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WRX Morning 9: Monahan: PGA Tour will always play by USGA rules | Respect Molinari | Alice Dye’s big contribution to No. 17

Published

5 years ago

Mar 14, 2019

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

March 14, 2019

Good Thursday morning, golf fans.

1. We’re not going to make our own rules

PGATour.com’s Cameron Morfit…”Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday the PGA TOUR will not split from the game’s governing bodies to operate under its own set of rules.”

“The Rules of Golf have been a hot topic of conversation, with some players questioning a few of the newly simplified rules that went into effect at the start of 2019 and wondering if the TOUR should make its own rules for the game’s best players to follow, leaving the USGA and the R&A to make and implement rules for others.”

“Monahan was adamant that would not happen….”We have two fantastic professional governing bodies of the game,” he said during his annual press conference prior to the start of THE PLAYERS Championship. “We have always played by their rules and we will continue to play by their rules – and we are not going to be playing by our own rules.

“We think that the game is best served with everybody playing by the same rules and the same standards. We think it’s a source of inspiration for the game.”

Full piece.

2. You’d better recognize!

That’s the tone (rightly) of a Doug Ferguson column regarding Francesco Molinari.

A few morsels…

“Francesco Molinari might not look like the modern version of an Arnold Palmer, a player who makes people watch because of his ability to charge from behind with clutch shots, big putts and low scores….He just plays one on TV.”

“Four of his eight career victories have come in the last nine months, three of them counting as PGA Tour titles.”

“Four players have shot 64 or better in the final round four times on the PGA Tour since 2017. Molinari is on that short list with Koepka, Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland. He doesn’t have their power. He doesn’t have their flash. He just gets results, which is what matters in this game.”

Indeed! Full piece.

3. Alice Dye’s made Sawgrass’ 17th great

Awesome tidbit from the Forecaddie…”In Pete Dye’s book “Bury Me in A Pot Bunker”, written with Mark Shaw, Pete recalls the Ponte Vedra Club’s inspiration for moving toward the island green and subsequent digging out of the sandy area that became TPC Sawgrass’ 17th lake.”

“…At the time I didn’t really think the 17th would be all that difficult, so I sloped the back portion of the green toward the water,” he wrote. “Alice told me that if I left the green that way, she could envision the television announcers notifying the viewing audience that play in the championship was being held up because 25 foursomes were still waiting on the 17th tee for the lead player to keep his ball on the green!”

Full piece.

4. On the move to March…

Another one from Cameron Morfit on player remarks from Sawgrass.

“Greener. Cooler. Windier. And tougher.”…Those are a few of the adjectives players have used to describe the return of THE PLAYERS Championship to March for the first time since 2006.”

“The best players in the world are preparing to take on a different sort of TPC Sawgrass now that the tournament has been moved back to March. The Stadium Course has new grass (ryegrass as opposed to Bermuda) and new, rye-overseeded greens. And that’s not all that’s different.”

“The weather will be cooler (70s dipping to 60s on the weekend, as opposed to 90s). The wind could well be different (coming out of the north and into players’ faces on 17 and 18). And to a man, players this week have said the 7,189-yard, par-72 Pete Dye gem feels much longer.”

Full piece.

5. Tiger’s…swing watcher?

Golf Digest’s Alex Myers on an overlooked member of Team Tiger.

“Meet Rob McNamara, officially a vice president for TGR Ventures, but unofficially, a second set of eyes for Woods’ golf swing. That second role has become especially important with Woods no longer employing a swing coach, although, he has been spotted working on his putting with Matt Killen at this week’s Players Championship. And in GOLFTV’s latest video installment with Woods, McNamara and the 14-time major champ talked about their unique working relationship that dates back to their junior golf days in southern California.”

“I mean he knows my game,” said Woods, who estimates the two have played 500 rounds of golf together. “One, he’s a good player. Two, he’s got a good eye and he has seen me go through changes and iterations in the game of golf, but at the end of the day I try and use Rob for what I’m trying to work on now, because right now it’s different, because I’m limited what I can do, and not only am I limited in what I can do, I’m limited in how much I can practice.”

Full piece.

6. Can’t handle the heat!

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”During last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Joel Dahmen and his caddie, Geon Bonnalie, had a contest at a local putt-putt course. The match came down to the last hole, which Bonnalie three-putted to lose.”

“The payoff came on Wednesday at The Players when Bonnalie had to eat a Paqui Carolina Reaper Madness chip before hitting his shot in the annual Caddie Competition on the 17th hole. According to advertising on the company’s website, the chip is made from the hottest chile pepper in the world.”

“Bonnalie didn’t seem too bothered by the chip at first and found the island green with his tee shot. But he struggled to reach the hole and had to kneel for several minutes to recover.”

Full piece.

And while the article doesn’t say so explicitly, I assume this is the chip.

7. HVIII on teeing it up with TIger

Golfweek’s Dan Kilbridge on Varner’s practice round with Woods.

“Varner had been asking a lot of questions about success, and he was telling Woods that he really wanted to win on the PGA Tour.”

“The best thing he told me … he said, ‘Run your own journey. It’s your path. No one else’s. Run it,'” Varner recalled. “So then I quit worrying about everything else… He’s just like, ‘Run your course. If you work hard, you’ll win. It’s pretty simple.’ That’s why it’s easy to be around him, because he’s not judging you.”

Full piece.

8. Ho-sung writes

It’s the Player Blog to end all Player Blogs. The phenomenon that is Ho-sung Choi will be teeing it up in the Kenya Open this week on the European Tour, and he filed reflective item for the tour’s website.

A taste of the fisherman’s cooking…

“They call me the Fisherman. It was a photographer from the Japanese version of Golf Digest who came up with my nickname, as when he took photos of me, he thought my swing reminded him of a fisherman trying to hook his catch – so he called me the Fisherman in his captions.”

“When I was in my last year of high school, I lost half of my thumb in an accident. I was working a part-time job cutting tuna when I caught my finger in a machine. They had to take skin from my stomach to graft a new end to my thumb. It is something that affects my daily life – I really feel it in the winter and it swells a lot in the cold. I never see it as a disadvantage to my golf game though – I always try and think positively about it and use it to my advantage.”

“I learnt to play golf through seeing pictures of swings in magazines. When I started to learn the game there was no YouTube or any videos on the internet, so I just used to look at photos of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Annika Sorenstam and try and be like them. Of course, they were all just snapshots, but I was able to apply their technique by looking at them. My swing is very unique now though, and I don’t think I look like any of them when I’m playing!”

Piece.

9. Fortunately, not a blown Achilles after all…

Double P discussed the injury he suffered on Monday and his current recovery timeline during the most recent edition of his weekly SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio show, Out of Bounds with co-host Michael Collins, Tuesday.

After telling Collins he visited with one of the doctors for the Arizona Cardinals, Perez said he’s slated for an MRI.

Pat Perez: “So he says it’s a calf strain 2, which is basically a torn calf muscle. It’s much better than an Achilles.”

Michael Collins: “Yes, you thought you blew out your Achilles.”

Perez: “I thought I did. … It was just horrible flying home, leaving The Players, it’s just a horrible, horrible feeling. But, you know, at least the good news is it’s supposed to be like six weeks.”

Hear the conversation here

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

Published

4 hours ago

May 6, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

Published

5 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Ronald Montesano

Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

360° and in!

A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063

8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024

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Morning 9: Pendrith’s maiden Tour win | Morikawa back with former coach | Brooks victorious

Published

6 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Monday morning, golf fans, as the PGA Tour gives us yet another breakthrough winner.

1. Pendrith wins first PGA Tour title

AP Report…”Taylor Pendrith took advantage of Ben Kohles’ final-hole meltdown to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title.”

“Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a one-shot lead then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. After having to chip twice from the rough and already looking stunned, Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.”

“Pendrith two-putted for birdie on the 18th, holing a 3-footer for a 4-under 67 and 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old Canadian won in his 74th career PGA Tour start.”

Full piece.

2. Koepka takes LIV title in Singapore

S.I.’s Bob Harig…”Brooks Koepka became the first player to win four times as part of the LIV Golf League, shooting a final-round 68 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday to beat Cam Smith and Marc Leishman by two strokes.”

“His timing wasn’t bad, either.”

“A few days after offering concern about his game in light of a poor Masters performance, Koepka stepped up and won the LIV Golf Singapore even to give himself a boost heading into the defense of his PGA Championship title in two weeks.”

“The year’s second major begins on May 16.”

Full piece.

3. Otaegui wins Volvo China

AP report…”Adrian Otaegui overturned a five-shot deficit to win the Volvo China Open on Sunday, the Spaniard’s fifth tour title.”

“Otaegui had been trailing the in-form Sebastian Söderberg after Friday’s round – Saturday’s was cancelled because of thunder and lightning – and he shot 7-under 65 in his final round to win by one shot from Guido Migliozzi, who finished runner up with a 67.”

Full piece.

4. ICYMI: Teen Kim makes the cut

Guardian report…”English teenager Kris Kim became the youngest player to make the cut on the PGA Tour in 11 years after a birdie at the last saw him get through to the weekend of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas with a shot to spare.”

“Amateur Kim, the son of former LPGA player Ji-Hyun Suh, made a second-round four-under-par 67, which included a run of five birdies and one bogey over his front nine.”

“At 16 years and seven months he became the youngest player to make the cut on tour since 14-year-old Guan Tianlang at the 2013 Masters, and, according to the PGA Tour, the fifth youngest in history.”

Full piece.

5. Winner in a rainout

AP report…”Scott Dunlap was declared the 36-hole winner of the Insperity Invitational when rain washed the final round Sunday, giving Dunlap his first PGA Tour Champions title in nearly 10 years.”

“Devastating rain in the Houston area previously washed out the opening round Friday. Players managed to play 36 holes on Saturday, and Dunlap posted a 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead over Joe Durant and Stuart Appleby.”

“That proved to be the winning score when rain soaked The Woodlands Country Club. It was the second 36-hole event in the last three weeks on the PGA Tour Champions because of weather. The other was in the Dallas area.”