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Did Rory McIlroy just take a shot at his own equipment move?

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Rory McIlroy just isn’t having it.

The defending RBC Canadian Open champion continues to refuse to have anything to do with the LIV Golf series, seemingly surprised and upset that many of his on-course rivals have jumped ship.

On Wednesday, the four-time Major champion re-iterated his desire to stick with the status quo, giving tradition and history of the game amongst his reasons.

“I’m a self-confessed golf nerd, historian, traditionalist. Most of the oldest events in our game are national opens,” said McIlroy, who mentioned his five national opens, six if you include Hong Kong’s. “One of the great things about our game is you can in some way compare yourself to historical figures, figures that I’ve never met before.

“I look at a trophy that my name’s on and Walter Hagen’s name is on there or Gene Sarazen or Byron Nelson or Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer or whoever it is, and I think that’s one of the coolest things about our sport that not a lot of other sports can sort of tap into.”

“You look at the Canadian Open trophy and you look at the names that are on that. You’re putting your name in history by winning these national championships,” said McIlroy, ranked No. 8 in the world.

He seemingly then had a little jibe at the likes of Dustin Johnson and Ryder Cup team-mates Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Greame McDowell and Ian Poulter by confirming, “Honestly, it’s something that money can’t buy or it’s something that money can’t give you.”

McIlroy has also told reporters this week that,”any decision you make in your life purely for money usually doesn’t end up going the right way.”

Whilst this was a phrase among a host of paragraphs discussing the you-know-what tour, was he talking from experience?

In 2013, a young McIlroy joined Tiger Woods as brand ambassador for Nike Golf, explaining this was for “a number of reasons.”

At the time, he explained, “”It’s a company and a brand that resonates with me. It’s young, it’s athletic and it’s innovative. They are committed to being the best, as am I. Signing with Nike is another step towards living out my dream.”

His initial struggles with the new clubs were widely reported although he did win two majors with the set – the 2014 PGA and Open Championships – before Nike decided to stop producing clubs and concentrate on apparel, the famous ‘swoosh’ appearing proud on McIlroy’s cap at press conferences this week.

Whatever the outcome with that lucrative deal, he is adamant that he isn’t going anywhere, let alone the LIV tour, at the moment.

“I can spend a lot of time at home with my family if I want to, prioritize the majors and there is nothing about my schedule or my life or my earnings or anything that I would change.”

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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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