Your 2021 picks: Our top 10 golf course ranking lists (No. 1 is a 'state' of mind)

Your 2021 picks: Our top 10 golf course ranking lists (No. 1 is a 'state' of mind)

The champagne is on ice. The countdown has started. Before you know it, 2022 will be upon us.

For the final days of 2021, we’ve been offering up a snapshot of the top 10 stories from each of Golfweek’s most popular sections, including travel, the PGA and LPGA tours, instruction and amateur golf. Here’s what we’ve already counted down.

Today, we’re focusing on one of the biggest areas for Golfweek — golf course lists.

Here’s a look at the top 10 golf course lists, as clicked on by you (we should note, this doesn’t include yardage books or the individual course stories that were featured on Thursday):

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The best moment in golf from 2021? It might have happened at Augusta, but it wasn't from a player.

The best moment in golf from 2021? It might have happened at Augusta, but it wasn't from a player.

When thinking about the most memorable moment from this year in golf, it’s tough to narrow down a single fracture of time. 2021 was loaded with noteworthy events.

Tiger Woods, 10 months removed from nearly losing his right leg, teed it up alongside his son at the PNC Championship — and looked pretty damn good doing it.

Jon Rahm was forced to withdraw from the Memorial after building a stranglehold on the tournament through three rounds due to a positive COVID-19 test. Patrick Cantlay can thank the virus for that win.

Jordan Spieth, who seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth after his 2017 Open victory, returned to form in the early part of the calendar eventually winning the Valero Texas Open.

I could go on.

But after sitting down, it became clear what the best moment was.

After Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese player to win the Masters, all eyes were on him — until they weren’t.

Shota Hayafuji, Matsuyama’s caddie, upon returning the flagstick into Holly’s green one final time, faced the 18th fairway, but in a larger sense the golf course as a whole.

And with the detached flag in hand, bowed to the National.

It didn’t take long for the gesture to take over social media, creating a moment of self-reflection for the entirety of the golfing world. And in that time fans, media, and other plays alike realized how important this game is, and what it means to us all.

It means everything.

Now, as we go into the new year, let Hayafuji’s gesture serve as a reminder, as guidance, on how to not only play the game but how to go through life.

With respect.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Remembering those we lost from the world of golf in 2021

Remembering those we lost from the world of golf in 2021

The world of golf said goodbye to host of legends and icons in 2021.

The game of golf touches so many and those who contribute to its success come from all over.

The list includes a famous golf-course architect, a key figure in the USGA, Tiger Woods’ coach at Stanford, a pioneer of the game who finally got to participate in the ceremonial Masters tee shot as well as innovators, coaches, and a comedian, as well as golf writers and broadcasters.

As we prepare to turn the calendar to 2022, let’s not forget those who have left their mark on the game.

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During a chaotic and incredible year, college star Rachel Heck didn't want to make 'rash decisions' about NIL

During a chaotic and incredible year, college star Rachel Heck didn't want to make 'rash decisions' about NIL

Perhaps the best way to sum up the historic year Rachel Heck had is to listen as she discusses what went through her mind standing on the 18th green holding up the NCAA championship trophy in Scottsdale, Arizona, in May.

This had been one of her goals for so long, and an unlikely one even after years of being hailed as maybe the best women’s golf prospect to ever emerge from the Memphis area. Here she was representing Stanford, the dream school she committed to as a freshman at St. Agnes, a dream that had to be deferred even longer because COVID-19 shut down the campus in the fall of 2020.

She wondered if this would even be possible, and it had nothing to do with her driver or her putter or the rest of the prodigious skills she so carefully cultivated, starting out at Chickasaw Country Club, then Windyke Country Club and, more recently, Spring Creek Golf Course and TPC Southwind.

So this moment, a moment that further cemented her as one of the world’s best amateur golfers, became a moment of clarity as well.

Stanford University golfer Rachel Heck celebrates with her father Robert Heck after being crowned individual medalist during the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. Joe Camporeale / USA TODAY Sports.

“I think my mindset kind of changed after COVID,” Heck said. “There was a long period where I wasn’t able to play and I missed it so much. I didn’t know when I was going to be able to play again. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to go to Stanford. So I was just happy to be playing golf.”

Heck embodied what it meant to persevere and thrive as an athlete through a pandemic that continues to wreak havoc on sports, and became one of the symbols for the new name, image, likeness era that has completely changed the notion of what a college athlete can do.

Put simply: There was no Memphis-based sports figure who accomplished more over the past 12 months.

Heck, 20, became just the third freshman to sweep the NCAA golf postseason, winning her conference championship, her NCAA regional title, and the national championship. She was only the second freshman to win the ANNIKA Award, given annually to the best women’s Division I golfer. Her scoring average over 25 rounds of college golf (69.76) is also the lowest in NCAA history.

Heck also made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur and made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open for the second time in four years. She finished the year at No. 3 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings and No. 2 in the Golfweek/Amateur.Golf.com rankings.

“All the golf accomplishments just added on to what was already an insanely special year,” Heck said. “In my day-to-day life, I don’t find happiness from knowing that I won the national championship. I find happiness from my friends and everyone at Stanford and my coach. They’re what really matters.”

Stanford University golfer Rachel Heck tees off on the 11th hole during the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. Joe Camporeale / USA TODAY Sports.

This perspective is a boon in light of all the other opportunities afforded Heck because of her achievements.

She is an example of how a college athlete’s ability to make money off name, image, and likeness can’t simply be viewed through the prism of professionalizing college sports. It’s not just about football and men’s basketball, either. It’s also a tool to keep athletes in school.

Heck is now represented by Excel Sports Management, the same New York-based agency that works with Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, and Brooks Koepka, among others. She has only signed one marketing deal at the moment with Six Star Pro Nutrition, she said, although there have been numerous other offers to sort through.

“I just wanted to do this process right, not make any rash decisions, not sign any contracts the day after NIL was finalized by the NCAA,” Heck explained.

More importantly, though, it helps offset the pressure to turn pro that a golfer of her acclaim might have previously felt.

“For me, I don’t want to go pro anyways,” Heck said. “But I think the incentive was to monetize how you’re playing. If you’re playing well, some people look at it as a waste to stay in college when you could be making money off of that now.”

“To know that you can make money while playing in college gives you the best of both worlds. I really do think it’s going to keep a lot of people in college, which is so important. If you get your degree, the Tour will always be there.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Golf instruction with Steve Scott: Play golf faster and enjoy the day

Golf instruction with Steve Scott: Play golf faster and enjoy the day

Is there anything worse than getting stuck behind a group on the golf course that’s reading putts like they’re on the PGA Tour? Or waits for the fairway to clear when they have 350 yards to work with?

It’s the worst.

Well, this week, Golfweek‘s Director of Instruction Steve Scott is once again reporting from Sleepy Hollow Country Club, this time with several tips for playing faster and becoming a player other golfers want to be grouped with.

Click here to watch previous episodes of “Golf Instruction with Steve Scott” including Gator-clamp putting, iron play, and flop shots.

Click here to sign up for Golfweek‘s free weekly Get Better newsletter. You can also sign up six other free newsletters, sent right to your inbox.

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Why Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are the big winners in the PGA's new payout system:

 

Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods cashing in $14 million with PGA’s new player payouts.

“Player Impact Program (PIP)”

The PIP list is tabulated according to five different metrics: Google searches, global media exposure (called Meltwater Mentions), social media reach (MPV Index), Nielsen TV ratings and Q-Score.

 

Golf Channel confirmed Mickelson’s boast and reported that Tiger Woods — who didn’t play in any official PGA events this year due to his debilitating car crash in February — earned $6 million for second place.

The PGA Tour denied to Golf Channel that these results are official, saying that the PIP runs through the end of the year and then must pass through an independent auditor. 

Related: PHIL MICKELSON TO DO SOMETHING HE'S NOT DONE IN 21 YEARS ON PGA TOUR

The PIP list is tabulated according to five different metrics: Google searches, global media exposure (called Meltwater Mentions), social media reach (MPV Index), Nielsen TV ratings and Q-Score.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson after The Match in 2018.
 
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson after The Match in 2018.
Getty Images for The Match

 

The rich are getting even richer in the PGA Tour’s new player payout system.

In 2021, the PGA Tour introduced a new “Player Impact Program (PIP)”, to reward golfers who generate the most buzz for the sport. Phil Mickelson tweeted that he took home first place, which comes with an $8 million prize.


If Woods, who turned 46 on Thursday, can take second place in a year where he doesn’t even compete, just imagine what could happen if he has a big comeback in 2022. 

 

Next:

 Tiger Woods return: 2022 golf tournaments that may be landing spots for 15-time major champion :

  25 Golf Moments From 2021 You Might Have Forgotten — But Phil Mickelson Didn't 

Source: nypost.com

Your 2021 picks: Our top 10 golf course architecture/travel stories (No. 1 is a famous track reincarnated)

Your 2021 picks: Our top 10 golf course architecture/travel stories (No. 1 is a famous track reincarnated)

As you’re relaxing during the holiday break, taking stock of your year in golf and thinking about where you might play in 2022, we figured this would be a good time to run through the numbers and tally up which travel stories drew your attention.

For the final days of 2021, we’re offering up a snapshot of the top 10 stories from each of Golfweek’s most popular sections, including travel, the PGA and LPGA tours, instruction and amateur golf. Here’s what we’ve already counted down.

Here’s a look at the top 10 golf travel stories, as clicked on by you (we should note, this doesn’t include lists, which will be featured on Friday):

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A one-acre putting course hopes to attract scratch golfers, novice players to this California golf course

A one-acre putting course hopes to attract scratch golfers, novice players to this California golf course

PALM DESERT, Calif. — Jay Blasi knows there is only one reason for a one-acre putting green to exist.

“A putting green, a large putting green or a putting course, is a place for people to come and have fun,” said Blasi, the designer behind a one-acre green under construction at Shadow Mountain Golf Club in Palm Desert. “The beauty of it is golfers from age 4 to 94 can come out, and scratch golfers and people who have never played a full round of golf can enjoy it.”

What course officials are calling a one-of-a-kind attraction for the desert, the one-acre putting surface is the first step in new course owner Lindi Biggi’s plans to revive Shadow Mountain after several years of the course teetering on the edge of closure.

“Originally, it was the most hot spot in the whole area,” Biggi said of the course she took over on Aug. 13. “It’s going to be back to that. It’s going to be an adult playground.”

Perhaps the most famous putting course in the world is the Himalayas Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, which covered about two acres near the second tee of the famed Old Course. The Shadow Mountain course will be half that size, but at one acre it will still cover between 40,000 and 45,000 square feet, or about the size of nine or 10 regular greens at Shadow Mountain.

Jay Blasi, a golf course architect based in Los Gatos, California, walks along the large putting green he is working on at Shadow Mountain Golf Club in Palm Desert, California. (Photo: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun)

“You could set this up an infinite number of ways,” Blasi said. “Touchstone (which is operating the course for Biggi) has operational freedom out here, You could put a hundred cups and let people use it as a giant putting green or make a nine-hole putting course in which each of those holes would be 100 feet with big old wild and crazy slopes. Eighteen holes, 36 holes, you can do whatever.”

Mark Luthman, president of Austin, Texas-based Touchstone Golf, said the chance to build a putting course at Shadow Mountain was too good to pass up.

“This is a unique opportunity,” Luthman said. “We have observed the success of similar greens and 18-hole putting courses. There is a handful of them, and we thought because there is nothing like that in the desert, this is a cool, really unique opportunity to do just that.”

The desert does have nine- or 18-hole putting courses at private courses or resorts, but those have traditional layouts on smaller pieces of land. The Shadow Mountain course will be on a much larger scale with the ability to change the course layout daily.

With just 60 acres for the entire course running through nearby housing, the only land available for the one-acre course was on the area of the course’s practice range between the first and ninth holes. A shorter range with perhaps some nets for hitting full shots will be arranged at the south end of the new putting surface.

A one-acre putting green project at Shadow Mountain Golf Club in Palm Desert, California (Photo: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun)

Still a design in progress, the new putting facility will have a traditional practice putting area at the northern end of the acre, a pond that will be occupied by flamingos that currently live at animal-loving Biggi’s house and a small creek. After that, the rest of the acre will be a surface that won’t resemble other greens in the desert, Blasi promised.

Bumps, humps and a flamingo profile

“The beauty of these putting courses is they are just built for fun, so the things you wouldn’t do on a normal golf course, whether it is big humps and bumps or if you were able to think about a skate park, kind of a half-pipe thing, you can do here,” Blasi said.

Some particularly wild slopes and bumps may remind some golfers of miniature golf courses, he added.

Construction is being done by Texas-based Greenscape Methods, but it isn’t requiring much movement of dirt.

“It’s all kind of push and place. When you push a green, if you do a one-foot cut and a one-foot fill, that’s two-foot elevation change, and on a putting green, that can be significant,” said Don Mahaffey of Greenscape. “So it doesn’t take a lot of massaging to make something interesting. The challenge when you do a green this size is that all greens have to have surface drainage. So you are still trying to create something cool that functions.”

Sculpted into the middle of the putting surface by the bulldozers will be a large profile of a flamingo, another nod to Biggi’s love of those birds as well as a way to create wildly sloping areas that can create pin placements that could delight or infuriate golfers.

The one-acre green is not what is called a USGA green, meaning it is being built on the surface of the land rather than having drainage and other layers under the putting surface.

“You have native sandy soils here. If you were to build a traditional USGA green with imported sand and a blanket of gravel and build one that is an acre in size, it would be very, very expensive and time consuming,” Blasi said. “But the fact that you have the ideal soils here to begin with makes the construction of the green simpler. You just kind of shape this and go.”

The green will be sodded with overseeded Bermuda grass from Palm Desert-based West Coast Turf, with Blasi saying the course should open in a few months but only when the turf has had the proper time to come together and be presented as a true putting surface.

Once the massive green does open, Biggi, Luthmar and others believe the putting course will attract new clients to Shadow Mountain.

“We want to make the place more appealing to a wider variety of people, be it families, people who might not be able to get out and play 18 anymore, people who are visitors to the valley who might play 18 and then have a couple of extra hours, whereas now it is limited appeal just to people who play 18 holes,” Luthmar said.

“It’s supposed to be a place for fun,” Mahaffey said. “Leagues, alumni associations, any of the 120 golf courses in the valley can bring their crews over here for a night of putting and drinking. It’s basically built for fun.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

On Tiger Woods' 46th birthday, Justin Ray dove into some incredible statistics

On Tiger Woods' 46th birthday, Justin Ray dove into some incredible statistics

It’s Tiger Woods’ 46th birthday, and to celebrate, Justin Ray, one of the best golf statisticians in the game, put together a list of stats Woods has compiled throughout his amazing career. Fair warning, they’re ridiculous — in the best way possible.

Everyone knows he’s an 82-time PGA Tour winner and a 15-time major champion. But Ray’s numbers dive a bit deeper into Woods’ career, and how truly, ridiculously good the man was (and maybe still is) at golf.

A sure personal favorite of any golf fan who takes the time to read through the entire Twitter feed, is this one.

It’s borderline impossible to comprehend how good that is.

To read the entire thread, visit Ray’s Twitter account, or click here.

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Q&A: Dottie Pepper on self-publishing 'Letters to a Future Champion,' a heartfelt and captivating tribute to the mentor behind much of her success

Q&A: Dottie Pepper on self-publishing 'Letters to a Future Champion,' a heartfelt and captivating tribute to the mentor behind much of her success

In all, there are roughly 145 letters between student and teacher. Dottie Pepper has cherished the words of George J. Pulver, Sr. for more than four decades, carefully placing each letter in a three-ring binder that she guarded like sacred treasure. She was 15 and he was 81 when they first started working together. The eloquent and straightforward letters arrived after lessons and often more frequently.

In Letters to a Future Champion: My Time with Mr. Pulver, Pepper, a 17-time winner on the LPGA and on-course reporter for CBS who will most certainly be in the World Golf Hall of Fame before too long, pays tribute to a wonderfully deep and impactful friendship that laid the foundation for her successful career.

While “Mr. Pulver” shared practical tips on her swing and tournament preparation in the letters, lines of encouragement and nuggets of wisdom leap off the typewritten pages.

Take, for example, this paragraph from the last letter he wrote before Pepper went off to Furman for her freshman year:

“In virtually all endeavors, those who succeed work harder, think deeper, and continue in their undiminished zeal towards definite goals. Often, chance darts at them, for the good or bad. Surely, a promising future lies before you.”

It’s no wonder she couldn’t wait to get to the mailbox!

The audio version of Pepper’s book will be released in early January. This was important to Pepper because her 98-year-old grandmother, Dorothy Woodcock, can no longer read due to macular degeneration.

Golfweek recently caught up with Pepper, 56, to talk about her beautifully unique self-published book, which is a finalist for the USGA’s Herbert Warren Wind Book Award. Here are excerpts from that conversation:

When did you first start thinking about making a book out of these letters?

When I showed (husband) David Normoyle the three-ring binder, we might still have been dating, he said, ‘Wow you have a book here.’

I said ‘Well you’re biased, and I have no time, so thanks for your help.’

He’d come up with a book format every once in a while … the one that I really liked was Peter Thomson’s book. It was actually a booklet … it was full of all of his thoughts and letters and articles that he’d written. It was really cool. I thought well, that’s nice, but again, I have no time.

And then Covid hit.

We were taken off the road, and we weren’t going to resume for a while. I thought I’m not just going to sit here and watch bad news on the television, I’m going to do something positive, and maybe this is the time to write the book.

I got my binder back out … in the pile of stuff that his kids had sent me, and this was separate from the library that he left me, there was a blue folder, all beat up, and all it said on the outside was “golf articles.’ When I was working with Mr. Pulver, I was not allowed to read anything in Golf Digest or Golf Magazine or Golf World that had to do with swing mechanics, anything like that. He didn’t want me to go off on some wicked tangent… He’s been gone for 36 years, I guess I can open it. It was really exactly what I thought I was going to find. Just like the letters and books he’d asked me to read, with his thoughts in the margins, going back all the way to 1966. But what I was not prepared to find was every letter that I had written to him.

As you can imagine, it was a fragile afternoon in this house. … David was not around. He was actually down working at Baltusrol. I said, ‘I don’t know if this is a good day for you not to be home or a bad day for you not to be home, but there’s been a flood in the basement.’

Why do you think you kept these letters safe for so long?

The relationship was that special. It was special from me to him. I didn’t realize it was as special as it was to him – the boomerang effect. There were so many things in the letters that were evergreen. It was the way I could really still hang on to him.

Reading them all again for the first time in a long time, what did you learn about yourself?

I always seemed to have a gripe (laughs). But it wasn’t like a whiny gripe, it was just How do I get better? I was on a mission, that’s for certain. I think he was concerned that it was going to be too much on the mission and not take time to enjoy the other things that you should if you’re going to be a balanced person. He was always aware of burnout.

Dottie Pepper of the USA tees off on the 10th hole during a practice round before the 2000 Solheim Cup played at the Loch Lomond GC, Loch Lomond, Scotland. Mandatory Credit: Warren Little/ALLSPORT

Mr. Pulver talked a lot about the greats of the game when giving you instruction in his letters. How was that important to you?

It was huge for me because it gave me the sense, especially with Snead, who came from nothing to become one of the best players to ever play the game, that it can be done.

Also, I think it was important because he just didn’t get caught up with the players that were on TV at the moment. It was looking back at Palmer and Hogan and Hagen. He got everybody involved because he was curious.

What are the biggest lessons juniors can take from this book?

Fundamentals were huge for him. He goes right back to the basics of a good grip and setup. While it’s boring, it never goes out of style. I think too, for as much as I did on my golf swing, he talks a lot about distance control with putting, and being prepared to play anywhere at any time in any weather.

There’s one of the notes that even asks, ‘Do you have a good umbrella, an extra towel?’ … What Tiger calls the process, that’s part of the process. Being prepared to play no matter what Mother Nature throws at you … arriving at the first tee unhurried, having a game plan for the day. He didn’t leave much unturned.

Why do you think you two clicked?

There was respect on my behalf. I thought I was pretty much the luckiest person ever to have a guy like this, and I was really his only student other than his two kids at the time.

He had left the game as a full-time employment. He was 81-years-old when we started working together. I respected that it was not just about teaching. He taught me a lot about agronomy, golf course management, picking a schedule, about the value of at least an undergraduate degree, which no one in my family had ever had. He really directed that part of my life in a significant way.

And the other way, coming from him to me, Martha had died four days before the letter he first wrote me saying he would work with me, but his schedule was pretty much up in the air right now. That was in March of ’81. It was the perfect medicine really for both of us because my dad couldn’t take me any farther in the game, and he’d just lost his wife.

I became the child for him that was living in town.

CBS Golf correspondent Dottie Pepper looks on during the third round of the 2020 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

You talk a bit about how you felt like it was the haves vs. the have-nots, and you were the latter. But you can’t put a price tag on what you shared with Mr. Pulver. How much of your success do you credit to him?

It’s the foundation for everything, let’s put it that way. It would be like trying to put up a skyscraper without the proper foundation. It’s the foundation of things I still talk about on air. These are literally 40-some years of evergreen messages.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Arduous year ends on high note as Tiger Woods celebrates 46th birthday

Arduous year ends on high note as Tiger Woods celebrates 46th birthday

Tiger Woods knows he’s lucky to be alive.

Fortunate to still have use of both of his legs.

Blessed to once more be hitting golf balls with authority.

And elated to be able to play with his two children again.

“I’m very grateful that someone upstairs was taking care of me, that I’m able to not only be here but also to walk without a prosthesis,” Woods said in the Bahamas the first week of December, alluding to the February single-car accident on a quiet street north of Los Angeles where he sailed across a median at excessively high speed and rolled over multiple times down an embankment.

The jaws of life were used to extract Woods from the vehicle that day. His right leg was shattered and talk of amputation was later discussed; multiple surgeries ensued, however, and no such measure was taken. The jarring images of the wreckage left many to believe the Big Cat had called on one of his nine lives.

After three months of being bed ridden and battling pain each day, Woods was able to move about, work hard every day doing physical exercises and start recovering from the latest trauma to his battered body.

Related:

Best case scenario: What might Tiger Woods' comeback look like?

It was a torturous year, one that began with rehabilitation and recovery from a fifth back surgery the last week of 2020, some two months before his Feb. 23 accident. At the Hero World Challenge he hosted in the Bahamas, Woods said he would like to turn the page on 2021. Who can blame him?

But as he celebrates his 46th revolution around the sun on the 30th of December, there is plenty to celebrate as he eyes the candles on the cake. In the word of Woods, his traj has been on an improving track, the 11th and 12th months of 2021 on the better side of par than the previous 10 months.

First there was a three-second video in November of one swing with a wedge accompanied by two words – Making Progress. Then a 23-second video featuring his action with a 3-wood in the Bahamas. Followed by repeated range sessions later at the Hero World Challenge, with driver in his hands.

And to wrap up the year, a triumphant return to golf alongside his son, Charlie, in the PNC Championship, where the two set a tournament record with 11 consecutive birdies on Sunday and fell two shots shy and finished second.

He blasted drives of 300-plus yards that weekend, struck long irons with force and accuracy, wedged well and putted and chipped with excellence. He was all smiles and having a blast. He was a shocking figure of health, all things considered, less than 10 months after he faced possible death.

“I think he’s got alien DNA,” is how Notah Begay, his longtime friend and current golf analyst, put it.

Begay isn’t the first in golf circles to wonder if Woods is human, considering his out-of-this-world resume and his supernatural might to rise from another proverbial burial of his golf career. He did, after all, return to the top of the mountain after a Hail Mary spinal fusion surgery less than four years ago to win his 15th major championship and record-tying 83rd PGA Tour title.

Amid the din of critics writing him off throughout his career, Woods has authored numerous, successful comebacks. And now, there is again light to chase in his future if he decides to return to the PGA Tour.

“I’ve said many times, don’t doubt him,” Justin Thomas said at the Hero. “If he can come back, if he decides to come back, he will.”

Tiger Woods return: 2022 golf tournaments that may be landing spots for 15-time major champion:

 

While the golf world has gone mad with predictions of when Woods will play again on the PGA Tour – Torrey, Riviera, Augusta National, the Old Course? – he has tempered the optimism by saying he’s not in golf shape, not in practice shape, not in PGA Tour tournament shape. He can’t walk an 18-hole course yet, either.

“I still have a long way to go in this rehab process,” he said at the PNC.

But he will be eyeing more progress in 2022, which he can celebrate as the smoke from the 46 candles dissipates in the air. He can look forward to being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame during Players Championship week in March. The continued influence of his foundation. The further growth of his children.

More rounds with Charlie.

And Woods, along with a sporting world thirsting for a return, can cling to the words written by Andy Dufresne to Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding.

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

Woods has hope again.

As do fans.

“The competitive juices, they are never going to go away,” he said at the PNC. “This is my environment. This is what I’ve done my entire life. I’m just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to do it again. Earlier this year was not a very good start to the year, and it didn’t look very good.”

It’s looking a whole lot better. Happy birthday.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

 All The Truth About LeAnn Rimes And Tiger Woods' Relationship: 

Tiger Woods return: 2022 golf tournaments that may be landing spots for 15-time major champion

 

Christmas has come and gone, which means the 2022 golf year is on deck. Though most of the attention is on the upcoming year, Tiger Woods' performance at the 2021 PNC Championship a few weeks ago still resonates. He looked so … shockingly (?) good that it became impossible not to try and project where he might tee it up first in 2022. There are some very specific and obvious landing spots for him in the new year, but one stands out above them all -- and it's probably not the one you would expect.

But before we get to that, we should talk about a broader timeline. Obviously what Woods says does not always match up with what he does (this is true of all pro athletes), but he did note two distinct realities when, in a year marked by injuries, he held his first press conference in the Bahamas at the Hero World Challenge at the beginning of December.

 



 

1. "I don't foresee this leg ever being what it used to be, hence I'll never have the back what it used to be, and clock's ticking. I'm getting older, I'm not getting any younger. All that combined means that a full schedule and a full practice schedule and the recovery that it would take to do that, no, I don't have any desire to do that. But to ramp up for a few events a year as I alluded to yesterday as Mr. Hogan did, he did a pretty good job of it, and there's no reason that I can't do that and feel ready."

Tiger will not be playing 20 times a year, and he probably will not be playing 10 times a year. At this stage of his career, at his age with the number of operations he's had, playing 6-8 times a year is a ceiling that used to be a floor. Here's another hint he gave.

2. "As far as playing at the Tour level, I don't know when that's going to happen."

We got an answer to that -- sort of -- at the PNC Championship when Tiger and his son Charlie nearly won the event after shooting a 57 on Sunday in the scramble format. It's true that Tiger was in a cart the entire time and clearly exhausted at the end of it, but he was swinging the club at an astonishing speed for somebody who could have lost his leg 10 months earlier.

 

 

After they played together on Sunday at the PNC, Matt Kuchar did everything but declare Tiger the Masters favorite in April (he's 40-1 according to Caesars Sportsbook, by the way).

 

But Tiger rebuffed it all when he was asked about the future.

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"No, no, no, no," he said when asked whether he thought Kuchar's comments were accurate. "I totally disagree. I'm not at that level. I can't compete again these guys right now, no. It's going to take a lot of work to get to where I feel like I can compete at these guys and be at a high level."

He reiterated that he is "not going to play a full schedule ever again" and will pick and choose his events and "even then, my body might not cooperate with that."

So that's the background as 2021 leads into 2022. This year marked the first since 1991 in which Tiger didn't start at least one official OWGR event, and I can't imagine, especially after watching him at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club a few weeks ago, that streak running to two years. There are caveats, of course. Perhaps the back or the knee or the leg or the neck or any of the myriad body parts he's had carved up over the years don't cooperate and he's unable to play golf at a high level. But it became clear after watching him try to grind out a win with his son on that  Sunday in Orlando that Tiger is still all about, if not winning then competing at the highest level in the sport.

"The competitive juices, they are never going to go away," said Woods. "This is my environment. This is what I've done my entire life. I'm just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to do it again. Earlier this year was not a very good start to the year, and it didn't look very good."

So where might we see the competitive juices again, and what might Woods' schedule look like in 2022? Once he starts playing, he'll almost certainly -- body-willing -- play all the majors he can. But where (and when) will he start? There are 5-7 natural entrances for the 15-time major winner, and here is one man's guess based on all the evidence we have as he turns 46 later this week and takes his broken body (but still sharp game) into a new year.

Genesis Invitational (Feb. 17): Though the symmetry of returning to the event that took place just before his horrific accident in 2021 would be nice, this one is just too soon for Tiger. I would be more surprised if he played here than I was that he played the PNC Championship with Charlie.

Arnold Palmer Invitational (Mar. 3): If he wants to play the Masters but doesn't want to play it as his first event (like he did in 2010 when he finished T4 at Augusta), then this is a natural spot. I don't really buy it, though. I think we're looking at either Masters or a different event later in the year. I don't think we see Tiger on the course before April because I don't think he's as worried about rust as he is worried about getting his body rested and healthy for major championship golf.

Masters (April 7): It's easy to see, isn't it? Fifteen months after the accident, Tiger teeing it up with other greats at the grandest cathedral this country has to offer. A celebration of his career in a week that's very unlikely to end in a made cut -- much less contention for another trophy -- but nonetheless is one of the best moments of the entire golf year. Walking Augusta is a concern -- especially as his first tournament back -- but this is definitely in play in a way I didn't imagine it would be just a month ago.

PGA Championship (May 19): In my head, his first event back is either going to be the Masters or the Open Championship, but this one is certainly feasible. Six weeks is an eternity for him, so the distance between Augusta National and this second major of the year -- and how healthy he can get in the interim -- might make the decision for him.

Memorial (June 2): This would make sense if the PGA is too soon or he doesn't want to battle mighty Southern Hills. The weather will be warm enough here for him to feel confident about getting the body loose. It would also be a nice, low-stakes tune-up for the last two majors of the year.

U.S. Open (June 16): This would be a bizarre re-entry point for Tiger, who has not fared well at U.S. Opens over the past decade (he doesn't have a top 10 since 2010). I would be surprised if he put his body through the necessary tribulations it takes to tussle with a U.S. Open course and setup. If he's already returned, then perhaps, but I would be stunned if this was his first tournament back.

Open Championship (July 14): The Open gives Woods the most time to heal, and the 150th edition at a place where he's already won two major championships? Come on, it's the perfect marriage of golf history and living legend. Woods had wonder in his eyes when he was asked recently about potentially returning at the Old Course in July. He knows that while his opportunities at Augusta National are more expansive (he can feasibly play there for the next 20 years), the window on playing the Old Course at an Open is closing. As a true competitor there, this one or the next one -- sometime later in the 2020s -- will probably be his last one. 

That will be meaningful, and no matter where we see him in 2022, I imagine he'll exert tremendous effort to make sure he's teeing it up at Burn on July 14 with the Claret Jug in his overwhelming shadow. What an incredible scene that would be.

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Source: www.cbssports.com