19th Hole
Billy Horschel explains why he feels the PGA Tour doesn’t always need to be transparent with players
Billy Horschel, who has been one of the most vocal players against LIV and the PIF, is now preaching patience in regard to the proposed PGA Tour/PIF merger.
While speaking with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis at Hoylake while preparing for the 151st Open Championship, the 36-year-old acknowledged that he’s “in the minority” with his stance.
“I’m in the minority probably on this — I don’t think they always have to be transparent with us because I just don’t see the benefit always of being transparent, telling us everything,” Horschel said. “Do they come to us and discuss a sponsor of a PGA Tour event that they’re trying to get; if everyone’s happy with that sponsor; is the agreement that they made with that sponsor, is everyone happy with? We’re not business people. We don’t have the knowledge, we don’t have the experience in that world to make those decisions.
“But I think we do have a member-input organization and I do think there needs to be some transparency. I’ve tried to, early in my career, say there were certain things that the PGA Tour could be more transparent with, to give the guys a better understanding of how the business is run on the PGA Tour.”
Many players have been critical of the deal, because they were led to believe their loyalty to the PGA Tour would pay off. Jon Rahm was among those players who spoke about the agreement at last month’s U.S. Open.
“It gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it’s clear that’s not the consensus,” Rahm said. “The general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.”
Horschel see’s it from another perspective and says he trusts executives to do their jobs.
“I’ve been out here for 15 years now, and I think I quickly understood that even though it’s a member-run organization, it truly wasn’t a member-run organization,” said Horschel, a seven-time PGA Tour winner who’s been outspoken on LIV in the past. “It’s more a member-input organization, in my opinion. When you have a company like this, the PGA Tour, that’s a billion-dollar-worth business on a yearly basis, it’s tough to get 200 players, 200-plus players who are members, to agree on the direction of the PGA Tour.
“That’s why we put [commissioner] Jay Monahan and the executives in the position they are.”
With senate now involved in the deal, it’s unclear if and when the merger will happen.
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- ‘Are you that dumb?’ – Dave Portnoy rips CBS over lack of live TV coverage of Rickie Fowler’s victory
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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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