19th Hole

Report: The ‘primary issue’ why LIV Golf has yet to receive ranking points

Published

1 year ago

May 10, 2023

LIV Golf and the OWGR ranking points system — a saga that looks as if it may never end.

Within the last year or so, we’ve had the Greg Norman-led tour create a “strategic alliance” with the third-tier MENA Tour, something Atul Khosla, the then President and COO of LIV Golf, said was, “to create pathways that give more opportunities for young players, while also giving fans rankings that include all the world’s best golfers.”

Within a few days, high-ranking PGA Tour players joined in with their views, with 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama amongst those believing those that had left the PGA and DPWT tours “should be able to.”

However, for all the camaraderie, Deki, alongside Rory McIlroy, and Viktor Hovland agreed with the latter’s statement, “They [LIV] obviously have to follow the process, whatever the process might be.”

Confused?

Amongst the broken rules of the “process” seemed to be the shotgun starts and the 54-hole style of tournament, something that was negated once the OWGR, the leading golf rankings organization, awarded ranking points to the three-round Gira de Golf Professional de Mexicana at the turn of the year.

The move understandably irked LIV, particularly just a few weeks after Norman had said

“I understand they have a process. I get all that. But the OWGR was never prepared for a new entity like LIV Golf. You have to expect the unexpected sometimes. When somebody comes along with an incredible business model that is working and, as we’ve shown, you’ve got to have that flexibility and adaptability to allow a new entity coming along.”

“OWGR was never, ever ready for that type of approach.”

Of course, all LIV players have given their opinion, and understandably have attacked the OWGR for its continual refusal to at least acknowledge the winners of their events.

Last week, Phil Mickelson, the first golfer to sign for LIV all those months ago, gave a passionate response to Colt Knost’s question as to why the tour just didn’t simply meet the OWGR criteria from the start.

“Colt, it is not our job,” wrote the six-time major champion. “It is the OWGR’s job to rank ALL the players in the world. Maybe they can do THEIR job and figure it out like they do for multiple tours with hundreds of players not even close to as good.But that would hurt the PGA’s revenue from CBS so the leaders won’t.”

Then just a week ago, Firepit Collective contributor, Alan Shipnuck, suggested that the lines between the PGA and LIV tours were becoming blurred and that ranking points are almost certain to be awarded soon. Somehow. If they meet a criteria, I guess.

In his Ask Alan column, the author of the unauthorized biography of Phil Mickelson stated that, in his opinion, “An extra round gives the best player more opportunity to separate himself, but 54 holes has a certain urgency and demands three good scores with little room for error.”

Indeed, he states, “Next year, nine of the 12 elevated events won’t have a cut, which means…more guaranteed money for the players. So the LIV and Tour products are becoming increasingly similar.”

As for ranking LIV players,

“The OWGR had a set of pre-established criteria, and the governing board is following it to the letter. July will be one year since LIV put in its application,” and that, having spoken to those at the top,

“the primary issue is that LIV doesn’t meet the average field size of 75.”

That shouldn’t stop points being awarded, however, as “the ranking itself will automatically penalize LIV, based on the revised algorithm—announced in August 2021, before LIV had launched—that favors full fields over smaller one.”

Shipnuck explains how the “major championships control the OWGR,” and “are inherently selfish and want what’s best for their respective tournaments.”

The official list simply makes no sense as a barometer of where a player is ranked, which is why we see the likes of LIV points leader Talor Gooch – one of the hottest players in the game – fall from 57th to 63rd despite consecutive wins at LIV Adelaide and LIV Singapore.

More and more pundits and fans are turning to Data Golf to rank the players in order of current ability, a site on which Gooch ranks 27th, two behind Dustin Johnson, 81st on the OWGR.

Shipnuck concludes that things will soon have to aline:

“A more inclusive OWGR is the only thing that makes sense. Anti-LIV folks can get hung up on specific wording in the moldy criteria of the OWGR bylaws, but these are unprecedented times and a little flexibility is the best path forward…especially for the OWGR, which will render itself obsolete if it doesn’t follow its mission to rank all professional golfers.”

Vincenzi’s 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge betting preview: Tony Finau ready to get back inside winner’s circle

Published

2 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After an action-packed week at the PGA Championship, the PGA Tour heads back to Texas to play the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth.

Colonial Country Club is a 7,209-yard par-70 and features Bentgrass greens. The difficulty of the event this week will be influenced by course setup and/or wind. The last four seasons have all produced winners with scores between -8 and -14, with the two most recent playing extremely difficult. Last year, Emiliano Grillo won in a playoff against Adam Schenk at -8, and in 2022, Sam Burns edged out Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at -9.

After last season’s event, the course was renovated by Gil Hanse. I expect the course to stay true to what the original design intended, but will improve in some areas that needed updating. Jordan Spieth, who is one of the most consistent players at Colonial, told Golfweek his thoughts on the changes.

“I always thought courses like this, Hilton Head, these classic courses that stand the test of time, it’s like what are you going to do to these places? I think that’s kind of everyone’s first response,” Spieth said. “Then I saw them, and I was like, wow, this looks really, really cool. It looks like it maintains the character of what Colonial is while creating some excitement on some holes that maybe could use a little bit of adjusting.”

The Charles Schwab Challenge will play host to 136 golfers this week, and the field is relatively strong despite it being the week after a major championship.

Some notable golfers in the field include Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Tony Finau, Sungjae Im, Collin Morikawa, Min Woo Lee, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Akshay Bhatia.

Past Winners at Charles Schwab Challenge

2023: Emiliano Grillo (-8)
2022: Sam Burns (-9)
2021: Jason Kokrak (-14)
2020: Daniel Berger (-15)
2019: Kevin Na (-13)
2018: Justin Rose (-20)
2017: Kevin Kisner (-10)
2016: Jordan Spieth (-17)

Key Stats For Colonial Country Club

Let’s take a look at five key metrics for Colonial Country Club to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds.

1. Strokes Gained: Approach

Approach will be a major factor this week. It grades out as the most important statistic historically in events played at Colonial Country Club, and that should be the case once again this week.

Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

Scottie Scheffler (+1.09)
Ryan Moore (1.00)
Tom Hoge (+0.96)
Akshay Bhatia (+0.85)
Greyson Sigg (+0.83)

2. Strokes Gained: Off The Tee

Both distance and accuracy will be important this week. Historically, shorter hitters who find the fairway have thrived at Colonial, but over the last few years we’ve seen a lot of the players in the field use big drives to eliminate the challenge of doglegs and fairway bunkers.

The rough can be thick and penal, so finding the fairway will remain important.

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee Over Past 24 Rounds

Scottie Scheffler (+1.11)
Keith Mitchell (+0.90)
Kevin Yu (+0.87)
Alejandro Tosti (+0.81)
Min Woo Lee (+0.80)

3. Strokes Gained: Total in Texas

Players who play well in the state of Texas tend to play well in multiple events during the Texas swing.

Strokes Gained: Total in Texas over past 36 rounds

Jordan Spieth (+2.16)
Scottie Scheffler (+1.97)
Tony Finau (+1.91)
Akshay Bhatia (+1.68)
Justin Rose (+1.62)

4. Course History

Course history seems to be much more important at Colonial Country Club than most other courses. The same players tend to pop up on leaderboards here year after year.

Course History per round Over Past 24 Rounds:

Jordan Spieth (+2.31)
Justin Rose (+1.70)
Harris English (+1.66)
Webb Simpson (+1.54)
Collin Morikawa (+1.47)

5. Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass)

The Bentgrass greens at Colonial are in immaculate condition, and putters who roll it pure are at an advantage. Historically, great putters have thrived at Colonial.

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass) Over Past 24 Rounds:

Denny McCarthy (+1.08)
Justin Rose (+0.93)
J.T. Poston (+0.87)
Maverick McNealy (+0.85)
Andrew Putnam (+0.74)

Charles Schwab Challenge Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), SG: OTT (25%), Strokes Gained: Total in Texas (14%), Course History (17%) and SG: Putting Bentgrass (17%).

Scottie Scheffler
Chris Kirk
Tony Finau
Billy Horschel
Daniel Berger
Maverick McNealy
Adam Schenk
Collin Morikawa
Austin Eckroat
Sepp Straka

2024 Charles Schwab Challenge Picks

Tony Finau +3300 (FanDuel)

Tony Finau hit the ball incredibly well at last week’s PGA Championship. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, gaining 9.3 strokes in the category, which was his second-best performance on approach this season (Farmers T6). Finau’s tie for 18th at Valhalla is ideal considering the fact that he played very well but didn’t have the mental and emotional strain of hitting shots deep into contention in a major championship. He should be sharp and ready to go for this week’s event.

Finau has been phenomenal in the state of Texas. He ranks third in Strokes Gained: Total in the Lone Star state in his past 36 rounds and just recently put up a T2 finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open last month. He also has success at Colonial. He finished 2nd at the course in 2019 and T4 at the course in 2022. He missed the cut last year, however, that seems to be an aberration as he hasn’t finished worse than 34th in his seven other trips to Fort Worth.

Finau has gained strokes off the tee in 10 of his 13 starts this season, and his ability to hit the ball long and straight should give him an advantage this week at Colonial. He’s also gained strokes on approach in 11 of his 13 starts this year. His tee to green excellence should work wonders this week, as Colonial is a challenging test. The concern, as usual, for Tony, is the putter. He’s in the midst of the worst putting season of his career, but with a target score in the -8 to -13 range this week, he should be able to get away with a few mistakes on the greens.

Finau is one of the most talented players in the field and I believe he can put it all together this week in Texas to get his first win since last year’s Mexico Open.

Sungjae Im +5000 (BetRivers)

Sungjae Im is really starting to play some good golf of late, despite his missed cut at last week’s PGA Chmapionship. Im missed the cut on the number, which may be a blessing in disguise that allows him to rest and also keeps the price reasonable on him this week. The missed cut was due to some woeful putting, which is atypical for Sungjae. He gained strokes slightly both off the tee and on approach, therefore I’m not concerned with the performance.

Prior to his trip to Valhalla, Sungjae was beginning to show why he has been such a good player over the course of his career. He finished T12 at Heritage and then won an event in Korea. He followed that up with a T4 at Quail Hollow in a “Signature Event”, which was his best performance on the PGA Tour this season. At the Wells Fargo, the South Korean was 20th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking and showed his skill around and on the greens.

Sungjae has had some success at Colonial. He’s finished T10 and T15 with two missed cuts scattered in between over the past four seasons. When he is in form, which I believe he now is, the course suits him well.

Im hasn’t won since 2021, which is an underachievement given how talented I believe he is. That can change this week with a win at Colonial.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout +5000 (FanDuel)

I absolutely love this spot for Christiaan Bezuidenhout. The South African is having a fantastic season and this is a course that should suit his strengths.

Prior the PGA Championship, Bez hadn’t finished worse than 28th in six consecutive starts. He’s not the type of player who can get to -20 in a “birdie fest” but can grind in a tougher event. He is a terrific player in the wind and putts extremely well on Bentgrass greens. Bezuidenhout has also had success both in Texas and at Colonial. He ranks 16th in Strokes Gained: Total at the course and 10th in Strokes Gained: Total in Texas over his past 36 rounds.

Part of what has made Bezuidenhout play so well this year is his increase in ball speed, which has been the recipe for success for plenty of players, including the winner of last week’s PGA Championship, Xander Schauffele. Bezuidenhout’s coach shared his ball speed gains on Instagram a few weeks back.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6FCvK3S97A/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Now at close to 170mph ball speed, that isn’t enough to compete at the monstrous major championship courses in my opinion, however it’s plenty to contend at Colonial.

Bezuidenhout has been one of the most consistent performers on the PGA Tour this season and a win would put an exclamation point on what’s been his best year on Tour to date.

Brendon Todd +12500 (BetRivers)

Brendon Todd is the type of player that’s hit or miss, but usually shows up on the courses he has a strong history on and plays well. Todd finished T8 at Colonial in 2021 and 3rd in 2022. He’s also flashed some Texas form this year as he finished T5 at the Valero Texas Open in April.

Todd doesn’t contend all that often, but when he does, he’s shown in the past that he has the capability to win a golf tournament. He has three PGA Tour wins including a win in Texas back in 2014 (TPC Four Seasons).

Todd is a player who can rise to the top if some of the elite players aren’t in contention after a grueling PGA Championship.

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Bryson DeChambeau yells at grown man to return golf ball to kid at PGA Championship

Published

10 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

On Sunday at the PGA Championship, Bryson DeChambeau came one shot shy of winning his second major championship.

Plenty of Bryson’s skills were on display, such as his ability to reach 196mph ball speed on his drives and his underrated short game.

Another aspect of Bryson that was shown on Sunday was his likeability, which to some fans, is a new phenomenon.

At one point during his round on the back nine, DeChambeau flipped a ball in the stands to a kid, but it was intercepted by a grown man who took off running with the ball.

DeChambeau screamed “Hey!” for the man to stop and demanded that the ball be given back to the kid it was intended for.

???? Bryson DeChambeau tossed a boy his ball on his way to the 10th tee but it got intercepted by an older man… Bryson yelled at the man until he retuned it to the boy ????? #PGAChampionship

pic.twitter.com/40zg87fvzy

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 20, 2024

Fans are certainly beginning to embrace DeChambeau and are realizing how good he is for the game of golf.

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

Published

4 days ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

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.