1. Women’s Open headed to Muirfield
Golf Channel’s Randall Mell…“The R&A made big news Wednesday, announcing that Muirfield will host the AIG Women’s Open for the first time in 2022.”
- “…Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s chief executive, laid out the AIG Women’s Open venues for the next five years, a lineup that includes a return to St. Andrews in 2024. Carnoustie will stage the event in 2021, Walton Heath in ’23 and Royal Porthcawl in 2025.”
- “Muirfield voted just last year to allow women as members for the first time. The club has hosted the men’s Open 16 times.”
2. Koepka withdraws, ending season
Golf Channel’s Will Gray…“Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from The Northern Trust because of injury, a decision that means his 2019-20 PGA Tour season is over.”
- “Koepka was expected to make his seventh start in as many weeks at TPC Boston, and at No. 97 in points he likely needed at least a top-20 finish to have any chance of advancing to the 70-man BMW Championship. Instead, he pulled out on the eve of the opening round, citing knee and hip issues.”
3. “Year of the ‘short’ hitter”
PGATour.com’s Cameron Morfit…”Jim Herman, who ranks 188th in driving distance (but seventh in accuracy), won the Wyndham Championship last weekend. Granted, it’s that type of course. Everyone in the field can reach Sedgefield Country Club’s two par 5s in two, and it’s about placement, not power.”
- “But Herman’s surprise win is also part of a trend. Of the four players with multiple victories this season – Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson, Justin Thomas and Brendon Todd – only FedExCup leader Thomas is in the top 100 on TOUR in driving distance. (Todd is a distant 205th, ranking ahead of just six players) And get this: The longest guy in the foursome has actually throttled back in order to gain control.”
- “No, I’m glad you brought it up,” Thomas said from THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston, where the FedExCup Playoffs begin this week. “… I dialed back in distance with a driver and a shaft just to hit a couple more fairways a round. I carry it probably five, eight yards shorter than I did maybe one or two years ago, but I have a little bit more spin so I can control my ball flight a little bit more and I’m just trying to play from the fairway more.
4. Seven ams added to U.S. Open field
Golf Channel’s Will Gray…“Seven amateurs have been added to the field for next month’s U.S. Open, bringing the total number of amateurs expected to compete at Winged Foot to 13.”
- “With the COVID-19 pandemic causing the USGA to opt for an all-exempt field this year, seven spots were set aside for the top-ranking players (not otherwise exempt) in the World Amateur Golf Rankings following the U.S. Amateur. Those spots went to Nos. 1-7 in the Aug. 19 rankings: Takumi Kanaya, Ricky Castillo, Chun An Yu, Davis Thompson, Eduard Rousaud, Sandy Scott and John Pak.”
5. Tiger commits to next week’s BMW Championship
PGATour.com staff report…”Tiger Woods has committed to next week’s BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in Chicago, which will mark the first time he’s played in back-to-back weeks on the PGA TOUR in a year.”
- “Woods is 49th in the FedExCup as he prepares for THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston this week. He last made back-to-back TOUR starts at THE NORTHERN TRUST and BMW last season. He is no stranger to Chicago-area golf as a five-time winner of the BMW Championship, and finished T20 at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields.”
6. No hospitality venues at 2021 WMPO
Via the Arizona Republic…”The Waste Management Phoenix Open is more than five months away, but already the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted “The Greenest Show on Grass.”
- “Tournament chairman Scott Jenkins announced on Wednesday that most of the hospitality venues that normally make up the infrastructure of the grounds at TPC Scottsdale will not be constructed for the 2021 edition of the PGA Tour’s annual stop in the Phoenix area.”
- “Due to continued health challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape at the Waste Management Phoenix Open will unfortunately look different this year,” Jenkins said in a statement. “This week, we notified our suite holders that most of the hospitality venues that create our event’s incredible tournament atmosphere will not be constructed. In light of the fact that we usually start building our venues in late September/early October, it is just not prudent to do so under the current circumstances.”
7. Adam Scott reflects
Golfweek’s David Dusek…”If Adam Scott could give his younger self some advice, what would it be?”
- “I liked a lot of the things that that guy did at the time. He was on a good path,” Scott said with a smile after some thought. “I was kind of on that rise up, being a young pro, but then once you kind of get near the top 10 in the world, it’s a real different level to maintain and push all the way up there.”
- “Scott briefly attended UNLV and was coached by Butch Harmon as a young pro. At that time, Harmon also coached Tiger Woods.”
- “I think, you know, looking back on it now, it’s hard to remember exactly the influence and attention and intimidation that Tiger drew to golf tournaments, but it was significant to every player who was out here,” Scott said. “I think if anyone was playing at that time, and they were being honest, there’s no doubt he made a big difference. I think I would have told myself to kind of come up with a strategy to block out exactly what Tiger was doing in making us all feel slightly inferior to him.”
8. Feinstein: “A likable tour pro’s win reminds us when political differences shouldn’t matter”
John Feinstein writes…”Herman once worked for President Donald Trump at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. He has played frequently with Trump-both before and after he became president-and talks often about how much Trump has encouraged him about his golf career through the years.”
- “Herman is very much a Trump supporter. I am, if you haven’t already guessed, very much not.”
- “And yet Herman and I get along very well. I remember a lengthy locker-room conversation with him shortly after he won for the first time on tour, in Houston in the spring of 2016. He was my kind of story: a grinder who had won for the first time at age 38 and had come a long way from giving lessons at Trump National. He was bright, funny, clearly devoted to his family. The kind of player I’d like to write about and have a beer with.”
- “In many ways, Herman is a perfect example in these polarized times of not being defined by politics. This is a lesson I’ve learned through the years covering golf: We can all put politics aside, even now.”
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