News

Morning 9: Nitties! | Rocco’s candor | More fire from Brooks

Published

5 years ago

Feb 7, 2019

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

February 7, 2019

Good Thursday morning, golf fans.

1. Nine straight for Nitties!

Golfweek’s Alistair Tate…”How do you bounce back from a double bogey? Reeling off nine straight birdies helps.”

“That’s what Australian James Nitties did in the opening round of the $1 million ISPS Handa Vic Open. His 8-under 64 equalled the course record over the Beach course at 13th Beach Golf Club in Geelong, Australia, and helped him into joint second place with five players, two shots behind countryman Nick Flanagan.”

“Nitties made history by becoming the first player in European Tour history to officially make nine consecutive birdies in one round. Austrian Bernd Weisberger had nine straight birdies in the 2017 Maybank Championship, but an asterisk marks that feat since preferred lies were in operation.”

And on the women’s side…”England’s Felicity Johnson leads the concurrent women’s tournament by two shots on 8 under par.”

Full piece.

2. Clarification!

Our Gianni Magliocco…“After high profile rulings in recent weeks, the USGA and R&A have been forced to make clear Rule 10.2b(4) which in the recent modernization of the rules, aimed to prevent caddie alignment of players.”

“On Wednesday, in a joint statement, the organizations stated”

“The purpose of Rule 10.2 is to reinforce the fundamental challenge of making a stroke and to limit the advice and other help a player may receive during a round. Rule 10.2b(4) ensures that aiming at the intended target is a challenge that the player must overcome alone.”

“In Dubai last month, Haotong Li fell foul of the rule while lining up a putt on the 18th green, and at last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, Denny McCarthy was penalized under rule 10.2b, after his caddie aligned him prior to an approach shot. That penalty was later rescinded as McCarthy had backed off to reset after his caddie had aligned him, and in future, resetting will prevent any potential punishment.”

Full piece.

3. …and yet

Per Golfweek’s Alistair Tate…”We were talking about it on the range last week,” Graeme McDowell said as he prepared for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “Kenny has been caddying for 30 years, and he was terrified. He was quite scared of getting me penalized.

“Kenny and I have been together for 13 years, and he’s never lined me up. It’s not part of our routine, but the fear factor that comes in when you’re not trying to get any sort of advantage is difficult.”

And…”Chesson Hadley shared the fear that he and his caddie, Josh Svendsen, could inadvertently violate the alignment rule. After watching what happened to McCarthy last week, Hadley laid out his own new rule with Svendsen.”

“He’s never lined me up, but I’ve pretty much told him not to be behind me at any time during a round of golf,” Hadley said.

“Hadley said Wednesday’s clarifications won’t change his new rule….”It’s still the same: `Don’t be behind me. Ever. Don’t walk behind me. Don’t do anything behind me.'”

Full piece.

4. Intriguing names

Golfweek’s Forecaddie…”With an entry fee surely pushing $30,000 – it’s been eight years since Forbes put the cost at $25,000 – accepting a pro-am invite is a small expense for most corporate tycoons.”

“In the CEO department, Comcast’s Brian Roberts is the heaviest hitter in the field, paired with Ryan Palmer. Meanwhile, Randall Stephenson, his main competition for media dominance and the tournament’s sponsorship host, is sitting out this year. Toyota CEO Jim Lentz gets to play with Jason Day this year and not coincidentally, Day is an ambassador for Lentz’s Lexus brand. Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan is the most prominent banker, while Siemens CEO Lisa Davis and Condoleezza Rice are the most prominent female leaders teeing it up. Tournament regulars like Kohler Co. CEO David Kohler, Charles Schwab, Jimmy Dunne and the Pebble Beach Company’s Heidi Ueberroth are also entered.”
“From the tech world, investor and Mark Cuban business partner Todd Wagner is playing with J.B. Holmes, while Apple’s Eddy Cue drew Michael Kim as a partner. And Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri, who flirted with sponsoring a new Steph Curry-backed PGA Tour stop in San Francisco, is paired with Brandt Snedeker.”

Full piece.

5. Ho Sung fever!

A couple of quotes from the singular Mr. Choi’s Pebble Beach press conference…

“I know sometimes after I’ve hit the ball I sometimes will the ball to go in the hole and in my mind I feel like that helps the ball go in the hole, so I’m going to keep doing that this week,..And I feel like in my mind the way I move my body, sometimes it feels like I have remote control that wills the ball to go in the hole, so I’m going to keep doing that, because I feel like it helps.”

“I personally love my swing…I didn’t start golf until I was in my late 20s, so technically I didn’t take any lessons growing up. But regarding flexibility or anything like that, I might not have as much compared to the other tour players, but I do what I can with what I have. And also with the advancement in technology and with how far these players are hitting it nowadays I needed to find my own unique way to get that extra distance. And by hitting it hard and by swinging hard I was able to swing the way I do right now, so that might result in to how I’m swinging it.”

6. Mediate drank during tournaments

Golf Channel’s Will Gray…”Speaking with Golf Channel’s Vince Cellini in an interview for the latest episode of PGA Tour Champions Learning Center, the 56-year-old described himself as a “habitual alcoholic” and shared that he gave up drinking on Oct. 23, 2017.”

“I couldn’t tell you since last October, years before that, a day I went without having a drink,” Mediate said. “I knew at the time that eventually it was going to get me.”

“Mediate’s trophies spanned generations, winning for the first time at Doral in 1991 and for the sixth time at the 2010 Safeway Open. He has added three more victories since turning 50, including the 2016 Senior PGA Championship. But Mediate is perhaps best known for finishing second, having lost to Tiger Woods in a memorable playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open.”

“Mediate struggled with back injuries throughout his career, and he admitted to drinking as a way to cope with the pain – including, at times, during competition.”

“Absolutely I have (played while drinking). Because it was just normal for me. It was just a daily ritual, let’s say,” Mediate said. “You can put it in a lot of places. A lot of places. Was it every time? No. But most of the time when the pain came in, it wasn’t not going to happen.”

Full piece.

7. The quotes just keep on coming!

If we ever felt there was no real point to interviewing Brooks Koepka because he wouldn’t have anything to say, well, he certainly has plenty of things to say, as he proved during his whirlwind media tour.

Golf Channel’s Jason Crook…”While in New York fulfilling various media obligations in advance of his PGA Championship title defense, Koepka sat down with Danny Kanell on Sirius XM radio, and of course the pace-of-play issue came up.”

“It is frustrating. There’s a lot of slow players, a lot of them are kind of the very good players, too, which is kind of the problem,” Koepka said. “I think it’s weird how we have rules where we have to make sure it’s dropping from knee height or the caddie can’t be behind you and then they also have a rule where you have to hit it in 40 seconds, but that one’s not enforced. You enforce some but you don’t enforce the others.”

“[Slow players are] breaking the rules but no one ever has the balls to actually penalize them,” he added.

Full piece.

8. R.I.P., Alice Dye

It’s an inexcusable oversight to not have mentioned the passing of Alice Dye until this point. Candidly, as I learned of Ms. Dye’s death after the Morning 9 went out Friday, I had meant to include something Monday. Forgetting at the beginning of the week, it skipped my mind until I saw the NYT obituary today.

It’s appropriate, though, to include that article, as it is (as is so often the case) a superb summation of her life.

A portion…“Their courses were generally known as Pete Dye designs, but Alice provided significant input, and her husband usually took her advice.”

“Their signature hole was the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, the home of the Players Championship. When Pete was unsure how to fill in sandy terrain he had hollowed out around the green for transfer to other spots on the course, Alice provided the solution.”

“Originally, the water was just supposed to come into play on the right side, but we just kept digging,” the Golf Channel quoted Mr. Dye as saying. “And then one day Alice came out and said, ‘Why don’t you just go ahead and make it an island?’ So we did.”

“That green, connected to the rest of the course by a slender land bridge, has tormented even the world’s greatest golfers and become one of the most recognized images in the sport.”

“When they were building the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island in 1990, Ms. Dye persuaded her husband to raise the fairways to harmonize them with the environment.”

“Pete, I can’t see the ocean on the back nine,” she said, as related by The New York Times. “I don’t just want to hear it; I want to see it.”

“Mr. Dye raised the fairways by six feet so that the ocean came into view. But that created an added challenge by exposing the course to unpredictable, sometimes strong winds.”

But even his approximation does not paint a full enough picture. The obituary rightly quotes Golf Digest’s Ron Whitten’s writing.

“She was the more successful competitive golfer, with a supple swing. She was a better politician than Pete when it came to dealing with owners and regulators, more polished in presentations and communications. As a golf architect, she was the more knowledgeable of the two, teaching Pete how to read contour maps and handling most of his drawings.”

Full piece.

9. Write for WRX!

Forgive me for using the ninth point this morning for my own nefarious ends, but WRX is continuing to expand the Featured Writer Program, and I want to spread the word as far and wide as possible.

Are you an avid reader of the GolfWRX front page? A forum stalwart with 1,000 posts under your belt and a passion for hot melts, custom paintfills, and lead tape?

Maybe you’ve only recently discovered the site or our forums and have experience putting pen to paper (OK, fingers to keyboard)? Maybe you maintain your own blog and are looking for a bigger megaphone?

Whatever your situation, if you love golf in general, and golf equipment in particular, and are keen to share your passion and knowledge, GolfWRX wants you…to write for us.

Our Featured Writer Program has grown substantially since its launch in 2012 (heck, that’s the rung of the ladder I started on), but we’re keen to double down and leverage the singular golf and golf equipment knowledge GolfWRX Members can provide .

So, if you’re visiting GolfWRX and have no desire to write, we hope you’ll return often and contribute to our best-in-the-business forums.

However, if you’re visiting GolfWRX and either have experience writing or would like to try your hand at crafting articles, our team is ready and willing to help you create the unique content only GolfWRX can provide.

More info here.

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News

Morning 9: Anthony Kim speaks | New TGL team | ANWA contenders

Published

5 days ago

Apr 3, 2024

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for the Valero Texas Open.

1. McIlroy: Tour-LIV split unsustainable

Reuters report…”The split in the men’s game between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League is unsustainable and will not benefit anyone in the long term, Rory McIlroy told Golf Magazine on Tuesday.”

“The four-time major champion said it was disheartening as a competitor to see the best golfers play in separate tours for most of the year.”

“There needs to be a correction. I think what’s happening is not sustainable right now, so something needs to happen to try to bring it all back together so we can all move forward so we don’t have this division that’s sort of ongoing,” McIlroy said.

“They keep going down those different paths and I just don’t see how that benefits anyone in the long run. … I think [it’s] a shame for the overall game of golf.”

Full piece.

2. Anthony Kim speaks

Some excerpts from his interview with David Feherty…

Did he watch golf in his time away?

“I have an interesting relationship with golf. I don’t think I ever loved it. What’s very weird to me now is that I’m falling in love with the game. That’s such a weird spot for me because golf was filled with pressure and lots of different emotions for me because my family had to go through a lot to give me this opportunity to play golf. So with that added pressure, I was willing to risk a lot more, that was my nature. I was aggressive on the golf course, aggressive off the golf course and that led to my demise.”

On battling his demons

“I had no self-worth until I became a father….I started turning my life around about a year and a half ago.”

On becoming a father

“She’s my everything. Obviously my relationship with my wife is unbelievable, can’t thank her enough and owe so much to her. But a lot of the inspiration comes from Bella (daughter), I feel so blessed to be a dad, I wasn’t expecting to be able to have a child.

“I lost faith in myself, on top of that the doctors said I wouldn’t be able to have a child because of all the things my body has been through. That was very disappointing, that made me feel even smaller than I had felt originally. But this blessing happened and now I’m getting to experience this.”

Full piece.

3. Anna returns to Augusta

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”The 17-year-old Davis, who turned 18 on March 17, arrived on the Plains shortly after the first of the year, enrolling early and joining a Tigers squad that was already one of the best in the country; the midseason addition of Davis only amplified this program’s expectations. The SoCal native’s Instagram handle, @superannadavis, is aptly chosen. Super Anna ascended to the pinnacle of junior golf by winning the Girls Junior PGA and Augusta National Women’s Amateur, both before her junior year of high school. She’s since been tabbed for several national teams, junior and amateur, and fared well in an extensive LPGA apprenticeship – eight starts, half of them majors, and four made cuts – before the start of her somewhat surprising foray into college golf.”

“It’s fairly obvious to our team that a traveling spot has been taken by our new player,” Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen said back in February. Davis has now logged five starts for the Tigers, her most recent producing her best college finish to date, a T-2 at Georgia’s Liz Murphey Collegiate, and giving her a ton of momentum as she heads down U.S. 78 to Augusta for her third ANWA.”

Full piece.

4. ANWA contenders

Gabby Herzig for the Athletic…”LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad will be hard to ignore as the 2024 tournament favorite. The world’s No. 1 amateur is coming off a stunning 10-shot victory at the Clemson Invitational, where she also became the winningest female golfer in SEC history. Hailing from Sweden, Lindblad is looking for sweet revenge: She missed the 36-hole cut at the 2023 ANWA after posting top-3 finishes in each of her previous appearances.”

“Besides Lindblad, we have our eye on 15-year-old Asterisk Talley — one of the youngest competitors in the field. Named after the Greek word for “little star,” Talley is coming off a historic victory of her own. Just down the road from Augusta, Talley won perhaps the most elite junior golf tournament in the world, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Anna Davis, the 2022 ANWA champion, captured the same title last year and is back in the field at ANWA.

“Avery is another potential contender. With T4 and T29 finishes in her last two starts, she’s found comfort on both golf courses. But as the 20-year-old multitasks — still strolling through the department store, scanning carefully for her Champions Dinner outfit — one comment about her previous competitive rounds at Augusta is particularly telling.”

Full piece.

5. TGL’s New York Golf Club’s additions

The New York Post’s Mark Cannizzaro…”New York is about to have another sports franchise for which to root, beginning in 2025.”

“New York Golf Club’s four-player roster in the newly formed six-team TGL (which stands for Tomorrow’s Golf League) is set to be unveiled on Tuesday.”

“The Post has exclusively learned that the New York team, owned by Mets owner Steve Cohen and his Cohen Private Ventures, will include Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Westchester native Cameron Young and former U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick.”

Full piece.

6. Tiffany Joh becomes new U.S. national coach

Beth Ann Nichols for Golfweek…”Team USA just got a whole lot more fun. Tiffany Joh, a former LPGA player who lifted the spirits of countless players during her 11-year stint on tour, has accepted a new role with the U.S. National Development Program as a coach. She’ll work alongside head coach Chris Zambri on both the men’s and women’s side to help identify and support American golf talent.”

“Joh, who currently works as an associate head coach at USC, will move from her native California to Pinehurst, North Carolina, following the completion of the Trojans’ spring season. A two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion, Joh is the first USGA champion to be hired by the USGA in the organization’s 130-year history.”

Full piece.

7. Photos from the Valero Texas Open

Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!

Full Piece.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open

Published

6 days ago

Apr 1, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.

The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.

GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

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News

Tour Rundown: Jaeger is meister | Korda wins again

Published

6 days ago

Apr 1, 2024

Ronald Montesano

We’re getting to that time of year that all fans of golf embrace. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur begins this week, followed by the Masters at the end of the fortnight. Tours offer a full set of events, although they will take a break the week of the first men’s major of the year. The world’s tours played events this week in Texas, Singapore, Arizona, Mexico, and California. Nearly all of these competitions came down to the final stroke, on the final hole. This combination of stout play and building drama is what we weather winter for. With that season in the rearview mirror, let’s embark on another spate of Tour Rundown recollections.

PGA Tour @ Houston Open: Jåger is meister of Houston

Stephan Jåger had performed feats of magic before against the fires of competitive golf. In 2016, on the Web.Com (now Korn Ferry) Tour, he posted a first-round 58 and stayed true to that arrow to win his first tour event. On his Wikipedia page, his surname is spelled both Jåger and Jaeger. To honor his ancestry, we’ll go with the former.

This week, the stakes were higher, as he chased a first victory on the PGA Tour. Marvelous opponents sprinted with him, including former Houston Open winner Tony Finau, and the world’s top-ranked player, Scottie Scheffler. Just as eager as Jåger, were Alejandro Tosti, Thomas Detry, and Taylor Moore. Each figured in the event’s conclusion.

It’s easier to write that each of those six men posted rounds between 66 and 68 on Sunday, and that all finished within one shot of the rest, than it is to recall precisely how they did so. Finau dropped ten shots (62-72) from Friday to Saturday, or he would have added another Houston Open title to the shelf. Scheffler (the 15th), Tosti, (the 18th), and Detry (the 14th) all made a bogey over the concluding holes, or they would have joined Jåger in a playoff. As for Moore, he could have done little more than make one more birdie. His pitch to the last nearly went in, finishing inside two feet from the extension of glory.

Jåger did all his work on Sunday over the front nine. His four birdies and one bogey brought him to 12 under on the week. He proceeded to secure nine pars on the inward half, including a 20-feet save at the 13th. Only at the 17th did he putt for birdie from inside 15 feet, and that effort was too strong. Yet, he did all that he had to do, to conclude an event at the podium’s summit, and hoist a PGA Tour trophy for the first time.

CLUTCH!

Stephan Jaeger saves par to hold on to the solo lead @TCHouOpen. pic.twitter.com/FXKlaQTlXR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 31, 2024

LPGA @ Ford Championship: Korda wins again, so watch out!

It appears that the mystery condition that derailed Nelly Korda in 2023, has run its course or been eliminated. Korda won for the second consecutive week on the LPGA circuit, and she did so in the manner that we’ve grown to know: efficiency. One week past nearly tossing a victory away, Korda was flawless on Sunday at Seville, in Gilber, Arizona. Her seven birdies and eleven pars led to a Sunday 65, and a two-shot margin of victory over England’s Hira Naveed.

Heretofore unknown at the top tier of women’s golf, Naveed posted 65-66 on the weekend to slide past a quintet of contenders, into second spot. Naveed signed for 16 birdies over the final two days, but a pair of bogeys separated her from a chance at Korda. Behind her, in third position, were Carlota Ciganda, Mi Hyang Lee, Frida Kinhult, Maja Stark, and a resurgent Lexi Thompson.

Nelly Korda began the week with birdies at four of her opening five holes. On days one and three, she posted but a single bogey over the play of the course. Friday was a bit topsy-turvey, with a trio of bogeys offset by a dramatic eagle at the fifth. When it looked as if things were slipping away, Korda closed with birdie on day two, to gain momentum at the halfway point. Her swing is efficient and consistent, and when her mental game and putting join the full move, little can stop her. The Ford Championship was her eleventh on tour, and her third of the young season.

.@NellyKorda is No. 1 for a reason ?

Nelly birdies for the solo lead with just two holes left to go ? pic.twitter.com/WimuZPK0Pf

— LPGA (@LPGA) March 31, 2024

DP World Tour @ Indian Open: Nakajima nearly romps to win

Keita Nakajima set a record of 87 consecutive weeks as the top-ranked amateur in men’s golf. He won four times on the Japan PGA tour and built a five-shot advantage over the first 54 holes of the Indian Open. When he turned in minus-three on Sunday, his advantage swelled to near-double digits. It was a coming-out party for a potential, future champion.

Things turned sour on the inward half. Don’t worry: we did not misleed with our sub-header; Nakajima won. After four solid pars to begin the trek home, the leader made a sloppy, double bogey at the 14th hole. The hole owned Nakajima all week-he played it in a combined plus-five shots to par.

The leader rebounded with birdie at the next but closed with three consecutive bogeys for an inward 40 and 73 on the day. No matter: Nakajima won by four shots over India’s Veer Ahlawat, Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg, and the USA’s Johannes Veerman. Ahlawat managed 71 on Sunday, to move up four slots. Söderberg and Veerman posted 67 to each ascend 11 spaces.

Keita Nakajima makes yet another long putt for birdie and extends his lead to six ?#HIO24 pic.twitter.com/wG1JmL6Lls

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 31, 20 24

PGA Tour Americas @ TotalPlay: JJR wins at home

By all accounts, the merger of the PGA Tour LA and PGA Tour CA was a positive thing. Gone are the qualifying for two tours, and the uncertainty of a season-long circuit for golfers striving to reach the Korn Ferry tier. This week, the PGA Tour Americas moved to the Atlas Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico. Those in attendance were treated to a wondrous performance by a son of the nation, José de Jesús Rodríguez. A man with a stress mark in each of his three names is specially-written, and specially gifted, after all.

Rodríguez was marvelous over the first three rounds. Scores of 68-65-67 brought him to the pole position, heading into the event’s final lap. Sunday saw an early bogey (3) and a late one (17), and a lot of grit and determination in between. Jesús Montenegro of Argentina closed within one of the leader, but 13-deep was the farthest he could advance. Derek Hitchner and Joey Vzich of the USA matched 71s on Sunday to finish at 12-under par, in a third-place tie. The title, after a 72nd-hole par, belonged to José de Jesús Rodríguez, aka El Camarón Rojo, and all of Mexico celebrated with an olé!

This close to an eagle ?@elcamaronrdgz taps in for birdie on the par 5, 15th to take a one shot lead with 3 holes to play. pic.twitter.com/izO5EyO9sE

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) March 31, 2024

PGA Tour Champions @ Galleri Classic: Goosen gets gift and glory

It’s easy to recall Retief Goosen’s twin U.S. Open titles, in 2001 and 2004. He displayed an icy disposition under pressure as those around him wilted. It’s difficult to forget his collapse at Pinehurst in 2005, as he was on the cusp of a third U.S. Open title, and a place among the game’s greats. Although three more tour titles would come his way, he was never again the same player in major events.

The senior circuit, aka PGA Tour Champions, is a second chance at many things, for many players. For Goosen, it represents an opportunity to rebuild competitive scenarios, and rekindle the fires that burn within the competitive soul. For much of the Galleri Classic this week, Goosen and others watched as Steven Alker and Ricardo González dueled in the desert. In the end, neither player stood ahead of the field.

Both Alker and González posted late bogeys. González made three of them, from holes 14 to 17, while Alker finished bogey-bogey. Each golfer concluded his week at twelve shots under par, one agonizing shot behind Goosen. How did the two-time, U.S. Open champion reach the magic number? He avoided old man bogey. Three birdies and 15 pars on day three were enough to place the South African champion in contention, and he simply held firm, as those around him fell. The win was Goosen’s third on the senior circuit, and his first since 2022.

The Goose is loose.

Retief Goosen trails by one with three to play @GalleriClassic. pic.twitter.com/MlJsFEFNUK

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 31, 2024

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