players – Golfing Agency

Ryder Cup 2023: Jon Rahm calls for organizations to make uniform decision on LIV Golf players in Rome

detlef32 — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 18:47:41 +0000

Jon Rahm will almost certainly be at this year’s Ryder Cup in Rome, but the group that joins him on the European side for the biennial competition has never been more up in the air. It’s not just the Europeans, either, as the United States team is going to have some decisions to make when it comes to September’s event — particularly as it pertains to LIV Golf participants joining in on the festivities.

“There’s some people that are going to have to make some tough choices, right?” said Rahm on Tuesday at the Tournament of Champions where he will open his 2023 campaign. “A little bit of that is out of my reach. My guess is I hope the PGA of America and European Tour make a decision together. I don’t think it would be smart to have one team allowing LIV players and one not to.

“And besides that, even if they decide not to on that side, I think it’s going to give an opportunity for a lot of great young players to show up and have the chance in Europe, right? It’s just going to be an opportunity for all of them. We saw a younger U.S. team last Ryder Cup and they did what they did. So I’m hoping these younger guys who have grown up watching the Ryder Cup and seeing their idols do what they do, let’s say, it energizes the team a little bit in any manner and we show up there to win.”

Decisions are not unusual, of course, as captains for both sides always have to make picks for the matches (both teams will have six wild card selections this year). But the organizations that run this event — PGA of America on the U.S. side and European Tour on the European side — have some more philosophical choices to make before the captains make their selections.

Namely (as Rahm noted): Should LIV Golf player be eligible to participate in the Ryder Cup?

Several of the top players in the world left the PGA Tour and European Tour in 2022 to join the Saudi-backed startup golf league, and both of those leagues attempted to suspend those players from playing. The PGA Tour was successful in doing so while a court ruled that European Tour players could — for the time being — play in European Tour events. A court is supposed to issue a final ruling in February.

There has been much debate about what this should mean for players outside of these two leagues. The Masters, for example, recently said that any LIV player that qualified for its 2023 event would be eligible to play for that event. This seems perfunctory, but given how chaotic the last year has been, it was treated as big news.

In September, the PGA Tour — which, as a reminder, is a very different organization than the PGA of America — banned all golfers from participating in the Presidents Cup, which it runs on both the United States and international sides. Interestingly, international captain Trevor Immelman asked why Louis Oosthuizen could not play as he resigned his PGA Tour membership and an international Presidents Cup player doesn’t have to be a PGA Tour member to play in the Presidents Cup. He was told that Oosthuizen violated PGA Tour rules while he was still a member.

All of this is messy, and it’s up for debate over which team it will affect more. Of the top 12 players on the European side (according to Data Golf), only one — Paul Casey — is a LIV player, although Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood are on the cusp of being in that top 12. When it comes to the Americans, only Dustin Johnson is inside the top 12 while nobody else is in the top 20 (Talor Gooch is 25th).

The European Tour is in more of a bind than the PGA of America, and the ultimate decision will likely be dictated by what the Euro side wants. After attempting to keep players from playing on its tour, an about face when it comes to the Ryder Cup it also runs would feel disingenuous. Again, this probably (?) won’t matter significantly when it comes to the construction of the team, but Rahm wants Garcia there, and Rahm has a lot of sway on the European side.

Regardless of how it plays out, this is going to be one of the bigger storylines of 2023. All of our focus has been on what the major championships are going to decide when it comes to LIV golfers, but the Ryder Cup (and both organizations that run it) are in that boat as well. And while major decisions will affect a small percentage of the fields that play in them, Ryder Cup choices could (could!) have a massive effect on the actual outcome of this year’s event.

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Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele among 10 best PGA Tour players under age 30

detlef32 — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 19:18:37 +0000

Golf has never been in better hands as some of the biggest names in the sport are still on the younger side. Securely in the prime of their careers, these players have been able to etch their names into golf’s history books and will continue to add to their stories in the coming years.

In 2022, all four major championship winners checked in as golfers under age 30, and the same would be true for 2021 if not for Phil Mickelson’s memorable PGA Championship victory at Kiawah Island. Dating back to 2017, 16 of the last 23 major championship winners were yet to reach 30 with outliers like Tiger Woods’ 2019 Masters triumph and Dustin Johnson’s green jacket win a year later.

Some of those also included Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka, who have since surpassed age 30. Patrick Cantlay is another player who recently celebrated his 30th birthday, and as such, will not be on the list below.

While the world of golf is divided, for this particular list, the focus remains on the PGA Tour. Cameron Smith should be among this group of players and Joaquin Niemann perhaps on the outskirts, but without playing against the best on a consistent basis, the water in which they tread has only become muddier.

Here’s a look at 10 best golfers under the age of 30 on the PGA Tour and what to expect from them in 2023.

Top 10 under 30

1. Jon Rahm (28): Three wins was considered a down year by most prognosticators, just not by Rahm himself. Winning the Mexico Open, Open de España and the DP World Tour Championship, the man who began 2022 as the world No. 1 ended his year winning three times in his last 14 worldwide starts. Making all four cuts in the major championships, the Spaniard’s best finish was T12 at the U.S. Open where he shot 5 over his last 36 holes. Contention and victory in major championships is the barometer in which success is defined for him moving forward — whether he likes it or not. If able to recreate his 2020-21 where in six major championships he captured five top-10 finishes, including his lone major title at the 2021 U.S. Open, there is a good chance Rahm returns to the top of the golf world in 2023.

2. Scottie Scheffler (26): His coming out party was the spring of 2022, but the rest of Scheffler’s year was still impressive. Winning four times in a six tournament stretch, the Texan captured a World Golf Championship, rose to world No. 1 and donned the green jacket all in less than two months. Scheffler went onto squander late leads at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Tour Championship where he ultimately finished runner up. A third second-place finished occurred at the U.S. Open where had a near birdie miss on the 72nd hole dropped, a playoff with Matt Fitzpatrick would have been forced. The Presidents Cup was a letdown, but even the best players have lulls from time-to-time. Scheffler will be a fixture on this list for the foreseeable future and given the well-rounded nature of his game, additional major championship trophies are likely to be his.

3. Xander Schauffele (29): This past year was a transformative one for Schauffele, who much like Tony Finau was labeled as a player who shrivels down the stretch of big tournaments. Winning the Zurich Classic alongside Cantlay added to the bizarre nature in which he raised trophies (limited field, no cuts, The Olympics), but Schauffele added to his own total during the summer. Outlasting Sahith Theegala at the Travelers Championship, he returned to the winner’s circle again in his following start at the Scottish Open. A strong showing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs put a bow on a nice season, but similar to Rahm, the major championship acumen we are used to seeing was nowhere to be found. Since 2017, Schauffele has 15 top-20 finishes in 22 major championship appearances. With six of those coming in the form of top-five finishes — and two of those runners-up — Schauffele may have shed one label in 2022 but will likely add another in “best player without a major” in 2023 unless he does something, well, major.

4. Justin Thomas (29): Now 15 times a winner on the PGA Tour, Thomas is firmly among the elite in the game. Placing him fourth on the list may even be a bit harsh, but while the quality of his victories persist, the quantity has lagged behind. It took a herculean effort — and some help from Mito Pereira — at the PGA Championship to nab his second Wanamaker Trophy for his lone title of 2022. Outmanned by Sam Burns at the Valspar Championship and Rory McIlroy at the Canadian Open, Thomas put himself in contention enough to garner a multiple-win season, but was unable to do so. This marked the third season in the last four years where he came away with only one trophy. Those may consist of the 2022 PGA Championship and 2021 Players Championship; however, Thomas is too good a player to enter the winner’s circle one time a year. Expect this to change in 2023.

5. Collin Morikawa (25): Tell most players they would finish inside the top five in two of the four major championships, and they would take it and run. Morikawa? Not so much. Nearly tracking down Niemann at the Genesis Invitational, the two-time major champion looked prime to enter the winner’s circle in the early spring. Not to be, Morikawa finished solo fifth at the Masters before a relatively uneventful start to his summer. Fighting his swing, he arrived at The Country Club for the U.S. Open frustrated with the flight of his iron shots, only to be the 36-hole leader days later. A 7-over 77 in the third round derailed his chance to add the third leg of the career grand slam, but still he battled in the final round to finish T5. Without a worldwide win in over a year, Morikawa is remains a top-tier player. Given the quality of his irons and the implementation of a putting coach, he should have no problem ending this dry spell in 2023.

6. Matt Fitzpatrick (28): The perception of Fitzpatrick changed in 2022. Once a scrawny Englishman in need of a hot putting week to just contend, he transformed into a major champion wielding his driver with the best of the them. While it appeared to happen overnight, consistent speed training sessions and hard work were the cog for Fitzpatrick’s ascension. Joining Jack Nicklaus and Juli Inkster as the only players to win the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open on the same golf course, Fitzpatrick squashed the haters who questioned if he would ever win on the PGA Tour. In total, Fitzpatrick captured 17 top-25 finishes in 24 worldwide starts and showcased his upside that has been on full display in Europe since 2015.

7. Will Zalatoris (26): He is built for the moment, and while the bounces didn’t go his way for much of 2022, they finally did in the end. Zalatoris continued to be one of the best major championship competitors this past year as he lost in a playoff at the PGA Championship and fell one stroke short of Fitzpatrick at the U.S. Open. In 10 major championship appearances, he has three runners-up and three additional top-10 finishes. His ball-striking allows him to factor at difficult golf courses and it did just that at the St. Jude Championship in August. In unison with some timely putting, Zalatoris beat Sepp Straka in a playoff in Memphis to win his first PGA Tour title. The floodgates were promptly shut the following week when he was forced to withdraw during the BMW Championship due to a back injury, and he has not been seen in action since. Back injuries are always scary when discussing golfers, and Zalatoris will be no different. Possessing a wiry frame, he will make his return at the Tournament of Champions and hopefully put any health concerns in the rearview mirror.

8. Viktor Hovland (25): Simply put, Hovland wins. It may not be pretty, it may not be flashy, and it may not happen at the most prestigious tournaments, but still, the Norwegian finds a way to collect hardware on a consistent basis. That has to count for something. Since 2020, he has won seven times worldwide and 2022 showed us he may soon rise to the occasion in the biggest of championships. Alongside Rory McIlroy in the final pair in the final round of the 150th Open at St. Andrews, Hovland ultimately fell off the pace to finish T4. Experiencing his first taste of contention in a major championship, this should only aid him in his future endeavors. His short game has improved drastically from the low point of the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational where he let that trophy slip from his grasp, and if it continues on this trajectory, Hovland’s underrated win total should only tick up.

9. Jordan Spieth (29): This time next year, he’ll be 30, but still Spieth finds his way onto this list. Since going through the lowest of lows from 2018-20, he has clawed his way back into relevance with wins at the 2021 Texas Open and 2022 RBC Heritage. A member of winning Ryder Cup and Presidents teams the last two years, the next step in the three-time major champion’s return to prominence is to bag a a big one. He has been close with a couple podium finishes in 2021 and given his improvements both off the tee and on approach in 2022, this upcoming year will say a lot about the state of Spieth’s place in the game. The putter will unquestionably have to be on better behavior, and if it is, Spieth could be on the cusp of his first multiple-win season since 2017.

10. Cameron Young (25): He will win in 2023. Finishing on the podium seven times in his rookie campaign — without getting over the hump once — Young consistently put himself in position to win golf tournaments. Variance, luck and perhaps some inexperience hindered his efforts to raise a trophy, but that will no longer be an appropriate excuse in 2023. Finishing second at the Genesis Invitational, third at the PGA Championship and second at The Open, his name became a staple on the first page of the leaderboard in some of the biggest events of the year. His father has left his post at Sleppy Hollow to join him on Tour on a full-time basis and perhaps this familiar face will propel Young to new heights and into the winner’s circle.

Honorable mentions: Sam Burns, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim

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Hero World Challenge: How players fare at Albany Golf Club can tell us a lot about 2023 outlooks

detlef32 — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 19:07:38 +0000

Last year, at the beginning of December as the world wondered when Tiger Woods would officially return to golf, 20 of the best golfers in the world gathered in the Bahamas for the Hero World Challenge. Jordan Spieth finished last of the 20, in part because of a penalty he very much could have avoided.

Spieth and playing partner Henrik Stenson teed off from an incorrect tee box on one of the holes at Albany golf course during the tournament, and were penalized for doing so. Shortly after his round, Spieth explained what had happened and was caught referencing the Hero as, essentially, a hit and giggle. Here’s what he said about the 20-player, no-cut tournament.

“I actually didn’t think we were going to get penalized because it’s a charity event, but then I realized there’s world ranking involved and all that,” said Spieth. I think the frustrating part for us now is that every other group’s going to be — they’re making sure to tell them, but for us they didn’t. It obviously didn’t matter for us, which is fortunate, I think, for those guys.”

Spieth received 2.4 Official World Golf Ranking points for finishing five shots out of 19th place (coincidentally, occupied by Stenson).

But is the Hero, despite its OWGR points available, really just a charity event at the end of a long year like Spieth alluded to, or can it tell us more about the players who play well at the end of a calendar year before rolling into the next? In other words, is this 20-player field simply a weigh station for OWGR points before the best in the world put the clubs away for Christmas, or is it a harbinger for what’s to come over the next 12 months?

There are a number of different ways to break this down, but the simplest is to look at what the top three and bottom three on the final leaderboards of the Hero did in the years directly following their performances. I went back to the 2016 Hero World Challenge and pulled the top three and bottom three in every year, except for 2020 because the tournament was canceled amid the COVID-19 outbreak (in case of ties for third or 18th, I averaged players’ numbers together).

2021	Top three	6	4.76
2021	Bottom three	5	4.41
2019	Top three	3	3.99
2019	Bottom three	1	2.70
2018	Top three	4	5.03
2018	Bottom three	2	5.08
2017	Top three	1	4.41
2017	Bottom three	4	4.70
2016	Top three	5	5.36
2016	Bottom three	0	0.15

The data here is interesting, and seemingly more representative of the field makeup than anything else. There doesn’t seem to be a massive differentiation in the following year’s performance for those who finished in the top three at the Hero World Challenge compared to those who finished in the bottom three.

For example, Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns and Patrick Reed formed the top three last year, and that group went on to win six times in 2022 (with four of those coming from Scheffler). However, Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Jordan Spieth finished in the bottom three, and they combined to win five times in 2022 (with McIlroy contributing three of those victories). The takeaway is unsurprising: All 20 players at the Hero World Challenge are really good.

If you start to look at each and every year, one theme does begin to emerge. While there’s no guarantee that the top three at the Hero will have a better following year than the bottom three, it is clear that the top three almost always have tremendous following years while the bottom three don’t always follow suit.

A good example of this came at the 2016 Hero World Challenge where Hideki Matsuyama won, Henrik Stenson finished second and Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar tied for third. Even when averageing the following years for those in third, that group won five times and gained 5.36 (!) total strokes per round in 2017. The bottom three of Tiger Woods, Russell Knox and Emiliano Grillo? Not so much.

The lesson here appears to be that the Hero almost always has a great field full of players up and down the leaderboard who are going to have a ton of success the following year. However, if you do happen to finish in the top three, you’re almost certainly — and this should not be a surprise given the time of year and the caliber of player involved — going to be part of a group that has an incredible following year. That’s something to keep in mind when this leaderboard shakes out in the Bahamas this weekend

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Jon Rahm blasts ‘laughable’ OWGR system: ‘I think they have devalued the value of the better players’

detlef32 — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 16:13:31 +0000

Jon Rahm is not afraid to tell you what he thinks, and now he has some thoughts on the Official World Golf Rankings. While most OWGR debates in recent weeks have centered on whether the organization would afford points to LIV Golf members in the future, Rahm went after the OWGR for a different reason ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Rahm is miffed that the winner of the DP World Tour Championship — a field which includes himself, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton, who are all top 30 players in the OWGR — only receives 22 OWGR points while the winner of the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour will receive 38 points.

The reason the winner of the RSM Classic receives so many more points than the DP World Tour Championship winner is that the DP World Tour Championship only has 50 competitors while the RSM Classic has 144. In other words, the OWGR believes it is more difficult to defeat 143 decent-to-bad players than seven really good players and 42 other average players. This doesn’t sit well with Rahm, who is one of those seven really good players.

“I’m going to be as blunt as I can,” said Rahm. “I think the OWGR right now is laughable. Laughable. Laughable. The fact that the RSM doesn’t have any of the top 20 in the world has more points than this event where we have seven of the top 20 is laughable. The fact that Wentworth had less points than Napa, having players in the top 10 in the world is laughable.

“I understand what they are trying to do with the depth of field, but having the best players in the world automatically makes the tournament better. I don’t care what their system says. I think they have made a mistake. I think some aspects of it might be beneficial, but I think they have devalued the value of the better players.

“Like easily, for example, the 30 best players of the year should not be punished because it’s a smaller field. Depth of field doesn’t mean better tournament. I could go on and on. I think they have missed the mark on that stance quite a bit.”

Rahm makes some good points here, and this is a deviation from the old OWGR system, which was changed earlier in 2022. For example, last year’s DP World Tour Championship awarded 46 points to the champion while the RSM Classic awarded 44 to its winner. The changes in the OWGR in 2022 affected smaller events quite a bit and lowered their field rating significantly compared to what it used to be.

What’s interesting is that though the winner of the RSM is perhaps disproportionately rewarded for his victory, the further you go down the leaderboard, the more the smaller field is rewarded. For example, to earn one OGWR point at the RSM Classic, you must finish 50th (or beat 93 other players). To earn one OWGR point at the DP World Tour Championship, you must finish 28th (or beat 21 other players).

“Listen, it’s above my pay grade to know how the math works, and I understand they are — prioritizing is not the word but they are giving certain value to the depth of the field as well and the ranking on the lower parts of the lower,” added Rahm.

“But would you rather win a tournament when you have the No. 1 player in the world there or because you have the 30th or 6th there? I think it’s more valuable if you’re beating [the] best players in the world. I think a lot of people would agree and I think it should reflect that.

“And if it’s not like that, at least the point gap shouldn’t be as vastly different as it is right now. Because we are not talking about the best PGA Tour events in the season where you have multiple, multiple high-ranked players. We are talking about a tournament that didn’t even have one player in the top 20. That, to me, is an issue when you have seven of them here. I don’t know what the fix is, right. I understand what they were trying to do when they changed some things, but I think like I said, they missed the mark.”

McIlroy, who is the No. 1 player in the world and also in the field this week in Dubai, praised the new system on Tuesday.

“Has it upset people? Yes, because people have been used to getting a certain amount of [OWGR] points in one event and now it’s dropped. But I would say those events were getting more than they should be.

“I think it’s the fairest system that you can come up with right now. And a lot of work went into that; five years of algorithms and analysis and work went on into the system, so it’s not as if it changed overnight. A lot has went into it. It’s the best one that we can come up with right now, and I think it will take a while. It will take another 18 months for it to play out because everyone gets two years into the rolling system.

“As it’s being rolled out, there’s a little bit of discrepancy, but once we get two years into it and have the minimum divisor and all the events. I think you’ll see a fairer reflection of where everyone is ranked in the world that is eligible.”

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2022 LIV Golf in Miami: Team Championship schedule, field of players, prize money, purse, live stream online

detlef32 — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 18:28:46 +0000

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In the blink of an eye, the very first LIV Golf season is on the cusp of its conclusion. Finishing its inaugural campaign at Trump National Doral in Florida, this week’s 2022 LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami will take on a different shape than prior LIV Golf events. With individual titles wrapped up as Dustin Johnson finished atop the regular-season standings, the focus now shifts to the teams.

The LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami will take place over three days and feature everything from byes, singles matches, foursomes and stroke play as teams compete for the $50 million purse.

Johnson’s 4 Aces GC commands the No. 1 overall seed and has earned a bye in Friday’s quarterfinals. Teams seeded Nos. 2-4 — Crushers GC, Fireballs GC and Stinger GC — will also have the day off while those squads ranked Nos. 5-12 vie for a spot in Saturday’s semifinals.

Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka will lead his fifth-ranked Smash GC into the Team Championship following its victory at LIV Golf Jeddah. Koepka had his pick of the litter as the higher seeds chose the teams with whom they wish to match up against in the quarterfinals, and the same is true for the semifinals.

Captains from each team will match up against each other in a singles match. The remaining three members from each team will be split up between another singles match and a foursomes match. Whichever team earns two points will advance to the next day.

There is some strategy to this as Majesticks GC, in particular, has already renamed its captain. Typically reserved for Lee Westwood, it is instead European Ryder Cup stalwart Ian Poulter who will lead the Majesticks in the Team Championship and will be featured in a singles match. Other changes to teams include recent DP World Tour winner Adrian Otaegui joining Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC and Hennie du Plessis rejoining the South African squad Stinger GC.

The last day of competition will return to standard stroke play between the final four teams. Each player’s score will count for their team with the lowest cumulative squad being crowned the first LIV Golf team champion.

How to watch LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami

Event: LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami | Oct. 28-30
Start time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Trump National Doral — Doral, Florida
Live stream: LIVGolf.com, Facebook, YouTube

Quarterfinal matchups

Smash (5) vs Niblicks (12)	Brooks Koepka vs Harold Varner III	Peter Uihlein vs James Piot	Jason Kokrak/Chase Koepka vs Turk Petit/Hudson Swafford
Majesticks (6) vs Iron Heads (9)	Ian Poulter vs Kevin Na	Lee Westwood vs Sihwan Kim	Sam Horsfield/Henrik Stenson vs Phacara Khongwatmai/Sadom Kaewkanjana
Torque (7) vs Cleeks (10)	Joaquin Niemann vs Martin Kaymer	Jediah Morgan vs Laurie Canter	Adrian Otaegui/Scott VIncent vs Graeme McDowell/Richard Bland
Hy Flyers (8) vs Punch (11)	Phil Mickelson vs Cameron Smith	Matthew Wolff vs Marc Leishman	Bernd Wiesberger/Cameron Tringale vs Matt Jones/Wade Ormsby

Teams for LIV Golf Team Championship

1	4 Aces	Dustin Johnson	Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez
2	Crushers	Bryson DeChambeau	Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri
3	Fireballs	Sergio Garcia	Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra
4	Stinger	Louis Oosthuizen	Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Hennie du Plessis
5	Smash	Brooks Koepka	Jason Kokrak, Peter Uihlein, Chase Koepka
6	Majesticks	Ian Poulter	Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Sam Horsfield
7	Torque	Joaquin Niemann	Scott Vincent, Adrian Otaegui, Jediah Morgan
8	Hy Flyers	Phil Mickelson	Bernd Wiesberger, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale
9	Iron Heads	Kevin Na	Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phacara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim
10	Cleeks	Martin Kaymer	Graeme McDowell, Laurie Canter, Richard Bland
11	Punch	Cameron Smith	Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby
12	Niblicks	Bubba Watson (non-playing)	Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford, James Piot, Turk Petit

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2022 LIV Golf in Jeddah: Schedule, field of players, prize money, purse, live stream, watch online

detlef32 — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 15:15:43 +0000

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Playing in back-to-back weeks for the first time in its existence, the end of the LIV Golf regular season is upon us. With six events under its belt, LIV Golf in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, serves as the final regular-season stop on the heels of an exciting tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, last week.

While some of the regular-season accolades have already been shelled out, there is still plenty to compete for as players and teams jostle for positioning ahead of the Team Championship later this month in Miami. Dustin Johnson has wrapped up the individual points race as the two-time major winner has been terrific in his first stint with LIV Golf while collecting $18 million for his efforts.

Johnson captured the LIV Golf Boston title in dramatic fashion in a playoff over Anirban Lahiri and Joaquin Niemann, and has four other top-10 finishes to his credit. His team, the 4 Aces, remains in the top spot as well but may be seen as vulnerable after being upended by the Fireballs at LIV Golf Bangkok and missing out on the podium entirely.

With the top-three finishers from the regular season receiving additional monetary prizes at the end of LIV Golf Jeddah, Branden Grace and Patrick Reed will look to fend off potential pursuers. Grace was forced to withdraw from LIV Golf Bangkok with a muscle strain, and it is unknown if the LIV Golf Portland winner will be ready in time to compete.

This leaves the door open for LIV Golf Chicago winner Cameron Smith, who currently occupies the fourth spot in the standings. The Champion Golfer of the Year is 20 points behind the second-place Grace, and with 40 points given to the winner, may be able to catch his LIV Golf counterpart with a strong showing in Jeddah.

How to watch LIV Golf in Jeddah

Event: LIV Golf in Jeddah | Oct. 14-16
Start time: 5 a.m. ET
Location: Royal Greens Golf & Country Club — King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia
Live stream: LIVGolf.com, Facebook, YouTube

Teams for LIV Golf Jeddah

4 Aces	Dustin Johnson	Pat Perez, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch
Cleeks	Martin Kaymer	Graeme McDowell, Richard Bland, Laurie Canter
Crushers	Bryson DeChambeau	Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri
Fireballs	Sergio Garcia	Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra
Hy Flyers	Phil Mickelson	Bernd Wiesberger, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale
Iron Heads	Kevin Na	Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phacara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim
Majesticks	Lee Westwood	Ian Poulter, Sam Horsfield, Henrik Stenson
Niblicks	Bubba Watons (non-playing)	Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford, James Piot, Turk Petit
Punch	Cameron Smith	Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby
Smash	Brooks Koepka	Jason Kokrak, Peter Uihlein, Chase Koepka
Stinger	Louis Oosthuizen	Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Shaun Norris
Torque	Joaquin Niemann	Scott Vincent, Hideto Tanihara, Jediah Morgan

Regular season standings

1	Dustin Johnson	121
2	Branden Grace	79
3	Patrick Reed	76
4	Cameron Smith	56
5	Charl Schwartzel	55
6	Carlos Ortiz	50
7	Matthew Wolff	50
8	Peter Uihlein	49
9	Louis Oosthuizen	49
10	Talor Gooch	49
11	Sergio Garcia	44
12	Joaquin Niemann	42
13	Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra	41
14	Henrik Stenson	40
15	Paul Casey	40

Regular season team standings

1	4 Aces	140
2	Crushers	80
3	Stinger	72
4	Fireballs	69
5	Majesticks	59
6	Torque	34
7	Iron Heads	32
8	Smash	30
9	Hy Flyers	29
10	Cleeks	20
11	Punch	16
12	Niblicks	13

The top four teams at the completion of LIV Golf Jeddah will receive a bye on Day 1 of the Team Championship at Trump National Doral.

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2022 Shriners Children’s Open leaderboard, scores: Tom Hoge leads as Presidents Cup players star in Las Vegas

detlef32 — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 00:14:08 +0000

The first round leaderboard of the Shriners Children’s Open is fascinating. Tom Hoge leads after the round was suspended due to darkness Thursday with a stellar 8-under 63, but a host of players who bring interesting storylines to the table are just behind him.

While some of the biggest names in the field — Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Max Homa — didn’t ascend to the very top of the table, they’re all still very much in the mix after strong starts at TPC Summerlin. All will chase Hoge, though, over the final three days as he tries to add to his 2022 win collection after taking the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year.

Let’s take a look at his round as well as who else is in the hunt this week.

The leader

T1. Tom Hoge (-8)

Hoge was a menace in Round 1, although he said that was “a little bit unexpected” because he took some time away from golf over the last few weeks. He finished third in approach shots and third from tee to green, which means he didn’t have to putt it all that well to shoot the only 63 in the field on Thursday. This is nothing new though. Since Jan. 1, Hoge is a top 30 iron player in the world, and even higher than that if you look at PGA Tour-only players. He is unlikely to fade even if he doesn’t win what would be the second Tour victory of his career following his first in February at Pebble Beach.

There’s a lot at stake for somebody like Hoge this week, especially considering only the top 70 in the FedEx Cup rankings will make it into the FedEx Cup Playoffs this year. He’s coming off a career year in which he cleared $4 million and finished inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings for the first time in his life (he finished 10th). To improve on that would be pretty incredible.

“Yeah, I felt like last fall I got off to a good start,” Hoge said. “I’ve played well in the fall in the past. I feel like there’s a lot of good golf courses that set up well for me in the fall. That’s one of the reasons why I’m playing a lot this year still. I feel like I could get off to a nice start in the FedEx Cup. I felt like I had that last year and continue that into the west coast. Just trying to do more of the same.

“I didn’t play as well as I would have liked in the summer last year, but you get off to this nice start, and you can kind of relax even when you’re not playing as well. Just trying to play as well as I can here in the fall and give it that head start.”

Other contenders

T2. Si Woo Kim, Maverick McNealy (-7)
T4. Keith Mitchell, Thomas Detry, Will Gordon, Tom Kim, Sam Ryder, Sungjae Im (-6)

There are so many different directions we could go here, but let’s keep it locked on how well the Presidents Cup International Team showed out in Round 1. It has three players in the top 11, including last year’s winner at this event, Sungjae Im. Im got one of the featured groups this week, and he picked up where he left off not only last year but also a few weeks ago when he starred at Quail Hollow.

Si Woo Kim also mirrored his Presidents Cup finale, where he took down Justin Thomas, by getting within one of Hoge. Is it a coincidence that those guys are carrying so much into this week’s Shriner’s event? Maybe, but also maybe not considering the experience they all had.

“I was not much confidence before Presidents Cup because I didn’t finish well like at the end,” Kim said. “I think that I had great confidence from the Presidents Cup, and then like everything feels comfortable and so much tension and so much pressure on the Presidents Cup week. So now like too much calm and nothing much pressure on it. So I try to keep more focused and like positive.”

Tom Kim forever

Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim’s partner for a chunk of the week at Quail Hollow, also started strong in Vegas after an incredible quote he gave early in the week about catching Tiger Woods’ career PGA Tour record of 82 victories.

“I’m always myself,” Tom Kim said. “The situation hasn’t really changed of who I am a little bit. No, I don’t really think it’s really changed for me. I think it’s going to be the same way. Tiger has 82 wins on the PGA Tour. Until I get to 83, it’s going to be hard for me to think a little different.”

Tom Kim forever.

2022 Shriners Children’s Open updated odds and picks

Sungjae Im: 7-1
Patrick Cantlay: 15/2
Tom Hoge: 15/2
Tom Kim: 10-1
Si Woo Kim: 10-1
Maverick McNealy: 14-1

I want to believe Tom Kim is going to win this golf tournament, of course, but I’m not sure 10-1 is a great number for him at this juncture. Instead I’d love to draw your attention to Keith Mitchell, who is just outside the shortest players at 18-1. He finished fourth from tee to green and fourth on approach shots on Thursday and will be a tough out if he keeps that kind of iron play up. He’s the sharp pick here even amid the bigger names. Homa (four back) at 25-1 is also worth a look.

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2022 LIV Golf in Bangkok: Schedule, field of players, prize money, purse, live stream, watch online

detlef32 — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 08:34:02 +0000

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After four straight tournaments in the United States, LIV Golf takes its talent overseas for the first time since its inaugural event in London. Much has changed since its first tournament as the 2022 LIV Golf event in Bangkok, Thailand, will feature a much stronger field and more cohesive teams.

Leading the charge is 4 Aces GC led by LIV Boston winner Dustin Johnson. The world No. 23 has been brilliant in his LIV Golf tenure, notching not only a victory in Boston but runner-up performances in Chicago and Bedminster to go along with two other top-10 efforts.

Through five events, Johnson has garnered a total of 118 points in the season-long race while opening up a 39-point margin over Branden Grace in second. LIV Golf Chicago champion Cameron Smith occupies the third spot and will look to keep his momentum rolling in Bangkok to close the gap between he and Johnson.

The Champion Golfer of the Year checks in as the highest-ranked player in the field as he remains the world No. 3 for the time being. Despite his four-stroke victory in Chicago, Smith’s all-Australian squad Punch GC was only able to garner a tie for third in the team portion of the event.

Smith’s team, as well as Smash GC and the Hy Flyers, will attempt to put an end to the 4 Aces run which has included four straight tournament victories. Taking to a brand new golf course in a part of the world golf fans rarely see, LIV Golf Bangkok marks the first attempt at LIV Golf’s venture into becoming a global tour.

How to watch LIV Golf in Bangkok

Event: LIV Golf in Bangkok | Oct. 7-9
Start time: 11 p.m. ET (Thursday)
Location: Stonehill — Bangkok, Thailand
Live stream: LIVGolf.com, Facebook, YouTube

Teams for LIV Golf in Bangkok

4 Aces	Dustin Johnson	Pat Perez, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch
Cleeks	Martin Kaymer	Graeme McDowell, Richard Bland, Laurie Canter
Crushers	Bryson DeChambeau	Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri
Fireballs	Sergio Garcia	Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Chacarra
Hy Flyers	Phil Mickelson	Bernd Wiesberger, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale
Iron Heads	Kevin Na	Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phacara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim
Majesticks	Lee Westwood	Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sam Horsfield
Niblicks	Bubba Watson (non-playing)	Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford, James Piot, Turk Petit
Punch	Cameron Smith	Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby
Smash	Brooks Koepka	Jason Kokrak, Peter Uihlein, Chase Koepka
Stinger	Louis Oosthuizen	Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Shaun Norris
Torque	Joaquin Niemann	Scott Vincent, Hideto Tanihara, Jediah Morgan

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LIV Golf forms alliance with MENA Tour in bid to gain world ranking points for its players

detlef32 — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 07:16:07 +0000

The divergent worlds of LIV Golf and golf’s two most dominant tours, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, look on course for another major fallout after LIV Golf announced the formation of a new ‘strategic alliance’ with the little-known Middle East & North Africa Tour that could potentially see LIV Golf events being accorded Official World Golf Ranking points.

With LIV Golf events currently not qualifying for OWGR points due to their unique set up and format – 54 holes with no cut and qualification by invitation only – by aligning with the Mena Tour, players on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series could conceivably be allowed to earn OWGR points, which are used in the qualification process for the four majors and other high-profile events, including the Ryder Cup.

The Mena Tour was launched in 2011 and traditionally stages around 15 events each season, with total prize funds of around $75,000 per event. The tour, whose events are also 54 holes, has been recognised by the OWGR since 2016, although due to the weak fields does not attract anywhere near the points on offer on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour or even the Challenge Tour. The Mena Tour was suspended during the pandemic, and has so far only staged four events this year.

The alliance with the LIV Golf Invitational series will see the MENA Tour run as normal, with LIV Golf events interspersed within the Mena Tour’s schedule – almost as a tour within a tour. The alliance could come into effect as early as this Friday (October 7), the first day of the LIV Golf’s next event in Thailand, but it would require the board of the OWGR to ratify the new alliance before any points might be awarded.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Mena Tour said: “The Mena Tour today announced a strategic alliance which will result in LIV Golf Invitational events becoming part of and sanctioned by the Mena Tour, a Dubai-based golf tour which has been recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) since 2016.

“The alliance will boost the Mena Tour’s development programs and immediately qualify LIV Golf for OWGR points, starting with the LIV Golf Thailand event at Stonehill this week.

“The final field for LIV Golf Thailand, the opening event of the 2022-23 Mena Tour season, will be submitted to OWGR by the Mena Tour ahead of play commencing on Friday when the final field rating and winners’ points are expected to be confirmed. As a result of the alliance, all LIV Golf players have joined the Mena Tour.”

Atul Khosla, the president of LIV Golf, said: “We are taking this mutually beneficial action to support the game at the developmental level and because of the importance and fairness of LIV golfers qualifying for OWGR points. We’re pleased to create pathways that give more opportunities for young players, while also giving fans rankings that include all the world’s best golfers.”

Neither the PGA Tour nor the DP World Tour has so far commented on this latest development, but as both bodies have board members on the OWGR it is likely that they will have a major role to play in whether LIV Golf’s latest move is successful or not.

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Callaway players to carry St Andrews-inspired bag at 150th Open

detlef32 — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 06:06:40 +0000

Callaway, like many of the major golf brands, often creates limited edition golf bags for their tour players to use for the major championships, but this year, in celebration of the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, the company has taken things a step further by launching a competition among local schoolchildren to come up with a design to celebrate the milestone event in bag form.

The tour pro judging panel included Danny Willett, the 2021 Alfred Dunhill Links champion, and Min Woo Lee, who played The Old Course in reverse last year to commemorate the 200th birthday of four-time Open winner Old Tom Morris.As an extension of the design challenge, larger-than-life sculptures of the final ten bags have been positioned in various locations around St Andrews running up to The Open. These specially commissioned sculptures formed a new attraction, The Big Bag Trail, a route from which locals and visitors can explore the town and remains open until July 17.Iona’s winning design takes inspiration from many of St Andrews’ iconic and recognisable landmarks, including the famous Swilcan Bridge on the 18th hole of The Old Course, the colourful houses by the harbour, the historic cathedral and the town’s beautiful seafront location.After being selected as the winning artist, Iona said: “I’m thrilled that my artwork was chosen. I wanted the design to be full to the brim of all the things I love about Scotland, and for it to look recognisable and interesting to the viewer. It has been a fantastic experience to be involved in this design project with my fellow students. It will be a little bit surreal seeing my bag alongside some of the world’s best golfers, but I can’t wait.”

Handmade sculptures of the 10 shortlisted golf bag designs are being displayed around St Andrews until July 17, after which they will be auctioned for charity

Neil Howie, President and Managing Director, Callaway EMEA, added: “We have traditionally created limited edition Tour Bags for the Majors, and always take inspiration from the region in which the event is staged. While keeping to the traditions of creating a bespoke Tour Bag, we recognised the opportunity to do something different in this special year for The Open. To engage the local community in this way and to go to local students and do something like this has been truly unique. What is brilliant is that it is just so visible, and to think that Iona has the potential to see one of our Staff Professionals in contention, with her bag visible to so many people, is just phenomenal.”

Following the conclusion of The Open, the 10 sculptures from The Big Bag Trail will be auctioned at a special evening event at the Tom Morris Bar & Grill in the St Andrews Links Clubhouse on July 19, with all proceeds going to CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland) and Scottish Sports Futures (Changing Lives Through Sport).
This special auction is also accessible to the public, via bidder registration, from a virtual link HERE.

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