19th Hole

Multiple major champ reveals he snubbed LIV Golf approach

Published

1 year ago

Apr 24, 2023

The monstrous financial sign-on fees have lured some big names to LIV Golf over the past 24 months, but not everyone that the rebel tour has approached has had their head turned.

Related: PGA Tour pro makes wild accusation against his own tour while attacking reporter

Padraig Harrington’s latest appearance on Ireland’s The Late Late Show was another notable occasion for the three-time major champion.

Related: LPGA pro calls out commentator who questioned shot selection at Chevron

Known for his enthusiastic and honest views, he left Ryan Tubridy gushing after presenting the soon-to-leave talk-show host with a custom personalised red and white Wilson golf bag, but only after revealing that he had received an invitation to join LIV Golf.

“I got a text message [about joining] but I didn’t want the temptation,” said the 2021 Ryder Cup captain.

“If somebody comes around and offers you a hundred million, five hundred million, that’s a lot of temptation. It’s a lot of temptation and I didn’t want it. Sometimes you just don’t need it.”

The revelation continues his thoughts from last year’s Irish Open, at which Pod said that although there were bound to be sanctions, “I honestly don’t judge the guys who went for the money. It’s a pretty good offer.”

The 51-year-old reiterated that he wasn’t going to jump ship, “but I’ve lots of friends who go and they’re still my friends. I can see why people would go and I can see the good of it in terms of inclusion if things change.”

“Some of the guys have gone for free, but there’s a lot of prize money. Whether they should go or not is up to the individuals. Some of the guys who’ve gone wouldn’t have been in good financial situations.”

Harrington has continually risen above any disputes between the established tours and LIV Golf, telling The Times last year that, “I would not want to turn up at a major and not play against the best players in the world. They need to say, ‘We’re above all this’.”

Just two days before ex-PGA Tour member Talor Gooch picked up $4 million for a three-shot win at LIV Adelaide, the 2022 U.S Senior Open winner again found the positives, even looking forward to a time when Saudi Arabia improves what is commonly seen as a dire human rights agenda.

“I wouldn’t want to live in Saudi Arabia as it is now, but I do believe inclusion changes things,” he said.

“The more international inclusion of Saudi Arabia, the more the people will go, ‘You know what–we want to change things.’”

Then, for any cynics that might be ready to jump in, Pod brought in a piece of reality from his homeland.

“It’s not that long ago here we used to put pregnant women in mother and baby homes; 1996 was when the last of them closed so we’re not that far away from it.”

The world according to Harrington could be a very nice place to be.

Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year

Published

8 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.

Butch Harmon on what he worked on with Rory:

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make…

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) May 15, 2024

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”

The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.

Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.

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19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships

Published

8 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.

“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.

“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.

“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’

“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.

“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”

Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.

Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:

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Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items

Published

8 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man was charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National last month.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Since then, more details have emerged about the case.

According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.

The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.

Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”

The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.

Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.