Golfing News & Blog Articles

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Mickelson: Tour's "Obnoxious greed that has really opened the door for opportunities elsewhere."

Phil Mickelson unleashed a torrent of criticisms at the PGA Tour from the Saudi International. After a fairly benign press conference session, Mickelson told GolfDigest.com’s John Huggan that he’s been forced to consider various business opportunities because of the Tour’s “obnoxious greed.”

The us vs. them stance, even though players appear to have more control and influence over the PGA Tour’s operation, may not resonate very well with fans. Mickelson is aware of this danger but forged ahead with some incendiary comments.

“It’s not public knowledge, all that goes on,” Mickelson said. “But the players don’t have access to their own media. If the tour wanted to end any threat [from Saudi or anywhere else], they could just hand back the media rights to the players. But they would rather throw $25 million here and $40 million there than give back the roughly $20 billion in digital assets they control. Or give up access to the $50-plus million they make every year on their own media channel.

“There are many issues, but that is one of the biggest,” he continued. “For me personally, it’s not enough that they are sitting on hundreds of millions of digital moments. They also have access to my shots, access I do not have. They also charge companies to use shots I have hit. And when I did ‘The Match’—there have been five of them—the tour forced me to pay them $1 million each time. For my own media rights. That type of greed is, to me, beyond obnoxious.”

Two parts to this stand out. The rights to “my shots” would seem motivated by a desire to cash in on NFT’s. More concerning is the claim of personally paying $1 million each time he’s played The Match and the “beyond obnoxious” green of the Tour.

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Johnson in contention to defend Saudi title

Dustin Johnson's bid for a third victory at the Saudi International began with him shooting 5-under 65, leaving him 3 strokes off the lead held by Matteo Manassero after the first round Thursday.

Titleist Velocity and TruFeel Golf Balls

The new Titleist Velocity and TruFeel golf balls are not the models most golfers associate with the manufacturer of the “#1 ball in golf.” That’s not meant to disparage either model. It’s just the reality.

Titleist offers nine different models, four of which target golfers who are willing to pay a premium for a ball that sets the industry standard for quality and consistency with Tour-level performance—five if you include AVX. The remaining four (Tour Speed, Tour Soft, Velocity and TruFeel) serve a slightly different purpose.

Golfers tend to use one of two primary criteria when purchasing a golf ball: performance or preference. Performance-conscious buyers tend to scrutinize product details and are less responsive to small price increases. Conversely, preference buyers hone in on a single attribute (distance, feel, color) and don’t mind compromising on other features in exchange for a more budget-friendly price tag.

With that, let’s dive in.

Titleist Velocity







Value Golf Balls - Top Picks




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Best Golf Tees

To be clear from the start, if you are looking for more distance or straighter drives, a different brand of golf tee probably isn’t going to provide it. MyGolfSpy’s Golf Tee Test showed pretty definitively that specialty tees provided negligible difference from a standard wooden one. Still, there might be a best golf tee out there for you. Let’s look at a few options and the reasons that might make them the best.

1. Pride Professional Tee System, 3-1/4 inch ProLength Plus Tee

The ProLength Plus tee isn’t on this list specifically because of the brand, but instead because of the length. At 3.25″ (and available up to 4″) this tee is significantly longer than most course freebie tees. This is important because a simple way for a lot of average golfers to find more distance with their driver is to hit up on the ball. The easiest way to practice hitting up on the ball? Tee up that ball higher. Additionally, the ProLength Plus paint stands out from the grass and has a marked zone to help you consistently tee it the same height. That makes it the best golf tee to (maybe) add distance to your drives.

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2. YATTA Golf Telos Premium Golf Tees

Playing better golf often comes down to consistency. Consistency with alignment, routine, and swing. Consistency also matters in tee height, helping to control the strike point of the driver. While paint marks can help, YATTA has the golfers looking for a no-brainer covered. With the Telos tee, a small rubber disc fits around the bulged stem of the tee. Once set, insert the tee down to the disc and you’ll know it stays the same height. Additionally, the rubber material (while not unbreakable) can take more of a beating than wood tees. The best golf tee for consistency is the YATTA Golf Telos Premium golf tee.

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Best Golf Gloves

The best golf glove is a simple question with multiple answers. The right glove for you will depend on preferences and likely gender. The best glove for a man who prefers all Cabretta leather will be different than a woman who likes breathable performance fabrics. Let’s look at a few options and you can decide the best for you.

The Best Men’s Performance Golf Glove

MIZUNO ELITE

Performance gloves typically have a fine line between quality and durability. Premium materials tend to wear faster in spots. The Mizuno Elite line balances these two better than any other glove tested. Soft-fitted leather provides excellent feel and grip while mesh material across the knuckles improves the fit. It’s the best performance golf glove available.

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The Best Men’s Premium Golf Glove

PXG PLAYERS

The most premium glove you can get should provide the closest experience to not wearing a glove at all. The PXG Players glove receives top marks for both comfort and fit. This means you can improve grip and protect your hands without sacrificing feel. While they can only be purchased through PXG, the Players is the best men’s premium glove.

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PGA Tour and Trackman Expanding "Use of club and ball tracking and tracer technology" for nearly every shot to help enrich the fan experience

I don’t have much to add until we see how this plays out, but you know the old saying: you can never have too much tracer on a golf broadcast. By most accounts, Trackman remains by far the best and most accurate of the launch monitors, so kudos to the PGA Tour for pushing this technology and hopefully making the fan viewing experience even better.

The most exciting potential revealed may be in the second to last paragraph, with the announcement of a mobile system to catch more shots from the fairway. Or, perhaps, the trees when a player has to shape a shot and viewers theoretically get to see the bend of the ball traced.

Overall, this means more data, better tracer coverage and more of it on PGA Tour Live coverage. How much is adopted by the networks using the Tour feed remains to be seen.

For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR selects TrackMan™ tracking and tracing solution beginning in 2022

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Viewing Times: PIFSIPSIA From Glorious Royal Greens

Pebble Beach is the Louvre. It isn’t just the Louvre, it’s everything in the Louvre, too, with all the artists gathered around. BING CROSBY

/ Geoff Shackelford

With a number of players looking to broaden their horizons and soak up the culture of Saudi Arabia, they’ve chosen to take up residency on the Asian Tour this week in the Public Investment Fund Saudi International Powered By Softbank Investment Advisors (PIFSIPSIA).

For American viewers here are your broadcast times:

The PIF Saudi International is the first event of the 2022 Asian Tour season and will take place this week from Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. Dustin Johnson has won two of the past three editions of the tournament (2019, 2021) and looks to defend last year’s title. 

Live coverage begins Thursday at 3 a.m. ET on GOLF Channel. 

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Best Vice Golf Balls of 2022

A few years many golfers might not have never seen a Vice ball if they stumbled across one in the woods on their local course. Those days are long gone as Vice is now a known and respected brand. Like the major OEMs, Vice offers a full line of balls suited to a variety of golfers. Since you can’t pick up a sleeve to try in the pro shop, however, how will you know what ball is best for you? Here, we’ll look at the best Vice golf ball for a number of different types of player.

BEST VICE GOLF BALL FOR HIGH SPEED SWINGS

Vice Pro Plus

The Vice Pro Plus golf ball has 4-Piece construction with a cast urethane cover. Vice designed the ball to provide the lower launch and spin desired by many fast swingers. MyGolfSpy ball testing also showed the Pro Plus to be a strong performer with irons. It finished within the top 10 for distance with high speed iron swings, but with a manageable spin number to hold greens. That’s what makes the Pro Plus the best Vice golf ball for high speed swings.

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BEST VICE GOLF BALL FOR MEDIUM SPEED SWINGS

Vice Pro

For golfers who sit in the center of the bell curve for speed, spin, and ability, the Vice Pro is an all-around strong performer. The three-piece design, mid-firm compression, and cast urethane cover hit the mark for distance, green-side spin, and feel. While it might not lead the pack in any particular area, it also doesn’t fall behind. With no need to compromise, the Pro is the best Vice golf ball for medium swing speeds.

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Berger out of Pebble Beach Pro-Am with injury

Defending champion Daniel Berger was forced to pull out of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Wednesday because of a back injury.

Mickelson: Threat of rival league helps players

Phil Mickelson says the threat of a rival golf league has already been good for PGA Tour players.

PGA best bets for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

The PGA Tour continues with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday. Here are our best bets for the event.

How to watch the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on ESPN+

The stars are out this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Here is how to watch on ESPN+.

Which player is ready for their breakthrough moment on the PGA Tour?

Luke List got his a week ago at the Farmers Insurance Open. A bunch of other players -- some names you should know, some you should learn -- appear ready for their time.

LPGA All-Access Episode 2 From The CME Group Tour

The Monterey Peninsula was designed by nature as a great golfing center. The ocean had eaten its way into the coast and made innumerable little bays and arms of the sea. There are sandy beaches, headlands and capes covered with good turf and grass. The setting offered a wonderful opportunity for the genius of the architect. SAMUEL MORSE

/ Geoff Shackelford

Episode 2 of the LPGA’s all-access docuseries is now live on YouTube and embedded below. The stories of Gaby Lopez and Amy Olson continue, including a pickleball primer from Olson.

As noted yesterday when Ep. 1 was posted, this comes without the Netflix-sized budget and massive star power, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Check it out.

This gives me an idea too: imagine a channel devoted to the game that would share these stories. Like, just spitballing here, an all-inclusive place that really is devoted to the sport? You just leave it on all day, they care about the sport we love that has an $84 billion economic impact in America but it also beloved around the world. Too crazy?


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Farmers First Saturday Finish Farmers Ratings: Down A Bit But...

The Monterey Peninsula was designed by nature as a great golfing center. The ocean had eaten its way into the coast and made innumerable little bays and arms of the sea. There are sandy beaches, headlands and capes covered with good turf and grass. The setting offered a wonderful opportunity for the genius of the architect. SAMUEL MORSE

/ Geoff Shackelford

It would have been a disaster had someone tried to compete against the NFL’s AFC and NFC Championship games given this year’s massive numbers and the almost non-existent numbers for sports going against the football.

Showbuzzdaily has all the Nielsen numbers, starting with those eye-popping NFL numbers: 23.35/50.2 million for the NFC title game on Fox featuring the Rams victory over the 49ers, and a 23.62/47.8 million average for CBS’s broadcast of the Bengal’s win over the Chiefs.

The 2022 Farmers final round wrapping on Saturday drew a 1.71 Nielsen rating with a 2.67 million viewer average.

Friday’s third round on CBS drew a .95/1.4 million average viewership.


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Today In Golf Saudi: Another $100 Million For Asian Tour, Norman Talks And Poulter Gets Huge Offer

The Monterey Peninsula was designed by nature as a great golfing center. The ocean had eaten its way into the coast and made innumerable little bays and arms of the sea. There are sandy beaches, headlands and capes covered with good turf and grass. The setting offered a wonderful opportunity for the genius of the architect. SAMUEL MORSE

/ Geoff Shackelford

Have you showered yet? If not, wait until after you’ve read this post.

Over at The Quadrilateral I summed up and dissected the lack of deep hidden meaning in Greg Norman’s pre-PIFSIPSIA presser to announce another $100 million for the Asian Tour’s new series of international events. Which, as first reported by Alistair Tait here and Ewan Murray here, is a bold foray outside of the Asian Tour’s normal confines. You can read more details on the series that might act as a feeder tour for the Saudi Golf League or even as placeholder events converted into stops should the superstar league go forward.

In The Telegraph, James Corrigan reported exclusively on the lavish offer of $20-30 million for Ian Poulter to commit and, in all likelihood, kiss a future Ryder Cup captaincy goodbye. Ironic since his Ferrari collection is worth about that much and built off of his Ryder Cup play.

Trying to gauge where all of this stands, Murray posted this analysis at The Guardian and wondered if using the Ryder Cup as leverage could backfire.


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Zalatoris out of Pebble Beach with positive test

Will Zalatoris has withdrawn from the Pebble Beach Pro-Am after testing positive for COVID-19.


GolfLynk.com