Golfing News & Blog Articles

l have some reading to do because as the press release says below, the “APGA Tour is a non-profit organization with the mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry.”

And the winner of the televised APGA Tour stop finishing Sunday at Torrey Pines has Korn Ferry Tour status, so why he is eligible is also unclear.

GolfDigest.com’s Tod Leonard was on hand and writes:

The APGA is a tour that was founded to give minorities more opportunities to play professional golf, but it has not closed the door on anyone either. Tour officials estimate that about 15 percent of the competitors are white, and Newcomb is one of those golfers. He qualified for the Farmers Invitational by finishing fourth on last year’s APGA money list, having started to play the tour in 2021 because it offered more events than other circuits during the pandemic.

I’m just going to leave it there and let you read Cameron Morfit’s game story at PGATour.com or the press release below, or below that, the funeral winning putt.

Loads of good stuff can be found in this Bryce Miller column about the new and, apparently, permanent Saturday finish as long as the Farmers Insurance Open finishes on AFC/NFC Championship Sunday.

“Do you really want to know?” Farmers Insurance CEO Jeff Dailey told the Union-Tribune on Friday at Torrey Pines, when asked about his initial feelings. “It was presented as a choice at first. Do you go with Wednesday through Saturday? Or do you go to NBC and keep the Thursday-Sunday format?

“My initial, ‘upset’ reaction was, let’s go to NBC. Then cooler heads prevailed.”

Does this mean cooler heads prefer CBS to NBC?

Miller says the loss of the pro-am caused by a quick turnaround from the previous week cost the Century Club $1 million. But ultimately Farmers wants ratings and Saturday’s later finish is their best chance for the largest audience.

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:

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.

The website is now Golfcoalition.org.

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.”

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.”