Patrick Reed’s latest controversy and the other things in golf that matter right now

Rory McIlroy is a dad. Poppy Kennedy McIlroy was born Monday at 12:15 p.m. at Jupiter Medical Center, where the 18-time PGA TOUR winner lives in South Florida. Baby Poppy and mom Erica Stoll are "doing great," McIlroy said in his post breaking the news on Instagram and Twitter. "She is the absolute love of our lives," he said. He went on to thank "the staff at Jupiter Medical Center and Dr Sasha Melendy for their amazing care." McIlroy, the defending FedExCup champion, is still scheduled to play in this week's TOUR Championship in Atlanta. He is currently 12th in the FedExCup, without a top-10 finish since the TOUR came back from hiatus in June. The lackluster results were perplexing. As it turned out, McIlroy didn't tell anyone he and Erica were about to become first-time parents until the news broke during the third round of the BMW Championship last Saturday. "Yeah, I think from the get-go my mind has been wandering the last few weeks," he said from Olympia Fields in Chicago, where he finished T12 last weekend despite being on alert for a phone call from Erica. "And now you guys sort of know the reason why." If he plays, McIlroy will begin the TOUR Championship on Friday at 3 under par, seven behind top-seeded Dustin Johnson.

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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Good morning, golf fans. Here’s a quick look at Thursday’s early developments in the first round of The Open Championship at Carnoustie: KISNER ON FIRE: Kevin Kisner, making his fourth career start in the Open, was the tournament leader at noon local time. The two-time PGA TOUR winner kick-started his round with an eagle at the par-5 sixth, then made three consecutive birdies on his back nine to finish with a 5-under 66. In Kisner’s 13 major appearances, his lone top-10 finish is a T-7 at last year’s PGA Championship. CANTLAY CONTENDING: Patrick Cantlay, making his Open Championship debut, was 3 under through 17. The 26-year-old Cantlay broke through with his first PGA TOUR win last year, winning in a playoff at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. VEGAS ARRIVES: Jhonattan Vegas, battling visa issues and having difficulties with his travel schedule, did arrive in time to make his tee time. Vegas flew into Glasgow, then took a helicopter to Carnoustie in time to warm up on the range. He was 1 over through six holes. NOT EXACTLY CAR-NASTY: Generally regarded as the toughest course in the Open rota, Carnoustie’s dry conditions and lack of wind allowed those with early tee times to get off to fast starts. South African Erik van Rooyen, who played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, was in the second group out and shot a 4-under 67. One of his playing partners, Matthew Southgate, also played well, shooting 69. Danny Willet was in the next group and shot 69. “I think they’ve done a great job of tucking the flags in a few spots to make it as difficult as possible,â€� said Willett, the 2016 Masters champ. “I think they realized the golf course is pretty gettable for some of the guys out there.â€� SPEAKING OF SOUTHGATE: The Englishman is a member of Carnoustie, and was asked after his round if this week has lived up to his expectations. “Yeah, it has,â€� he replied. “I think, when I first arrived, I was a little disappointed. I think I built it up too much in my mind from the age of 10. A couple of things that you saw play through in your imagination, where you sort of saw things happen, and it unsettles me when things don’t quite go that way. “For one thing, I always have this sort of vision in my head the little old Scottish fellow would meet me at the front door and call you ‘Mr. Southgate’ and you would feel all excited and stuff. It wasn’t. It was a young American girl sort of flashy, ‘Let me show you around.’ And I thought, I don’t really need showing round. I’ve been a member since I was 16. It kind of threw me a little bit. “Once I went in the clubhouse and met a couple of members, I settled down. And even more so when I got on the golf course, and the first round has lived up to everything.â€� SPIETH STARTS STRONG: Defending champion Jordan Spieth birdied two of his first four holes and was 2 under through eight. RAHM’S BIG DRIVE: Jon Rahm managed to drive the green at the par-4 third hole, which is playing at 352 yards in the first round. That set up his first birdie of the day. The Spaniard was 2 under through seven. TIGER IN THE AFTERNOON: Tiger Woods, playing in his first Open since 2015, is among the notable names with late-afternoon tee times. Woods tees off at 3:21 p.m. (10:21 a.m. ET) with Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Knox, the Scottish native who currently lives in Florida. Others with afternoon tee times include current FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson, U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka, Jason Day and Bubba Watson, who has won three times on TOUR this season.

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AUSTIN, Texas — A clash of styles. Two guys emerging in their mid-30s. Fire and … fire. Those are some of the storylines from five matches that caught our eye for Thursday’s second day of action at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. RELATED: Tee times | Scoring | Match recaps from Wednesday Group 9: Bryson DeChambeau, USA, (9) vs. Lee Westwood, England, (47), 1:16 p.m. A clash of styles and a matchup of the protagonists from the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where DeChambeau came out on top. Westwood came into this week with 42 matches under his belt in this event (19-22-1) and went deep in 2012 (lost consolation match). Since the start of group play in 2015, he’s gotten out of his group once and lost playoffs to do so twice. The long-hitting DeChambeau is coming back from hand and hip injuries and admits he won’t be at full speed this week in his first TOUR start since late January. He has not made it out of pool play in two previous starts here. Group 6: Justin Thomas, USA, (6) vs. Marc Leishman (37), Australia, 3:06 p.m. Thomas could be building up to something, with top-10 finishes in four of his six starts in 2022. The only exceptions: a T20 at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he fell back with a rough weekend (73-74), and a T33 at THE PLAYERS, where he was on the wrong side of the draw but nonetheless authored a remarkable second-round 69 in the toughest conditions. He hasn’t made it out of pool play since finishing fourth in 2018. Leishman has made it out of pool play twice in his last four starts in this tournament but has never made the quarterfinals. Group 12: Billy Horschel, USA, (12) vs. Tom Hoge, USA, (33), 11:48 a.m. ET In an era being defined by the twenty-somethings, Horschel and Hoge are peaking in their mid-30s. Horschel, the former FedExCup champ, is trending nicely after finishing second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, T16 at The Honda Classic, and T6 at the WM Phoenix Open. He’s playing the best golf of his life after a 2021 that included wins in this event and the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. So, too, is Hoge, fifth in the FedExCup after edging Jordan Spieth for his first TOUR win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That’s where the similarities end, though, as Hoge is making his first start here, whereas Horschel is the defending champ. Group 13: Tyrrell Hatton, ENG, (13) vs. Si Woo Kim, South Korea, (48), 12:32 p.m. ET Hatton has advanced out of pool play in two of his last three starts in this tournament, compiling a 6-6-2 record going into Wednesday’s first round. If the cool weather and breezes persist, it may benefit him as he is best on difficult courses. Kim is an extravagant talent who became the youngest-ever winner of THE PLAYERS at 21. He’s streaky, though, and has emerged from pool play just once in four tries, only to lose 6 and 5 to Justin Thomas in 2018. Whatever happens, Hatton and Kim bear watching for not just their golf – they are two of the hottest-running players on TOUR. Group 2: Collin Morikawa, USA, (2) vs. Sergio Garcia, Spain, (43), 11:26 a.m. ET The seeds suggest Morikawa is favored here, but seeds can be deceiving. In his one start in this event, last year, Morikawa had a week to forget, losing to Max Homa and eventual champion Billy Horschel. He tied J.T. Poston and didn’t emerge from group play. In short, one of the game’s most ascendant talents has yet to make his mark in Austin. Garcia, on the other hand, has built his career on match play. The Ryder Cup legend was 28-22-1 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play coming into this week, tied for fourth in the category of most matches won. He finished fourth in 2010 and was a quarterfinalist in 2019 and ’21. The putter may be the difference between two of the game’s pre-eminent ball-strikers.

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