When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Ian Poulter might want to wheel out some gamesmanship against Keith Mitchell in Thursday’s WGC Dell Match Play contest—maybe a Kevin Mitchell for kicks—except that his opponent might see through it.
The two played Augusta National recently, decided to share a flight to the match play and as Ben Everill reports for PGATour.com, discussed the art of match play. To some extent anyway.
Longtime readers know my feelings on Lions Muni and the greed-driven University of Texas’ desire to plow the place for development, so it’s wonderful to see the Save Muni movement here is strong. And emboldened by many high profile supporters, including the USGA. The course was granted another one-year reprieve as supporters look for a solution.
Mike Trostel writes the backstory of the course and its incredible history.
Lions is the course of police officers, bartenders and school teachers, but on any given day you might see former University of Texas football coach Mack Brown playing nine with his buddies or actor Matthew McConaughey on the driving range with his son. It has also hosted some of the biggest names in the game, including Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sandra Haynie, Betsy Rawls and Tom Kite.
Lions has long been one of the city’s most popular courses, logging about 60,000 rounds per year. It also hosts Texas' oldest amateur tournament, the Firecracker Open, played annually over the Fourth of July weekend. But the course’s significance goes far beyond the golfers it currently serves.
And of course, it’s still about the money, as always…
The core issue is money. Currently, the city of Austin pays approximately $500,000 per year for the use of the land. UT, however, values use of the land at roughly $6 million annually. The question is whether a compromise can be reached.
Defining what constitutes “advancing and promoting University education” is also a significant uncertainty. On one hand, the land could be viewed as a much-needed solution to UT’s student housing problem or allow the school to expand its academic resource centers and laboratories.
But the cost of developing the land where Lions sits isn’t solely measured in dollars.
The piece is accompanied by this short feature:
Michael Bamberger scored the exclusive details of last month’s secret reunion between Matt Kuchar and his Mayakoba Classic-winning fill-in caddie El Tucan to settle any misunderstanding over Moochgate.
Not only has he been paid, Ortiz and Kuchar met in a clubhouse dining room in late February, when the Tour went to Mexico City for a World Golf Championship event. Over a 40-minute glass of morning orange juice on Feb. 23, the Saturday of the tournament, each apologized to the other, Ortiz said in a recent phone interview and through an interpreter.
“Matt said, ‘Hey, David, how are you?’” Ortiz said. “I apologized for the [difficulty] the situation created. I told him it was never my intention to embarrass him, but I felt eventually I had to tell the truth. Matt also offered an apology. He said it was all a misunderstanding. He asked me how my family was. He showed me a picture of his family and a video of a hole-in-one made by one of his sons.”
Ortiz said there were four people at the breakfast table, including a sports psychologist “who is very close to Matt.”
And a good time was had by all!
Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Se Ri Pak will serve as honorary starters at the 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, it was announced Thursday as promotion of the new event kicked off in New York.
The trophy is a fairly traditional looking silver bowl with the ANWA logo on the side along with all of the flowers synonymous with the Fruitland’s Nursery and Augusta National.
Part 1 of Ron Green Jr.’s eventual two-parter looking at sports betting coming to golf is worth checking out to understand what the PGA Tour has in mind.
Two things stood out to me in Part 1, starting with this on sports betting in the U.S.:
Of that estimated $150 billion wagered, approximately 2 percent – $3 billion – is bet on golf.
Monahan said making money off legalized sports betting is not the main reason the PGA Tour is invested in what will be a new world order. The hope is to get one-quarter of 1 percent of the money wagered on the PGA Tour. That’s approximately $7.5 million annually if the estimates of what’s being bet are accurate.
That seems like a modest goal and modest amount given how the Tour has invested in various programs in anticipation of legalized sports gambling. Hardly a gravy train, but maybe this is the most conservative estimate?
Then again, if it’s about living under par, i.e. engagement…
“What that’s going to do is give fans the ability to not only bet on the winner and the low score of the day but you’re going to be able to bet much more granularly,” Levinson said.
“You’re going to be able to bet shot by shot. You’re going to have a situation where fans are going to be locked in and engaged throughout the competition. It’s going to be a fun way to bet.
“Our sport is unique in that we have 72 balls in the air at any given moment as opposed to one. For people who like to engage in sports betting and may not be interested in the PGA Tour golf, this is going to be a really fun sport to get engaged with.”
Levinson is one of the tour’s sharpest minds, so I trust that he’s seeing things to make them believe shot-by-shot betting will be fun and functional.
Our first glimpse into the merging of a match and stats came at last fall’s match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. As slow as golf is, the match did not seem to move slowly enough to assess a shot and the player’s stats before placing a bet in time. But that may change with better-designed apps that react by crafting a wager immediately after a shot has come to rest, sending us a phone notification of the
”opportunity” and making the bet option fun and fast.
Just my read from his comments yesterday, which were similar to remarks made at The Players. But it sounds like he’s inching closer to thinking a de-skilling has occurred at the top level with 460 cc drivers.
From hjs pre-WGC Dell Match Play press session outside the Austin CC clubhouse:
Q. How would you describe the level of competition now in 2019?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that equipment has made it smaller. The margin is much smaller than it used to be. Now look at these heads, 460 cc's, you hit the ball anywhere on the face and have it go 300 yards. Before it put a premium on good ball-strikers to hit the ball in the middle of the face each and every time. And there was a distinction between the guys who could do that and the guys who couldn't. And that's no longer the case.
It promotes people swinging harder. Teeing the ball higher, swinging harder and hitting the ball further. And the old shot of hitting just a squeezier, low, heelie cut in play, that's no longer the case. Guys are trying to maximize distance off the tee, to try and carry that number 300, 320, 330 in the air. And it's become a game that's played more up in the air than it ever used to be.
Any day now we’re going to have teh 360 cc Driver Open…
As I noted for Golfweek, a little bit of a shine was taken off the pre-match play proceedings with word surfacing of Dell’s desire to change the format. As an unabashed fan of this format, I did not take this well as much as I admire what the company has done to save this stop.
Thankfully, the action begins Thursday and impressively drew a field of every top player in the world, minus Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott. Several pools standout, and you can view them all here along with TV times and other info.
But if you need any inspiration to get ready for the fun, Skratch has done a nice job digging up the old reliable spats for all time. It was especially fun to see the rarely-shown Tiger-Stephen Ames execution. Enjoy!
View this post on Instagram#TigerTuesdays The biggest beatdown in Match Play history. Woods def. Ames - 9 and 8
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I just wish we also could see Keegan with the lapdog in the parking lot after. Oh wait, that’s why we have YouTube.
View this post on Instagram"You don’t tell my caddie to shut up." Keegan Vs. Miguel, 2015 Match Play
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How long before Ricky Bobby grows bored with David Leadbetter’s ideas remains to be seen, but the legendary instructor has officially signed up for Team Patrick Reed just two weeks shy of the 2018 Masters champion’s title defense.
Tim Rosaforte Tweeted the news and received word from Reed spokesman, CEO and spouse, Justine Reed: “We are very proud to announce that Mr. David Leadbetter will be joining our team and we all look forward to working with him.”
This may be a Leadbetter first: reporting to the wife of the player he’s coaching.
Rosaforte’s Tweets:
Just to clarify, instructor Kevin Kirk will remain part of Patrick Reed's team and work alongside the Masters champion with David Leadbetter. Leadbetter told Golf Channel that he wasn't aware of Kirk remaining but added, "Whatever makes Patrick the most comfortable."
— Tim Rosaforte (@TimRosaforteGC) March 26, 2019
Rex Hoggard with the details on what appeared to be an asinine suggestion to use match play to qualify for a weekend of stroke play.
Although the PAC didn’t seem to have much interest in that format change, it appears the PGA Tour continues to search for a way to tinker with the Match Play format, which went to group play for the first three days in 2015.
“There’s really only two formats. If you want to introduce stroke play then you make it as it is in a lot of amateur match-play events and have a stroke-play qualifier and then a match-play knockout,” Casey said. “Or go straight knockout, 64 guys. To me, that’s my thought on it and the vast majority of players seem to think that way.”
I penned this for Golfweek on the subtle changes to the revamped rules as we approach the first high-profile match play event, the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin.
Most of the changes involve changes in terminology, perhaps to the chagrin of traditionalists.
With Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson playing golf at the highest level imaginable heading into the Masters, expect the focus this week to turn to Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.
Woods has not played in the WGC Dell Match Play since its move to Austin and as Dan Kilbridge notes for Golfweek, seems due to take things up a notch in his Masters prep.
The Golf.com gang debates whether this is good prep for Woods and Alan Shipnuck wonders if the new format guaranteeing three matches will dull Woods’ senses.
I think Tiger would have more adrenaline for the old win-or-go-home format. For him this is all about getting reps ahead of the Masters — actually winning matches will be a bonus.
For Spieth the UT grad returning the friendly confines of Austin, the struggles are on the course, not on the range, as he explains to Steve DiMeglio for Golfweek.
The lowdown on this week’s field where Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott are the two star players passing:
Star-studded field finalized for 2019 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play
64 of the top 66 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are committed to play at Austin Country Club
AUSTIN, Texas – Sixty-four of the top 66 players from the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) have officially committed to the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, which will take place March 27-31 at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. The tournament will feature the game’s biggest stars from around the globe in a rare match-play format.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, 2018 FedExCup champion Justin Rose, reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year Brooks Koepka, THE PLAYERS Championship 2019 winner Rory McIlroy, 80-time PGA TOUR winner Tiger Woods and former Texas Longhorn Jordan Spieth are among the notables heading to Austin. Woods, a three-time winner of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, is making his first start in the event since 2013.
The field includes players representing 17 different countries from across the globe. Final seeds for the 64-player field will be determined on Monday, March 25 when the week’s Official World Golf Rankings are released.
Rank Player Country
1 Dustin Johnson USA
2 Justin Rose ENG
3 Brooks Koepka USA
4 Rory McIlroy NIR
5 Justin Thomas USA
6 Bryson DeChambeau USA
7 Francesco Molinari ITA
9 Xander Schauffele USA
10 Jon Rahm ESP
11 Tommy Fleetwood ENG
12 Jason Day AUS
13 Tiger Woods USA
14 Tony Finau USA
15 Paul Casey ENG
16 Patrick Reed USA
17 Bubba Watson USA
18 Marc Leishman AUS
19 Patrick Cantlay USA
20 Webb Simpson USA
21 Phil Mickelson USA
22 Matt Kuchar USA
23 Gary Woodland USA
24 Hideki Matsuyama JPN
25 Cameron Smith AUS
26 Sergio Garcia ESP
27 Louis Oosthuizen RSA
28 Alex Noren SWE
30 Jordan Spieth USA
31 Rafa Cabrera Bello ESP
32 Ian Poulter ENG
33 Keegan Bradley USA
34 Matthew Fitzpatrick ENG
35 Matt Wallace ENG
36 Eddie Pepperell ENG
37 Tyrrell Hatton ENG
38 Haotong Li CHI
39 Henrik Stenson SWE
40 Billy Horschel USA
41 Kiradech Aphibarnrat THA
42 Branden Grace RSA
43 Kyle Stanley USA
44 Charles Howell III USA
45 J.B. Holmes USA
46 Brandt Snedeker USA
47 Shane Lowry IRE
48 Justin Harding RSA
49 Thorbjorn Olesen DEN
50 Kevin Kisner USA
51 Byeong Hun An KOR
52 Lucas Bjerregaard DEN
53 Andrew Putnam USA
54 Emiliano Grillo ARG
55 Si Woo Kim USA
56 Chez Reavie USA
57 Jim Furyk USA
58 Keith Mitchell USA
59 Abraham Ancer MEX
60 Kevin Na USA
61 Tom Lewis ENG
62 Kevin Na USA
63 Aaron Wise USA
64 Lee Westwood ENG
65 Satoshi Kodaira JPN
66 Luke List USA
The bracket will be unveiled live on Golf Channel Monday, March 25 from 4-5 p.m. CT.
Almost sounds like a movie, but instead it’s just the story many would love to live. Mercifully, Patrick Koenig also is a fantastic photographer and even a fundraiser.
Erik Matuszewski explains the story behind Koenig’s wonderful Instagram account and his RV journey playing in all but one state after quitting his job in software sales.
Koenig recently completed an epic golf journey, living in a 26-foot Coachman for 12 months while playing golf in all but one state in the continental U.S. (He missed out on Nebraska because of snow).
Koenig did all the driving himself—a total of 35,576 miles—took around 40,000 photos, made 689 birdies and lost in the neighborhood of 600 golf balls. He also played with 793 different people, making new friends along the way, and raised $20,000 for the First Tee of Greater Seattle.
Lil Pump Gets His Ring Back
I know readers of this site are all fans of Lil Pump—rapper of course—who has made enough to wear a $100,000 ring to Topgolf.
But not enough apparently to take it off and pay someone to hold it while he swings away at golf shots.
Not to worry though, this craftsman of the English language has been reunited with his bloated rock. Somewhere, desperate-to-reach-the-kids golf organizations are jealous.
Thank you for helping me find my 100 thousand dollar ring https://t.co/YN8VSwoEC7
— Lil pump (@lilpump) March 22, 2019
While Fox has settled into their USGA broadcast role and delivered several innovative features as predicted, broadcaster Holly Sonders does admit some things never materialized in the form of other Fox golf properties or golf shows on Fox Sports 1 .
Talking to Golfweek’s Adam Woodward about the state of her career and her Michigan State Spartans, the intriguing quote probably is a view shared by the USGA in wondering why the network never added other golf to their lineup:
Q: Now that you’re in the studio and not doing golf coverage, what are you most excited about going forward, and what will you miss most about covering golf?
A: We never say never. Golf is still a part of who I am and what got me here. But the golf at Fox just didn’t turn out to be what we thought it would be. We hoped we would get more PGA Tour rights, and it just didn’t end up happening. But I wanted to be in the studio and show my personality. It’s what I like to do, make people smile and think and bring the best out of my co-host. There’s nothing like walking out of a studio knowing you kicked ass. And then there are a million projects that are on the table that are more entertainment and fun, so I’m kind of in that world too, and that’s been really good.
If you were watching Morning Drive Saturday you’d have witnessed the surreal scene of Patrick Reed taking a lesson from David Leadbetter after missing Friday’s Valspar Championship cut.
There was the current Masters champion in the middle of the range having the legendary swing guru discussing all elements of his action in what appeared to be a lively exchange of ideas. The two started working earlier in the week on Reed’s swing.
Turns out, reports Will Gray of GolfChannel.com, it was Reed’s wife Justine who reached out to Leadbetter.
Leadbetter is an area resident who was already in town, and he explained that it was Reed’s wife, Justine, who reached out to him via phone Thursday afternoon to see if he could meet for an impromptu lesson.
“I just got a call from his wife, from Justine, who said, ‘Hey, listen, would you be prepared to just have a little look at Patrick. He’s struggling at the moment, he’s sort of lost a little bit. Could you do that for us?’” Leadbetter said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’m here, sure I’ll do it. Absolutely.’”
And there was this wavelength…
Asked about the decision to have his wife reach out to Leadbetter on his behalf, Reed explained that he has “full confidence” in any decision made by Justine, who caddied for her husband before getting pregnant with the first of the couple’s two children.
“The great thing is we’re basically on the same wavelength, her and I,” Reed said. “Because of that, before I even finished my [opening] round I didn’t even have to tell her that, hey, is there any way we can get someone in to just take a peek.”
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
