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Rory does it | Further Rules clarification needed? | Brooks “out of sorts”

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

March 18, 2019

Good Monday morning, golf fans. Rory McIlroy’s win at yesterday’s Players Championship accomplished on the most satisfying feats in sports: (At least for now) shutting up critics who contend a player can’t (based on their armchair psychological assessment) close a tournament.
1. Rory does it
While he wobbled early, Rory McIlroy successfully walked the tightrope at TPC Sawgrass. With Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood faltering, McIlroy only needed a 2-under final-round effort to secure pro golf’s biggest payday.
  • AP Report…”McIlroy, one of eight players to have at least a share of the lead in the final round, was coming off a bogey on the 14th to fall behind and was in trouble with a tee shot that found a bunker right of the fairway. He responded with his best shot of the day to 15 feet for birdie.”
  • “Then, McIlroy hit the longest drive of the round on the par-5 16th, leaving him a 9-iron from a good lie in the rough to set up a two-shot birdie and the lead.”
  • “Most important, he found dry land on the par-3 17th, the Island Green that never looks smaller than on Sunday at THE PLAYERS.”
  • “He was solid to the end on a chilly, cloudy day and finished at 16-under 272 to win THE PLAYERS on his 10th try.”

Full piece.

2. Eddie! (and Jim)
Not only is he the game’s best blogger and Tweeter (no disrespect to Tiger Woods’ blog…does he still blog?), but it’s hard to be unhappy about Eddie Pepperell’s T3 finish.
  • The 28-year-old Englishman, who was paired with Justin Rose, played the first six holes in one over par, but then made seven birdies in 12 holes from the seventh to storm through the field and card a six-under 66.
  • The highlight was a 50-foot putt for birdie at the par-three 17th and he then did well to salvage a par at the last to give himself an outside chance of victory until McIlroy and Jim Furyk nosed ahead of him.
  • “To be honest I just had a few ups out there, I didn’t even have the downs to deal with because I holed a couple,” he said.
  • “The pitch, the bunker shot I hit on 14 and the pitch I holed on 15 were, no matter who hits them at any stage of a golf tournament, they’re great short game shots. They just gave me kind of a sense of huge confidence, actually. I kind of felt invincible, really, that last bit. Only around the greens, obviously.”

Full piece.

None of this is to sell Jim Furyk, 20 years Pepperell’s senior, short. The Businessman was a mere millimeter of a golf ball (his narrowly missed putt at the 17th) away from a playoff with Rory McIlroy. His walk-after-it approach to the 72nd hole as he stuffed his approach was the enduring image of the final round–certainly more so than McIlory’s massive sigh of relief (literally) after holing the tournament winner!
3. Magical Migliozzi
Nosing ahead of the field with a birdie at the 12th hole, all untested tour rookie Guido Migliozzi did was par his way in to take the Magical Kenya Open. A bit of sorcery indeed.
  • EuropeanTour.com report…”Guido Migliozzi showed nerves of steel down the back nine to claim his maiden European Tour title at the Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa.”
  • “The Qualifying School graduate was in uncharted territory at Karen Country Club, playing just his 14th European Tour event with no previous top tens to his name.”
  • “He has three wins on the Alps Tour, however, and the Italian drew on those experiences to card a 69 and get to 16 under, one shot clear of playing partner Adri Arnaus and South Africans Louis de Jager and Justin Harding.”

Full piece.

4. Tiger…
PGATour.com’s Ben Everill…”Tiger Woods never recovered from a quadruple bogey on the iconic Island Green on Friday at TPC Sawgrass, but the 80-time PGA TOUR winner left THE PLAYERS Championship full of optimism.”
  • Woods came into the week following a neck injury that kept him out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, but the 43-year-old closed with his best round of the championship on Sunday.
  • His 3-under 69 left him at 6 under for the week, well off the pace, but still looking ahead with a positive mindset as he gears up to play the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play for the first time since 2013.

Full piece.

Ultimately, all good things as we march toward the Masters, it has to be said. 
5. “An epidemic the PGA Tour has no desire to cure”
A grim prognosis from Dr. Eamon Lynch!
  • Consider the particulars. Players are permitted 40-50 seconds to play their shots depending on the order of play in a group, but exceeding that limit doesn’t incur a bad time. For a group to be officially considered out of position they not only have to exceed the allotted time to play a shot but also reach a hole that is open and free of play. Only then does a group go on the clock. The punishment for that bad time is, well, nothing. A second bad time earns a one-stroke penalty, the third gets two. A DQ only comes at four. The fines levied are so meager as to be meaningless.
  • The most imbecilic mind on Tour would struggle to parse the policy but not to manipulate it.
  • Like a persistent rash, pace of play was again an irritant at the Players Championship. When the first round was called for darkness – despite daylight saving time – Anirban Lahiri still faced a short putt on the final hole. He had to return Friday morning to finish up. The Tour’s invariable stance is to insist there’s nothing to see and that everyone should just move along (at their own pace, of course).

Full piece.

6. Webb asks for further rules clarity
Closing in on his best round of the week at The Players, Webb Simpson was eyeing his 47-footer for birdie from the fringe of the 14th green when a rules infraction shattered the relative calm.
  • Simpson explained that his putter accidentally became tangled in his shirt and hit his golf ball, moving it “a quarter of an inch.” An official ruled that Simpson had violated Rule 9.4b (Ball Lifted or Moved by Player) and was assessed a one-stroke penalty which led to a bogey on the hole.
  • “I’m going to be loud and clear, we have to get intent into the rules. We have to. Because it’s killing our game when it comes to these kind of things,” said Simpson, who finished with a 4-under 68.

Full piece.

7. “Out of sorts”
Not sure what to make of this cryptic Ryan Lavner piece for GolfChannel.com, but here’s the relevant portion.
  • (Regarding Brooks Koepka)...”He has lost 24 pounds since November….It’s intentional, of course, though Koepka isn’t yet saying why.”
  • “You’ll see,” he said after the final round of The Players. “After Wednesday I’ll be fine.”
  • Over the past few months Koepka has been training twice a day, running and eating healthier.
  • “More of everything,” he said.
8. Tarde on Jenkins
Plenty has been penned on the passing of Dan Jenkins, but his friend/Golf Digest Editor-in-Chief, Jerry Tarde’s reflection is excellent.
  • A bit of his remembrance…”Dan lived in a penthouse in New York on “Park Street,” as he called it; then in a mansion on Ponte Vedra Beach, and finally moved back to the ancestral home near his beloved TCU in Fort Worth, where he passed away at 90 on March 7.”
  • “I tend to go to major championships the way Dorothy Kilgallen used to go to murder trials,” Jenkins wrote in Golf Digest in 1986. “I don’t cover tournaments anymore. I preside over them.” He ended up presiding over 232 majors in all-68 Masters, 56 PGAs, 63 U.S. Opens and 45 British Opens-a record that will never be matched. He was the most influential sports writer since Homer. And when it comes to lovers of the game, that rattling you hear is all of us moving up a notch in the world ranking.
  • “Who else but Jenkins would be sitting in the press dining lounge at a Ryder Cup when the door flings open and the president and first lady, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, rush over to give him a hug. “I bet the King of England never stopped by to see Bernard Darwin,” said his wingman Bev Norwood.”
9. WRX PSA: forum upgrades
We are excited to announce that we are going to be upgrading the forums! To facilitate this, the forums will be offline starting Monday 3/18/2019 9:00am Eastern. We are expecting the migration process to take 24 hours.
  • Please excuse the inconvenience and we appreciate your patience.
  • Once the initial upgrade is complete, we will be rolling out several enhancements in the coming weeks. There will be a dedicated thread once we’re back online to report any issues and we will work as fast as possible to address any bugs.
  • You will have to login again after the upgrade. If you have any issues getting logged in you will be able to reset your password using the email you used when you registered.
THANK YOU for being a part of GolfWRX!

 

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Bob

    Mar 18, 2019 at 12:00 pm

    this is horrible…what i am supposed to do today with no forums?????? I might actually have to do my job, a complete travesty. You will be hearing from my solicitor.

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News

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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