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/ Geoff Shackelford
Here’s something you don’t see every day. Especially in competition. From the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship:
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There are tough jobs and then there is the task of dressing up this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, deserted by a number of stars and former champions given waivers to pursue PIFSIPSIA riches.
Certainly it’s not all bad, with great adds to the Pro-Am field in Mia Hamm and Mookie Betts. Otherwise, I’m not sure Der Bingle would know what to do with this…
MONTEREY, Calif., Jan. 25, 2022 – The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is poised to welcome back its unique vibe at this year’s tournament as spectators return to line the courses to watch the world’s top players join with celebrities, several making their debuts, in the popular pro-am format. The four-day tournament tees off Thursday, Feb. 3 with play on Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore course.
United States Ryder Cup teammates Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Daniel Berger, set to defend his AT&T title from a year ago, headline the professional field. Cantlay and Spieth finished tied for third place behind Berger who dramatically eagled the 72nd hole on Sunday to punctuate his victory. Other top professionals appearing are Matt Fitzpatrick, Kevin Kisner, Justin Rose and Maverick McNealy, the Stanford graduate who was runner-up to Berger in 2021.
Celebrities making their tournament debut include:
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I forgot where it happened but in the middle of a round which I was regarding with the usual distaste, a small voice within me said, you know, you don’t have to do this and I thought, No, by God, I don’t. A great wave of relief came over me and on D-Day 1968, I put the clubs up in the loft with the water tanks, closed the hatch, removed the steps and walked away. Nor have I for one second regretted it.
HENRY LONGHURST
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I forgot where it happened but in the middle of a round which I was regarding with the usual distaste, a small voice within me said, you know, you don’t have to do this and I thought, No, by God, I don’t. A great wave of relief came over me and on D-Day 1968, I put the clubs up in the loft with the water tanks, closed the hatch, removed the steps and walked away. Nor have I for one second regretted it.
HENRY LONGHURST
237 Hits
I forgot where it happened but in the middle of a round which I was regarding with the usual distaste, a small voice within me said, you know, you don’t have to do this and I thought, No, by God, I don’t. A great wave of relief came over me and on D-Day 1968, I put the clubs up in the loft with the water tanks, closed the hatch, removed the steps and walked away. Nor have I for one second regretted it.
HENRY LONGHURST
232 Hits
The World Golf Foundation’s lobbying and educating efforts have a new name: American Golf Industry Coalition.
Clean. Tough. No grey area! We don’t need no stinking badges!
Let’s face it, the seemingly neverending threats to the municipal sport always seem to forget golf’s economic impact and it appears the group highlighting the $84 billion economy, 2 million jobs and $4 billion charitable impact decided it was time to send politicians a more pointed message with its name.
Acronym-wise it’s not ideal but neither was We Are Golf. But highlighting that there is a real industry with jobs and livelihoods on the line seems shrewd.
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It’s been a while since we’ve had a player drop a big, whiny and strange rant about golf architecture. In this case it’s Kyle Phillips Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, home of the Abu Dhabi Championship won by Thomas Pieters.
But it was defending champion Tyrrell Hatton who unraveled after making nine to end Saturday’s third round. The Guardian’s Ewan Murray delivered a few account. From his story:
“It must be one of the worst par fives that I’ve ever seen in my life and, over the last two days, I’ve clearly played it about as well as it was designed,” said Hatton, who took seven there on Friday.
The problem seems to be the lack of reachable and a centerline bunker splitting a huge landing area, with the left round shortening the route to the hole.
Pressed on what precisely is wrong with the 18th, Hatton was not of a mind to back down. “What’s wrong with it? Where do you start?” he asked. “It shouldn’t have a bunker in the middle of the fairway and it shouldn’t be over 600 yards from a forward tee. If you hit a good drive as a pro you should have at least a chance to go for the green in two, otherwise the hole becomes a par three [after the first two shots] and that’s if you play it well. Hardly anyone will get there in two today.”
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I don’t suppose anybody alive has ever done more for the game, not Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, not anybody, except possibly the Scotsman who invented it in the first place. The Scots invented it, but Hope and Bing Crosby popularized it. When they used to do their wartime fund-raising tours, the game was popularly believed to be the private reserve of guys who ran railroads or owned oil wells. It was restricted to posh country clubs the average Joe got into only for school dances. Hope changed all that. He brought the game down to the level of the common man. If Hope could play it, anybody could. BOB HOPE
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The 1968 Masters champion, 11-time PGA Tour winner and longtime NBC golf announcer passed away at age 92.
The team at KSDK in St Louis was first to report the sad news.
Dan O’Neill’s lengthy and detailed remembrance for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is a fitting salute to the only native of that city to win a major. He opened with this:
Shortly after he won the 1968 Masters, Bob Goalby received a letter from Bobby Jones, the legendary patriarch of the championship. In his correspondence, Jones wrote:
“I ask you to always remember that you won the tournament under the rules of golf and by superlative play.”
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The story says Phil Mickelson’s foundation will continue to benefit from tournament proceeds through 2024, but there is no mention of Mickelson’s role as host (announced in 2019) and he did not give a pre-tournament press conference.
American Express Extends Sponsorship of The American Express through 2028
Title Sponsor, American Express, helps TOUR continue sixty-two-year tradition in the Coachella Valley
LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA — The PGA TOUR today announced American Express will continue its role as title sponsor of The American Express in La Quinta, California, through 2028. The annual tournament, which features a unique pro-am format, takes place January 20-23 at PGA WEST Stadium, PGA WEST Nicklaus and La Quinta Country Club.
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The CBS golf gang briefed media on plans for the upcoming 2022 season, the 65th consecutive for the network. A few highlights:
CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said the relationship with the PGA Tour “has never been better” as they start a new production arrangement
The Tour provides “below the line” personnel and pictures, CBS retains control of personnel and ability to deliver enhancements
McManus credited Farmers for “coming up with” this year’s Saturday finish to avoid AFC and NFC Championship games
Jim Nantz will work the opening Farmers event remotely from the AFC Championship game site and said “my longing for golf is the one that I feel the most” of sports he covers.
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Allan Robertson, that great giant of the game in the days that are gone, was no gigantic driver. It was his accuracy, combined with his imperturbable sangfroid, that pulled him through victorious in so many fights. HORACE HUTCHINSON
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Allan Robertson, that great giant of the game in the days that are gone, was no gigantic driver. It was his accuracy, combined with his imperturbable sangfroid, that pulled him through victorious in so many fights. HORACE HUTCHINSON
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