Golf news live - Open announce rule change impacting Mickelson as Rahm takes aim

Saturday blog

Here on Saturday? Follow today's blog for all the latest news via the link below!

Bubba Watson shares details of horror knee injury ahead of LIV Golf debut

Friday blog

Here on Friday? Head over to today's blog via the link below to keep up with all the latest golf news!

McIlroy makes final LIV Golf decision

Rory McIlroy seemed to open the door to a move to LIV Golf last month, and he has decided his future in the game with a definitive statement.

Read the full story HERE

Rory McIlroy has definitively confirmed he will not join LIV Golf (ESPN)

Arnold Palmer leaderboard

Most players are done for the day in round one of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Here is how the top of the leaderboard looks...

T1 - Justin Lower -5 (F)
T1 - Hideki Matsuyama -5 (F)
T1 - Shane Lowry -5 (12)
T4 - Russell Henley -4 (F)
T4 - Lee Hodges -4 (F)
T4 - Sam Burns -4 (F)
T4 - Sahith Theegala -4 (F)

Keegan Bradley's brutal Ryder Cup snub unearthed

Netflix's Full Swing cameras captured the brutal moment Zach Johnson had to call Keegan Bradley to let him know he was not selected for last Autumn's Ryder Cup...

Read more on the behind-the-scenes encounter below...

(Netflix)

Rickie Fowler sounds off on LIV Golf

Rickie Fowler was a man heavily linked with LIV Golf, but opted to turn down the Saudi switch to remain with the PGA Tour. Asked about the decision to stay loyal to the Tour on Full Swing, Fowler did not hold back.

"I'm not out there playing for a pay check, I'm out there playing to compete with the best players in the world."

LIV Golf snap up PGA Tour winner who bases his game on fellow rebel Mickelson

Read more...

Rickie Fowler addressed his links to LIV Golf (Netflix)

LIV Golf merger far from done

LIV Golf star Anirban Lahiri has revealed a deal between he PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) is far from complete, as golf's off-course saga rumbles on.

"From what I've heard, it's not a done deal. In fact, I am hearing the opposite," he told Times of India. "It will be a matter of time as in how all the different organisations move forward. This back and forth just highlights what professional golf has gone through in the last two years. This whole period there has been a lot of turmoil."

Read more below...

Hot start for Rory

Rory McIlroy's week at the Arnold Palmer is underway, and the Northern Irishman is already in the red. McIlroy birdied the par-three second to get his week going, as he searches for a second win around the iconic Bay Hill setup.

Justin Lower and Hideki Matsuyama are the early pace setters, both back in the clubhouse at five-under-par.

Cam Smith hits back at LIV music critics

LIV Golf's decision to play music whilst players are out competing has split the opinion of many, but former Open champion Cam Smith has problem with it.

"Yeah, I think if you do notice it you'reprobably not in the right head space, to be honest," he said in Hong Kong. "You should be really focused on what you're doing. I think themusic out there today is probably not how loud it's going tobe tomorrow. Usually they turn it down for us on Friday .But there will still be a little bit there."

(Getty Images)

Latest from the Arnold Palmer Invitational

A quick look at the PGA Tour leaderboad over at the Arnold Palmer Invitational:

T1 - Justin Lower -5 (F)

T1 - Hideki Matsuyama -5 (16)

T1 - Russell Henley -5 (16)

T4 - Chris Kirk -4 (14)

T4 - Sam Burns -4 (12)

T6 - Luke List -3 (F)

T6 Will Zalatoris -3 (F)

T6 Min Woo Lee -3 (F)

T6 Nick Taylor -3 (F)

T6 Sepp Straka -3 (F)

T6 Brian Harman -3 (12)

Hovland addresses OWGR issue

Despite his PGA Tour loyalties, Viktor Hovland has become the latest star to question the current state of the world rankings in the wake of LIV Golf's decision to end their pursuit for OWGR points.

"Rankings are rankings, they’re not objective truth," he said. "They are created to try to rank people the best they can. Obviously, now when you have a huge chunk of really, really good players that are not getting any ranking points, it definitely devalues that ranking.

“So, at the end of the day, I don’t show up out here to try to improve my world ranking, I show up because I want to win this tournament and that’s it.”

Viktor Hovland has spoken about the prize money he earned on the PGA Tour this season (Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)

Jon Rahm backs Talor Gooch

Talor Gooch was LIV Golf's in-form man in 2023, but after his fall in the world rankings he will not be at this April's Masters. One man who will be is defending champion Jon Rahm, but he feels his fellow LIV star should also be at Augusta.

"I think Talor Gooch should be under consideration to possibly get an invite into those majors, as well. He was the best player out here last year, and if that doesn't show good golf and being worthy of being in majors, I don't know what does.”

Read more below...

Phil Mickelson Open exemption after rule change

The R&A announced on Wednesday that they were reducing the age of eligible past champions able to compete at The Open from 60 to 55, which will no doubt have caught the attention of Phil Mickelson.

Fortunately for the former winner he will not be affected by the changes, which will only come into action for champions from 2024 onwards. Mickelson got his hands on the Claret Jug following victory at Muirfield in 2013.

Read more below...

Phil Mickelson's US Open dream continues to elude him (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

LIV Golf stars heading to Macau

As has often been the case of the past two seasons, a whole host of LIV Golf stars are set once again set to branch out to the Asian Tour's International Series

21 players headlined by Sergio Garcia will head to Macau later this month, with the likes of Patrick Reed and Ian Poulter also in the field. The event will give Garcia and co the chance to earn some much-needed world ranking points, amid LIV's decision to give up on OWGR recognition earlier this week.

Read more below...

Tiger snubs Netflix - again!

Whilst there was plenty of good viewing included in Full Swing's latest release, there is once again no involvement from Tiger Woods. Despite 2024 being a quiet year for Woods amid injury, there was still no mention of his Masters withdrawal, or any input from the man himself regarding the ongoing drama away from the golf course.

Read more on Tiger's snub below...

(Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy's emotional message for Jon Rahm

Wednesday brought the release of season two of Netflix's PGA Tour docu-series, Full Swing. The Netflix cameras captured yet another dramatic year of professional golf, including last Autumn's Ryder Cup.

In it, one behind-the-scenes moment showed Rory McIlroy showing his love for his European teammate Jon Rahm, just two months before his decision to join LIV Golf.

Read more below...

Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm shared an embrace as Team Europe celebrated following victory at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club (Getty)

Jon Rahm weighs in on LIV's ranking decision

Following Tuesday's news that LIV Golf had ended its quest for the Official World Golf Rankings, a number of players have had their say on the decision.

Jon Rahm: "I didn't know they were still trying to get World Ranking points. But the one thing I can say is I'm going to back to what I said two years ago in the DP World Tour Championship.

I didn't think it was a good system back then, and if anything, the more time that goes on, the more it proves to be wrong. If anybody in this world, for example, doesn't think Joaco deserves to be in the top 10 or doesn't know that he's a top player in the world, I don't know what game you're watching."

Bryson DeChambeau: " I just think what's right is in the best interest of the game, and we should focus on having the best players at the majors, and continuing to have that around the game of golf is only important to growing the game of golf and to make the game of golf continue to be as relevant as it is now and even more in the future.

"What I think about it is we need to find a collective way, all the governing bodies, everybody, come together, sit down and figure this out, because we need to do this for the fans."

Jon Rahm addressed LIV Golf's world ranking decision (Sky Sports)

Welcome!

Welcome along to Mirror Sport's daily golf blog! From the fall out surrounding LIV Golf's decision to give up on world rankings, to all of the action from Bay Hill on the PGA Tour, you can follow along here.