PNC Championship
Site: Orlando, Florida.
Course: Ritz-Carlton GC Orlando. Yardage: 7,106. Par: 72.
Prize money: $1,085,00. Winner's share: $200,000.
Television: Saturday, 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel-Tape Delay), 2:30-4 p.m. (Peacock-Tape Delay), 4-6 p.m. (NBC-Tape Delay); Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 12:30-1:30 p.m. (Peacock), 1:30-4:30 p.m. (NBC).
Defending champions: Bernhard and Jason Langer.
Notes: Tiger Woods plays for the first time since he missed the cut in the British Open in July, competing for the fifth straight year with his son Charlie. ... The tournament is sanctioned by the PGA Tour Champions, allowing players to use a golf cart if they want. ... The 36-hole competition pairs a winner of a major championship or The Players Championship with a family member. ... Two LPGA major champions are in the field. Annika Sorenstam is playing with her son Will, and Nelly Korda is playing with her father, former Grand Slam tennis champion Petr Korda. ... Newcomers to the tournament include Fred Couples and his stepson Hunter Hannemann, and Trevor Immelman playing his son Jacob. ... Bernhard Langer won last year with his son Jason. Langer has won three times with Jason and two times with son Stefan. ... Steve Stricker is playing with his daughter Izzi.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions
AFRASIA BANK MAURITIUS OPEN
Site: Grand Baie, Mauritius.
Course: Mont Choisy Le Golf. Yardage: 7,051. Par: 72.
Prize money: $1.5 million. Winner's share: $250,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 4-8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 1-6 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Louis Oosthuizen.
Race to Dubai leader: Johannes Veerman.
Last week: Shaun Norris won the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Notes: This is the final tournament of the calendar year on the European tour. Mauritius is on the other side of Madagascar off the eastern coast of Africa. ... The field does not have anyone from the top 100 in the world ranking. Antoine Rozner, who won in Mauritius in 2023, is the highest-ranked player at No. 145. ... The tournament dates to 2015 on the European tour schedule. ... Former British Amateur champion Christo Lambrecht, who turned pro this summer and played the Korn Ferry Tour, is in the field. ... Marcus Kinhult is playing a week after closing with a 74 to lose the final-round lead in the Alfred Dunhill Championship. ... Kieran Vincent of Zimbabwe is in the field. He was relegated from the LIV Golf League and failed to earn his spot back in the LIV Promotions event last week in Saudi Arabia. ... Nicolas Colsaerts regained his European tour card after a runner-up finish in the Dunhill Links in October.
Next tournament: Team Cup on Jan. 10-12.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/ and https://sunshinetour.com/
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Charlie Woods, left, watches his father Tiger Woods, right, watches during the final round of the PNC Championship golf tournament, Dec. 18, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski)
A blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures stirred up dangerous travel conditions in parts of the central U.S. on Sunday, as a disruptive winter storm brought the possibility of the “heaviest snowfall in a decade” to some areas.
Snow and ice blanketed major roadways in nearly all of Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the state's National Guard was activated to help any motorists who were stuck. At least 8 inches of snow were expected, particularly north of Interstate 70, as the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions were reported. The warning extended to New Jersey for Monday and into early Tuesday.
“For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said early Sunday.
About 63 million people in the U.S. were under some kind of winter weather advisory, watch or warning on Sunday, according to Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole. People in the U.S., Europe and Asia experience its intense cold when the vortex escapes and stretches south.
Studies show a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its icy grip.
In Indiana, snow fully covered portions of Interstate 64, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41, prompting Indiana State Police to plead with motorists to stay off the roads as plows worked to keep up with the pace of the precipitation.
“It’s snowing so hard, the snow plows go through and then within a half hour the roadways are completely covered again,” Sgt. Todd Ringle said.
Part of I-70 was closed in central Kansas by Saturday afternoon. Roughly 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow had fallen in parts of the state, with snow and sleet totals predicted to top 14 inches for parts of Kansas and northern Missouri.
Parts of upstate New York saw 3 feet (0.9 meters) or more of snow from a lake effect event expected to last until late Sunday afternoon.
The storm was then forecast to move into the Ohio Valley and reach the Mid-Atlantic states on Sunday and Monday, with a hard freeze expected as far south as Florida.
The National Weather Service warned that travel in numerous states, including Kansas and Missouri, could be “very difficult to impossible.”
Indiana State Police reported a handful of spinouts and crashes Sunday.
A day earlier a fire truck, several tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles overturned west of Salina. Rigs also jackknifed and went into ditches, state Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner said. He posted a video showing his boots sliding across the highway blacktop like he was on ice skates. He begged people to stay off the roads.
Governors in neighboring Missouri and nearby Arkansas declared states of emergency.
The storms also caused havoc for the nation’s railways, leading to cancelations. Amtrak said in a statement that “adjustments have been made with no alternative transportation being offered” for many rail lines.
More than 20 cancelations were predicted on Sunday and more than 40 were planned for Monday.
The cancelations affected many parts of the country, but the Midwest was hit especially hard. A train between Chicago and New York and several regional trains between Chicago and St. Louis were among those canceled Sunday.
Nearly 200 flights in and out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport were canceled, according to tracking platform FlightAware.
Starting Monday, the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous, bone-chilling cold and wind chills, forecasters said. Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) below normal.
In Chicago on Sunday, temperatures hovered in the teens (minus 7 to 10 Celsius) and around zero in Minneapolis, while dropping to 11 below in International Falls, Minnesota, on the Canadian border.
The Northeastern states are more likely to experience several days of cold following what has mostly been a mild start to winter, said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. A plume of cold air coming down from Canada is likely to result in a cold but dry week, he said.
The cold air will likely grip the eastern half of the country as far south as Georgia, Palmer said, with parts of the East Coast experiencing freezing temperatures and lows dipping into the single digits in some areas.
Wind might also pick up as the week gets going, making for potentially dangerous conditions for people exposed to the elements for long periods of time, Palmer said.
The National Weather Service predicted 8 to 12 inches (about 20 to 30 centimeters) of snow for the Annapolis, Maryland, area, with temperatures remaining below freezing throughout the weekend.
In a statement on X, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency Friday evening ahead of the storm and encouraged residents to vote before the state's special elections on Tuesday.
Similar declarations were issued in Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and in central Illinois cities.
“This is the real deal,” meteorologist John Gordon said at a press conference in Louisville, Kentucky. “Are the weather people blowing this out of proportion? No.”
Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York, Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed. Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland. Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.
Snow falls in St. Joseph, Mo., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
More snow falls near the American Legion Post in Lowville, N.Y., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
FILE - A leaf is frozen in the ice of a garden pond during cold weather in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - Steve Beckett with the street department in Owensboro, Ky., sprays a salt brine solution along Hickman Avenue in preparation for predicted snow and ice over the weekend, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky. (Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP, File)
More winter weather blows into Lowville, New York on Saturday, January 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
In a photo released by the Kansas Highway Patrol, a car is wedged between two trucks during icy weather Saturday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Salina, Kansas. (Kansas Highway Patrol via AP)
A snowplow passes through Lowville, New York, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
