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Rory McIlroy will fail to break major drought due to pressure (and 4 other predictions for 2023)

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1. Viktor Hovland will rise to world No. 1

Although he’s yet to turn his enormous potential into a major championship as of yet, Viktor Hovland has all of the tools to become the best golfer in the world. Since his win at the 2018 U.S. Amateur, the Norwegian has been racking up the accomplishments. Since 2020, he’s had three PGA Tour wins, two DP World Tour wins, and two wins at the Hero World Challenge.

Hovland’s biggest weakness remains his around the green game. However, he’s shown some signs of improvement and there have been plenty of courses that he’s been able to excel at when it comes to chipping. I have no doubt that he will eventually figure that aspect of the game out, and when he does, it will be a dangerous total package. At still only 23-years-old, Hovland is an elite player off the tee and with his iron play. If he’s able to reel off a few big wins in 2023 he undoubtedly can grab the top spot in the OWGR.

2. The European Team will win the 2023 Ryder Cup

After the last Ryder Cup blowout at Whistling Straits and last year’s Presiden’s Cup at Quail Hollow, the United States team looks almost unbeatable. The depth and star power on the team will make them pretty sizable favorites by the time we get to Italy.

With past European Cup players like Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Bernd Weisberger now with LIV and most likely ineligible to compete, the Europeans will need to depend on young and inexperienced players to step up.  Rasmus Hojgaard, Nicolai Hojgaard and Thomas Pieters will likely find their way onto the team, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Italians Guido Migliozzi and Francesco Molinari played their way onto the roster to compete in their home country. No matter how you slice it, the depth on the European Team pales in comparison to the United States Roster.

However, let’s not forget how difficult it is for the U.S. to win a Ryder Cup on European soil. The European team has won the past six Ryder Cups on their home turf and will be able to set the course up to their liking. Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are still two of the best players on either team and can do much of the heavy lifting with help from Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick who should all be good course fits for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.

3. Dustin Johnson will win a major championship

Dustin Johnson will turn 39 in June and will inevitably put his best golf behind him at some point in the near future. His decision to join LIV Golf have lefty plenty of people wondering how much competitive drive he has left at this point in his career now that he’s really cashed in.

I believe he has another elite season of golf left in him. The insistence that he only cares about money and not about legacy will drive him to be in peak form come major championship season. At this point, the only thing that can really impact DJ’s on-course legacy is majors, and I’m of the opinion that he needs one more for his career to not be viewed as a slight underachievement.

The major championship venues should suit Johnson very well this year. Los Angeles Country Club for the U.S. Open should be a favorable layout for the former U.S. Open Champion, as he still hits it far and straight which is always the recipe for success on a tough track. His U.S. Open history speaks for itself as he’s had five top-six finishes in his past nine tries. Augusta National is always a great fit for DJ and the PGA Championship will be in the Northeast (New York) where he already has a handful of wins.

If Johnson is able to win another major championship, he’d join notable golfers such as Payne Stewart, Padraig Harrington, Jordan Spieth and Vijay Singh as players who’ve captured three majors in their career.

4. The Masters will see a drastic uptick in TV ratings

In 2020, The Masters had the least number of viewers since 1993. In 2021, much more people tuned in, but it still fell 13% short of the 2019 Masters where Tiger Woods emerged as the surprise winner. Even then, ratings from the final round were a good deal less than they were back in 2010-2013.

While the emergence of LIV Golf has seemingly fractured golf fans as a whole, I believe it will make the Masters (and to an extent the other majors) appointment television. With Masters Chairman Fred Ridley saying that LIV players with already existing exemptions have gotten their invites compete at The Masters, there’s a good chance that we get a prominent PGA Tour member going head-to-head with a LIV golf representative down the stretch on Sunday.

The addition of LIV to the golf landscape has had a negative impact on the depth of the PGA Tour, but it should make Sunday at Augusta National even better.

5 Rory McIlroy will remain stuck at 4 major championships

We head into 2023 with Rory McIlroy once again the favorite at The Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship and sits behind only Jon Rahm on the odds board of the PGA Championship. He won’t win any of them.

The common theme for those who’ve followed McIlroy since his last major championship victory in 2014 is: “this is the year”. He’s such a dynamic all-around golfer that it’s almost shocking he’s come up empty in his past 30 attempts at the four majors. There appears to be a mental hurdle for the 33-year-old, as he’s either started slow or finished shaky in all of the majors where he’s had high finishes.

He enters the season in arguably the best form we’ve seen him in in three plus years and is the current number one player in the world. The major venues will once again be favorable to the Northern Irishman, and the Open Championship will be at Royal Liverpool, where he won in 2014.

As each year passes, the pressure for McIlroy to win another major championship continues to increase. That intense pressure is precisely the reason why he’ll come up short for the 9th consecutive season.

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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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19th Hole

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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