The USGA, Masters Tournament and PGA of America announced Monday that registration for 2021 -22 Drive, Chip and Putt qualifying is now open. You can click here to access it.

Local qualifying begins May 1, and will continue throughout the summer with 330 events in all 50 states for boys and girls, ages 7-15. The full schedule of qualifying events includes 10 notable venues set to host regional qualifiers this fall for participants who advance: Medinah Country Club, Oak Hill Country Club, Colorado Golf Club, Quail Hollow Club, TPC River Highlands, Pebble Beach Golf Links, TPC Scottsdale, Alotian Club, The Bear’s Club and Oakland Hills Country Club.

All qualifying events will follow protocols to mitigate the risk of COVID-19. These include wearing face coverings, social distancing and minimizing spectators.

“Drive, Chip and Putt is a fun, accessible way for boys and girls of all skill levels to enjoy playing the game, and we are excited to offer this opportunity once again for participants across the country,” said Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. “We appreciate the commitment of our partners at the USGA and PGA of America in our efforts to conduct this year’s qualifiers responsibly and provide a pathway for juniors to develop a lasting connection with golf.”

Top performers at the local level will advance through sub-regional and regional qualifiers in July/August and September/October, respectively. From these qualifiers, 80 finalists – 40 boys and 40 girls – will earn an invitation to compete in the National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 3, the eve of the 2022 Masters Tournament. Qualifiers are conducted by all 41 sections of the PGA of America across the country.

Local qualifying begins Saturday, May 1, 2021, at Miami Shores Golf Course in Troy, Ohio. The full breakdown and schedule of 2022 Drive, Chip and Putt qualifying is as follows:

Local (May/June/July/August): 330 host sites throughout all 50 states; 3 juniors advance in each age/gender category from every venu

Subregional (July/August): 61 host sites in more than 30 states; 2 juniors advance in each age/gender category from every venue

Regional (September/October): 10 host sites in 10 regions; 1 junior advances in each age/gender category from every venue

National Finals (April 3, 2022): 80 total participants at Augusta National Golf Club

The regional qualifying events in September and October of this year are set to take place at 10 host sites on the following dates:

• September 11: Medinah Country Club
• September 19: Oak Hill Country Club
• September 19: Colorado Golf Club
• September 25: Quail Hollow Club
• September 26: TPC River Highlands
• September 26: Pebble Beach Golf Links
• September 26: TPC Scottsdale
• October 2: Alotian Club
• October 3: The Bear’s Club
• October 16: Oakland Hills Country Club

Ryan Lavner was at The Concession this past week for the WGC-Workday Championship. Rex Hoggard, meanwhile, was in Los Angeles. Both senior writers offer first-hand accounts of what it was like, respectively, onsite at the PGA Tour and near the site of Tiger Woods' single-car crash.

They also weigh in on Collin Morikawa's dominant win and what lies ahead as The Players nears. Listen below:

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has warned his players that anyone believing the Premier League title is already won will be axed.

City are 12 points clear at the top with 12 games remaining but ahead of Wolves' visit to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, Guardiola has warned he will be on the look-out for players he thinks are taking their foot off the pedal.

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"When I feel that everyone is thinking the job is done, or how good it is, this guy is not going to play," Guardiola told a news conference on Monday.

"I'm so intuitive to know exactly the guys who are not ready to continue what we have to do."

City are on a 20-game winning run and have not lost since November but Guardiola insisted his players need to get better if they are to remain on course for an unprecedented quadruple of winning the Premier League title, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

"Always we can do better, that is the target," Guardiola added. "Especially in the areas of the performance of the individuals we can improve. Every player can improve. When every individual player can improve, the team will improve."

City were able to extend their lead at the top of the table over the weekend after the rest of the top five teams -- Manchester United, Leicester City, West Ham United and Chelsea -- all dropped points.

West Ham manager David Moyes described Guardiola's team as "the best in Europe" after his side lost to City on Saturday.

However, Guardiola is still concerned they could collapse.

"The champion is Liverpool, we are not," he said. "To do it we still have to win eight, nine or 10 games and it's a lot of games. There are incredible teams who struggle for four or five games to win games. It can happen to us too.

"Last season it happened. At the beginning of the season it happened. We were unable to win three games in a row in the first two months. That's why."

Chris Gayle is targeting a third T20 world title as he returns to West Indies colours for the first time since the 2019 World Cup, and says that he is willing to fulfil whatever role is asked of him in the team's bid to retain the trophy in India this year.

Gayle, 41, has only ever opened the batting in T20I cricket and had almost exclusively batted at the top of the order in his franchise career before the start of the 2020 IPL. But after starting the tournament out of the Kings XI Punjab side, he hit 395 runs in nine innings at No. 3 for the franchise, averaging 43.88 and striking at 144.16.

In a press conference in Antigua on Monday, two days before the series opener against Sri Lanka, Gayle said that he was happy to bat wherever Kieron Pollard and Phil Simmons asked him to, saying that he would be "the best in the world" regardless of where he came in. He is one of four openers in the 14-man squad, along with Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons and Andre Fletcher.

"It seems like I'm the No. 3 specialist now," he joked. "It was a role that the coach, Anil Kumble, asked me to play. He did mention it before the IPL actually started, which I had no problem with and then eventually, when I actually got the chance, they wanted my experience at No. 3 because Mayank [Agarwal] and KL Rahul were going great guns at the time.

"It's not a problem. I'm good at playing spin, I'm as good at playing fast bowlers as anyone as I'm an opener. But with West Indies cricket, whatever role they want me to play, I'm willing to play that particular role. We haven't fully discussed it but I'll get a bit of a heads up and work out what to look forward to in this particular series and down into the World Cup.

"If it's opening, I'm ready, No. 3, No. 5 - I'm pretty much flexible. I will still be the best No. 5 in the world, best No. 3 in the world."

Gayle admitted that he had considered walking away from the game, and that he had planned to focus his efforts on the franchise circuit as he heads into the twilight of his career, but that he found it impossible to turn down a West Indies call-up because "that's where my heart is".

"I thought about actually walking away from the game and then people said: 'No, don't do it, don't do it. Stay and play as long as possible.' So I decided I'm actually going to continue playing. I wasn't actually thinking down this road. I was like, I'm going to play franchise cricket, entertaining people as much as possible, and whatever is left to offer within the game from Chris Gayle, I want to exploit around the world.

"When I got the call and they asked if I'm willing and interested, I said: 'Yes, I want to play for West Indies'. That's where my heart is. I'm never going to turn down anything pertaining to West Indies cricket at this particular time. So I came back from Pakistan to be a part of the set-up leading into the World Cup so we can have a unity within the group, and then hopefully we can win this T20 trophy.

"At 41, that's what actually gets me through on a daily basis: it's more mental than physical to me. It's the willpower of the mind. The mind still wants to be out there and be out there on the park, still executing from a batting point of view and still having fun. That's what gives me that extra drive to continue playing. If the mind stops operating like that for me, then I'd have to ask myself a big question there, but for now, it's the mindset.

"The mindset is still good. I'm still looking after myself, I still do my training. Most people say 'are you on a diet?' I still eat properly, I still eat what I want, I still have my fun. I make sure I have a clear mind at all times. Once you have a clear mind you can be free to do whatever you want."

Gayle wants 'three T20 titles under my belt'

Gayle said that while his short-term ambition was to win this month's three-match series against Sri Lanka, the "bigger picture" was all about defending West Indies' world title. Gayle is one of eight men who won both the 2012 and 2016 finals, and said that he hoped his return would not distract from the team's long-term preparations for the tournament.

"I know being back, it might be a little bit of attention, but I don't want it to go in that regards to be honest with you," Gayle said. "We're looking at things as a team point of view. Pollard is a very strong captain [and] we have a lot of very, very good-quality players within the team. I want to win the series. I want to get off to a good start. It's really good to be back. Hopefully I can perform, help the team, and put the team in a winning position.

"I want to accomplish, starting off by winning the series, but the bigger picture is actually to get three T20 titles under my belt. That's actually the goal I'm setting in my head by winning the T20 World Cup. We have quite a few series coming up and we have a lot of cricket leading up to that. We'll try and take as much as possible out of these series coming up.

"The World Cup is still a long way off but by the time you quint [blink] it's World Cup time. So we have to try and keep the energy, keep fit, be ready and show the region what we are capable of with these particular guys."

David Warner will return to action for the first time since the end of the Test series against India having been named in the New South Wales squad for their Marsh Cup match against South Australia in Adelaide.

Warner played the last two Tests while still significantly hampered by the groin injury he sustained in the ODIs at the end of November which ruled him out of the rest of the white-ball matches and first two Tests.

Speaking on commentary of the New Zealand-Australia T20I series last week, Warner said how he expected to feel the effects of the injury for up to nine months but he is hopeful that it can be managed.

Warner comes into the New South Wales squad as a replacement for Daniel Hughes who has a shoulder injury. Steven Smith remains sidelined by the elbow problem which he first felt at the end of the series against India and has since flared up during his return to domestic cricket.

"We all know Davey's quality as a player in all formats and it's great to see him back for the Blues for this game," New South Wales coach Phil Jaques said.

"He has worked really hard on his rehab and has been great around the group when he's been at training. It will be fantastic to have his experience around the team over the coming weeks."

It has yet to be confirmed whether Warner will be part of the Sheffield Shield squad to face South Australia later in the week.

New South Wales squad Pat Cummins (capt), Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Oliver Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Liam Hatcher, Matthew Gilkes, Moises Henriques, Nick Larkin, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, David Warner

Andy Hoffman, the father of Nebraska Cornhuskers fan and brain cancer patient Jack Hoffman, died Monday at his home in Atkinson, Nebraska. He was 42.

The Team Jack Foundation announced his death.

Andy Hoffman, an attorney, spent the last decade of his life raising more than $8 million for Team Jack, a fundraising juggernaut to end pediatric brain cancer, only to succumb to brain cancer himself. His diagnosis in July 2020 seemed unfathomable, that two people from the same family could have brain cancer; that Andy, who ran marathons and worked nonstop, had Glioblastoma multiforme, a rare and very aggressive cancer, with a survival rate of roughly one year.

"This is such a horrible disease," his wife Bri wrote in a Facebook post last week. "Even though Andy's diagnosis was 7 months ago, we are still in denial that this is happening."

Hoffman sought second and third opinions, and rallied from two strokes to make it home from the Mayo Clinic early last fall. He had two missions: To raise as much money as he could for Team Jack, and to spend every second he had with Bri, Jack, and his daughters Ava and Reese.

They went to cross-country meets and basketball games and on a hunting trip. Andy, an avid Nebraska football fan who put Jack in a Cornhuskers onesie when he was baby, was able to watch his son play his freshman football season at Atkinson West Holt High. Jack is 15 now and is part of a clinical trial that has kept his tumor from growing. He is a lineman, just like his dad was in high school.

When Andy Hoffman's condition worsened, Jack would come home from school and help take care of his father. In early February 2021, Andy contracted COVID-19, and, according to Bri's Facebook post, "quickly got a monoclonal antibody fusion and did great. He recovered and had no symptoms after about day 5." But an MRI taken shortly after he recovered from COVID-19 revealed that his cancer had spread, and Andy's health rapidly declined.

The family's cancer battle began in 2011, when Jack was diagnosed with a cancerous glioma at the age of 5. The Hoffmans were initially told that most of Jack's golf-ball-sized tumor could not be removed, but Andy, after exhaustive research, found a doctor in Boston who was able to extract more than 90 percent of the tumor.

Before Jack's surgery, Andy reached out to Nebraska in the hopes that Jack could meet his favorite player, running back Rex Burkhead. Andy wasn't expecting to hear back, but Burkhead, now with the New England Patriots, happily obliged to meet them for lunch. He took them on a tour of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, and called the Friday before Jack's surgery to offer support.

When the Huskers were trailing Ohio State that weekend, Burkhead decided to try to fire up a few of his teammates by mentioning the boy he'd just met.

"Hey, Jack wouldn't give up," he told them, "so why should we?"

Burkhead rallied Nebraska to victory, scoring the winning touchdown. He developed a friendship with the Hoffman family, and a year and a half later, Nebraska's coaching staff came up with the idea to put Jack in the April 2013 spring game.

The nervous little boy with the wobbly helmet ran for a 69-yard touchdown in front of 60,000 fans while Andy cheered him on from the sideline. Nobody knew that the moment would catch fire, that the YouTube video of the run would generate nearly 9 million views, and that Jack would win an ESPY award and visit President Barack Obama.

Andy Hoffman seized the opportunity to bring Team Jack into the spotlight. He desperately wanted a cure for pediatric brain cancer so that other parents wouldn't have to go through what he and Bri did. He wanted to tell their story. One of his 2020 New Year's resolutions was to finally write a book; he toiled away at night while his family slept and hit send on the manuscript mid-summer.

A few weeks later, he suffered a seizure during a Sunday jog, which led to the trip to the hospital and the discovery of the white mass on his brain.

But he always tried to stay upbeat. He was signing copies of his book, "Yards After Contact," throughout the fall and winter. He wanted it to be a best-seller.

At the end of an interview with ESPN late last year, while he was at the Mayo Clinic, Hoffman was asked if he had anything to add. When his son was sick, he could research doctors and raise money for cancer research. He could comfort his son and his young daughters.

He paused for a second, unsure of a future he had no control over.

"This is going to sound a little silly," he said as he started to cry, "but I love my wife and kids more than anything in the world."

Alabama is moving ahead with plans to host full-capacity college football games at Bryant-Denny Stadium this coming season, athletic director Greg Byrne announced Monday.

Byrne tweeted a short statement after news earlier in the day that the school would be returning to in-person instruction without restrictions on classroom capacity in the fall. Byrne said they will continue to monitor medical guidelines "as we have all along."

Alabama reduced its capacity to 20% last season as COVID-19 spread, infecting millions of Americans. Infections have dropped significantly of late.

Last Friday the Centers for Disease Control reported a seven-day average of 66,348 infections in the United States, which was down roughly 10,000 from the previous week.

According to data from the New York Times, Alabama has among the lowest vaccinations rates in the country with 13% of people receiving one shot.

Bryant-Denny Stadium, which boasts a capacity of 100,077, is scheduled to host seven football games next season starting with the home opener on Sept. 11 against Mercer.

The San Antonio Spurs will begin welcoming back some fans to games March 12, meaning half of the NBA now has a plan in place to allow limited attendance a year and a day after it shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A 16th team, the Boston Celtics, have a plan to welcome back fans March 22.

The Spurs' reduced capacity at the AT&T Center will be at 3,200 fans to allow for proper social distancing, the team said Monday.

Fourteen teams currently have fans in attendance. The Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz are currently allowing fans at a reduced capacity.

As for other teams yet to green-light fans, myriad factors contributed to the decision, including local government protocols and regulations, the cost of equipping the arena with proper health provisions for only a handful of home games, and the potential tension that enforcing mask-wearing and distancing rules could create with fans. Most teams have released statements saying they plan to work with state and local officials to at some point welcome back fans this season.

Teams allowing fans have protocols in place, such as masking at all times (except when eating or drinking), social distancing, temperature checks, touchless ticketing, enhanced cleaning for surfaces and touchpoints, plus air purification and filtration systems, among other things.

Tuesday's Detroit Pistons-Toronto Raptors game in Tampa, Florida, has been postponed and tentatively rescheduled for Wednesday, the NBA announced.

The Raptors have been dealing with COVID-19-related issues and their game Sunday against the Chicago Bulls was postponed because they couldn't field the required eight players due to the league's health and safety protocols.

In a statement, the league said Toronto's game against the Pistons on Tuesday was postponed "due to positive test results and ongoing contact tracing within the Raptors organization" but would be played Wednesday at Amalie Arena in Tampa pending additional test results.

Several Toronto coaches -- including head coach Nick Nurse -- and star forward Pascal Siakam have been out since late last week due to the league's protocols.

Veteran assistant Sergio Scariolo served as head coach for the first time in an NBA game when the Raptors last played, Friday in a win against the Houston Rockets.

ATLANTA -- Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was fired on Monday, given the hook less than halfway into a season that carried heightened expectations before being hampered by injuries.

Atlanta president Travis Schlenk announced the move in a short statement released by the team.

Assistant coach Nate McMillan will serve as the team's interim coach, Schlenk also announced Monday evening. McMillan, who was added to Pierce's staff in the offseason, has extensive experience as a head coach, boasting a 667-591 (.530) record in 16 seasons with Seattle, Portland and Indiana.

McMillan has been fiercely loyal in his support of Pierce and met with him and the rest of the Hawks' coaching staff shortly after Pierce was fired. Pierce voiced his support for McMillan accepting the interim job, which was important to McMillan, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Hawks are 14-20 and 11th in the Eastern Conference following a 109-99 loss at Miami on Sunday night. It was the Hawks' 11th loss after holding a fourth-quarter lead. The teams play again in Miami on Tuesday.

Pierce, 44, gave no indication that he thought he was in trouble after Sunday's loss. He even ran the Hawks' practice on Monday morning in Miami.

"We would like to thank Lloyd for his work and commitment to not only the Hawks organization but the city of Atlanta," Schlenk said in the statement. He added that the move to fire Pierce, which comes less than a week before Atlanta hosts the All-Star Game, is timed to help the team have a second-half resurgence.

"We have high expectations for our team on the court and we believe by making this change now that we can have a strong second half of the season," Schlenk said.

The Hawks last appeared in the playoffs in 2017. The team has rebuilt around point guard Trae Young and forward John Collins and invested heavily in veterans in the offseason.

Key additions include Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn. The Hawks' talent also received a major upgrade with the addition of center Clint Capela.

The Hawks had free-agent money to spend, and Schlenk wasted no time in adding Gallinari (three years, $61.5 million), Rondo (two years, $15 million) and Dunn (two years, $10 million).

Dunn has yet to play, due to his ongoing recovery from ankle surgery. Bogdanovic has missed 25 games. Gallinari has missed nine games.

The biggest move came when Schlenk made Bogdanovic an offer -- four years for $72 million -- the Sacramento Kings didn't match.

Injuries to Bogdanovic and others prevented Pierce from having a healthy roster, however.

Perhaps most disrupting to the Hawks' progress was the loss of emerging star De'Andre Hunter to knee surgery. Hunter, who had emerged as a scoring complement to Young and Collins, has missed 16 games.

The injuries were not enough to overcome management's disappointment with the slow start. This was supposed to be the season the Hawks returned to the playoffs, and Pierce acknowledged before the season that it is time to win.

Atlanta began 10-9, but has lost 11 of its past 15. The Hawks are on track for just a slight improvement over last season, when Atlanta went 20-47. The Hawks finished in a virtual tie for last in the Eastern Conference, percentage points ahead of Cleveland. They were one of eight teams excluded from the NBA's restart.

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers said he was "really shocked'' by Pierce's firing.

"Really disappointed," Rivers said. "I just talked to him, I want to say five days ago. He just had a brand new baby. This is a tough business, boy. It's tough. I've always thought it was really difficult in a rebuild. ... Most of the rebuilds, unfortunately, go the way of Lloyd Pierce. You're in the middle of the rebuild and then you blame the coach for the losses that you had no chance to win. Unfortunately, that's just the way it's worked in the league.''

Pierce, hired in 2018, was 63-120 (.344) with the Hawks, missing the playoffs in each of his two completed seasons.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.