PGA TOUR announces landmark domestic media rights portfolio
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – Marking the culmination of a long-term strategic planning process designed to best serve fans through traditional broadcast, Over-the-Top streaming (OTT) and emerging technologies, the PGA TOUR today announced its new nine-year domestic media rights portfolio for 2022-2030.
“Following a comprehensive process of studying the market, talking to all interested parties and analyzing our various options, we’re excited to announce that we have entered into new agreements with our existing partners ViacomCBS and Comcast/NBC Sports Group, while establishing a new long-term relationship with Disney and ESPN+,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “We were extremely pleased with the interest we received from the market – both with incumbents and other media companies – and are excited that our current partners shared our vision for the future, and we are equally excited to be back in business with Disney and ESPN+. These new deals will be a major win for our fans, bringing an elevated commitment from all three partners to help us expand and innovate our content and its delivery.”
Financial details will not be disclosed, but Monahan continued, “The nine-year deals will put us in a position to significantly increase player earnings, deliver more value to our tournaments and sponsors, and ultimately allow us to continue to grow our charitable footprint. Additionally, we are now able to reinvest in our sport in a way never before possible, including production, personnel and technology, and are well positioned to best serve and grow our fanbase in the years to come.”
Broadcast & Cable Television
CBS and NBC will maintain weekend coverage of most FedExCup tournaments, with CBS averaging 19 events and NBC eight events each season through the life of the agreements. Under the new schedule, one network will televise all three FedExCup Playoffs events each year, starting with NBC in 2022 and generally alternating with CBS, creating powerful, three-week coverage of the conclusion of the race for the FedExCup.
NBC Sports Group also will continue as the TOUR’s cable partner, with GOLF Channel providing all early-round coverage and early weekend coverage of every FedExCup event each season, along with PGA TOUR Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour. Further strengthening the ties, the TOUR and NBC Sports will expand their collaborative content and programming relationship.
Another central component of the new agreements will see the PGA TOUR assume responsibility of the onsite production area and technical infrastructure each week, enabling the TOUR to more efficiently aggregate, distribute and develop content for its various platforms worldwide. CBS and NBC will still use their own production and announce teams, led by their producers, directors and production personnel.
Additionally, the TOUR and its media partners will collaborate on creating more sponsorship and marketing opportunities, inside and outside PGA TOUR golf coverage, including access to the vast resources of ViacomCBS, Comcast/NBC Sports Group and Disney and ESPN+.
“We’re excited to extend NBC Sports’ historic partnership with the PGA TOUR as its foundational media partner. We will continue to utilize our extensive platforms to showcase golf with unparalleled live tournament coverage, comprehensive news and high-quality content. Golf is a part of NBCUniversal’s DNA across our broadcast, cable, streaming and digital properties – nowhere more so than GOLF Channel,” said Pete Bevacqua, President, NBC Sports Group. “With more live golf coverage than all other U.S. media companies combined, our relationship with the PGA TOUR also includes THE PLAYERS and Presidents Cup, as well as elevating the PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry TOUR and LPGA Tour via our world-class coverage.”
“Extending our successful long-standing relationship with the PGA TOUR was a top priority, and we are thrilled to add nine more years to this terrific partnership,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “As the PGA TOUR’s primary broadcast network, we are excited to showcase over two-thirds of all broadcast network coverage of the PGA TOUR, expand our schedule with all three FedExCup Playoffs events in alternate years, and to increase our use of PGA TOUR content across all CBS Sports platforms, with even more expansive content exclusivity. For over 60 years the PGA TOUR, its tournaments and sponsors have been outstanding partners. We look forward to many more years of growth and success together.”
PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+
For the first time, the TOUR’s digital rights were negotiated concurrently with its linear offering and will have a new, exciting, direct-to-consumer home: ESPN+. As a result of the new agreement, PGA TOUR LIVE – the TOUR’s subscription video service that was launched in 2015 – will live exclusively on ESPN+ beginning in 2022 and will be dramatically expanded to include multiple live content channels nearly every week of the FedExCup season.
Jimmy Pitaro, President, ESPN and co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks said, “We are looking forward to working with the PGA TOUR to bring current and future golf fans the next generation of TOUR coverage. ESPN+ will offer golf fans unprecedented access and storytelling at an incredible value on the industry’s leading sports streaming platform.”
Rick Anderson, Chief Media Officer, PGA TOUR added, “The relationship with Disney and ESPN+ gives the TOUR the opportunity to expand and diversify audiences, and the TOUR and ESPN will work together to bring new and unique content to our fans.”
ESPN+, the leading sports streaming service from Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN, has grown quickly to reach 7.6 million subscribers (as of February 3, 2020) and the new relationship will provide a significant growth opportunity for PGA TOUR content via ESPN+’s digital reach, innovative platform and young and diverse audience.
PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ will bring fans more access to the 30,000-plus golf shots hit each week on the PGA TOUR by delivering more than 4,000 hours of live streaming coverage annually. PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ will include live coverage from 36 tournaments – from the TOUR’s Hawaii events in January all the way through the year – with at least 28 events having four full days of coverage, with four simultaneous live feeds each day. PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ will also feature on-demand replays of PGA TOUR events, original golf programs, edited speed round recaps and more.
All of this will be available to ESPN+ subscribers as part of the base subscription, alongside more than 12,000 other live sporting events, an unmatched lineup of studio programs, original series and documentaries, along with a library of other, on-demand programming.
ESPN+ is available through the ESPN App, (on mobile and connected devices), ESPN.com or ESPNplus.com. It is also available as part of a bundle offer that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu (ad-supported), and ESPN+ at a discounted price.
LPGA
As part of its Strategic Alliance with the LPGA, the PGA TOUR also successfully negotiated rights agreements that will see the LPGA Tour continue as anchor programming on GOLF Channel, along with expanded exposure for LPGA Tour events on NBC and CBS each year, beyond the U.S. Women’s Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and AIG Women’s British Open, which are already on network.
Specifically, the TOUR secured the long-term extension of the LPGA/GOLF Channel partnership (2022-2030) with ancillary programming, including a season preview, season review and Road to the CME Group Tour Championship. In addition, GOLF Channel will provide dedicated programming for the Symetra Tour each year, as well as enhanced marketing and promotional assets and expanded benefits for LPGA sponsors.
As part of the agreement, the LPGA maintains control of all of its media rights outside the United States and receives expanded digital content rights.
“This agreement is an important milestone in the strategic partnership between the LPGA and the PGA TOUR and a great example of the collaboration happening among golf’s biggest stakeholders,” said LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan. “Thanks to the enhanced agreement with GOLF Channel and increased network coverage on NBC and CBS, more viewers in the U.S. and around the globe will experience the quality and diversity of the LPGA Tour. This gives us a domestic broadcast partner to help deliver another decade of unprecedented growth and provides a foundation that will springboard the women’s game into the future.”
“The LPGA is a very important industry partner, and we are proud that our strategic alliance has enabled these results,” said Monahan. “I’m so impressed with Mike Whan’s leadership and the world-class talent of the LPGA’s athletes, and it’s exciting to know that when fans want to watch professional golf at the highest level, they are going to see both Tours on the same platforms – with the same partners – for the foreseeable future.”
Evolution Media Capital, a division of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), served as the media advisor to PGA TOUR.
Toronto’s Albin Choi ready to retire as professional caddie while on top
Toronto’s Albin Choi plans to retire as a professional caddy with a perfect record.
Choi has been caddying at Old Palm Golf Club to start the 2020 season as he heals up a wrist injury. He was presented a new challenge when Sungjae Im asked Choi to caddy for him at last week’s Honda Classic he was happy to help out.
Im went on to win his first-ever PGA Tour event and with Choi’s wrist almost healed, he’s quitting caddying while he’s ahead.
“I’m just I’m just super thrilled with the result,” Choi said on Tuesday. “One-for-one record which everyone jokes about, you know? I should probably be retiring on that note as a caddy. Keep that streak.”
Im and Choi had become friends during the Canadian’s five seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour. Im is South Korean and Choi thought it was beneficial for his friend to have a caddy fluent in his native language, even translating for Im in the winner’s news conference.
“I know he’s had some trouble with other caddies with language barriers and such, but having somebody that he could communicate with this week, I think he was happy with that,” Choi said. “I’m glad I could help him out a little bit.
Well said, @AlbinChoi ?? https://t.co/FbmkVhGh8j
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) March 2, 2020
“Whether I’m caddying or whether I’m playing, I just want to do the best job that I can.”
The fourth round saw Im in the final pairing with Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., a player that Choi is more than familiar with. Choi and Hughes forged a friendship as juniors, with three consecutive Canadian amateur titles between them, and were then members of Golf Canada’s inaugural young pros squad in 2014.
“I’m pretty sure that’s never happened before,” Hughes said of a PGA Tour event having two Canadian amateur champions in the final group.
Choi won the Canadian amateur title in 2010 before coming second behind Hughes in 2011, before Hughes won again in 2012. Both Hughes and Choi were glad to reconnect and make Canadian golf history.
“It’s always nice to see a familiar face,” said Choi, who pointed out that Hughes’s caddy Jace Walker, from St. Thomas, Ont., is also Canadian. “The whole week was just a great experience and I had a lot of fun with it.”
Choi expects he’ll be 100 per cent within the next month and will start entering Monday qualifiers and other tournaments.
Hughes expects that his longtime friend will be competing in the PGA Tour in no time, even texting Choi on Sunday night to tell him he wants to play with him in a final group soon.
“I know how good of a player he is. He had my number most of the time when we were playing amateur golf and coming up through the ranks,” Hughes said. “He was a very good player and still is. I’m hoping that someday soon he’ll join myself and (Corey Conners) out there.”
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., are the only Canadians in the field this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club in Orlando.
Perspective helps Canadian Mackenzie Hughes excel at Honda Classic
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes never lost faith in his game, even as he struggled through five consecutive missed cuts to start 2020. But Hughes’ professional troubles paled in comparison to the suffering of his friend Daniel Meggs, who succumbed to cancer at the age of 29 on Feb. 23, three weeks before his wife’s due date.
Hughes, who is also 29 and a father, honoured his friend by writing “DM” on his golf balls at last week’s Honda Classic. That added a dose of perspective every time he teed his ball up, helping Hughes finish second at the PGA Tour event and challenge Sungjae Im for the title.
“It wasn’t a tactic to, you know, help me play better golf, it was more just a reminder that life isn’t always fair and that the days that we have are meant to be lived and to be enjoyed,” said Hughes on Monday. “I kept thinking to myself what (Meggs) wouldn’t give for another round of golf and to see us, his family.
“I just thought it was a nice way to remember him but also keep things in perspective and remind myself that golf is not life.”
The memory of Meggs wasn’t the only thing that kept Hughes grounded as he shot a 5-under 275 overall to finish a shot behind Im and one ahead of Tommy Fleetwood. He was also thinking of his wife Jenna and his son Kenton, who were waiting for him at the 18th hole of the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
“I came off and I was a bit disappointed and knew I had a good finish but wanted one shot better,” said Hughes, a native of Dundas, Ont. “But it’s just one of those things that, again, brings you back to what’s important and what’s actually going to bring you joy at the end of the day.”
“Kenton’s unconditional love and affection is what keeps me going. It’s just infectious.”
All week Hughes was surrounded by friends from his days as a junior and an amateur.
On Tuesday, he and fellow Canadians Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., threw a barbecue. They were joined by a handful of other golfers and caddies, who were Kent State University grads, Canadian, or somehow associated with either camp.
Hughes, Conners, Dave Markle, and Marc Bourgeois – all Canadian and Kent State alum – took a group shot together that Hughes sent to Herb Page, the head coach of Kent State and a product of Markham, Ont. That prompted a long phone call between Hughes and Page and later an inspiring text message from the coach that simply read “The hard part is over” after his former pupil was the only Canadian to make the cut.
That stuck with Hughes and he followed up his 71 and 72 in the opening rounds with back-to-back 66s.
“It was like ‘I’ve been fighting that monkey for a little bit this year’ and then to go there on Saturday for our tee time I was like, ‘All right, let’s just go play golf,”’ said Hughes, who had missed the cut nine of 11 times this season, with a tie for 55th a the Houston Open in October his best result before the Honda Classic . “And it was a really nice two days, to say the least.”
Finishing second moved Hughes 157 spots up the rankings from No. 223 to a much more comfortable 66th, just two points behind No. 65 Talor Gooch.
“It just gives me a bit of a shot in the arm going forward,” said Hughes. “I just know that, like I’ve been saying all along, that the game was not really as far off as it seems. I just need build on the momentum for this week and try and keep adding up those points.”
Canada’s Hughes rallies to finish solo 2nd at Honda Classic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Moments after getting his first career PGA Tour win, Sungjae Im took a moment to reflect on what it means.
Not for himself – for his homeland, and for those dealing with a virus that has the world on edge.
The 21-year-old South Korean started fast and finished stronger Sunday, winning The Honda Classic by one shot over Mackenzie Hughes and two over Tommy Fleetwood for his first victory in 50 tries on tour. But before he could be whisked back to the course to collect the trophy, Im made sure to speak out about the coronavirus and tell those in South Korea – where nearly 4,000 cases have been confirmed – that he was thinking of them.
“Over in Korea right now, I know a lot of people are dealing with the coronavirus,” Im said. “And it’s kind of a huge deal with everybody. But I’m just glad as a Korean player that I can deliver some good news to the countrymen back home … to do something for the country and make everybody proud.”
Im shot a 4-under 66 on Sunday, finishing at 6 under to match the second-highest winning score since the Honda moved to PGA National in 2007. He was the tour’s rookie of the year last season, plus has played more tournaments and more rounds than anyone since the 2018-19 season began nearly a year and a half ago.
And now, he’s a winner, picking up $1.26 million this week and becoming the Honda’s 10th international champion in the last 16 seasons.
Im birdied four of his first five holes, then birdied two of the final four – after sticking tee shots on the tough par-3 15 and 17th holes within 8 feet both times – to finish off the victory.
Hughes, a Canadian who made the cut on the number Friday, shot his second consecutive 66. Playing alongside Im, he was part of some serious fireworks on the last two holes and missed a birdie putt at the par-5 finishing hole that would have gotten him into a tie for the top spot.
“I love being in the mix,” Hughes said. “I love having a chance to win, and yeah, it sucks to come up one short, to fight that hard all day. I just kind of thought I was going to do it. But still proud of the way I fought this week.”
Fleetwood (71) was alone in third and is still seeking his first PGA Tour win. He started the day one shot clear of the field and started birdie-birdie to get to 7 under at that point – matching what was the low score in relation to par of the week.
Then PGA National did what it usually does, that being not let anyone run away from the pack.
Fleetwood made bogey on the par-4 6th and couldn’t get up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-4 8th, giving back what was left of his lead at that point. Fleetwood birdied the par-3 17th to get within one, but his approach at the par-5 finishing hole found the water to all but seal his fate.
“I was going well,” Fleetwood said. “My swing wasn’t there today. It wasn’t like a comfortable day … things weren’t quite there, but I hung in well.”
Once Fleetwood’s attempt at a miracle hole-out after a drop from 120 yards on 18 didn’t fall, Im could finally exhale as the winner. He hugged his caddie in the locker room, where he watched the last 20 minutes or so on a monitor.
“I’ve been in this spot many times. … I just felt like the experience really helped,” Im said through a translator.
Some of Im’s best moments have come when no one has been looking.
This picture says it all.
Mini-Mac and all of Canada is proud of you @MacHughesGolf ??? pic.twitter.com/4B4zFKzM6Q
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) March 1, 2020
He was third at the Zozo Championship in Japan last October, a finish totally overshadowed by Tiger Woods tying the PGA Tour record of 82 career victories. And in November he went 3-1-1 to tie for the best showing by a player on the International team at the Presidents Cup, but the U.S. team captained by Woods rallied in singles on the final day to win the trophy at Royal Melbourne.
But this time, he was on centre stage and embraced the moment.
Hughes, of Dundas, Ont., and Im went to the par-3 17th green – the end of the “Bear Trap” three-hole stretch – in wildly different spots. Im stuck his tee ball to just inside of 8 feet, while Hughes had nearly 55 feet left from above the hole.
Line it up! Never a doubt for @MacHughesGolf ? pic.twitter.com/HjNRMvfQuW
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) March 1, 2020
Hughes rolled in his most improbable birdie to an enormous roar, pulling into a tie with Im at 5 under.
If Im was worried, it didn’t show.
Im took a couple looks at his downhill line, took his putter back just a couple of inches and watched the ball roll in for a birdie that allowed him to reclaim his lead at 6 under – which, he hoped, created a bit of relief at home.
“Right now, all I can do is pray for the best and just hope moving forward that not many more people get affected,” Im said. “Hopefully, this virus can calm down and sort itself out very soon.”
Corey Conners in solo 10th mid-way through Mexico Championship
MEXICO CITY – Bryson DeChambeau kept making so many birdies in the Mexico Championship that when he rolled in his ninth one from 45 feet, all he could do was throw his hands in the air in pure wonder.
He wasn’t alone Friday in making birdies, although Rory McIlroy would like to have joined the party.
DeChambeau made seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch at Chapultepec Golf Club for an 8-under 63, giving him a one-shot lead over Erik van Rooyen of South Africa and Patrick Reed at the halfway point of this World Golf Championship. DeChambeau was at 11-under 131.
Van Rooyen, who played college golf at Minnesota, celebrated his 30th birthday by making nine birdies to tie the course record with a 62. Reed made five birdies on the back nine for a 63
Justin Thomas ran off four straight birdies to end the back nine, and then holed a 35-foot eagle putt to build a three-shot lead through 10 holes. That was gone in a matter of four holes as player after player kept rolling in putts on a day with much less wind and far better scoring. The average score 70.28, more than two shots better than Thursday.
Hideki Matusyama was 9 under for his round through 15 holes and had a 20-footer birdie attempt from the fringe on the par-3 seventh. He missed that 3 feet to the left, then missed the next one. He bogeyed the next hole, too, and had to settle for a 64. That left him at 9-under 133, along with Thomas, who had to settle for a 66.
McIlroy wasn’t so fortunate. Staked to a two-shot lead at the start of the day, he opened with eight straight pars, didn’t make a birdie until his 12th hole and fell six shots behind at one point. Two birdies at the end gave him a 69, and the world’s No. 1 player was only three shots behind.
“I made eight pars in a row, and then it’s like, `OK, you’re either going to make a birdie or a bogey. What’s going to come first?’ And I ended up making bogey,” McIlroy said. “There’s a long way to go.”
DeChambeau can use all the science he wants with calculations for altitude and air density. The difference for him on this day wasn’t that difficult to figure out.
“I just made a lot of putts today,” he said.
His big run began on the 18th hole with a 15-foot birdie putt. He got up-and-down from short of the green on the reachable par-4 first hole, made a 15-footer on the net hole, added a few birdies inside 6 feet, and then made a 25-foot birdie. That apparently wasn’t enough.
His tee shot on the 223-yard seventh hole with a green fronted by water wenttoward the back of the putting surface, leaving DeChambeau a downhill putt that is tough to lag. His putt was perfect pace, and a perfect line, as it turned out.
“I just threw my hands up in the air. I mean, come on. Who thinks I’m going to make this one?” DeChambeau said. “Matt (Fitzpatrick) just looked at me and he was like, `What are you doing? Go get a lottery ticket or something.”’
Reed seems to play his best with a chip on his shoulder, and his 63 comes after a week in which Brooks Koepka and ex-CBS broadcaster Peter Kostis brought up his rules violation in the Bahamas, stirring more bad memories.
“I’m not going to lie, just the whole thing on the outside distracts us from our ultimate goal, and that’s to go out and play great golf and continue to try to improve every day on and off the golf course,” Reed said. “As long as you’re doing that, then you’re living the right way. So at the end of the day, you can’t please everybody, and I feel like I’m doing everything I need to be doing to continue to strive in the game of golf, hopefully on and off the golf course.”
Most intriguing of the lot is van Rooyen, who finished the year among the top 50 to earn his first trip to the Masters.
Now it’s about building a schedule on the road to Augusta. He has a sponsor exemption to the Honda Classic – van Rooyen moved to the area last summer – and needs to be in the top 50 each of the next two weeks to get into the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship. He currently is at No. 52.
“I think at a tournament like this and a field like this, if you can play well, you can play well anywhere,” van Rooyen said. “So if I continue the way I’m going, it’ll be a big confidence booster.”
Defending champion Dustin Johnson continued to struggle. A two-time winner in Mexico, Johnson has made only three birdies in two days. He shot 71 on Friday and was 16 shots behind.
Canadian Corey Conners was in 10th place, seven shots off the lead, after shooting a 70.
Conners sits 3 back of leader Rory McIlroy at Mexico Championship
MEXICO CITY – Rory McIlroy switched back to his old putter for the Mexico Championship and it made a world of difference. It helps that he’s still hitting the ball like the No. 1 player in the world.
McIlroy ripped a 4-iron from 275 yards into the thin air at Chapultepec to 15 feet for eagle on his second hole Thursday, made five more birdies and opened the Mexico Championship with a 6-under 65 for a two-shot lead.
This is the only World Golf Championship that McIlroy hasn’t won as he tries to join Dustin Johnson as the only players to win all four of them.
Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson were at 67 while Canadian Corey Conners shot a 68.
Abraham Ancer of Mexico got some of the biggest cheers, especially when he ran off three straight birdies to overcome a rough start. He opened with a 70.
The course, at about 7,800 feet above sea level, is ideal for McIlroy the way he launched the ball.
All class, champ ???? pic.twitter.com/ul0yWdfLTE
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) February 21, 2020
But this was about his putting. He took only 26 putts and ranked No. 4 in the key putting statistic for the round.
He attributes that to his regular 34-inch putter. A week ago at Riviera, he tried a 35-inch putter to help get his shoulder and elbow in a better position. But he said it hurt with lining up the putts, and it cost him. McIlroy was tied for the 54-hole lead and shot 73 in the final round – including a triple bogey on the fifth hole – and tied for fifth
“It didn’t quite work out the way I want it to, so I went back to the 34-inch,” he said. “I just felt a little bit more comfortable today and was seeing my lines a little bit better. And yeah, it was a good day.”
As for swing? Efficient as ever.
The best example of his advantage was the par-5 15th hole early in his round. U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, who hits low-trajectory bullets, caught it a little high on the face of the club and it came out low with little spin. McIlroy launched a rocket and was 55 yards past him.
McIlroy, the reigning hit 9-iron from 192 yards that set up a two-putt birdie. It was like that all day.
“I think with the fairways being so soft, as well, on a coule of the par 5s I teed it up high and sort of launched it,” he said. “And then even the drive on the eighth hole, getting it up and over the trees, I hit a 9-iron in there, where Gary and Tommy (Fleetwood) were hitting 6’s in. So that’s a pretty big difference.”
Woodland was even with him until a few mistakes on the front nine sent him to a 70. He’s not about to change his game for one week in high altitude.
“Rory likes to hit it up in the air,” Woodland said. “This golf course … I’m surprised he hasn’t won here because it suits up perfectly for him.”
McIlroy played nicely last year, finishing at 16-under 268, and lost by five shots to Dustin Johnson, another guy whom the course suits well – just not this year.
Johnson, who has gone a year without winning, opened with a 76, his highest opening round since the British Open at Carnoustie in 2018. His only birdie was on No. 1 after making the turn. He hit 3-wood on 303-yard hole to 8 feet and missed the eagle putt.
Chapultepec has plenty of scoring holes, but it’s easy to get out of position and the poa greens are every bit as difficult to putt as Riviera last week.
Not making it any easier was a wind with gusts up to 15 mph, unusual in the four years this World Golf Championship has come to Mexico City.
“You can go so low, but man, if you’re not playing well, you can shoot over par in a heart beat,” Thomas said. “It’s pretty tough to manage your score.”
Louis Oosthuizen, Billy Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau and Corey Conners were at 67. Conners was in position to keep pace with McIlroy until missing a 10-foot birdie on the 15th hole, and then missing the 18-inch par putt.
Watson arrived in Mexico in a good frame of mind after missing the cut in Los Angeles, where he said he hit the ball great but could make a putt. He stuck around for the weekend, called Justin Bieber and had a foursome of fun at Lakeside.
“Freed it up and just had some fun and realized I was in a good frame of mind,” he said. “Who cares about missing a cut, really? We’ve got other things to worry about.”
His only worry Thursday was wind and elevation, a tough combination.
Jon Rahm, who has a mathematical chance to reach No. 1 with a victory, didn’t make a birdie until the 15th hole and still salvaged a 72. Adam Scott, who won last week at Riviera, opened with a 74, along with Jordan Spieth.
Only 18 players from the 72-man field broke par.
Mike Weir’s never-give-up attitude is paying off once again
Before Mike Weir begins his time on PGA TOUR Champions in May, he threw back the clock on the Korn Ferry Tour. On a leaderboard chalk full of golf’s up-and-coming stars, many of whom are half of Weir’s age, the 2003 Masters champion was holding his own.
That never-give-up attitude has never left Weir, even when it seemed like his game had.
“My mindset was, ‘go as low as you can,’” says Weir of his T17 finish at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic. It was Weir’s highest result at a PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament since 2014.
“As I approach the (PGA Tour Champions) I’ve felt a different energy and I think being around the guys at the Presidents Cup, playing with young guys on the Korn Ferry Tour, you feel like you can compete at that level. I feel good and it energizes you.”
Canada’s @MikeWeir has not recorded a top-20 finish since 2014.
He’s currently T3 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, one off the lead.
Less than three months from joining @ChampionsTour. pic.twitter.com/Ik3Mb8AL08
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) February 16, 2020
Weir was one of Ernie Els’ captain’s assistants at Royal Melbourne in December, and this year he’s had an open schedule playing on the Korn Ferry Tour before he turns 50 in May.
The eight-time PGA Tour winner says he’s been working with a swing coach, Mark Blackburn, a trainer, Jason Glass, and a sports psychologist, Rich Gordon. It doesn’t sound like Weir, who is off on a ski trip before returning to action in a few weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour, is slowing down any time soon.
“Golf’s a game where you have to have everything working well. You have to have your mind in the right place. The balance in my life is good,” he says. “All those things I’ve been working hard on are paying off.”
Things were bleak for Weir just a few years ago as he battled a myriad of injuries and was in a bit of no man’s land with respect to his status on the PGA Tour.
The Korn Ferry Tour has special exemption category for golfers 48-49 before they turn 50. Since Weir has earned more than $28-million in his PGA Tour career, he was one of the highest-earners trying to play the Korn Ferry Tour out of that special category. He could pick and choose his schedule. But prior to getting to that magic number, Weir tried teeing it up wherever he could – including in Europe and Australia.
But at no point did he think of giving up.
“Even when I was really struggling I never thought that. I know what kind of player I am and I know that wasn’t what I was showing on the golf course,” he explains. “There were a number of things I had to iron out through injury and getting back through mobility and technique. I took it as a big challenge.”
Drew Weaver, who played with Weir for the first two rounds at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, says Weir had a great attitude and a renewed perspective since last year. The two met in 2007 when Weaver played The Open Championship as an amateur. At that point, Weir was 40th in the world.
“He still has a ton of game,” says Weaver. “His chipping has always been incredible and his ball-striking was great. It was nice to see him play as well as he did tee-to-green.”
Part of Weir’s inspiration – aside from the jolt he got from playing on the Korn Ferry Tour like Weaver or being in the Presidents Cup team room – is to see how well his fellow Canadians are doing on the PGA Tour.
He was travelling all day Sunday during Nick Taylor’s win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but he got to his hotel in time to watch Taylor play No’s 17 and 18 and seal the deal. The tournament, where Weir finished runner-up twice – in 2005 and 2009 – is an important one, Weir says, and he was thrilled to see a Canadian lift the trophy.
JERSEY CITY, NJ – SEPTEMBER 28: (L-R) Mike Weir of Canada and Captainís Assistant of the International Team and Adam Hadwin look on during the Thursday foursomes matches of the first round of the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club on September 28, 2017, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Scott Halleran/PGA TOUR)
Taylor’s win got him into the Masters. For just the second time ever, there will be a foursome of guys waving the red-and-white at Augusta National.
“For a number of years it’s just been myself and one other guy and sometimes two. You get more numbers there, you have more chances to win,” Weir says.
And, he’s not counting out the potential for another addition.
Weir points to the success Australian and South African golfers have had on the major championship stage.
“We have that kind of talent,” says Weir. “Someone is going to break through here and win a major championship sooner rather than later. It’s been a long time since I’ve won so we’re due for someone else to do it.”
While it’s unlikely Weir will be competing at other majors other than the Masters – never say never, though – he’s got a strong focus on where he will be moving forward.
He says he has no plans to play more Korn Ferry Tour events after he turns 50, but he’ll mix in a few before May. He’s also playing the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on the PGA Tour before heading to Augusta. Canadian fans will see Weir at the RBC Canadian Open in June, too.
HAMILTON, ONTARIO – JUNE 06: Nick Taylor of Canada shakes hands with Mike Weir of Canada and David Hearn of Canada after their round in the first round of the RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club on June 06, 2019 in Hamilton, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, he’ll celebrate the graduation of his eldest daughter from university in late-April. His youngest daughter has just begun university herself, so Weir is becoming an empty nester like most parents his age.
But most parents don’t have the opportunity to re-start their career at 50 with a renewed sense of optimism (or a Green Jacket).
“I’m not saying there wasn’t frustrating moments, but my brain doesn’t work that way,” says Weir of the last few years. “I always believed that I was going to find a way to get better and get it done and find a way back out of it.”
Canada’s Adam Hadwin excited to be a father, enjoying return to PGA Tour
To say it’s been a busy start to 2020 for Adam Hadwin is an understatement.
Hadwin took a break from golf after his wife Jessica gave birth to their daughter Maddox on Jan. 8, insuring he could spend time with his young family before returning to the PGA Tour. He was back in time for the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, near his Arizona residence, on Jan. 30.
Hadwin then played in last week’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Southern California before joining the field for this week’s Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles.
“This is only my third tournament back and we’re still trying to get used to being parents,” Hadwin said. “It’s still a bit chaotic at home. It’s definitely a change in our life, but it’s very exciting.”
Fellow Canadian Nick Taylor joins Hadwin at the Genesis Invitational this week. They often played together as teenagers at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club in their hometown of Abbotsford, B.C., and remain friends on the PGA Tour.
Taylor became a father himself last year and his wife Andie and his son Charlie were waiting for him on the 18th green on Sunday as he completed his four-stroke victory at Pebble Beach. He told reporters after the win that fatherhood has changed his perspective on golf.
“I think it’s made golf much less important for me,” Taylor said. “I’m still eager and driven to do well but I think when I get home all I’m focused on is what I can do to help Andie out or see what Charlie’s doing, watching him grow.
“It’s just a new chapter my life and I think that’s it’s been a huge help, not making golf so important, living and dying by it.”
It’s early days yet for Hadwin as a father, but he says many golfers on the PGA Tour have told him exactly what Taylor said – that becoming a parent has been a benefit to their game.
In the meantime, Hadwin – who tied for 40th at the Phoenix Open with a 6-under performance and missed the third-round cut at Pebble Beach – is hoping to have a more steady game this week.
“I’m just trying to hit a little bit better, a little bit more consistent throughout the week. My iron play the last little hasn’t been great. It was pretty bad at Pebble, to be honest,” Hadwin said with a laugh. “Hopefully over these next few days we can build some consistency with that and try to hit a few more greens, really.”
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., are the other Canadians in the field at the Genesis Invitational.
Hadwin has already qualified for this year’s Masters and British Open and could represent Canada at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Playing at the historic Augusta National Golf Club is already circled on his calendar.
“It’s a special place and I’ve always said that in order to get there you have to do something special. It’s not just a one round Hail Mary or anything that,” said Hadwin, who qualified for the Masters by being in the top 50 on the final official world golf rankings list of 2019. “I’m looking forward to getting back in there.”
Canada’s Nick Taylor goes wire to wire to win Pebble Beach Pro Am
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Canada’s Nick Taylor faced increasingly windy conditions, a hard-charging Phil Mickelson, and his own struggles in the back nine to come out on top at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Taylor led by as many as five strokes heading into the back nine before bogeys on holes 11 and 12 followed by a double bogey on No. 14 seemed to give Mickleson a window on Sunday. But Taylor, from Abbotsford, B.C., remained unperturbed for birdies on Nos. 15 and 17 for a 2-under 70 round and a four-stroke win over Kevin Streelman, with Mickleson fading to five shots back with three bogeys on his back nine.
Was Taylor really as steely as he seemed, though?
“On the inside? Probably not,” said Taylor with a laugh. “I did feel calm all week and today, but I definitely started feeling some nerves middle of the back nine with really difficult holes and making some bogeys.
“Phil was making bogeys alongside me so it’s not like I was making bad bogeys, it didn’t feel like. It was just playing so difficult.”
That winning putt to become the first Canadian champion at the @attproam ???? pic.twitter.com/TRX0ZlCtFe
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) February 10, 2020
Playing as the final pairing of the day, Taylor had Mickleson and his legion of fans in lockstep with him through the storied course. A partisan crowd was clearly hoping that Mickleson would win a record sixth tournament at Pebble Beach, his home course.
Both players had a disastrous No. 14 – Taylor double bogeyed and Mickleson bogeyed – but Taylor recovered with his two late birdies and Mickleson didn’t shoot below par again.
“It’s disappointing certainly to have not won, but I got outplayed,” Mickelson said. “I mean, Nick played better than I did. He holed a couple of great shots. That eagle on 6, the putts he made on 4, 5 and 7 … he just really played some great golf.”
Never count out Nick ???? pic.twitter.com/pDd7wBHSgA
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) February 9, 2020
Instead, Taylor won a PGA Tour event for the second time of his career and set himself up for an exciting 2020 season.
He’ll now join Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners and Mike Weir at the Masters, the most Canadians to ever play at Augusta. He also joins Hadwin and Conners as a potential member of Canada’s Olympic team at this summer’s Tokyo Games. Canada’s two highest-ranked male players in the world golf rankings will compete in the Olympics.
Winning at Pebble Beach guarantees Taylor a full exemption for the 2021 PGA Tour season.
Taylor also made a little bit of history.
Having won the Sanderson Farms Championship in November 2014, Taylor joined Mike Weir and Stephen Ames as the only Canadians in the modern era to win twice on the top men’s tour.
He’s also the first player to lead all four rounds at Pebble Beach since Mickleson accomplished the feat in 2005.
“It’s a unique week with having three different golf courses to play on,” said Taylor. “Each day is a new challenge, totally different. I think that helped a little bit. I won the Canadian junior championship before I went to college, pretty sure I went wire-to-wire there but it doesn’t happen very often to have a great start and back it up with another good round.
“It’s very rare and makes for a tiring week. Now I know 0.1 per cent of what Tiger Woods does every single day, having to talk to media and stuff like that.”
Taylor and Mickleson – who finished the day 2-over 74 – weren’t the only players to struggle with the wind.
Dustin Johnson shot a 78. Matt Every, in the third-to-last group, shot 80. Jason Day closed with a 75.
The best round and best finish belonged to Jordan Spieth, who chipped in to save par on his final hole for a 67. It was the low round of the day and enabled Spieth to finish in a tie for ninth. That narrowly moves him back into the top 50 and makes him eligible for a World Golf Championship in Mexico City in two weeks.
Streelman also left with a trophy. He teamed with Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald to easily win the pro-am for the second time in three years.
Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., shot a 3-over 75 to finish tied for 55th at even par.
Canada’s Nick Taylor takes 1 shot lead over Phil Mickelson at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The only person standing between Phil Mickelson and his first PGA victory of the season is Canada’s Nick Taylor.
Mickelson and his sublime short game delivered more entertainment than all the athletes and celebrities for the Saturday show at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Mickelson made the impossible look easy from a bunker behind the par-3 seventh green at Pebble Beach. He holed out from a bunker for birdie on the 13th, and chipped in from 90 feet for birdie on the next hole.
When he rapped in one last birdie, Mickelson had a 5-under 67 and trailed Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., by one shot going into the final round. Mickelson will be going for a record sixth title at Pebble Beach, and his first PGA Tour victory since he won this tournament last year.
Taylor had a cold and relatively quiet day, away from all the hits and giggles around the celebrity rotation at Pebble. He teed off at tough Spyglass Hill with a beanie and hand warmers because of heavy marine layer, warmed up as the sun broke through and made a 25-foot eagle putt late in his round for a 69.
Taylor was at 17-under 198 as he goes for his second PGA Tour victory, and first since he won the Sanderson Farms Championship in his fourth start as a tour rookie.
Mickelson hit a flop shot over the bunker on the par-5 18th – how did that one not go in? – to pull within one shot. They will be in the final group, along with their amateur partners. Mickelson has former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, while Taylor has Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde.
Taylor and Mickelson have never played together.
“It’s going to be a new experience for that reason, if I am playing with him,” Taylor said. “Obviously, if he makes a putt or great shot, the crowd’s going to go wild. I’ve just got to do my own thing, try to block all that out. Easier said than done, without having to do it before, but I’ll do the best I can.”
This is a two-man show; however, Jason Day posted a 70 at Spyglass Hill and was only three shots behind at 14-under 201.
For others, it was a waste opportunity.
Pebble Beach had more wind than earlier in the week, but still gentle enough that low scores were available. Dustin Johnson, a two-time winner at Pebble, was in striking range and could manage only a 72, leaving him eight shots back. Patrick Cantlay, at No. 8 in the world, played the final six holes in 2 over for a 72 and was nine shots back.
Mickelson started with a pair of birdies. He took a share of the lead with a birdie on the par-5 sixth.
And then the fun began.
His wedge on the 110-yard seventh hole that drops down into the Pacific went long and plugged in the back bunker, impossible because of the back pin and a fast green that slopes toward the front. He splashed out so perfectly that it took a few hops in the rough before reaching the green, slow enough to stop 2 feet away for a tap-in par.
Even for Mickelson, it rates among his best.
Then, his 50-foot bunker shot on the tough eighth rolled inches from the cup on No. 8. More trouble supposedly awaited on the 13th when his approach peeled into the left bunker. He raised both arms when that dropped. And on the par-5 14th, he made a mistake by not hitting his punch wedge hard enough. It rolled down the slope, off the green and back into the fairway. Mickelson’s long chip from 90 feet banged into the pin and dropped for birdie.
Mickelson missed two birdie putts from inside 10 feet. And while he hit only nine greens in regulation, he usually had a reasonable angle to the pin to save par – or make birdie, as was the case twice for him.
That leaves a Sunday with plenty at stake for the leading three players.
Mickelson said earlier in the week he would not accept a special exemption for the U.S. Open if he needed one. A victory at Pebble – the 45th of his career – would go a long way toward solving that.
Taylor can validate his first win since his rookie season, an opposite-field event at the time. The Canadian has never been to the Masters and has played in only four majors, two as an amateur.
Day, meanwhile, is a former No. 1 who spent most of last year injured and frustrated. He has gone nearly two years since his last win, and was in danger of falling out of the top 50 if he didn’t starting getting better results.