WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Greensboro, North Carolina.
Course: Sedgefield CC. Yardage: 7,131. Par: 70.
Prize money: $8.2 million. Winner's share: $1.476 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).
Defending champion: Aaron Rai.
FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.
Last week: Kurt Kitayama won the 3M Open.
Notes: This is the final tournament of the regular season that decides which 70 players advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs. ... Scottie Scheffler already has clinched the $10 million bonus for leading the regular season in points. ... Jordan Spieth has added this tournament to his schedule to boost his FedEx Cup standing and help his Ryder Cup cause. ... Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley is the only player from the top 10 in the field. But this week is more about the FedEx Cup. Only seven players between No. 31 and No. 70 are skipping the event. The top 50 after the first playoff event get into all the signature events. Wyndham Clark (No. 48) and Min Woo Lee (No. 49) are among those not playing. ... Last year Aaron Rai went from No. 53 to No. 25 by winning the Wyndham Championship. He made it to the Tour Championship for the first time. ... Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, at No. 15, can earn Ryder Cup points this week.
Next week: FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
AIG WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN
Site: Porthcawl, Wales.
Course: Royal Porthcawl GC. Yardage: 6,580. Par: 72.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (USA Network); Saturday-Sunday, 7 a.m. to noon (USA Network), noon to 2 p.m. (NBC).
Prize money: $9.5 million. Winner's share: $1.425 million.
Defending champion: Lydia Ko.
Race to CME Globe leader: Jeeno Thitikul.
LET Order of Merit: Mimi Rhodes.
Last week: Lottie Woad won the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open.
Notes: This is the fifth and final major of the year on the LPGA. ... The LPGA has played 19 tournaments with a different winner, the longest it has gone without a multiple winner in its 75-year history. ... Royal Porthcawl has hosted the Senior British Open three times and the British Amateur seven times. It also is where Great Britain & Ireland defeated a U.S. team with Tiger Woods in the 1995 Walker Cup. ... Lottie Woad has won twice and missed a playoff by one shot in a major in her last three tournaments, two of them as an amateur. ... Nelly Korda has gone 12 tournaments this year without a win. She is still No. 1 in the women's world ranking and No. 6 in the Race to CME Globe. ... The LPGA has gone 13 consecutive majors with different winners. ... This is the 25th year the Women's British Open has been a major on the LPGA. It replaced the du Maurier Classic in Canada in 2001.
Next week on the LET: PIF London Championship.
Next LPGA tournament: The Standard Portland Classic on Aug. 14-17.
Online: https://www.lpga.com/ and https://ladieseuropeantour.com/
UTAH CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Ogden, Utah.
Course: Ogden Golf & CC. Yardage: 7,045. Par: 71.
Prize money: $1 million. Winner's share: $180,000.
Television: Thursday-Saturday, 6-9 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Previous winner: Karl Vilips.
Points leader: Johnny Keefer.
Last week: Johnny Keefer won the NV5 Invitational.
Next week: Pinnacle Bank Championship.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour
Last tournament: Scottie Scheffler won the British Open.
Next week: Nexo Championship.
Race to Dubai leader: Rory McIlroy.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/
Last week: Joaquin Niemann won LIV Golf UK.
Next week: LIV Golf Chicago.
Points leader: Joaquin Niemann.
Online: https://www.livgolf.com/
Last week: Padraig Harrington won the Senior British Open.
Next week: Boeing Classic.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions
Epson Tour: Four Winds Invitational, South Bend CC, South Bend, Indiana. Previous winner: Yahui Zhang. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/
Japan Golf Tour: Richard Mille Charity Tournament, Noto CC, Ishikawa, Japan. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/
Challenge Tour: Farmfoods Scottish Challenge, Schloss Roxburghe, Heiton, Scotland. Previous winner: Brandon Robinson Thompson. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/hotelplanner-tour/
PGA Tour Americas: Osprey Valley Open, TPC Toronto (Heathlands), Caledon, Ontario. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://www.pgatour.com/americas
Legends Tour: Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, Trump International GL, Aberdeen, Scotland. Defending champion: Robert Coles. Online: https://www.legendstour.com/
Korea LPGA: Aurora World Ladies Championship, Aurora Golf Resort, Wonju, South Korea. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/web/
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Jordan Spieth of the United States plays off the 1st tee during the second round of the British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
England's Lottie Woad holds the trophy after winning the Women's Scottish Open at the Dundonald Links, Irvine, Scotland, Sunday July 27, 2025. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hundreds in the NASCAR community gathered for a memorial service at Charlotte's Bojangles Coliseum on Friday for former driver Greg Biffle, his family and others who were killed in a plane crash last month.
Biffle was among seven killed along with his wife, Cristina, and children Ryder, 5, and Emma, 14, when the plane crashed as it returned to the airport in Statesville, North Carolina, according to authorities. Others on the plane were identified as Dennis Dutton, his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth.
Driver/influencer Garrett Mitchell, known as “Cleetus McFarland” in his YouTube videos and a close friend of Biffle's, was among those who spoke at the service.
“We have all been saying, ‘Be like Biff,’ since we lost our hero,” said Mitchell, who befriended Biffle later in his life. “What does that mean? That means to take opportunities when you see them. Whether you are taking opportunity to pass somebody on the track or getting off your couch to chase a dream you have only been talking about for the past five years.
“It means showing up for your friends and family. It means using your heart to make the world a better place. It means being generous whenever you can and helping other humans when they're down. That is what it means to be like Biff,” Mitchell added.
Biffle, who was 55, was selected by NASCAR as one of its top 75 drivers in history, was a Hall of Fame nominee for the stock car series and drove for 18 years at the top of the sport.
He drew headlines last year for his tireless humanitarian efforts as a helicopter pilot supplying aid in the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene.
Biffle's niece, Jordyn Biffle, told stories about Ryder's hero being his father, Emma's laughter and Cristina's loving nature.
She said the Biffle family “lived fully, loved deeply and gave freely.”
“Their lives remind us that what matters isn't how long we are here, but how we use the time we are given and how fiercely we love while we are here,” Biffle added. "And while this loss is devastating beyond words, their impact remains etched into all of us that were lucky enough to have known them, loved them and be changed by them."
In the parking lot outside of the coliseum, fans paused to peer inside three racecars Biffle drove during his career.
Inside, the pictures of the seven who lost their lives where shown on a videoboard above the makeshift platform in the center of the covered hockey rink. There were seven wreaths on the stage where Mitchell, Biffle and former drivers Jeff Burton and Phil Parsons addressed the crowd.
Dylan Zirkle, 28, of Archdale, North Carolina, worked one year for Biffle at Roush Racing as a pit support employee while he was in high school.
He said Biffle made a lasting impact on him, and felt he needed to attend.
“Greg was always a really good guy and I enjoyed being around him,” Zirkle said. "You could always talk to him at anytime and he was just a real person. You could talk to him about anything.”
Back home, Zirkle still has model racing trucks in his gameroom autographed by Biffle that he cherishes.
Zirkle said he didn't believe the news of the crash when he heard it.
“It still doesn't feel real,” Zircle said. “I was watching some of his YouTube videos the other night and it just doesn't seem real at all.”
Tanner Roberts and Jassamin Green made the four-hour trek from Wilmington, North Carolina, with their 7-year-old son Bentley after hearing about the memorial.
“He was a good racecar driver and I enjoyed him,” Roberts said. “And he was a good person. I grew up watching him and Dale Earnhardt. Them two were my favorites. They were good people and they loved to race.”
The Cessna C550 carrying the Biffle family and the others erupted in flames when it hit the ground shortly after it had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about an hour's drive north of Charlotte.
The plane crashed while trying to return and land, authorities said.
The crash a week before Christmas left the NASCAR community shaken and was another blow in a long offseason. Ten days later, on the 52nd wedding anniversary of Denny Hamlin’s parents, the house the future Hall of Famer built to repay them for their years of sacrifice burned down. His father, Dennis, was killed, and Mary Lou Hamlin was rushed to a hospital burn unit.
Sheriff's deputies are also investigating an alleged break-in and theft last week at Biffle's home in Mooresville that netted $30,000 in cash, some guns and memorabilia.
As part of the public tribute, Mitchell planned to do a burnout later Friday near Biffle’s marker along the North Carolina Auto Racing Walk of Fame in Mooresville.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Race cars used by the late Greg Biffle are displayed outside BoJangles Coliseum for a NASCAR Plane Crash Memorial memorial for Biffle, his family and others who died in a plane crash, in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Garrett Mitchell speaks at the memorial service for former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Jordyn Biffle, sister of Greg Biffle, speaks at the memorial service for Biffle and his family in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
ESPN's Marty Smith, right, hugs a person at the NASCAR Plane Crash Memorial memorial in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Chaplain Billy Mauldin speaks during the NASCAR Plane Crash Memorial memorial in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
