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PGA Tour Netflix trailer | Hideki playing hurt? | How Tiger can make Ryder Cup team

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco and Matthew Vincenzi.

For comments: [email protected]

January 12, 2023

Good Thursday morning, golf fans. Greetings from the frozen Northeast. The sun. The surf. All the golf in Hawaii is really just rubbing it in, isn’t it?

1. GWAA POYs

From a press release…”Scottie Scheffler, Lydia Ko and Steven Alker have been voted 2022 Players of the Year in their respective divisions by the Golf Writers Association of America.“

  • “Ko, 25, voted Female Player of the Year, is the only golfer among the three to have been previously honored as a player of the year by the GWAA. She won in 2015. Scheffler (Male Player of the Year) and Alker (Senior Player of the Year) earned GWAA honors for the first time.”
  • “Scheffler, 26, broke through for his first PGA Tour victory in February at the WM Phoenix Open and apparently enjoyed the taste of winning. He added victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (where he ascended to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking) and in April, won his first major championship at the Masters. He finished second to Rory McIlroy in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.”
  • “Ko won three times in 2022, winning early (Gainbridge LPGA) and winning late (CME Group Tour Championship), bringing her LPGA victory total to 19. She was Rolex Player of the Year, won the Vare Trophy for low scoring average (68.99), and finished among the top 5 in putting, rounds under par, birdies and sub-par holes.”
Full piece.

2. Cancer-battling club pro to tee it up at Sony

The AP’s Doug Ferguson…”Michael Castillo comes from a rich heritage of golf in Hawaii, now the head pro at Kapalua and formerly president of the Aloha Section. He had reason to believe his hope of ever playing the Sony Open was long gone.”

  • “But his assistants at Kapalua talked him into playing this year, mainly because the Aloha Section PGA Championship was at Poipu Bay, where he spent 12 years as the head pro.”
  • “Never mind that he faced radiation in November for cancer that returned to his liver. Or that he was 60 and mostly competed in senior divisions. He can still putt great, and Castillo birdied the last hole to win by one.”
Full piece.

3. PGA Tour pros competing in Saudi International

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch…“The PGA Tour’s reigning Rookie of the Year and a winner last season are among the players granted permission to compete at a controversial tournament in Saudi Arabia next month.”

  • “While the Tour has declined to reveal the exact number or the names of those who requested releases for the PIF Saudi International, multiple sources have told Golfweek that Cameron Young, Lucas Herbert and Cameron Champ are among the members who obtained waivers to compete in Saudi Arabia. Three Korn Ferry Tour players also received releases.”
Full piece.

4. Matsuyama playing hurt?

Adam Woodard for Golfweek…“Hideki Matsuyama was a little surprised to win last year at the Sony Open in Hawaii.”

  • “Despite the good vibes at Waialae Country Club following last year’s win, Matsuyama isn’t expecting too much this week in Honolulu.”
  • “I been having a little trouble with my neck recently. I wasn’t able to practice as much as I can for the last couple months, but the game is trending going forward,” Matsuyama explained in his press conference on Tuesday. “So I can’t expect too much, but I’m really looking forward to this week.”
Full piece.

5. Judge denies LIV Golf request to delay hearing on discovery

Golf Channel’ Rex Hoggard…”A northern California U.S. District Court judge has denied a request to delay a hearing on discovery, setting up a showdown between attorneys for the PGA Tour and those representing the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.”

  • “Attorneys for Al-Rumayyan and the PIF had requested the hearing, which is scheduled for Friday in San Jose, Calif., be delayed to allow more time to sort out the complicated issues of discovery and a foreign sovereign wealth fund, which is the primary source of funding for LIV Golf.”
  • “[The motions to compel] raise complex, sensitive, novel, and critically important issues of foreign sovereign immunity and international comity,” attorneys for PIF and Al-Rumayyan argued.
Full piece.

6. Trailer for PGA Tour Netflix doc arrives

PGATour.com staff…”A trailer released Wednesday revealed more details about the highly-anticipated Netflix docuseries that promises to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional golf.”

  • “The series’ title (“Full Swing”), release date (Feb. 15) and its star-studded roster, including the surprise announcement of Rory McIlroy’s participation, were among the noteworthy items revealed in the clip, which also gave a taste of what viewers can expect to see in the series.”
  • “McIlroy was not one of the names included when the series was first announced, but he appeared at the end of the trailer, sitting down in a chair as a producer shouted, “Quiet in the house! Action.”
  • “If I want the game that I love to be played by future generations,” McIlroy says in Wednesday’s video, “the game needs to be pushed forward.”
  • “Among the PGA TOUR players appearing with McIlroy in the show are Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sahith Theegala, Joel Dahmen and Mito Pereira. Also in the show are Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann and Ian Poulter.”
Full piece.

7. Zach on how Tiger can make Ryder Cup team

Dave Shedloski for Golf Digest…”Tiger Woods is a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team that will attempt to win in Europe for the first time in 30 years this September in Italy. Whether or not he is holding a golf club during that week is still to be determined.

  • “U.S. captain Zach Johnson said on Wednesday at the Sony Open in Hawaii that he wouldn’t rule out selecting the 15-time major winner and recent World Golf Hall of Fame inductee to compete in the 44th Ryder Cup if he didn’t qualify for the team automatically. Qualifying, of course, is long shot given that there is no way of knowing just how much—or how well—Woods will compete this year as he continues his rehabilitation from the right leg injuries he suffered in an car accident almost two years ago in California.”
  • “I would only contemplate having him on the team if he felt … if he was putting up some numbers and some scores, No. 1, showing some sign of being competitive. And then No. 2, that discussion would be had with the other guys that are a part of that team, and specifically him,” said Johnson, who served under Woods as a vice captain at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia, where Woods led the winning U.S. team as just the second playing captain in that event after Hale Irwin in the inaugural edition in 1994.
  • “If there is anything I trust in Tiger Woods is that he’s extremely invested in this team and the future Cups. Extremely invested,” Johnson added. “I can’t speak to that enough. And then I think you would do anything and everything for the betterment of the team. I assume he would say—I don’t like making assumptions—but I’m confident that he would say, ‘Yeah, I can play, or no, I can’t.’”
Full piece.
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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.

From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

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