Poncho-Wearing Anthony Kim Resurfaces From Upscale Kennel To Promote The Match

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The reclusive Anthony Kim has surfaced in a video Tweeted by No Laying Up.

Reportedly living off insurance money while nursing injuries and harvesting manbuns, has resurfaced. Sitting with at least five of (presumably) his dogs, sounding eerily like Luke Walton and declaring his intention to place his first-ever bet on Phil Mickelson in The Match, Kim was golf’s break-out star in 2008.

I’d nominate him to be The Match’s honorary standard-bearer but given his injury history, probably not the best idea…

Instant Poll: Taking The Match's Temperature Four Days Out

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The Match week is here! Calm down!

The Athletics Richard Deitsch assembled a panel of writers to discuss ramifications and interest level of the Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson pay-per-view showdown this Friday.

Bob Harig at ESPN.com makes the case for watching and while Virginia v. Virginia Tech fans may disagree…

Yes, having to pay for it is annoying, but, as even Mickelson noted, that $20 can be split among friends who take in The Match together. While not suggesting how to spend other peoples' money, we are talking about a discretionary income choice that many would squander on other dubious endeavors. And it is Black Friday after all, a day associated with money-spending opulence.

Christine Brennan at USA Today makes an opposing case.

But in a holiday weekend overflowing with real, meaningful sports events, faux golf is out of place. Look at the trade-off you’ll be making if you watch: while either Tiger or Phil will make $9 million in the winner-take-all match, you’ll give up four hours of your life that you’ll never get back.

Tiger and Phil will preview their head-to-head match play competition in Las Vegas, minus a weighing-in ceremony. The press conference will stream live on B/R Live.

So with all of that presented, I’d love to hear where you stand on The Match and will you fork over the money? Here were the results from earlier this year when we were speculating on prices you would pay.

Will you pay to view The Match?
 
pollcode.com free polls

European Tour Chief Pelley: "The Saudi International is on our schedule in 2019, and I really don’t have anything more to add than that"

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As the CIA’s conclusion in the Jamal Kashoggi murder was leaked to multiple media outlets—here’s the Washington Post version—the European Tour appears set to give the mastermind behind the assassination a tournament in 2019. The Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was also stated by European Tour press releases to have been personally involved in the creation of the new tournament.

From Golfweek’s Alistair Tait from Dubai:

“I can simply say that the Saudi International is on our schedule in 2019, and I really don’t have anything more to add than that,” he said several times to repeated questioning.

We discussed the sensitive but increasingly-not-complicated matter last week on State of the Game with The National’s Arthur MacMillan.

Just racking the brain here, I can’t think of a tournament hosted by a known orderer of assassinations of journalists. Or anyone.

Trophy Wrap: A Day Of Winner's Circle Returns As Howell, Willett, Thompson Win, Plus Molinari And Jutanagarn Cap Off Career Years

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Charles Howell beat Patrick Rodgers for the RSM Classic, giving the veteran his third PGA Tour victory. Rodgers posted an astounding 61-62 on the weekend to force a playoff, while Howell overcame a bogey-double bogey start.

Sean Martin’s PGATour.com story on Howell’s remarkably consistent career ($35 million on course earnings!), multiple close calls (16 runner-up finishes!), but has fewer victories than the Oklahoma State grad hoped for 529 starts ago.

Danny Willett started showing signs earlier this year of regaining his Masters-winning form and now returns to the winner’s circle in grand fashion, winning the European Tour’s season ending DP World Tour Championship and with it the world’s most expensive doorway pull-up bar. Alistair Tait with all of the details.

Francesco Molinari takes home a Dubai high rise for his efforts as Europe’s best player in 2018.

Lexi Thompson finished off a forgettable year by her lofty standards on a high note, claiming the CME Group Tour Championship and a Diamond Resorts trip. Hopefully they are pet-friendly for Leo’s sake.

Beth Ann Nichols with more on Thompson’s win that included her brother on the bag.

Ariya Jutanangarn took home every trophy imaginable, but it’s the the cash and the broom she’ll like treasure most in winning the Race To The CME Globe along with millions and a major.

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@mayariya cleans up in 2018!!

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And finally: Abraham Ancer wins the historic Emirates Australian Open at The Lakes. Martin Blake’s assessment for Golf Australia.

"Here's why the 23-year-old rookie is the future of golf"

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Good feature on Cameron Champ here from Steve DiMeglio at USA Today, with this from longtime instructor Sean Foley on the 23-year-old contending yet again at the RSM Classic:

“I was blown away,” said Foley, who has worked with Champ the past six years. “I’m still blown away. He was 14 when he came to see me. He had big legs. So that day, he was hitting a 4-iron. He hit it and I said, ‘Oh (expletive).’ At that time, I’m watching Justin Rose and Tiger and I was hanging out on the range with Rory McIlroy and all the rest of them, so how was I going to be blown away by anyone? Well, I was blown away by a 14-year-old.”

And there was the 9-hole Monday practice round at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. Champ, who won just one tournament at Texas A&M, qualified for the national championship and then teed it up with McIlroy before tying for 32nd. And Champ outdrove McIlroy on every hole.

“Something happened to Cameron that day,” Foley said. “He saw he could play golf on an elite level.”

RSM Classic's Circa 2004 Leaderboard Interrupted By Cameron Champ

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The last official PGA Tour event of 2018 features a charmingly bizarre leaderboard, with Charles Howell seeking his third win, insurance broker Jason Gore threatening to come out of retirement in grand fashion and launcher Cameron Champ right there too.

Sean Martin at PGATour.com previews what is not your normal leaderboard, but nonetheless should be interesting.

Presidential Order: Trump Orders Tweaks To Turnberry's New Lighthouse Par-3's

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Rear view of the par-3 11th.

Rear view of the par-3 11th.

The MacKenzie and Ebert-revamped Turnberry Ailsa course is spectacular in many ways, with the three-hole stretch at the 9th to the 11th able to stand with any three-hole stretch in the game.

Well it seems President Donald Trump’s July visit—his first since the revamp—prompted some notes. Specifically, making the 9th and 11th greens more receptive. The Daily Record’s Stuart Wilson reports on the Presidential tweaks at 9 and 11:

Turnberry members have been told the 11th, where the most extensive work will take place, could be out of action for up to three months.

The President’s son, Eric, told the Ayrshire Post this week: “We will always look to tweak and make things better where we can.

“This is part of the natural bedding -in process of a new course and we’re making the changes in line with the R&A.

“We want every hole to be perfect and if that means making a few changes like this, we’ll do it.”

I’m curious how much input the R&A has had on any post-reconstruction tweaks. Turnberry is not scheduled to host any R&A events at present.

We May Have (Not) Watched Our Last PGA Tour Event In Malaysia For A While

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Nothing against the fine people of Malaysia and the CIMB Classic, but the limited-field, limited-soul course, limited-audience host to three fall PGA Tour events may be giving way to a new event in the Tokyo area, reports Andrew Both of Reuters.

A press conference will be held in Tokyo next Tuesday to release details of the event, which will be held Oct. 24-27 at a course in the Tokyo area, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Great Read: "How 'The Match' began—and where it might lead"

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Golf World’s Dave Shedloski takes a deep dive into The Match and how the Tiger-Phil event came together. You’ll have to wade through some self-congratulatory stuff and mentions of activations and next-generation deals, but it’s a great read for anyone interested in the anatomy of a deal.

There were also a few details that stood out worth commenting on. Starting with this on the rights fee, which would

No, this will be an intense competition between two rivals—the bitter kind for many years—who have forged a friendship, an alliance and a nameless joint-entity shell company into which cash already is flowing, thanks to the fee WarnerMedia’s Turner paid (much higher than the reported $10 million) for the rights to the more commercially catchy property known as “Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil.”

Much higher than $10 million in rights for one day. That’s giving new meaning to loss leader!

The origins of the event surprised me:

The concept for The Match began with a hypothetical question between two Hollywood friends, CAA’s Jack Whigham, the agency’s co-head of motion picture talent, and one of his clients, Bryan Zuriff, a producer whose credits include the film, “Jobs,” and the Showtime series “Ray Donovan.”

Zuriff, a golf enthusiast who was a huge fan of “The Skins Game” that used to occupy Thanksgiving weekend, is that creative type who has a million ideas running through his mind at all hours.

The story ultimately confirms the “franchise” concept in play.

All along the plan has been to create a franchise of high-stakes matches. So, too, is the aspect of players squaring off, said one source, “for a full PGA Tour purse in one-day events.” In other words, taking the tour’s concept of early-round featured pairings to a new level with an immediate payoff.

Woods and Mickelson would own such a series, which Loy said could include the two competing together as teammates. That would have the unmistakable feel of Challenge Golf, the 1960s TV series in which Arnold Palmer and Gary Player were the featured team against a collection of high-profile professionals. “We hope to see other players involved. You might see Phil and Tiger against players at the top of the world rankings, or two players from the same nation,” Loy said. “But, obviously, a lot depends on the pay-per-view numbers. We’re optimistic about it.”

Still comes down to the numbers.

Ernie Johnson Headlines TNT Broadcast Crew For The Match...

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Everyone loves Ernie…in studio.

However, as longtime PGA Championship watchers know, he’s not exactly a fan favorite when doing golf play-by-play. In his defense, most of Johnson golf work consisted of reading a relentless promo slate and sending us to commercials set against the horrid TNT golf theme as we watched the world’s best sweat through their shirts.

But The Match is a TNT show, so he’s the man. Hopefully the emphasis here will be on letting the players, caddies and officials who wear microphones to do most of the entertaining.

Oh and the pre-game show could set a new high for f-bombs in a 30-minute window.

For Immediate Release:

Turner Sports Announces Commentators for Live PPV Coverage of Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Philon Friday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m. ET 

Sports Emmy Award Winner Ernie Johnson to Call Unprecedented PPV Match with Darren Clarke & Peter Jacobsen, Along with Reporters Natalie Gulbis & Shane Bacon 

Adam Lefkoe to Host The Pre-Match Show Presented by Capital One with Pat Perez, Samuel L. Jackson & Charles Barkley on Friday, Nov. 23, Beginning at 2 p.m. ET 

Turner Sports’ live PPV coverage of Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil, the highly-anticipated showdown between the iconic Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, will be led by Sports Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Ernie Johnson providing play-by-play, alongside analysts Darren Clarke – 2011 Open Championship winner –  and NBC Sports/Golf Channel’s Peter Jacobsen, and reporters Shane Bacon and LPGA veteran Natalie Gulbis.  The broadcast team will provide commentary throughout the winner-take-all $9 million match play competition, to be held Friday, Nov. 23, at Noon PT / 3 p.m. ET (suggested retail price of $19.99) from the exclusive Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. 

Additionally, Turner Sports will produce The Pre-Match Show Presented by Capital One – Friday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m. ET –  offering fans a look inside the preparation of Woods and Mickelson immediately preceding the main event.  The pre-show coverage – including footage of Woods and Mickelson warming up on the putting green and driving range – will be a combination of sports and entertainment. 

Bleacher Report’s Adam Lefkoe will host the one-hour, pre-match show with three-time PGA Tour winner Pat Perez, along with Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley, among other special guests.  The pre-show commentator team will also be integrated into the live event coverage at select moments during the competition.

Live coverage of Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil will be distributed via PPV through Turner’s B/R Live (available now for purchase), AT&T’s DIRECTVand AT&T U-verse.  The PPV event will be distributed to other cable, satellite and telco operators including Comcast, Charter, Cox, Verizon and Altice in the U.S. and Rogers, Shaw and Bell in Canada through In Demand and Vubiquity (an Amdocs Company). AT&T is the official 4K sponsor of The Match, which will also be broadcast in 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) on DIRECTV channel 106 for $29.99*.  Turner International will facilitate the distribution of live PPV access outside the U.S. and Canada.

The Pre-Match Show Presented by Capital One will be available across all pay-per-view carrier platforms, along with wide-ranging distribution available for free to all fans via through simulcasts on the Bleacher Report and B/R Live Facebook (B/R; B/R Live), Twitter (B/R; B/R Live) and YouTube (B/R; B/R Live) social platforms.

In addition to live pay-per-view event coverage, accompanying content distributed across wide-ranging Turner, WarnerMedia and AT&T platforms includes: 

  • HBO Sports and its groundbreaking 18-time Sports Emmy ® Award-winning 24/7 reality franchise, capturing all the excitement leading up to the match, which debuted Nov. 13 and is currently available via VOD, HBO GO and HBO NOW platforms;

  • Bleacher Report and its wildly-popular House of Highlights, which recently surpassed 10 million followers on Instagram, offering comprehensive highlights and behind-the-scenes content;

  • Turner’s TNT televising programming with select content from the event on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m. ET.

Why Is Rory Escalating A Situation That Should Not Be A Situation?

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As Rory McIlroy digs in on his schedule change at the expense of the European Tour’s image, it’s hard not to wonder if something deeper is at the root of his plan to give up membership in 2019. The move will be a blow to the tour and if the rules are not changed, end his ability to ever drive a Ryder Cup cart.

Paul McGinley, former Ryder Cupper, European Tour board member and host of next year’s Irish Open at Lahinch—which Rory plans to skip—penned his thoughts. When you read McGinley’s case for McIlroy essentially creating this fuss over not wanting to commit to just two more events, McIlroy is either creating unnecessary drama or has another motive in play.

From McGinley’s Sky Sports piece, not even trying to make the case for the Irish, but for merely playing twice after August.

The FedExCup finishes in August next year, so you've got all of September, October, November and December where the PGA Tour is played in Malaysia, Korea and various other places.

Is Rory going to play in those rather than play in Dubai, where he has had unbelievable success and offers the exact same prize money as those events? Or is he just not going to play at all over the last four months?

We've already reduced the number of events players have to play on the European Tour from five down to four, just to make it easy for the guys, like Rory, who are playing a worldwide schedule.

(Mercifully) RIP Soon: Caddies Lining Up Players

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GolfChannel.com’s Randall Mell says goodbye to the peculiar LPGA player tendency to have their caddies line them up for a shot, a casualty of the 2019 rules of golf changes.

As most commentators have told us, no one can recall when a player was actually called off a shot by a caddie. Mostly, it just provided an annoyance to television viewers and gave some the perception that female professional golfers needed this odd crutch.

Mell writes of Brittany Lincicome’s use of caddy alignment confirmation throughout her career:

So why do it? For most players like Lincicome, it’s just reassurance. If the rules allow it, why not make sure? For Lincicome, it also has become part of her pre-shot routine.

“It’s really more like a trigger,” Pederson said. “It’s something she will just have to re-establish for next year. I don’t foresee it being a problem. She plays off weeks and in the off season without me lining her up, and she’s fine.”

Lincicome was irritated when she first learned of the rule change, mostly because it was sold as a way to speed the pace of play. Lincicome is one of the fastest players on tour.

The Aussies Care: Chalmers, Hughes Speak Out On Distance Issues

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As the Australian Open gets underway, the world of golf’s attention turns Down Under where we are reminded that some players still put the game ahead of their pocketbook.

Mark Hayes reports on Greg Chalmers, two time Aus Open champ, revealing that he’s been “begging and pleading with” the governing bodies to do something. Anything. Or, as some people would call it, their job. Good luck with that!

“They always seem to be behind and I would love for them at some point, and it's probably going to happen in about 10 years, they're going to go, ‘Hmmm, I think the ball goes too far, or the clubs help to hit the ball too far’.

“So that is something that I am frustrated about because we always seem to be unwinding the clock.

“We always have to – it started with the wedges, the change in grooves, then we went long putter.

“They keep unwinding things.  Why can't we get in front of things?  That's the only thing I wish would happen, they would do a better job sometimes.”

Had they done so at some point in the last twenty years, maybe former Australian Masters winners and Presidents Cup participant Bradley Hughes wouldn’t have to write a eulogy to the golf course he loves and which no longer plays as it was intended, with him channeling the defenselessness of the design against a modern golfer.

You are going to take the blue line route to the destination.

Go ahead- say it.... I know you are. You can't hurt me anymore

You are going to dismiss my contours.

You are going to avoid my white face bunker that used to laugh at you from the tee- now you don't even see it.

That bunker recently admitted his own lonely existance to me not so long ago also. He feels betrayed too that his prescence is no longer appreciated or acknowledged.

The beautiful pines on the corner of my dogleg are now an aiming point rather than an obstruction. And yes!!! They are pissed off too!!!!

State Of The Game 84: Arthur MacMillan, Saudia Arabia And Golf Tournaments Going To Strange Lands

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Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and yours truly spoke with Arthur MacMillan, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent at The National regarding the bleak situation in Saudi Arabia and the European Tour’s “monitoring” of events there.

We also kick around other topics including Rory McIlroy and a fun story to end the show! You can check it out below or wherever fine podcasts are streamed.

Save Muny Urgently Needs UT Regents To Hear From Supporters

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It’s a golf course for everyone in a city center

It’s a golf course for everyone in a city center

The University of Texas Board of Regents and legislators who hold the future of Lions Municipal apparently need to be reminded again that a lot of people care about Austin’s gem of a public golf facility.

This Thursday they vote on whether to extend the Brackenridge Tract Agreement deadline for canceling the Muny Golf Course lease. An extension is needed to allow the state of Texas and City of Austin to continue negotiations on Saving Muny and the Brackenridge Tract. 

The Save Muni Instagram account offers this handy sample letter with pertinent email addresses.

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❗️URGENT CALL TO ACTION: Ask UT Board of Regents and Legislators to Save Muny! Dear Friend of Muny, This Thursday, the UT Board of Regents will vote on whether to extend the Brackenridge Tract Agreement deadline for canceling the Muny Golf Course lease and Brackenridge Development Agreement. If we don’t take action, we know that, absent UT negotiating in good faith, we’ll have more traffic and we’ll lose green space, so we need your help to contact the Regents and our elected leaders at the state to get UT to extend the deadline so that the State and City of Austin can continue negotiations on Saving Muny and the Brackenridge Tract. If you want UT and the City to negotiate a solution for the Brackenridge Tract Agreement and Muny Golf Course, then please consider sending a message, such as shown below, to let them know the importance of providing additional time to find a fair solution to help Save Muny and the Brackenridge Tract. Thank you for your help and continued support! Proposed Message (please revise as needed): Greetings Board of Regents (bor@utsystem.edu), Honorable Senator Kirk Watson (kirk.watson@senate.texas.gov), Honorable Donna Howard (donna.howard@house.texas.gov), Honorable Gina Hinojosa (gina.hinojosa@house.texas.gov): We urge you to extend the deadline for canceling the Muny Golf Course lease and Brackenridge Development Agreement so that negotiations can continue between the UT System and the City of Austin. With Austin City Council’s vote to extend the deadline from November 26, 2018 to February 28, 2019, UT has a willing partner to continue discussions, and we implore you to provide additional time for negotiation discussions to continue. The Brackenridge Tract properties are valuable and treasured assets, not only for UT Systems but also for the City of Austin. And with recent progress by the City of Austin in finding possible funding sources to fairly compensate UT for a deal to purchase and/or swap properties, there is a real opportunity to reach an agreement which provides reasonable development and compensation to UT for the properties. Please vote to extend the cancellation deadline. Yours very truly, ________________

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