19th Hole
PGA Tour chief reveals if Tiger will be penalized in 2023 PIP race for missing designated events
2022 saw a remarkable win by 15 -time major champion Tiger Woods.
In probably a bigger coup than the 2019 ‘Miracle’ Masters, the PGA Tour awarded the golfing legend a sum of $15 million for topping the PIP table, a ranking of factors involving:
- 1) Internet Searches: Number of times a player’s name is searched using Google
- 2) Earned Media: Number of unique news articles that include a player’s name
- 3) TV Sponsor Exposure: Duration (time) that a player’s sponsor logo(s) appeared on screen during Saturday and Sunday PGA TOUR telecasts
- 4) Awareness: A player’s general awareness score among broad U.S. population
- 5) Social Media: Social media score that considers a player’s reach, conversation and engagement metrics
- Bearing in mind the then 46-year-old had actually played competitive first level golf a total of three times, finishing 47th at Augusta, withdrawing at the PGA Championship and missing the cut at the 150th Open at St. Andrews.
Given the revamped schedule for 2023, it looked to put Tiger behind the 8-ball, particularly as the tour has set stringent conditions as to the minimum amount of tournaments to be played.
When announcing the ‘elevated’ events, the ‘earnings assurance programme’ and the rules for qualifying for all the boosted rewards, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan clearly stated that:
“Players will receive their PIP bonus at the end of the season after competing in the 12 Elevated Events and three non-elevated events,” all outlined clearly in the release.
With Woods still recovering from a near-fatal car crash in 2021, it is highly unlikely that he will take part in even a small percentage of the 13 ‘elevated’ events, now down to 12 after the Tournament of Champions, an event world number one Rory McIlroy also declined.
As the PGA Tour stated in November, “He didn’t play much, but he still moved the needle,” so Monahan faced a tricky question last Sunday when asked whether Woods limited schedule would see him docked dollars from any reward.
“Tiger isn’t going to get a decrease,” the commissioner said. “I think it’s hard for me to say what’s going to happen until it actually happens, OK? But I don’t see that happening.”
Another reporter jumped on the McIlroy scenario. After missing the yearly opener, would the (probably) second best-known golfer in the world be docked if he missed another event?
The reply looked to have a similar outline.
“Again, I think when that happens you would go…” but a reporter interrupted him before finishing.
“Do you have a policy outlined already?” asked the voice.
Monahan was clear and enforced his authority.
“Guys are going to play the events. So that’s the policy,” he replied.
“I have discretion, OK? This is something we haven’t done before. So ultimately, if that happens, then that’s, going back to your earlier question, at the end of the day I’ll work with our team, I’ll understand the situation, and we’ll make a decision.”
Four years since his last victory, three years after his last top 10, and now ranked 1277th in the world, Tiger Woods remains the number one news item.
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19th Hole
Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
Fresh off of winning $2.76 million on UConn’s victory over Purdue on Monday night, Barstool Sports’ founder Dave Portnoy has just placed a massive bet for this year’s Masters.
Tweeting on Wednesday morning, Portnoy revealed that he has placed $300,000 on Scottie Scheffler to win this year’s Masters at odds of +450.
Should he win, that’d be a total payout of $1.65 million.
Keep the momentum. For people who wanted me to hedge for is why I didn't. So I could take another shot at glory. #DKPartner #scotty pic.twitter.com/X9a0X8HOTZ
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 10, 2024
Scheffler is one of the shortest priced favorites of recent times at the Masters, and is looking for what would be his third win in his last four events.
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19th Hole
Brooks Koepka was asked if a 59 was possible at this year’s Masters. His answer did not disappoint
During Brooks Koepka’s pre-tournament press conference for this week’s Masters Tournament, the five-time major champion was asked a bit of a silly question and gave a brilliant response.
Q. It sounds like the course is already pretty dialed this week, but under softer or optimal scoring conditions do you think 59 is obtainable on this golf course?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Have you played here?
Q. Not yet.
BROOKS KOEPKA: I can tell by the question.
Q. What number is attainable in your mind? 63’s the low.
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, now, anything’s attainable. But, yeah, if you want to go play the members tees and maybe play like 15 holes, yeah, I could do that.
With the course record being 63, it’s somewhat unclear why the reporter thought a soft golf course would be enough to result in a score four shots better than the record.
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19th Hole
Viktor Hovland reveals surprise swing coach changeup ahead of 2024 Masters
In what’s already been a topsy-turvy season, Viktor Hovland is making another swing coach change.
While speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, for the Masters, the reigning Tour champion spoke openly about the struggles he’s been having with his swing.
Earlier this year, Hovland parted ways with his short game coach, Joe Mayo, after Mayo had helped him make significant strides around the greens. He then announced his new swing coach would be Grant Waite.
However, at the press conference, a new swing coach, Dana Dahlquist, was alongside the Norwegian.
“I’m still kind of looking for some opinions out there, but I feel like I’m on a good track right now and we’ll see where that takes us. It’s one of those things. I was playing great golf last year, but it’s not like I’m trying to change my golf swing.”
Hovland then spoke about the change to Dahlquist.
“I liked what he thought was the best strategy to get back to a lot of that movement from that time. I thought it made a lot of sense, and so we’ve been working together a bit now. Then we’ll see how it goes.”
The 26-year-old added that he didn’t feel his game was sustainable after his magnificent run during the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
“I had to find my way back to where I think I’m going to play my best golf. Even at the end of the last year, I still felt like, yeah, I was playing great, but I got a lot out of my game, and it didn’t necessarily feel sustainable. But it’s not like I consciously went in and said, hey, we’re going to change everything up.”
“There has been a bit too much back-and-forth. It has been difficult to see the way forward, what exactly is the answer, and what exactly I need to do. I feel that now I’ve decided that ‘this is right, this works.’ I have to get on with it. Then we’ll see how it goes. I feel things are going in the right direction, but it has been more difficult than we would have liked.”
Coming into the season, Hovland was one of the favorites to win the Masters. As the tournament approaches, it feels as if the young star has more questions than answers.
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- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
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