19th Hole
Bubba Watson hits back at Justin Thomas over OWGR claim
For months, the elephant in the room has been LIV Golf. Now, it is the new OWGR points system.
Over recent weeks, the rows over the allocation of ranking points have made the headlines over much of what is actually happening on the course, with current world No. 5, Jon Rahm, saying the “OWGR, right now, is laughable.”
Those comments came in contrast to those made by Rory McIlroy, currently world No. 1, who called the new method of allocation “a much fairer system.”
The dispute appears to be over how the organization treats the overall quality of the field. Rahm felt that the winner of the DP World Tour Championship was worth more points than the eventual RSM Classic champion, but the justification seemed to be (in McIlroy’s words), “they have 90 more players to contribute to their strength of field. So the reason that this has got 21 points, and the RSM has got 39 is the person who wins the RSM has to beat 139 other guys.”
Cam Smith, who almost certainly would challenge for the top spot had he stayed on the regular tours, is another to join the argument against the current methods, calling them “more and more irrelevant” . Of course, he has won the Open Championship and Australian PGA in recent months, but received nothing for his efforts on the LIV series.
Now add Justin Thomas, yet another former world number one, into the argument.
This time, the discussion was why a limited field event, the Hero World Challenge, was rewarding with higher points than the fuller field at the Indonesian Masters.
JT’s argument was pretty clear:
An event with 15ish (sorry not sure the exact number) of the top 20 in the world? It’s all about the quality of the field. The new system is hurting events like this more than it does that. Like anything in golf, play well enough in big events and you’ll be rewarded
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) December 2, 2022
JT also commented on the fact that LIV, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka, doesn’t receive a single point from the OWGR, saying:
“I have no problem with them getting points. They just need to meet the criteria like everybody else. But they don’t in seven of the eight categories from my understanding. Every tour went thru the 2-3 year process to earn OWGR points. No reason they shouldn’t be different, right?”
Now, two-time Masters champion and former world number two, Bubba Watson, has joined in.
Watson, who enthusiastically jumped ship to LIV during the Summer, has made his argument that other tours, particularly the PGA Tour of China, have not had to wait to ‘qualify’ for what were vital ranking status.
It’s easy to repeat stuff others say without knowing the facts. Not all Tours are forced to wait for OWGR status. PGA Tour China was confirmed for points before playing its first event in 2014. OWGR has a long history of awarding points to 54-hole events too. #GoogleItItHappened
— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) December 4, 2022
Regarding the argument that three-round events should be excluded from ranking points, Watson tweeted a list of tours approved by the ranking authorities that offer 54-hole events.
The history page on OWGRs website shows some of the tours approved for 54 hole events that get OWGR points. https://t.co/9xUNgUyAyZ #JustSaying #LoveYouAlwaysJT
— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) December 4, 2022
Unfortunately, followers were almost unanimously anti-Bubba’s argument, summed up by tweets such as:
The 54 holes is the least of LIV’s concern for meeting the criteria. It literally fails every single criteria needed.
— Chris (@cj_s10) December 4, 2022
There seems to be a strong enough argument for both sides, and clearly not everyone on the PGA Tour agrees with the new system. It looks another mess to deal with as golf enters a new year with only a passing chance of everyone reaching a satisfactory agreement.
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19th Hole
Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year
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.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships
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:
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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19th Hole
Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items
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.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
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