in Mexico.

Peter Uihlein and Talor Gooch are tied for the lead in LIV Golf's opening event of its season in Mayakoba.

Dustin Johnson is on a roll in the Saudi-backed LIV series.

Henrik Stenson turned his focus to golf and it was good.

Former President Donald Trump says the Saudi-funded LIV Golf circuit has created a “gold rush” for players.

The Saudi-funded LIV Golf series has announced a 14-tournament schedule for next year.

Rory McIlroy fought off a sinus bug to shoot an 8-under 62 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead with J.

J.

Brandt Snedeker and Beau Hossler each shot rounds of 5-under 67 to join J.

Sahith Theegala crashed golf’s biggest party.

Top-ranked Jon Rahm starred at Arizona State and lives in the Valley of the Sun.

Expect the unexpected will be the motto for the world’s best golfers this week as they get a crack at links golf for the first time in two years in the British Open at Royal St. George's.

Cameron Smith birdied the difficult 17th and 18th holes at Harbour Town to shoot a 9-under 62 and take a one-stroke lead over Stewart Cink at the RBC Heritage.

FILE - Dustin Johnson waves after winning the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., in a Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, file photo. Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, the club intends to allow a limited number of spectators for the Masters on April 8-11, provided it can be done safely, given the coronavirus pandemic. Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said Tuesday the club intends to allow a limited number of spectators for the Masters on April 8-11, provided it can be done safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ridley said holding the Masters with only essential personnel made the club confident in its ability to stage a major championship with limited fans. For the Augusta National Women's Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt Finals, limited patrons would be allowed, most likely family members.

Woods, Charles Howell III, Adam Scott and Paul Casey are the only players who competed in that 2003 U.S. Open (Woods tied for 20th). Amateur at Olympia Fields, which featured five other players in the BMW Championship field, including PGA champion Collin Morikawa. For some, this week is about improving their position going to the Tour Championship, which features a staggered start to par. Woods said he looked at few videos of Olympia Fields before he arrived. This golf course is set up more toward an Open than it is anything else.___More AP golf: https://apnews.com/apf-Golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The PGA Tour is at Muirfield Village for the second straight week, and it only looks like the same course. Bryson DeChambeau pounded his tee shots one of them went 423 yards and still couldn't get his wedges terribly close. Steele overcame an early bogey with solid golf the rest of the way for a one-shot lead over Charles Howell III. That goes for the fairways, the greens, Steele said. And then the wind stopped when he hit the shot, and his ball sailed some 15 yards over the green.