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French pro says French people don’t really care about golf or the Ryder Cup

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French people don’t really care about golf, says French pro golfer Michael Lorenzo-Vera. The 33-year-old is one of 19 entrants in the Open de France this week.

Reportedly, only 10 percent of French people follow golf, and according to the European Golf Course Owners Association, only 400,000 of the country’s 66 million citizens play golf.

Lorenzo-Vera spoke with the New York Times, and he doesn’t think hosting the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National is going to do much to boost the game’s popularity in the country.

“People don’t care about the Ryder Cup. Honestly, nobody knows there’s going to be a Ryder Cup in France. Only the golfers know. That’s it. There won’t be many French there. There will be so many more from England or Spain.”

Asked about the perception of golf in France, he had this to say

“Golf is a very private thing for people in France. Private courses for only rich families or rich people — that’s it….Golf is not a good thing here. It’s for rich people and spoiled kids. That’s the image we have.”

Hmm. Well that’s definitely not good stuff.

His take on French golfers wasn’t exactly great either.

“Mentally, the Americans are way ahead. They are much more positive, aggressive and patient than French golfers…The French player typically doesn’t putt very well, either. The Americans’ short game is fantastic. The French also complain. I’m not kidding…In France, we push too hard and complain. We get angry and swear.”

And who’s to blame for the lack of French major champions? The schools, apparently.

“The French education points out the negative things instead of pushing hard on the positive things. It brings you down mentally. This is why we don’t have any big champions.”

Wow. Albert Camus would have offered a rosier take.

Probably not helping his mood any: Lorenzo-Vera opened with a 6-over 77 at Le Golf National.

But seriously, this is an interesting story, right? If French people don’t really care about golf or play the game, why is the Ryder Cup being held there? To jumpstart participation and interest?

And how representative should we take Lorenzo-Vera’s comments to be? Any of our European WRXers have a take on this?

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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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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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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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