Watch: Justin Thomas trolls Jordan Spieth ahead of 2022 Hero World Challenge
Justin Thomas is looking out for his friend.
At last year’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Jordan Spieth incurred a strange penalty you simply don’t see from a PGA Tour player. He and Henrik Stenson played from the wrong tee box on the par-5 ninth hole. Even with multiple signs informing players that the tee boxes had been moved up from the previous rounds, the duo didn’t see it and played from the wrong tee box.
They were informed of the mistake, went back to the correct tee and re-hit their shots, taking a two-shot penalty.
Thomas, who’s close friends with Spieth, posted a hilarious video on Twitter trying to make sure that mistake didn’t happen again.
This Michigan golf course may need temporary greens for an entire year after vandals did $100K in damage
A Michigan golf club may be forced to use a pair of temporary greens for all of 2023 after vandals gouged the course last weekend, doing what could wind up costing the course over $100,000 to repair.
Lake Doster Golf Club sits about 15 miles north of Kalamazoo, but within an easy drive of other cities like Battle Creek and Grand Rapids. The 18-hole course has seen minor damage in the past at the hand of vandals, but nothing like what happened Saturday evening, when multiple ruts were dug deep into the course.
“Disrespect does not even come close. We’ve spent hours and hours and hours prepping this golf course to make it great, and just to lose those two greens is going to be a detriment to the golf course,” Townsley told the TV station.
“I’m worried they’re going to have to completely tear the green apart and resod it. Possibly have to have temporary greens for almost probably that whole next year. We just don’t quite know how to fix it quite yet.”
The damage, as seen on social media, was significant.
The suspect could be facing a felony charge, according to Townsley, who added the course had filed a police report. The course is offering a reward to anyone who can help identify the vandals.
“I’ve had multiple, multiple people, call me, text me. The outreach from the community has been great but it’s all just disturbing. Everybody’s just so disgusted with what has happened,” Townsley told the station.
Watch: Cameron Smith celebrates Australian PGA Championship win by watching replay at a local bar
Cameron Smith had a monster year.
His 2022 campaign began with a win over Jon Rahm at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. Then, two months later, he took home the biggest prize on the PGA Tour, the Players Championship. In dramatic fashion, Smith chased down Rory McIlroy at the Open. Then, he left for LIV Golf where he won in his second Saudi-circuit start.
For the Aussie, there was only one way to celebrate: head down to the nearby Breakfast Creek Hotel and have a few pints with some buddies. Oh, and watch the replay of the final putt that clinched the victory.
Check the yardage book: Albany for the Hero World Challenge
The golf course at Albany in New Providence in the Bahamas – site of this week’s Hero World Challenge – was designed by Ernie Els and opened in 2010. It ranks as No. 24 on Golfweek’s Best list of courses in Mexico, the Caribbean, the Atlantic Island and Central America.
On the island of Nassau, the layout features five par 5s and five par 3s. Part of a resort community, it plays to 7,414 yards with a par of 72.
Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.
Golfweek's Best 2022: Top public and private courses in South Dakota
South Dakota doesn’t have a large population: fewer than 900,000 residents. That doesn’t mean there isn’t solid golf to played there, and Golfweek’s Best shines a light on the top tracks in the Mount Rushmore State.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
Phil Mickelson wasted no time in responding to Tiger Woods' comments on LIV Golf, PGA Tour
Tiger Woods addressed the media Tuesday ahead of his Hero World Challenge in Albany — an event he was supposed to play in before withdrawing Monday due to plantar fasciitis.
While he answered questions about his health and future goals on the golf course, Woods also came out firing against LIV Golf and its leader, Greg Norman.
“I think (Greg Norman) has to go, first of all,” said Woods, “and then obviously the litigation against us and then our countersuit against them. Those would then have to be at a stay as well, then we can talk, we can all talk freely.”
Woods was also asked: “Part of those changes you talked about, there’s a lot more money coming in at tournaments from the Tour that weren’t available before LIV came around. A guy like Mickelson, for example, obviously is the face of that, and he took a lot of criticism and he’s taken most of the bullets for that and he was criticized heavily by players on Tour for it who now will be making a lot more money at tournaments because of him shaking that tree. Do you feel like to some degree they owe an apology … ”
“No, absolutely not, no,” Woods said. “We took out an enormous loan during the pandemic in which that, if we had another year of the pandemic, our Tour would only be sustained for another year. So we took out an enormous loan. It worked, it paid off in our benefit, hence we were able to use that money to make the increases that we’ve made.”
Mickelson was quick to log in to Twitter to address the response, pointing out pieces from the Tour’s 2018 990 form: “1.6 billion in stocks 700 million in cash 1.15 billion in non liquid assets. This is from the non profit section.”
Pga tour IRS 990 form from 2018
1.6 billion in stocks
700 million in cash
1.15 billion in non liquid assets.
This is from the non profit section. The for profit section hasn’t been stated since 2012 but was more than the non profit part at that time.
This can all be googled
Mickelson has tweeted a mere nine times since Feb. 22 when he posted his apology for his “scary motherf*****s” comments regarding LIV Golf.
In an interview with Alan Shipnuck of the Fire Pit Collective earlier this year, Mickelson said: “They are already sitting on an $800 million cash stockpile. How do you think they’re funding the PIP? Or investing $200 million in the European Tour? The Tour is supposed to be a nonprofit that distributes money to charity. How the (hell) is it legal for them to have that much cash on hand? The answer is, it’s not.”
2022 Hero World Challenge odds, field notes, best bets and picks to win
If we’re being honest with ourselves, the 2022 Hero World Challenge got a whole lot less interesting Monday when tournament-host Tiger Woods withdrew from the field due to plantar fasciitis. This week was going to be the first time Woods has stepped on a golf course on national television since the 150th Open Championship, where a tough Thursday led to a missed weekend.
Despite the injury, Woods’ plan is to play in the Match VII and the PNC Championship.
All is not lost, however, as many of the world’s best are teeing it up in Albany, The Bahamas, including Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas. Viktor Hovland, who won in 2021, is also in the field.
Tony Finau looks on during the second round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course on Dec. 3, 2021 in Nassau. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. Port Royal Golf Course, 2. Detroit Golf Club, 3. PGA West
Trending (the players’ last three starts): 1. Jon Rahm (1, T-4, 1), 2. Tony Finau (9, MC, 1), 3. Max Homa (1, T-20, T-23)
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Jon Rahm (13.9 percent), 2. Scottie Scheffler (12.8 percent), 3. Tony Finau (8.5 percent)
Golfweek's Best 2022: Top public and private courses in South Carolina
South Carolina is one of the most popular golf destinations in the country, with top layouts stacked alongs the Atlantic coast. From major-championship sites to PGA Tour venues to elite private clubs, the Palmetto State’s golf offerings are a gift that just keeps giving. Keep scrolling to see the best of them.
Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.
(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960 (c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
Deep thoughts with Michael Murphy: On the 50th anniversary of 'Golf in the Kingdom'
“Golf in the Kingdom,” the 1972 novel of Zen and the art of swing maintenance, turns 50 this year, which seemed like a swell excuse to visit with its author, Michael Murphy.
He introduced us to Shivas Irons, the mysterious golf pro and philosopher with whom Murphy played a mythic round of golf on Scotland’s Burningbush Links. The book starts out in a promising manner with a golf round that plays as a wonderful allegory for life. Then, it takes an odd odyssey into philosophy and metaphysics to explain everything from the allure of golf to the purpose for its existence. Murphy’s account reveals the possibilities for transcendence that resides in the human soul, and through its mystic-philosopher, the reader, like Murphy, becomes drawn into new worlds by this ancient and haunting game.
Murphy’s first book has sold more than 1 million copies and been translated into nine different languages, including recently in Turkish.
“I had no idea that enough people played golf in Turkey,” Murphy said.
Since writing “Golf in the Kingdom,” he’s been hearing from golfers all over the world who have had mystical experiences. Devotees have formed a Shivas Irons Society, who gathered last month at TPC Harding Park to celebrate its beloved characters.
“The game unmasks our deepest nature,” Murphy said. “As William James put it, we all have a mystical seed, but in some of us it’s more developed than in others, but it’s in there, in all of us. If you want to use more mainstream language, we have a soul. OK, or what is used in some studies of comparative religions, we have a deeper self.”
Let’s call this just the beginning of deep thoughts with Michael Murphy.
A robot created in a German lab uses AI to make putts — at an incredible rate
Scientists in Germany have built a robot that can putt.
Dubbed Golfi, it probably wouldn’t be much of a fourth in your group, as it does need to be plugged in to a power source. Golfi also takes up to five minutes deciphering data before swinging the club, and no one likes slow play.
But the small, four-wheeled contraption can roll its rock.
The process starts when Golfi takes a picture of the green with a 3D camera. Then its computer simulates attempting thousands putts while factoring in rolling resistance of the turf, the weight of the golf ball and starting velocity.
Then it lines itself up and makes a swing.
Researchers at Paderborn University in Germany report that Golfi makes 70 percent of its putts but didn’t specify how long the putts were. No word yet on Strokes Gained: Putting for Golfi.
2022 Hero World Challenge Thursday tee times, TV and streaming info
We are done with official PGA Tour events in 2022. Now it’s time for golf’s silly season.
Make no mistake, though, there’s real money on the line at the 2022 Hero World Challenge, with $3.5 million going to the winner of a 20-man field.
The competition, however, won’t include tournament host Tiger Woods. On Monday, Woods announced he isn’t able to play due to plantar faciitis. Woods will still be on hand for the festivities and is schedule to conduct a 10 a.m. ET news conference Tuesday. Sepp Straka was named his replacement and will get a tee time alongside Justin Thomas in Thursday’s first round.
Other notable pairings for Thursday include the all-Texas Longhorn duo of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, the British pairing of Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood, newlywed Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland as well as Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm, fresh off his third DP World Tour Championship.
The Albany course is a par 72 that measures 7,411 yards.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s first-round tee times. All times ET.
1st tee
Tee time
Players
11 a.m.
Cameron Young, Tom Kim
11:11 a.m.
Billy Horschel, Sungjae Im
11:22 a.m.
Kevin Kisner, Sam Burns
11:33 a.m.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood
11:44 a.m.
Corey Conners, Shane Lowry
11:55 a.m.
Max Homa, Tony Finau
12:06 p.m.
Sepp Straka, Justin Thomas
12:17 p.m.
Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm
12:28 p.m.
Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth
12:39 p.m.
Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland
How to watch
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. All times Eastern.
Thursday, Dec. 1
TV
Golf Channel: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
RADIO
Siruis XM: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
STREAM
Peacock: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 2
TV
Golf Channel: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
RADIO
Siruis XM: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
STREAM
Peacock: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 3
TV
Golf Channel: 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. NBC: 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
RADIO
Siruis XM: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
STREAM
Peacock: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 4
TV
Golf Channel: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. NBC: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Tiger Woods withdraws from this week's Hero World Challenge with foot injury, hopes to play in Match, PNC Championship
Those eagerly awaiting the return of Tiger Woods to the limelight will have to wait a little longer.
Woods announced via social media on Monday that he will not be able to play in this week’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, an event that he hosts.
The 82-time PGA Tour winner said he’s suffering from plantar fasciitis, which has made it difficult for him to walk.
The thick connective tissue that supports the arch of the foot from the heel toward the bones in the midfoot is called the plantar fascia. When that tissue is inflamed due to overuse or small tears in the fascia, the result is the agonizingly painful condition called plantar fasciitis, which is a four-letter word to a seemingly growing number of athletes who have suffered from it in recent years.
Still recovering from a single-car accident that nearly cost him his leg, Woods competed in just three events (all majors) in 2022, making the cut at the Masters and the PGA Championship (where he later withdrew) and missing the cut at the Open Championship. He said his plan is to still play in the upcoming Match and then the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie.
Woods was replaced in the Hero field by Sepp Straka.
2022 Hero World Challenge field
Scottie Scheffler
Xander Schauffele
Jon Rahm
Will Zalatoris
Justin Thomas
Collin Morikawa
Matt Fitzpatrick
Viktor Hovland
Sam Burns
Jordan Spieth
Tony Finau
Cameron Young
Billy Horschel
Max Homa
Hideki Matsuyama
Sungjae Im
Tom Kim
Sepp Straka
Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds, with third and final rounds airing on NBC.
Lydia Ko returns to No. 1 in the world for the first time since 2017
Lydia Ko has returned to No. 1 in the world for the first time since June 11, 2017. She replaces Nelly Korda. Four players have occupied the top spot in the Rolex Rankings in 2022, with Jin Young Ko spending the bulk of the season there.
On Oct. 31, LPGA rookie Atthaya Thitikul became only the second teenager to rise to No. 1. She spent two weeks there before Korda knocked her out after a victory at the Pelican Women’s Championship.
Ko, 25, became the youngest player – male or female – to ever reach No. 1 seven years ago at age 17. Tiger Woods previously held the record of 21, set in 1997.
During a three-year victory drought, Ko dropped as low as 59th in the rankings. No player in history has gone longer than Ko between stints at No. 1 – a testament to her resiliency.
The Kiwi’s 2022 comeback season was capped off by a win at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, her third victory of the season. She won LPGA Player of the Year, Vare Trophy for low scoring average (68.99) and the money title ($4,364,403). Ko claimed a $2 million first-place prize at the CME, the richest check in the history of women’s golf. Her scoring average was the second-lowest in LPGA history. Only Annika Sorenstam had previously averaged below 69.
Because the Rolex Rankings operate on a two-year rolling window, players can move up and down in the rankings even on weeks they don’t compete.
This is Ko’s third stint at No. 1. She has spent a total of 104 weeks at the top over the course of her career, the fourth-highest in rankings history. The rankings debuted in 2006. Lorena Ochoa spent the most time at the top at 158 weeks. Jin Young Ko spent a total 145 week at No. 1, followed by Yani Tseng (109) and Inbee Park (106).
Field size increases for NCAA Div. I Women's Championships starting in 2023
More women’s college golf teams will have a shot at a national title in 2023.
On Monday, the NCAA Div. I Women’s Golf Committee announced the NCAA Championship field will increase from 24 to 27 starting with the 2023 championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 19-24.
“There is extreme importance in providing as many participation opportunities as possible for our student-athletes,” said Bradford Hurlbut, chair of the Div. I Women’s Golf Committee and director of athletics at Fairleigh Dickinson. “With an additional three teams qualifying for the finals site, up to an additional 18 deserving women’s golf student-athletes will have an opportunity to compete in the national championship finals, which is an important step for the sport of women’s golf and the championship.”
While 30 teams advance to the men’s NCAA Championship, the NCAA said the move was “made to provide an equitable championship access ratio across both Div. I men’s and women’s golf, with ten percent of both men’s and women’s teams now advancing from regionals to the finals site.”
According to a release, the championship committee will implement a strength-of-field metric to even out the competition across the six regional qualifying sites. To reach the odd number of 27 teams, four will advance from three regional sites, while five teams will advance from the remaining three regional sites, which have yet to be determined.
Tiger Woods has Greg Norman to partially thank for his $15 million PIP check
Do you get it now? Do you finally understand why Tiger Woods always received an outsized amount of attention?
It wasn’t just after the wide peak of Tiger’s career, but even during his decade-plus run of dominance, folks would complain about all the attention given to the World No. 1.
Network cameras followed him from car to clubhouse, from clubhouse to practice tee, and lord knows, through every shot over 18 holes.
I’d occasionally find myself explaining why networks did such things — “Tiger Woods lacing his spikes would draw better TV ratings than Davis Love shooting a Sunday 62.” NBC, CBS and the others pay their bills by giving viewers what they want to see.
A kinda-sorta vindication came this past week when Tiger was revealed as the PGA Tour’s $15 million man. That’s Tiger’s payout for winning the Tour’s 2022 Player Impact Program, a media-driven bonus plan based, basically, on how much attention a player brings to the PGA Tour.
This despite Tiger entering just three tournaments and playing nine competitive rounds this year.
Oh, by the way, Tiger also won it last year when he was initially recovering from his leg injuries and entered just one event, a 36-hole exhibition where he could ride a cart.
Greg Norman and Tiger Woods during the 1999 British Open.
How Greg Norman helped make Tiger Woods richer
If this type of bonus pool had been around in Bobby Jones’ day, he would’ve had to rethink that amateur status. Arnold Palmer would’ve owned the PIP from the late-’50s onward, even long after the mid-’70s when he was rarely challenging — much less charging — on Sundays.
It’s also fair to say, back before Tiger exploded onto the scene, there were several years when Greg Norman, filled to the eyeballs with golfing talent and sex appeal, would’ve further cashed in on a PIP.
And since we’re here, it’s fair to suggest Tiger Woods owes a chunk of that 15 mil to golf’s Great White Shark, or at least to the Saudis funding Norman’s LIV Golf disruption.
Feeling the need to enhance benefits to the biggest stars, the PGA Tour began the PIP last year with a $40 million tank of money spread among the top 10 players, based on a variety of metrics determining player popularity.
Tiger earned $8 million for topping the inaugural chart. This year, with Norman and the Saudis dangling tens of millions of guaranteed “purse” money at golf’s biggest stars, and along with defending its Bermuda grass in other ways, the PGA Tour upped the PIP payoff to $100 million spread among the top 20 attention-getters.
The Tour this year also announced major lifts in purses for several “elevated” tournaments, with an accompanying commitment from the best players to compete against each other in at least a dozen specific tournaments beginning next year, as well as committing to a minimum of 20 Tour events.
No coincidence, of course. If the Tour had just girded for this turf war and tried to quash the LIV tour with its available manners of defense, without also giving its remaining stars (Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, etc.) additional reasons to ignore the LIV offers, its leverage would be lessened.
Why didn’t the Tour dig deeper years ago to get out in front of a potential rival league? Because the Tour didn’t have to. There was no deep-pocketed rival, much less one with a bottomless well of cash.
A year or so ago it was suggested, here and elsewhere, that the eventual hang-up for those defecting to LIV would be world-ranking points, which are a key factor in determining who’s eligible for golf’s biggest tournaments, particularly the four majors.
That’s proven true as that battle now includes lawyers on the first tee.
Next up, it seems, will come questions regarding a return on investment. Not sure what LIV’s benefactors were aiming for when their tour was launched, but widespread condemnation from the traditional golf world, along with all the dirty laundry brought out on display, couldn’t have been the overriding goal.
Tiger Woods of the United States hits balls on the range during the final round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course on Dec. 5, 2021, in Nassau,. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
“Next on the tee: Tiger Woods”
Meanwhile, over each of the next three weeks, Tiger will play a version of competitive golf, beginning with the 72-hole, no-cut, 20-man Hero World Challenge in The Bahamas, where he serves as host.
The following Saturday (Dec. 10) is “The Match,” a now-annual 18-hole exhibition, this year pitting Tiger and Rory against Spieth and Justin Thomas. The following weekend is the Father-Son Challenge in Orlando, where Tiger and Charlie Woods will likely contend.
And everyone will watch, looking for a sign that Tiger has healed enough to consider an uptick in 2023 outings and performance.
The circumstances were different, but for years after his final Tour win in 1973, Arnold Palmer remained the focus of attention (and hope), and for decades he continued reigning atop the annual list of highest-grossing athletes.
Arnie’s long run as “richest athlete” was an unofficial title, to be sure, but one Tiger will likely challenge and gladly accept.
Ken Willis is a longtime reporter/columnist at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, part of the USA Today Network. Reach him at [email protected].
Linn Grant caps fantastic season with Race to Costa del Sol title as fellow Swede Caroline Hedwall ends victory drought in Spain
The Ladies European Tour season ended with a banner day for Swedish golf as veteran Caroline Hedwall won for the first time in four years and three Swedes topped the season-long Race to Costa del Sol: 1) Linn Grant 2) Maja Stark 3) Johanna Gustavvson.
Hedwall defeated Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux with a birdie on the fourth playoff hole at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España. Grant closed with a 65 to finish third and top the year-long rankings.
“I am just very relieved, very happy,” said Grant. “This is huge for Swedish golf, having Johanna as well at No. 3 on the rankings. I’ve had Carro [Hedwall] as a role model myself to just see her out there winning and getting that moment for herself is awesome as well.”
Hedwall, 33, posted a bogey-free 67 on Sunday to finish at 18 under. Metraux, who won earlier this season at the Ladies Italian Open, recently clinched her LPGA card for the 2023 season with a share of fourth at the Pelican Women’s Championship.
“I wasn’t sure I still had it in me,” said Hedwall. “It’s so nice to get it together and get this win. It has been a roller coaster to be honest. I had injury in 2014 that was really tough on me, and I had a hard turn on my self-confidence. That win in 2018 meant a lot to me.
“It was tough during COVID-19. I didn’t want to travel as much but now it’s more or less back to normal and it feels great. My game is coming together really nicely, and it was awesome to finish with that.”
A seven-time winner on the LET, Hedwall said making the 2023 Solheim Cup team in Spain will be a goal for next season. She has made four previous Solheim Cup appearances.
Grant won four times on the LET in 2022, including the history-making Scandinavian Mixed, in which she beat the men on the DP World Tour. Stark won three times on the LET this season, including the ISPS Handa World Invitational, a co-sanctioned event with the LPGA that gave her immediate tour status. Stark, who like Hedwall played collegiately at Oklahoma State, finished out the season on the LPGA, placing 52nd on the Race to CME Globe points list.
Grant earned LPGA status last year at Q-Series but was unable to compete on U.S. soil this season due to her vaccination status. The former ASU star still managed to compete in LPGA events around the globe, however, finishing 56th on the CME rankings. In six LPGA starts this season, Grant carded four top-eight finishes and a T-19 at the AIG Women’s British Open.
In a recent interview with the Independent, McIlroy revealed he and Woods both had COVID-19 a week ahead of the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews. McIlroy said the pair began to feel symptoms on Thursday, July 7, after they played in the JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor in Ireland ahead of the Open.
“So we both had COVID going into the Open,” said McIlroy.
“We had played two days of golf at Adare and the plan was to play Ballybunion on Thursday. I woke up that morning feeling a bit achy but didn’t really think anything of it. JP gave us his chopper and we went down with (McIlroy’s manager, Sean O’Flaherty) and (Woods’ manager, Rob McNamara). We got around fine, flew back to Adare for lunch, and as I’m getting up from the table, I’m sore and stiff and super tired,” McIlroy explained. “I said to (wife Erica ), ‘I’m feeling a bit weird. I’m just going upstairs to lie down for a bit.’ I slept for maybe two hours, and the sweat was just pouring off me, then Erica took my temperature and it was sky high. I rang Tiger: ‘I’m not feeling so good here.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, I feel OK.’ But he texted me at 10 o’clock that night, chills, fever, and I’m like, ‘(expletive) hell, I’ve just given Tiger COVID! This is horrendous!’ (laughing).”
McIlroy finished third that week at the Old Course, while Woods missed the cut.
He further explained in the interview that he planned to arrive at the Open early but instead quarantined at Adare Manor.
“The whole week of the Open I didn’t have any taste, and everything smelled like vinegar to me. Everything,” said McIlroy. “It was really strange.”
World No. 3 Cameron Smith wins third Australian PGA Championship to cap massive year
Three was the theme of the day for Cameron Smith on Sunday.
Playing in the Australian PGA Championship for the first time in three years, the World No. 3 entered the final round with a three-shot lead at Royal Queensland in his native Brisbane. The Aussie went on to shoot a final-round 3-under 68 to win the event for a third time, holding off Ryo Hisatsune and Jason Scrivener, who finished T-2 at 11 under, three shots back. Smith, 29, previously won the Australian PGA Championship in consecutive years in 2017 and 2018.
Smith started the year with a win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January via a playoff with Jon Rahm. He then went on to win the Players Championship in March and the Open Championship in July before joining LIV Golf in August. On the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Smith made $7,378,500 over five events, including a win in his second start.
Watch: Jordan Spieth's cliff adventure at Pebble Beach among craziest shots from 2022
It happened in February, so it’s easy to forget what Jordan Spieth did at Pebble Beach. On one of the most iconic holes in golf, the Texan hit a shot with his front foot on the edge of a cliff.
And he made par — it would have been a surprise if it were anyone but Spieth.
Photos show changes to Augusta National's Par 3 course are complete, along with several new structures
On May 31, Eureka Earth posted photos of the Augusta National Par 3 course torn to shreds, more resembling a dirt patch than a golf course.
Just months later, the popular Twitter page has updated the golf world with news pictures of the short course, which look spectacular.
The changes feature a few additions.
According to EE, “two new cabins, an event building, a member restroom, a player pavilion, a merchandise building, and two restrooms, have been completed.”
It’s hard to imagine we’ll get any information directly from Augusta in the coming months, leaving us to wait until the 2023 Masters — scheduled for April 6-9 — for official word.
The Par 3 Contest will be held Wednesday, April 5.
The ANGC Par 3 Northeast Pond Grading & Drainage Revisions, which include two new cabins, an event building, a member restroom, a player pavilion, a merchandise building, and two restrooms, have been completed.#TheMasters#Masters2023
Who's in the field at the 2022 PNC Championship? Woods, Spieth, Sorenstam, Korda and more
It’s time for one of the most unique events on the golf calendar.
The full field for the 2022 PNC Championship was set Friday, and it’s loaded with big names from the past and current men’s and women’s stars.
The inaugural PNC Championship began in 1995, and it featured 10 men’s major winners with their sons. Since then, the field has grown to include 20 professional golfers playing with a family member in a 36-hole scramble at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.
To qualify for the PNC Championship, players must have won a major championship or The Players. Their partner must not hold a PGA or LPGA card.
Here’s a look at the field for the 2022 PNC Championship.
Cameron Smith leads Fortinet Australian PGA Championship by three shots heading into Sunday
Cameron Smith’s last worldwide win came at the LIV Golf Series stop in Chicago, his second Saudi-circuit start. Before that, it was the 150th Open at St. Andrews.
Now, he’s in position to add to a career year.
Smith leads the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship by three shots with 18 holes to play at Royal Queensland GC in Brisbane, Australia. After using a Friday 65 to vault up the leaderboard, the Aussie fired a Saturday 2-under 69 to separate from the field.
It was an up-and-down day for world No. 3, cashing in six birdies while also adding four squares to the card.
If he wins Sunday, it’ll be his fourth DP World Tour victory.
His closest chasers are Yan Wei Liu and Masahiro Kawamura who both sit at 8 under, three back. A group of four players, including Min Woo Lee, are 7 under, four back.
Lynch: Tiger Woods’ $15 million bonus was a bargain — the PGA Tour owes him so much more
The only shared commonality between Jay Monahan and Charles Dickens — other than both debuting to American audiences in Boston — is that each created a PIP that inspired great expectations among the lower orders. Dickens’ ‘Pip’ was the protagonist of his exquisite 1861 novel; Monahan’s is more prosaic: the Player Impact Program, his widely-criticized plan to reward those players who most impact thePGA Tour’s business.
Monahan’s PIP only measures positive impact, so Greg Norman doesn’t number among its beneficiaries. But, like Abel Magwitch inGreat Expectations, much of what transpires is due to his unseen hand.
Depending upon one’s disposition — toward the PGA Tour and LIV, toward meritocratic compensation, or even toward corporate talent-retention policies — the Player Impact Program represents a bribe to secure loyalty, money for nothing, or a commonplace way to bonus high-impact performers. Those sentiments are not mutually exclusive; rather, there’s significant overlap in reasonable judgments about the PIP.
This week, the Tour announced the final results in the only season-long race whose standings it doesn’t aggressively promote. The PIP pot doubled in 2022 to $100 million, and so did the number of recipients, to 20 (with three more added for reasons too byzantine to bother with here). Tiger Woods collected $15 million to go with the $8 million he received from the inaugural PIP pool last year, despite Phil Mickelson’s Trumpian attempt to prematurely declare a victory he hadn’t earned.
That’s $23 million just for being Tiger Woods. But then, it took a lot of work to become Tiger Woods, and Tiger Woods adds immense value to the PGA Tour, to a multiple of $23 million. It also took a lot of work to become Rory McIlroy (second, for $12 million in ‘22), Will Zalatoris (9th, $5 million) and Viktor Hovland (20th, $2 million). The respective deservedness of others on the PIP list — everyone below Woods in the mortals division — will be debated. This is a sport where competitors like to boast of eating only what they kill (never entirely true) and because a perception exists that PIP payouts are entirely unrelated to how recipients perform inside the ropes (also not entirely true, but less true this year than it was last).
The criteria used in ’22 leans toward placing greater value on performance — measuring screen time on weekend telecasts, for example, though carding a comical quad might guarantee a chap plenty of air time too. Other metrics are also impacted by how well someone plays, and how often, so even if PIP bonuses are found money, it doesn’t quite amount to money for nothing.
If the entire program is, as many suggest, a transparent sop to secure player loyalty against LIV, it has been remarkably ineffective, at least based on season one. Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson all split after receiving PIP bonuses of at least $3 million, though DeChambeau is irked that he hasn’t been paid in full on account of not having completed the necessary obligations to collect before he departed.
Successful businesses not owned by Elon Musk make good faith efforts to retain talent who add value. Through that lens, the PIP makes sense. Those bonused in ’22 earned it via great play (Scottie Scheffler), exceptional fan engagement (Rickie Fowler), or both (Max Homa). The engagement metric is clearly the contentious one, understandably so since the Tour’s idea of swell engagement gave us “Live Under Par.” But how better to measure the enduring impact of Woods in the waning years of his competitive career?
In the event of another flow of defections to LIV in ’23, the PIP will not scope the tide. Most of the bonuses paid out are inconsequential compared to what beckons when Saudi oil grants a blank check to a man with a vendetta who is desperate for traction. But what the PIP does accomplish is to highlight just how lucrative life is for those who can still perform and who cherish their reputations. McIlroy didn’t win a major title in 2022, but between prize money and bonuses his “on-course” earnings exceed $40 million, and he didn’t have to brown-nose a butcher to make that money.
Woods’ value to the PGA Tour is diminished only in that he can no longer compete with the consistency and frequency he used to. But a few weeks shy of his 47th birthday, he still draws more eyeballs than any of them. The next three weeks will illustrate that, when he plays at the Hero World Challenge, in a made-for-TV match with McIlroy against Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and at the PNC Championship, alongside his son, Charlie. Who else can make irrelevant golf relevant in December? That PIP bonus is a bargain for what he brings, and would remain so even if it were doubled.
Not everything Woods contributed to the PGA Tour this year is quantifiable, even with opaque metrics. What was it worth when he flew to the player meeting in Delaware to stand with McIlroy and rally support? Or when he incinerated LIV’s competitive integrity at a press conference in St. Andrews, during which he reminded players not only that he has set the bar, but where and how he did so? Woods brought to bear the weight of his record and reputation when it mattered most, and in doing so proved that these days a professional golfer’s value and his values are intrinsically linked as never before.
Drastic Changes 
