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19th Hole

Barstool Sports founder shot a 66 (of sorts) at Shinnecock, our Swing Analysis

Published

6 years ago

on

Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports’ founder, just brought upcoming U.S. Open venue Shinnecock to its knees…kind of.

How did El Pres wind up teeing it up in Southampton? Portnoy wrote about the genesis of the challenge in a characteristic blog post.

“So Riggs and I got in a huge debate a couple weeks ago on Barstool Radio. The question at hand was whether I could win the US Open with unlimited mulligans. For me the answer was a no brainer. Of course I would. That’s not even me bragging. That’s just me knowing what I’m capable of and knowing what unlimited mulligans actually means. I’d 100% birdie every par 3 and then par everything else. That’s -4 a day. Riggs projects the winner at Shinnecock this year will shoot -4 for the entire tournament. The ENTIRE TOURNAMENT. That means I’ll win by roughly 12 strokes. Easy peasy”

“Well apparently the good folks at the USGA caught wind of our argument and have generously offered to let me play Shinnecock on Monday with unlimited mulligans…When I said I’d win with unlimited mulligans I assumed that for the first 2 rounds I’d play from dawn to dusk to achieve my perfect score of -4 per day.”

Was this an insane expectation or something easily achievable? First of all, what do you think Portnoy’s handicap is? 20-25?

Here’s his action

Our Tom Stickney had these remarks after watching the video.

“His shoulders open and tail needs to be stuck out more. Portnoy gets the club rotated a touch too much to the inside and it gets laid off on the way back. An over-the-top transition and a faulty pivot causes the fire-and-fall-back finish.”

Having seen his swing, knowing he had a wheelbarrow’s worth of golf balls and a crew of mulligan retrievers, how do you think El Pres did?

Surely, Barstool will produce video of the round beyond the few cell phone videos on Twitter and Instagram. And if you’d like to see those fragments, check out Portnoy’s Twitter, the Barstool Instagram, and well, the myriad of Barstool-related accounts.

But here’s the bottom line: With an innumerable amount of mulligans, the Barstool founder managed to shoot 66.

Even say he averaged 10 mulligans per shot, shooting four under with, what we’ll label as an “extremely average” swing is impressive. .

Maybe it’s a feat of endurance, determination, and strategy more than it is a great golfing performance, but Portnoy’s performance in Southampton was more than a mere publicity stunt.

And even though we might stereotype the Stoolies as members of the “mashed potatoes” crowd, it’s tough to say the exposure and interaction is bad for the USGA and the U.S. Open.

What do you think, GolfWRX members? Interested? Impressed? Don’t care.

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19th Hole

Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis

Published

20 hours ago

on

May 9, 2024

By

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.”

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.

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19th Hole

Phil Mickelson reveals he won’t be pursuing broadcasting career when he retires from golf

Published

2 days ago

on

May 8, 2024

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On Tuesday, Chris McKee, a Toronto writer and radio host, wondered aloud on his X account if Phil Mickelson will be a commentator after his playing days are over.

“The second Phil Mickelson retires he’ll instantly become the most sought after TV analyst in golf. Would any PGA Tour broadcaster (CBS, ESPN, NBC or Sky) bring him in or would he have to stick to LIV broadcasts? #LIVGolf”

Mickelson saw the post and responded, saying he’s not interested in moving from the course to the broadcast booth.

“Thank you for the kind words. However, just cuz someone CAN do something doesn’t mean they SHOULD do it. Instead of commentating, I’m going to shoot some Pros vs Schmos 9 hole matches. I’ll share insights throughout as well as talk a little smack. It won’t be the highest quality video but it’ll be fun for me to do and fun to watch I think too.”

While I believe many fans would like to see Phil in the booth, his idea of “Pro’s vs Schmo’s” could certainly be intriguing.

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19th Hole

PGA Tour pro sounds off on ‘unfair’ PGA Championship invites

Published

2 days ago

on

May 8, 2024

By

This week, the PGA of America made some surprising announcements regarding the field of next week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

The event now will feature 16 LIV players with Talor Gooch, Dean Burmester, David Puig, Adrian Meronk and Patrick Reed receiving special exemptions.

PGA Tour player, Dylan Wu, took issue with how the exemptions were used and went to X to share his thoughts.

“Why is there never “real” qualifications for the PGA Championship? You have a points list and World ranking invite. Usually just outside top 100 in OWGR gets in. Chan Kim ranked 104th in OWGR doesn’t get in. SH Kim at 107th isn’t in.”

“Jesper Svennson ranked 108th gets in. Tim Widing 120th gets in. Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald gets a spot. A bunch of guys get leapfrogged even though they’re ranked higher than others. Seems like they just invite whoever they want. Unfair to the guys on the edge like Chan and SH”

“Just seems like the world of professional golf is in a weird spot and I love that the tournament invited a handful of great LIV players but figure out a correct system for a major championship where guys know they’ll be in or not. ????”

Fans who replied to Wu seemed to agree that a more definitive ranking system for the PGA Championship should be established.

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