19th Hole
GolfWRX Members and PGA Tour pros rip JB Holmes for his 4-minute deliberation (and layup)
It’s been three days since J.B. Holmes took more than four minutes to hit his second shot at Torrey Pines’ 18th Hole during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, and, oh boy, hot takes aplenty from fellow pros and GolfWRX members.
Holmes needed eagle to tie for the lead at the par-5 18th on Sunday. With 230 yards to the green, J.B. debated whether to aim for the putting surface or lay up. Four-minute long story short, he laid up (in the rough) and didn’t make eagle. Making matters worse, his playing partner, Alex Noren, would have won the tournament with a birdie, but he was effectively iced by Holmes (you could make the argument Noren should have been able to rise above, or merely told Holmes he was going to go ahead and hit).
We’ve heard from Holmes himself, who apologized, but didn’t seem to understand the outrage as he was “trying to win the tournament,” his fellow pros, and talking heads aplenty.
Most tour players aren’t slow but because of a handful of slow ones we all get a bad rep
— Daniel Berger (@DanielBerger59) January 28, 2018
Last group was over a hole behind, we can all blame JB…and yes the player should take responsibility for their pace of play, but if they don’t that’s why we have Tour officials – they needed to step in a while ago IMO.
— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) January 28, 2018
1. JB needs to be fined or better yet given 2 shots
2 Needs eagle to tie. After all that lays up? Really???
3 Horrendous sportsmanship to Noren and Palmer
4 wow ????— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) January 28, 2018
Now, let’s see what the GolfWRX membership has to say about the incident. And J.B., if you’re reading, avert your eyes. The first point to note: There were multiple “J.B. Holmes’ slow play” threads active prior to the incident at the 18th, which were merged into a single thread after “Fourminutetencecondgate.” Anyway, here’s a sampling of the responses from this now 13-page long thread.
Now, to be fair and balanced, the most diplomatic response was one of the first in the thread.
Mjen43 writes
“I don’t care about pace of play on television. They’re not holding me up, I’m just sitting here watching.”
Zz24hours (which is nearly as long as J.B. took) says
“That JB Holmes 2nd to 18 was borderline unsportsmanlike, moronic.”
Straightshot7 says
“They did just take 6 hours to play. That’s a problem. JB needs someone to follow his group with a shot clock and an air horn.”
North Texas looked at the situation from Noren’s perspective
“If I’m Alex Noren, I’m absolutely livid.” He later added, “Not only that, he [J.B.] “chickened out” and didn’t play to get into the playoff.”
Deadsolid…shank pointed out some potential lasting damage
“I’ve always been a JB fan. That just changed.”
Knock it close, ultimately, may have had the best take.
“Until someone other than a 14 year old asian kid [Guan Tianlang at the Masters in 2013] in is made an example of nothing will change. All other rules are enforced by the PGATour, why pace of play isn’t is beyond me.”
If you’re fired up about pace of play on the PGA Tour in general, or the J.B. Holmes ordeal in particular, you’ll want to check out this thread, because the GolfWRX membership has all the angles covered.
- LIKE54
- LEGIT8
- WOW4
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB0
- SHANK4
19th Hole
TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract
This week, TaylorMade Golf announced that they’ve signed AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Miles Russell, to an NIL contract.
In a statement, TaylorMade called Russell “nothing short of remarkable”.
“Miles’ record setting success at his young age is nothing short of remarkable and we are excited he chose us to support him in his growth as a golfer to continue to accomplish his career goals. Identifying and developing the top junior talent in the world has always been a priority for us at TaylorMade. Miles and his family epitomize the type of athlete and human being we are looking to add to Team TaylorMade.”
Russell has broken plenty of records in recent months. This season, he was named American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Boys Player of the Year, making him the youngest male player to receive the award. The record was previously held by Tiger Woods who was about 10 months older than Russell at the time he received the award.
At age 14, J he became the youngest player ever to win the Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass at age 14.
The 15-year-old also played in his first Korn Ferry Tour event on Thursday, the LECOM Suncoast Classic, and shot a first-round 68.
In the aftermath of the agreement, Russell released a statement.
“I have had a great relationship with the team at TaylorMade for years now and couldn’t be more excited to continue to work with them in the future. TaylorMade has a history of developing the top junior talent in the world to help reach their goals of becoming PGA TOUR and major championship winners. I am looking forward to working with the team to reach those and other goals I have laid out for my career.”
More from the 19th Hole
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW1
- LOL2
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
19th Hole
Group of PGA Tour caddies sign endorsement deal with underwear company
In an interesting turn of events, a group of PGA Tour caddies have signed an endorsement deal with an underwear company.
Geno Bonnalie (Joel Dahmen), Aaron Flener (J.T. Poston), John Limanti (Akshay Bhatia) and Joel Stock (Will Zalatoris) and John Ellis (Wyndham Clark) have signed a deal with the underwear brand, SAXX.
Here are some details about the endorsement deal:
- The deal eclipses six figures in total value, extending what last year marked the first significant apparel agreement with a group of pro caddies. Of note, Geno and John Ellis appeared in the Netflix docuseries, Full Swing.
- The caddies will wear SAXX underwear, shorts and polos on and off the course.
- SAXX will donate $100 to the Testicular Cancer Foundation for every birdie made by the caddies’ players for the rest of the season.
- SAXX will bring the Ball Masters to the masses at the Travelers Championship, hosting a fan activation with underwear giveaways, photo opportunities, appearances from the Ball Masters and more.
- Fans can become an honorary Ball Master, which includes a year’s worth of underwear, among other things. Go to SAXX.com/ball-master-application from now until June 15 to enter.
The partnership is great for the caddies and also represents a great cause.
Check out the video they shared on YouTube:
More from the 19th Hole
- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
New here?
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL2
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
19th Hole
Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man has been charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National.
The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.
The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”
The document was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Per the court records there is no mention that Globensky worked for the golf club.
More from the 19th Hole
- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
New here?
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW1
- LOL2
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB1
- SHANK1
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Things got heated at the Houston Open between Tony Finau and Alejandro Tosti. Here’s why
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Report: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole5 days ago
Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
-
19th Hole4 days ago
Neal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
-
19th Hole3 days ago
Report: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Addiction, spinal fusion, and scam artists – Everything Anthony Kim revealed in candid interview with David Feherty