19th Hole
PGA Tour pro says LIV Golf ‘took all the a**holes’
After a tough couple of seasons, fan-favorite Harry Higgs has lost his PGA Tour card for the 2023 season.
Recently, he was asked by Golfweek what he would do if ran a radio station devoted to golf. His answer gave an interesting perspective on the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour debate after beginning with speculating if the issue stemmed from a post “Tiger Woods hangover”.
“I’m not saying people weren’t [good at their jobs] because they were, but really no-one had to be any good at their jobs because Tiger was playing, Tiger was winning and s**t just sold because he was showing up,” Higgs said.
“We are certainly entering an era where that’s going to happen less and less, if at all.”
As for LIV, Higgs told Golfweek that he believes the PGA Tour product may suffer because LIV “took all the villains”.
“As for the division and all that stuff, I don’t necessarily agree but I don’t blame any of these guys for leaving.
“We joke back and forth – they took all the a**holes. They took all the villains. And that’s a problem. They took some of our best players too.
“But those who have left haven’t put this in a spot where it’s like, oh, shit, you know, all the great players are gone and playing somewhere else.”
“That’s not the case, but they took some of the ones who would have stories written about them maybe in a negative light with kind of negative connotations. And OK, that’s kind of a driving force for people to read your story or for people to turn their television on. I struggle with this.”
Higgs’ perspective is an interesting one. Bryson DeChambeau, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed and others all had evolved into anti-heroes of the PGA Tour. Most of the best players in the world remain on the PGA Tour, but there’s certainly a lack of “villains” for them to go up against that may make watching the tournament more exciting.
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19th Hole
‘You’re a f*****g traffic cone!’ – Brooks Koepka heckles Aaron Ekblad at Florida Panthers game
Brooks Koepka is preparing to play in this week’s LIV event in Orlando. While in Florida, the four-time major champion attended a Florida Panthers game.
At the game, Koepka was seen taunting Aaron Ekblad, who was the first overall pick in the draft in 2014, with a traffic cone.
Brooks can be seen in the video yelling, “Ekblad you suck” as well as calling him a “traffic cone” with the prop in hand.
Is that Brooks Koepka calling Ekblad a fucking traffic cone from the stands in Florida??
?: IG/floridapanthersfp pic.twitter.com/LqolbAuYYt
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) March 26, 2023
So far this season, Koepka has finished 31st at LIV Mayakoba and 29th at LIV Tucson. He’ll be teeing it up at The Masters next week in search of his 5th major championship.
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19th Hole
‘Never mind the Masters’ – Gary Player explains why he ranks the Masters dead last of all the majors
In an interview with Sportsmail, Gary Player spoke about which major championship he believes is the best among them. The 87-year-old won nine major championships, including the Masters three times and The Open Championship three times.
“But never mind the Masters, the Open is by far the greatest tournament on the planet.”
Interestingly, Player ranked the Masters fourth of the four majors.
“I rate the Open at one, the US Open two, PGA three and Augusta four,’ he adds. Four marvelous tournaments.”
When asked why he ranked the Masters after the other three, Player said it was because the others have been around longer.
“It’s the youngest of the majors. The others are steeped in tradition and history, and they still have to catch up. Nothing comes to the top without time.”
Speaking of The Masters, Player also spoke about Rory McIlroy’s quest for the career grand slam, of which he’s still one green jacket short. Player believes McIlroy will win and needs to do so sooner rather than later to cement his spot amongst the greatest players of all time.
‘He’s got the best swing in the world by a mile,’ Player says. ‘He’s won four majors but none since 2014. I think he will win the Masters because the course is made for him. I think if he does that, he’ll go down as one of the greats, but that’s something he has to do.
“I’ve always said my judgment of superstars is they have to win six majors. People these days say anyone who wins is a superstar. No. It’s not easily done, but I believe Rory can.”
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At one stage in his career, it looked as if Tiger Woods becoming the record major holder was a formality, but for whatever factors that never materialised.
In an interview with Sportsmail, Gary Player spoke about Tiger Woods and his quest to break Jack Nicklaus’s major championship record, and has his own view on why Tiger never surpassed Jack’s record.
Player, who won nine major championships himself, said that he believes Ben Hogan was the “greatest” golfer he’d ever seen, but Tiger Woods was the most talented.
‘The greatest I ever saw was Ben Hogan,’ he says. ‘He went to war for five years and then had a terrible car accident, so never played in 30 majors. Nobody had a streak like he had (winning his nine majors in the space of 16 starts). If I was a young boy today, I’d watch his swing from 1953 every day.”
‘Tiger Woods was the most talented golfer the planet has ever seen but he made a few bad decisions, which we all do.”
“Having lessons when he won the US Open by 15 shots was inconceivable — if he never went for a lesson, he would have won 20 majors minimum and he would have beat Nicklaus’s record.”
Player is referencing the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, which Woods won by 15 shots. Just two years later, Tiger completely renovated his golf swing, which in retrospect looks as if it may have been a mistake.
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James Earl Ray
Jan 10, 2023 at 3:26 pm
Talentless Harry Higgs needs to John Belushi and John Candy! Then the tour and the world will be totally rid of him!
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Livininparadise
Jan 9, 2023 at 8:31 pm
I guess his point would have more meaning if he didn’t suck
TexasHusker
Jan 9, 2023 at 4:46 pm
LIV gets the golfers with personality and now its just the straight laced “Pro Golfer Types” on the PGA.
Everyone needs to move on and let the players play at any tournament a sponsor wants.
We would all enjoy the tournaments more.
TexasHusker
Jan 9, 2023 at 4:45 pm
LIV gets the golfers with personality and now its just the straight laced “Pro Golfer Types” on the PGA.
Everyone needs to move on and let the players play at any tournament a sponsor wants.
We would all enjoy the tournaments more.
Gary Giggs
Jan 9, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Think about this for a second……….. he lost his card after however many jumped ship to LIV and thinned the herd. Think about that for a minute.
Rich
Jan 9, 2023 at 3:12 pm
A88holes seldom ever learn that they are a88holes. 54 hole exhibition tour partnering with WWE. Why is anybody surprised by any of this? Days of Noah, people.
Bob Jones
Jan 9, 2023 at 1:06 pm
We don’t need “villains.” We don’t need ginned-up rivalries, or Bryson and Brooks acting like 6-year-olds. The story is about the best golf in the world, not about people who need personality transplants.
Your daddy
Jan 9, 2023 at 11:11 am
Seems like the only [email protected]@holez are the morons still talking about it. Higgs ain’t all that… worry about keeping your card. Now the guy is a reality tv guy HA! Can’t make this sh*t up.
joey5Picks
Jan 9, 2023 at 2:10 pm
Not sure what your point is. All the guys to root against (Bryson, FIGJAM, Koepka, Reed…) left for the Saudi League. Televised golf is less interesting when there’s no one to root against
joe
Jan 9, 2023 at 5:31 pm
And who are you, a Karen…Karen defender?
Reed = Karen
Poulter = Karen
DeChambeau = Karen