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Lee Westwood rules himself out of captaining Europe at 2023 Ryder Cup

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From Sam Torrance in 2002 to Padraig Harrington just a few months ago, all of the ten European Ryder Cup captains this century have been faring on the ‘obvious’ side of the shock value range.

Experienced in the event, it’s as if players have been groomed to be future leaders and very rarely do they seem to baulk at the chance to lead a star-studded team in the bi-annual highlight.

Until LJW.

Lee John Westwood, the 48-year-old winner of 25 European Tour events and stalwart of 11 Ryder Cups, recently told the Daily Telegraph that whilst “it would be an honour to captain Europe”, it “is something I can’t commit to while I’m in the (OWGR) top 50 and still competing.”

Favourite and almost handed the role before the reported conversation, we should be reminded that Westwood most recently won the 2020 race To Dubai with a win in Abu Dhabi, a runner-up in Dubai and a top-15 at the U.S Open.

2021 saw him finish runner-up at The Players and at Bay Hill, hardly efforts to think he should be hanging up the sticks quite yet.

“Whoever gets the role for Rome will obviously have my full backing and I’ll continue to do all I can for the Europe cause, as I’ve always tried to since my debut 24 years ago.”

Clearly still enjoying being part of the traveling playing contingent, he confirms that the Ryder Cup is something “close to my heart” though captaincy is “almost a full-time job” and that he could only take the role if able to “give it 100 percent”.

Vice-captains for the European loss at Whistling Straits must now come into contention, though with Henrik Stenson and Martin Kaymer still playing at the top level, perhaps Luke Donald and Robert Karlsson are now favourites.

With the final vice-captain, Graeme McDowell, making it clear he would be very interested in being considered leader for the 2027 running at Adare Manor, Westwood would now seem a ‘knock’ for 2025 at Bethpage, a venue at which he finished 23rd in the 2009 U.S Open.

However, golf tends not to work in such an obvious way.

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

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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.

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

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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

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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.

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