PGA Tour heads to the party in Phoenix. LIV Golf begins in Saudi Arabia

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PGA Tour heads to the party in Phoenix. LIV Golf begins in Saudi Arabia

2026-02-03 22:10 Last Updated At：22:30

WM PHOENIX OPEN

Site: Scottsdale, Arizona.

Course: TPC Scottsdale (Stadium). Yardage: 7,261. Par: 71.

Prize money: $9.6 million. Winner's share: $1,728,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 4-8 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, noon to 3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, noon to 3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).

Previous winner: Thomas Detry.

FedEx Cup leader: Chris Gotterup.

Last week: Justin Rose won the Farmers Insurance Open.

Notes: Brooks Koepka plays his second PGA Tour event since leaving LIV Golf. He is a two-time winner of the Phoenix Open, most recently in 2021. ... Scottie Scheffler is going for his third straight PGA Tour win dating to September. The American Express was the fifth time he has won consecutive starts. He has never won three in a row. ... Koepka won his first Phoenix Open in 2015, the last time the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots met in the Super Bowl. ... Koepka playing means the field will have two extra spots to 123 players. ... Joel Dahmen received one of the three unrestricted sponsor exemptions. ... Sahith Theegala, who also received a sponsor exemption, is coming off consecutive top-10 finishes. He last did that in September 2024. ... This is the final week for the leading five players from the “Swing 5” to qualify for the next two $20 million signature events. ... Thomas Detry is not back to defend his title because he joined LIV Golf.

Next week: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

LIV GOLF RIYADH

Site: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Course: Riyadh GC. Yardage: 7, 464. Par: 72.

Prize money: $20 million. Winner's share: $4 million.

Television: Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to noon (FS1), noon to 3 p.m. (FS2); Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Fox Business Network).

Defending champion: Adrian Meronk.

2025 champion: Jon Rahm.

2025 team champion: Legion XIII.

Last tournament: Legion XIII won the Team Championship-Michigan.

Notes: This is the first tournament of the fourth season of the LIV Golf League. ... Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have left the Saudi-funded league. Koepka has rejoined the PGA Tour, while Reed is playing a European tour schedule this year with an eye on going back to the PGA Tour. ... Jon Rahm won the individual points title without having won a tournament last year. ... This is the first LIV Golf event that goes to 72 holes. ... The Riyadh tournament is played at nights under lights, the only golf event to do that. ... For the first time, points will be distributed to all players instead of just the top 24. There also is a $2.3 million bonus pool for players whose teams finish among the top three. ... Phil Mickelson is sitting out the opening two events in Saudi Arabia and Australia because of a family health matter. He is being replaced on the HyFlyers by Ollie Schniederjans. ... The league has not announced who is replacing Koepka on Smash GC.

Next week: LIV Golf Adelaide.

Online: https://www.livgolf.com/

QATAR MASTERS

Site: Doha, Qatar.

Course: Doha GC. Yardage: 7,508. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2.75 million. Winner's share: $458,333.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 4-9 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 4:30-9 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 3:30-8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous winner: Haotong Li.

Race to Dubai leader: Jayden Shaper.

Last week: Freddy Schott won the Bahrain Championship.

Notes: Patrick Reed is playing for the fourth straight week on the European tour. He won the Dubai Desert Classic and lost in a playoff last week in Bahrain to move to No. 2 in the Race to Dubai behind Jayden Shaper. ... This is the last stop in the Middle East until the European tour returns to Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the fall to close out the season. ... Shaper is in the field as he looks to maintain his top ranking in the Race to Dubai. ... Ryan Palmer and Luke List are the two PGA Tour members in the field from finishing inside the top 200 in the FedEx Cup. Palmer missed the cut in Bahrain last week. List missed the cut at Torrey Pines in San Diego. ... Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington is playing the fourth straight week in the Middle East. He missed the cut the last two tournaments in Bahrain and Dubai. ... The tournament has been part of the European tour schedule since 1998. Six major champions are among past winners, including Ernie Els and Adam Scott.

Next tournament: Magical Kenya Open on Feb. 19-22.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

ASTARA GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Bogota, Colombia.

Course: Country Club de Bogota (Lagos). Yardage: 7,237. Par: 71.

Prize money: $1 million. Winner's share: $180,000.

Television: None.

Defending champion: Kyle Westmoreland.

Point leader: Ian Holt.

Last week: Ian Holt won the Panama Championship.

Next tournament: Argentina Open on Feb. 26-March 1.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour

Last week: Nelly Korda won the weather-shortened Tournament of Champions.

Next tournament: Honda LPGA Thailand on Feb. 19-22.

Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

Last week: Stewart Cink won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship.

Next week: Chubb Classic.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stewart Cink.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions

Challenge Tour and Sunshine Tour: Circa Cape Town Open, Royal Cape GC, Cape Town, South Africa. Previous winner: Jamie Rutherford. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/hotelplanner-tour/ and https://sunshinetour.com/

Asian Tour: Philippine Golf Championship, Wack Wack Golf and CC, Manila, Philippines. Previous winner: Julien Sale. Online: https://asiantour.com/

PGA Tour of Australasia: Webex Players Series-Sydney, Castle Hill CC, Norwest, Australia. Defending champion: Nick Voke. Online: https://golf.com.au/

Royal & Ancient GC: Africa Amateur Championship, Royal Johannesburg GC, Johannesburg. Television: Wednesday-Thursday, 6-10 a.m. (Golf Channel app); Friday, 7-11 a.m. (Golf Channel app); Saturday, 5-9 a.m. (Golf Channel app). Previous winner: Bryan Newman. Online: https://www.randa.org/

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

After crash, Tiger Woods told deputy he was 'talking to the president,' body camera shows

After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods' arrest on a DUI charge.

The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It wasn't clear if Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods.

Shortly after the golfer's March 27 arrest, Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.

The footage also shows how Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety test and a video from the back of the patrol car shows the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly appearing to nod off during the 15-minute ride.

Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his speeding Land Rover clipped the back of a truck and rolled onto its side on a residential road on Jupiter Island. No one was injured.

“I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden — boom,” Woods told an officer as he knelt on a lawn, prior to his arrest.

Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety test and telling Woods: “I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI."

“I’m being arrested?” Woods responded.

“Yes, sir,” Levenar said.

After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.

“That’s a Norco,” Woods said after an officer pulled out the pills, referring to a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later confirm that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.

In the body camera footage, Woods told Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken “a few” medications earlier in the day, though Woods’ words are muted in the released video as he describes some of the drugs.

At the sheriff’s office complex, after Woods was escorted into the “DUI room” where drivers are tested for being under the influence, Woods said, “I’m not drunk. I’m on a prescription medication,” according to a supplemental sheriff’s office report released Thursday.

Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to suspicion of driving under the influence. He posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely “to seek treatment and focus on my health.”

Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing an officer’s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.

During the field sobriety test, deputies noticed Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his right knee. Woods explained he had undergone seven back surgeries and over 20 surgeries on his right leg, and that his ankle seizes up while walking.

Woods, who was hiccupping during questioning, continuously moved his head during one of the sobriety tests and deputies had to tell him several times to keep his head straight, according to an arrest report.

“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.

Woods is the most influential figure in golf and has become as recognizable as any athlete in the world. The first person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf fans with records likely never to be broken.

His injuries have kept him from accomplishing more, including from a 2021 Los Angeles car crash that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation. He has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh back surgery in October and was trying to return at the Masters, where he is a five-time champion.

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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.