By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.
For comments: [email protected]
Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for the tour finale at East Lake. |
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1. Starting strokes for East Lake
10 under…Scottie Scheffler
8 under…Viktor Hovland
7 under…Rory McIlroy
6 under…Jon Rahm
5 under…Lucas Glover
4 under…Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick
3 under…Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele
2 under…Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim
1 under…Taylor Moore, Nick Taylor, Adam Schenk, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day
Even par…Sam Burns, Emiliano Grillo, Tyrrell Hatton, Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka |
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2. Ryder Cup locks
Shane Ryan gets you caught up…”What’s changed…the standings are now LOCKED. The captain’s picks won’t happen until after next week’s Tour Championship is over, but we have six automatic qualifiers who can expect their team uniforms to arrive in the mail any day now. All of their spots were already very, very secure, so it doesn’t change a whole lot to know that Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele are officially on the team heading to Italy.”
- “What’s more intriguing is that Brooks Koepka dropped out of the top six at the absolute last moment, and by an incredibly slim margin. To pat myself on the back a bit, I called this possibility after the Open Championship, when Koepka didn’t finish high enough to insulate himself from the challengers who were on the verge of earning big money and big standings points at the FedEx Cup Playoffs while he would be stuck in place as a LIV Golf guy.”
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3. Scheffler stymied
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Up ahead, Hovland was putting the finishing touches on the round of his life – a back-nine 28 that gave him a sizzling Sunday 61 – and Scheffler couldn’t match him. Scheffler doubted his read on a 6-foot birdie putt on 16 and missed. Behind for the first time all day, he then three-putted from 21 feet on 17, including a miss from 4 feet. Hovland watched from the locker room as Scheffler’s last-ditch eagle try from the fairway came up short.”
- “I’m just a bit frustrated,” said Scheffler, who wound up two shots behind Hovland’s winning total of 17-under 263. “I think that would be the way to describe it. Viktor went out and really just beat me today and played a fantastic round. I can hold my head high – I did my best out there today and fought hard. Just ultimately came up a couple shots short.”
- “Scheffler’s late wobble will do little to shift the attention away from his suspect putting…His ball-striking this season has been at a level that hasn’t been seen since Tiger Woods’ prime. Entering the week, Scheffler was gaining 2.69 strokes on the field with his ball-striking – the second-best figure in the ShotLink era (since 2004), when Tiger Woods was 2.98 in 2006.”
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4. Latest TGL sponsor announced
Jay Coffin for Golf Digest…”Three down, three to go. TGL, the new tech golf league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy announced Monday that its third of six teams will be based in Atlanta and owned by Arthur Blank, owner of the football’s Atlanta Falcons and soccer’s Atlanta United.”
- “The first season of what is being billed as a tech-forward, primetime, team golf league launches in January 2024. It was previously announced that Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams and Venus Williams will lead Los Angeles Golf Club while Fenway Sports Group will lead the TGL Boston team.”
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5. Walters: Mickelson could have saved me from going to prison
Our Matt Vincenzi…According to Billy Walters new book “Gambler: Secrets From a Life at Risk”, Phil Mickelson could have prevented Walters from going to prison. Walters was indicted on insider trading charges in May of 2016, and was sentenced to five years in prison as a result.
- In his book, the now 77-year-old shared that he asked Phil to testify that he didn’t give him any inside information, which he claims is true.
- “All Phil had to do was publicly say it. He refused,” Walters wrote.
- Speaking on CNN’s This Morning, Walters said:
- “There was only one witness who testified against me in the case,” Walters explained. “Prior to the trial, this gentleman had given a voluntary interview two years prior to that.”
- “He denied emphatically he ever gave them insider information. Later, he’d learned that he embezzled money from a battered woman’s charity, he had filed a fraudulent tax return, he had given someone else insider information. Two years later, he went in and changed his story. That’s the only witness against me.
- “My lawyers and I also believed, during the trial, they destroyed his credibility. We caught him in a minimum of 25 lies. He had no credibility whatsoever.
- “He was the only person who testified against me. So if Phil had came forward and testified that I — that whoever gave him insider information, to answer your question, Poppy, no, I don’t think I would have been convicted.”
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6. No uptick in heckling
David Purdum for ESPN…”The PGA Tour said Monday that it has not seen an uptick in spectators attempting to distract golfers — potentially for betting purposes — since legal sports gambling began spreading around the nation.”
- “Laura Neal, the PGA Tour’s executive vice president of brand communications, told ESPN on Monday that security teams will take “swift and immediate action to protect the integrity of the competition” but added that no new measures have been in place.”
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7. Doak to design Valderrama II
Golf Business News report…”La Zagaleta has commissioned Tom Doak to design a new championship golf course in the Sotogrande area of Spain.”
- “The project – historically known as Valderrama II – already has all the planning permits in place to begin construction and will be Doak’s first design in Spain and the second in Continental Europe.”
- “The Majarambuz Club will be located within a parcel of land to the east of Real Club Valderrama and San Roque Club and to the north of La Hacienda Links. The owners are aiming for it to be one of the most exclusive in Europe, with membership by invitation only, which will be limited to around 300. Access to the course will be limited to members and their guests, and users of the resort’s hotel and branded residences, which will be part of the development.”
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8. Golf course worker stung 2,000 times
Golfweek report…”A maintenance worker at an Arizona golf course was stung nearly 2,000 times after he came upon a beehive, according to officials from the Arizona Fire and Medical Authority.”
- “The incident took place at Pebblebrook Golf Course, which was one of the first golf courses built at the Sun City West retirement development on the city’s west side.”
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9. Reminder: GolfWRXMembers Choice results are live
- If you’ve missed GolfWRXers’ selections for the best driver, irons, fairway wood, wedges, putter, and more, hit the link below.
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