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
3-time PGA Tour winner calls for LIV to buy Champions Tour to fix ‘joke’ purses
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
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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19th Hole
Former agent lifts lid on being fired by ‘zombie’ Tiger Woods
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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