Golfing News & Blog Articles

Amateur Mike Muehr of Virginia had to WD due to a change in quarantine rules

Thanks to all who sent Greg Mattura’s story on amateur Mike Muehr having to WD from the 100th New Jersey Open despite being in contention, all because he’s from Virginia. The state was added to New Jersey’s 14-day quarantine list Tuesday and officials phoned Muehr to inform him that even after two rounds, he must withdraw.

Golfers making the cut to Wednesday's final round will be required to withdraw if in the past two weeks they have visited states added to the list: Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia, and Washington.

"A very difficult decision for us to make, but the decision already has been made," Kevin Purcell, executive director of the New Jersey State Golf Association, said late Tuesday afternoon. "The policy was in place, and there's already been people who have withdrawn from the event because they had played in the states that had been on the list at that time."

The New York Times’ Mark Lander, Lara Jakes and Maggie Haberman report that President Donald Trump asked his appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom to help steer The Open Championship back to Trump Turnberry Resort.

The course last hosted The Open in 2009 as Turnberry resort, and was purchased in 2014 by Trump, subsequently renovated, impressively upgraded (my review here for GolfDigest.com), and has since not returned to The Open rota.

According to the reporting, American ambassador and New York Jets owner Robert Wood Johnson IV, was advised against any attempt at intervening by his deputy, Lewis Lukens, who later was removed from his position.

Whether the idea ever got to the R&A, hosts of The Open, is unclear. However, according to the report…

But Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try. A few weeks later, he raised the idea of Turnberry playing host to the Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell.

In a brief interview last week, Mr. Mundell said it was “inappropriate” for him to discuss his dealings with Mr. Johnson and referred to a British government statement that said Mr. Johnson “made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event.”

English golfer Tommy Fleetwood arrived in the U.S. two weeks ago and said he will remain in the country for the rest of the PGA Tour season.

From upstate to downtown, there are countless great golf courses in the state of New York. New York offers a host of public and municipal golf course options, along with semi-private clubs, resorts, and more, all featuring a wide range of challenges and scenery depending on where in the state you plan to play. Here […]

The post Best Golf Courses in New York appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow Blog.

CBS Sports Scores Highest Viewership Since Return to Live Golf with Final Round Coverage of @MemorialGolf pic.twitter.com/daT0UlvUCF

A few things stand out with the 2020 Memorial final round ratings: it scored an increase in viewership in July over the normal May dates. Generally fewer people are watching television this time of year.

Also, the final round 2.09 was registered going up against NASCAR. Furthermore, Tiger Woods was only briefly part of the rain-delay interrupted CBS window.

Golf Channel also did well with Tiger in the early weekend coverage provided by the CBS crew that has pulled off the return under complicated working conditions:

Record Viewership @MemorialGolf:

Sunday (1-3:30 pm): 1.47 million avg viewers, most-watched @GolfChannel lead-in telecast ever at this event & most-watched since 2019 Genesis Open in February.

Saturday (12:30-3 pm): 1.24M viewers, #2 sports telecast of the day in all key demos. pic.twitter.com/aiVdVJW7QE

California is a big state with an even bigger list of great golf courses, and that selection can make it difficult to narrow down a destination for your next buddies’ trip or golf getaway. We’ve gone through some of our golfers’ favorites and picked out four of the best golf courses in California that give […]

The post Best Golf Courses in California appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow Blog.

The Keystone State offers a great breadth of scenery and incredible spaces for every kind of outdoor activity – including golf. Pennsylvania golf courses take advantage of the beauty and features of the state, from Appalachian mountain terrain to the shores of Lake Erie. While a complete list of the great golf courses in Pennsylvania […]

The post Best Golf Courses in Pennsylvania appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow Blog.

Brooks Koepka called the killing of George Floyd a 'pathetic' act ahead of the 3M Open, Minneapolis' first sporting event since Floyd's death.

The top eight South Koreans in the world will not be at the LPGA Drive On Championship next week at Inverness Club in Toledo, according to a report.

The post HOW WE TEST appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

The PGA Championship will go on without fans. The U.S. Open is still trying to figure out its plan. So what about the Masters? Only silence. So here's how it could work.

Depending on whom you ask, the timeline and players vary but there’s a version of events leading to the emergence of soft golf balls that goes a little something like this.

Precept made the Lady. Dudes loved it, but you know…ego. And, so, Lady spawned Laddie. By the time Bridgestone made the RX, golf companies had figured out that, performance implications aside, golfers liked soft golf balls. DUO was born. Callaway transitioned from SR-1 to Chrome Soft and in doing so created the ball that changed the ball that Bridgestone had arguably already changed, and well, here we are.

Depending on your affinity for soft golf balls, you can credit or blame preference-driven golfers whose penchant for whacking marshmallows inadvertently created the fresh hell that is the nebulous world of soft balls.

(Middle-finger emoji.)

Sunday, Jon Rahm won the Memorial Tournament despite a 71st hole penalty assessed for causing his ball to move.

If I were PGA Tour Commissioner this is the email I’d sent to PGA Tour players regarding the increasingly problematic tendency to excessively ground the club behind the ball in any kind of lie.

Dear Greatest Athletes In All Of Sport,

It’s been an incredible run since the Return To Golf (© pending) started and I want to thank you for your continued use of a mask when getting Chipotle take-out. Amazing first step. Don’t hesitate to extend that face covering stuff in hotel lobbies or if you have not taken up the special NetJets offer we’ve highlighted (CODE: FLYINGCOMMERCIALSUCKS).

Meanwhile, our positivity rates are as low as the scores you’ve been shooting. Yes, that’s an unfortunate segue to the point of this email you will not read.

Quite the rosy picture of PGA Tour finances in a time of pandemic from John Feinstein at GolfDigest.com:

Other sponsors are accepting their fate of fanless events in the near term for several reasons: They know that the tour’s carefulness is understandable, the tour has picked up the entire tab for purses since play started again, and the tour is apparently in a position to cover full purses at least until the end of the calendar year, if need be. Normally the tour pays for half of each week’s purse.

“You have to understand, they went 10 weeks without paying out purses, so they’re a little more flush than usual,” one source said. “Plus, they have an emergency fund that they can use, and their new TV deal [starting in 2022] will give them a 70 percent boost overall. You add that all up, and they’re in pretty good shape, even if this lasts a while longer.”

Equally important to the local tournament organizations, the tour has also pitched in to make sure the charities that normally receive money from the events are still getting their normal donations, or close to those numbers.

Below are a two super posts from the European Tour featuring archival shots celebrating Jon Rahm’s rise to the No. 1 world ranking, starting with the tweet and retweet from Henrik Stenson:

Impressive play @JonRahmpga ! Can you sign my shirt next week? 😘 https://t.co/pmqw5Me3EP

And this Instagram post of where he started the game:

Where @jonrahm started his journey to World Number 1 ☝️

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on Jul 20, 2020 at 1:35am PDT

Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, fans have expressed an overwhelming desire for the return of live sports in the latest round of an ESPN study.

Tour player Grayson Murray withdrew from this week's 3M Championship after testing positive for coronavirus.

2020 PERFORMANCE GLOVE BUYERS GUIDE

Not too long ago, cost was the primary determining factor for golfers choosing between premium (tour) and performance gloves. As value options have entered the market, however, price isn’t the consideration it once was.

Take a look at these premium gloves and notice that the Kirkland Signature premium gloves are a whopping $5.75 per glove. If, for some reason, you don’t like the Kirkland gloves and are still a baller on a budget, the performance category is for you. Performance gloves are typically thicker (more durable) leather or stretchy materials with greater breathability. The category also allows golfers to wear familiar logos, often at price points significantly less than the premium category.

If you’re a performance glove person, you will be wondering which glove is right for you. That’s where we come in. We put the best of the performance category to the test – and even threw in a few rain gloves for good measure.

Whether you’re looking to buy a new glove today, looking for some buying advice or just want a closer look at what’s on the market, this guide will help you find the right premium glove to fit your needs – and your hand.

Lot to unpack from 2020 Memorial week and to help with the Tiger Woods portion I called up ESPN.com’s Bob Harig.

Here’s the Apple podcast link and of course, you can listen here via iHeart where you can subscribe as well.

A weird final day at the 2020 Memorial will be remembered as the day Jon Rahm became the —- player to be the world’s No. 1 golfer, and his 16 hole hole chip in. Followed by a post-round two-stroke penalty for causing the ball to move (but before he signed his scorecard).

Mike McAllister at PGATour.com with the definitive account of what happened once Tour rules officials started looking at the video and before Rahm signed his winning card.

The shot in question was his second from the rough just off the green at the par-3 16th. As Rahm was at address, the ball moved slightly. Rahm then holed the shot, but slow-motion replays showed the label on the ball moving slightly.

“I didn’t see it,” Rahm said. “You know, I promised open honestly and I’m a loyal person and I don’t want to win by cheating. … The ball did move. It’s as simple as that.”

Rahm was first asked about the potential of a penalty during his post-round interview with CBS prior to reaching the scoring area. Slugger White, PGA TOUR Vice President of Rules & Competition, then showed the replay to Rahm and the penalty was assessed prior to signing his scorecard.

The chip-in becomes a bogey and a 9-under-par winning score over Ryan Palmer, who badly missed the previous week’s cut over the same golf course.

After, Slugger White made clear quite assertively that this was a 9.4 violation and HD had nothing to do with the call.

“The rule is 9.4,” White said. “It was a ball at rest by the player, moved, and since he didn't put it back, he was assessed a general penalty, which is two strokes. That's pretty much the bottom line. …

“When he put the club down behind the ball, it moved ever so slightly to the left, so it changed positions. He accepted it like a gentleman and the man that he is, and we just went on with it.”