19th Hole
The Florida Mid-Am final ended with a player getting punched in the face. Or did it?
On paper–that is the Florida State Golf Association’s paper, not the police report–Marc Dull won the Florida Mid-Am when his opponent, Jeff Golden, withdrew.
Dull had just birdied the 16th hole to pull even, when the skies opened.
A FSGA statement on the final match indicates what happened next
“With the players on 17, play was halted by heavy rains. When conditions permitted play to continue nearly two and a half hours later, Golden was unable to continue due to an unfortunate injury and defaulted the match.”
Indeed, the statement is technically correct. However, it hardly tells the full story…and what a story it is.
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner did some digging into the “unfortunate injury,” and what he found was certainly surprising.
Per a Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office police report, Jeff Golden (the man who suffered the “unfortunate injury”) called police. Golden claimed he was assaulted in the Coral Creek Club parking lot by his opponent’s caddie. According to Golden, Dull’s caddie, Brandon Hibbs, punched him in the face.
Why in the world did this happen? Apparently, during the ninth hole of the Golden-Dull match, Golden asked Dull about the condition of one of the holes, inquiring as to whether the cup was damaged.
“Don’t worry about it,” Hibbs (again, this is Dull’s caddie) told Golden. “If you’re going to make it, you’re going around it.”
Following this, Golden told a rules official that he believed the caddie’s statement constituted advice (to Golden, who was not his player). Apparently/incredibly, the rules official agreed, and Golden was awarded the hole.
Hibbs, presumably furious, left the course at this point and returned to the clubhouse.
During the previously mentioned rain delay that interrupted the match, Golden claims Hibbs approached him in the parking lot while he was at his car getting additional clothing.
Per the report, Hibbs “approached him, apologized, then punched him on the left side of the face.”
Now this story would be ridiculous enough if these facts were agreed upon. However, Hibbs says the incident never happened. He claims after leaving the course, he was in the clubhouse during the entire rain delay.
Nobody saw the alleged attack, and there were no surveillance cameras trained on the parking lot. Further, Golden’s face was not swollen or cut and Hibbs’ hands showed no evidence that he’d punched anything.
Golden maintains he was punched and that his shirt had blood on it, also claiming that he suffered “concussion symptoms.”
Golden declined to press charges, and both Hibbs and Dull maintain nothing happened.
Per Ryan Lavner, FSGA executive director Jim Demick said that Golden “didn’t want to play anymore.”
“Regrettably, the golf course was very playable and Jeff understood that he needed to resume the match. I think he was just ready to go,” adding police “found absolutely no evidence of an assault.”
What do you make of this, GolfWRX members? The scales of justice don’t seem to be tipped in Mr. Golden’s favor, do they?
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19th Hole
Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year
While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.
Butch Harmon on what he worked on with Rory:
“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make…
— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) May 15, 2024
“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”
The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.
Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships
While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.
“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.
“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.
“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’
“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.
“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”
Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.
Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items
The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Since then, more details have emerged about the case.
According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.
The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.
Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”
The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.
Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.
The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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