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Morning 9: Monahan stresses safety, testing | More Euro Tour cancellations

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4 years ago

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1. Monahan stresses safety, testing
Steve DiMeglio for Golfweek…“Commissioner Jay Monahan said Friday one thing is critical for the PGA Tour to resume play in mid-June…Testing for the coronavirus.”
  • “We need to have widespread, large-scale testing across our country. We are going to need to test players, caddies and other constituents before we return,” Monahan said on NBC Sports Networks “Lunch Time Live” hosted by Mike Tirico. “But we need to do so in a way that’s not going to take away from the critical need that we are currently facing. But we feel confident based on the advice we are getting from medical experts that we will be in that position.
  • “We’re thinking about what it’s going to take in advance of a player getting on property, to every single movement that a player or a caddie might have over the course of the week and thinking about what can we do to make that the safest environment possible.”
2. 1 million tests? 
A word about the (potential) magnitude of that testing, via Ewan Murray at The Guardian…
  • “The PGA Tour hopes to take delivery of up to one million Covid-19 test kits to assist with the completion of its season from 11 June. President Donald Trump’s desire to use sport as a key vehicle to accelerate a return to normality in the United States is emphasised by a plan to allow those involved in PGA Tour events into the country under the auspice of essential travel. The Tour remains confident of pushing forward with tournaments given the scale of government backing.”
  • “A revised schedule was announced last week, featuring 14 tournaments running until 7 September. At least the first four, starting with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, will be closed to spectators. Estimates are that between 700 and 800 personnel will still be needed on site at events.”
  • “The rigorous testing procedures will involve players, caddies and officials being sent testing kits – already on mass order – to their homes, with a further and immediate check required if anyone has travelled to a tournament by air. Daily tests will subsequently be undertaken by each individual in tournament week, with anyone returning a positive result asked to self-quarantine for 14 days”
3. More European Tour cancellations
Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…“On Friday, the European Tour canceled the BMW International Open and Open de France, while postponing the Scottish Open. The events were slated consecutively on the European calendar, beginning with the BMW on June 25 and ending with the Scottish Open on July 9.”
“Because the Scottish Open is one of eight Rolex Series events, there is hope the event, scheduled to visit the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, can be rescheduled at some point later in the year.”
“The decision to cancel the BMW International Open, which has been a cornerstone of the European Tour calendar for three decades, and the Open de France, one of our most historic national Opens, was made in consultation with our long-term partner BMW and the French Golf Federation respectively with public health and well-being the absolute priority for all of us,” European Tour CEO Keith Pelley said in a statement. “Both Germany and France have been significantly impacted by Coronavirus, and our thoughts go out to everyone affected in both countries, as well as elsewhere around the world.”
4. Koepka on playing without fans
Our Gianni Magliocco…”Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka expects higher scores when golf returns to the PGA Tour in June, believing that players won’t be so fortunate in finding errant tee-shots without the aid of spectators on-site.”
  • “Koepka was speaking on the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast where he made it clear how important fans are for professionals in regards to minimizing the damage of their wild shots.”
  • “Every once in a while, we just hit some foul balls and the fans help you find it. Guys are going to lose balls because of that.”
  • “Golf on the PGA Tour is set to resume mid-June at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and the 29-year-old also revealed that he believes that playing in front of no fans will be “awful”, and is expecting a “weird” experience.”

Full piece.

5. NGF: 48 percent of courses are open
Golfweek’s Jason Lusk…”The National Golf Foundation reported on Friday that 48 percent of golf courses in the United States were open over the past week, up from 44 percent the week prior.”
  • “The figures in the NGF’s latest COVID-19 update are based on phone surveys of 1,753 golf facilities conducted April 7-10 and are accurate to plus or minus 2 percent.”
  • “The numbers of open courses vary greatly by region (shown in the map above with percentages of open courses). The southern U.S. had the greatest percentage of courses open, with 81 percent. On the West Coast, only 14 percent of courses are open in California, Oregon and Washington.”
6. New beginning? 
Cameron Morfit at PGATour.com…”Monahan addressed interviewers from a makeshift set in THE PLAYERS Championship media room foyer at the TOUR’s Headquarters. In a sign of the times, there was dais, no satellite truck, no teams of producers or A/V experts. Instead, he sat on a stool and spoke into an open laptop or via phone. It was a partly cloudy day, some golfers playing TPC Sawgrass outside, everyone adhering to social distancing protocols.”
  • “People were starving for inspiration,” Monahan said as he addressed the lineup of shows. “Golf provides that, and sports provide that. We’ve been working day and night with local, city, state and federal officials to determine the right sequence to come back in the safest and most responsible way possible for players, caddies and constituents.”
  • “Feedback has been positive, no surprise. Players had buy-in; Monahan estimated there have been 10 conference calls with the PGA TOUR Policy Board and Player Advisory Council.”
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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16 hours ago

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May 7, 2024

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GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.

From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

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2 days ago

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May 6, 2024

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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

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2 days ago

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May 6, 2024

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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