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19th Hole

Confirmed: Ernie Els did indeed beat the crap out of Steve Marino aboard a private jet

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Perhaps you’ve heard the rumor that Ernie Els and Steve Marino (a colorful member of the Tour in his own right) put back a few and let the fists fly in Els’ private jet a few years back.

The rumor was further substantiated earlier this month when a friend of a friend to Marino, retired hockey player Mike Commodore, appeared on Barstool Sports’ Spittin Chiclets podcast and said this.

“Marino is…sitting at a bar crushing some beers. Ernie Els walks in and sits down and they have a couple beers. Els is like, “What do you do for a living?” Els has no…clue who this guy is. Marino is like, “Actually, I’m so many spots ahead of you on the money list.” They both laugh. Ernie likes him.”

Els then asked Marino if he was playing a particular tournament in Japan. When Marino said he was, Els said he’d give him a ride back to Florida on his jet. Three months later, they both make the cut at the tournament in Japan, and they finish the tournament. Marino wasn’t sure if Els remembered he’d promised him a lift, but then Els says he invited him aboard his plane…Marino, for his part, is pumped, having never experienced the joys of private aviation before.

“They get on the plane. It’s just the two of them. They’re crushing beers. They take off. Have some food. This and that. They’re having a blast. Marino’s like, ‘This is the greatest time of my life! I’m flying private. I’m crushing beers!’

“They’re standing kind of in the aisle or whatever and Ernie Els comes up to him and says something like, ‘Are you having a good time?’…and Els is like, ‘Now we fight!’ and straight-up headbutts him..hard…Ernie starts throwing him around all over the place, and the co-pilot comes back screaming.”

At this point in the pod, one of the hosts cuts in and mentions that the pilot said something along the lines of, “Ernie not again!” indicating Els has a penchant for such behavior.

Marino apparently, “covered in blood,” decided to try to get some sleep. “At some point, he wakes up, and Ernie Els is towering over him and just strokes him.”

The co-pilot then intervened again, in full parental mode, threatening, apparently, to ground the plane. The two then went to their separate corners and didn’t speak for the rest of the flight.

When the plane landed and Marino went to get off, Commodore said, “Ernie’s there waiting at the bottom of the stairs…and Ernie’s like, ‘Great flight, Steve, we’ll see you around!’”

Commodore also added “it’s confirmed” Marino lost a tooth in the fight(s).

Insane, right? Els, a guest on this week’s No Laying Up podcast,, essentially confirmed this tale of mile-high brawling.

“It was just myself and Stevie coming from Japan to Palm Beach,” Els said. “We had a lot to drink. There was a lot to talk about, and we kind of hugged each other. It was a lovefest on the airplane. Nobody got seriously injured. It was all in good fun. It’s just what guys do and there’s a lot of testosterone running.”

Yes. When there’s a lot of testosterone running, a certain set might take to beat the hell out of each other in private jets. The rest of us will have to be content with shouting at the television and our barroom brawls.

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19th Hole

3-time PGA Tour winner calls for LIV to buy Champions Tour to fix ‘joke’ purses

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While speaking on the Subpar podcast, former PGA Tour winner and current PGA Tour Champions player Chris DiMarco said he hopes LIV buys the Champions Tour.

“We’re kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour,” he said.

“Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean this is kind of a joke when we’re getting $2 million. There were like seven guys last week from TPC (Sawgrass, at the $25 million PLAYERS Championship) that made more money than our purses.”

In 2024, the Champions Tour had a total of $67 million in prize money over the course of 24 events.

DiMarco also defended LIV players for taking the money and said he would take it also.

“They wanted to play for a lot of money, and they deserve it. They have had some great careers, why not go and get some money?”

DiMarco also offered insight on Graeme McDowell’s move to LIV.

“I saw Graeme McDowell at the Old Memorial Pro Member, and he goes, ‘Listen, I went up to Jay Monahan and said I love the tour but I am struggling to keep my card and these guys are offering me all this money and less golf. I’m sorry, I’m going.’ And I do not blame him one bit, and I said I would have too.”

DiMarco was ranked as high as 6th in the world in 2006.

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19th Hole

‘It won’t win you golf tournaments’ – Golf analyst rips Charley Hull’s course management

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Charley Hull came just short of her third LPGA Tour victory over the weekend at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship when she played her last two holes at 3 over to slip all the way to 10th on the leaderboard.

After the round, Hull was blasted by Sky Sports commentator and former LPGA Tour player Trish Johnson for her lack of golf course management.

While speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, Johnson spoke harshly of Hull.

“I’m probably her harshest critic, because I know how good she is. She doesn’t win anywhere near enough for her talent, and she doesn’t get involved enough, in all honestly.

“The thing with Charley is that you’re never going to change her. I read something the other day that said how much she loves the game and it’s her love of the game [that costs her]. She’s never going to change and she’s just going to go for every pin.

“In theory that’s great, but it won’t win you golf tournaments, it just won’t because she’s not that much better than anybody else. If you put Charley against Nelly Korda, then I’m picking Nelly every single day of the week.”

Johnson also made a fascinating comparison between Hull and a famous male golfer, John Daly.

“Golf-wise that’s the way she plays the game and it’s a little bit like watching John Daly I suppose.”

“There’s something that John Daly had that made him a major winner and a winner, but Charley is kind of lacking that. Her talent is not in question, but maybe her application is. Maybe it’s just the case of her never changing and that will cost her golf tournaments, there’s no two ways about it. You cannot go for every pin because that’s the way you play and it being fun, as other players are better than that and you have to have course management.”

Hull is still only 27, and therefore has plenty of time to work on her flaws to achieve the success her talent should allow.

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19th Hole

Former agent lifts lid on being fired by ‘zombie’ Tiger Woods

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Discussing his new book “Rainmaker” with the Daily Mail, Tiger Woods’ former agent, Hughes Norton, recounted the events leading up to and after his split with the 15-time major champion.

Norton was abruptly fired by Woods in 1998 after his 1997 Masters win and monster deal with Nike.

In the book, Norton talks about the way Tiger views his relationships, calling him a “zombie.”

The solace I can take, which doesn’t provide much, is this: He was an equal opportunity zombie with relationships, his swing coaches, his lawyer, the guy negotiated the IMG representation deal, with caddies, When it’s over, it’s over.”

Norton added:

“It is the way he terminates relationships with everyone. Whether it’s girlfriends, whether it’s his former golf coaches. It’s ironic, really. In a way he’s so good at confrontation on the golf course. If he’s playing you, he will beat your brains out every single time.

“But when it comes to confronting things like me and other people that are in his life, he has no social skills whatsoever. It’s maddening, actually.”

After he was fired by Woods, Norton was let go by IMG, which he believes was due to Woods’ influence.

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