CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Alex Noren finally made his way back to tournament golf after seven months away because of a hamstring tear. One week later, the Swede is in the final group at the PGA Championship alongside the world's No. 1 player.
Noren last played the Dunhill Links Championship on Oct. 6. Instead of closing down the practice range every night, he spent his time at home coaching his daughter's softball team.
“It was a lot easier to have this break when I’m 42 than when I was younger,” Noren said. “As soon as I kind of could play, I thought I was in sort of the same form I was in before I got injured. But I’m still extremely — not surprised — but I’m fortunate to be in this position this early, yeah.”
He got there with a burst at the finish, four birdies over his last five holes, for a 66 that gave him the lead until Scottie Scheffler played a closing stretch equally impressive.
Noren, a 10-time winner on the European Tour after a college career at Oklahoma State, has only two top 10s in the majors and has never seriously contended.
The injury involved a torn tendon in his hamstring on the sit bone. It was a tough injury because it requires so much time to heal. He couldn't swing a club. He couldn't run or jump, but he otherwise lived a normal life spending time with his family. That was nice.
“It's good to take a break sometimes,” said Noren, who has a reputation as among the hardest workers in golf. “I missed it, but I also liked what I had at the time, which helps me maybe realize a little bit that I don't think it's the end of the world if you play bad.”
Former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick is in a drought that has seen him go 20 straight tournaments without a top 10 dating to the Memorial last year, so it was worth noting that he worked his way into a tie for the lead at the PGA Championship.
He even had a 12-foot birdie putt for the lead on No. 12 and winced when it narrowly missed.
And then two holes set him back. He three-putted on the par-3 13th from down the slope 45 feet away. On the reachable 14, he drove right in thick grass on the hill leaving a delicate chip. He left that in the rough. The next one raced across the green into more rough.
Fitzpatrick had to get up-and-down with a 5-foot putt to make bogey on the easiest hole at Quail Hollow on Saturday.
He wound up six shots behind and looking at the big picture.
“I made big steps in where I’ve been over the last four or five months, so happy I’m up front,” he said. “Always a day you like to go forward but not ideal.”
The final round of the PGA Championship will have big ramifications for the final two majors of the year. The top 60 in the world ranking published Monday will be exempt from U.S. Open qualifying. The top 50 are exempt from the British Open.
Jacob Bridgeman was at No. 60 coming into Quail Hollow and missed the cut, which could cost him. The next six players behind him not only made the cut, players like Si Woo Kim, Matthieu and Joe Highsmith (No. 69) go into the final round within touch of the lead. Pavon is already in the U.S. Open but could still bump out Bridgeman.
The U.S. Open also takes the top 60 in the world in two weeks after the Memorial.
The British Open has one cutoff for the top 50. Davis Thompson is at No. 50 and missed the cut, and could get passed. He can only wait and hope.
The PGA Championship bumped its purse by $500,000 to $19 million, third-highest among the three U.S. majors.
The Masters last month raised its purse by $1 million to $21 million. The U.S. Open will announced its purse next month at Oakmont. It was $21.5 million in 2024. The British Open was $17 million last year and its prize fund has yet to be announced.
The winner of the PGA Championship gets $3.42 million. The last time it was at Quail Hollow in 2017, the purse was $10.5 million and Justin Thomas won $1.89 million. This year, the runner-up will get just over $2 million.
Duke alum Alex Smalley gave his home state fans something to cheer the opening two rounds. Ben Griffin from Chapel Hill was in the mix.
And on Saturday it was J.T. Poston's turn. He played bogey-free over the last 15 holes and finished with a 30-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a 68, leaving him four shots behind and in the penultimate group.
Poston already has experience winning before a home state crowd, having won the Wyndham Championship for his first PGA Tour title.
“I love playing in front of the home crowd. I think I definitely can feed off of some of that momentum and people pulling for me,” Poston said. “I’m sure tomorrow will be no different than it has been every other day this week.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
J.T. Poston waves after making a putt on the seventh hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Matthew Fitzpatrick, of England, reacts after missing a putt on the first hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Alex Noren, of Sweden, hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt York)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”
Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.
Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
