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Bryson DeChambeau finishes runner-up at Long Drive World Championship

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Bryson DeChambeau has rarely wavered from his ambition to produce the fastest ball speed and furthest drive in tour history, and went very close to becoming the world’s longest driver on Saturday.

In his second ever appearance at the Professional Long Drivers Association’s World Championships in Nevada, the 2020 U.S Open winner came within 20 yards of becoming world champion, eventually losing out to Martin Borgmeier in the head-to-head final.

With the PLDA finding itself on the losing end of a battle against falling crowd numbers and entries, DeChambeau made his debut at the 2021 event to huge publicity, eventually finishing seventh of the eight finalists, a huge achievement for a pro tour golfer, let alone one with his PGA and DP World Tour resume. His was a hugely welcome entry for the organization and the sport.

This time, with defending champion and undisputed PLDA number one, Kyle Berkshire, suffering after recent hand surgery, DeChambeau and Borgmeier were the two left standing from an initial field of 128, ‘our’ man making the final after being fifth in the final eight with a top drive of 415 yards.

That final octet included last year’s runner-up and overall second in the ranking, Justin James, but with a drive of 407 yards, DeChambeau made his way into the final. Even that number was 28 yards short of the longest drive of the day – Zach Holton’s 435 yards in the Round of 16 – and 11 off the drive Borgmeier had to make the decider. Despite his efforts, Bryson was facing a tough task.

Ultimately, the German’s experience was too much for the LIV player, and with drives of 415 and 426 yards, he took the trophy ahead of DeChambeau’s best of three legal drives – 406 yards.

Despite being hugely pleased with his win, Borgmeier was quick to praise his rival, not only for the achievement of making the final, but for what he had done for the entire sport.

“There is one very, very important thing, and all of you guys know,” Borgmeier said. “I would not be here, none of us would be here with the improvements in technology, if one guy wouldn’t have come in a year ago to make the sport what it is right now. And I think he’s on a very good track to come back. And that guy is Bryson DeChambeau.”

He continued, with increased enthusiasm, “He also came in second! What is going on? That guy is a professional golfer, and he’s putting up these ball speed numbers… he lights it up in the final, hitting 400 plus! No one has ever done that before! People don’t realize how crazy that is!”

Having recently had an argument with a gallery rope and then making fun out of himself, we probably do, but it’s still an immense achievement for a legitimate world-class tour player to do what he is doing.

And, as seen below, this is one sport where you may have to be slightly off-the-wall to compete:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFaRywFFfX0

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TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract

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This week, TaylorMade Golf announced that they’ve signed AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Miles Russell, to an NIL contract.

In a statement, TaylorMade called Russell “nothing short of remarkable”.

“Miles’ record setting success at his young age is nothing short of remarkable and we are excited he chose us to support him in his growth as a golfer to continue to accomplish his career goals. Identifying and developing the top junior talent in the world has always been a priority for us at TaylorMade. Miles and his family epitomize the type of athlete and human being we are looking to add to Team TaylorMade.”

Russell has broken plenty of records in recent months. This season, he was named American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Boys Player of the Year, making him the youngest male player to receive the award. The record was previously held by Tiger Woods who was about 10 months older than Russell at the time he received the award.

At age 14, J he became the youngest player ever to win the Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass at age 14.

The 15-year-old also played in his first Korn Ferry Tour event on Thursday, the LECOM Suncoast Classic, and shot a first-round 68.

In the aftermath of the agreement, Russell released a statement.

“I have had a great relationship with the team at TaylorMade for years now and couldn’t be more excited to continue to work with them in the future. TaylorMade has a history of developing the top junior talent in the world to help reach their goals of becoming PGA TOUR and major championship winners. I am looking forward to working with the team to reach those and other goals I have laid out for my career.”

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Group of PGA Tour caddies sign endorsement deal with underwear company

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In an interesting turn of events, a group of PGA Tour caddies have signed an endorsement deal with an underwear company.

Geno Bonnalie (Joel Dahmen), Aaron Flener (J.T. Poston), John Limanti (Akshay Bhatia) and Joel Stock (Will Zalatoris) and John Ellis (Wyndham Clark) have signed a deal with the underwear brand, SAXX.

Here are some details about the endorsement deal:

  • The deal eclipses six figures in total value, extending what last year marked the first significant apparel agreement with a group of pro caddies. Of note, Geno and John Ellis appeared in the Netflix docuseries, Full Swing.
  • The caddies will wear SAXX underwear, shorts and polos on and off the course.
  • SAXX will donate $100 to the Testicular Cancer Foundation for every birdie made by the caddies’ players for the rest of the season.
  • SAXX will bring the Ball Masters to the masses at the Travelers Championship, hosting a fan activation with underwear giveaways, photo opportunities, appearances from the Ball Masters and more.
  • Fans can become an honorary Ball Master, which includes a year’s worth of underwear, among other things. Go to SAXX.com/ball-master-application from now until June 15 to enter.

The partnership is great for the caddies and also represents a great cause.

Check out the video they shared on YouTube:

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Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National

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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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