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Scott Van Pelt’s take on renewed fan appreciation for Tiger Woods. Do you agree?

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Tiger Woods has been the most popular and widely rooted-for golfer since turning pro in 1996. This holds true among golf fans and general sports fans alike. And despite what his detractors might say and their arguments as to why this should not be the case, it is. Overwhelmingly so.

In the course of Woods’ latest comeback from injury, beginning at the 2017 Hero World Challenge, we’ve seen a little different flavor to fan adoration, and a little different response from Woods himself.

Michael Williams, speaking with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on the 19th Hole podcast, asked Van Pelt for his perspective on the Tiger love.

Van Pelt offered an excellent reply.

“Here’s why in my opinion. At 21, or 25, or 28 whatever stage you want to pick when he’s truly this Superman and he’s flying above everyone else and he’s destroying people, we can’t relate to any of that. None of it is part of the human experience that we know, but at 40-something with a bald spot and with some kids and with some miles on the tires and some bumps in the road that you’ve hit and some other things you’ve run into that were your own mistakes, we can relate to all of that.

“We can relate to the frailty of human condition and we can relate to being fallible, and we can relate to being imperfect and I think that we … When I say we, I mean what I presume we are seeing in golf fans. With golf fans turning on their televisions in record numbers and who bought record numbers of tickets in Tampa, what those people are saying, in my opinion, are we want that guy who we know is fallible and frail and human. We want to see that guy do it again and whether it’s one more time or ten more times we want to see it again, because societally we have this really interesting habit of wanting to tear down what we built up and then wanting to see it get back to that place.

“I think the love of the galleries it’s unreal. Monday he comes out and walks onto the range and you hear this roar and it’s a Monday and he’s walking out to the range and people are cheering. They’re so excited to see him.

“Here’s the thing, I get that there’s pushback. I get that there are people who don’t root for him and that’s fine. You see it on social media, this, that and the other and you don’t have to root for him, but to those people to try to pretend like they’re not in a minority is a joke. The overwhelming majority of people that are watching, are watching to see one guy and it’s Tiger Woods.”

What do you think about SVP’s take, GolfWRX members? Has he hit the nail on the head in describing this new flavor of Tiger fandom? Is is the enthusiasm merely the product of absence making fans hearts grow fonder?

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19th Hole

TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract

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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.”

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19th Hole

Group of PGA Tour caddies sign endorsement deal with underwear company

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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:

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19th Hole

Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National

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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.

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