Tag: golf events

Burman: Ryder Cup at Bethpage drives Long Island tourism and economy | Long Island Business News
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In Brief:
- Ryder Cup draws 250,000 visitors to Bethpage Golf Course
- Hotels and restaurants see record bookings across Long Island
- Homes near Bethpage rent for $3,000 per night during event
- Global TV audience of 500M showcases Long Island tourism
- Event fosters community pride and shared experiences
I don’t play golf.

However, I know colleagues who do. In many instances, however, they will candidly admit it’s not about placing that little white ball in a cup far, far away that is blocked by sand and water. Rather, it’s about doing business on the fairway, creating what has been alleged to be a bonding experience in a game that the late comedian Robin Williams once described as a baffling, maddening and expensive sport that is inexplicably played 18 times.

One suspects, however, no one is “bonding” in what will be a ruthless competition to win the Ryder Cup on the challenging grounds of Bethpage Golf Course. There is no cash prize for the golfer athlete winning the Ryder Cup (although there are lucrative appearance fees). While their reward is the honor of lifting the trophy before an adoring audience, for Long Island the Ryder Cup is very much a cash prize.

Those who have driven by the golf course over the last several weeks have been stunned to see a literal township of temporary multilevel suites, grandstands, broadcast studios and support structures consume a good portion of the greens. Hotels as far as Garden City have been booked for months, and in some cases, for years, to ensure celebrity names would get the accommodations they wanted. Long Island restaurants are likely telling their regulars that getting reservations this weekend may be a tad bit difficult given that there are a quarter million people descending on Bethpage and at least 65% of them are from off island.

For those whose homes are adjacent to the golf course there are reports that some owners are leasing out their places for $3,000 a night. If that is too expensive, you might consider using their driveway at several hundred dollars a day.

Yet there are strategic economic returns for Long Island that may not become immediately apparent. An international focus on the region comes with coverage of the Ryder Cup with a potential global television audience of half a billion people. No state or local government tourism agency would have the multi-million-dollar budget to reach that many potential visitors to the Island.

There are also serious intangible rewards that go beyond the cash register. Sporting events become shared experiences that can bring communities together and for Long Island, that too often views itself as a series of profoundly separate communities, that is a welcome change. For non-golfers, the Ryder Cup may become similar to how people who don’t usually watch tennis might tune in for Wimbledon, or casual baseball fans get seriously invested in the World Series. For non-golfers such as myself, it is a chance to watch from a comfortable distance the masters of a difficult sport compete for honors.

Robin Williams envisioned the demonic mastermind who first conjured golf, telling his companions, “Here’s my idea for a sport: Knock a ball in a gopher hole! But it’s different than pool…you don’t use a straight stick but one that’s crooked… after whacking away and missing, you feel like you are going to have a stroke, so that’s what we’ll call it: A stroke.”

It is typically hilarious Robin Williams banter but for Long Island hosting the Ryder Cup, our region’s economy is gratefully welcoming the enormous economic benefits that come with the game.

David Burman is principal and president of development at B2K Development in Jericho.
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September 25, 2025
The haunting Masters meltdown that changed Rory McIlroy’s career | CNN

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Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in April 2023.

CNN
—

Slumped on his club, head buried in his arm, Rory McIlroy looked on the verge of tears.

The then-21-year-old had just watched his ball sink into the waters of Rae’s Creek at Augusta National and with it, his dream of winning The Masters, a dream that had looked so tantalizingly close mere hours earlier.

As a four-time major winner and one of the most decorated names in the sport’s history, few players would turn down the chance to swap places with McIlroy heading into Augusta this week.

Yet on Sunday afternoon of April 10, 2011, not a golfer in the world would have wished to be in the Northern Irishman’s shoes.

A fresh-faced, mop-headed McIlroy had touched down in Georgia for the first major of the season with a reputation as the leading light of the next generation of stars.

An excellent 2010 had marked his best season since turning pro three years earlier, highlighted by a first PGA Tour win at the Quail Hollow Championship and a crucial contribution to Team Europe’s triumph at the Ryder Cup.

Yet despite a pair of impressive top-three finishes at the Open and PGA Championship respectively, a disappointing missed cut at The Masters – his first at a major – served as ominous foreshadowing.

McIlroy shot 74 and 77 to fall four strokes short of the cut line at seven-over par, a performance that concerned him enough to take a brief sabbatical from competition.

But one year on in 2011, any lingering Masters demons looked to have been exorcised as McIlroy flew round the Augusta fairways.

Having opened with a bogey-free seven-under 65 – the first time he had ever shot in the 60s at the major – McIlroy pulled ahead from Spanish first round co-leader Alvaro Quirós with a second round 69.

It sent him into the weekend holding a two-shot cushion over Australia’s Jason Day, with Tiger Woods a further stroke behind and back in the hunt for a 15th major after a surging second round 66.

And yet the 21-year-old leader looked perfectly at ease with having a target on his back. Even after a tentative start to the third round, McIlroy rallied with three birdies across the closing six holes to stretch his lead to four strokes heading into Sunday.

The youngster was out on his own ahead of a bunched chasing pack comprising Day, Ángel Cabrera, K.J. Choi and Charl Schwartzel. After 54 holes, McIlroy had shot just three bogeys.

“It’s a great position to be in … I’m finally feeling comfortable on this golf course,” McIlroy told reporters.

“I’m not getting ahead of myself, I know how leads can dwindle away very quickly. I have to go out there, not take anything for granted and go out and play as hard as I’ve played the last three days. If I can do that, hopefully things will go my way.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow because four shots on this golf course isn’t that much.”

The truth can hurt, and McIlroy was about to prove his assessment of Augusta to be true in the most excruciating way imaginable.

His fourth bogey of the week arrived immediately. Having admitted to expecting some nerves at the first tee, McIlroy sparked a booming opening drive down the fairway, only to miss his putt from five feet.

Three consecutive pars steadied the ship, but Schwartzel had the wind in his sails. A blistering birdie, par, eagle start had seen him draw level at the summit after his third hole.

A subsequent bogey from the South African slowed his charge, as McIlroy clung onto a one-shot lead at the turn from Schwartzel, Cabrera, Choi, and a rampaging Woods, who shot five birdies and an eagle across the front nine to send Augusta into a frenzy.

Despite his dwindling advantage and the raucous Tiger-mania din ahead of him, McIlroy had responded well to another bogey at the 5th hole, draining a brilliant 20-foot putt at the 7th to restore his lead.

The fist pump that followed marked the high-water point of McIlroy’s round, as a sliding start accelerated into full-blown free-fall at the par-four 10th hole.

His tee shot went careening into a tree, ricocheting to settle between the white cabins that separate the main course from the adjacent par-three course. It offered viewers a glimpse at a part of Augusta rarely seen on broadcast, followed by pictures of McIlroy anxiously peering out from behind a tree to track his follow-up shot.

Though his initial escape was successful, yet another collision with a tree and a two-putt on the green saw a stunned McIlroy eventually tap in for a triple bogey. Having led the field one hole and seven shots earlier, he arrived at the 11th tee in seventh.

By the time his tee drive at the 13th plopped into the creek, all thoughts of who might be the recipient of the green jacket had long-since switched away from the anguished youngster. It had taken him seven putts to navigate the previous two greens, as a bogey and a double bogey dropped him to five-under – the score he had held after just 11 holes of the tournament.

Mercifully, the last five holes passed without major incident. A missed putt for birdie from five feet at the final hole summed up McIlroy’s day, though he was given a rousing reception as he left the green.

Mere minutes earlier, the same crowd had erupted as Schwartzel sunk his fourth consecutive birdie to seal his first major title. After starting the day four shots adrift of McIlroy, the South African finished 10 shots ahead of him, and two ahead of second-placed Australian duo Jason Day and Adam Scott.

McIlroy’s eight-over 80 marked the highest score of the round. Having headlined the leaderboard for most of the week, he finished tied-15th.

Tears would flow during a phone call with his parents the following morning, but at his press conference, McIlroy was upbeat.

“I’m very disappointed at the minute, and I’m sure I will be for the next few days, but I’ll get over it,” he said.

“I was leading this golf tournament with nine holes to go, and I just unraveled … It’s a Sunday at a major, what it can do.

“This is my first experience at it, and hopefully the next time I’m in this position I’ll be able to handle it a little better. I didn’t handle it particularly well today obviously, but it was a character-building day … I’ll come out stronger for it.”

Once again, McIlroy would be proven right.

Just eight weeks later in June, McIlroy rampaged to an eight-shot victory at the US Open. Records tumbled in his wake at Congressional, as he shot a tournament record 16-under 268 to become the youngest major winner since Tiger Woods at The Masters in 1997.

The historic victory kickstarted a golden era for McIlroy. After coasting to another eight-shot win at the PGA Championship in 2012, McIlroy became only the third golfer since 1934 to win three majors by the age of 25 with triumph at the 2014 Open Championship.

Before the year was out, he would add his fourth major title with another PGA Championship win.

And much of it was owed to that fateful afternoon at Augusta. In an interview with the BBC in 2015, McIlroy dubbed it “the most important day” of his career.

“If I had not had the whole unravelling, if I had just made a couple of bogeys coming down the stretch and lost by one, I would not have learned as much.

“Luckily, it did not take me long to get into a position like that again when I was leading a major and I was able to get over the line quite comfortably. It was a huge learning curve for me and I needed it, and thankfully I have been able to move on to bigger and better things.

“Looking back on what happened in 2011, it doesn’t seem as bad when you have four majors on your mantelpiece.”

McIlroy’s contentment came with a caveat: it would be “unthinkable” if he did not win The Masters in his career.

Yet as he prepares for his 15th appearance at Augusta National this week, a green jacket remains an elusive missing item from his wardrobe.

Despite seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 Masters outings, the trophy remains the only thing separating McIlroy from joining the ranks of golf immortals to have completed golf’s career grand slam of all four majors in the modern era: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.

A runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler last year marked McIlroy’s best finish at Augusta, yet arguably 2011 remains the closest he has ever been to victory. A slow start in 2022 meant McIlroy had begun Sunday’s deciding round 10 shots adrift of the American, who teed off for his final hole with a five-shot lead despite McIlroy’s brilliant 64 finish.

At 33 years old, time is still on his side. Though 2022 extended his major drought to eight years, it featured arguably his best golf since that golden season in 2014.

And as McIlroy knows better than most, things can change quickly at Augusta National.

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April 9, 2024
Masters Golf Tournament Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at the Masters, one of golf’s four major tournaments, along with the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. It is held annually at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

April 11-14, 2024 – The 88th Masters tournament is scheduled to take place.

April 6-9, 2023 – The 87th Masters tournament takes place. Jon Rahm wins, claiming his first green jacket and second career major at Augusta National.

Par at Augusta National is 72 and the course is 7,475 yards.

Dr. Alister MacKenzie of Scotland was the architect of the course.

The winner is presented with a green blazer. He can wear the “Green Jacket” home, but must return it to the club the next year.

Jack Nicklaus has won six Masters tournaments (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986), more than any other golfer. Tiger Woods has five Masters wins.

Three players have won consecutive Masters titles: Nicklaus (1965, 1966), Nick Faldo (1989, 1990) and Woods (2001, 2002).

Sergio Garcia played in 19 Masters before he won in 2017. The average number of attempts before a first victory is six.

Woods is the youngest player ever to win the Masters. (21 years, 3 months and 14 days old)

Nicklaus is the oldest player ever to win the Masters. (46 years, 2 months and 23 days old)

January 1933 – The Augusta National Golf Club formally opens in Augusta, Georgia, after being founded by golfer Bobby Jones and investment banker Clifford Roberts.

March 22, 1934 – The first Augusta National Invitation Golf Tournament is held.

1937 – Members of Augusta National begin wearing green jackets.

1939 – The tournament is officially named The Masters.

1940 – The date of the tournament moves to the first full week of April.

1943-1945 – During World War II, no tournament is held. Play resumes in 1946.

1956 – First Masters television broadcast, only holes 15 through 18 are broadcast.

1972 – The waiting list for Masters tickets is established. The list has since closed. Applications for practice round tickets are now taken a year in advance.

1990 – TV executive Ron Townsend is admitted as the club’s first African-American member.

2003 – The National Council of Women’s Organizations leads a protest against Augusta National’s all male membership.

April 12, 2004 – Arnold Palmer plays in his 50th and final tournament.

August 20, 2012 – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and private investment banker Darla Moore become the first women admitted as members of Augusta National Golf Club.

April 6, 2019 – Jennifer Kupcho wins the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur to become the first female to win at the site of the Masters.

March 13, 2020 – Originally scheduled for April 9-12, the 2020 tournament is postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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March 27, 2024
Tiger Woods Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at one of the most successful golfers in history, Tiger Woods.

Birth date: December 30, 1975

Birth place: Cypress, California

Birth name: Eldrick Tont Woods

Father: Earl Woods

Mother: Kultilda (Punsawad) Woods

Marriage: Elin Nordegren (October 5, 2004-August 23, 2010, divorced)

Children: Charlie Axel and Sam Alexis

Education: Attended Stanford University, 1994-1996

Won the Masters Tournament five times, the US Open three times, the PGA Championship four times and the British Open three times.

Woods is the PGA career money list leader.

With 82 PGA Tour wins, Woods is tied with Sam Snead for most all-time career victories.

His father nicknamed him “Tiger” after a South Vietnamese soldier with whom he had fought alongside during the Vietnam War.

1978 – At the age of 2, wins a putting contest with Bob Hope. The match was staged for the “Mike Douglas Show.”

1980 – Appears on the TV show “That’s Incredible.”

1991 – Wins his first US Junior Amateur golf championship. At 15 years of age, Woods was the youngest champion in history until 14-year-old Jim Liu broke his record in 2010.

1992 – Wins his second US Junior Amateur golf championship.

February 27, 1992 – Competes in his first PGA tournament at the age of 16. He is given a sponsor’s exemption in order to play and is the youngest player ever to play in a PGA tournament at that time.

1993 – Wins his third US Junior Amateur golf championship.

1994-1996 – Wins three consecutive US Amateur golf championships.

August 27, 1996 – Turns professional.

August 1996 – Signs a five-year endorsement deal with Nike worth $40 million.

October 6, 1996 – Wins his first tournament as a professional at the Las Vegas Invitational.

1996 – Forms the Tiger Woods Foundation for the promotion of minority participation in golf and other sports. In February 2018, the charity is renamed TGR Foundation to reflect its growth and scope.

April 13, 1997 – Wins his first Masters Tournament.

May 19, 1997 – Signs an endorsement deal with American Express worth between $13 and $30 million.

June 1997 – Becomes the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world after his 42nd week on the PGA Tour. At 21 years, 24 weeks, he is the youngest player ever to hold the No. 1 spot.

August 15, 1999 – Wins his first PGA championship.

June 18, 2000 – Wins his first US Open by 15 strokes, the largest margin in US Open history.

July 23, 2000 – Wins his first British Open.

September 14, 2000 – Signs a five-year endorsement contract with Nike. It is worth an estimated $85 million, making it the richest endorsement contract in sports history, at the time.

June 16, 2002 – Wins his second US Open.

December 8, 2003 – Named PGA Player of the Year for the fifth straight year.

May 13, 2005 – Woods fails to make the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. It is the first time since 1998 that Woods is eliminated from a tournament.

November 23, 2005 – Wins the PGA Grand Slam of Golf for a record-breaking sixth time.

February 10, 2006 – Opens the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, California.

May 3, 2006 – Woods’ father, Earl Woods, dies of prostate cancer.

July 23, 2006 – Wins his third British Open.

August 20, 2006 – Wins his third PGA Championship.

August 12, 2007 – Wins his fourth PGA Championship.

April 15, 2008 – Undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He had two prior surgeries on the same knee, first in 1994 to remove a benign tumor, and another arthroscopic surgery in December 2002.

June 16, 2008 – Wins the US Open in sudden death, defeating Rocco Mediate.

June 18, 2008 – Woods announces that he will undergo reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery on his left knee and will miss the remainder of the PGA tour season.

February 26, 2009 – After an eight-month hiatus from golf due to knee surgery, Woods plays the second round of the World Golf Championships Match Play and loses to Tim Clark.

November 15, 2009 – Wins the Australian Masters.

November 27, 2009 – Is taken to a hospital after being injured in a car accident in front of his home in Florida. He is released later the same day.

December 2, 2009 – Woods apologizes for “transgressions” that let his family down – the same day a gossip magazine publishes a report alleging he had an affair. He does not admit to an affair and offers no details about the “transgressions” in his statement.

February 19, 2010 – Makes a televised statement apologizing for being unfaithful to his wife and letting down both fans and family. “I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame,” he says. Responding to rumors, Woods says that his wife never hit him, as some media reported in connection with the car crash on November 27, 2009, and that there has “never been an episode of domestic violence” in his relationship with his wife. Woods also says that he entered a rehabilitation center for 45 days, from the end of December to early February, and that he will continue to receive treatment and therapy.

October 31, 2010 – After 281 straight weeks, the longest in Official World Golf Ranking history, Woods loses his No. 1 ranking to Lee Westwood.

2010 – Loses about $20 million from estimated endorsements after sponsors including Gatorade, AT&T and Accenture end ties. Other sponsors including Nike, Upper Deck and EA Sports remain with Woods.

June 7, 2011 – Announces he will miss the US Open due to knee and Achilles tendon injuries.

July 19, 2011 – Woods announces that after a 12-year relationship, he and caddie Steve Williams will no longer be working together.

August 4, 2011 – Returns to golf at the Bridgestone Invitational, after a nearly three-month break.

August 11, 2011 – Plays one of his worst first rounds of golf in a major championship. He fails to make the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time in his career.

October 3, 2011 – For the first time in 15 years, Woods does not make it onto golf’s top 50 players list, according to the official World Golf Ranking.

October 5, 2011 – Signs a new endorsement deal with Swiss watch-maker Rolex.

March 25, 2012 – Earns his first PGA Tour win since September 2009, in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.

June 3, 2012 – With his win at the Memorial Tournament, ties Jack Nicklaus with 73 PGA Tour victories.

July 2, 2012 – Beats Nicklaus’ PGA Tour record with the AT&T National win. Woods’ 74th PGA Tour win ranks him in second place on the all-time list.

September 3, 2012 – Becomes the first PGA tour participant to earn $100 million.

March 25, 2013 – Woods wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the eighth time, and regains the No. 1 spot.

March 31, 2014 – Woods undergoes back surgery for a pinched nerve.

August 23, 2015 – Posts a top 10 finish at his debut at the Wyndham Championships but ends his season as the 257th ranked player in the world. His finish was four shots off eventual winner Davis Love III. Woods has now missed the cut for three majors in a row.

December 1, 2015 – Announces that he underwent his third microdiscectomy surgery last month – a procedure to remove bone around a pinched nerve to allow space for it to heal – and admits he has no idea when he will be back on the course.

July 20, 2016 – It is announced that Woods will miss the PGA Championship due to his continued recovery from back surgery. This marks the first time in his career that he has missed all four major championships.

December 4, 2016 – Woods finishes 14 shots behind the winner in the Hero World Challenge, his first competitive event in more than a year.

May 29, 2017 – Woods is arrested on suspicion of DUI in Jupiter, Florida. He says in a statement that he had “an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications” and that alcohol was not involved.

June 19, 2017 – Woods announces that he is receiving professional help to manage medication for back pain and a sleep disorder.

July 3, 2017 – Announces that he has completed an intensive program for managing his medications.

October 27, 2017 – Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving. His 12-month probation is contingent on completing any recommended treatment including DUI school, 50 hours of community services and random drug and alcohol testing.

December 3, 2017 – Making his long-awaited return from a fourth back surgery – his first tournament for 301 days since pulling out of the Dubai Desert Classic in February – Woods finishes in a tie for ninth place in the Hero World Challenge tournament in the Bahamas.

September 23, 2018 – Wins the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, for his first PGA Tour victory since August 2013 and his 80th overall.

April 14, 2019 – Wins his fifth Masters and 15th major title.

May 6, 2019 – President Donald Trump presents Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during a White House ceremony.

October 27, 2019 – Wins his record-equaling 82nd PGA Tour title at the Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan. Woods is tied with legendary golfer Sam Snead, who won 82 titles throughout his more than 50-year career.

May 24, 2020 – Woods and Peyton Manning defeat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady by one stroke in “The Match: Champions for Charity” golf tournament at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida. The event raises over $20 million for coronavirus relief efforts and captures an average of 5.8 million viewers to become the most-watched golf telecast in the history of cable television.

February 23, 2021 – Woods is hospitalized after a serious one-car rollover accident in Los Angeles County, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Wood’s agent Mark Steinberg said the golfer suffered “multiple leg injuries” and was in surgery following the accident. The next day, Woods is “awake, responsive, and recovering” in the hospital after emergency surgery on his lower right leg and ankle at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The leg fractures were “comminuted,” meaning the bone was broken into more than two parts, and “open,” meaning the broken bone was exposed to open air, creating risk of an infection, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anish Mahajan says in the statement.

November 29, 2021 – In an exclusive interview published in Golf Digest, Tiger Woods speaks publicly about his golfing future for the first time since his car crash. “I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day, never full time, ever again, but pick and choose, just like Mr. (Ben) Hogan did,” Woods tells interviewer Henni Koyack.

March 9, 2022 – Woods is inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the PGA Tour headquarters in Florida.

April 7, 2022 – Tees off in the first round of the Masters, his first tournament in 14 months, completing a remarkable comeback after sustaining serious leg injuries in his February 2021 car crash.

October 2022 – Erica Herman, a former girlfriend of Woods, files a complaint in Martin County, Florida after their six-year relationship comes to end. Herman alleges a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act by breaking the oral tenancy agreement. On March 6, 2023, Herman files a second complaint aimed at nullifying the NDA she signed in 2017. On May 17, 2023, a Florida judge rules against Herman, calling her claims that the NDA is invalid and unenforceable “implausibly pled.” In June 2023, Herman drops her lawsuit alleging a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act. In November 2023, Herman drops her appeal to nullify the NDA.

April 19, 2023 – Announces he has completed “successful” surgery on his ankle following his withdrawal from The Masters earlier this month.

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November 20, 2023
Jon Rahm says members of PGA Tour feel ‘betrayal’ after partnership with LIV Golf | CNN

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CNN
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World No. 2 Jon Rahm has said “a lot” of players on the PGA Tour feel “betrayal” after the shock announcement of its partnership with LIV Golf.

Rahm, speaking ahead of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club in California which begins on Thursday, called last week’s news a “bombshell” to him and his colleagues.

“Well, there’s a lot of not-answered questions. It’s tough when it’s the week before a major. Trying not to think about it as much as possible,” the Spanish player told reporters.

“I think it gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it’s clear that that’s not the consensus. I think the general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.”

“I understand why they had to keep it so secret,” he added, citing the likelihood of leaks to the media.

“It’s just not easy as a player that’s been involved, like many others, to wake up one day and see this bombshell. That’s why we’re all in a bit of a state of limbo because we don’t know what’s going on and how much is finalized and how much they can talk about, either.”

Last week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced a partnership with the European-based DP World Tour and LIV Golf, unifying the trio under a new, yet-to-be-named, commercial entity and consequently ending a feud that has dogged the men’s professional game for the past year.

The announcement led to the US Senate opening an investigation into the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s owners – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – on Monday.

The decision appeared to take the golfing world by surprise, including Rahm, who said he was having a “normal morning making coffee and breakfast” when he describes “texts just flowing in.”

“I thought my phone was going to catch on fire at one point. There were so many questions that I just couldn’t answer. It’s basically what it was,” he said.

“I think it was that day at one point I told (Rahm’s wife) Kelley I’m just going to throw my phone in the drawer and not look at it for the next four hours because I can’t deal with this anymore.”

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler echoed Rahm’s surprise, saying in his pre-major press conference that he found out the news while at the gym. “I didn’t really know what was going on. Still don’t really have a clue,” Scheffler added.

While Rahm admitted that he wasn’t a fan of the shifting sands, he would bow to the people making decisions.

“It’s a state of uncertainty that we don’t love, but at the end of the day, I’m not a business expert. Some of those guys on the board and involved in this are (experts),” he said.

“So I’d like to think they’re going to make a better decision than I would, but I don’t know. We’ll see. There’s still too many questions to be answered.”

The partnership seemingly ends a year of division in golf, and with it, animosities between the two sides of golf.

The decisions of some players to leave the established PGA Tour and DP World Tour to sign up with LIV Golf last year were met with consternation by many others.

Now, with the two sides uniting once again, it opens questions about LIV Golf players’ eligibility for this year’s Ryder Cup which begins in September.

Rahm has been a strong advocate of allowing LIV Golf players to be allowed to compete in the biennial tournament. Players wanting to be a member of Team Europe need to be from Europe and a member of the DP World Tour.

However, players who left to join LIV Golf resigned their DP World Tour membership to do so. If they wanted to apply to rejoin the tour for the 2023 season, they had to hand in their documentation to do so by May 1.

DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley said subsequent requests would require proof of an exceptional circumstance to be granted, something he said would “be difficult and highly unlikely that that would happen,” per Reuters.

Team Europe’s all-time leading scorer and Rahm’s compatriot Sergio Garcia would miss out under those current regulations.

Rahm said that he has “no idea” about whether that will change and that he would support Team Europe’s captain Luke Donald.

“Again, we have no clue. The only thing I can say at this point is I have faith in Luke Donald, and I have faith that Luke is going to do the best and he’s going to try to make the best decision for Team Europe, and that’s all I can do,” the Spaniard said.

“At the end of the day he’s the captain and I’m not. It’s his ship to steer. I have faith in my captain and I’m hoping – not hoping. I’m sure we’re going to end up with the best team we can end up with.”

For the US Ryder Cup team, players who join LIV can still compete as they didn’t have to give up their PGA of America membership – they were banned from the PGA Tour – and the association is one of the organizers of the event.

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June 14, 2023
PGA Tour announces shock reconciliation with Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf | CNN

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CNN
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The US-based PGA Tour is set to partner with the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf, ending a feud that has dogged the men’s professional game for the past year.

The PGA Tour made the shock announcement on Tuesday, saying a new partnership with LIV and the DP World Tour would “unify the game of golf.”

“The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity,” the statement read.

A spokesperson for the PGA Tour told CNN that the new relationship between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) and LIV Golf is not a merger, but “a partnership/creation of a new commercial entity.”

The LIV Golf series, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), officially launched in June 2022, with participating players subsequently barred from competing in PGA Tour events. The PIF is a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, known by his initials MBS.

The two rival tours have since been involved in a series of legal disputes, with all pending litigation mutually ended under the new agreement. “After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement.

Monahan described the deal as a “transformational partnership,” that would “benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.”

He praised PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, saying his “vision and collaborative and forward-thinking approach” was not only a solution to the rift within the sport but also a “commitment to taking it to new heights.”

“This will engender a new era in global golf, for the better,” he added.

In the same statement, Al-Rumayyan said it was an “exciting day,” for golf and the sport’s fans.

“There is no question that the LIV model has been positively transformative for golf. We believe there are opportunities for the game to evolve while also maintaining its storied history and tradition,” he said.

Al-Rumayyan told CNBC he expected the partnership to be finalized “in a matter of weeks” and was set to serve as the chairman of the new entity’s Board of Directors.

The emergence of the LIV Golf, offering huge prize money and guaranteed earnings across substantially fewer events than the PGA Tour, led to distinct fractures within the sport.

PIF pledged to award $250 million in total prize money for the tour’s inaugural season. Of the $25 million offered at each of the first seven events, $20 million was a guaranteed split between players.

The PGA Tour responded earlier this year by announcing a revamped schedule for 2024, with “designated events” offering increased prize purses, smaller fields, and no cuts.

The antagonism was embodied by one of its biggest stars, Rory McIlroy, who became the de-facto spokesperson for the PGA Tour and an outspoken critic of the breakaway series. In August 2022, the four-time major winner told CNN that LIV Golf had “ripped apart” the men’s game.

Tiger Woods was also critical, arguing in July 2022 that players who joined LIV Golf had “turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”

Phil Mickelson, one of the earliest to join LIV Golf, became one of the new tour’s most vocal defenders after facing heavy criticism for joining.

Responding to the announcement, Mickelson said on Twitter: “Awesome day today.”

Former President Donald Trump, whose courses have hosted several LIV Golf events, welcomed the news.

“Great news from LIV Golf,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. “A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!”

Initial social media reaction from players suggested that some were caught unaware.

Collin Morikawa tweeted, “I love finding out morning news on Twitter,” while fellow pro Michael S. Kim said: “Very curious how many people knew this deal was happening. About 5-7 people? Player run organization right?”

Phil Mickelson defends joining Saudi-funded LIV Golf

In a memo to PGA Tour players, Monahan said the new partnership would require approval from the PGA Tour policy board. CNN obtained the memo from a PGA Tour spokesperson.

The Tour commissioner said LIV Golf’s 2023 calendar would continue as planned, while a “fair and objective process” would be established for players wanting to re-apply for PGA Tour or DP World Tour membership after the 2023 season.

Monahan ended the memo by saying there was “much work to do” to get from a “framework agreement to a definitive agreement,” but that the Tour’s “history, legacy and pro-competitive model not only remains intact, but is supercharged for the future.”

Monahan said he was planning to attend Tuesday’s players’ meeting at the RBC Canadian Open at 4 p.m. ET to answer questions regarding what he told players was a “momentous day for your organization and the game of golf as a whole.”

In a statement, Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, echoed Monahan’s comments.

“We are delighted to be able to not only reignite our relationship with PIF, but also to have the opportunity to build on our current Strategic Alliance partnership with the PGA Tour,” Pelley said.

“Together we will be stronger than ever and well positioned to continue to bring the game to all corners of the globe. To partner in this new entity and influence the growth of the game for all our DP World Tour members is energizing and exciting.”

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, organizers of The Open Championship, said: “We are pleased that an agreement has been reached which will help men’s professional golf move forward in a collaborative, constructive and innovative fashion.

“We care deeply about golf’s future and are committed to ensuring that the sport continues to thrive for many years to come.

“This agreement represents a huge step toward achieving that goal for golf and we look forward to working with the new entity for the benefit of the sport globally.”

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June 6, 2023
Joel Dahmen gives golf fan $100 to buy beers after hitting him with errant ball at PGA Championship | CNN

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CNN
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One golf fan has found an unusual way to bypass having to pay for beers at the PGA Championship this week – take a Joel Dahmen tee shot to the leg.

Dahmen was at the first tee of his final practice round Wednesday when his wayward drive struck spectator Caleb McGuire, the spectator said in a tweet.

Pictures showed a sizeable bruise on the fan’s calf, but his pain was eased when the American golfer subsequently asked about the cost of a beer at the major, hosted at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.

When told each beer cost $17, Dahmen handed over $100 for some refreshments, McGuire said, with the tweet showing the duo posing for pictures with the bill.

Shoutout to @Joel_Dahmen for hitting my calf with a tee shot today on hole #1! He proceeds to ask me how much a beer costs at the tourney and I tell him $17 a pop. He then pulls out a crispy $100 bill and says “I got your beers today.” 💯 ⛳️ 🍻 pic.twitter.com/oLIenCUj5q

— Caleb McGuire (@YourPalCal_) May 18, 2023

Dahmen’s act of generosity comes a year after two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas expressed his disbelief at the reported $18 cost of beer at the 2022 edition of the major in Tulsa.

“Sorry about that! Hope you enjoyed the beers,” Dahmen tweeted in response.

“It was a pleasure just to meet you!” McGuire replied. “We couldn’t stop talking about it for the rest of the day. Go ahead and win this week!”

Reporter asks Justin Thomas about high concession stand prices

Dahmen shot to fame following his starring role as the self-proclaimed, self-depreciating, “goofball” of the PGA Tour in “Full Swing”, Netflix’s fly-on-the-wall docuseries released earlier this year.

In an episode titled “Imposter Syndrome,” the show offered a candid insight into the 35-year-old’s wrestles with self-belief.

“I’m a middle of the road PGA Tour player,” Dahmen explained.

“The top players … they’re just built differently. They’re mentally just different. They hit it further and they chip and putt better. I’m not a threat when I walk into these things, really.

“I am not going to be a hall of famer. When I retire from golf, no one’s going to remember who I am. I understand that, I’m fine with it. I’m not playing for legacy. Some people are like, ‘That’s why you’ll never be great Joel, coz you don’t believe it.’”

However, the episode ended on a high note with Dahmen finishing inside the top 10 at the US Open in June last year, a career-best major performance.

The world No. 108 enjoyed a strong end to 2022 but has endured a tough start to the current season, missing the cut in four of his last seven PGA Tour appearances.

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May 18, 2023
Tiger Woods to miss PGA Championship as he continues ankle surgery recovery | CNN

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CNN
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Tiger Woods will not play in the PGA Championship next week, with the 47-year-old absent from the tournament’s field list released on Wednesday.

The four-time champion was not named among the 155 players set to tee off on May 18 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, for the second men’s major of the season.

Woods underwent “successful” ankle surgery in April after an early withdrawal from The Masters, however no timeline was specified for a return to competitive action.

The fifteen-time major winner’s competitive appearances have been few and far between since he suffered severe leg injuries in a car crash in 2021, but Woods has prioritized appearances at the four major championships.

He had missed only one of five potential major outings – the 2022 US Open – since his return from a 17-month absence from the sport.

His appearance at the 2022 PGA Championship in Tulsa marked his second major appearance since his comeback. Woods made the cut at Southern Hills, but – as at The Masters in April – subsequently withdrew after a painful third round. A nine-over 79, including five straight bogeys, saw him card a career-worst score at the event.

Only five-time winners Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen have more PGA Championship victories than Woods, who defended his title at Tulsa in 2007 to clinch his fourth win at the tournament.

Jordan Spieth will tee up at Oak Hill in his pursuit of a career grand slam, having withdrawn from this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson Classic in Texas due to a left wrist injury.

The Dallas-born golfer expressed his disappointment at missing out on his home tournament under doctor’s orders for “rest and limited movement,” he said in a statement released to Twitter on Monday.

Runner-up in 2015, the 29-year-old is a PGA Championship crown away from becoming only the sixth golfer to win all four majors in the modern era, after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Nicklaus, and Woods.

To do so this month, Spieth will have to overcome a star-studded field headlined by Jon Rahm, who claimed his first green jacket at The Masters in dominant fashion at Augusta in April.

The Spaniard tops the world rankings ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, with the latter looking to add a third PGA Championship to his four-major haul.

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May 11, 2023
Golf’s new Saudi deal presents questionable political, business and sporting realities | CNN Politics

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CNN
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The PGA Tour once advertised its brightest stars with the catch phrase “These guys are good.” A better slogan might now be “These guys are even richer.”

In a bombshell announcement so staggering that many golf fans thought it was fake at first, the venerable PGA Tour unveiled a partnership Tuesday with Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund, the financier of its sworn rival LIV Golf – a breakaway circuit that split the sport and seeded feuds among its top players.

The deal means that the PGA Tour – built on the image of quintessentially American Arnold Palmer, who epitomized post World War II US values – will now rest atop a pile of money put up by the regime that the US blamed for the murdering and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, that was home to 15 of the 19 hijackers of September 11, 2001, attack, and that has frequently been condemned by Washington for infringing women’s rights.

It is beyond doubt that the new reality of pro-golf will mean a better spectacle for fans since it will end the split between the two rival tours and will also fold in the DP World Tour (formerly known as the European tour) and mean the brightest stars will play one another more often.

For many sports fans in the US and elsewhere, that’s just fine. They like to plop down on the couch and watch their favorite golfer on the back nine on Sunday or their Gulf-owned Premier League team on TV. Who can begrudge them one oasis free from bitter, tribal modern politics?

And the deal is also undeniably a great piece of business, assuming PGA Tour players accept it. Global golfers stand to win a lot more money, various tours will be invigorated and Saudi Arabia’s government and its ruthless leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), get to be associated with one of the planet’s most prestigious year-round sporting properties. And all pending litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour was also mutually ended under the new agreement.

But for others, Tuesday’s peace deal on the links raises painful moral issues. It also exposes top PGA leaders – who had blasted golfers who defected to LIV – to accusations of hypocrisy and reflects the way modern professional sports are hostage to the highest bidders. This can only pose uncomfortable questions to fans whose values and history clash with those of distant and sometimes politically dicey entities who effectively own their teams and top stars.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, for instance, had some explaining to do – not least to the tour’s players gathered at the Canadian Open this week after many tweeted that they had no advance notice of the deal. Monahan had played the 9/11 card last year at the same event, saying that two families that were close to him had lost loved ones in the worst terror attack on American soil, adding, “I would ask any player that has left, or any player that would ever consider leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?”

Now Monahan stands to be the effective supremo of global golf, save for the four majors – the sport’s most prestigious tournaments – aided by a gusher of Saudi cash.

9/11 Families United effectively accused Monahan of using the tragedy as leverage in a business deal to reunite golf. He “co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sports washing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation,” the group said in a statement. “But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the Kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones.”

Monahan was asked about his reversal after what he said was a “heated” meeting with PGA Tour players on Tuesday.

“I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” he said. “Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA TOUR and our players.”

Major champions who jumped to the rival circuit last year like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed and Cam Smith might also now wonder whether their PGA tour brethren will face the same grilling over human rights that they had to endure at the time.

One very famous golfer was delighted by the deal and seemed keen to claim some reflected credit – former President Donald Trump. The current front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination associated himself with LIV after the PGA Tour and other golf governing bodies distanced themselves from him over his radioactive political reputation. Trump has hosted several tournaments at his courses for LIV – a circuit that sits well with his record of refusing to sever links with the Saudis over the murder of Khashoggi in 2018, reasoning that the Saudis were great customers of the US.

“A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!” Trump wrote in block capital letters on his Truth Social platform.

Some defenders of LIV golfers have pointed out that the players were only making a choice to prioritize personal interests over moral ones in partnering with the Saudis – a calculus that mirrored decades of US foreign policy. Indeed, President Joe Biden had called on the 2020 campaign trail for the kingdom to be treated as a “pariah” because of Khashoggi’s murder only to travel to the kingdom as president to fist-bump MBS when he needed a spike in oil price production to bring down American gas prices.

On Tuesday, after the LIV/PGA partnership was announced, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat down for talks with the Crown Prince in Riyadh.

The idea that politics and sport shouldn’t mix has always been quaint. The Olympics and the World Cup are two of the planet’s most political spectacles after all. And modern sport has long run on money as monster TV rights contracts translate into huge salaries for top soccer players, Formula One Drivers, NBA stars and the top names in other sports.

But Tuesday’s LIV/PGA Tour agreement lays bare questions of morality so starkly precisely because of the way golf has sold itself. In a sport where players call penalties on themselves, and commentators idolize top players in whispered tones as paragons of gentlemanly conduct, patriotism and family values, the origin of the sport’s new financial lifeline is glaring.

The PGA Tour and Saudi partnership may be the most prominent example yet of the phenomenon known as sports washing, whereby an authoritarian nation seeking to buff up its image – despite serious criticism over its political system and human rights performance – woos the world’s top sporting stars. China was accused of such an agenda with its 2008 and 2022 Summer and Winter Olympics, where attempts at political activism largely fizzled under its repressive rule. The Qatar World Cup last year was another example of a nation that used its financial muscle to present a new image to the world. Various controversies during the tournament over LGBTQ rights and the plight of workers who built the stadiums undercut global governing body FIFA’s pretensions to inclusion.

The Saudis, Qataris and others are using their oil wealth to buy themselves a foothold among the world’s most powerful nations and to create tourism, entertainment and sporting legacies to sustain them when their reserves of carbon energy are depleted.

This mirrors a global shift in power and especially financial muscle – from the capitals of Western Europe to new epicenters in the emerging economies of the Middle East, India and China. Soccer, like golf, is taking its share of the cash. Traditional working class football clubs knitted into their communities for decades in the UK, for example, now suddenly find themselves owned by foreign energy magnates. Premier League giant Manchester City was bought by a United Arab Emirates-led group. And Newcastle United is owned by a Saudi Arabia-led consortium, forcing fans to consider (or not) the ethical dimensions of their support for their hometown clubs. And global cricket has been transformed by the Indian Premier League, which pays lavish salaries in a shortened form of the game.

One of the top names in soccer, Cristiano Ronaldo, is playing out the twilight of a glorious career spent at Europe’s top clubs in the up-and-coming Saudi league for a massive salary. And on Tuesday, Saudi team Al-Ittihad announced the signing of Real Madrid and French forward Karim Benzema, completing a sporting double whammy for the kingdom.

There are as many sporting questions about the PGA Tour/LIV Golf partnership that remain unanswered. The partnership combines the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity. A spokesman for the PGA tour told CNN that the deal is not a merger.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” Monahan said, describing a “transformational partnership” that would “benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.”

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, told CNBC he expected the partnership to be finalized within weeks and revealed, in a stunning move, that he had told LIV figurehead and Hall of Famer Greg Norman about the deal only moments before going on air.

LIV lured some of the PGA Tour’s top stars with massive signing bonuses and huge purses at substantially fewer events than the PGA tour, prompting the premier US circuit to unveil its own select “designated events” with upped prize money. The two sides were locked in bitter legal battles that have now been resolved.

It remains unclear, however, what steps LIV stars will have to take to potentially be able to return to events like The Players Championship, currently hosted on the PGA tour from which they were banned.

Then there is the question of how current PGA Tour members will respond.

Former British Open Champion Collin Morikawa tweeted, “I love finding out morning news on Twitter.”

The sudden announcement also did not specify what would happen to LIV tour events, which have struggled to draw a strong TV audience, beyond this season. Monahan’s announcement did hint that the new entity was committed to the new format of team events that has been introduced by LIV, to compliment golf’s traditional reliance on individual tournaments.

The golfer with the widest smile on Tuesday was probably Mickelson. The three-time Masters champion took the most heat for deserting the PGA tour for a reported massive payday, and was one of the most outspoken supporters of LIV – a breakaway he argued was a way to revolutionize the structure of professional golf and to secure more rewards for players.

Mickelson was also open about the reality of partnering with the Saudis, calling them “scary m*therf**kers to get involved with,” in an interview with golf journalist Alan Shipnuck that he later claimed was off the record. Shipnuck has written that he offered Mickelson no such agreement.

On Tuesday, Mickelson simply tweeted: “Awesome day today,” with a smiley sunshine emoji.

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April 12, 2021