Golfing News & Blog Articles

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was nailed by an errant tee shot by Matthew Fitzpatrick at the PGA Championship on Thursday.

The two-time defending champ put himself in position for a third. Can Brooks Koepka do it again? Will TPC Harding Park show its teeth? We get you set for Round 2 of the PGA Championship.

A lot has changed for Tiger Woods over the years, including his willingness to embrace the adoring galleries that helped buoy his comeback. Now, amid silent sidelines, Woods tries to pull off the improbable yet again.

The wedge is the club that should be replaced most often in your lineup. How frequently should you replace yours?

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My story for The Athletic on Tiger’s solid opening round at Harding Park focused on the weird start, group vibe and Tiger’s slight miss at 8 that prevented an opening 67.

ESPN.com’s Bob Harig focused on a similar theme—the surreal start to the round when three of the game’s biggest names were met with silence.

Alan Shipnuck at Golf.com focused on Tiger’s ability to get the most out a so-so day.

Highlights from the featured group that goes at 1:58 pm PT Friday.

Bryson DeChambeau broke his driver on the seventh hole of the PGA Championship while leaning over to pick up the tee. PGA rules allowed him to then repair the club using a new shaft.

Top-seeded teenager Rachel Heck opened a big lead early and then had to hang on to beat Therese Warner in 18 holes to advance to the second round of the U.S. Women's Amateur on Thursday.

Danielle Kang, fresh off her victory at Inverness, opened with a 7-under 64 in the Marathon Classic for a share of the lead with Lydia Ko.

Martin Kaymer, who was forced into a period of inactivity while in Germany during the coronavirus pandemic, rebounded from missing the cut last week to shoot a 66 in the first round of the PGA Championship.

The price of a Starbucks latte.

A Triple-Triple at In N Out.

The student rate for a month of Spotify.

All seemingly good deals.

$4.99 for a month of ESPN+ so that you can watch the pre-ESPN PGA Championship coverage?

The CBS crew and ESPN+ broadcast had plenty of focus on the Featured Group of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, which meant we ended up hearing more than maybe they expected as the players waited on the 4th tee

In a nutshell, Tiger explained to Rory why Dodger fans don’t like the Giants-themed golf bags this week, why both think the NFL is doomed and why Tiger does not see MLB lasting past another outbreak.

Rex Hoggard breaks down the conversations here at GolfChannel.com as they looked at McIlroy’s bag.

“Giants’ colors, couldn’t do it,” Woods said.

“I don’t know enough about baseball,” McIlroy said.

“What team do you root for back home? Soccer?” Woods asked.

The Northern Irishman is a Manchester United fan.

“So, Liverpool. It would be like having Liverpool colors on your bag,” Woods said. “That’s how much we hate the Giants. I wouldn’t do it.”

The clip:

Tiger Woods, using a new putter, posted a 2-under 68 in first-round action at the PGA Championship in San Francisco.

Cormac Sharvin of Northern Ireland shot a course-record 8-under 63 Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the English Championship.

Tiger Woods could've easily played his way out of the PGA Championship in his opening round at TPC Harding Park. He was, after all, spending a lot of time in the rough. But when it was all over, he'd fought his way to 2-under 68. Here's how it happened.

Jeremy Turnage reports from Augusta on Mayor Hardie Davis saying he wants golf even if means the likelihood of no fans on site for the rescheduled 2020 Masters.

“I think that based on everything I know about what’s taking place at Augusta National, they’ve been on the front lines of reviewing what the PGA is doing. I think, as you see, the tournament’s happening tomorrow -- the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park -- without fans. And that’s likely what probably will happen here in Augusta. We have a tournament without fans.”

Davis did say, however, that he has faith that the ANGC can move forward with a Masters tournament with fans provided the proper precautions are put in place.

“Do I believe that the Augusta National Golf Club can do it better than anybody? Absolutely,” Davis said.

Add the PGA Tour to the list of organizations cutting staff during the pandemic, reportedly around 50 this week according to several sources. Many of the cuts involved longtime employees presumably offered early retirement. The news comes as the PGA Tour has lost 11 tournaments due to the pandemic, but has not lowered purses for tournaments. Earlier this year, the PGA Tour signed a new $700 million a year television deal with CBS, NBC and Golf Channel commencing in 2022.

The PGA Tour issued this statement:

As a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PGA TOUR – much like many other organizations – has had to identify ways to streamline our operations. While it is never easy to say goodbye to valuable members of the TOUR family, this week’s targeted job cuts will allow us to most efficiently deal with the current climate and prepare for 2021 and beyond.

The news comes as construction continues on the new Foster And Partners designed headquarters where more office space has now been freed up.

My Thursday contribution to The Athletic looks at how players are adjusting to the northern California climate after two months of playing in hot weather.

We can finally put some numbers to the COVID-19 effect on golf’s second-biggest player. Acushnet’s Q2 2020 Financial Report says pretty much what you’re expecting it to say. Sales were down and net income – or profit – was way, way down.

Specifically, global sales for all Acushnet brands in Q2 were an even $300 million. That’s down 35% compared to Q2 of 2019. What’s more, Acushnet is reporting a Q2 Net Income of $2.3 million. That’s down 94%.

As always, please note we are not, nor are we claiming to be financial analysts or investment counselors. We simply follow the golf industry, and we like to read. And with financial reports, the headlines may be sexy, but the real meat is in the details.

And Acushnet’s Q2 2020 Financial Report is no different.

A Groin-Kick of a Quarter

Considering the golf world was effectively closed for roughly half of the entire second quarter, a 35% drop in sales could actually be considered a small victory.

The LPGA Tour reported no positive tests among its players this week, leading up to the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

The four-day forecast by Stewart Williams as of Wednesday afternoon

I’m sprinkling in investment thoughts for the (fellow) degenerates along with some fun notes from Wednesday at Harding Park. The 2020 PGA Championship kicks off Thursday with wall-to-wall coverage by ESPN+ and ESPN.

—COVID-19 testing has gone perfectly. From the PGA of America’s Kerry Haigh today: “With that, we ended up and are using the same testing entities that have been used for the first ten weeks, Drug Free Sport and Sanford Health, and with only one player remaining to be tested, all players and caddies in the field have cleared our COVID-19 protocol. So I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that, and I'm sure 155 players and 156 caddies are just happy, so thank you to all of them.”

—The forecast (above) is extremely favorable for an on-time finish—no thunderstorm chance for a PGA in August!—but suggests the players may be in for a very tough test. The cold makes 7,200 yard Harding Park play forever and even if we get some clearing, the forcasted breezes and sun (please!) should dry things out. The course is in a very good place to prevent an Olympic Club-style bake out, but I’m going to predict the winning score will be -10, which makes the 269.5 over/under intriguing (four-round par is 280).

—Tiger Woods is a great value at 35-1. Seems the money is going elsewhere according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Todd Dewey. I had my doubts given the climate, his Memorial performance and how he looked at the last three majors of 2019. This week? He’s got a determination to his steps, looks focused, is working hard on the greens and as I noted Monday, is in 100% mode with his swing. The course suits his style of play of these days.