Golf

The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, facing pressure from the Justice Department about their ambitions for a new company to shape global golf, have in recent days abandoned a crucial provision of their tentative deal: A promise not to recruit each other’s players.

Washington State’s Christian “Pono” Yanagi, playing on home turf at Palouse Ridge Golf Club on Wednesday, earned medalist honors and secured a spot in the U.S. Amateur.

The 36th Rosauers Open Invitational field is essentially a who’s who in the Pacific Northwest PGA Section accompanied by a talented group of amateurs.

When the PGA Tour comes to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to defend its controversial pact with the deep-pocketed Saudi Public Investment Fund, there are likely to be aggressive, pointed questions. And there may not be many definitive answers.

Gonzaga’s Jace Minni claimed a spot in the U.S. Amateur with a third-place finish Thursday at a qualifier at the Home Course in DuPont, Washington.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — The grass behind the 13th green of Menlo Country Club in Woodside, Calif., is dense and gnarly, a thicket where overhit drives meet ruin. In the pivotal stages of the Big Match, the annual rivalry between the California and Stanford golf teams, Rose Zhang stood over her ball there, forced to recover after taking too much club on the drivable par-4.

Part of the job covering golf for this newspaper is scouring results, tee times and tournament schedules at the prep, amateur and professional levels. That’s how I came across the name Scott Almquist, of Wallace, Idaho, teeing off at 10:30 a.m. PDT on Thursday and 5 a.m. on Friday at the U.S. Senior Open in an email from the United State Golf Association. Cue my double take and curiosity to learn more about another accomplished player from our region.

LOS ANGELES – It might have been fitting if someone from Holywood won this year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. But Rory McIlroy, born in the Northern Ireland town of Holywood, is not having that kind of year.

LOS ANGELES — Brand new location. Brand new winner. Wyndham Clark, little more than a month removed from his first PGA Tour win, held off the seasoned Rory McIlroy on Sunday to clinch the first U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Both Clark and McIlroy shot even-par 70s, maintaining their positions at the start of the day. McIlroy, a four-time major winner, has been in the hunt for No. 5 ...

Workers scurried inside and outside Friday to put the finishing touches on a 42,000 square-foot building that will become home to a pro shop, clubhouse, restaurant and bar with six golf simulators, 17 hotel rooms, retail space and a 5,000-square foot events center.

LOS ANGELES – Golf, a concoction with a fiendish knack for saying no, might well stand ready to spend Sunday saying a mighty yes to someone who has spent recent years hearing no often. That’s because a kinetic leaderboard after three rounds of the 123rd U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club brimmed with long-familiar contenders the four major golf tournaments have snubbed, or snubbed of late.

LOS ANGELES – U.S. Open winner Gary Woodland had lately sensed something different in professional golf.

LOS ANGELES – No golf fans followed Rickie Fowler on Thursday dressed the same as he was. That used to be a thing in 2010 when Fowler, then 22, rode his relaxed dirt-biking roots and a boy band vibe complete with a top-to-toe orange outfit and a flat-brim hat to enormous popularity.

The chair of a powerful Senate subcommittee launched a probe into the partnership between the PGA Tour and its Saudi-funded rival, requesting documents and communications that led to the alliance that rocked the golf world last week.

We caught up with Circling Raven pro Chris Runyan and Downriver’s Steve Conner for their thoughts on the new alliance and future of pro golf. Keep in mind that unknowns greatly outnumber knowns at this point.

LOS ANGELES – How are you going to watch PGA Tour golf again? How can you stomach it now that it’s grouped itself with LIV Golf, the divisive league backed by an entity controlled by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince?

David VonBrethorst was a pastor and high school track and field coach for much of his 47 years. But at the heart of it all, he was a teacher and advocate for young people.

A handful of players with area connections came up short Monday in final qualifying for the U.S. Open.