Golfing News & Blog Articles

Tony Finau has returned to action after a positive COVID-19 test and what sound like the worst known symptoms experienced by a PGA Tour player since the pandemic has begun.

After carding a second round 64 at Sherwood to land T6 (-11) in the 2020 ZOZO Championship, Finau spoke to reporters about the experience.

I was present for much of Finau’s chat and he’s both a testament to the PGA Tour’s testing program, but also to the role players who have tested positive can play in spreading an enlightened message about mask wearing and distancing.

From Bob Harig’s ESPN.com story on Finau that is very much worth your time.

Finau, 31, said he started to experience flu-like symptoms on Oct. 3. Two days later, he drove from his Salt Lake City home to the tournament in Las Vegas. He was tested the following day, with the positive result forthcoming.

"For the first five days, it got worse," said Finau, who was required by the PGA Tour to quarantine in Las Vegas for 10 days -- with a $75,000 stipend provided. "I had massive headaches, body aches. I didn't feel like doing anything. It got me really good -- fatigue-wise. I'm very active. Work out quite often. Always playing golf or with my kids and quite active. It knocked me down. There's no question about it.

"For those 10 days, I didn't feel like doing anything. I obviously didn't get to practice. I lost my taste and smell after about four days. Still don't have it back. That kind of sucks; I'm quite a foodie. It was not the experience I thought I was going to have. Most guys are asymptomatic. They say if you're young and healthy, it's not a big deal. I think I gained some respect for the virus."

It was the coolest day in months around southern California but still comfortable enough for short sleeves.

Sherwood Country Club is immaculate.

There are five par-5’s.

The ball goes forever and there isn’t a snap hook in sight.

Oh, and the players have never been more athletic, intelligent, etc...

TT has he/she/it/they have been known—aka Tiger Tracker—has become a staple of GolfChannel.com’s presence on social media. The 8-year-old account had become the go-to for fans to track Woods’s every move and could even, at times, become a tad cultish as those who questioned the anonymous Tweeter’s wisdom.

Nonetheless, at 438,800 Twitter followers, it was Golf Channel’s second most-followed account but easily its most beloved. While not profitable, TT was quite good at the whole “engagement” thing MBA types mention as vital to their businesses.

But with the channel laying off most staff and sending a small number to Connecticut to put a bare bones channel on the air until an inevitable move of PGA Tour coverage to Peacock, layoffs have apparently eliminated those behind the beloved Twitter follow.

Tiger Tracker has not posted since September 23rd and sat out Tiger’s opening two rounds in his 20200 ZOZO Championship defense. Fans have been inundating both the official account and folks like myself wanting answers.

How revered is the Tracker? Even Golf Channel’s official account briefly wondered where TT was during Thursday’s opening round before the delete button was struck.

Some are counting down to the rescheduled fall Masters to savor a tradition most definitely not like any other we want to do again. Others, well, are looking forward to Bryson DeChambeau highlighting previously unknown design dimensions to Augusta National.

The 2020 U.S. Open Champion provided this Instagram story update on his rest, training and speed work in advance of the Masters (embed above).

Tony Finau feels better, and he is thankful for that. With his health and his game improving, he has his eyes set on the Masters.

Justin Thomas went from a fast finish a day ago to a fast start Friday in the Zozo Championship at Sherwood before closing with six straight pars for a 1-shot lead.

Tiger Woods matched his lowest score of 2020 with a 6-under 66, but he remained 12 shots behind leader Justin Thomas at the Zozo Champoinship.

Ally McDonald shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead in the LPGA Drive On Championship-Lake Reynolds Oconee.

 

The post 7th Annual NCGA Two-Person Scramble Championship appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

Laurie Canter is eyeing a maiden European Tour title after adding a second-round 68 to his spectacular opening 12-under 60 to keep the lead at the halfway stage of the Italian Open on Friday.

As the PGA Tour visits Sherwood Country Club below, Wayne Gretzky has listed his Richard Landry-designed and Lenny Dykstra-redecorated estate for $22.9 million, reports the LA Times’s Jack Fleming.

Overlooking the course hosting this week’s ZOZO Championship, the home has quite a history.

It’s actually Gretzky’s second time selling the home. The NHL Hall of Famer was the compound’s original owner after having it built in 2002, but five years later, he sold it to former baseball star Lenny Dykstra for $18.5 million.

The sale kicked off a dramatic saga that saw Dykstra lose the property to foreclosure after declaring bankruptcy, at which point it sold at auction on the steps of the Ventura County Courthouse for $760,712 (with the winning bidder taking on about $12 million in debt owed on the property).

Then, two years ago, Gretzky reunited with the home, shelling out $13.5 million for the promontory estate. That’s $5 million less than the price at which he had sold it to Dykstra roughly a decade earlier; if he gets his price this time around, he stands to make $9.4 million in profit.

Never one to be entirely consistent, former PGA and Open Champion John Daly took in the 2020 Presidential debate as a guest of Donald Trump. Along with buddy Kid Rock, the pair had to be asked to pull up masks, as mandated by the debate commission, Des Bieler reports.

Not long after the two settled into their seats at Belmont University’s Curb Event Center, they were reportedly asked to put on masks. Daly and Kid Rock complied, but to judge from a number of photos taken of them, they weren’t always assiduous in keeping them pulled up.

Daly, diabetic and battling bladder cancer, was a mask advocate in April and withdrew from the PGA Championship over California’s COVID-19 infection rate.

His post last night from the debate:

View this post on Instagram

Beyond blessed to watch one of best @realdonaldtrump #Trump at #PresidentialDebate2020 #Debates2020 with my boy @kidrock TRUMP MTHA FUCKAS 🚂🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

October 24, 2020

2020 NCGA Tournament Volunteer of the Year–Phil Sexton

 

After nearly six decades of playing golf, Rancho Murieta Country Club member Phil Sexton got a nudge from his good friend, Doug Ruley.

“He suggested I become a volunteer tournament official for the NCGA,” Sexton said.

October 24, 2020

2020 NCGA Course Rater of the Year–Kern Hunewill

 

Kern Hunewill is one of those people who, when he does something, he’s going to give his all. There is no halfway.

At the age of 12, he got a job at Yancey Lumber Yard in his hometown of Newman.  Now 69, today he owns the business.

Since its inception in 1959, the Nippon Shaft mantra has been Steel For Life.

In 1999, Nippon added “light” to the steel equation with the 950GH. It was the industry’s first sub-100-gram constant-weight steel shaft. Since then, Nippon has released more light hits than Air Supply. That light quest culminated in 2013 with the Nippon Zelos line – the lightest steel shafts you can buy.

Now, we’d like to get some feedback from MyGolfSpy readers.

Head to the Nippon Zelos iron shaft testing thread in the forum to APPLY

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

What We Tried

Fiix Elbow, a tennis elbow treatment device that leverages established therapeutic practices in the comfort of your own home.

Your Fiix Elbow User

Tony Covey – resident jack-of-all-trades (and master of absolutely nothing) who missed out on the better part of six months of golf with a bad elbow. I can’t be the only one.

How I Got Here

About a year and a half ago, I noticed stiffness in my right arm while lying in bed. The pain wasn’t intense; more of an I should stretch that kind of feeling.

You want something fresh and different in golf broadcasting? Of late it’s been slim pickings after CBS’s run this summer, but huge points go to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan for working as an on-course reporter.

Whan covered round one of the LPGA Drive On Championship near Lake Oconee and pulled off a veritable miracle in modern golf: on-course, mid-round interviews.

From Beth Ann Nichols’ Golfweek report on the Whan experiment:

Whan even conducted mid-round interviews, asking players what they would do if they were commissioner for an hour.

“Hire Mike Whan back!” said Kang, who looked more nervous than usual with a mic in her face.

The video:

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Sebastian Munoz twice holed out for eagle from a combined distance of 219 yards and added eight birdies for an 8-under 64 and a one-shot lead in the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

Tiger Woods played three par-5 holes over par in the same round for the first time in his PGA Tour career Thursday on the way to a first-round 76 at the Zozo Championship at Sherwood Country Club.

He hinted that there was still plenty of work to be done before his Masters title defense in a few weeks. All an opening-round 76 at the Zozo Championship did was illustrate he was right all along.