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Immelman: McGinley apologized to me after saying Presidents Cup should be mixed event

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With the Americans ballooning to a -900 favorite prior to this year’s competition at Quail Hollow, most analysts believed the current version of the bi-annual event must be tweaked in order to remain relevant.

All year, Trevor Immelman has been listening.

“Blow this thing up,” he said. “They got to change the format. They got to cut the points. We got to bring the women golfers in.”

“I’ve had to listen to that crap for two years now,” The International team captain said.

Despite losing 17.5-12.5, most would agree that the Internationals did as good of a job as they could have in keeping the match competitive throughout the week. A Saturday surge kept what could have been a historic blowout from taking place.

On Claude Harmon III’s podcast this week, Immelman said that Paul McGinley of Golf Channel has apologized to him for helping drive the narrative that the current Presidents Cup doesn’t work as is, with the Irishman last week touting the idea that women should be included in the event.

“I appreciate the fact that they may be trying to think outside of the box,” he said. “But they need to come up with something else. And I hope Paul doesn’t get offended by me saying this, but he texted me on Monday. And he apologized for saying that on Live From.

“Because he realized what playing for the shield means to us. What having the opportunity to compete in the Presidents Cup against the Americans means to us. And he realized that, and he realized that his take was incorrect and he texted me to apologize. And I thanked him for having the guts to text me and to apologize and I thanked him for realizing how much that event means to us.”

Despite the International team making it somewhat competitive, there’s no denying that the American team has absolutely dominated the Presidents Cup since it’s inception.

The Americans are 14-1-1 all time in the Presidents Cup. This year, the International team looked to have arguably their strongest roster yet before Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer and Marc Leishman joined LIV Golf. With those players now ineligible, it’s hard to see a path for the Internationals to get markedly better by the time the event heads to Canada in 2024.

However, Immelman still believes no tweaks to the format are necessary.

“I find it disrespectful on all accounts, to be extremely honest with you,” he said. “I find it disrespectful to us as international golfers that are professional athletes that compete at the highest level week in and week out. We’re not scrubs. Are we as strong as the Americans? Doesn’t quite look like it right now. Have they kicked our butts in this event? They sure have. But there’s been some close calls. And so I find it disrespectful to us.”

The former Masters Champion also addressed the suggestion that the event should become mixed with men and women golfers in detail.

“I find it equally disrespectful to the women golfers. And here’s why. I don’t think women golfers need men to make them and their competitions relevant. Their competitions are already relevant. I sit down and watch every single shot of the Solheim Cup. Every single shot. It’s one of my favorite times of the year when that event goes on. I watched the U.S. Women’s Open. I watched the Women’s British Open a few weeks ago when South African Ashleigh Buhai came down the stretch, almost coughed it up and won in the playoff at Muirfield, matching Ernie Els’ win at the Open at Muirfield. Women don’t need men to make them relevant in sport. My family and I were glued to the TV when Serena Williams played her last match at the U.S. Open. She’s one of the greatest athletes to ever walk on the planet. So I find it disrespectful on all accounts when people come with that opinion.”

“Let’s leave the Presidents Cup and the International team alone, for now,” he said on the podcast. “And let us compete. And allow youngsters from Thailand and China and Japan and Korea and Australia and South Africa and Canada and all over South America, allow them to grow up with this as their goal, to be able to compete on this level.

“Because we are eventually going to win this event, I promise you.”

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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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‘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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