19th Hole

Greg Norman says he held LIV talks with 2022 major winner

Published

1 year ago

Feb 23, 2023

Greg Norman still says that the LIV door is “open for everybody.”

Just a few days before the opening LIV event of the season, Norman told People I (Mostly) Admire podcast he had in-depth conversations with one of the four major winners of 2022 with a view to bringing him over to the rebel tour.

With Open Championship victor Cam Smith jumping ship soon after his spectacular win at St. Andrews, that leaves just Scottie Scheffler (Masters), Justin Thomas (PGA) and Matt Fitzpatrick (U.S Open) as possible names that Norman cannot, or will not, reveal.

Soon after their inaugural year, LIV made it clear they were looking for several top-10, top-20 players to join in time for the new season. Whilst the organization has signed six new players, the likes of Thomas Pieters, Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz and Dean Burmester are not at the level suggested back in November, with the Belgian the highest ranked at number 34.

Norman told the podcast it could easily have been different.

The two-time Open champion told host Steven Levitt: “I won’t mention this player’s name, but he is a top player.He’s won a major championship in the last year in 2022. I’ll just put it to you that way.”

“And he asked me to come over, to sit down, and show him what the LIV product was all about. He will sit down and listen. So myself and another one of my executives went over to his house, and we sat there, and we walked him through the presentation.”

Norman then told the podcast of the player’s reaction.

“And he just sat there and looked at me and goes, ‘Wow, this is nothing like we’ve been told in the locker room.’”

He continued by explaining why he had respect for the un-named star, even though they did not ultimately sign on the dotted line.

“Now, he decided not to come. I respect him wholeheartedly because he understood both sides, and he had a decision to make. He could have done whatever he wanted, and he chose to do that,” he said, clear in his admiration for the player and his attention.

“Those individuals, I applaud. Those individuals to me have a tremendous amount of intelligence and street smart because they wanted to learn what the truth was. What are the facts? What are my opportunities? What are my preferences? Now I’ll make a decision over here.”

Norman is less complimentary about the most well known of LIV opponents, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.

“They have never sat down – I know with me they have not; I know with none of my executives or my team – have sat down to understand what the business platform is and what the business platform can deliver to them. They just haven’t seen it. So if you don’t see it, don’t comment on it, right? Because everybody’s got an opinion. And I’ve got a great saying: ‘Opinions are like a******s. Everybody’s got one.’”

Despite the clear closeness between Woods and Justin Thomas, in December Norman told Bunkered magazine he had spoken to the two-time PGA champion and he ‘got it’.

“We talked to JT,” he said.” Me and another member of my team, we sat down with him and gave him the full presentation and, if you notice, he’s not said much negative about what we’re doing, presumably because he knows it and understands it.”

Mayakoba is about to start, and, we suspect, golf is about to get louder.

‘I drove the living p*** out of the ball today’ – Jordan Spieth left frustrated by ‘bizarre’ current form after opening 73

Published

2 days ago

Apr 5, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

On Thursday, Jordan Spieth shot an opening round 73 (+1) at the Valero Texas Open. In typical Spieth fashion, the 73 was relatively unconventional with circles and squares all over the scorecard.

On the front nine, Spieth four bogeys and two birdies to make the turn in 38 (+2). On the back nine, things got even more interesting. The three-time major champion made a double-bogey on the par-5 14th followed by an incredible hole-in-one on the par 3-16th.

? SPIETH ACE ?@JordanSpieth makes a hole-in-one on the 199-yard par-3 16th hole @ValeroTXOpen.

(Presented by @CocaCola) pic.twitter.com/kHZKIxKiIZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 4, 2024

After the round, Spieth said “I’m playing so much better than I’ve been scoring”.

He added that he “drove the living piss out of the ball today”, which caused frustration because one bad drive on 15 created a big number. Spieth then said, “my driving stats don’t look the way they actually feel”.

Jordan Spieth: “I drove the living piss out the ball today..”

(Via: @pmcdonaldCBS)

pic.twitter.com/qr13UlSJzZ

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) April 5, 2024

Spieth will try to put it all together in his second round on Friday morning at TPC San Antonio.

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19th Hole

Anthony Kim says doctors told him that he ‘may not have much time left’ ahead of LIV return

Published

2 days ago

Apr 5, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking in with the media in his pre-tournament conference for LIV Miami, Anthony Kim revealed that he was told by doctors that he “may not have much time left” at some point during his twelve years away from professional golf.

“I mean, you know, not to get too far into it, but when doctors are telling you that you may not have much time left, that’s a pretty rude awakening. I still think about it to this day when I’m out there and I get frustrated with my golf, you know, how far I’ve come. And other people don’t need to know the journey. I’m going to share it, and the people that find inspiration and strength from it, I hope it can influence them in a positive way. But yeah, it was — I got to a point where, you know, I may not be here speaking to you guys.”

Anthony Kim when asked about his low point over the past 12 years:

"I mean, you know, not to get too far into it, but when doctors are telling you that you may not have much time left, that's a pretty rude awakening. I still think about it to this day when I'm out there and I…

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) April 4, 2024

This week, “AK” is making his first start in the United States since his return. Kim has played in two tournaments in both Jeddah and Hong Kong and has finished 53rd and 50th.

Despite the poor results on the leaderboard, Kim shot a 65 in the final round at Hong Kong Golf Club, which is incredibly impressive considering he told David Feherty in an interview this week that he picked up a club for the first time three months before LIV Jeddah.

The 38-year-old credits his two-year old daughter, Bella, for saving his life and being his inspiration.

“I got professional help. I think that I didn’t deal with a lot of the trauma and whatever came from my life, and I buried it because I didn’t want to show anybody weakness, right. And I thought by showing vulnerability, that was weakness, and I’ve come to a point in my life where I don’t care if somebody thinks that about me or not.

“My daughter is all I care about, and I know it almost sounds corny for me to say but as long as she’s proud of me, I’m a happy man.”

Kim is set to tee it up for the first round of LIV Miami at Trump Doral on Friday.

*Featured Image Photo courtesy of LIV Golf*

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19th Hole

Notah Begay gives gloomy update on Tiger’s injuries ahead of 2024 Masters

Published

3 days ago

Apr 4, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with USA Today, Tiger Woods’ good friend, Notah Begay III, discussed the health of the 15-time major champion.

“He’s trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work within given the constraints that he’s presented with. And he’s got some constraints,” Begay said. “He’s got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have.”

At Begay’s tournament he hosts that Tiger’s son Charlie played in, Tiger told him, “My ankle doesn’t move. So, something’s going to take the stress. I mean, the stress is going to transfer somewhere else.”

At the Genesis Invitational, that pain transferred to Woods’ back, causing him to withdraw from the tournament.

“For the past couple months, he’s been trying to find a way to recover,” Begay added. “He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be ‘Can he walk the 72 (holes)?’ That’s still up in the air. But can he recover, from one round to the next? That’s the biggest question that I really don’t know and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he’s prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him.”

Last year, Woods made the cut at Augusta, but was forced to withdraw over the weekend due to plantar fasciitis.

The week will be sure to test Tiger, as Augusta National is one of the most difficult walks in golf.