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Breaking down FedEx Cup changes | Details in amateur golfer’s death | USGA survey

Published

6 years ago

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Yes, I know in the subject line of the email version of the M9 I said “FexEx.” I am an idiot. With the cat out of the FedEx box, however, there’s nothing I can do…
1. FedEx Cup changes officially official…
As had been previously established, the Tour will move from four playoff events to three. Most dramatically, the rumored staggered Tour Championship scoring, with the No. 1 player on the points list starting at 10 under, is now a reality. The next four players in the standings will being a 8 under through 5 under. No 6-10 will start at 4 under. Every five players after that will start a stroke further back, with No. 26 through 30 beginning at even par.
  • There will also now be a $10 million regular season bonus pool sponsored by Wyndham Rewards, aptly named the “Wyndham Rewards Top 10.”
  • The FedEx Cup Playoffs will wrap prior to Labor Day, thus finishing before the NFL season kicks off. The field for The Northern Trust will be 125 players, 70 for the BMW Championship, and 30 for the Tour Championship, with the points remaining the same for the first two events.
  • Regarding the $10 million Wyndham Rewards Top 10, the Tour says it, “will also put an even greater premium on excelling over the course of the FedExCup Regular Season.”
  • The leader of the top 10 will earn $2 million, with the runner-up pocketing $1.5 million. The existing FedEx Cup bonus pool will now total $60 million-$25 million more than the existing pool. Accordingly, the FedEx Cup champion will earn $15 million, rather than the $10 million in the current system.
2. …still not playoffs
And yet…still the Playoffs are not playoffs, as Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner points out.
  • He also offers this take: “In a move that surely will alienate many of its hardcore fans, the Tour on Tuesday unveiled its new format for the Tour Championship. Beginning next year, players will begin the week at East Lake with a predetermined total based on their position on the points list, the leader starting at 10 under par.”
  • “In an age of points and projections, the Tour’s desire for simplicity is understandable – RIP, Steve Sands’ whiteboard – but its new-look finale violates the spirit of competitive sports…There are no head starts in sports. That’s the beauty of them.”
3. Details in amateur golfer’s death
Look, this story is just awful. May Celia Barquin Arozamena rest in peace. That said, details were scarce in the initial report of her on-course murder, yesterday, so I made the decision to wait until there was more of substance to report. Now there is. It’s horrible. Here it is.
  • Per an ABC News report…”A homeless man has attacked and killed a top amateur golfer from Spain who was playing a round near her university campus in central Iowa, leaving her body in a pond on the course, according to police.”
  • “Collin Daniel Richards, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Celia Barquin Arozamena, a student at Iowa State University (ISU)…Barquin was found Monday morning (local time) in a pond at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames, about 50 kilometres north of Des Moines.”
  • “Police were called to the golf course around 10:20am to investigate a possible missing female after golfers found a golf bag with no one around it.”
  • “Officers found Barquin’s body some distance from the bag, with several stab wounds to her upper torso, head and neck, according to the criminal complaint filed on Tuesday against Mr Richards.”
  • “A police dog tracked Barquin’s scent to a temporary camp along a creek near the golf course, where Richards had been living in a tent, the complaint said…Officers found Mr Richards with several fresh scratches on his face consistent with fighting, and a deep laceration in his left hand that he tried to conceal, it said.”
4. Tiger Woods off probation
Golf Channel Digital report…”Tiger Woods’ year-long probation stemming from last year’s DUI arrest has been terminated a month early.”
  • “According to Sam Smink of WPTV, Woods, 42, was let off probation early for successfully completing all regular and special conditions of his probation after pleading guilty to reckless driving and entering a diversion program last October.”
  • “Under the conditions of the program, Woods was required to pay a $250 fine and court costs, attend a DUI school and undergo a substance abuse evaluation and treatment program. He was also subject to random drug and alcohol testing under the program.”
5. The Full Dechambeau
Bryson DeChambeau, scientific method in tow, is testing the effects of morning dew on his golf ball.
  • Before we get into specifics: I don’t think there’s anything crazy about this. Golf is a game of variables and minimizing misses. Any effort to further understand a variable or minimize a potential miss is wise. Full stop.
  • Anyway, here’s what BAD was doing per Christopher Powers, “DeChambeau, who does things a little differently to say the least, took his preparation to a different level on Tuesday at East Lake ahead of this week’s Tour Championship. According to the PGA Tour’s Sean Martin, who was watching DeChambeau closely on the range, the Mad Scientist was spraying his golf balls with water to simulate morning dew, because of course he was.”
Photo via PGATour.com’s Sean Martin.
6. Spieth’s violation settled
…but we know not how.
  • ESPN’s Bob Harig…”With next week’s Ryder Cup, Spieth will have played in just 24 events this season after competing in 24 last year. All along, he had planned on being at East Lake, where he won the 2015 FedEx Cup.”
  • “PGA Tour regulations stipulate that a player in violation of the policy is subject to a “Major Penalty,” which can include a minimum fine of $20,000 and a suspension of at least three tournaments.”
  • Don’t expect Spieth to be sitting out any tournaments. In fact, according to the PGA Tour’s Andy Pazder, it appears that Spieth will be adding events in the coming season.
  • “We have come to a resolution,” said Pazder, the tour’s chief tournament and competitions officer, on Tuesday at East Lake, site of this week’s tournament. “You will see it next season. I think it will be good for the tour, for fans and for golf in general.”
I guess we’ll look forward to that next season…
7. Jay Seawell reflects
PGATour.com’s Helen Ross filed an excellent look at the work of Alabama men’s golf coach, Jay Seawell.
  • A bit…”Under Seawell’s guidance, the Crimson Tide won national championships in 2013 and ’14, and finished runner-up in 2012. Five of his former players are on the PGA TOUR right now – Justin Thomas, Trey Mullinax, Tom Lovelady, Bud Cauley and Michael Thompson.”
  • “Seawell says Thomas was probably 15 years old when he started recruiting the future world No. 1. He remembers getting a call from someone who said the teenager might be interested in attending Alabama and Seawell followed up immediately. After all, he says, Thomas could have gone anywhere in the country. He had the “buffet in front of him,” the coach explains.”
  • “The recruitment on him started from him, believe it or not, and that’s the way it happens a lot,” Seawell says. “There are a lot of players out there and so he just kind of sent word through a third party who called my phone.”…”They said, ‘Hey, I think Justin Thomas would be somebody who’d be interested. They wanted me to know that if you’re interested they would like for me to watch him play.’
  • “So it kind of was initiated by Justin and his father and of course, when we first saw him we were like, ‘Wow, this is great.'”
8. USGA survey time!
The USGA wants your feedback on the distance debate.
  • As for the essence of the questionnaire, Geoff Shackelford had this to say.
  • “The USGA/R&A distance survey is a bit like a Robert Trent Jones design: needlessly long, seemingly takes longer to get through than you think, isn’t the most rewarding experience and you’d never do it again….But unlike some tired old RTJ effort, this one really won’t cost you a dime and will entertain at times if you are intrigued by reading between the lines or general survey construction.”

And for our international readers, the R&A’s

9. Out of bounds
I want to call your attention to the fine work Ms. Amanda Rose is doing for GolfWRX. She’s only made a handful of videos at this point, but this former college golfer has something of the spirit and substance of Katie Nolan; and it’s a voice we certainly could use in the golf media space.

Check out her latest Out of Bounds video
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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship

Published

6 hours ago

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May 14, 2024

By

GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.

While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.

Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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Morning 9: Is it Rory’s time? | Stricker WDs | Why Valhalla is a great major venue

Published

8 hours ago

on

May 14, 2024

By
By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for the PGA Championship from iconic Valhalla.

1. Is now the time Rory finally ends major drought?

BBC’s Iain Carter…”But given the imperious form he showed in Charlotte last week, perhaps this is the PGA Championship to rekindle the ruthless streak of old. And not just because he is back at Valhalla (the Nordic word for the hall of the fallen).”

  • “It also became clear last week that McIlroy is somewhat persona non grata to the PGA Tour’s Policy Board. His views on a global future for this damagingly split sport do not seem to chime with the American dominated body.”
  • “His offer to return to the board from which he resigned earlier this year was rejected and he has been left as a mere non-voting member of the “transaction committee” dealing with a potential deal with Saudi Arabia.”
  • “McIlroy insists there are “no hard feelings” but there should be.”
  • “No player has worked harder for their sport during this period of unprecedented tumult and the board has rejected someone many people regard as the game’s most articulate and enlightened international voice.”
  • “Now is, surely, the time for McIlroy to feel slighted and respond with his clubs. Play as though he has a chip on his shoulder, but in the knowledge that he is generationally the most consistent golfing force out there.”
Full piece.

2. Scheffler in for PGA Champ after birth of child

Jaclyn Hendricks for PGATour.com…”Scottie Scheffler and wife Meredith’s bundle of joy has arrived.”

  • “The couple welcomed their first child, just weeks after Scheffler claimed his second Masters victory in three years.”
  • “Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig tweeted Saturday that the baby was born and Scheffler will play in this week’s PGA Championship — the second major of the season.”
  • “There’s been nothing official from Scottie Scheffler, his team or the Tour… But word is he will be at Valhalla for the PGA next week after winning four of his last five tournaments, including the Masters. He is currently on the Tuesday interview schedule for 3:30 p.m. #babyborn,” Harig wrote over the weekend.”
Full piece.

3. “Erik van Rooyen, friends and family live in honor of ‘Trazzy’”

  • That’s the headline of Ryan Lavner’s superb piece on Erik van Rooyen and his departed best friend Jon Trasmar. An excerpt would be an injustice. Go read it!
Full piece.

4. Stricker out of PGA citing fatigue

AP report…”Steve Stricker decided Sunday to withdraw from the PGA Championship at Valhalla, citing the difficulty of playing four times in a span of five weeks.”

  • “Stricker, 57, was eligible by winning the Senior PGA Championship last year. He, John Daly and Phil Mickelson are the only players to have competed at Valhalla each of the previous three times the PGA Championship was held there.”
Full piece.

5. Why Valhalla is a great venue for major championships

Garrett Morrison for The Fried Egg…”But before we start slinging mud (of which there will be plenty in Kentucky this week), let’s pause to think about why Valhalla tends to generate close final-round battles featuring elite players. It’s not magic: the course has long par 3s and 4s, narrow fairways, and smallish greens surrounded by rough and bunkers. This style of design and setup, which practically defines the PGA Championship’s modern brand, gives an outsize advantage to a skill that many star players share: power. Length off the tee and the ability to muscle the ball out of rough to a well-protected green will be near-prerequisites for contending at this week’s PGA Championship. If Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau show up with any kind of short-game and putting form, they will be in the mix on Sunday. And the presence of such A-listers on the leaderboard will further burnish Valhalla’s reputation as a serious venue.“

  • “It does not follow, however, that Valhalla is a great golf course. In fact, I find it a fairly mediocre and bland one. Very few holes offer multiple options of the tee (the exceptions being the short par-4 fourth and the double-fairway par-5 seventh), most of the greens lack memorable contouring, and the recovery shots from around the fairways and greens are one-dimensional and repetitive. So even if Sunday turns out to be a barn-burner, the first three rounds, when the focus will be on the course and the shots demanded, will probably be sleepier, aside from the inevitable Blockie walk-and-talk.”
Full piece.

6. Dunne resigns from policy board

Mark Schlabach for ESPN…”Jimmy Dunne, who last year helped negotiate the PGA Tour’s controversial framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, resigned from the tour’s policy board on Monday.”

  • “In Dunne’s resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, Dunne wrote that “no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF” and that “my vote and my role is utterly superfluous” now that player directors outnumber independent directors on the policy board. Dunne’s resignation was effective immediately.”
  • “It is crucial for the Board to avoid letting yesterday’s differences interfere with today’s decisions, especially when they influence future opportunities for the tour,” Dunne wrote. “Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game. I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction.”
  • “Along with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Dunne and policy board chairman Ed Herlihy secretly negotiated the framework agreement with the PIF, which is financing the rival LIV Golf League. Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan announced the deal on June 6. Most PGA Tour players — including some player directors — were unaware of the deal until it was announced on TV.”
Full piece.
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Tour Rundown: Rose blooms, Rory rolls

Published

1 day ago

on

May 13, 2024

By

This week last year, I found myself praying to the weather goddesses and gods that Rochester would be spared their wrath over the next seven days. The 2023 Oak Hill PGA Championship (that was slated for August when the contract was signed) was on the horizon, and I wanted my region to show well. Things turned out fine, with all four seasons making an appearance, a PGA Professional (Blockie!) stealing hearts, and a proven champion in Koepka (although I was pulling for Viktor.)

This year, no concerns. Louisville will shine this week at Valhalla, but we’ve matters to consider before we look to four days of coverage this week. Nelly did not win on the LPGA this week, so who did? The PGA Tour held two events in the Carolinas, and Tour Champions celebrated a major event in Alabama. Four noteworthy events to run down, so let’s head to RunDownTown and take care of business.

LPGA @ Founders Cup: Rose blooms

There was a sense that Rose Zhang might have a role in the 2020s version of the LPGA. After winning everything there was in amateur golf, she came out and won her first tournament as a professional. That was last May and, let’s be honest, who among us thought it would take 12 months for Zhang to win again? Rhymes with hero, I know.

This week in New Jersey, eyes were on Nelly Korda, as she made a run at a sixth consecutive win on the LPGA circuit. Korda ran out of gas on Saturday, and that was just fine. Madelene Sagstrom and Zhang had turned the soiree at Upper Montclair into a battle of birdies. Gabriela Ruffels came third at nine-under par. No one else reached double digits under par but Sagstrom and Zhang. They didn’t just reach -10…they more than doubled it.

Sagstrom had the look of a winner with five holes left to play. She was three shots clear of Zhang, at 23-under par. The Swede played her closing quintet in plus-one, finishing at 22-deep, 13 shots ahead of Ruffels. That performance we’d anticipated from Zhang? It happened on Sunday. She closed with four birdies in five holes to snatch victory number two, by two shots. Spring is a lovely time for a Rose in bloom.

PGA Tour @ Wells Fargo: Rory the Fourth is crowned in Charlotte

Xander Schauffele is a likable lad. He has an Olympic gold medal on his shelf, and a few PGA Tour titles to his credit. Even X knows that even par won’t get much done in a final round unless conditions are brutal. They weren’t brutal at Quail Hollow on Sunday. X posted even par on day four. It kept him ahead of third-place finisher Byeong Hun An but gave him zero chance of challenging for the title.

Paired with Xander in round four was the King of Quail, Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman had previously won thrice at the North Carolina track, and he was champing at the bit to gain some momentum on the road to Louisville. While Xander scored increasingly worse along the week (64-67-70-71) McIlroy saved his best round for the final round. Thanks to five birdies and two eagles, McIlroy ran away with the event, winning his fourth Wells Fargo by five over Schauffele.

PGA Tour @ Myrtle Beach Classic: a little CG won the inaugural week

It always seemed odd that the PGA Tour had zero stops along the Grand Strand each season. This week’s event seemed odd in that the golfers played the same course each day, and there were zero handicaps involved. Most events at Myrtle Beach involve hundreds of amateurs at dozens of courses, with all sorts of handicaps.

The Dunes Club is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. course, down toward Pawley’s Island. It claims what used to be considered an unreachable, par-five hole, the watery 13th. Nothing is unreachable any longer, including a 22-under par total for a six-shot win. Chris Gotterup, a former Rutgers and Oklahoma golfer, played sizzling golf all week and won by a sextet of shots. Gotterup opened with 66, then improved to 64 on Friday. His Saturday 65 sounded a beacon of “come get me,” and his closing 67 ensured that second place was the only thing up for grabs.

Chasing the podium’s second level were a bunch of young Americans. In the end, Alastair Docherty and Davis Thompson reached 16-deep, thanks to rounds of 64 and 68 on Sunday. They held off six golfers at 15-under par. The victory was Gotterup’s first on tour and should be enough to get him a Wikipedia page, among other plaudits.

PGA Tour Champions @ Regions Traditions: Vindication for Dougie

Doug Barron, if I recall correctly, was suspended by the Powers That Be, way back in 2009, for testosterone. He was naturally low in the hormone, so he took supplements. This did not sit well with certain admins, so he was put on the shelf for 18 months. Not cool.

In 2019, Barron came out on the Tour Champions. He won in August. The next year, despite the craziness of Covid, he won again.  Barron hit a dry spell for a few years. He kept his card, but accrued no additional victories. In late April, Barron showed serious signs of life, with a t2 at Mitsubishi. This week in Birmingham, he jumped out to a lead, lost it, then gained it back on Saturday. With major championship glory on the line, Barron brought the train into the station with 68 on Sunday.

Stephen Alker, the man who could not lose just two years ago, gave serious chase with a closing 63. He moved up 11 slots, into solo 2nd on Sunday. He finished two shots back of the champion. Two shots ain’t much. Cough once and you drop a pair. Third place saw a three-way tie, including last year’s winner (Steve Stricker) and runner-up (Ernie Els.) Despite the intimidating presence of the game’s greats, however, Doug Barron had more than enough of everything this week, and he has a third Tour Champions title to show off.

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