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19th Hole

Judge: Augusta National gets to keep contested green jackets during lawsuit

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Is there an entity in the world of sports more single-mindedly committed to the protection of its brand than Augusta National Golf Club?

ANGC, if you’ll recall, filed a federal lawsuit in August to halt Green Jacket Auctions (you know that name rankles the club to no end) from auctioning a trio of green jackets. One of the famed garments purportedly belonged to Byron Nelson, one to a current member, and one to a former member of the iconic club.

Now, per a report from The Augusta Chronicle, the jackets are back in the club’s possession until the case is resolved

U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall signed an order Friday saying in part

“…The parties shall not construe the release and transfer of these items as anything other than an alteration of its previous preservation order. The court has not yet made any determinations regarding the disputed issues in this case.”

In August, Augusta maintained the items were either stolen or fakes. The club says it has never sold green jackets at any point in its history, and members are likewise prohibited from doing so.

Not surprisingly, Green Jacket Auctions doesn’t see things the same way, indicating it obtained the jackets legally through third parties who themselves rightfully owned the garments.

Ryan Carey, co-founder of Green Jacket Auctions, told Golf Digest.

“Augusta National likes to claim things are ‘stolen’ when what they really mean is they believe Augusta National owns every green jacket ever produced regardless of who currently owns or possesses the jackets.”

The famed green garments are only worn by members during the Masters, and only the reigning Masters champion is permitted to take his jacket from the premises.

Judge Hall granted a temporary injunction in August, which stopped the auction pending the determination of ownership.

Should members own their jackets? Or should ANGC effectively rent them out to the membership but retain ownership?

It’s difficult to make the case that the most famous garments in sports appearing on the auction block builds the Masters brand in a positive way. Indeed, for the club, and for many Masters fans, the green jackets are akin to holy relics housed in the sanctuary of the club. For many, this may seem extreme, but it’s all part of the dense web of Masters mythology.

From an ownership standpoint, based on this latest development, it’s also difficult to think the court ANGC won’t determine to be the rightful owner of genuine green jackets.

In other words, the days of green jacket auctions at Green Jacket Auctions may be over.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s LIV Golf Singapore betting preview: Course specialist ready to thrive once again

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After another strong showing in Australia, LIV Golf will head to Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore looking to build off of what was undoubtedly their best event to date.

Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The course is more than just incredible scenically; it was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top-100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Prior to being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005.

Sentosa Golf Club is a par 71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low due to the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots on the course that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast. I spoke to Asian Tour player, Travis Smyth, who described the greens as “the best [he’s] ever played.”

Davis Love III, who competed in a Singapore Open in 2019, also gushed over the condition of the golf course.

“I love the greens. They are fabulous,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner said.

Love III also spoke about other aspects of the golf course.

“The greens are great; the fairways are perfect. It is a wonderful course, and it’s tricky off the tee.”

“It’s a long golf course, and you get some long iron shots. It takes somebody hitting it great to hit every green even though they are big.”

As Love III said, the course can be difficult off the tee due to the length of the course and the trouble looming around every corner. It will take a terrific ball striking week to win at Sentosa Golf Club.

In his pre-tournament press conference last season, Phil Mickelson echoed many of the same sentiments.

“To play Sentosa effectively, you’re going to have a lot of shots from 160 to 210, a lot of full 6-, 7-, 8-iron shots, and you need to hit those really well and you need to drive the ball well.”

Golfers who excel from tee to green and can dial in their longer irons will have a massive advantage this week.

Stat Leaders at LIV Golf Adelaide:

Fairways Hit

1.) Louis Oosthuizen

2.) Anirban Lahiri

3.) Jon Rahm

4.) Brendan Steele

5.) Cameron Tringale

Greens in Regulation

1.) Brooks Koepka

2.) Brendan Steele

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Cameron Tringale

5.) Anirban Lahiri

Birdies Made

1.) Brendan Steele

2.) Dean Burmester

3.) Thomas Pieters

4.) Patrick Reed

5.) Carlos Ortiz

LIV Golf Individual Standings:

1.) Joaquin Niemann

2.) Jon Rahm

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Louis Oosthuizen

5.) Abraham Ancer

LIV Golf Team Standings:

1.) Crushers

2.) Legion XIII

3.) Torque

4.) Stinger GC

5.) Ripper GC

LIV Golf Singapore Picks

Sergio Garcia +3000 (DraftKings)

Sergio Garcia is no stranger to Sentosa Golf Club. The Spaniard won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to scorching hot Talor Gooch. Looking at the course setup, it’s no surprise that a player like Sergio has played incredible golf here. He’s long off the tee and is one of the better long iron players in the world when he’s in form. Garcia is also statistically a much better putter on Bermudagrass than he is on other putting surfaces. He’s putt extremely well on Sentosa’s incredibly pure green complexes.

This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, both of them being playoff losses. Both El Camaleon and Doral are courses he’s had success at in his career. The Spaniard is a player who plays well at his tracks, and Sentosa is one of them. I believe Sergio will get himself in the mix this week. Hopefully the third time is a charm in Singapore.

Paul Casey +3300 (FanDuel)

Paul Casey is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the five years or so. The results recently have been up and down, but he’s shown that when he’s on a golf course that suits his game, he’s amongst the contenders.

This season, Casey has finishes of T5 (LIV Las Vegas), T2 (LIV Hong Kong), and a 6th at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour. At his best, the Englishman is one of the best long iron players in the world, which makes him a strong fit for Sentosa. Despite being in poor form last season, he was able to fire a Sunday 63, which shows he can low here at the course.

It’s been three years since Casey has won a tournament (Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2021), but he’s been one of the top players on LIV this season and I think he can get it done at some point this season.

Mito Pereira +5000 (Bet365)

Since Mito Pereira’s unfortunate demise at the 2022 PGA Championship, he’s been extremely inconsistent. However, over the past few months, the Chilean has played well on the International Series as well as his most recent LIV start. Mito finished 8th at LIV Adelaide, which was his best LIV finish this season.

Last year, Pereira finished 5th at LIV Singapore, shooting fantastic rounds of 67-66-66. It makes sense why Mito would like Sentosa, as preeminent ball strikers tend to rise to the challenge of the golf course. He’s a great long iron player who is long and straight off the tee.

Mito has some experience playing in Asia and is one of the most talented players on LIV who’s yet to get in the winner’s circle. I have questions about whether or not he can come through once in contention, but if he gets there, I’m happy to roll the dice.

Andy Ogletree +15000 (DraftKings)

Andy Ogletree is a player I expected to have a strong 2024 but struggled early in his first full season on LIV. After failing to crack the top-25 in any LIV event this year, the former U.S. Amateur champion finally figured things out, finished in a tie for 3rd at LIV Adelaide.

Ogletree should be incredible comfortable playing in Singapore. He won the International Series Qatar last year and finished T3 at the International Series Singapore. The 26-year-old was arguably the best player on the Asian Tour in 2023 and has been fantastic in the continent over the past 18 months.

If Ogletree has indeed found form, he looks to be an amazing value at triple-digit odds.

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19th Hole

LIV star splits with swing coach after working together for 14 years

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After fourteen years together, LIV Golf’s Adrian Meronk has decided to part ways with his swing coach, Matthew Tipper.

On Monday, Tipper announced the split via social media.

“After 14 years sometimes things just come to an end. Last week Adrian decided he wanted to go a new way and I have to respect that decision. I’m proud of everything we achieved together.

“I knew in 2010 he was a great talent and he has only gone to prove that all over the world. To Pietro Gobinho and Stuart Beck, thank you for being amazing caddies when Adrian needed you. Your support and co-operation has been invaluable and I thank you both.

“I want to publicly thank Adrian for allowing me to sit in the best seat in the house for 14 years.

“It’s now time to start my new chapter in the USA alongside my mentor James Sieckmann and I’m excited to go to my first Korn Ferry Tour event later next month. As always tomorrow we begin again.”

Meronk is having a poor season by his standards on LIV. The reigning DP World Tour player had some solid finishes early in the year, finishing T9 and T6 at LIV Las Vegas and LIV Jeddah, but missed the cut at the Masters and has failed to crack the top-10 in his past three LIV starts.

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19th Hole

LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you

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On Friday morning, Ladies European Tour player, Hannah Gregg, took to social media to share her weekly expenses playing on the LET.

“Expenses of my first week on Ladies European Tour: Flights: $2600 Work Visa: $350 

  • Food: $377 
  • Caddie: $0 because I have an amazing Fiancé 
  • Hotel: $0 because  @GregChalmersPGA sorted me host housing for the week!  
  • Rental Car: +0 because the Tour Tee guys GAVE me their car  
  • Gas: $165 
  • Entry Fee: $130 
  • Lounge Pass for caddie: $50 
  • Gym: $0 
  • Yardage book: $0 
  • Total expenses: $3672 

Made cut, finished 54th, total earned: $1244 Factor in 35% tax on earnings. To break even, needed to finish 24th. To make money, 21st. Guess we have our goals laid out for next event!”

When factoring in Gregg’s free housing, free caddie and free rental car, it’s evident that most LET players would have to finish well inside of the top-20 to make any money.

With ridiculous amounts of money being thrown around in professional golf these days, it’s important to remember the other side of the coin as well. There are countless professionals out there who struggle to get by on their golf salary.

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