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19th Hole

The hilarious reason why Kevin Kisner asked to sit the afternoon at the 2017 Presidents Cup

Published

2 years ago

on

Golf is changing, as always.

While the best of the team events – the Ryder and Presidents Cup – give rookies the chance to shine, both events often rely on the experienced players to steady the ship through the early stages.

This week’s Presidents Cup is the 12th run-out of the U.S v International match-up, and the first since 2019.

The 2021 event was, of course, cancelled because of Covid and the teams look very different to how they may have looked a year ago, mainly because of the ineligibility of any players that have chosen the LIV path for their recent careers.

Played at Quail Hollow this season, the teams are a mix of the plainly obvious and those with zero experience, with 14 of the 24 players making their debuts in the event, including world number one Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa, winner of the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship.

It’s often best to turn to the older members for the stories, and 38-year-old Kevin Kisner has never been short of a tale or two.

With an enviable record at the World Matchplay – one win and two finals appearances in six starts – Kiz appears the type to thrive at all aspects of the team challenge. However, back on his 2017 Presidents Cup debut, he wanted to be left off the roster for day three.

His event started brightly for the rookie, when playing alongside Phil Mickelson, a Thursday half in the foursomes followed by a win in the following day’s fourballs.

Day three again started well for the pairing, beating Jhonattan Vegas and Emiliano Grillo 2&1 and taking their record to 2-1-0, before that strange request.

Golf writer Brentley Romine posted a tweet on Thursday revealing that Kisner approached the then U.S captain Steve Stricker and asked for Saturday afternoon off, because:

“Because Georgia played Tennessee. Strick is like. ‘Seriously?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, man, that’s my squad.'”

This is not the first time that golf took a back-seat to a Bulldog game.

In the same year, while competing at the Tour Championship, Kisner took to social media to arrange a flight to a Georgia-Mississippi game, eventually finishing tied third at the lucrative season finale.

The mid-event break clearly does him good as he also profited at Liberty National, halving his Sunday singles game with Anirban Lahiri and keeping intact an undefeated record as his team thrashed the Internationals 19-11.

Kisner didn’t take part in the opening day of this year’s Presidents Cup and there is no knowing whether he will play when Davis Love requires him to. Better check the football schedule first.

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19th Hole

Phil Mickelson reveals he won’t be pursuing broadcasting career when he retires from golf

Published

14 hours ago

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May 8, 2024

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On Tuesday, Chris McKee, a Toronto writer and radio host, wondered aloud on his X account if Phil Mickelson will be a commentator after his playing days are over.

“The second Phil Mickelson retires he’ll instantly become the most sought after TV analyst in golf. Would any PGA Tour broadcaster (CBS, ESPN, NBC or Sky) bring him in or would he have to stick to LIV broadcasts? #LIVGolf”

Mickelson saw the post and responded, saying he’s not interested in moving from the course to the broadcast booth.

“Thank you for the kind words. However, just cuz someone CAN do something doesn’t mean they SHOULD do it. Instead of commentating, I’m going to shoot some Pros vs Schmos 9 hole matches. I’ll share insights throughout as well as talk a little smack. It won’t be the highest quality video but it’ll be fun for me to do and fun to watch I think too.”

While I believe many fans would like to see Phil in the booth, his idea of “Pro’s vs Schmo’s” could certainly be intriguing.

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PGA Tour pro sounds off on ‘unfair’ PGA Championship invites

Published

14 hours ago

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May 8, 2024

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This week, the PGA of America made some surprising announcements regarding the field of next week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

The event now will feature 16 LIV players with Talor Gooch, Dean Burmester, David Puig, Adrian Meronk and Patrick Reed receiving special exemptions.

PGA Tour player, Dylan Wu, took issue with how the exemptions were used and went to X to share his thoughts.

“Why is there never “real” qualifications for the PGA Championship? You have a points list and World ranking invite. Usually just outside top 100 in OWGR gets in. Chan Kim ranked 104th in OWGR doesn’t get in. SH Kim at 107th isn’t in.”

“Jesper Svennson ranked 108th gets in. Tim Widing 120th gets in. Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald gets a spot. A bunch of guys get leapfrogged even though they’re ranked higher than others. Seems like they just invite whoever they want. Unfair to the guys on the edge like Chan and SH”

“Just seems like the world of professional golf is in a weird spot and I love that the tournament invited a handful of great LIV players but figure out a correct system for a major championship where guys know they’ll be in or not. ????”

Fans who replied to Wu seemed to agree that a more definitive ranking system for the PGA Championship should be established.

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Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’

Published

1 day ago

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May 7, 2024

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On Tuesday, the full field for the PGA Championship at Valhalla was released. In some surprising news, a handful of LIV players were granted exemptions including Dean Burmester, Patrick Reed, Lucas Herbert and Adrian Meronk.

The most surprising omission was Louis Oosthuizen. The South African has been one of the most consistent players on LIV this season, and also won two DP World Tour events in the fall.

According to the AP’s Doug Ferguson, Oosthuizen was actually given an invitation, but declined due to “personal commitments”.

In total, there will be 16 LIV golfers teeing it up next week at Valhalla.

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