By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.
For comments: [email protected]
Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we look back at the Masters while looking ahead to this week’s RBC Heritage. |
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1. Shane Ryan: Appreciate Scottie’s greatness
Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan…”This is what’s called generational talent, and we haven’t seen it in almost 20 years. Steve Stricker read the tea leaves when he picked Scheffler for the 2021 Ryder Cup—a decision that was richly rewarded—and starting in 2022, he was off to the races. The only hiccup was a few putting woes last year, but even that only served to highlight how remarkable his ball-striking had become—instead of winning, he was finishing third. When he fixed the putting, with help from a new coach and a bit of equipment advice from Rory McIlroy, he soared yet again to the top of the game, but this time he seemed more indomitable, more inevitable, more brilliant.”
- “The sustained success of the last three years has officially made him the best professional golfer since Tiger Woods, a conclusion supported by analytics, the eye test, and every other metric you could dream up. With fewer majors, he has nevertheless leaped past Spieth, McIlroy, and Koepka in terms of pure ability. He doesn’t have their legacy, yet, but if we’re talking about peak performance, he’s already surpassed them.”
- “He’s so much better than everyone else, which is a sentiment that is both commonplace—I saw it on Twitter over and over again—and revelatory. It’s the thing you say because there is nothing else to say. You’re left with the wild truth, which words can describe but never capture.”
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2. Aberg: I want to be No. 1
The AFP’s Simon Evans…”The 24-year-old finished second, four strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler, after carding a final round 69 but he certainly won many admirers among the patrons at Augusta National and beyond.”
- “And his performance has filled Aberg with self-belief.”
- “Everyone in my position, they are going to want to be major champions. They are going to want to be world number one, and it’s the same for me, that’s nothing different,” he said.
- “It has been that way ever since I picked up a golf club, and that hasn’t changed. So I think this week solidifies a lot of those things are there, and we just need to keep doing those things and put ourselves in positions to win tournaments, ” he said.
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3. Homa’s honest answer on double bogey
Golf Channel staff report…”But Homa’s tee shot at No. 12 bounded off the putting surface and into a bush. After a healthy search, Homa found his ball and had to take an unplayable lie. He made double bogey, effectively ending his bid at a maiden major title.”
- “Homa tied for third, seven shots back of Scheffler. Asked about what happened on the fateful 9-iron, Homa offered two replies.”
- “The honest answer is, it didn’t feel fair. I hit a really good golf shot, and it didn’t feel fair. I’ve seen far worse just roll back down the hill,” he said.
- “The professional answer is, these things happen.”
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4. Harbour Town ahead
RBC Heritage field notes, via Adam Stanley of PGATour.com…”Scottie Scheffler is, for now, set to tee it up at the RBC Heritage. He was clear to say that if his wife, Meredith, would go into labor during the Masters, he would head home to be with her, so it’s safe to assume that same rule will stand at Harbour Town. Scheffler has not shot an over-par round all season and has three victories (and one runner-up). He made his debut at Harbour Town last year and finished T11… Matt Fitzpatrick looks to become the first golfer to go back-to-back at the RBC Heritage since Boo Weekley in 2007-08. Fitzpatrick, a playoff victor last year, has two top-10 finishes this season. He has just one missed cut at Harbour Town over the last six years and he finished fourth in 2021 to go along with two more top-15 results in a three-year span (T14 in 2018 and 2020)…”
- “Jordan Spieth is hoping to continue his run of fine play at Harbour Town after a playoff loss last season and a playoff win the season prior. Spieth has five top-25 finishes at the RBC Heritage in seven starts… Justin Thomas earned a spot in the field after remaining in the top 30 (he’s No. 30) in the Official World Golf Ranking despite a missed cut at the Masters. Thomas, who finished T25 last season at Harbour Town, has two top 10s on the season… Ludvig Åberg, who is tops in the Aon Next 10, will head to Hilton Head for the first time. Åberg has had a fabulous 2024 campaign thus far with four top 10s (including two runner-up results) and is knocking on the door for a victory… Hideki Matsuyama was the only eligible player who did not commit to the RBC Heritage, while Viktor Hovland – after a missed cut at the Masters – withdrew from the field on Saturday.”
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5. Reed’s caddie’s needle
Our Matt Vincenzi…”After a particularly bad drive during his third round on Saturday, Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain, also his brother-in-law, made a snide but factual comment to Patrick.”
- “Your driving has cost us a lot this week,” Karain remarked.
- “Reed didn’t disagree and told reporters after the round that there was nothing good about his round…
- “A reporter then asked: “It’s a good thing he’s a family member, right?”
- “Yeah, exactly. I’d probably be dragging him up that last hole,” Reed said. “I swear.Just what you want to hear as you’re looking at the ball in the tree, and he goes, ‘You need to drive it better.’ Thanks, Kessler. I appreciate it. Great words of wisdom. Drive it better.”
- “This may be the last major for Reed for a while, as the 33-year-old has not been invited nor qualified for next month’s PGA Championship.”
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6. LIV wants Hovland next?
Ewan Murray for the Guardian…”Rising speculation that Viktor Hovland will be the next high-profile golfer to be coaxed to the LIV tour will increase the need for Ryder Cup Europe to apply a simple qualification process for golfers on the Saudi Arabian-backed circuit.”
- “LIV is forging ahead with plans for 2025, which include new events and the recruitment of more players from the PGA and DP World Tours. The rate of turnover is likely to be increased by the number of golfers who had three-year contracts when joining LIV, which will expire at the end of 2024.”
- “Chatter on the range at the LIV event in Miami this month and again at the Masters largely surrounded Hovland, the world No 6 who starred for Europe in the defeat of the United States in Rome last year. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who also played in that team, have subsequently joined LIV. Hovland missed the cut at the Masters and promptly withdrew from the PGA Tour’s $20m stop in Hilton Head this week.”
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7. Rory’s management: LIV reports are ‘fake news’
Brian Keogh for the Irish Independent…”A report that Rory McIlroy was on the verge of an $850million move to LIV Golf has been slammed as “fake news” by his management.
“Fake news. Zero truth,” McIlroy’s manager Sean O’Flaherty said in an email.
London financial paper “City AM” reported today that sources have told them that McIlroy “could” join LIV Golf
The paper reported that “two separate sources have told City AM that they believe a deal is close. It is claimed that LIV Golf chiefs have offered world No2 McIlroy an eye-watering $850m to join, plus around two per cent equity in the competition.” |
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delete icloud contacts
Jan 22, 2015 at 4:39 am
Read the headline, and go straight to the comments. Bigger news would be Tiger making a birdie, finishing a round under par, or finishing a tournament without an injury.
While I completely agree that ‘Weird things happen to people’, any time TW gets so much as an in-grown hair, he makes sure the cameras are on him and milks it for all it is worth. Tiger has never been an ‘oh by the way, I just got my face pummeled by a camera’ kind of guy. Just sayin’…
Timbleking
Jan 22, 2015 at 3:54 am
Hancock 2 – He’s back.
Released in all cinemas in Phoenix, by the end of next week…
BigBoy
Jan 21, 2015 at 5:23 pm
Everyone wants to look like Mike Tyson…WHY?????
ND Hickman
Jan 21, 2015 at 6:04 am
I’m sorry but what is with the “LOL” tag attached to this article? This is a Golf website. Not some trashy gossip rag run by Perez Hilton or TMZ. Lets try and by a little bit more serious.
jgpl001
Jan 20, 2015 at 5:33 pm
Watch out Snoop Dog, Snoop Tiger now on the scene
Rich
Jan 20, 2015 at 5:15 pm
What? No pictures of him covered in blood from having the tooth knocked out by a camera man? Good place to be (in the snow fields) when his pants are on fire!
Double Mocha Man
Jan 20, 2015 at 4:39 pm
Fake tooth. Fake personality.
SS
Jan 20, 2015 at 7:53 pm
Right on, brother, right on!
brian
Jan 20, 2015 at 1:37 pm
polarized
JOTS
Jan 20, 2015 at 1:10 pm
Tiger missing a front tooth and Robert Allenby has a shiner / cut head….hmmmm…..coincidence??
RC
Jan 19, 2015 at 10:56 pm
Tell him to get a gold tooth put in
KCCO
Jan 24, 2015 at 6:53 pm
Should def go with a gold tooth, or a pop in grill????
Yeah
Jan 19, 2015 at 10:15 pm
So a camera knocked out his fake tooth that Elin BEAT out of his lying face? I wonder if Tiger will have a press conference to say the camera man was acting heroically when it happened. HAHA
CR
Jan 19, 2015 at 10:09 pm
I hope this means that he’s done for the season
jojo
Jan 19, 2015 at 9:30 pm
B F D!
……must have been a slow news day!
JonathanBilbo
Jan 19, 2015 at 9:30 pm
Why is he walking around without his “fake tooth” anyway? Regardless of who knocked it out.
CR
Jan 19, 2015 at 10:11 pm
Cos he feels like the gangsta he wishes he was
Nikki
Jan 19, 2015 at 11:15 pm
some people have to use pontic teeth, which is a place holder before an implant. Sometimes the bone isnt ready for an implant or the space isnt needed, a lot of celebrities have fake teeth that are are only attached by bonding them to the adj teeth.
Corrie-Lynn's dad
Jan 19, 2015 at 8:49 pm
Those are nike shades
Ct
Jan 19, 2015 at 5:14 pm
No Nike sunglasses? Somebody get a hold of deadspin! STAT!
brian
Jan 20, 2015 at 1:36 pm
you sure those dont say ” nike max polorized”…. because thats what it looks like to me…..
DatSliceDoe
Jan 19, 2015 at 4:57 pm
He’s had a fake tooth for over 10 years, how is this “news.” Clearly evidenced by every image of him where one of his front teeth is noticeably whither than the other.
Ct
Jan 19, 2015 at 5:11 pm
Your exactly right! Wait… Tiger and Elin are not together anymore? Again, nothing new!
Jason
Jan 19, 2015 at 4:57 pm
Thanks MG! We were all hoping someone could share their sentence structure knowledge with us. Man, you’re so smart. Please tell us more.
MG
Jan 19, 2015 at 5:12 pm
lol why u mad tho?
MG
Jan 19, 2015 at 4:31 pm
“Deadspin suggests that the tooth that was knocked out was in fact a fake tooth, which Woods had been sporting since the events of Thanksgiving, 2009 may have cost him the chomper.”
First off, this sentence structure is just hot garbage. Secondly the content is way off. Deadspin showed pics going back to ’04 where there was evidence he was wearing the fake tooth, well before the Thanksgiving incident.
bradford
Jan 20, 2015 at 7:55 am
But what if his intent was to say that the actual year, 2009, was the culprit?
MG
Jan 20, 2015 at 9:06 am
That would be a perfectly fine claim to make, so long as he provides a source. The problem is he sourced Deadspin as the 2009 date in that sentence. It’s not good when you falsely interpret your source, even if you are a blogger (Don’t tell Jason though, he still mad lol).