Author: lenz

LIV players made only a so-so showing at the 88th Masters

 

OCALA, Florida – The 87th Masters in 2023 was a big boost for the LIV Golf League.  This year’s 88th, not so much.

It’s inevitable, given the ongoing rivalry between LIV and the PGA Tour, that there are player comparisons any time both circuits have players in the same tournament.  A year ago, in what surprised many, LIV players had co-runner-ups Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka behind champion (and now LIV colleague) Jon Rahm in the Masters with Patrick Reed tying for fourth.

This year the only real LIV highlight was Bryson DeChambeau taking the first-round lead with a 65.  He wound up in a tie for sixth place with Cameron Smith.  That’s the best LIV could do.

So what should we make of that?

Not much, really.  It was DeChambeau’s best showing in eight Masters but he was too caught up in the moment after his low first round.

“It’s a weird thing to say,’’ he said, “but it was almost like goosebumpts – and it was early in the week, too.  It was like, whoa!, I’ve got to calm that down.  It was too quick, too early.’’

The week was by no means a total loss for LIV. The fledgling circuit only had 13 players in the field and  seven made the cut.  DeChambeau and Smith, nine strokes behind champion Scottie Scheffler, earned a return to next year’s Masters by finishing in the top 12.  Tyrrell Hatton (tie for ninth) and Reed (tie for 12th and a past champion) also figure to be in the field in 2025. Mickelson (tie 43rd) and Rahm (tie 45th) are also past champions.

Koepka, who defends his PGA title in May, was no threat at this year’s Masters, finishing in a tie with Rahm. Two-time winner Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia – also past champions – missed the cut  with Johnson the only glaring disappointment. Sad say my official pre-Masters pick to win, Johnson, shot a most uncharacteristic 78-79. Poland’s up-and-coming Adrian  Meronk was the other LIV MC.

LIV moves on to Adelaide in Australia, which should be uplifting for Smith.  The Rippers captain expects huge support with his all-Australian team and is predicting “a magical week.’’ The tourney is April 26-28.

The PGA Tour moves on to the RBC Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, S.C., this week.  I can’t imagine this being an uplifting week golf-wise for Scheffler, with his wife expecting their first child any day. He shared lodging with friend Sam Burns at the Masters. Burns’ wife was also expecting their first child.  Burns  shot 80-73 and went home. Both top players face the same distractions this week.

Granted, waiting out the birth of a child – especially the first one – isn’t easy but Scheffler and Burns are both on this week’s entry list with the Heritage having a limited field with no cut, a purse increased to $20 million and  more FedEx Cup points available.

A few other post-Masters thoughts:

The Tiger Woods’ spotlight seems to always shine, merited or not.  He was dead last among the Masters finishers this time, but his performance wasn’t without merit.  He made the cut for the 24th consecutive time, a record as his streak surpassed that of both Fred Couples and Gary Player.

Similarly impressive, in my book, was Vijay Singh making the cut at age 61. The oldest is Couples, who broke Bernhard Langers’ record when he played all 72 holes in 2020 at age 63.  Langer had planned to make 2024 his last Masters but couldn’t compete after injuring his Achilles playing pickleball.

LIV-PGA issues won’t go away, and the status of negotiations remain a secret. Latest “development’’ is a London newspaper reporting that Rory McIlroy, one of the loudest of LIV critics, may be on the brink of changing tours after being offered $850 million. I he doesn’t take it the next LIV target is Viktor Hovland.  I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

 

U.S. Open qualifiers tee off next week nation-wide

 

The year’s major golf championship ended on Sunday, when Scottie Scheffler’s  last putt dropped, giving hims his second title in three years at  the Masters. Though the second of the four majors, the PGA Championship, will be played in May the third major actually begins next Monday (APRIL 22) and the Chicago area gets a taste of it just two days later.

Sound confusing? It is, until you comprehend just how big the U.S. Open is. The deadline for online registration passed last week, the day before the Masters started.

The finals of the Open will be June 13-16 on Pinehurst’s No. 2 Course in North Carolina, but a long lead-in period is needed to determine the 156 players who will compete there. Getting to the 72-hole climax is a huge accomplishment based on sheer numbers, and the final site is significant.

Pinehurst long held the record for most entries – 10,127 in 2014.  That record was broken last year when 10,187 registered for the event that concluded at Los Angeles Country Club. Numbers like that make the U.S. Open the biggest golf tournament and one of the world’s biggest sporting events in terms of participants.

No entry figure has been announced for this year yet, but it’ll be filled with very qualified competitors.  Amateurs who want to play must have a handicap index that doesn’t exceed 0.4.  Otherwise a player must be designated as a professional to get in.

Pinehurst is the new home of the U.S. Golf Association, which conducts the championship.   Pinehurst also hosted the championship in 1999 and 2005 and has more recently been declared an anchor site.  That means the Open will be back to Pinehurst in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.

Staging a U.S. Open is a massive project for the USGA. This year’s tourney requires 109 local qualifying sessions, all over 18 holes. The survivors and players exempt from locals will go through 36-hole final eliminations that begin May 20 in England, Japan and one U.S. site.  Nine other U.S. sites will host the final stage of qualifying on June 3 and another will be held in Canada that day. None will be played in Illinois, but three first-stage qualifiers will.

One of the early local qualifiers is next Wednesday (APRIL 24) at Stonewall Orchard, in Grayslake.  A former Illinois PGA Championship site, Stonewall will have 73 players battling for four spots in the second stage qualifiers.

A bigger local will be held April 29, when 84 players compete over the Woodside and Lakeside nines at Cantigny in Wheaton with five berths in the second stage on the line.

Still a third Illinois local will be played on the busiest day of the first stage.  On May 13 there’ll be 24 locals nation-wide, with one at Illini Country Club in Springfield. Illini CC, which will also have 84 players competing for five second stage spots, is hosting a local for the 45th consecutive year. That encompasses every year since qualifying has been conducted, and no other club in the country can make that claim.

With about 10,000 registered entries  the chances of any hopefuls going on to win the Open proper are remote, but it has been done – by Ken Venturi in 1964 and Orville Moody in 1969.

Only six players won the Open after surviving the finals stage – Gene Littler (1961), Julius Boros (1963), Jerry Pate (1976), Steve Jones (1996), Michael Campbell (2005) and Lucas Glover (2009).

A few other U.S. Open winners have survived both local and final qualifiers at some point in their careers.  They include Lou Graham and Hale Irwin, both champions when the Open was played at Medinah; Curtis Strange, Lee Trevino, Gary Woodland and Fuzzy Zoeller.

 

 

Illinois flavor is lacking in this year’s Masters

The  88th playing of the Masters tees off on  Thursday, and like every other staging, it’ll trigger golf enthusiasm throughout the world.  The year’s first major championship is traditionally a sign of spring. The tour players are ready for a serious test after three months of tournaments of much lesser importance. That’s just the way it is —  every year.

This Masters, though, is an unusual one from an Illinois perspective.  The local highlight of tournament week at Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club has already taken place – and it was provided by a pair of 9-year olds.

Emory Munoz, of Lockport, and Lucy Wiertel, of Oswego, were among the very select group of youngsters nation-wide who participated in Sunday’s Drive, Chip & Putt finals. Emory was one of seven participants to earn a return trip after making the finals in 2023.

There were 10 finalists in each age group at Sunday’s nationally-televised competition, and neither Emory or Lucy could match the feat of Northbrook’s Martha Kuwahara a year ago.  She was one of the champions.  This time Emory improved from ninth in 2023 to seventh this time, and Lucy was ninth in her age group. The chance to compete at Augusta National, though, gave both the thrill of a lifetime.

This was a special year for Drive, Chip & Putt, too.  The Masters field will include the first ever Drive, Chip and Putt participant.  Akshay Bhatia, who won the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open in a playoff last Sunday, was in the youth event in 2014.

Local tour players couldn’t wangle a Masters invite. Northbrook’s Nick Hardy was a winner on the PGA tour last season, and that usually merits an invite.  Hardy’s win came in a two-man team competition in New Orleans, however, and that didn’t merit his first spot in the Masters. Hardy, though, had his best finish of the season – a tie for 25th at the Valero Texas Open.

Wheaton’s Kevin  Streelman, a 45-year old tour veteran, didn’t make it, either.  He’s been slowed by a back injury suffered in February’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am and that’s hampered his play. His game may be be on the way back up, however, as he’s made three of five cuts since the injury, including the last two tour stops.

Streelman was in the news, too.  His first-round 64 at the Valspar Championship in Florida got him media attention, and the national media were intrigued by a new revolving ball marker that he introduced there.

The Masters has produced some Masters memories already for Streelman.  He won the colorful Par-3 Championship there in 2015 and played in five Masters. He made the cut in the last three appearances, from 2014-16,  with his best finish a tie for 12th in 2015.

Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim and Northwestern alum Dylan Wu are also PGA Tour regulars still hoping for the opportunity to make a Masters debut.

HERE AND THERE:  Tickets are already on sale for the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop.  It’ll be held July 3-7 at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis.  The tourney’s Birdies for Charities program started this week.  Since its debut in 1971 it has raised $174 million for local charities.

The Illinois PGA will hold its first Chicago area competition on Monday (APRIL 15).  It’s the Pro-Pro-Pro Scramble, a three-man team event at Mistwood, in Romeoville.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. season opens with qualifiers for the CDGA Mid-Amateur at Maple Meadows, in Wood Dale, on April 22 and Sunset Valley, in Highland Park, on April 23.

 

 

Rahm still winless on LIV Tour but remains a Masters threat

 

Greg Norman, executive director of the LIV Tour, jokes with Jon Rahm. (Joy Sarver Photos)

 

MIAMI, FL. – Last year’s Masters was the first tournament where PGA Tour players competed against those who defected to the LIV Golf League.  The LIV guys got the better of that one.

Four current LIV players finished  one -two-three and a tie for fourth.   That spoke well for the Saudi-financed circuit that is now in its third season. Spain’s Jon Rahm will defend his Masters title this week at Georgia’s Augusta National. He won last year when he was still a PGA Tour member.

Rahm hasn’t won an individual title as a LIV member, but team he captains – Legion XIII – won its second title in five starts on Sunday on the rugged Blue Monster course at Trump Doral and Rahm contributed several key putts to that victory. At least that’s some momentum to take into this week’s Masters.

Knowing a four-stroke lead was slipping away in a tight team battle with Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats, Rahm touched more on a clutch putt he rolled in down the stretch rather than dwell on his individual play.

“I was just trying to two-putt,’’ Rahm said, “and the putt just kept going.  We won by one stroke, so obviously that putt meant more than I had thought it would.’’

It also doesn’t hurt that Rahm has been solid, despite not winning by himself.  He’s the only LIV player to finish in the top 10 of all five tournaments of 2024. He tied for fourth Sunday, three strokes behind South African Dean Burmester and Spain’s Sergio Garcia.

Former president Donald Trump, LIV executive director Greg Norman and Trump’s son Eric enjoy the action around the first tee during the final round at Trump Doral.

Burmester took the individual title in a two-hole playoff, the third loss in extra holes  for the winless Garcia in LIV play. Burmester and Garcia played the regulation 54 holes in 11-under-par 205. Both failed to par the final holes, necessitating their playoff.

Now the focus is solely on the Masters.

If LIV shows as well at this year’s Masters it’ll likely be because of the players who weren’t  so impressive

Sergio Garcia (left) and Dean Burmester matched shots in a tense two-hole playoff.

 

 

 

LIV Tour will return to Chicago after all — but at a new site

Colorful banners are a big part of the atmosphere at LIV Golf events. (Joy Sarver Photo)

MIAMI, Florida – The Chicago area will have a major professional golf tournament this year after all.  The LIV Golf League is returning, but not at Rich Harvest.

Jerry Rich, owner of the Sugar Grove private club that hosted LIV events in 2022 and 2023, invited the fledgling Saudi-based circuit to return this year but has since decided it’d be best to give his club members a year’s break from the distraction that hosting a pro tournament usually requires from a host club.

Rich deemed the two LIV tournaments conducted at Rich Harvest successful, and they had high profile champions.  Australian Cameron Smith won the first event and Bryson DeChambeau was the champion last year. That added to DeChambeau’s Illinois success story that is starting to rival that of Hale Irwin.

Irwin, basically retired from professional golf now, won the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah, the 1975 Western Open at Butler National and three Champions Tour events at Kemper Lakes.

DeChambeau won 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields, the 2017 John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis and last year’s LIV event at Rich Harvest. DeChambeau can’t defend there.

Three LIV staffers at the circuit’s stop at Trump Doral privately confirmed that the circuit is returning to Chicago this year for one of the two season-ending tournaments on the circuit’s 14-event season.

“An announcement will be coming soon,’’ said one.

Both tournaments are considered majors for LIV players and will be played in September. Last event with a site on the 2024 schedule is at West Virginia’s Greenbrier Aug. 16-18.

Dates and sites for the final two events haven’ t been announced. One is the individual championship, the other the team climax to the campaign. One source at Trump Doral said the individual final would be in the Chicago area.

Both the PGA and LIV tours had Chicago tournaments in 2023.  The PGA isn’t scheduled to return until the President’s Cup is held at Medinah in 2026.

Meanwhile, both the PGA Tour and LIV conclude their competitive tuneups for next week’s Masters on Sunday. Leader of the LIV event after Saturday’s 36-hole stop  at Doral is Spain’s Sergio Garcia, a former Masters winner who has yet to win on the LIV circuit. He’s at 9-under-par 135.  Tied for second, two strokes back, are Talor Gooch, Tyrrell Hatton, Dean Burmeister and Matthew Wolff.

“This course (Doral’s Blue Monster) and Valderrama (in Spain) are the toughest courses we’ll play this year,’’ said Garcia.  “I’m happy to be out there and try to win tomorrow.’’

Picking the Masters winner is getting even more difficult

 It’s a golf tradition like no other.  The Masters – first of the year’s four major championships — is coming up next week.

That means for me – and many of you – it’s time to predict the champion.  That fun competition is much more difficult in golf than any other sport. I covered my first Masters in 1986 and am sure I entered winner’s pools for years before that.  My success record isn’t impressive – only two winners, Fred Couples in 1992 and Scottie Scheffler in 2022.

This year the prognosticating is more difficult. Blame the controversial LIV Golf League for that.  The three-year old Saudi-based circuit has its detractors, at least based on the mild hate mail that I usually receive when there’s a LIV mention in one of my pieces. Some even comes from friends who should know better.

Scheffler is the comfortable choice this year, what with his March wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship and a runner-up last Sunday in Houston. An excellent lead-in to the year’s first major by an excellent player.

I’m going in a different direction this year, though.  I’m predicting a LIV player will win – though you’ll have to read a few more paragraphs to find out who.

LIV has the numbers.  Last year, when the PGA Tour and LIV players gathered for the first time in a big tournament, the fledgling circuit had three of the top six finishers.  Brooks  Koepka and Phil Mickelson tied for second behind Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed tied for fourth. And now Rahm is a LIV member, too, but still without an individual victory on his new tour.

LIV has 13 players in this year’s Masters.  Twelve were exempt based on the club’s rules for determining  invitees.  Augusta National selectors also gave a special invitation to Joaquin Niemann. LIV players don’t get respect in the Official World Golf Rankings, a policy that greatly diminishes their significance.

Niemann, from Chile, beat the system with strong showings in two big non-LIV events, winning the Australian Open and tying for fourth in Dubai. He won two of the first four LIV events this year as well.

The LIV roster includes seven former Masters champions and has six players who are exempt from all four of the major championships.

I also like the fact that LIV, with only 14 tournaments in 2024, has one of its biggest ones the week before the Masters.  It runs Friday through Sunday on the Blue Monster course at Trump Doral in Miami.  Finding it on TV won’t be easy, but Doral is a former PGA Tour site.

“It’s the first big boy golf course that we’ve played this year,’’ said Koepka, who followed up his Masters runner-up by winning the PGA Championship last year.  “You’ve got to be able to ball-strike it (at Doral) and ball-strike at Augusta.  That’s why it’s such good prepare.’’

Seven LIV golfers have been the champion at 10 Masters. Mickelson won in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and Bubba Watson was the titlist in 2012 and 2014. Based on their play this year they don’t have a chance this time. Charl Schwartzel (2011), Sergio Garcia (2017) and Reed (2018) don’t have much of a chance, either, but defending champion Rahm and Dustin Johnson do.

Johnson won the Masters in 2020 with a record 20-under-par score.  The only drawback was that it was during the pandemic, the event was played in the fall instead of the spring and spectators weren’t allowed on the course.

In 2017 Johnson was playing his best golf, with three wins leading into the Masters, but he took a fall while in Augusta and withdrew from the tournament a day before it started.  That freak accident still haunts him.

“Without that I’d have two green jackets instead of one,’’ he said before a small media group last week. “I had a fantastic prep going into that week. I’ve never felt unbeatable but, when I’m on the course and playing my best, I don’t feel anyone can beat me.’’

At 39 he can still play.  He dominated the LIV season in 2022, tailed off last year but has a LIV victory this season and competing against his former PGA Tour rivals again is inspiring.

“The majors are the pinnacle of the sport,’’  said Johnson, “and there’s only four times we’re all together playing now. Maybe that makes them more special.’’

That’s good enough for me. I’ve got great respect for Johnson’s talent. I’ve picked him informally to win other tournaments over the years when he didn’t do it.  Now it’s the Masters, though, and DJ’s going to win this one.

 

These new golf books are well worth reading

 

 

In the last few years I’ve developed a side writing project.  Being a fairly voracious reader, I’ve been contributing book reviews to my social media outlets. By no means have these been limited to golf. I’ve written about books that I’ve enjoyed on a variety of subjects but have stayed away from reviewing the political ones.

Anyway, this time – and for first time – I’m touching on several books on golf topics.  There’s been quite a few quality golf books coming out recently, many written by colleagues who are friends of mine.  With the Masters closing in there is also a timely aspect to getting the word out on these books, so I’m including several in this report.

ARNOLD PALMER,  AMERICAN HERO – I love coffee table books, and nobody does them better than Martin Davis. Some of my writing buddies are contributors – Marino Parascenzo, Jaime Diaz, Adam Schupak, Alex Miceli  and Jeff Babineau – but there are many others.

Martin, who founded The American Golfer in 1990,  has edited or published 39 golf books, and I’ve particularly enjoyed the one he did on the Ryder Cup. He’s a great historian of the game and his latest book is filled with classic pictures of golf’s most charismatic and photogenic player. You don’t want to rush through this book.

Coffee table books are, by definition, big and this one may be the biggest in my collection.  It’s 370 pages in the large 11×14-inch format (and it weighs seven pounds).  Take it slowly, and you’ll savor the memories of  this most special individual who just happens to have been a champion golfer.

LIFE ON THE GREEN – Ann Liguori has made a big impact in sports broadcasting and she’s been a dominant winner in the International Network of Golf’s annual Media Awards. Jim Nantz gave her a glowing forward in this book (Hatherleigh Press).

Ann has 12 chapters, each spotlighting a legend of the game from her own unique perspective. The subjects are far-reaching — an excellent mix of men and women, players and contributors to the game in other ways as well. The chapters  spotlight – in alphabetical order — Amy Alcott, Ben Crenshaw, Padraig Harrington, Bernhard Langer, Nancy Lopez, Jack Nicklaus, Dottie Pepper, Gary Player, Renee Powell, Annika Sorenstam, Jan Stephenson and Tom Watson. That should tell you how expansive Ann’s book is.

Because we’re awaiting another Masters I want to toss in an anecdote from a special section on that tournament.  It comes from the 1985 tournament in which Langer and Seve Ballesteros played in the next-to-the last pairing on Sunday, just ahead of Raymond Floyd and Curtis Strange.

Langer and Ballesteros were great rivals in Europe and both, of course, were Masters champions but I wish I had been around to hear this exchange on the first tee.  Ballesteros turned to Langer and said “Good luck, and let’s make sure one of us wins and not the Americans.’’

Langer found extra meaning in the comment, as did I.

“No doubt about it,’’ said Langer.  “Even at the Masters, which is so individualistic, obviously (Seve) wanted to win it, but if he couldn’t then the next best thing was just to keep it away from the Americans.’’

 

THE LEGENDARY CADDIES OF AUGUSTA NATIONAL – The author, Ward Clayton, was the sports editor of the Augusta Chronicle from 1991 to 2000, and produced a 2019 documentary, “The Caddie’s Long Walk.’’

He’s more than qualified to write the most recent book on the black caddies at the home of the Masters.  Those bag-toters used such nicknames as Stovepipe, Burnt Biscuits, Skillet, Skinny and Marble Eye.  (Some of their real names were Carl Jackson, Willie Perteet and Matthew Palmer).  They witnessed some great moments, both public and private, in their days at Augusta National, and Clayton provides extensive updates on their lives along with historical photos.

 

AND JUST OUT:  The month of March also included the release of two other most promising books — “Rainmaker,’’ the autobiography of Hughes Norton, with George Peper (Atria Books) and “Drive, the Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods,’’ by Bob Harig (St. Martin’s Press).

It’s interesting that these two have come out within a few weeks of each other.  Norton was Woods’ first agent.  A tantalizing excerpt of the book has run in Golf Digest.   Harig previously authored the book “Tiger and Phil’’ and has been a leader in the ongoing coverage of developments involving the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League.

 

Scheffler, DJ have final tuneup events leading into the Masters

Scottie Scheffler (left) and Dustin Johnson are in the pre-Masters spotlight. (Joy Sarver Photos)

Dustin Johnson and Scottie Scheffler don’t play on the same pro golf tour any more, but their play will be intertwined over the next three weeks.

Scheffler needed a week’s rest during the Florida Swing’s conclusion at the Valspar Championship last week, but – being a Texas native – he’s playing this week in the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

A champion in both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship in Florida, he’ll be going for three wins in a row in Houston.  The last player to win three in a row? Johnson in 2017, but an asterisk is needed here.

One of DJ’s wins was in the World Golf Championship Match Play Championship. If Scheffler wins in Houston he’ll be the first to win three straight starts in stroke play since Rory McIlroy did it in 2014.

Johnson’s great run eight years ago led into the Masters. He was at the top of his game then but took a fall after arriving in Augusta  and withdrew the day before the tournament.  The freak episode still haunts him.

“I never felt unbeatable,’’ he said in an interview this week leading into the next LIV Golf League tournament April 5-7 at Doral in Miami, FL.  “But I always feel that, when I’m playing my best, no one can beat me.’’

He doesn’t look back at the injury at Augusta much,  but – when prodded — will say that without it “I’d have two green jackets instead of one. I had a fantastic prep that week.’’

Johnson won his Masters in 2020, when no spectators were allowed on the course because of pandemic concerns. Now, with golf’s first major championship  three weeks away and Scheffler playing so well, Masters talk can’t be avoided.

After the PGA Tour stop in Houston that circuit has the Valero Texas Open opposite the LIV event at Doral.  Johnson will be one of 13 LIV players in the field at Augusta National. Last year the fledgling circuit had a good showing, with Brooks Koepke and Phil Mickelson tying for second behind Jon Rahm. Rahm has since left the PGA Tour to join LIV.

“Miami’s going to be a great week,’’ said Johnson.  “There’ll be a lot of guys grinding, especially those going to the Masters.’’

Johnson was LIV’s most important early signing and the dominant player in 2022 — the circuit’s first season when only eight tournaments were held.  He was the circuit’s leading individual and his 4Aces won the team title.

He wasn’t as successful in 2023 and at the conclusion of  the 14-tournament second season he was second to Talor Gooch in LIV career money, Gooch having earned $46.4 million and Johnson $44.4 million.  And that’s on top of the reported $150 million signing bonus Johnson received to leave the PGA Tour.

This season Johnson has one win in four LIV starts but couldn’t crack the top 20 in the last two in Saudi Arabia and China. He’s third in the tour standings behind Joaquin Niemann and Rahm.

Even with LIV not playing this week Johnson has had an eventful week.  His 4Aces team got a new general manager with the hiring of Chris Rosaasen.

“I’ve known Chris for many years, witnessing how he has built multiple successful brands,’’ said Johnson, the 4Aces captain and part-owner.  “Chris’  vision for the team aligns perfectly with what we aim to achieve.’’

Johnson, meanwhile, is taking aim at winning another Masters and says Doral will be “good preparation.’’

“Doral’s a fantastic golf course. It’s fair and tough, and it’s long.  You have to use all the clubs in your bag,’’ said Johnson, who has won events at Doral on both the PGA and LIV tours.

 

 

 

Malnati’s win at Valspar was a lifestyle-changer

Now Peter Malnati will stand out for more than just playing with a yellow ball. (Joy Sarver Photos)

PALM HARBOR, Florida — “Cinderella Story’’ is a term used way too much in the sports world. Peter Malnati certainly fit that description when he won the Valspar Championship on Sunday, however.

Here was a 10-year member of the PGA Tour getting his second victory nine years after capturing his first. In seven previous Valspars he had made the cut only once. He had played in only three major championships but now he’s expecting his first invitation to the upcoming Masters.

There was no reason to think Malnati could win the Valspar.  This season he missed four cuts in eight starts, shot 81 in the last round of The Players Championship the week before his win on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and had only one top-10 – a tie for ninth at the Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches, the first of the four events on the Florida Swing.

Until Sunday Malnati was notable mainly for being one of the few players to use a yellow instead of a white golf ball.  At least it seemed appropriate for a player with a colorful ball winning the “most colorful event on the PGA Tour.’’

There’s a lot more to Peter Malnati than being a PGA journeyman who finally ended a winless dryspell, however.  Malnati is a photogenic guy with an infectious smile. That’s a good thing, because he’ll likely be taking interviews for something more than being a PGA Tour champion in the coming weeks.

Malnati, 36, has recently been named one of six player directors on the PGA Tour Policy Board. He’ll be closely involved with the seemingly endless negotiations toward a merger of the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf League.

Malnati was all smiles en route to his first win in nine years, but he also showed his serious side.

He didn’t make any political statements on that issue during his speech at the Valspar trophy presentation on the course, but he opened up a bit in a more in-depth session afterwards.

“I’ll say something in here that I didn’t say out there because I think it’s important and relevant,’’ said Malnati. “When my son Hatcher was born in 2019 I removed all my social media from my phone.  I don’t do social media anymore, and I’m a happier person because of it.  Not that it’s bad, social media isn’t bad.  But for me I didn’t use it particularly well because I always read comments and I wanted to use it to be interactive.  It wasn’t healthy for me, so I removed it.’’

The result is that Malnati doesn’t “know specifically what is being said about me, about the PGA Tour, about our sport in general.  But I know the direction that it has been going for the last couple years.’’

His feelings about the influx of bigger money, smaller field events seemed clear.  That concept has a downside.  On the Florida Swing the Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches and Valspar weren’t weren’t signature events like the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship.

The API had a $20 million purse and The Players $25 million.  The Cognizant was at $9 million and the Valspar at $8.4 million. That’s a big discrepancy.

“We don’t have tournaments to play in if we have communities that think these tournaments don’t matter,’’ said Malnati. “I just want them to know that every event on the PGA Tour matters because it matters to the community where you play, and we’re going to make a difference. That  was something I felt like I needed to say.’’

Malnati won’t take a week off to celebrate his win.  He’ll tee it up in the $9.1 million Texas Children’s Hospital Houston Open this week. After that comes the $9.2 million Valero Texas Open.

Those are the lead-ins to the Masters, first of the year’s major championships with a hefty purse that won’t be announced until the week of the event, and the $20 million RBC Heritage Classic.

Malnati can play in all of them now.

“That’s really important,’’ he said.  “We put an emphasis – and I think rightfully so – on getting the top players in the world to play together more often. I have work to do to consider myself in that group.’’

Malnati found a swing that works after some years of struggling on the PGA Tour.

 

Malnati an emotional winner at Valspar tourney

Peter Malnati uses a yellow golf ball to win the Valspar tourney. (Joy Sarver Photo)

PALM HARBOR, Florida — The winners at PGA Tour events are frequently emotional, but Peter Malnati was in tears immediately after his last putt dropped at the Valspar Championship on Sunday.

Malnati, 36, won his second title nine years after his first.  He had qualified for only three major championships and never made it to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

This year he had four missed cuts and only one top-10 finish while doubling as a recently-named Player Director on the PGA Tour Policy Board. That has put him in the forefront of the complicated negotiations over the proposed merger with the Saudi-based LIV Golf League.

While that’s a time-consuming extra job Malnati had been better known as one of the few players to use a yellow golf ball.  He switched from white to yellow balls because one of his sons “liked them.’’

“He’s gotten over it now,’’ said Malnati, holding one son while fighting back tears during his first post-round televised interview.  “But it still makes me think of him.’’

Malnati, along with his wife Alicia, attended the University of Missouri before Peter turned pro in 2009. They have two sons – Hatcher and Dash. They were more in the spotlight at the Valspar, which offers an unusual opportunity for players to put what they want on their caddy’s bibs.  Malnati chose honor his sons.

Keith Mitchell started the day with a two-stroke lead on Malnati, who was in a three-way tie for second.  Mitchell faded to a 77 in the final round while Malnati shot 67 and won by one stroke over Cameron Young. Malnati posted a 12-under-par 272 for the 72 holes and earned $1,512,000.

“That moment of winning a tournament and have your family come out on the green, the big hugs and all that, that’s something I’ve seen other families have and that has been my dream,’’ said Malnati.  “ There’s been a lot of stretches in golf over the last nine years when I wondered if I’d ever have that experience. It feels completely surreal.’’

Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, who led the tournament after Round 1 and was tied for the lead after Round 2, shot 73-72 on his weekend rounds and finished in a tie for 28th with, among others, Northwestern alum Dylan Wu. It was Streelman’s best finish of the season. Defending champion Taylor Moore tied for 12th.