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Morning 9: McIlroy Hollow | Pelley: Why us? | Charity golf scam

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By Ben Alberstadt ([email protected])

May 3, 2019

Good Friday morning, golf fans.
1. McIlroy Hollow
Whether it’s the swing tuneup or a return to a track he’s feasted upon, Rory McIlroy is tied atop the leaderboard after round one at Quail Hollow
  • Steve DiMeglio for Golfweek frames McIlroy’s 5-under start this way…”As a 20-year-old with unruly hair, Rory McIlroy made the cut on the number and then shot 62 in the final round at Quail Hollow to win the 2010 Wells Fargo Championship and claim his first PGA Tour title.”
  • “Five years later, with his hair trimmed down and four major championships under his belt, he shot 61 in the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship and cruised to a 7-shot victory, becoming the only player to win twice at Quail Hollow.”
  • “Now, four years later, a trimmed-down, muscled-up McIlroy put himself in position to become the first to win three times at Quail Hollow. With a 5-under-par 66 on Thursday, his familiar name was at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship.”
2. Woods to receive Medal of Freedom on Monday
Victor Mather at the New York Times…”Tiger Woods will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Trump on Monday, the White House said Thursday.”
  • “Mr. Woods, 43, won the Masters last month, his 15th major win, but his first in a decade.”
  • “At the time, Mr. Trump tweeted that he would present Mr. Woods with the award “because of his incredible Success & Comeback in Sports (Golf) and, more importantly, LIFE.” Mr. Trump had also provided encouragement and updates about Mr. Woods’s Masters performance during the event.”
3. Why us?
…that’s the question European Tour chief Keith Pelley is asking regarding his sport/tour being “singled out” for criticism for Saudi involvement…
  • Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”Somewhat curiously, Pelley said he was “perplexed” at his sport was being singled out for holding an event in the country.”
  • “After the incident [murder], many blue-chip businesses and many governments continued to do business in Saudi, [and the] entertainment business is still flourishing,” Pelley said. “There was Italian Super Cup with AC Milan and Juventus [in January], and Ronaldo scored the winning goal and celebrated, and we tried to find any kind of criticism for Ronaldo, yet our players were criticized. Why was golf singled out? I was perplexed why we were.
  • “I went over there first and listened to his Excellency (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) at a sports conference, talk about how … the country wanted to change, needed to change, wanted to use sports as a catalyst, was committed to golf.”
4. Meanwhile, in Chengdu…
EuropeanTour.com report…”Wu Ashun delighted the home crowds with a brilliant 65 that handed him a two shot lead heading into the weekend at the Volvo China Open.”

“The home favourite won his maiden European Tour title at this event in 2015 and has gone on to triumph twice more, making him the most prolific Chinese winner in European Tour history.”

  • “Victory number four may have looked a long way off as he secured just one top 40 finish in his first eight events on the 2019 Race To Dubai but he moved to 13 under on day two at Genzon Golf Club to lead the way from Finn Tapio Pulkkanen.”

Full piece.

5. AVD tied at the top
Owner of arguably the sweetest swing in golf, Anne van Dam is tied at the top after one.
  • Kent Paisley for LPGA.com...”She’s appeared in six LPGA events this year, with her best performance coming in Carlsbad at the Kia Classic. The longest driver on the LPGA posted weekend rounds of 69/68 to card a T28 finish.”
  • “She now finds herself in contention, tied for the lead at (-5) through 18 for the first time in her LPGA career. The Netherlands native came into the season with tempered expectations for her maiden year.”
  • “I learned that from my first year in Europe, for me it takes me a bit of time to get used to the rhythm and everything around it. I’ve learned a lot in the first few events. As long as I keep doing that, I think it’s going to be a good year.”
6. Under the lights…
BBC Report…”Ireland’s Leona Maguire has slipped off the top of the leaderboard at the Dubai Moonlight Classic.”
  • “Maguire, 24, held a two-shot overnight lead after a course record 64 but fell four shots behind the leaders during a disappointing second round.”
  • “Esther Henseleit of Germany carded a 66 to join Spaniard Nuria Iturrios in a tie for the lead on nine under par.”
  • “Olivia Cowan is one shot off the pace at the first professional day-night tournament.”
7. WA4B
AP Report on the Women’s Amateur Four-Ball finish…
  • “Megan Furtney and Erica Shepherd atoned for a semifinal loss a year ago by winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball on Wednesday with a strong start and a steady finish at Timuquana Country Club.”
  • “Furtney and Shepherd, high school seniors who plan to play for Duke next year, made their fourth birdie on the par-5 seventh hole to build a 3-up lead, and lost only one hole the rest of the way for a 2-and-1 victory over Jillian Bourdage and Casey Weidenfeld.”
8. The Strickerless Stricker charity tournament
A morsel of a wild fraud story in which Steve Stricker’s name and image were used without his knowledge…
  • Golf Digest’s Brian Wacker…”By the following morning, a bizarre story out of North Carolina had emerged in which the U.S. Ryder Cup captain had been promised as the host of a charity golf outing taking place on Thursday in Winston-Salem. Except there was one very big problem: Stricker was back home in Wisconsin, and neither he nor his agent knew anything about it.”
  • “According to a flyer (an image of which was posted on Twitter by Maple Chase Golf and Country Club head pro Sean Branagan), $7,500 would get participants breakfast with Stricker, 18 holes at a private course with him, autographed Ryder Cup merchandise, and a photo. The donation was “for a great cause and a once in a lifetime experience!” and would benefit the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission, a non-denominational ministry that provides services for those in need.”
9. Cobra Q&A
FYI: GolfWRX is hosting a live Q&A with the Cobra R&D team
Details below.
Join GolfWRX for a Live Q&A with COBRA Golf about their 2019 lineup. The experts at COBRA Golf HQ in Southern California will gather to answer your questions LIVE! Ask anything about COBRA PUMA GOLF you’d like. Have a question about the new COBRA King F9 Speedback Driver? The latest in golf R&D? The equipment that COBRA athletes Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau and Lexi Thompson play? Ask away! Here are the details…
Who’s On The Chat?
Tom Olsavsky, VP of Research & Development
Mike Yagley, Sr. Director of Innovation / AI
Tim Beno, Principal Research Engineer & Pro Tour Support
Doug Roberts, Sr. Director, Club Design & Metal Woods Lead
Karl Clausen, Senior Manager, R&D – Irons
When Is It?
Friday, May 10 at Noon ET / 9am PT
Bonus COBRA Giveaway!
A few lucky GolfWRX members who have their questions answered will win some awesome gear from COBRA Golf! Posts chosen at random. Grand prize is a COBRA KING F9 Speedback Driver.

 

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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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