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The ‘harsh’ words Tiger gave Justin Thomas that made him a better player

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Honesty may always be the best policy, even when a very progressive youngster asks a true great for advice.

Readying himself to play alongside his father at this week’s PNC Championship, Justin Thomas, the current world number 6, recalled a series of past events that may have given him a further boost to his burgeoning career circa 2017/18.

Following a season that saw JT go back-to-back in Hawaii, land his first major (PGA) and follow up with wins at the Dell Tech and CJ Cup, the then 24-year-old found himself paired with his lifetime hero at the Hero Challenge. However, whilst that was the first time they played together, it was after the 2018 Genesis that he remembers asking the question.

Speaking at this week’s PNC Championship, JT recalled how the conversation went down: “I’m like, ‘Hey, we played a lot at home, but now we played in a tournament,’” Thomas remembers. “What do you see in what do I need to get better at?”

“Immediately he’s like, ‘You don’t have near enough shots. Like, you can work it but you don’t have enough shots to be, you know, as dominant as I was.’ That kind of thing. He’s like, ‘You have some that you can hit, but you don’t have all of them and you don’t have enough.’”

Honesty, but perhaps what JT needed to hear, if not particularly what he wanted. Indeed, despite not changing his entire game, he went on to win his very next tournament at the Honda and significantly his first at Firestone, at a course and event Tiger has won a record eight times.

“It’s a 9-iron, 160 yards to a middle pin, like, I’m going to hit a 9-iron. I’m not going to feel like I need to hook it or hit a big slice,” he said. “But at the end of the day, there’s definitely a lot of shots throughout the year that I’m able to use that to help me. Or there’s pins that I can maybe get close to that the person I’m playing with can’t. So it’s helped.”

Tiger isn’t one of those that sees one shot and wants to repeat it. I guess golf viewers have seen much of that in evidence over the years and in the 15 major wins and there certainly won’t be many better-qualified advisors in the game.

Often called JT’s big brother, Woods now has his own son, Charlie, playing alongside him this week and looking up to the very man that his father advised in 2018.

With the two families extremely close, Charlie will not lack in candidates for his own mentor, but none with better qualifications than his own ‘big brother’.

Certainly not finished at the top yet, Thomas has learnt from that fateful day and is prepared to pass on his own advice.

“I see it in a lot of rookies or even players that have been out here that are kind of like, on that edge,” Thomas said. “It’s very, very similar to a lot of stuff that I see, and I can see why he saw it in me now.”

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19th Hole

3-time PGA Tour winner calls for LIV to buy Champions Tour to fix ‘joke’ purses

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While speaking on the Subpar podcast, former PGA Tour winner and current PGA Tour Champions player Chris DiMarco said he hopes LIV buys the Champions Tour.

“We’re kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour,” he said.

“Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean this is kind of a joke when we’re getting $2 million. There were like seven guys last week from TPC (Sawgrass, at the $25 million PLAYERS Championship) that made more money than our purses.”

In 2024, the Champions Tour had a total of $67 million in prize money over the course of 24 events.

DiMarco also defended LIV players for taking the money and said he would take it also.

“They wanted to play for a lot of money, and they deserve it. They have had some great careers, why not go and get some money?”

DiMarco also offered insight on Graeme McDowell’s move to LIV.

“I saw Graeme McDowell at the Old Memorial Pro Member, and he goes, ‘Listen, I went up to Jay Monahan and said I love the tour but I am struggling to keep my card and these guys are offering me all this money and less golf. I’m sorry, I’m going.’ And I do not blame him one bit, and I said I would have too.”

DiMarco was ranked as high as 6th in the world in 2006.

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19th Hole

‘It won’t win you golf tournaments’ – Golf analyst rips Charley Hull’s course management

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Charley Hull came just short of her third LPGA Tour victory over the weekend at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship when she played her last two holes at 3 over to slip all the way to 10th on the leaderboard.

After the round, Hull was blasted by Sky Sports commentator and former LPGA Tour player Trish Johnson for her lack of golf course management.

While speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, Johnson spoke harshly of Hull.

“I’m probably her harshest critic, because I know how good she is. She doesn’t win anywhere near enough for her talent, and she doesn’t get involved enough, in all honestly.

“The thing with Charley is that you’re never going to change her. I read something the other day that said how much she loves the game and it’s her love of the game [that costs her]. She’s never going to change and she’s just going to go for every pin.

“In theory that’s great, but it won’t win you golf tournaments, it just won’t because she’s not that much better than anybody else. If you put Charley against Nelly Korda, then I’m picking Nelly every single day of the week.”

Johnson also made a fascinating comparison between Hull and a famous male golfer, John Daly.

“Golf-wise that’s the way she plays the game and it’s a little bit like watching John Daly I suppose.”

“There’s something that John Daly had that made him a major winner and a winner, but Charley is kind of lacking that. Her talent is not in question, but maybe her application is. Maybe it’s just the case of her never changing and that will cost her golf tournaments, there’s no two ways about it. You cannot go for every pin because that’s the way you play and it being fun, as other players are better than that and you have to have course management.”

Hull is still only 27, and therefore has plenty of time to work on her flaws to achieve the success her talent should allow.

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Former agent lifts lid on being fired by ‘zombie’ Tiger Woods

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Discussing his new book “Rainmaker” with the Daily Mail, Tiger Woods’ former agent, Hughes Norton, recounted the events leading up to and after his split with the 15-time major champion.

Norton was abruptly fired by Woods in 1998 after his 1997 Masters win and monster deal with Nike.

In the book, Norton talks about the way Tiger views his relationships, calling him a “zombie.”

The solace I can take, which doesn’t provide much, is this: He was an equal opportunity zombie with relationships, his swing coaches, his lawyer, the guy negotiated the IMG representation deal, with caddies, When it’s over, it’s over.”

Norton added:

“It is the way he terminates relationships with everyone. Whether it’s girlfriends, whether it’s his former golf coaches. It’s ironic, really. In a way he’s so good at confrontation on the golf course. If he’s playing you, he will beat your brains out every single time.

“But when it comes to confronting things like me and other people that are in his life, he has no social skills whatsoever. It’s maddening, actually.”

After he was fired by Woods, Norton was let go by IMG, which he believes was due to Woods’ influence.

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