2024 PGA Tour
- Thread starter cshea
- Start date
Phil Mickelson has been the recipient of more favorable treatment from the PGA Tour than just about any player in history.
This is a man who, after decades of rumors about his erratic behavior and massive financial losses, finally admitted (last year) that he has a severe gambling addiction that has cost him many millions of dollars and caused him to engage in the kind of illegal actions that would land most of us in jail for a nice long stretch. (Mickelson admits the addiction, but continues to deny reports of gambling on events he played in. He doesn’t comment about his involvement in a massive insider trading scandal 10+ years ago that was designed to help him pay off losses.)
Given that his gambling losses were/are the prime driver behind his cynical decision to accept $200 million from the “scary motherfuckers” bankrolling LIV, I think the PGA Tour has all the justification they need to cancel his exemption and ban him for life.
Phil is a fan favorite and draws crowds. I'd be shocked if he isn't let back.
Yup. I agree in principle with everything @Average Reds wrote, but in this morally bankrupt culture, money and ratings is what will prevail. Phil still drives those things. Sickeningly, LIV has prevailed. At this point, the PGA should just welcome all the defectors back, and allow anyone to play on both tours. That's almost certainly going to be the end result anyway. Just expedite it.
He's 53. He's not going to be competitive for much longer, if at all.
I wouldn't bother. But I don't make decisions, so ...
Nice shank!
https://www.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/1b3qwle/anthony_kims_comeback_starts_strong_with_a_well/
Currently +6 in the Saudi Beer League tour.
https://www.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/1b3qwle/anthony_kims_comeback_starts_strong_with_a_well/
Currently +6 in the Saudi Beer League tour.
Kind of feels like no one bothered to check if the guy can play golf anymore before handing him a check.
Also part of my thinking. He's close to expiration date. Just let him come back and he'll be non-competitive sooner or later anyway. I suspect fans want him in the field more than whoever the number 150 ranked guy is, and probably the right move is to suck the air out of any linger public facing LIV-PGA tension. But these guys are all rich and have an axe to grind so we'll see.
Triple for Rory in the middle of the Bear Trap, trying to splash one out of the water hazard. Unsuccessfully.
Monday finish at the Cognizent. Eckroat has a 1-shot lead with 11 to play, but Van Rooyen is in the clubhouse. Lowry is 3-shots back and has 12 to play.
Ekroat with a 3-shot lead headed into 18.
2024 winners
Chris Kirk
Grayson Murray
Nick Dunlap
Mathieu Pavon
Wyndham Clark
Nick Taylor
Hideki Matsuyama
Jake Knapp
Austin Eckroat
Good individual stories but also hard to not look at the talent drain.
2024 winners
Chris Kirk
Grayson Murray
Nick Dunlap
Mathieu Pavon
Wyndham Clark
Nick Taylor
Hideki Matsuyama
Jake Knapp
Austin Eckroat
Good individual stories but also hard to not look at the talent drain.
Obviously there are a handful of top players missing from PGA Tour events, but that list of lesser name winners is more a result of the signature events than anything else. The top guys are skipping a lot of the non signature events, so that opens the door wider for the long shots. Of course the signature event purses were created in response to the LIV tour, so its all a tangled web.
For those interested, another Andover guy, Evan Harmeling (for those that may remember, he won a Korn Ferry event a year or two ago and made news because he wore the same outfit that made him look like the Gorton Fisherman on Saturday and Sunday because he's superstitious) has qualified for the Puerto Rico Open. I've known Evan since before he went off to college, just an incredible player, but this will be his first ever PGA Tour event:
https://www.instagram.com/misterharmeling/reel/C4HBJaYNjGT/
https://www.instagram.com/misterharmeling/reel/C4HBJaYNjGT/
Same amount of signature events this year as last. And the signature events have tighter fields than a year ago, theoretically making it easier for the stars to win. Nothing doing so far, Kirk, Clark and Hideki have won th signature events. Hideki is a bonafide star globally but probably a tier or two behind Rory, Max, Spieth, etc. in the US. Here were the winners on tour last year through the same events:
Jon Rahm
Si Woo Kim
Jon Rahm
Max Homa
Justin Rose
Scottie Scheffler
Jon Rahm
Chris Kirk
Bold are the signture events last year. Even in the non-signature events they got Rahm, Max and Justin Rose as winners. And a few memorable moments like the Rahm/Max dual at Riv.
Maybe Rahm leaving is just the straw that broke the camels back for me. Comparing this years winners to last years is depressing, although admittedly Rahm was responsible for 3 of them last year.
Signature event at Bay Hill. 69 player field.
There will be a lot of bitching and moaning about the course.
There will be a lot of bitching and moaning about the course.
Just saw this on the twitter machine and if I’m understanding it I think it is so true. Unless you’reTiger or Jack gravitas goes a long way. I want to like the people I’m watching. I am watching less and less golf these days because these guys are just not likable. And they don’t seem to care.
Yes it’s a sport but theses guys (other than maybe Rory and Max) don’t seem to understand how fortunate they are and why they make the money they do (it’s fan interest). I get excited for the majors but the rest have been relegated to background stuff while I work on Thurs/Fri and only interesting on the weekend if I’ve got nothing else going on.
View: https://twitter.com/sean_zak/status/1765820320399630842?s=46
Yes it’s a sport but theses guys (other than maybe Rory and Max) don’t seem to understand how fortunate they are and why they make the money they do (it’s fan interest). I get excited for the majors but the rest have been relegated to background stuff while I work on Thurs/Fri and only interesting on the weekend if I’ve got nothing else going on.
View: https://twitter.com/sean_zak/status/1765820320399630842?s=46
Yeah, it's stupid. I kinda don't care anymore outside of the majors. I follow it because I do enjoy playing and watching golf but the product stinks and I find myself watching less and less. I threw on ESPN+ for a few minutes today but didn't pay attention.
The fans are the ones that are bearing the brunt of the divide. I don't have the time or energy to follow two tours. I don't care about billion dollar coprorate deals and foreign governemnt investments. I just want to turn the TV on and watch the best players play golf. I can only really do that 4 times a year now.
The fans are the ones that are bearing the brunt of the divide. I don't have the time or energy to follow two tours. I don't care about billion dollar coprorate deals and foreign governemnt investments. I just want to turn the TV on and watch the best players play golf. I can only really do that 4 times a year now.
I don't see it this way at all. I love watching golf, so I watch golf and enjoy it. I don't miss any LIV guys other than maybe DJ and Koepka, but I've enjoyed new guys like Aberg, Knapp and Dunlap.
But while we each have our own opinions, I don't understand why do you say that the product stinks. Still looks like pretty great golf to me.
I don’t think this is about LIV. It’s about the players being robots and the non-major events just boring since I couldn’t care about whether any of these guys win or now.
Fair enough, I just disagree. In addition to Rory and Max, I enjoy Finau, and Spieth, and JT, and Lowry, and Woodland, and Theegala, and Hovland, and Fitzpatrick, and Fleetwood, and Keegan, and Tom Kim, and many others.
There have always been Scott Hochs and Patrick Reeds out there. There are likely more out there now, but there are still plenty of guys that I find enjoyable to watch and easy to root for.
I don’t miss any of the LIV guys per se (Rahm, DJ, Brooks, Cam and maybe Niemann being the ones)but I guess it’s just more fatigue from the whole situation. And it’s impossible to ignore, it overshadows everything. I turn on the TV last week and watch Austin Eckroat and David Skinner battle it out and it’s just sort of…what are we doing here?
I love golf but I’m sick and tired of the board room. I don’t give a shit how much money they are playing for or how that money is distributed. I just want to watch golf with the best players in the world participating.
I think your last sentence is really the only big difference between us. I hate the board room stuff too. But I don’t need the current very best players in the world for me to enjoy watching. They’re still the best players in the world every week. Max wasn’t elite not that long ago. Either was Sahith or Cam Young or Tom Kim. Maybe Ekroat and Knapp will be among the best players soon. I mean, if you want to have some fun, look at some of the players on the Ryder and Presidents Cup teams over the past 20 years. Other than the HOFers, the “best players” change a lot over the years. I’m okay watching a mix when I turn on my tv. But I can understand you not liking that.
Switching subject but I’m hooked on Full Swing this season.
no spoilers but the Dahmen / Wyndham Clark episode was really good as was the Fitzpatrick episode.
no spoilers but the Dahmen / Wyndham Clark episode was really good as was the Fitzpatrick episode.
The carnage is coming at Bay Hill if that's you're thing. Greens getting like cement and it's only Friday morning.
Hideki may have just hit the best shot I've ever seen. A tee ball stance, feet in the water, hits it to like 3 feet.
Edit: Here it is:
View: https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1766162999058796568?s=20
Edit: Here it is:
View: https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1766162999058796568?s=20
I dunno man, I'm more impressed when they hit lasers and throw darts to difficult pins. Go to any muni on Saturday morning and you'll see shots like this all day. I'm not even kidding, I see some amazing things from recreational golfers because they get in the weirdest spots and are used to getting out of trouble.
I've been critical of NBC but these Smylie hour things are pretty good. Spieth hanging out with him today to call some action.
I know that some people don’t like Spieth for a variety of reasons, but I love the guy. Showing the video of him and Greller disagreeing and then Jordan splashing one was terrific.
Yeah, I saw that and thought to myself "I have that shot" because, unfortunately, I need that shot.
Should be a good final round today.
Edit: Max and Sam Burns promptly eject with a double and triple on #1. Max won the skin with a 6.
Edit: Max and Sam Burns promptly eject with a double and triple on #1. Max won the skin with a 6.
If anyone is interested, Evan is in the clubhouse at -15, tied for 10th. If it stands, I believe he gets in next week. Not a bad debut for him.
Birdie birdie finish and he gets a top 10, nice little $97,000 payout and invite to the next event. What a week.
Anthony Kim looks like he's spent the last 10 years doing a pound of coke a day, what happened to him? He's unrecognizable.