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GolfWRX Morning 9: More venom for USGA, Mickelson | The specter of 5-hour rounds

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Good morning, GolfWRX members. As most of you are signed up for our newsletters, you likely already know that I’ve been sending this little Morning 9 roundup of nine items of note to start your day.

In case you’ve missed it, or you prefer to read on site rather than in your email, we’re including it here. Check out today’s Morning 9 below. Feedback is always welcome–send everything from news tips to complaints (hopefully more tips than complaints)!

If you’re not signed up for our newsletters, you can subscribe here.

By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

 

June 19 2018

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans.
1.”No obvious leadership”

 

Ganging up on the USGA–both when warranted and when not–is a sport in the world of golf. Thus, it’s not surprising to see the takesmiths continuing to reload and empty their clips.

 

That said, Brandel Chamblee’s remarks were particularly scathing and far reaching.
  • “Something’s amiss in a big, big way,” Chamblee said. “I think the USGA has lost a lot of the trust of the golf world.”
  • “They missed the rebound effect and the combination of the rebound effect [with] the ball. They missed it, on their watch. And now, the feeling is that they’re crying foul, even though it was on their watch. And so, essentially, the equipment companies got it done, by [the USGA’s] standards, legally.
  • “There’s penalties that they levy that make absolutely no sense, penalties that they don’t levy,” Chamblee said. “Disqualifying Phil Mickelson made perfect sense.”
  • “There seems to be no obvious leadership, you know, to me,” he said. “No obvious leadership heading in the right direction.”
(h/t to Joel Beall for the transcription)

 

2. Mickelson dragging continues

 

Plenty of ink continues to be spilled condemning Phil Mickelson and/or the USGA. Here’s a bit from Nick Rodger at Scotland’s The Herald.
  • “Mickelson’s well-documented antics during the third round of the US Open, where he deliberately hit a moving ball on the 13th green to prevent it trundling goodness knows where, brought widespread condemnation but no disqualification.”
  • “He should’ve been but the USGA officials effectively buried their heads in the technical mumbo jumbo of the rule book even though Mickelson brazenly admitted to the breach.”
  • “Rather like failing to punish marquee names for slow play, this was another example of lily-livered officialdom. Mickelson’s crass celebration at holing a putt on the same green on Sunday was another Harvey Smith salute to the spirit of the game.”
Lily-livered!…More

 

3. Say what you will, this U.S. Open was entertaining

 

Good for golf? Bad for golf? Bad for the USGA? Bad for Phil Mickelson? Bad for Dustin Johnson? Who cares, writes the AP’s Charles Curtis, the U.S. Open was entertaining.
  • He catalogues everything from Bryson DeChambeau’s “clown golf” comments, to Mickelson’s meltdown, to Dustin Johnson’s slow burn  in this piece.
4. Back to work for Spieth and McIlroy

 

A friendly reminder that following disappointing weeks at Shinnecock, both Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are back to work this week at TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship.
  • Spieth, if you’ll recall, won the tournament in a playoff last year (remember Michael Greller throwing the rake in celebration?). He’ll look to get his putting back on track.
  • Rory McIlroy, for his part, is coming off a week where he simply did not look sharp in many facets of his game.
  • It’s not all that common for big names to be back in action the week after a major, so many will relish the opportunity to see if something is indeed rotten for the duo.
5. Bridgestone Golf’s new leader

 

Following the departure of Angel Ilagan late last month, Bridgestone Golf has appointed Dan Murphy as President and CEO.
  • Murphy was previously with the company from 2004 to 2015. He most recently served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
  • Since 2015, Murphy was President of textile manufacturer Kentwool and Vice President of American Achievement Corporation.
  • Says Murphy. “We make the most technologically-advanced golf balls in the world and my role is to help ensure Bridgestone is recognized as the industry’s leading example of how science and data is used to make products that improve the performance of all golfers.”
6. How a recreational round of golf takes 5 hours

 

“1.56pm: The standard of play gets increasingly ragged as we edge towards four hours on the course. The sandwich seems a distant memory, everyone has run out of water and snacks and the round starts to drift.”
  • That’s a dispatch from the trenches in a funny-if-it-weren’t-so-true piece by Mark Towsend for National Club Golfer. Townsend examines the phenomenon of the agonizingly slow round in a gruesome breakdown of a recent Saturday morning round.

 

7. (In)famous disqualifications.

 

Following Phil Mickelson’s avoidance of disqualification at the U.S. Open, Kevin Markham at the Irish Examiner put together a rundown of some of the great DQs in the game’s history.
  • “It’s not often that two golfers get disqualified at once but that’s what happened at the 2003 Open Championship, at Royal St George’s. Mark Roe and Jesper Parnevik played together in the third round and recorded every score correctly. They signed their cards at the end of the round and Roe’s 67 meant he was in third place entering the final day, set to play alongside Tiger Woods.”
  • “Only it wasn’t to be: the two men had not exchanged cards at the beginning of the round and therefore ended up signing the wrong cards. The Rules officials wouldn’t budge despite the outcry over such an error and the game’s archaic scoring traditions remained intact.”

 

8. Well played, Suzy Whaley!

 

The incoming PGA of America president–and first woman to serve in that capacity–Suzy Whaley fired a 73 in qualifying at The Olympic Club to earn a spot in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
  • Said Whaley (per Golf Digest): “I’d like to see more women’s golf on network TV and the golf purses increase
  • “I want to see these women showcased for their talent and skills and the role models that they are around the world. … Young girls can see themselves as elite athletes or as women in positions of authority. Golf has the opportunity to provide that empowerment and that opportunity”.
9. Place your bets

 

With the second major of the year newly mothballed, odds for the third major of the year are being refined. Here are the latest Open Championship odds, via Bovada.

 

Dustin Johnson: 11/1
Rory McIlroy: 12/1
Jordan Spieth:12/1
Rickie Fowler:16/1
Justin Rose:16/1
Tommy Fleetwood:18/1
Brooks Koepka:18/1
Justin Thomas:20/1
Tiger Woods:20/1
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GolfWRX Editor-in-Chief

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Chuck Barkley

    Jun 19, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    Pickleson is a frat boy, single minded, selfish, tax dodging, rule violating, gambling, unapologetic professional swindler!! Plain and simple. As stated, the spineless USGA’s proverbial heads were buried in Hefty’s Pickle juice and they basically
    drowned themselves in the pool of “Love ya Phil” quicksand! Love how this single act of ignorance was recorded for all to
    see for years to come and then some more. I had just about had it with his “Eddie Haskel” collar up, angelic smile, awe shucks s*it kickers grin on his goofy mug! He has soiled himself with this foolishness! I’m sure his respected Dad is
    proud of the behavior. I tell ya, had this been Harold Varner III, Pat Perez, or the human volcano himself, Steve Pate, acted a fool as Pickle did, justice would have been served IMMEDIATELY!!

    • Commoner

      Jun 22, 2018 at 7:31 pm

      Wow!!! Don’t disagree with anything. In fact, I envy your great expression.

  2. youraway

    Jun 19, 2018 at 7:45 am

    With all said, the USGA and it’s leadership has proven themselves to be no more than inept. That are not now and have not been protectors of the game for years. It would not surprise me if the R&A separated themselves from them, but follow the money. Brandel makes good points and there are more, square grooves, anchoring, two penalties on DJ during two Opens, they must not like him, and changing the Rules to satisfy media interest. The time is now for a complete house cleaning of the USGA, removing the overpaid, I hate to use the word leadership. The very lame reasoning for using 14-5 and not 1-2 is self interest, or fear, driven. Phil (now known as 1-2) opening stated he intentionally violated a Rule to gain an advantage, he said he planned it and could not believe he hadn’t intentionally undertaken this action previously. When a player, 1-2, opening states he violated the Sprint and Rules of the game therefore gaining an advantage, DQ is obvious, but not for the USGA. This is a sad time for the game and having any respect for it’s leadership. In addition, it was my hope that 1-2, even though he played in the final round, would have written “WD” on his card when turning it into Scoring, but he didn’t and all the players who finished behind him were cheated.

    • sjn

      Jun 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm

      well said,couldn’t have put it better myself

    • JThunder

      Jun 19, 2018 at 5:51 pm

      Can you point to the specific Rule which advocates DQ for “violating the spirit of the game”, and how such violation is defined?

      Can you also point to where in the rules it states that a player is DQ’d for an intentional violation of any Rule? Do then, the Rules entirely apply only to unintentional violations?

      These things have been said an nauseum this weekend, but I have yet to see anyone directly quote the Rule(s).

      • youraway

        Jun 19, 2018 at 8:17 pm

        *Penalty for Breach of Rule 1-2:
        Match play – Loss of hole; Stroke play – Two strokes.

        *In the case of a serious breach of Rule 1-2, the Committee may impose a penalty of disqualification.

        Note 1: A player is deemed to have committed a serious breach of Rule 1-2 if the Committee considers that the action taken in breach of this Rule has allowed him or another player to gain a significant advantage or has placed another player, other than his partner, at a significant disadvantage.

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Morning 9: 58 on the Korn Ferry Tour | Rory on possible return to policy board

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Friday morning, golf fans, may a bountiful weekend of golf be in store for you!

1. 58 on the Korn Ferry Tour

KFT staff report…”Frankie Capan III went crazy low Thursday on the Korn Ferry Tour. Nearly in record fashion.”

  • “Capan carded 13-under 58 in the opening round of the Veritex Bank Championship, matching the second lowest score in Korn Ferry Tour history. He fell one shy of Cristobal Del Solar’s record 57, set at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard earlier this year, but it was a heck of a show nonetheless.”
  • “The Minnesota native played an eight-hole stretch in 9-under Thursday, following an eagle at the par-5 ninth with seven straight birdies to begin the back nine at par-71 Texas Rangers Golf Club. He “cooled off” with a two-putt par at the long par-4 17th hole. He arrived at the par-5 18th hole at 13 under for the round, but he found a fairway bunker off the tee, laid up to 134 yards and missed his third shot left of the green. He chipped to 7 feet and drained the par putt to match the Korn Ferry Tour’s second-lowest score of 58, carded by Stephan Jaeger in the opening round of the 2016 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae.”
Full piece.

2. Team McIlowery starts strong

Paul Hodowanic for PGATour.com…”Late Thursday afternoon in New Orleans, Rory McIlroy rested his head on Shane Lowry’s shoulder.”

  • “It wasn’t the typical post-round moment, but this isn’t the typical event. McIlroy and Lowry teamed up for this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA TOUR’s lone team event, and the all-Irish duo put on a show. Sporting matching pink-on-navy getups, McIlroy/Lowry opened in a best-ball 11-under 61 in Thursday’s Four-ball format at TPC Louisiana.”
  • “This partnership might have stemmed from a boozy brunch last fall, but their opening-round performance at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans gave the field a sobering reminder: They’ll be tough to top.”
Full piece.

3. LPGA Tour: Grace Kim in front

AP report…”Grace Kim shot a 7-under 64 at Wilshire Country Club to take the first-round lead Thursday in the LPGA Tour’s JM Eagle LA Championship.”

  • “Playing in the morning session, the 23-year-old Australian capped her bogey-free round with a chip-in birdie on the par-3 18th.”
  • “Well, I chunked my tee shot on the last hole 20 meters short and then I chipped it in it,” Kim said. “I think that’s pretty cool, in front of everyone
Full piece.

4. McIlroy on rejoining policy board

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that he is willing to rejoin the PGA Tour policy board if the other player directors want him.”

  • “As first reported by the Guardian, Webb Simpson has submitted a letter stating that he’d like to resign from the board, but only if his vacant seat is filled by McIlroy, who stepped down last fall because of the toll it had taken on him professionally and personally.”
  • “Five months later, what has changed?”
  • “I think I can be helpful,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he is partnering with Shane Lowry. “I don’t think there’s been much progress made in the last eight months, and I was hopeful that there would be. I think I could be helpful to the process. But only if people want me involved, I guess.”
Full piece.

5. Charlie Woods shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier

Golfweek’s Cameron Jourdan…”Charlie Woods is going to have to wait to play in the U.S. Open.”

“The 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods played Thursday in local qualifying for the United States Golf Association’s national championship, set for June 13-16 at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. Charlie played at The Legacy Golf & Tennis Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and he shot 9-over 81.”

“Charlie’s round featured a bogey on his opening hole, the par-4 first. He then doubled the par-5 second. A pair of pars followed before his lone birdie on the front, but another double the next hole, the par-4 sixth, had him turn in 4-over 40.”

Full piece.

6. Photos from the Zurich Classic

GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.

Check out all our photos at the link below!

Full piece.
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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.

As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.

Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our photos from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the forums.

 

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Morning 9: Tiger’s TGL teammates | Woosnam’s criticism of Cantlay | Rory’s return to tour policy board

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as the PGA Tour heads to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic.

1. 15-year-old finishes top 20 on KFT

Jay Coffin for Golf Digest…”During a week when most eyes were on Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, the 15-year-old lefty finished off an incredible week with a five-under 66 in the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood Ranch in Florida.”

  • “After opening with 68-66-70, Russell finished at 14-under-par total to tie for 20th place. The finish in which he jumped 28 positions on the leaderboard on the final day, gives him an exemption into next week’s Veritex Bank Championship at Rangers Park in Arlington, Texas. He’s the youngest player to finish inside the top 20 on the PGA of Korn Ferry tours, according to records that go back to 1983.”
Full piece.

2. Understandably, Nelly WDs

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Nelly Korda’s bid for a record-setting sixth consecutive win will have to wait a few weeks.”

  • “A day after capturing the Chevron Championship during a marathon final round in Houston, Korda announced on social media that she was withdrawing from this week’s JM Eagle LA Championship.”
  • “It was not an easy decision,” she wrote. “After the unbelievable week at the Chevron and grinding through the mental and physical challenges of four events in the past five weeks, I am definitely feeling exhausted. With so much still to come throughout 2024, I feel I need to listen to my body and get some rest, so I can be ready for the remainder of the season.”
Full piece.

3. Scheffler’s impressive No. 1 feat

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”After Scheffler’s victory Monday morning at the RBC Heritage, Scheffler upped his points average to 15.016 and increased his advantage in the Official World Golf Ranking over No. 2 Rory McIlroy to more than double McIlroy’s 7.365 average, meaning Scheffler is ranked further ahead of No. 2 than No. 2 is ahead of the last-ranked player.”

  • “The last time a No. 1 player had a greater points average was Woods, who was at 15.4564 on Dec. 6, 2009. But Woods was less than seven average points ahead of No. 2 Phil Mickelson at the time. Earlier that year, Woods was 7.735 ahead of Mickelson, which is the last time the gap between Nos. 1 and 2 was greater than Scheffler’s current 7.651 advantage.”
Full piece.

4. Zurich field notes

PGATour.com’s Adam Stanley…”Rory McIlroy will make his tournament debut alongside good pal, Ryder Cup teammate, and Irishman Shane Lowry – a duo that was firmed up during a celebratory lunch after the Ryder Cup last fall… Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele will try to reprise their 2022 win here. Cantlay and Schauffele have both the Foursomes and Four-ball scoring records at this event… Davis Riley and Nick Hardy will defend their 2023 title. No team has gone back-to-back… Three sets of brothers (and two sets of twins!) will play together with twins Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard and Parker and Pierceson Coody in the field along with Alex and Matt Fitzpatrick. Alex Fitzpatrick and Rasmus Højgaard are sponsor invites…”

  • “Billy Horschel, who won last week at the Corales Puntacana Championship, will be without his previous partner Sam Burns, as Burns and his wife are expecting their first child any day. Horschel will instead be paired with fellow University of Florida alum Tyson Alexander. Horschel has won the Zurich Classic when it was both an individual and team event… Other notable pairings include Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris, and Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin. The Canadian duo finished runner-up a year ago and would like nothing more than to show Presidents Cup International Team captain Mike Weir how well they play together… Steve Stricker will play his second TOUR event this season (after earning his way into THE PLAYERS Championship), teaming up with Matt Kuchar.”
Full piece.

5. Tiger’s teammates

Field Level Media report…”Tiger Woods announced Monday that Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner have joined his Jupiter Links GC TGL team.”

  • “The virtual golf league headed by Woods and Rory McIlroy will begin its inaugural season next January. Woods also unveiled the team’s logo.”
  • “I have already shared my excitement and optimism for TGL as a league and product,” said Woods. “Now that we have finalized our roster with a team of world-class golfers, I am even more confident that this group will proudly represent the Jupiter (Fla.) area and connect with our fans for years to come.”
Full piece.

6. Woosnam questions Cantlay’s decision

Our Matt Vincenzi…”After the horn sounded to suspend play due to darkness, Cantlay, who’s ball was in the fairway on the 18th hole, had a decision to make. With over 200 yards into the green and extreme winds working against the shot, conventional wisdom would be to wait until Monday morning to hit the shot.”

  • “On the other hand, if he could finish the hole, he may just want to get the event over with so he could get out of Hilton Head.”
  • “Curiously, Cantlay chose neither of those options. After hitting 3-wood into the green, and still coming up short, the former FedEx Cup champion chose to mark his ball and chip and putt on Monday morning.”
  • “Ian Woosnam, who was watching from home, took to X to give his thoughts on Cantlay’s decision making.”
  • “Cantlay would end up getting up and down for par when play resumed at 8:00 am Monday morning.”
Full piece.

7. JT on Scheffler’s “weird” equipment choice

Our Matt Vincenzi…”After Justin Thomas’ third round of the RBC Heritage, the two-time major champion went in the broadcast booth alongside the CBS crew.”

  • “While Thomas was watching Scottie Scheffler play on the back nine of his third round, he wondered aloud why Scottie uses high-numbered golf balls.”
  • “Does anybody else think it’s weird that Scottie uses high numbers? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an elite player use high-numbered golf balls.”
  • “Amanda Balionis who was on the grounds chimed in, reporting that analyst Dottie Pepper had wondered the same thing earlier that day.”
  • “I’ve been going about this wrong my whole life,” Thomas jokingly said.
Full piece.

8. Rory to rejoin PGA Tour policy board

Mark Schlabach for ESPN…”Four-time major championship winner Rory McIlroy is poised to return to the PGA Tour’s policy board, pending a vote by the board, which could come as early as this week, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.”

  • “One of the PGA Tour’s most vocal supporters during its three-year battle with LIV Golf, McIlroy abruptly resigned as a player director on the tour’s influential policy board in November.”
  • “He is expected to replace policy board player director Webb Simpson, who intends to step away before his two-year term expires in 2025.”
Full piece.

9. Weir names Presidents Cup assistants

PGA Tour report…”International Team Captain Mike Weir announced Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas as captain’s assistants for the 2024 Presidents Cup, which will be played at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada, Sept. 24-29.

Full piece.
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