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Morning 9: Monahan on Premier Golf League | ESPN+ lands PGA Tour Live rights | JT’s Kobe wedges

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4 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt
Email me at [email protected] and find me at @benalberstadt on Instagram and golfwrxEIC on Twitter.
January 29, 2020
Good Wednesday morning, golf fans.

 
1. ESPN+ lands PGA Tour Live rights
Geoff Shackelford, adept watcher of media dealings that he is, wrote this…
“The PGA Tour has reportedly made the wise move for all of its TV partners by awarding the PGA Tour Live streaming package to ESPN+, according to this unbylined AP report. The package of pre-telecast coverage is currently offered by NBC Sports Gold through the end of 2019. “
  • He adds…”While I’m a Golf Channel contributor and therefore rooting for their properties to succeed, getting ESPN involved in the next media rights deal is a fantastic coup for all involved with the PGA Tour, including rival broadcasters.”
  • “Not only does this assure coverage on millions of devices having access to the pre-telecast coverage via ESPN+’s app (as opposed to a smaller audience paying one fee just for PGA Tour Live), a partnership with ESPN means continued Sportscenter coverage, a partnership with Disney and a visibility for golf that no one else in streaming can deliver short of Netflix or Amazon. “
2. Els speaks highly of Premier Golf League
ESPN’s Bob Harig…”The South African, who won four major championships during his Hall of Fame career, said he “loves” the idea put forth by the World Golf Group, one in which 48 players would compete in an 18-tournament schedule for $10 million purses in each event.”
  • “But 25 years ago, Els was intrigued by a similar concept put forth by Greg Norman, one that ultimately never got started due to being in conflict with the PGA Tour and the European Tour.”
  • “I was right in the middle of it,” Els told reporters at the Saudi International, according to the Scotsman newspaper. “I remember looking at my future knowing that if I was going with Greg — which sounded brilliant — if anything happened there was no way back for me on to the regular tours.”
3. …Monahan (as you’d expect) does not…
Golf Digest’s Brian Wacker…”Monahan said in the letter that while the PGA Tour has not been in touch with officials from Team Golf Concept-identified as the Premier Golf League-the league’s proposed 18-event season would be in conflict with the PGA Tour’s schedule.”
  • “The schedule for the Team Golf Concept is designed to directly compete and conflict with the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup schedule, and to not conflict with [and would be in addition to] the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and the Open Championship,” Monahan said in the letter. The email warned that under current tour regulations a tour member can’t have a financial interest in another player, which is one of the central elements of Premier Golf League’s team ownership concept. Monahan also noted the strict enforcement of the tour’s policy on conflicting event releases, which the tour typically limits to three per player.”
4. Tiger could qualify for the Olympics…
“…the U.S. is expected to have four participants since all four will likely be ranked inside the top 15 in the world at the June 22 cutoff.”
  • “Woods’ T-9 finish at Torrey Pines, combined with a missed cut from Xander Schauffele and a middling finish from Patrick Cantlay the previous week in Abu Dhabi, proved to be good news for Woods’ Olympic hopes. According to the latest OWGR standings, Woods is No. 6 in the world and the fourth highest-ranked American behind Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson. It means that if the Olympic cutoff were made today, he’d be on his way to Japan.”
  • “But here’s the catch. The OWGR computes rankings based on a two-year rolling window, with point values for tournament results depreciating as time goes on. The Olympic rankings will mirror the OWGR by June, but for now players are receiving points in the OWGR for results in early 2018 that will age off before the Olympic teams are finalized. It also means that some significant results, like Woods’ victories at the Masters and the 2018 Tour Championship, will be worth fewer points by June.”
5. $3 billion in charitable giving
John Davis, Special for Arizona Republic…”Golf is the catalyst but generating charity dollars is the driving force behind the Waste Management Phoenix Open and other PGA Tour events.”
  • “Those efforts have helped the Tour reach a milestone as it announced on Tuesday that it has surpassed $3 billion in charity giving, just six years after reaching the $2 billion mark. The Open, hosted by the Phoenix Thunderbirds, has generated $147 million of that total in its 85-year history.”
  • “The $3 billion total includes $204.3 million in 2019, a single-year record.”
6. Joseph Bramlett
Golf Digest’s Joel Beall on this year’s Charlie Sifford exemption…”Tiger Woods announced on Tuesday that Joseph Bramlett has received this year’s Charlie Sifford Memorial exemption into the Genesis Invitational.”
  • “Bramlett, who in 2002 was the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, was the first minority player in three decades to earn a card at Q-School in 2010. He ended up losing his card in 2011, then suffered a series of career setbacks due to an annular tear to his L4 and L5 discs, a painful and debilitating injury. He consulted 15 spinal surgeons who offered a unanimous opinion: An operation would more than likely end his career.”
7. King-Collins’ new track
Our Peter Schmitt…”King-Collins Golf’s first design, Sweetens Cove, has received a seemingly endless amount of praise over the last several years. Both the course and the design team have been the darlings of golf social media since the community discovered Sweetens Cove. And yet, it has taken Rob Collins and Tad King a while to add a full 18-hole course to their design portfolio. All of that is about to change.”
  • “King-Collins Golf has certainly received many inquiries in the past few years, but the cold hard truth of the golf course design business is few of them ever really get legs. Then, Will Andersen reached out to King-Collins in April of 2019 through the contact form on their website and things changed rather quickly.”
  • “According to Rob: “I could just tell by the way he was talking that it was the real deal. He said that he had had some other big name architects out there, but none of them really clicked and some of them didn’t even take the project seriously. It sounded like he had a little chip on his shoulder and, to be honest, that really resonated with me because Tad and I have dealt with very similar issues after Sweetens Cove. You know, we’ve been fighting so hard for our big break and it’s like every time a good piece of land comes up, you hear the same four names and just irritates the heck out of me. Anyway, I called Tad and said, ‘Hey, we got a real one here.'”
8. Tiger’s boomerangs 
Golf Digest’s Brittany Romano…”It’s customary at team events for captains to give a gift to players to remember the event by. Typically it is a custom-made item that highlights the tournament course or region. For the Presidents Cup, the PGA Tour worked with the creative minds at Seamus Golf to design an Australian-themed keepsake for Tiger Woods to give to the team. Sources say that Woods requested a boomerang-inspired gift. Seamus took it from there to create a one-of-a-kind steel-mounted boomerang with a hidden bottle opener on the back.”
9. Mamba mentaility 
This week at TPC Scottsdale, Thomas will pay tribute to Bryant in a few ways. Each of his wedges is stamped with a different homage — “81 points” for the number of points Bryant scored against the Raptors in 2006; “Mamba Mentality,” a nod to Bryant’s nickname and approach to basketball; “Black Mamba” for his nickname; and his full name, “Kobe Bean Bryant.” His Scotty Cameron also features a purple and gold headcover with “RIP GiGi” and “RIP Kobe” written in black magic marker on it.
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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship

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18 hours ago

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May 14, 2024

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GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.

While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.

Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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Morning 9: Is it Rory’s time? | Stricker WDs | Why Valhalla is a great major venue

Published

20 hours ago

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May 14, 2024

By
By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for the PGA Championship from iconic Valhalla.

1. Is now the time Rory finally ends major drought?

BBC’s Iain Carter…”But given the imperious form he showed in Charlotte last week, perhaps this is the PGA Championship to rekindle the ruthless streak of old. And not just because he is back at Valhalla (the Nordic word for the hall of the fallen).”

  • “It also became clear last week that McIlroy is somewhat persona non grata to the PGA Tour’s Policy Board. His views on a global future for this damagingly split sport do not seem to chime with the American dominated body.”
  • “His offer to return to the board from which he resigned earlier this year was rejected and he has been left as a mere non-voting member of the “transaction committee” dealing with a potential deal with Saudi Arabia.”
  • “McIlroy insists there are “no hard feelings” but there should be.”
  • “No player has worked harder for their sport during this period of unprecedented tumult and the board has rejected someone many people regard as the game’s most articulate and enlightened international voice.”
  • “Now is, surely, the time for McIlroy to feel slighted and respond with his clubs. Play as though he has a chip on his shoulder, but in the knowledge that he is generationally the most consistent golfing force out there.”
Full piece.

2. Scheffler in for PGA Champ after birth of child

Jaclyn Hendricks for PGATour.com…”Scottie Scheffler and wife Meredith’s bundle of joy has arrived.”

  • “The couple welcomed their first child, just weeks after Scheffler claimed his second Masters victory in three years.”
  • “Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig tweeted Saturday that the baby was born and Scheffler will play in this week’s PGA Championship — the second major of the season.”
  • “There’s been nothing official from Scottie Scheffler, his team or the Tour… But word is he will be at Valhalla for the PGA next week after winning four of his last five tournaments, including the Masters. He is currently on the Tuesday interview schedule for 3:30 p.m. #babyborn,” Harig wrote over the weekend.”
Full piece.

3. “Erik van Rooyen, friends and family live in honor of ‘Trazzy’”

  • That’s the headline of Ryan Lavner’s superb piece on Erik van Rooyen and his departed best friend Jon Trasmar. An excerpt would be an injustice. Go read it!
Full piece.

4. Stricker out of PGA citing fatigue

AP report…”Steve Stricker decided Sunday to withdraw from the PGA Championship at Valhalla, citing the difficulty of playing four times in a span of five weeks.”

  • “Stricker, 57, was eligible by winning the Senior PGA Championship last year. He, John Daly and Phil Mickelson are the only players to have competed at Valhalla each of the previous three times the PGA Championship was held there.”
Full piece.

5. Why Valhalla is a great venue for major championships

Garrett Morrison for The Fried Egg…”But before we start slinging mud (of which there will be plenty in Kentucky this week), let’s pause to think about why Valhalla tends to generate close final-round battles featuring elite players. It’s not magic: the course has long par 3s and 4s, narrow fairways, and smallish greens surrounded by rough and bunkers. This style of design and setup, which practically defines the PGA Championship’s modern brand, gives an outsize advantage to a skill that many star players share: power. Length off the tee and the ability to muscle the ball out of rough to a well-protected green will be near-prerequisites for contending at this week’s PGA Championship. If Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau show up with any kind of short-game and putting form, they will be in the mix on Sunday. And the presence of such A-listers on the leaderboard will further burnish Valhalla’s reputation as a serious venue.“

  • “It does not follow, however, that Valhalla is a great golf course. In fact, I find it a fairly mediocre and bland one. Very few holes offer multiple options of the tee (the exceptions being the short par-4 fourth and the double-fairway par-5 seventh), most of the greens lack memorable contouring, and the recovery shots from around the fairways and greens are one-dimensional and repetitive. So even if Sunday turns out to be a barn-burner, the first three rounds, when the focus will be on the course and the shots demanded, will probably be sleepier, aside from the inevitable Blockie walk-and-talk.”
Full piece.

6. Dunne resigns from policy board

Mark Schlabach for ESPN…”Jimmy Dunne, who last year helped negotiate the PGA Tour’s controversial framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, resigned from the tour’s policy board on Monday.”

  • “In Dunne’s resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, Dunne wrote that “no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF” and that “my vote and my role is utterly superfluous” now that player directors outnumber independent directors on the policy board. Dunne’s resignation was effective immediately.”
  • “It is crucial for the Board to avoid letting yesterday’s differences interfere with today’s decisions, especially when they influence future opportunities for the tour,” Dunne wrote. “Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game. I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction.”
  • “Along with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Dunne and policy board chairman Ed Herlihy secretly negotiated the framework agreement with the PIF, which is financing the rival LIV Golf League. Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan announced the deal on June 6. Most PGA Tour players — including some player directors — were unaware of the deal until it was announced on TV.”
Full piece.
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Tour Rundown: Rose blooms, Rory rolls

Published

2 days ago

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May 13, 2024

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This week last year, I found myself praying to the weather goddesses and gods that Rochester would be spared their wrath over the next seven days. The 2023 Oak Hill PGA Championship (that was slated for August when the contract was signed) was on the horizon, and I wanted my region to show well. Things turned out fine, with all four seasons making an appearance, a PGA Professional (Blockie!) stealing hearts, and a proven champion in Koepka (although I was pulling for Viktor.)

This year, no concerns. Louisville will shine this week at Valhalla, but we’ve matters to consider before we look to four days of coverage this week. Nelly did not win on the LPGA this week, so who did? The PGA Tour held two events in the Carolinas, and Tour Champions celebrated a major event in Alabama. Four noteworthy events to run down, so let’s head to RunDownTown and take care of business.

LPGA @ Founders Cup: Rose blooms

There was a sense that Rose Zhang might have a role in the 2020s version of the LPGA. After winning everything there was in amateur golf, she came out and won her first tournament as a professional. That was last May and, let’s be honest, who among us thought it would take 12 months for Zhang to win again? Rhymes with hero, I know.

This week in New Jersey, eyes were on Nelly Korda, as she made a run at a sixth consecutive win on the LPGA circuit. Korda ran out of gas on Saturday, and that was just fine. Madelene Sagstrom and Zhang had turned the soiree at Upper Montclair into a battle of birdies. Gabriela Ruffels came third at nine-under par. No one else reached double digits under par but Sagstrom and Zhang. They didn’t just reach -10…they more than doubled it.

Sagstrom had the look of a winner with five holes left to play. She was three shots clear of Zhang, at 23-under par. The Swede played her closing quintet in plus-one, finishing at 22-deep, 13 shots ahead of Ruffels. That performance we’d anticipated from Zhang? It happened on Sunday. She closed with four birdies in five holes to snatch victory number two, by two shots. Spring is a lovely time for a Rose in bloom.

PGA Tour @ Wells Fargo: Rory the Fourth is crowned in Charlotte

Xander Schauffele is a likable lad. He has an Olympic gold medal on his shelf, and a few PGA Tour titles to his credit. Even X knows that even par won’t get much done in a final round unless conditions are brutal. They weren’t brutal at Quail Hollow on Sunday. X posted even par on day four. It kept him ahead of third-place finisher Byeong Hun An but gave him zero chance of challenging for the title.

Paired with Xander in round four was the King of Quail, Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman had previously won thrice at the North Carolina track, and he was champing at the bit to gain some momentum on the road to Louisville. While Xander scored increasingly worse along the week (64-67-70-71) McIlroy saved his best round for the final round. Thanks to five birdies and two eagles, McIlroy ran away with the event, winning his fourth Wells Fargo by five over Schauffele.

PGA Tour @ Myrtle Beach Classic: a little CG won the inaugural week

It always seemed odd that the PGA Tour had zero stops along the Grand Strand each season. This week’s event seemed odd in that the golfers played the same course each day, and there were zero handicaps involved. Most events at Myrtle Beach involve hundreds of amateurs at dozens of courses, with all sorts of handicaps.

The Dunes Club is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. course, down toward Pawley’s Island. It claims what used to be considered an unreachable, par-five hole, the watery 13th. Nothing is unreachable any longer, including a 22-under par total for a six-shot win. Chris Gotterup, a former Rutgers and Oklahoma golfer, played sizzling golf all week and won by a sextet of shots. Gotterup opened with 66, then improved to 64 on Friday. His Saturday 65 sounded a beacon of “come get me,” and his closing 67 ensured that second place was the only thing up for grabs.

Chasing the podium’s second level were a bunch of young Americans. In the end, Alastair Docherty and Davis Thompson reached 16-deep, thanks to rounds of 64 and 68 on Sunday. They held off six golfers at 15-under par. The victory was Gotterup’s first on tour and should be enough to get him a Wikipedia page, among other plaudits.

PGA Tour Champions @ Regions Traditions: Vindication for Dougie

Doug Barron, if I recall correctly, was suspended by the Powers That Be, way back in 2009, for testosterone. He was naturally low in the hormone, so he took supplements. This did not sit well with certain admins, so he was put on the shelf for 18 months. Not cool.

In 2019, Barron came out on the Tour Champions. He won in August. The next year, despite the craziness of Covid, he won again.  Barron hit a dry spell for a few years. He kept his card, but accrued no additional victories. In late April, Barron showed serious signs of life, with a t2 at Mitsubishi. This week in Birmingham, he jumped out to a lead, lost it, then gained it back on Saturday. With major championship glory on the line, Barron brought the train into the station with 68 on Sunday.

Stephen Alker, the man who could not lose just two years ago, gave serious chase with a closing 63. He moved up 11 slots, into solo 2nd on Sunday. He finished two shots back of the champion. Two shots ain’t much. Cough once and you drop a pair. Third place saw a three-way tie, including last year’s winner (Steve Stricker) and runner-up (Ernie Els.) Despite the intimidating presence of the game’s greats, however, Doug Barron had more than enough of everything this week, and he has a third Tour Champions title to show off.

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