19th Hole

Charles Howell III candidly discusses his struggles to win on the PGA Tour

Published

6 years ago

May 31, 2018

Charles Howell III turned pro in 2000. Now 38, he’s won just twice on the PGA Tour and has never finished inside the top 10 in a major championship. You can bet this frustrates Howell more than it does any of his critics or detractors.

In many people’s minds, Howell has underachieved. A Haskins Award winner at Oklahoma State, individual NCAA Champion in 2000, prodigiously gifted with the golf club and able to generate massive amounts of clubhead speed, Howell was the 2001 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. A winner at the Michelob Championship in 2002, he’s only won once since.

During his Gear Dive podcast, Johnny Wunder asked Howell about this, in a roundabout way, and he was refreshingly candid and remarkably insightful in his response.

Johnny said he thought Howell would have 15-20 wins at this point in his career, then asked, “Looking back, are there any adjustments…to your game, or how you approached your game that you would change?”

Howell replied

“I would have thought at this point in time that I would have had more wins as well. A thing I’ve struggled with is when I’ve gotten in contention to win a golf tournament, be it through 36 holes or 54 holes…I at times struggle with trying too hard to win, where it means a little bit too much at times. I wish I had the ability to play as if it didn’t matter or let the golf just be what it is and let the wins come when they may.”

“That’s one thing…as of late…I’ve played better golf because I have a better understanding of the variance of the game. I have a better understanding that no amount of work or practice…is going to guarantee success. Now, it may set the odds in your favor, but there’s still going to be variance out there. You’re going to have the odd shots here or there that aren’t good and the odd results that aren’t good. I’ve become a lot better at accepting that. I wish I would have been that way more when I was young. It’s not that I wasn’t told that, it’s just that I didn’t truly understand it…”

“I’ve always been a guy that practices a lot and does all that I can do to try to get better, and maybe at times I’ve overworked myself…I also at times maybe gone too far down the road on bad swing ideas, as opposed to abandoning them sooner. I’d go down ‘em until…the ship sank, if you will…But listen, we all live and learn.”

CH3’s honesty is remarkable, really, in the world of professional sports. He didn’t have to admit to struggling to seal the deal or stubborn commitment to swing changes that aren’t working, but his frankness only serves to make us root for him even harder.

You can listen to Johnny’s full talk with Charles Howell III here.

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19th Hole

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

Published

19 hours ago

Apr 18, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

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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19th Hole

Talor Gooch: 54 holes is more exciting for the fans

Published

19 hours ago

Apr 18, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

Over the past few weeks, two of LIV Golf’s biggest stars, Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson, have both expressed that they believe LIV could go to 72 holes.

While speaking to BBC Sport, Rahm said he “wouldn’t mind” going to 72 holes.

“If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes I think it would help all of this argument a lot.”

“The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.

“I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to 72 holes.”

Phil Mickelson, while speaking after his final round at The Masters, also said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if LIV went to 72 holes.

“I don’t think it makes a difference either way. We’ve got mini-tours playing 54, Champions Tour playing 54. I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of LIV events went to 72. I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I enjoy the competition.”

Another one of LIV’s top players, Talor Gooch, expressed on Wednesday that he feels quite differently.

“It’s just funny to me, this arbitrary number of 72.”

“Why is it not 90? “Why is it not 108? We just decided to make that number the number, for what reason?”

“Everyone’s talked about world ranking points and all this stuff, but no one’s talked about what do the fans enjoy more?”

“People want something that’s going to be more exciting. And I personally think that the 54 holes is more exciting for the fans.”

After Gooch’s comments, I decided to get some fan feedback for myself, making a poll on X. With about 4,500 votes in at the time of writing this, roughly 84% of voters in the poll indicated they’d prefer 72 holes to just 16% saying they’d prefer 54.

Rahm prefers 72 holes
Gooch prefers 54 holes

Where do the fans stand?

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) April 17, 2024

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19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why

Published

2 days ago

Apr 17, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Earlier this week, rumors began to fly that Rory McIlroy could be making a shock switch to LIV Golf which caused quite the stir on social media.

However, on Tuesday, McIlroy emphatically shut down those rumors, telling Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town:

“I honestly don’t know how these things get started. I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV. Again I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.

It’s unfortunate that we have to deal with it and this is the state that our game’s in. I’m obviously here today and I’m playing this PGA Tour event next week and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.”

Golf Channel analyst and longtime LIV critic, Brandel Chamblee, took to social media before McIlroy’s statement to point the finger at “Saudis/LIV,” who he believes started the rumor:

I have no doubt that this rumor was started by Saudis/LIV… to benefit Saudis/LIV after such a poor showing, as a group, at The Masters.

I’d be very surprised if this turns out to be true. https://t.co/SWNgjHtWSM

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024

When one user pushed back on Chamblee’s claim that LIV golfers had a poor showing at the Masters, Brandel went further into why he believes the opening major of the year was a failure for the breakaway tour.

You think they paid 3 billion for a few top tens and to be +82 as a group at major? A senior citizen beat some of their “stars” and almost all the game’s of LIV players have deteriorated since they sold their souls to the Saudis who only bought a moment in time… nothing else. https://t.co/xERkYsztIJ

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024