Connect with us

19th Hole

PGA Tour 2K23 launch date, new features and playable professionals revealed

Published

on

The release date for HB Studios’ latest edition of their golf simulation series has been set.

PGA TOUR 2K23 Deluxe Edition and PGA TOUR 2K23 Tiger Woods Edition are scheduled for worldwide release on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, followed by PGA TOUR 2K23 Standard Edition on Friday, October 14, 2022.

Last year, Tiger Woods signed an exclusive deal with PGA TOUR 2K, which had golf fans wondering what his exact involvement would be with the game franchise. In addition to being the cover star for the game, Woods also served executive director advising the game development team. Most importantly, the 15-time major winner will be a playable in-game pro in PGA TOUR 2K23.

Other stars that will be playable in the game include PGA TOUR superstars Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris, and Collin Morikawa. LPGA players will also be included in this year’s edition of the game including Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko, and Brooke Henderson.

Players can step into the tee box as one of the pros in exhibition, multiplayer and Divot Derby play, or go head-to-head with them in a battle to climb the leaderboard and claim the FedExCup in PGA TOUR MyCAREER mode.

The broadcast-style presentation and commentary team of Rich Beem and Luke Elvy also return, with the addition of English golf pro and broadcaster Henni Koyack.

PGA TOUR 2K23 will include 20 licensed courses at launch. New additions include the South Course of Wilmington Country Club, The Renaissance Club, St. George’s Golf and Country Club and more. The industry-leading Course Designer also returns, offering players the opportunity to build their dream courses and share them with a global online community.

MyPLAYER personalization will return with players able to equip their MyPLAYERS just like Tiger with Nike Golf, TaylorMade and Bridgestone Golf apparel and gear.

Even more apparel options are available from licensed brands, including Callaway Golf, FootJoy, Malbon Golf, Nike Golf, PUMA, Titleist, Travis Mathew and more. Clubs and balls from brands including Bridgestone Golf, Callaway Golf, COBRA, Mizuno, Odyssey Golf, Scotty Cameron, TaylorMade, Titleist and Wilson are available to deck out players’ golf bags.

In addition to the returning analog stick swing, a three-click swing option is also available for an added level of customization so players can play the way they like.

Online multiplayer features also return for PGA TOUR 2K23. Online Societies encourage players to squad up with friends for custom tournaments and full seasons, while Clubhouse Pass will provide post-launch content and goals for players to enjoy well into the future.

PGA TOUR 2K23is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB and will be available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation®5(PS5™), PlayStation®4(PS4™), and Steam.The gamewill be available in multiple editions, each with unique cover art depicting painted portraits of Tiger Woods:

Standard Edition: 

  • Physical and digital versions for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 consoles, includes the base game.
  • For PC,includes the base game and the Golden Club Pack, which includes a GoldenPutter, GoldenDriver,and four Uncommon consumable golf ball sleeves.
  • Players who pre-order any version of the Standard Edition will receive the Michael Jordan Bonus Pack******, which includes playable sports icon Michael Jordan, as well as four consumable Common golf ball sleeves.
  • Players who purchase the Standard Edition of the game for Xbox Series X|S(physical or digital version) or PlayStation 5(digital version only) consoles which includes cross-generation dual entitlement will also receive the Golden Club Pack for the game on Xbox One or PlayStation 4, respectively.

PGA TOUR 2K23 Deluxe Edition:

  • Players who purchase the Standard Edition of the game for Xbox Series X|S (physical or digital version) or PlayStation 5 (digital version only) consoles which includes cross-generation dual entitlement will also receive the Golden Club Pack for the game on Xbox One or PlayStation 4, respectively.
  • For PC, includes the base game, as well as the Michael Jordan Bonus Pack, Golden Club Pack, and Deluxe Edition Bonus Pack.

PGA TOUR 2K23 Tiger Woods Edition (available in digital format only):

  • Includes all the contents of the Standard and Deluxe Edition for the purchased platform.
  • Includes the Tiger Woods Edition Bonus Pack–which includes a Tiger Woods TaylorMade wedge set, Nike TW Golf tee shirt, and three Epic consumable golf ball sleeves –plus the Tiger Woods Signature Sunday Pack, which includes a red polo, black pants, black hat, Nike TW Golf shoes, Nike TW Golf belt, and Bridgestone Golf TOUR B XS, Tiger Edition Golf Ball.

 

Your Reaction?
  • 43
  • LEGIT7
  • WOW10
  • LOL1
  • IDHT2
  • FLOP2
  • OB2
  • SHANK13

19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open betting preview

Published

on

As the Florida swing comes to an end, the PGA Tour makes its way to Houston to play the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course.

This will be the fourth year that Memorial Park Golf Course will serve as the tournament host. The event did not take place in 2023, but the course hosted the event in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Memorial Park is a par-70 layout measuring 7,432 yards and features Bermudagrass greens. Historically, the main defense for the course has been thick rough along the fairways and tightly mown runoff areas around the greens. Memorial Park has a unique setup that features three Par 5’s and five Par 3’s.

The field will consist of 132 players, with the top 65 and ties making the cut. There are some big names making the trip to Houston, including Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala.

Past Winners at Memorial Park

  • 2022: Tony Finau (-16)
  • 2021: Jason Kokrak (-10)
  • 2020: Carlos Ortiz (-13)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value). 

Key Stats For Memorial Park

Let’s take a look at several metrics for Memorial Park to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds:

Strokes Gained: Approach

Memorial Park is a pretty tough golf course. Golfers are penalized for missing greens and face some difficult up and downs to save par. Approach will be key.

Total Strokes Gained: Approach per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Tom Hoge (+1.30)
  2. Scottie Scheffler (+1.26)
  3. Keith Mitchell (+0.97) 
  4. Tony Finau (+0.92)
  5. Jake Knapp (+0.84)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Memorial Park is a long golf course with rough that can be penal. Therefore, a combination of distance and accuracy is the best metric.

Total Strokes Gained: Off the Tee per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+0.94)
  2. Kevin Dougherty (+0.93)
  3. Cameron Champ (+0.86)
  4. Rafael Campos (+0.84)
  5. Si Woo Kim (+0.70)

Strokes Gained Putting: Bermudagrass + Fast

The Bermudagrass greens played fairly fast the past few years in Houston. Jason Kokrak gained 8.7 strokes putting on his way to victory in 2021 and Tony Finau gained in 7.8 in 2022.

Total Strokes Gained Putting (Bermudagrass) per round past 24 rounds (min. 8 rounds):

  1. Adam Svensson (+1.27)
  2. Harry Hall (+1.01)
  3. Martin Trainer (+0.94)
  4. Taylor Montgomery (+0.88)
  5. S.H. Kim (+0.86)

Strokes Gained: Around the Green

With firm and undulating putting surfaces, holding the green on approach shots may prove to be a challenge. Memorial Park has many tightly mowed runoff areas, so golfers will have challenging up-and-down’s around the greens. Carlos Ortiz gained 5.7 strokes around the green on the way to victory in 2020.

Total Strokes Gained: Around the Green per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Mackenzie Hughes (+0.76)
  2. S.H. Kim (+0.68)
  3. Scottie Scheffler (+0.64)
  4. Jorge Campillo (+0.62)
  5. Jason Day (+0.60)

Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult

Memorial Park is a long and difficult golf course. This statistic will incorporate players who’ve had success on these types of tracks in the past. 

Total Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+2.45)
  2. Ben Griffin (+1.75)
  3. Will Zalatoris (+1.73)
  4. Ben Taylor (+1.53)
  5. Tony Finau (+1.42)

Course History

Here are the players who have performed the most consistently at Memorial Park. 

Strokes Gained Total at Memorial Park past 12 rounds:

  1. Tyson Alexander (+3.65)
  2. Ben Taylor (+3.40)
  3. Tony Finau (+2.37)
  4. Joel Dahmen (+2.25)
  5. Patton Kizzire (+2.16)

Statistical Model

Below, I’ve reported overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed.

These rankings are comprised of SG: App (24%) SG: OTT (24%); SG: Putting Bermudagrass/Fast (13%); SG: Long and Difficult (13%); SG: ARG (13%) and Course History (13%)

  1. Scottie Scheffler
  2. Wyndham Clark
  3. Tony Finau
  4. Joel Dahmen
  5. Stephan Jaeger 
  6. Aaron Rai
  7. Sahith Theegala
  8. Keith Mitchell 
  9. Jhonnatan Vegas
  10. Jason Day
  11. Kurt Kitayama
  12. Alex Noren
  13. Will Zalatoris
  14. Si Woo Kim
  15. Adam Long

2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open Picks

Will Zalatoris +2000 (Caesars)

Scottie Scheffler will undoubtedly be difficult to beat this week, so I’m starting my card with someone who I believe has the talent to beat him if he doesn’t have his best stuff.

Will Zalatoris missed the cut at the PLAYERS, but still managed to gain strokes on approach while doing so. In an unpredictable event with extreme variance, I don’t believe it would be wise to discount Zalatoris based on that performance. Prior to The PLAYERS, the 27-year-old finished T13, T2 and T4 in his previous three starts.

Zalatoris plays his best golf on long and difficult golf courses. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the category, but the eye test also tells a similar story. He’s contended at major championships and elevated events in the best of fields with tough scoring conditions.  The Texas resident should be a perfect fit at Memorial Park Golf Club.

Alex Noren +4500 (FanDuel)

Alex Noren has been quietly playing some of his best golf of the last half decade this season. The 41-year-old is coming off back-to-back top-20 finishes in Florida including a T9 at The PLAYERS in his most recent start.

In his past 24 rounds, Noren ranks 21st in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 30th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, 25th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses and 21st in Strokes Gained: Putting on fast Bermudagrass greens.

In addition to his strong recent play, the Swede also has played well at Memorial Park. In 2022, Noren finished T4 at the event, gaining 2.2 strokes off the tee and 7.0 strokes on approach for the week. In his two starts at the course, he’s gained an average of .6 strokes per round on the field, indicating he is comfortable on these greens.

Noren has been due for a win for what feels like an eternity, but Memorial Park may be the course that suits him well enough for him to finally get his elusive first PGA Tour victory.

Mackenzie Hughes +8000 (FanDuel)

Mackenzie Hughes found himself deep into contention at last week’s Valspar Championship before faltering late and finishing in a tie for 3rd place. While he would have loved to win the event, it’s hard to see the performance as anything other than an overwhelming positive sign for the Canadian.

Hughes has played great golf at Memorial Park in the past. He finished T7 in 2020, T29 in 2021 and T16 in 2022. The course fit seems to be quite strong for Hughes. He’s added distance off the tee in the past year or and ranks 8th in the field for apex height, which will be a key factor when hitting into Memorial Park’s elevated greens with steep run-off areas.

In his past 24 rounds, Hughes is the best player in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Greens. The ability to scramble at this course will be extremely important. I believe Hughes can build off of his strong finish last week and contend once again to cement himself as a President’s Cup consideration.

Akshay Bhatia +8000 (FanDuel)

Akshay Bhatia played well last week at the Valspar and seemed to be in total control of his golf ball. He finished in a tie for 17th and shot an impressive -3 on a difficult Sunday. After struggling Thursday, Akshay shot 68-70-68 in his next three rounds.

Thus far, Bhatia has played better at easier courses, but his success at Copperhead may be due to his game maturing. The 22-year-old has enormous potential and the raw talent to be one of the best players in the world when he figures it all out.

Bhatia is a high upside play with superstar qualities and may just take the leap forward to the next stage of his career in the coming months.

Cameron Champ +12000 (FanDuel)

Cameron Champ is a player I often target in the outright betting market due to his “boom-or-bust” nature. It’s hard to think of a player in recent history with three PGA Tour wins who’s been as inconsistent as Champ has over the course of his career.

Despite the erratic play, Cam Champ simply knows how to win. He’s won in 2018, 2019 and 2021, so I feel he’s due for a win at some point this season. The former Texas A&M product should be comfortable in Texas and last week he showed us that his game is in a pretty decent spot.

Over his past 24 rounds, Champ ranks 3rd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 30th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses. Given his ability to spike at any given time, Memorial Park is a good golf course to target Champ on at triple digit odds.

Robert MacIntyre +12000 (FanDuel)

The challenge this week is finding players who can possibly beat Scottie Scheffler while also not dumping an enormous amount of money into an event that has a player at the top that looks extremely dangerous. Enter McIntyre, who’s another boom-or-bust type player who has the ceiling to compete with anyone when his game is clicking on all cylinders.

In his past 24 rounds, MacIntyre ranks 16th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 17th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 10th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses.

MacIntyre’s PGA Tour season has gotten off to a slow start, but he finished T6 in Mexico, which is a course where players will hit driver on the majority of their tee shots, which is what we will see at Memorial Park. Texas can also get quite windy, which should suit MacIntyre. Last July, the Scot went toe to toe with Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open before a narrow defeat. It would take a similar heroic effort to compete with Scheffler this year in Houston.

Ryan Moore +15000 (FanDuel)

Ryan Moore’s iron play has been absolutely unconscious over his past few starts. At The PLAYERS Championship in a loaded field, he gained 6.1 strokes on approach and last week at Copperhead, he gained 9.0 strokes on approach.

It’s been a rough handful of years on Tour for the 41-year-old, but he is still a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who’s young enough for a career resurgence. Moore has chronic deterioration in a costovertebral joint that connects the rib to the spine, but has been getting more consistent of late, which is hopefully a sign that he is getting healthy.

Veterans have been contending in 2024 and I believe taking a flier on a proven Tour play who’s shown signs of life is a wise move at Memorial Park.

 

Your Reaction?
  • 8
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK1

Continue Reading

19th Hole

John Daly stuns fans into silence with brutal opening tee shot on PGA Tour Champions

Published

on

When beginning his first round at the Hoag Classic on the PGA Tour Champions, John Daly got off to a shockingly bad start.

The two-time major winner took the crowd by surprise when he topped the ball off the tee.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Fore Play (@foreplaypod)

As Daly walks off the tee box disappointed, one fan can be heard saying “I can do that”.

He ended up making a double-bogey on the hole, but ended his round on a positive note, making birdie on four of his last seven holes and ended the day three over par.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 30
  • LEGIT8
  • WOW13
  • LOL10
  • IDHT1
  • FLOP1
  • OB1
  • SHANK23

Continue Reading

19th Hole

PGA Tour pro left fuming after being heckled during Valspar Championship

Published

on

Over the weekend at the Valspar Championship, Hayden Buckley was getting ready to hit a shot on the par 4 12th hole at Copperhead when a rowdy fan yelled in his backswing.

Despite having to step off, Buckey was able to get up-and-down for par to remain at -3, which at the time on Saturday was seven shots behind the leader, Keith Mitchell.

On X, comments replying to the video seemed to think Buckley had time to reset following the shout, while others inferred gambling had something to do with the incident.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 12
  • LEGIT7
  • WOW4
  • LOL5
  • IDHT1
  • FLOP4
  • OB1
  • SHANK17

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending