Golfing News & Blog Articles

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Asian Tour expanding in Middle East, into UK

Fronted by Greg Norman, a 10-event International Series will be added to the Asian Tour, with stops in UK and the Middle East.

Rymer: "Announcers want to cover the game in ways that are relatable to the fans. These days, in so many ways, that’s just not possible"

The Big Timer Charlie Rymer scores plenty of points in this look at how painful golf TV announcing has gotten and it’s not the announcers he blames.

The former Tour player and longtime Golf Channel personality addresses some of the worst Tim Finchem messes left behind, namely the wraparound schedule’s ability to kill the opening day buzz, the FedExCup’s continued problems, the relentless FedEx “impressions” effort (that’s been worse under the new TV deal) and where the PGA Tour hides announcers that don’t follow their lame scripts.

FedEx has the relationship with the PGA TOUR because it’s a good business decision for them. Somewhere in Memphis, a bean counter does all the fancy math counting up “impressions” and distributing the beans across silos and gives the deal a thumbs up. Because of that (and if you haven’t noticed), there’s a season-long bonus pool where PGA TOUR players get astronomical bonuses for their finish on the final list. They have this thing called the FedEx Cup Playoffs that end the season, and somebody gets $15 million and a really cool trophy. I’m pretty sure the winner doesn’t care about the trophy.

Players finishing all the way to 125 on the list get nice bonuses, too. Great for the players. Great for FedEx. Great for the PGA TOUR execs who put the deal together.

Problem is, the event has an awkward format that has evolved over the years and every few years has to get reinvented. When it was first announced by former commissioner Tim Finchem at a press conference in Atlanta, he indicated that the PGA TOUR has the deal and will now get to work figuring out the format. Fifteen years later, they’re still figuring.

Report: Asian Tour Eyes London Area Stop

Pebble Beach and Cypress Point make you want to play. Spyglass Hill -- that's different; that makes you want to go fishing. JACK NICKLAUS

/ Geoff Shackelford

Golf organizations are generally territorial when it comes to crossing continents, so as troops amass on several borders this week, now we learn the Asian Tour is reportedly looking at an unthinkable incursion on DP World Tour territory this June.

Alister Tait reports that Aramco (eh em…) is going to sponsor an event the week before the U.S. Open. The site: Centurion Club north of London, just 31 miles from DP World Tour headquarters and formerly home to a couple of European Tour events. Tait writes:

Aramco appears set to run back-to-back men’s and women’s events at the course between St Albans and Hemel Hempstead. The $1 million Aramco Series London tournament on the Ladies European Tour is set for June 16-18, one of four Aramco sponsored tournaments on the LET along with Sotogrande, New York and Jeddah. The men’s tournament is pencilled into the week previous to the London date, clashing with the $1 million Scandinavian Mixed hosted by Henrik & Annika, a co-sanctioned event between the DP World Tour and LET.

It’s also no unreasonable to assume any event added to the Asian Tour is a placeholder of sorts for a tour run by LIV Golf/Greg Norman/Journalist Murder.


Netflix, Schnetflix: LPGA Debuts "All Access" Doc On YouTube

With all of the euphoria over Netflix’s investment into a documentary series that’s at least a year away, nice to see the LPGA taking on such project on a more manageable scale. Even better, it’s almost here to view for free on YouTube.

The press release and YouTube page where you can see a behind-the-scenes look at LPGA life:

“LPGA All Access: CME Group Tour Championship”
Behind-the-Scenes Documentary to Debut on LPGA Platforms

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 31, 2022 – The LPGA today announced the premiere of “LPGA All Access: CME Group Tour Championship,” a behind-the-scenes documentary detailing the excitement, competition and glamour of the Tour’s 2021 crowning event. The series will air on YouTube and LPGA.com, with three 15-minute episodes debuting at 8 p.m. EST on Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2.

Filmed on location in Naples, Fla., at the 2021 CME Group Tour Championship, “LPGA All Access” will share exclusive moments with players, caddies, sponsors and staff, both on and off the course. Featured moments include:

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Pebble Blues: Even Korn Ferry Players Passing Up Clambake For Panama's Level 4 Status

There is no thrill in driving over an ugly hazard. ALISTER MACKENZIE

/ Geoff Shackelford

With Level 4 State Department status (“Do Not Travel”) you’d think going to Club de Golf de Panama might be low on the list of Korn Ferry Tour members. But every dollar counts when you’re trying to secure a PGA Tour card and money made at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am doesn’t mean a thing toward your season long effort so, not surprisingly, players are opting to take on the double whammy of crime and COVID over the Monterey Peninsula.

In that sense, this is a win for the KFT structure and speaks to the player determination to get their card. But passing up what was once a signature Tour event where the prominent and powerful gather is also quite surreal to see. Some good news: the worst crime areas cited by the Department of State are a decent distance from the KFT’s Panama Championship. They’ve got that going for them.

The AT&T has seen its field depleted by all the waivers granted to play the Saudi’s PIFSIPSIA stop on the Asian Tour. So with three courses and pro-am slots needing a pro, the opportunity exists to play Pebble Beach, Spyglass and MPCC like never before. Yet it appears the AT&T is headed toward a Charlie Beljan late-add at this pace. And some lucky big spender is guaranteed to get Grayson Murray for three rounds. Enjoy that!


PXG Sugar Daddy II Wedges

PXG has announced a new line of Sugar Daddy II wedges.Two grinds (BP and C) will be offered.Hudson Swafford had two Sugar Daddy II wedges in the bag while winning the American Express.Retail price is $450 each.

If you find PXG confusing, the launch of the Sugar Daddy II wedge probably isn’t going to help un-muddy the waters. We’re talking about a golf company that sells $35 dog collars, $500 winter jackets and $220 drivers. And while dogs are inarguably awesome and (full disclosure) I would wear the absolute [expletive deleted] out of the Logo Tape Puffer Jacket (it’s cold here, man), making sense of PXG Founder Bob Parsons’ master plan for the brand is a challenge.

Detractors believe low prices are a sign the company is going under. PXG insiders say the company has thrived through the pandemic. The price slashing that many saw as evidence of the company’s inevitable failure was actually a course correction in response to opportunities created by COVID-19. For better or worse, it’s the kind of agility that’s only possible when the business model doesn’t depend on satisfying retail accounts.

So, when the world went south in early 2019, PXG went all-in on golf. Beholden to no one, it cut prices and bought an arguably excessive amount of inventory from suppliers.

The result? Not only is its golf equipment pricing the most golfer-friendly in the game right now, PXG has the fastest shipping times you’ll find industry-wide. That’s due in no small part to the fact that, in addition to its own parts, PXG has just about every shaft or grip you could want in inventory.













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PGA Tour Power Rankings: Everybody is chasing Jon Rahm

There is no debate: Jon Rahm is the best player in the world. Who comes after him? Now that is a different story.

Special Saudi Edition Of Pros Say The Funniest Things Begins! First Up: Monty

There is no thrill in driving over an ugly hazard. ALISTER MACKENZIE

/ Geoff Shackelford

We know the grow-the-games will be flying this week when top player descent on Saudi Arabia for the PIFSIPSIA cash grab and audition for those two peas in a pod, Greg Norman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. I anticipate some fabulous rationalizations. But I did not expect Monty earn the week’s first eye-roll.

Andrew Wright summed up Monty’s contribution from a BBC interview at the Dubai Desert Classic.

"It's a shame it's come to this,” Montgomerie told BBC Sport. “We used to work well with the Asian Tour and now we are at loggerheads because of money. It's a problematic issue. It's that horrible, evil word, money. The mighty dollar ruling people's hearts and minds. 

“We never played the game for money on the European Tour when I first started out. I was trying to see how much better I could get as a golfer. Now it's all about that evil word, money. Let's hope the European Tour is closer to the PGA Tour than we've ever been before and we can fight it off."


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Patrick Newcomb Wins APGA Tour Event To Farmers Insurance Invitational

l have some reading to do because as the press release says below, the “APGA Tour is a non-profit organization with the mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry.”

And the winner of the televised APGA Tour stop finishing Sunday at Torrey Pines has Korn Ferry Tour status, so why he is eligible is also unclear.

GolfDigest.com’s Tod Leonard was on hand and writes:

The APGA is a tour that was founded to give minorities more opportunities to play professional golf, but it has not closed the door on anyone either. Tour officials estimate that about 15 percent of the competitors are white, and Newcomb is one of those golfers. He qualified for the Farmers Invitational by finishing fourth on last year’s APGA money list, having started to play the tour in 2021 because it offered more events than other circuits during the pandemic.

I’m just going to leave it there and let you read Cameron Morfit’s game story at PGATour.com or the press release below, or below that, the funeral winning putt.

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Hovland Heads To No. 3 In World After Dubai Triumph

There is no thrill in driving over an ugly hazard. ALISTER MACKENZIE

/ Geoff Shackelford

Highlighting world ranking status is not normally my thing but it’s mighty impressive to see Viktor Hovland win for the sixth time in less than two years and rise to No. 3 in the world upon winning the Dubai Desert Classic.

He had help from Rory McIlroy who needed to par 18 to join a playoff with Hovland Richard Bland. But found the water on his approach to the par-5 en route to a bogey six.

From Ewan Murray’s Guardian story:

Onlookers will speculate over whether McIlroy was correct to take on the last green from 260 yards. He had miraculously saved par from a bush on the previous hole, perhaps rendering a further dice with danger unwise. The counterpoints relate to McIlroy’s regular – and regularly successful – policy of being aggressive and that he was hardly planning to mis-hit a fairway wood. McIlroy did not become essential viewing by playing percentages.


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Ko holds off Kang to win at Boca Rio on LPGA

Lydia Ko won for the second straight season after enduring a three-year slump and picked up her 17th victory on the LPGA Tour.

Better Ballstriking!

It has been incredible to watch my students work this concept into their golf swing and witness how much better they start to strike the golf ball. It’s ball first, crisp contact where the compression improves almost immediately. If you struggle with thins, scrappy heavy hits and even some blocks and hooks then this thought is a good one for you to try. As always there is a video coming, but today I’m going to lead off with what I’d like you to feel….

As you get to the top of your backswing your lead/front side is lower than the trail side. In transition I want you to keep the lead side low for as long as possible into the downswing

Feel like you’re “surfing down the wave” into the golf ball

Work against drifting the upper body in front of the ball. There should be no upper body sway as you start down

While the lead side will elevate at impact, strive to keep that front shoulder staying as low as possible

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Hovland wins Dubai; Rory doomed by late bogey

Viktor Hovland beat Richard Bland in a playoff to win the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday after Rory McIlroy missed a chance to win the title in regulation.

What We Learned From The 2022 Farmers

Golf is the one game in which the player's ball is not subject to the interference of the opponent. It is a question of supremacy of accurate strokes without human interference, but there exists interference, nevertheless, and its name is 'hazard,' which is golfese for trouble. A.W. TILLINGHAST

List beats Zalatoris in Farmers playoff for first win

Luke List fended off Will Zalatoris well after sunset with a birdie on the first playoff hole at Torrey Pines.

Ko leads windy Gainbridge LPGA by 2 strokes

Lydia Ko shot even-par 72 in winds that were a steady 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 33 mph, as only four players broke par Saturday at the Gainbridge LPGA. She leads by two strokes.

Farmers Initially Balked At Saturday Finish, Now Seems Here To Stay

Loads of good stuff can be found in this Bryce Miller column about the new and, apparently, permanent Saturday finish as long as the Farmers Insurance Open finishes on AFC/NFC Championship Sunday.

“Do you really want to know?” Farmers Insurance CEO Jeff Dailey told the Union-Tribune on Friday at Torrey Pines, when asked about his initial feelings. “It was presented as a choice at first. Do you go with Wednesday through Saturday? Or do you go to NBC and keep the Thursday-Sunday format?

“My initial, ‘upset’ reaction was, let’s go to NBC. Then cooler heads prevailed.”

Does this mean cooler heads prefer CBS to NBC?

Miller says the loss of the pro-am caused by a quick turnaround from the previous week cost the Century Club $1 million. But ultimately Farmers wants ratings and Saturday’s later finish is their best chance for the largest audience.

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McIlroy makes charge in Dubai, two shots off pace

South Africa's Justin Harding retained a two-shot lead after Day 3 at the Dubai Desert Classic on Saturday, ahead of Rory McIlroy.

Zalatoris, Day share Farmers lead after 3 rounds

Will Zalatoris and Jason Day charged past Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas at Torrey Pines to share the third-round lead at the Farmers Insurance Open.


GolfLynk.com