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Luke Donald wants this LIV participant involved in ‘some sort of role’ at Ryder Cup

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There’s a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the 2023 Ryder Cup and whether or not members of LIV Golf will be a part of the event at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club just outside of Rome.

U.S. Captain Zach Johnson hasn’t ruled out choosing LIV players as a captain’s pick, but he’s been quiet on the matter thus far.

As far as the European side, LIV players are eligible to make the team if they were to qualify via DP World Tour points, but now that the court case has ruled in the DP World Tour’s favor, it won’t be possible for any LIV player to accrue enough points unless they maintain their membership and pay massive fines for each LIV event they play without a release.

However, according to European Captain Luke Donald, there is one person associated with LIV that he hopes will join him in Italy come the fall.

His brother, Christian, who’s currently the caddie for Brendan Steele. Steele joined LIV this year and is a member of Phil Mickelson’s Hy Flyers team.

When Donald was asked by Golfweek how he felt about his brother on LIV, he said he had no issue with it.

“No feelings, really. For someone who is 51 and has two kids under four, it’s a great opportunity for him. He’s going to know his schedule, he’s going to have guaranteed money, he’s going to travel less and be around his family. In terms of that, it’s a bonus. You go where your player goes. I’ll miss seeing him a little bit more. I’m sure he’ll be at the Ryder Cup, too.”

When Luke was then asked if he will be a part of the 2023 Ryder Cup to help out, he said that he hoped he would.

“I hope so. We haven’t had a formal discussion but he was my buggy (cart) driver the last two times I served as vice captain. There are different roles as a captain, but yeah, I think he’ll be there in some sort of role.”

It’s unclear if Donald’s willingness to allow his brother to drive a cart would translate to allowing a European player on LIV to join the Ryder Cup team, but it certainly opens the door for criticism if one is allowed and not the other.

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19th Hole

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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19th Hole

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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