News
First PGA Tour leader of 2020: Joaquin Niemann | Tiger’s PR man out | Shackelford on schedule squeeze | Pineapple Rickie
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By Ben Alberstadt
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January 3, 2020 Good Friday morning, golf fans. We’re heading back to the clubhouse after 8 holes this morning. Enjoy your weekends, and I’ll see you again Monday, the start of a big week in the world of golf equipment.
**We’re looking for advertisers for 2020. Drop me a line ([email protected]) if you’d like to talk about getting your message in front of the M9 readership. Banner and native ad possibilities are, well, possible**
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1. TOC: Niemann leads
Adam Schupak for Golfweek on the round one action…”To borrow a phrase from Roger Daltry and The Who, the kids are going to be all right.”
2. High winds ahead
PGATour.com’s Ben Everill…”Jon Rahm was only half joking when he said he’s going to have nightmares tonight in Maui.”
3. Greenspan out
Rumblings suggest Glenn Greenspan was given his marching orders, but officially, there’s no word on the genesis of the split with Tiger’s top PR man.
4. Ready or not…
Interesting perspective from Geoff Shackelford on the congestion of the 2020 golf schedule…
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5. Bold predictions
Here are two of Kyle Porter’s predictions for 2020 in professional golf…
“Tiger Woods doesn’t win at all: That’s right! Here’s the thing with Woods. He’s tended to do the opposite of what everyone thought he was going to do over the past few years. He thrived last fall after everyone said he wouldn’t. He struggled last summer after everyone presumed he’d never lose again. He started 2019 off slowly (at least compared to expectations) after winning the Tour Championship, and then just when people started bailing, he won the Masters. It’s foolish to pick him to not win an event because he’s still one of the, what, three or four best iron players alive, but I’ll fade the November-December heat and say he’s wearing an earpiece instead of a golf glove at Whistling Straits.”
“Rory McIlroy wins a major: The unintended benefit of Tiger thumping at the highest level for guys like McIlroy is that the No. 2 player in the world goes into 2020 as under the radar as the No. 2 player in the world can possibly be. Between Tiger defending at Augusta National, the Phil Mickelson storyline for Winged Foot and the Open going somewhere other than Portrush, McIlroy will have more freedom at majors than he has in recent years. It also helps that he’s the best player on the planet right now.”
6. Are prices for new golf clubs too high?
Superb perspective here from the team of Stachura & Johnson regarding equipment prices
A morsel of their response to a question about the “rising” cost of clubs…”But seriously, let’s take a serious look at equipment pricing. The most popular driver in golf nearly a quarter century ago, and maybe the most popular driver of any time, was the Callaway Great Big Bertha from 1995. Its price: $500. In today’s dollars, with inflation, that’s about $850. Quite simply, there are no drivers at that price today that have any kind of share of the market. It is correct that average selling prices have jumped significantly. “
7. Lost letters
Digest’s EIC picks up a pen to compose the “lost letters” of 2019 in golf. Here’s a good one…
“DEAR TIGER,”
“You tied me at 82 official PGA Tour victories, but you know I won a lot more than that. The Google Machine credits me with 94 PGA-sanctioned tour wins, but the egghead professors in Pondy Verde robbed me. They count The Greenbrier as official one year and somehow unofficial the next. I won the West Virginia Open 17 times, but I guarantee you they didn’t count them. I just want to warn you, as time goes by, they’re gonna start taking away your majors. Like those three U.S. Amateurs you won. By my count, you’ve got 18 majors to Jack’s 20 (including his two National Amateurs), so you’re only two behind. Keep your eyes on those boys in accounting….
-The Ghost of Sam Snead”
8. Pineapple Rickie
Golf Channel’s Grill Room team...”The look is part of Puma’s latest collection, Island Time, which features two signature prints inspired by the tropical vibes of Hawaii. Fowler wore the pineapple-print Islands Shirt during Wednesday’s pro-am.”
“However, the shirt wasn’t the only noticeable fashion statement made by Fowler, who also wore matching shorts. And while he typically sports a flat-billed hat and wore one on the course, Fowler traded that in for the collection’s reversible bucket hat for his press conference.”
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News
Morning 9: Rory: I’m not joining LIV | Masters ratings | Nelly: We just need a stage
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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News
Morning 9: Aberg: I want to be No. 1 | Rory’s management blasts ‘fake news’ reports
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Mark
Jan 3, 2020 at 2:56 pm
Steinberg. Greenspan. No wonder Tiger’s life was almost in ruins. He will still end up broke, financially and physically. Bet on it. That’s how they roll.