19th Hole
‘What a coward you are’ – Lee Westwood slams journalist who ridiculed him amid Saudi links
Twitter fights are becoming more common place in the golf sphere and this week was the turn of Lee Westwood and Golf Digest’s Senior Writer Joel Beall who traded insults on the social media platform.
It all began when while criticizing Greg Norman and LIV Golf Investments, Beall took shots at Lee Westwood and Jason Kokrak, two men who have been heavily linked to the Saudi-backed golf league.
Imagine going from hosting the PGA Championship to hosting a battle between Jason Kokrak and 49-year-old Lee Westwood
— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall) March 16, 2022
Lee Westwood took exception to Beall’s tweet and called out the journalist for not tagging himself or Kokrak in the original tweet, branding him as “ageist” and a “coward”.
Sounding a bit ageist there pal. You might get a preview of that next week at the @DellMatchPlay as we’re both top 64 in the world. What a coward you are not tagging in @jaykokrak or myself! Clearly the threshold is very low to become a senior writer at @GolfDigest ! https://t.co/CwkcCjsCZI
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) March 17, 2022
After seeing Westwood’s tweet, Kokrak chimed in as well.
@WestwoodLee and I would give people a great match. Outstanding player for a long time. Never heard of this @JoelMBeall guy anyway. No need to be disrespectful unless you care to take a shot at it face to face.
— Jason Kokrak (@jaykokrak) March 17, 2022
Beall then replied, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Twitter users surmised that Beall’s response referenced Westwood’s reported flirtation with the Saudi breakaway league.
Hey @JoelMBeall I see you grew a pair and replied. I’m not a politician either. Just a bloke from Worksop who plays golf for a living. You got me thinking, I wonder what the average age of a @GolfDigest reader is??? Good luck growing the game with this current approach ?? https://t.co/6xly8U2L9t
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) March 17, 2022
After deleting his tweet, Beall offered a sort of apology. Many twitter users took issue with the fact that his “apology” included a massive “spin zone” again which made the apology seem insincere.
Have seen this for the last 8 hours. Deleted it because it was personal shot and uncalled for. I apologize. I also hope everyone offended by a tweet is just as offended by the human rights atrocities taking place and those willing to be sportswashing pawns for them https://t.co/iOWHSclVeO
— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall) March 17, 2022
It all seems to have calmed down for now, but with the SGL recently announcing its schedule for 2022, you can be sure that the next social media storm won’t be too far off.
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19th Hole
Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man has been charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National.
The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.
The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”
The document was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Per the court records there is no mention that Globensky worked for the golf club.
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19th Hole
Talor Gooch: 54 holes is more exciting for the fans
Over the past few weeks, two of LIV Golf’s biggest stars, Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson, have both expressed that they believe LIV could go to 72 holes.
While speaking to BBC Sport, Rahm said he “wouldn’t mind” going to 72 holes.
“If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes I think it would help all of this argument a lot.”
“The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.
“I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to 72 holes.”
Phil Mickelson, while speaking after his final round at The Masters, also said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if LIV went to 72 holes.
“I don’t think it makes a difference either way. We’ve got mini-tours playing 54, Champions Tour playing 54. I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of LIV events went to 72. I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I enjoy the competition.”
Another one of LIV’s top players, Talor Gooch, expressed on Wednesday that he feels quite differently.
“It’s just funny to me, this arbitrary number of 72.”
“Why is it not 90? “Why is it not 108? We just decided to make that number the number, for what reason?”
“Everyone’s talked about world ranking points and all this stuff, but no one’s talked about what do the fans enjoy more?”
“People want something that’s going to be more exciting. And I personally think that the 54 holes is more exciting for the fans.”
After Gooch’s comments, I decided to get some fan feedback for myself, making a poll on X. With about 4,500 votes in at the time of writing this, roughly 84% of voters in the poll indicated they’d prefer 72 holes to just 16% saying they’d prefer 54.
Rahm prefers 72 holes
Gooch prefers 54 holesWhere do the fans stand?
— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) April 17, 2024
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19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
Earlier this week, rumors began to fly that Rory McIlroy could be making a shock switch to LIV Golf which caused quite the stir on social media.
However, on Tuesday, McIlroy emphatically shut down those rumors, telling Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town:
“I honestly don’t know how these things get started. I’ve never been offered a number from LIV and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV. Again I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.
It’s unfortunate that we have to deal with it and this is the state that our game’s in. I’m obviously here today and I’m playing this PGA Tour event next week and I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career.”
Golf Channel analyst and longtime LIV critic, Brandel Chamblee, took to social media before McIlroy’s statement to point the finger at “Saudis/LIV,” who he believes started the rumor:
I have no doubt that this rumor was started by Saudis/LIV… to benefit Saudis/LIV after such a poor showing, as a group, at The Masters.
I’d be very surprised if this turns out to be true. https://t.co/SWNgjHtWSM
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024
When one user pushed back on Chamblee’s claim that LIV golfers had a poor showing at the Masters, Brandel went further into why he believes the opening major of the year was a failure for the breakaway tour.
You think they paid 3 billion for a few top tens and to be +82 as a group at major? A senior citizen beat some of their “stars” and almost all the game’s of LIV players have deteriorated since they sold their souls to the Saudis who only bought a moment in time… nothing else. https://t.co/xERkYsztIJ
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 16, 2024
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