19th Hole
Daniel Berger has never watched golf on TV (not even the Masters). Do you think he’s alone among pros?
Daniel Berger doesn’t watch golf. The 25-year-old Floridian said as much in his Golf Digest “My Shot.”
“I’ve never watched it [golf] on TV except out of the corner of my eye. Not one round of the Masters, or even an episode of “Golf Central.” I’ve never seen the Feherty show. If I’ve watched a couple of hours of golf, total, I’d be surprised…I follow golf through Twitter, Instagram and the PGA Tour app. I’m very weak on golf history, because you pick up a lot of that on TV. I know Jack Nicklaus has 18 majors, and that Tiger has 14, but I have no idea who’s third.”
Is this shocking? Do we think most golfers spend their few off-weeks watching the PGA Tour on television, tuning into PGA Tour Live on their phones? Do we think the PGA Tour’s young stars are settling down with a Bobby Jones biography or catching up on their Bernard Darwin? (To be fair, Berger clearly does watch highlights via Twitter, the PGA Tour app, etc)
There’s a quasi-expectation in golf that Tour pros are students of golf history. To suggest that the PGA Tour’s finest didn’t grow up glued to the family TV set during Masters week (at least!) is sacrilegious, in the minds of some, at least.
Berger expands on his blissful ignorance with this exposition of his pre-Masters exposure to Augusta National.
“When I played in my first Masters, in 2016, I knew nothing about Augusta National except what I’d seen playing the Tiger video game. I had a couple of invitations to play the course in advance and appreciated them but was like, “Thank you, but I’m good.” Not knowing what a big deal it was is probably why I didn’t play a full practice round. I walked the front nine on Tuesday with a wedge and putter and played the back nine on Wednesday. I tied for 10th that first year.”
Video games! Berger hasn’t missed the cut in three Masters starts, and his worst showing is a tie for 32nd. Even so, should we be appalled by his lack of reverence for the venerable course and its history? Or does it not matter?
Further, PGA Tour pros have little to gain from the admission that they didn’t grow up watching golf and aren’t students of the game’s rich history, so it’s not surprising we haven’t heard many similar statements. That said, Berger can’t be alone in his position. How many pros do you think are in the same boat (an appropriate metaphor, since Berger says he prefers relaxing on his vessel to watching golf).
Let us know what you think, GolfWRX members. You can read Berger’s full “My Shot” here.
- LIKE22
- LEGIT1
- WOW3
- LOL5
- IDHT1
- FLOP2
- OB4
- SHANK63
19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee has a surprising new take on the PGA Tour-LIV stand-off
One of the more outspoken analysts throughout the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga has been Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.
This week, Chamblee reversed course, saying he believes the PGA Tour should strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF).
Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain."
He says:
"The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8
— JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024
“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone who’s not going to go away, who can outspend you”.
“Every move they make that makes their tour better deletes your tour and causes more division within the tour. So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”
Chamblee’s new stance seems to be in line with that of Rory McIlroy, who reportedly wanted to rejoin the PGA Tour board with hopes of pushing a deal with the PIF closer to the finish line.
Chamblee will be in the booth for next week’s PGA Championship which has 16 LIV players in the field.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
New here?
- LIKE32
- LEGIT10
- WOW5
- LOL3
- IDHT1
- FLOP4
- OB1
- SHANK42
19th Hole
Xander Schauffele explains free drop ruling during round one of Wells Fargo Championship
During Thursday’s opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele blasted his tee shot in the woods to the right of the fairway on the par-4 8th hole.
The ball was almost not found, but Xander’s group managed to track it down just before the three-minute time limit was reached.
When the ball was found, it was just beyond the penalty area close to a fence. In the moment, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Schauffele would be able to hit the ball through the trees towards the green.
However, through the woods and above the fairway, there was a hanging wire from a ShotLink tower that Xander claimed was in his way. He was then granted relief, and two club lengths from the spot positioned him all the way out of trouble. He played his ball onto the front of the green and two-putted for par.
Here is the full video of the interaction between Schauffele and the rules official.
??? #WATCH — The full video of the Xander Schauffele #DropGate situation ?
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 9, 2024
After the round, Xander said he “got really lucky.”
“Got really lucky multiple times, on 1 with Wyndham finding it, 2, being able to move the rocks, and 3, the ShotLink tower being in like my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no breeze 4 with what I thought was almost out was a really good break.”
“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I — ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction.
“If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I’ll just kind of hit my next one out. But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you’ve got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit.”
“So Austin [Kaiser] and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”
Schauffele finished the round at seven under, which gives him a three-shot lead going into Friday’s second round.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
New here?
- LIKE8
- LEGIT5
- WOW4
- LOL4
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB1
- SHANK21
19th Hole
Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis
According to a report from The Telegraph, the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has soured.
Last week, reports surfaced that McIlroy, who was a member of the PGA Tour policy board during most of the past few years, was looking to rejoin the board, presumably taking Webb Simpson’s seat.
However, on Wednesday, McIlroy revealed that he will not be rejoining the policy board, due to people on the board being “uncomfortable” with that “for some reason.”
Here's Rory McIlroy talking about the PGA Tour policy board and the "subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason." pic.twitter.com/0skNOwtWxz
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) May 8, 2024
The Telegraph has reported that Tiger Woods was among the players who voted against McIlroy returning to the policy board.
The divide is apparently due to McIlroy pushing for the game of golf to unify, whereas Woods, reportedly, believes the PGA Tour is in a fine position where it currently stands.
The Associated Press added another wrinkle to the situation, reporting that Woods is the only player who will be negotiating directly with the Saudis.
The other members of the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, who was a former PGA Tour player.
- LIKE33
- LEGIT7
- WOW15
- LOL7
- IDHT1
- FLOP3
- OB2
- SHANK37
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole5 days ago
Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Equipment5 days ago
Details on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
Whats in the Bag5 days ago
Keegan Bradley WITB 2024 (May)