News
Two for one: Presidents Cup and the Viking Classic
We get a two for one special this week on the PGA Tour as there are two events, one The Presidents Cup, and two the Viking Classic. Each event is special and important in its own right. The President’s Cup is important not from a monetary standpoint, but from a country pride, and team standpoint. The Viking Classic is important from a monetary and where you are standing in relation to the top 125, and a potential job for next season standpoint. This weekend should bode well for the golf fan as he has a smorgasbord of golf to choose from and watch.
The Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup is back for another installment and this year’s version should be just as exciting as the previous versions. Held at The Royal Montreal Golf Club’s Blue course, in Montreal, Canada, the reconfigured layout will play 7,171 yards, par 70, nearly 300 yards longer than in it played in 2001. The captain for the American team is Jack Nicklaus, and the Captain for the International team is Gary Player. This event’s brief history has been an exciting one, and the American team has seen the better results with a record of 4-1-1.
Since this is not a stroke play event, the format is slightly different than we are used to. On Thursday we will see foursomes, and then on Friday we will see four-ball. On the weekend we will bear witness to foursomes and four-ball on Saturday, and finally the singles matches on Sunday. The main difference between foursome matches and four-ball matches is best ball of the team for four-ball, and alternate shot for the foursome matches.
This is a huge week for Mike Weir as he is the basically the poster boy for Canadian golf. "Here, he brings a massive atmosphere,” said Geoff Ogilvy. "I’ve played in the Canadian Open when Mike’s been in contention and there’s something special about it.” There is also some buzz about the home-grown superstar playing against the world’s number one, Tiger Woods, as this has been commonplace in the last two Presidents Cups. "It might be icing on the cake for me to get a chance to get in there and possibly beat him. You know, I know come Sunday in singles, we just want to pair up who is going to match up the best. As I said, this is my fourth time. I haven’t been on a winning team yet; we tied once and lost twice. Gary wants to make sure that we do the right thing, not just for myself to put me against Tiger, but for everybody. We’re trying to win this.”
No matter what the tournament is, these guys still want to win. That should be evident this week as the only prize in country pride, and that can be a larger motivator than money. Be on the look out for some amazing golf and an amazing competition.
Television Times
- Thursday 1-6pm TNT
- Friday 1-6pm TNT
- Saturday 8-6pm NBC
- Sunday 12-6pm NBC
Viking Classic
Running at the same time as the Presidents Cup, the Viking Classic will be some more PGA Tour golf for your appetite. Being held at Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Mississippi, the Viking Classic boasts a purse of 3.5 million dollars, and the winner getting $630,000 dollars for his efforts this week. Playing at a par of 72 and a yardage of 7,199 yards, look for the scoring to be great.
There are several interesting stories developing this week, with the return of David Duval being the most talked about. Duval will return to the PGA Tour after last appearing at the Nissan Open in February, where he missed the cut in his fifth event of the year. He has been home in Colorado taking care of his family as his wife, Susie, has suffered through a difficult pregnancy.
Davis Love III has pulled out of the event with an ankle injury, and that is a major blow to the event as he was the biggest name player in the field. Love, has not officially withdrawn from the tournament but he won’t play because of an ankle injury, said Randy Watkins, the tournament director. "He busted up his ankle at a horse show with his kids," Watkins said of Love. "He called me today and said he tried to play today but had to quit after three holes. He just couldn’t play.”
This event is a great chance for some of the “bubble boys” to make a strong move toward securing their PGA Tour cards for next year. This is typically the time of the year where you start hearing more about the top 125, 50, and 30, as each plateau means different things to different people. But most important is the top 125, as if you are within that number you will have a place to play next year. Outside of that number and you will be back to Q-school to attempt to gain full status back.
We should be in store for some more great golf, and it will be a nice change to take a rest from the Presidents Cup and flip it back and forth between the two events. Enjoy it, because it does not happen that often.
Television Times
- · Thursday 6:30-9:30pm Golf
- · Friday 6:30-9:30pm Golf
- · Saturday 6:30-9:30pm Golf
- · Sunday 6:30-9:30pm Golf
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Morning 9: Scheffler repeats at Players | Monday PIF meeting | McIlroy takes another shot at Norman
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Tour Rundown: Matching luggage for Scheffler
For those of us from another generation, the disruption of the golf world that we knew well is both exciting and unsettling. The two most potent disruptors are rival golf leagues, not unlike the turmoil seen in the NCAA, and the Anchorman-style gangs of golf reporters. Reconciled to a past era are the dominance of the U.S. PGA Tour and the monthly golf magazines. One element that will not change, at any time in the foreseeable future, however, is the sanctity of the grand slam and golf’s four male major championships. While the LPGA and the PGA Tour Champions have seen a light and added fifth and sixth power titles, the men’s game remains staunchly in the 20th century.
This last topic surges in pertinence each March, just before the playing of The Players Championship. Two camps stake tents and run banners up the poll. One cries out for elevation of the PC to major status, while the other digs a trench around its impregnable quadrilateral. My personal take is this: Every four years since 2016, golf is played at the Olympics. Is Olympic Gold the equivalent of a major title? Yes, it is. It comes around every 1,500 days and brings elite golfers together in competition at the most important athletic event and venue. In my mind, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele earned major titles in Brazil and Japan, as did Inbee Park and Nelly Korda. As for the Players Championship, why not? The field is stronger by ranking than any major event, and the golf course demands every shot that golfers can create.
The Players Championship is so important to the U.S. PGA Tour that all other tours under its umbrella take the week off. No Korn Ferry, no Tour Champions. The LPGA and the DP World Tour follow suit, which shrinks the amount of watchable golf to two events. On that sour note, let’s run down this week’s play, beginning with the Players Championship and ending with the Asian Tour in Macau.
PGA Tour @ Players Championship: matching luggage for Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler is making a bid to be the player of his generation. From the previous one, a fair number have taken leave from traditional competition. The Johnsons, Koepkas, and Reeds from the 1980s no longer play the events that stand the test of time. The born-in-the-90s generation had its first great champion in Jordan Spieth until he took leave of the senses that brought him to golf’s pinnacle. Spieth’s descent ran opposite Scheffler’s rise.
Scottie Scheffler had won nothing on the PGA Tour until February 13th of 2022. He won on that day in Phoenix, then won three more times by the middle of April. One of those wins was the API at Bay Hill. Last week, Scheffler won for a second time at the Orlando course. Last March, Scheffler won his first Players Championship, by five shots over Tyrrell Hatton. On Sunday, Scheffler dived headfirst into a cauldron of fierce competition. Facing challenges from Olympic champion Schauffele, Open champion Brian Harmon, and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Scheffler breathed. As the only man to reach 20 under par, he earned a second consecutive title at Sawgrass and reminded us that it has been two years since he won the Masters and that he is on a tear.
It all began at the fourth on Sunday for Scheffler. After pars at the opening three holes, Scheffler’s driving wedge from 92 yards landed 20 feet shy of the hole, took one large bounce, then spun left, trickling into the hole for eagle. He followed that incantation with another birdie, then two pars. The stretch from 8 to 12 was where the champion made a statement. His quartet of birdies over that run, brought him to 19-under par and let the pursuing pack know that even lower than the winning 17 under in 2023 would be necessary.
And the trio was game. Harman and Clark both dipped below 70, to reach 19 under at the final pole. Schauffele could not find a similar gear and closed with 70 — 69 would have earned him a playoff with Scheffler. It was the extra gear, the ability to go low when all things mattered, that eleveated the now two-time champion to the top of the podium. In five of his eight tour wins, Scheffler has posted a sub-70 round on day four, and four of those have been 67 or lower.
With elegant precision, Scheffler applied the final thrust at the par-5 16th. He played safely away from Pete’s Pond on the right, into the left greenside bunker at the back of the putting surface. His bunker shot was thing of exquisite accuracy, trickling to a planned stop about 20 inches from the hole. The birdie concluded matters and rang the sort of bell that Dye courses tend to display.
The greenside bunker is not a problem for the defending champ.
Scottie Scheffler’s birdie at 16 moves him back into a share of the lead @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/aEi7onLZPE
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
Asian Tour @ International Series Macau: Catlin earns playoff victory
There are two sorts of golfers that compete on the Asian Tour, which makes no secret of its alliance with the LIV. The first are the AT stalwarts, the ones who play as golfers have always played, with little guarantee and much pride. The others are the ones who compete on the LIV, eschewing both risk and pride for the guaranteed payday. Their deal costs them world ranking points, so they play in AT events, hoping to qualify for golf’s major events.
This week in Macau, one of those LIV golfers shot 60 on Sunday and did not win the tournament. Hard to believe, you say? Aye, but when another golfer shoots 59 in the third round, follows it up with a 65 on day four, then makes overtime birdie twice at the par-five closer, the razor’s edge of great golf is sharpened. Thus did it happen with American John Catlin and Spaniard David Puig.
It was Catlin who signed for 59, and it took a twisting, eagle putt at the last to enshrine the first-ever, sub-60 on the Asian Tour. It was Puig who closed the gap on Sunday with a 60 of his own, which featured a bogey at the lengthy fifth hole, but was followed by seven birdies and an eagle over the next 13 holes. Catlin had a six-feet putt for the regulation win, but missed. In extra time, Puig nearly holed for eagle at 18, then tapped in for birdie. Catlin’s second danced along the OOB perimeter, before ending on an access road. His drop and pitch left him another six feet to remain alive, and this time, he converted.
At the second go-round of the par-5 finisher, Puig found the green in two, but took three putts from nearly 50 feet. Catlin confronted another challenging pitch for his third, and once again, his wedge game won the day. He tapped in for birdie and the win.
5??9?? ? @JohnCatlin59 eagles the 18th to shoot the first 59 on the Asian Tour ?? #whereitsAT #ThisISEverything #InternationalSeries @intseriesgolf pic.twitter.com/RV9gYy1SIp
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) March 16, 2024
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Morning 9: Rory, Xander, Clark share Players lead | Rory on controversial drop | AK misses Macau cut
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andar909
Aug 10, 2008 at 11:30 pm
hi, andar here, i just read your post. i like very much. agree to you, sir.
Andy Brown
Sep 26, 2007 at 12:24 pm
One does hope that there will be scintillating golf this year at the presidents cup but for the sake of the game the International team should win, pretty much like my hoping that the European team wins the Ryder Cup. This I say purely because I believe for the game of Golf to evolve and continue to grow internationally it is essential that International golfers put up a show of strength.
What is the point in pitting golfers from one nation against players from the rest of the world? It definitely reflects poorly on the quality of international golf. While Europe has maintained a strong grip on the Ryder Cup that has not been the case in the Presidents Cup with the international team winning only once. This time around though they stand a good chance with a really strong field with the likes of Els, Vijay.Goosen and K.J. Choi who would be hoping to continue his great run in 2007. The matchup if it happens that would get a lot of tongues wagging would be one between Rory Sabbatini and Tiger Woods. Let’s just hope for some good golf and for the sake of the game a victory for the international team.
Andy Brown