More On Portstewart's Distinctly Different Nines

/

With extensive coverage of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, I'm sure we'll get to see much of Portstewart.

The aerials are stunning.

But in case you are watching and wondering more about the course, Alistair Tait at Golfweek has some observations from on site.

In particular, the front nine features the more dramatic dunesland and re-routings were even considered to showcase those holes more. Tait explains:

While Portstewart’s closing holes are well situated for tournament play, Moss said other routings were considered that would have given more television airtime to the Strand’s jaw-dropping front nine, which begins with that opening tee shot played from a seaside bluff.

In 1981 the club acquired some dramatic dunesland, and five years later it developed seven new holes, which became Nos. 2-8 on the Strand. Those holes were a big factor in making Portstewart a must-play for international visitors.

“Building those holes changed the whole dynamic of Portstewart Golf Club, because this was really dune country,” Moss said.

Video: Mother Of European Tour Player Wades Into Murky Water In Attempt To Retrieve Son's Club

/

This is all-timer! The mother of 21-year-old Haotong Li waded into a less than inviting Le Golf National lake in an attempt to retrieve the club her son had thrown into the lake.

The world No. 129's mother set her purse and phone down on a nearby railroad tie, went inside the ropes and attempted the rescue effort as the star threesome of Tyrrell Hatton, Thomas Pieters and Alex Noren were attempting to play the hole where .

Eventually mom did reach the floating club in question, only to find that her son had broken the dastardly weapon. Her dropping of the grip end back into the lake is a particularly special touch that turned the laughter to all-out hysterics for the group.

With Twitter video embeds iffy these days, here's the Instagram version:

Even the players had to laugh 😂⠀ #HNAOpenDeFrance #RolexSeries

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on Jun 29, 2017 at 6:56am PDT

 Hatton took to Twitter after, clearly still enjoying the interruption:

Guardian: Trump Aberdeen Is Likely 2019 Scottish Open Venue

/

The Guardian's Ewan Murray reports exclusively that the European Tour has been making visits to Trump International Golf Links (Aberdeen) and appears set to rekindle a partnership that almost happened a few years ago (Telegraph/Corrigan).

The stars are aligning for the venue plagued by protests and other sagas since its inception, and even once thought to be hosting three Scottish Opens. Things changed when now-President Donald Trump made comments on the campaign trail.

Murray notes this as a key reason this may happen:

Martin Gilbert, Aberdeen Asset’s co-founder and chief executive, is close enough to Trump to have attended the president’s inauguration in January. With the Scottish Open broadcast live on the other side of the Atlantic, there is a growing link between the tournament and the United States.

Any such move would, however, be highly controversial. Among those who would need to be happy about it are Rolex, who have included the Scottish Open in their new and enhanced series on the European Tour. The Scottish government is also a partner in the tournament but did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment regarding it being held at Trump International.

It's a partnership that makes obvious sense for Aberdeen Asset, especially if Royal Aberdeen is believed to be lukewarm on hosting again. However, of greater concern is the sheer difficulty of Trump International and how that aligns with former Commissioner George O'Grady's desire to play the Scottish Open on a fun, not-excessively difficult links test the week prior to The Open.

Last week, Gullane was announced as the 2018 Scottish Open(s) host.

Gullane Gets Return Engagement For Scottish Open(s)

/

There will be no excuses next year when the men can tee it up at Gullane, then drive a short ways to Carnoustie for The Open Championship.

The 2018 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open's are headed back to Gullane, a first for the women. Rickie Fowler took the men's edition at the historic links in 2015.

Some images from day one and the week at Gullane.

For Immediate Release...

The Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open will return to East Lothian next year when Gullane Golf Club hosts Scotland’s National Open for the second time from July 12-15, 2018.

 This will be followed two weeks later by the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open played over the same course from July 26-29, 2018.

 In 2015 the picturesque links course was the venue for Rickie Fowler’s thrilling win on the European Tour, as the American birdied three of the last four holes to surge past Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Kuchar and Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin and seal his maiden European Tour title.

This year’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in North Ayrshire will be the biggest yet, as it forms part of European Tour’s new Rolex Series, comprising eight of the premium tournaments on the Race to Dubai, each with a minimum prize fund of US$7million.

Some of the finest courses in Scotland, the Home of Golf, have played host to the tournament over the years, including St Andrews, Gleneagles and Carnoustie. From 1996 to 2010 it was based at Loch Lomond Golf Club, with Castle Stuart Golf Links in Inverness, Royal Aberdeen and Gullane all enjoying hosting duties since then.

In addition, golf fans in Ayrshire can now look forward to more memorable moments in the company of many of the world’s best female golfers, with this year’s Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links now co-sanctioned by both the LET and LPGA for the first time.  

Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Asset Management said: “We had a great tournament with a great winner in Rickie at Gullane in 2015 and we anticipate equally worthy winners of the men’s and ladies editions this year at Dundonald.

“Both events are amongst the most highly regarded on their respective Tours and have become sought after fixtures ahead of both the Men’s and Ladies ‘Open Championships.’ Gullane is a spectacular course and together with our tournament partners we will continue to host our events at the best possible venues which showcase Scotland in all its glory to an ever increasing global TV audience.”

Paul Bush, Director of Events with VisitScotland, said: “Gullane Golf Club is home to three of Scotland’s finest links courses and will provide an outstanding venue for both the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and Ladies Scottish Open in 2018. With strong men’s, ladies and junior sections it is the epitome of a traditional Scottish golf club at the heart of the local community and I am delighted it will once again get the opportunity to welcome the world’s best players to East Lothian. We are proud to have so many world-class venues in Scotland, the Home of Golf and I look forward to two more successful events in East Lothian in 2018.”

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “We’re delighted to be returning to Gullane Golf Club next year, at an exciting time in the history of the tournament.

“As we return to this wonderful setting we know that we can expect enthusiastic support from Gullane Golf Club, the golf community in East Lothian and our partners and stakeholders, as we plan for another exciting festival of golf.”

In a joint statement, LET Chief Executive Ivan Khodabakhsh and LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan commented: “Aberdeen Asset Management and Visit Scotland have done an excellent job of elevating this tournament for both Tours and we are both very proud, together with our Members, to be their partners. Their strategy of playing two weeks after the men’s Scottish Open and providing the best female golfers from both Tours the ability to play in Scotland the week before the RICOH Women’s British Open is extremely positive for our Members.”

Wentworth Members Threatened With Expulsion For Criticism

/

Thanks to reader DM for Anita Singh's Telegraph report on the members of Wentworth facing expulsion for comments critical of the club. Home to the BMW PGA Championship, the membership initially faced uncertainty when Thai billionaire Chanchai Ruayrungruang purchased the facility and made efforts to run off members. Dysfunction ensued.

Several went public with their concerns and the owner backed down. Now, after re-opening, the owner has issued a new rulebook. Sounds like a fun place!

A new rulebook states that anyone who makes comments “injuious to the character or interest of the club” on social media, the internet or to a newspaper or magazine could have their membership rescinded. Grievances can only be aired in private."

So, no one mention that you think the latest renovation of the renovation left a lot to be desired...

A spokesman said: “One rule has been amended to include express reference to current forms of media; as before the Club wishes for member complaints to be handled through the established internal channels, committees and consultative forums at the Club, rather than through the media."

2017 U.S. Open Prognosticating Gets A Little Easier After Wentworth, Colonial

/

Whew!

If we went another week without some names showing signs of life headed to Erin Hills, the hardest prognostication U.S. Open was not going to get any easier. But, after some pre and post Masters lulls, we can see glimmers of great hope in Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren, Henrik Stenson and yes, Kevin Kisner's game. The Memorial this week should also give us insights into the likes of Day, Johnson, Matsuyama and Mickelson. But first, in Europe...

Noren, four-time winner last year on the European Tour, notched his biggest win yet at the BMW PGA, reports Golfweek.com's Alistair Tait. His stunning final round 62 capped off a nice start to the Pelley/Wentworth era that saw smooth greens and some weird leaderboard twists ultimately crystalize with some of the field's biggest names contending.

Noren's epic 18th hole shot:

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on May 28, 2017 at 7:14am PDT


 And the scorecard for what he says is the best round of his life:

Course record ✍🏼 #BMWPGA #RolexSeries

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on May 28, 2017 at 7:20am PDT

At Colonial, Kevin Kisner held off a fun array of players (Spieth, Rahm, Simpson) and styles to win the a very entertaining Dean and Deluca. Not only did the historic venue and leaderboard help, but CBS seemed especially on its game with production values and announcing. 

Dan Kilbridge at Golfweek.com with a quick roundup here of the finale that gives Kisner a second tour win just weeks after a near-miss at the Zurich Classic.

Kyle Porter grades the contenders for CBSSports.com, especially helpful if you're starting to narrow down your U.S. Open selections.

The final round highlights:

 

Euro Tour Chief Anticipates PGA Championship Move, Agrees BMW PGA Would Work Well In September

/

European Tour Chief Keith Pelley visited Rich Lerner and Frank Nobilo during round two of the 2017 BMW PGA and mostly talked his new "product" geared at the kids.

“But golf needs something else, it needs something to attract a younger generation.”

At the 11:00 mark he is asked about the possible impact of a Players/PGA Championship switch on his tour and, specifically, the BMW PGA.

If in fact if the PGA Championship moved to May, which I anticipate that it will, we will have to look where is the best fit for the BMW PGA Championship. But obviously we would do everything around the majors.

Nobilo then made the case for early autumn at Wentworth and Pelley agreed that the conditions would be ideal, but lightly walking back how well the technology of maintenance now makes the current date fine, too. But it was pretty apparent that the European Tour sees an an ideal early fall slot for this event.

The full interview:

Thomas Pieters Will Soon Be Getting A Keith Pelley Gift Basket

/

Opening with a 68 at the star-depleted BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, one of Europe's rising stars suggested it was a no brainer for him: BMW PGA over The Players.

Thomas Pieters, who skipped The Players to take 7 weeks off with a brief stop at the Zurich Classic, is rested and ready to win the European Tour's biggest event, reports The Telegraph's James Corrigan.

Asked which tournament he would prefer to win, Pieters was unequivocal.

“This one,” he replied. “Why? Because this is our tour, and I look at the history of this event with Seve [Ballesteros] and everything. I see this tournament as the next biggest to the majors. It would mean a lot to be the champion here.”

How Keith Pelley, the European Tour chief executive, would have loved those words.

South Africans Give And Take: Els Penalizes Self, Grace Takes Bold (Referee Sanctioned) Drop

/

It's never dull with Ernie Els at Wentworth, who turned a 69 into a BMW PGA first round 71 by penalizing himself for not replacing a possible plugged lie properly.

Will Gray for GolfChannel.com on Els' guilty conscience.

"Under the rules you try and put it back the way you think it should be, but I still felt uncomfortable with it, so we took a two-shot penalty," Els said. "I know deep down the ball wasn't quite where it should be and I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

The incident getting more attention involved Els countryman Branden Grace, who took relief from bunker wall material when he had a buried lie. Alistair Tait reports for Golfweek on the drop approved by American official Mark Hill and criticized by commentators and players

Paul McGinley criticized Grace’s action during television commentary and afterwards. “It was ridiculous,” McGinley said. “If you twist your feet enough you’re bound to eventually reach the bunker lining. That means anytime a player wants relief from a poor lie he can simply twist his feet until he reaches the bunker lining. That can’t be right.”

Danny Willett took to twitter to complain. He tweeted: “@EuropeanTour please explain that drop?! Burying feet enough in to get to the base of the bunker???”

Fellow Englishman Daniel Brooks also had reservations about the ruling. “Wow strangest drop I’ve ever seen there,” he tweeted.

Bunkered has a few of the player tweets and a mini-round-up here.

While no video of the moment is online, Grace gives a decent explanation in this Sky post round interview.

Euro Tour Chief Expecting Players/PGA Move Decision By August, Which Suggests The Verdict Is In

/

European Tour Chief Keith Pelley believes that a decision is coming this August on a blockbuster trade that has the Players moving to March, the PGA to May and three prospects going to an undisclosed tour.

Will Gray on the Chief's comments this week at the BMW PGA, which will be impacted should the PGA Championship move to May.

"It will depend on what they do in 2019," Pelley said. "The PGA of America says they're going to determine whether the PGA Championship is moved to May by the end of August this year. If that's the case, we are going to have to look at everything. We have plans right now, but there is no doubt that if those changes happen, the 2019 and 2020 schedule will be considerably different to 2018."

A cynical mind might say that given August being the PGA Championship's date, a decision has already been made subject to a few contract signings and conference calls.

Given the domino effect this decision will have on golf tournament schedules and other sporting events, there will certainly be added intrigue in Charlotte.

Wentworth Revitalized, But Will It Ever Draw Americans?

/

I still haven't seen many good images capturing the supposed restoration of H.S. Colt's work at Wentworth, which includes 29 fewer bunkers. (There are a couple of shots in this primer at a revamped EuropeanTour.com.)

But as The Telegraph's James Corrigan notes in previewing the revitalization, the BMW PGA Championship has player attention because the greens are smoother.

Reignwood put up the £5 million for improvements and the European Tour and its design team did the rest, together with Ernie Els Design. Each of the 18 greens was relaid and a sub-air system, as used at Augusta, was installed under every one as well. The result is startlingly firmer surfaces and a much more consistent roll of the ball. Tyrell Hatton, the young world No 16 from nearby High Wycombe, summed up the elation in the locker room. “The greens are 100 times better,” he said.

Corrigan's piece includes a sidebar pointing out the resurfacing of all greens, with Sub-Air installed. He says nine greens were partially or fully redesigned.

Paul McGinley posted this image earlier in the week:

The tragedy in Manchester will lead to a more subdued week, reports Alistair Tait for Golfweek, so it remains to be seen if the Rolex Series kick off will include the driving range music and first tee presenters will still happen.

The tournament also hopes to attract more Americans but given the schedule spot, that will be tough. John Huggan talks to various dignitaries for suggestions and I thought this was interesting from Ken Schofield.

“The European Tour has had a lifetime of putting on great events no one in America seems to care about,” Schofield says. “It’s time to put an end to that. I see a closer relationship between the BMW PGA and the Players as a way of further cementing relations and cooperation between the tours. It’s just the right thing to do for the game.

In other words, Schofield would like to see the Players become part of the money list on the European Tour and, in turn, the BMW PGA become part of the PGA Tour’s money list. “That would provide further validation for both,” he says.

Should the PGA Championship move to May, the BMW would also take a hit if it remains in the current schedule spot.

Video: Alvaro Quiros Off The Cart Path

/

It's been a stunning decline for such a talented player, but Alvaro Quiros has a chance to restore some dignity (and world ranking status) in Sunday's final round of The Rocco Forte Open. The Verdura, Sicily course is an odd combination of rugged natural beauty interrupted by blinding white bunker sand, but No. 703 in the world whose six European Tour wins helped him once reached No. 21, will always have this juicy shot off the path to savor.

From the European Tour's Instagram account:

 

A touch of genius #RoccoForteOpen

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on May 20, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT

 

London Calling: Guardian Says PGA Tour Opens UK Office

/

Nice scoop by The Guardian's Ewan Murray to highlight the PGA Tour's opening of a satellite office in London.

The news comes as some look at golf's bloated offerings and hope for more PGA Tour/European Tour cohesion. Could such a move be a positive or hostile action aimed at battling over sponsorship dollars?

The sense golf is edging towards one global tour is impossible to ignore, as is the fact the PGA Tour clearly regards London as an important commercial hub. Fresh business partners for golf have been hard to come by in recent times.

The European Tour offered no comment on news that the PGA Tour, whose headquarters are in Florida but which has offices in Beijing and Tokyo, has taken on premises in their backyard and is believed to be relaxed about the situation. The European Tour has full-time staff in the United States, for whom permanent premises may be forthcoming.

GolfSixes Wrap: Shot Clock, Yes; Television Coverage, No

/

Saturday's coverage was all I could see of European Tour's Chief Executive Keith Pelley's bold, perhaps too-ambitious GolfSixes (won by Team Denmark). While I heard from several of you rightly offended by the excess of elements wheeled out--Pelley's effort to fund the event and the strong response of players to all of it, but in particular, the shot clock, will be the ultimate legacies.

With Sky Sports doing the TV coverage those of us watching in the States were able to see what a fine job the European Tour's IMG Media-produced coverage does on the announcing, storytelling and production fronts. On Saturday's telecast, I saw mostly putts for par while announcers worked relentlessly to somehow bring everything back to themselves. The combination made the telecast almost unbearable.

Iain Carter noted the announcing in his BBC take on the event.

For spectators, there was plenty to watch and hear. Some of the stuff pumped through the microphones and speakers missed the mark but an engaging atmosphere was generated.

To make it work better they should employ announcers who know their subject and are capable of identifying all of the players and match situations.

The Telegraph's James Corrigan says the reaction has been strong from a sponsorship point of view.

"It is understood that a number of potential investors have been in touch and the long-term view is to set up a series of GolfSixes events, which will run within the traditional schedule.

"[European Tour Chief Executive Keith] Pelley admitted beforehand that it was a gamble going into the £1  million event without a title sponsor and so having to dip into the Tour’s carefully protected coffers. But this is an experiment the Canadian believes will pay off. 'There’s no doubt this will be back,' Pelley said. 'We’re going to take what we’ve learnt and build on this. The key is to get the mix right, making it entertaining and preserving the integrity of the game.'”

Players raved, in part because of the better pace. Andy Sullivan said the shot clock worked, reports Alistair Tait for Golfweek.

“Personally, I just think they need to be stricter with it on the Tour,” Sullivan said. “This week, everyone was quicker because they knew as soon as it (the shot clock) went to zero, they were getting a shot penalty. Whereas in a normal event, you’ve got that little bit of leniency.”

Players who participated even took to Twitter to defend the event: