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Don’t make Jillian Bourdage the poster child for slow play

18 days ago Golf External News, , , , , ,

Don’t make Jillian Bourdage the poster child for slow play.

Last week Bourdage was on top of the world, advancing to the final of the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Now she must be horrified by the comments on social media about her pace of play in a clip that was posted on Twitter. Wouldn’t be surprised if she was on her second box of tissues by now.

The video highlights a comeback par putt Bourdage deliberated over on the 30th hole of a match that stretched to 36.

Slow play is a problem in golf. Can’t imagine anyone disputing that. But Bourdage is a 17-year-old Ohio State commit in the early stages of her career. She doesn’t deserve the same level of scrutiny as a professional athlete. She’s ranked 838th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings for goodness sake.

A few things to consider about the Girls’ Junior finale that make this the perfect storm for slow-play critics:

  1. It was a commercial-free broadcast
  2. This was the only match on the course

There’s no cutting away during the boring stuff. Plus, the players were never warned about being out of position. Officials checked the time after each hole of the match.

The first 18 holes took 4 hours and 4 minutes. Officials allowed 4 hours and 12 minutes for the second 18, and they beat that mark.

Last week Stacy Lewis took to twitter to rant about the length of time it took to play the second round of the Evian Championship.

“I will never understand 5 hours and 50 minutes to play a round of golf!” Lewis tweeted. “It’s not fun for us as players, can’t be fun to watch!”

Several players chimed in, including Paula Creamer.

Lewis says the pace of play on tour has gotten worse in recent years.

“Nobody cares, and it’s acceptable to play slow,” she said. “More slow players than fast ones now.”

She’d like to see her peers apply more pressure to the usual offenders.

Props to Lewis for taking a stand and being vocal. Something does need to change starting from the top.

But piling on a junior player who wasn’t even out of position during a 36-hole match and making her go viral for all the wrong reasons isn’t the answer.

Two years ago, Erica Shepherd went viral after her semifinal match at the Girls’ Junior. Her opponent, Elizabeth Moon, had raked back a putt out of frustration on the 19th hole. Shepherd immediately turned to Moon and said: “I didn’t say that was good.”

The match ended with Moon incurring a one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2. Shepherd tried to play on, telling Moon and officials that she would’ve given that putt, but it was too late.

Shepherd started to bawl when the social media notifications began popping up on her phone.

“That night I honestly didn’t think I could play the next day I was so messed up,” she told Golfweek several months later. “I thought I would get beat, 19 and 18.”

Amazingly, Shepherd dug deep and won the championship.

The bright and talented Bourdage is 40 hours away from earning her pilot’s license. Maybe one day she’ll be like Peggy Kirk Bell, flying her own plane from tournament to tournament.

Rising high above the noise.


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Where the 2020 golf majors will be played

19 days ago Golf External News, ,

When the PGA Tour released its 49-event schedule for 2019-20, eyes quickly scanned the roster of courses to see where the next four major championships will be staged.

Look no further, as the four biggest events in golf in 2020 will be:

  • The Masters Tournament, Augusta National, April 9-12
  • PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park, May 14-17
  • U.S. Open, Winged Foot, June 18-21
  • The British Open, Royal St. George’s, July 16-19

Here’s a little more about each event:

(Augusta National)

The Masters

Augusta National in Augusta, Ga., once again kicks off the major season and 2020 will be the 84th Masters Tournament. Tiger Woods will return as defending champion and with five green jackets, he can finally catch Jack Nicklaus in at least one of his major golf pursuits, as Nicklaus holds the record with six Masters titles.

(Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR)

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship will be in its second year as the second major on the calendar. The host course will be TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, which has staged two WGC events (2005, 2015), a Presidents Cup (2009) and three PGA Champions Tour Charles Schwab Championships (2010, 2011, 2013) but this will be the first time a major will visit the grounds. Harding Park opened July 1925 and is named after President Warren G. Harding, who died in office while visiting San Francisco two years earlier. The course became the 32nd to join the TPC network in 2010.

(Getty Images)

U.S. Open

The U.S. Open returns to Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, for the 120th playing of the event. The course opened June 1923 and has a deep history of championship golf, beginning with the 1929 U.S. Open, won by Bobby Jones. Other events include the 1997 PGA Championship, two U.S. Women’s Opens, four USGA tournaments, two U.S. Amateurs and a PGA Tour Champions event. It was at Winged Foot where Phil Mickelson had his most memorable of six runner-up U.S. Open finishes back in 2006. He had a two-shot advantage with three holes to play and led Geoff Ogilvy by one at the 18th tee before a disastrous double-bogey finish.

(David Cannon/Getty Images)

British Open

The Open Championship will head to Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, Kent, England. The last Open there was in 2010 when Darren Clarke claimed the Claret Jug to become Champion Golfer of the Year. It will be the 149th staging of the Open. Other Open champs at Royal St. George’s are Ben Curtis (2003), Greg Norman (1993), Sandy Lyle (1985), Bill Rogers (1981), Bobby Locke (1949), Reg Whitcombe (1938), Henry Cotton (1934), Walter Hagen (1922), Harry Vardon (1911), Jack White (1904) and John Henry Taylor (1894).


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Brooks Koepka felt like the right champion in Memphis

20 days ago Golf External News, , , ,

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Brooks Koepka’s black Ford Expedition pulled into the TPC Southwind parking lot at 12:13 p.m. Sunday, just 47 minutes before he was scheduled to begin his duel with Rory McIlroy to close out the first WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

When he walked to the tee box at No. 1, he walked right past Jena Sims – his actress/model girlfriend best known for her role in the classic film “Attack of the 50-foot Cheerleader” – without even looking up.

She was wearing a black Nike dress. The world’s No. 1 golfer was completely in the zone.

Perhaps then we should have known how Sunday would turn out, with Koepka holding the Gary Player Trophy on the 18th green as the first WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational champion. Who needs a long warm-up when you’re the most intimidating man on a golf course since Tiger Woods was in his prime?

That, at least, is what anyone who watched the biggest golf event in Memphis history came away thinking.

And my gosh, there were a lot of you.

The gallery following the superstar final pairing of Koepka and McIlroy was immense, with thousands walking the course alongside two of the top three golfers in the world from the opening tee shot, through the turn at the back nine and then coming up the 18th fairway.

It was a fitting scene for a week that lived up to all the hype that accompanied the arrival of the WGC. Longtime volunteers and fans alike marveled at how many people saturated TPC Southwind every day. They don’t release total attendance at this event, but records almost certainly were broken.

Sunday, however, was unlike anything this city has seen, with the world’s No. 1 and No. 3 golfers competing head-to-head watched by crowds that went at least 10 deep and roared with every shot.

As Koepka and McIlroy approached the first tee box, a spontaneous ovation broke out. The golfers hadn’t even been announced yet. Everyone was just thrilled to be there witnessing this.

“Memphis deserves to have the best players here, and this is a reward for all the support over the last 60-plus years of this tournament,” executive tournament director Darrell Smith said as he watched all this unfold at No. 1. “It’s definitely a good day for golf, and a good day for Memphis.”

It didn’t matter that the only bit of drama might have been whether Koepka would arrive to the course before his 1 p.m. tee time. But there he was, calm as ever.

Koepka said arriving fashionably late on Sundays is part of his routine.

“I don’t know why everybody else is in a panic. I’m not,” Koepka said. “Everybody else is stressing. I’m sure you didn’t see one ounce of stress on my face.”

It helps explain the ruthless round of golf that followed, a round of golf made more impressive after Koepka revealed he felt under the weather all week.

He had four birdies on his opening 10 holes Sunday, efficiently turning a one-shot deficit into a three-stroke lead as McIlroy faltered under the spotlight. Koepka then saved par on No. 14 and No. 15 and erased any lingering doubt with a birdie on No. 17.

“He’s not afraid to stand on your throat,” CBS analyst Nick Faldo said at one point.

“There’s nothing more I would’ve loved than see Rory battling it out going down 18 and have somebody have to make a putt,” Koepka said. “That’s what I’m sure everybody here wanted to see.”

Instead, they were given a walk down the 18th fairway that doubled as a coronation for a 29-year-old golfer who has grabbed hold of the sport. Chants of “Gucci!” rang out from the crowd, a phrase Koepka occasionally uses after a good drive.

Not long ago, he felt overlooked. Not long from now, he could be the most popular guy on the PGA Tour.

Koepka broke through and won the U.S. Open in 2017. He won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship last year. He then finished in the top five of every major this year, including another win at the PGA Championship in May when he infamously didn’t kiss Sims as they walked to the clubhouse before the final round.

On Sunday, he became one of the richest, most popular men in Memphis.

First off, he earned $1.745 million for winning the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

As a result of that victory, he will finish first in the Wyndham Rewards standings that anoint the PGA Tour’s regular-season champion and pocket another $2 million.

And then he also won something called the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, which meant another $1 million for his wallet.

If that weren’t enough, a lot of people in Tennessee are getting free beer Tuesday thanks to a Michelob Ultra promotion that went into effect courtesy of Koepka’s win Sunday.

“Things are going well for Brooks,” PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan said. “He won this event. He’s No. 1 in the FedEx Cup as we head into the FedEx Cup playoffs. He’s No. 1 in the Wyndham Rewards. He’s No. 1 in the world. And he’s No. 1 in all of your hearts.”

But he’s a worthy first champion not just because of his accomplishments, although those help reinforce the stature of the tournament.

Koepka has been coming to this event five years running, before it was attracting all of the world’s best who came through this week. He said he knows the TPC Southwind course better than any other on the PGA Tour.

And he used part of his victory speech on the 18th to discuss how his visits to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital “changed my life.”

“I love this place,” Koepka said.

Hearing him extol the virtue of Memphis and St. Jude and this golf course and what this golf tournament has become – and will be for years to come – this anticlimactic ending felt like the right ending.

And best of all, Koepka remembered to kiss his girlfriend walking off the 18th green.

On a day that began with such anticipation, it was about the only drama Koepka had to resolve.


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Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka lead

21 days ago Golf External News, , , ,

The roar carried past the 18th green, past the driving range and beyond the clubhouse.

Rory McIlroy sank 27-foot birdie putt on the final hole of his third round at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and a massive gallery reacted appropriately.

But in case he was unaware of his final score, a jubilant fan who ran along the fence as McIlroy strutted away from the green reminded him.

“That’s a 62, Rory!” the fan yelled.

To the delight of thousands of patrons, McIlroy surged on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round. Here are three things we learned from the third round:

WGC-FEDEX ST. JUDE INVITATIONAL: Leaderboard | Tee times

McIlroy has rebounded

McIlroy is not letting last week’s missed cut at the British Open in his home country of Northern Ireland hinder his game.

His scores have gotten progressively better after he started with a 69 and turned in a 67 on Friday, followed by Saturday’s 62, which was the low round of the day.

“We’re very fortunate in golf that there’s always next week,” McIlroy said. “You can respond so quickly from setbacks and failures.  The last four missed cuts that I’ve had, I’ve finished first, second, first and 12th. I said I’m a quick learner.”

The four-time major winner carded only one bogey Saturday as he hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation.

“Everything today worked really well,” McIlroy said. “Really happy with the wedges. I think that’s the reason why (I shot) five shots better today.”

Moving day for a reason

Saturday is called moving day on the PGA Tour for a reason. In addition to McIlroy, several others went low to put themselves in contention, including Brooks Koepka.

The world’s No. 1 golfer narrowly avoided disaster on No. 18 when his second shot stopped just short of the water on the bank between the hazard and the green.

Koepka got up an down for a par to complete a round of 64, leaving him at 11-under and one behind McIlroy entering the final round.

“I feel like I putted really good the last couple weeks and nothing’s fallen in and today they finally fell,” Koepka said.

Marc Leishman started the day seven shots off the lead and fired a 7-under 63 to rise to 9-under entering the final round. Tommy Fleetwood and Thorbjorn Olesen each shot 65 to rise from the middle pack into contention.

If not for bogeys on his final two holes, Justin Thomas would have finished the day at 9-under for the tournament. Still, he shot 66 Saturday to give himself a chance in the final round at a course he is playing for the first time.

“It’s definitely firmer,” Thomas said. “Of course it’s still good, it’s all in front of you. There’s nothing hidden, nothing tricky. You just have to go out and play your golf.”

Rockstar pairing

Sunday’s final pairing of Koepka (No. 1) and McIlroy (No. 3) has the makings of an epic showdown between two of the top three in the world rankings.

The two have won a combined eight career majors and both appear dialed in after their best rounds of the week on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a fun day,” McIlroy said. “I’m excited about it. I got to play alongside him the first two days and his game looked awfully impressive. So I need to go out and try and focus on myself and put a sort of thought or target in my head and just try and go for that.”

Even the stoic Koepka admitted he expects “a fun day” playing in a final pairing with McIlroy.

“It will be fun duking it out with him,” Koepka said. “I don’t know the last time we’ve actually gone kind of toe to toe. I can’t think of anything. You know, that’s who you want to go up against, especially if he’s going to be playing this good.”


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Round 3 tee times, TV Info

22 days ago Golf External News, , ,

England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick carded a 6-under 64 Friday to take a two-shot lead entering the weekend at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis.

Fitzpatrick is now 9 under for the week and two shots clear of Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm, and Billy Horschel, all of whom are T-2 at 7 under.

Tee times have been moved up four hours from Rounds 1-2, with Round 3 now slated to begin at 8:45 a.m. ET.

Here are the tee times and TV info for Saturday’s third round of the 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Round 3 Tee Times

Tee Times (ET) Players
8:45 a.m. Kevin Tway
8:50 a.m. Keegan Bradley, Mikumu Horikawa
9 a.m. J.B. Holmes, Max Homa
9:10 a.m. Gary Woodland, Philip Eriksson
9:20 a.m. Sung Kang, Eddie Pepperell
9:30 a.m. Lucas Bjerregaard, Kevin Kisner
9:40 a.m. Justin Harding, Keith Mitchell
9:50 a.m. Louis Oosthuizen, C.T. Pan
10 a.m. Matthew Wolff, Brandt Snedeker
10:10 a.m. Paul Casey, Phil Mickelson
10:20 a.m. Adam Long, Tony Finau
10:30 a.m. Poom Saksansin, Kodai Ichihara
10:40 a.m. Rafa Cabrera Bello, Aaron Rai
10:50 a.m. Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day
11 a.m. Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett
11:10 a.m. Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar
11:20 a.m. Xander Schauffele, Matt Wallace
11:30 a.m. Jim Furyk, Patrick Reed
11:40 a.m. Dustin Johnson, Haotong Li
11:50 a.m. Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott
12 p.m. Chez Reavie, Marc Leishman
12:10 p.m. Thorbjorn Olesen, Corey Conners
12:20 p.m. Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Thomas
12:30 p.m. Hideki Matsuyama, Andrew Putnam
12:40 p.m. Rory McIlroy, Nate Lashley
12:50 p.m. Kevin Na, Henrik Stenson
1 p.m. Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson
1:10 p.m. Ian Poulter, Justin Rose
1:20 p.m. Alex Noren, Webb Simpson
1:30 p.m. Billy Horschel, Shugo Imahira
1:40 p.m. Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm
1:50 p.m. Matthew Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay

Tee Times

Saturday

Golf Channel: Noon-1:45 p.m.
CBS: 2-6 p.m.
PGA Tour Live: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (featured groups); 2-6 p.m. (featured holes)
PGA Tour Radio: 1-6 p.m. (Sirius 92/XM 208)

Sunday

Golf Channel: Noon-1:45 p.m.
CBS: 2-6 p.m.
PGA Tour Live: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (featured groups); 2-6 p.m. (featured holes)
PGA Tour Radio: 1-6 p.m. (Sirius 92/XM 208)


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David Lingmerth grabs the lead early

23 days ago Golf External News, , , ,

Golf was not the only thing on David Lingmerth’s mind, but he was able to focus and he grabbed the early lead at The Barracuda Championship.

Lingmerth had nine birdies in the first round of the PGA Tour event at Montreux Golf & Country Club on Thursday, good for plus-18 points and the lead after the rain-delayed first round.

Lingmerth is at No 229 in the FedEx Cup standings. A win in Reno would be worth 300 points and a huge vault up the standings. The top 125 qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs in August.

Lingmerth admitted he has been struggling lately.

Barracuda Championship: Leaderboard | Tee times

“It’s been a little rough go for me for a little while and working my way back. And things are starting to come around,” he said. “But I don’t really think about it that way. I just try to stick to the process. One shot at a time. And whatever happens, happens.”

He shot a 63 in the second round at the Barbasol Open last week, but missed the cut,

“It’s kind of weird to shoot a 63 on a Friday and miss the cut. But any time you shoot a 63, you’re doing something right,” Lingmerth said. “I had a lot of good things to bring with me from that round and obviously try to keep it going here.”

He said staying relaxed will be the key on Friday.

But he was also concerned about some jewelry that went missing from his hotel room this week and planned to file a police report later Thursday.

Three golfers were second tied with plus-13 points, Thomas Hoge, Tyrone Van Aswegan and Robert Streb, when the rain, thunder and lighting hit Montreux, about 5:15 p.m. The alarm sounded for all golfers to get off the course.

The last time the PGA Tour had a suspension of play was in 2017, at Montreux.

Hoge, who made an eagle on No. 8, has finished in the top 10 twice at Montreux.

“I like the format a lot. Kind of suits me well because I’ve always made a lot of birdies and bogeys. And you don’t get punished as much for bogeys here I which suits me a little bit, but I like the golf course and I like the area a lot too. So happy to be here,” Hoge said.


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