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☆ In Reprieve for PGA Tour, Rory McIlroy Backs Saudi Deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The PGA Tour, facing a crush of internal dissent for its choice this week to accept the kind of Saudi money it spent the last year denouncing as tainted, appeared Wednesday to have the support of one of its most powerful players: Rory McIlroy, who had been one of the foremost critics of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, which had convulsed the sport. Peering a decade into the future, McIlroy predicted Wednesday that the agreement to bring the tour and LIV’s business dealings into a single company controlled by the PGA Tour would be “good for the game of professional golf.”“There’s a lot of ambiguity,” McIlroy said Wednesday in Toronto, where a tour event is scheduled to begin Thursday. “There’s a lot of things still to be sort of thrashed out. But at least it means that the litigation goes away, which has been a massive burden for everyone that’s involved with the tour and that’s playing the tour, and we can start to work toward some sort of way of unifying the game at the elite level.”McIlroy, a member of the PGA Tour board, which will ultimately have to approve the agreement that blindsided almost the entire golf industry when it was announced on Tuesday, is only one player. But he is among the world’s most prominent golfers, and his decision to refrain from joining the wave of condemnations toward the PGA Tour is a precious reprieve for Commissioner Jay Monahan and his allies as they scramble to curb a revolt against the deal.

Persons: Rory McIlroy, LIV, McIlroy, ” McIlroy, “, that’s, Jay Monahan Organizations: PGA, PGA Tour Locations: Saudi, Toronto

☆ PGA Tour/LIV deal good for golf but rebels must pay, says McIlroy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The people that left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this Tour, started litigation against it," said McIlroy the defending Canadian Open champion. McIlroy was not tempted by the Saudi money and believes those players who stood with the PGA Tour should be compensated for their loyalty. This is the PGA TOUR, the DP World Tour and the PIF. "It's the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund are basically partnering to create a new company." That new company, McIlroy said, will be run by the PGA Tour with commissioner Jay Monahan acting CEO.

Persons: LIV, Rory McIlroy, McIlroy, Hall, Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, That's, I've, LIV's, Jay Monahan, Frank Pingue, Steve Keating, Kirsten Donovan, Ed Osmond Organizations: TORONTO, PGA, Hall of Famer, Northern, Canadian, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Public Investment Fund, PGA Tour, Thomson Locations: Saudi, Toronto

☆ 'It does stink a little bit', DeChambeau feels for PGA Tour players after LIV merger
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The sporting world was left stunned when the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and rival Saudi-backed LIV circuit ended their bitter two-year dispute and announced an agreement to merge and form one unified commercial entity. The most aggrieved players are likely to be those, like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama, who turned down eye-watering sums from LIV Golf to remain loyal to the PGA Tour only to see the tours merge. "I do feel bad for the PGA Tour players because they were told one thing and something else happened, and our side, we were told one thing and it's come to fruition," DeChambeau told CNN. "It does stink a little bit from my perspective that the PGA Tour players are not necessarily winning. I think this is one of the saddest days in the history of professional golf," Chamblee said on the Golf Channel.

Persons: Bryson DeChambeau, LIV Golf, LIV, Jay Monahan, Woods, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, DeChambeau, it's, Yasir Al, Yasir, That's, Brandel, Chamblee, Nick Mulvenney, Peter Rutherford Organizations: U.S, PGA, Canadian, CNN, LIV, Public Investment Fund, Saudi, PIF, Thomson Locations: Saudi, Toronto

☆ PGA Tour-LIV deal leaves golf world facing plenty of unknowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Frank Pingue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But while they could one day find themselves members of the PGA Tour again, those who joined LIV Golf may get a frosty welcome from those competing on the U.S.-based circuit. The people that left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this Tour, started litigation against it," world number three McIlroy said on Wednesday. Another unknown is how the golf calendar will look under the framework of the merger or whether the LIV Golf League team-based competition will even exist after its 2023 season. Typically, a resigned player who wants to rejoin the DP World Tour for the 2023 season would have had to give their notification by May 1 of this year. DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley said subsequent requests would require proof of an exceptional circumstance to be allowed, something he said would "be difficult and highly unlikely that that would happen."

Persons: LIV, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith, McIlroy, that's, LIV Golf, Greg Norman's, Tiger Woods, Norman, Jay Monahan, Monahan, Keith Pelley, Frank Pingue, Toby Davis Organizations: PGA, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Hall of Fame, PGA Tour, LIV Golf, LIV Golf League, Saudi, European, European Ryder, U.S, PGA of America, Ryder Cup Europe, Thomson Locations: Saudi, Toronto, Rome

An announcement by the PGA Tour declared a partnership with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, as well as the DP World Tour, unifying the trio under a new, yet-to-be-named, commercial entity. An eight-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 2020 US Open champion, DeChambeau’s move was a huge coup for LIV Golf. Yet many of the game’s biggest stars stayed put, with several becoming outspoken critics of LIV Golf. The latter purportedly turned down a $700 - $800 million offer to join the breakaway series, according to LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman. “I do feel bad for the PGA Tour players because they were told one thing and something else happened.

Persons: Bryson DeChambeau, “, LIV, DeChambeau, DeChambeau’s, LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, ” DeChambeau, it’s, Suhaimi Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s, LIV Golf’s, Mohammed bin Salman, Jamal Khashoggi, Bin Salman, Quizzed, Collins, “ I’m, I’m, ” Bryson, Brett Eagleson, Maddie Meyer, ” Organizations: CNN, PGA Tour, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, PGA, “, LIV, Sentosa Golf Club, Saudi, Congress, United, America, Getty Locations: Saudi, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Washington, al Qaeda

After two years of sniping, lawsuits and ill will, the major men’s golf tours agreed to merge on Tuesday. The PGA Tour, which runs golf in North America; the PGA European Tour, which is known as the DP World Tour and holds events in much of the rest of the world; and the upstart LIV Tour agreed to merge their operations. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which spent billions to launch the LIV Tour, will invest in the new company, and the governor of that fund will become its chairman. The LIV Tour started last year and offered big-name players from the other tours huge sums to jump ship. Many players and officials of the PGA Tour were sharply critical of LIV, both for dividing the golf world and for associating with the Saudi government and its poor human rights record.

Persons: Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, LIV, ” Organizations: PGA European, LIV, PGA Locations: North America, Saudi

☆ PGA Tour announces shock reconciliation with Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —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. A spokesperson for the PGA Tour told CNN that the new relationship between the PGA Tour, DP World 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. “After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. 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.”Woods had been critical of players to join LIV Golf.

Persons: LIV, LIV Golf, Mohammed bin Salman, ”, Jay Monahan, Monahan, Yasir Al, PIF, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, “, ” Woods, Richard Heathcote, Phil Mickelson, Mickelson Organizations: CNN, PGA, PGA Tour, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, MBS, LIV Golf, Getty, Twitter Locations: Saudi, Saudi Arabia

☆ Michael Block shoots sensational hole-in-one to cap storybook PGA Championship ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Hollywood screenwriters might have rejected the script for being too unbelievable, but Michael Block would not be denied the storybook ending to his PGA Championship fairytale. The 46-year-old – head pro at a public golf club in California – drilled a hole-in-one to put the gloss on a remarkable performance at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York on Sunday. Or, based on what he charges for an hour-long session at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, 1,922 golf lessons. “If it makes any sense, the one thing in the world that makes me cry is golf,” an emotional Block told reporters. They kind of documented my big goal this week was to be the low club pro; right?

☆ Koepka chasing PGA Championship hat-trick as sun returns to Oak Hill
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROCHESTER, New York, May 21 (Reuters) - After a nasty week of frost, wind and torrential rain the sun returned to Oak Hill on Sunday for the final round of the PGA Championship with Brooks Koepka holding a one shot lead looking to complete a Wanamaker trophy hat-trick. The big-hitting American will head out onto the challenging East Course at 2:30 pm ET (1830 GMT) paired with the 11th ranked Hovland. A victory by Koepka or DeChambeau would not end the human rights questions but would give the tour a bit of the credibility and legitimacy it seeks. McIlroy, an honorary member at Oak Hill, has looked out of sorts all week but the battling Northern Irishman has managed stay in the hunt at five back. Block, who has "Why Not" written on his golf balls, has become the every man bluecollar hero and gallery darling at Oak Hill by carrying the hopes and dreams of every duffer who has picked up a club.

☆ Michael Block: The club pro set for a potentially life-changing payout after PGA Championship fairytale
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —It’s been a Block party all week at the PGA Championship, and the man at the heart of festivities is not done partying just yet. Michael Block, the 46-year-old club pro who teaches golf lessons at a public course in California, is schooling many of the game’s biggest stars on New York’s notoriously challenging Oak Hill East Course. In the 105 years of the PGA Championship, no PGA Professional has ever finished inside the top 10. Not since Steve Schneiter in 2005 has a PGA pro finished inside the top-40. Should he remain eighth at the end of play, Block will earn $545,000, according to CBS Golf – even 30th place would see him take home $110,000.

☆ Scheffler, Hovland, Conners grab PGA Championship lead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] May 19, 2023; Rochester, New York, USA; Scottie Scheffler hits a tee shot on the seventh hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA... Read moreROCHESTER, New York, May 19 (Reuters) - World number two Scottie Scheffler, Norwegian Viktor Hovland and Canada's Corey Conners grabbed a share of the PGA Championship second round lead on Friday, while an unforgiving Oak Hill left some of golf's biggest names fighting to make the cut. Conners had started the day level with Scheffler one back of pacesetting Bryson DeChambeau and finished it in the same position also signing for a 68. World number 11 Hovland began his round with back-to-back birdies and then drained a five-foot birdie putt at the 18th to join Conners and Scheffler on five-under 135. "The tournament is halfway done," said Scheffler, who can reclaim the number ranking with a win on Sunday.

☆ How to watch the PGA Championship: Start time, channels, and other things to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Rob Schumacher/USA Today Network Tiger Woods walks the 18th green during the second round on Saturday, April 8. David J. Phillip/AP Fred Couples waves to patrons after finishing his second round on Saturday. Patrick Smith/Getty Images Patrick Cantlay plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole on Saturday. Rob Schumacher/USA Today Network Adam Scott plays a bunker shot on the second hole Thursday. Rob Schumacher/USA Today Network Hideki Matsuyama, who won the tournament two years ago, looks over a putt on the second hole.

☆ Ferocious Oak Hill Daunts P.G.A. Championship Field, With More to Come
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Scottie Scheffler had, at least in the moment, a share of the P.G.A. Championship lead when he offered a foreboding prediction Thursday afternoon: Oak Hill Country Club, already playing to the point of menace in the first round, would only become more terrorizing. The winds are expected to bluster. And, for good measure, the East Course has been recently restored to bring back the diabolical, century-old wizardry of the architect Donald J. Ross. Rory McIlroy, the four-time major champion, hit two fairways all day as he dueled with crosswinds off the tees.

☆ PGA Championship: Eric Cole soars but Jon Rahm sinks in frost-delayed first round
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —American golfer Eric Cole raced into an early PGA Championship lead following a scintillating start at Oak Hill Country Club on Thursday. Now, on his PGA Championship debut and only his second major appearance, the 34-year-old is enjoying a look at the leaderboard. 1 is bidding to become only the fourth golfer – and the first since Jack Nicklaus in 1975 – to win both the Masters and the PGA Championship in the same season. Jordan Spieth will need a strong response if he is to achieve golfing immortality come Sunday, as the three-time major champion opened with a three-over 69. The American is a PGA Championship title away from becoming only the sixth men’s golfer to win all four majors in the modern era.

☆ LIV Golf's DeChambeau grabs PGA Championship clubhouse lead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Keegan Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship, was two shots off the pace with Norway's Viktor Hovland and New Zealand's Ryan Fox. DeChambeau, who missed last year's PGA Championship as he was recovering from surgery on his left hand, started on the back nine and reached the turn at one under. "It was a grind today," said 2022 Masters winner Scheffler. It marked the first time the top player in the rankings had carded a six over or higher at the PGA Championship since Greg Norman in 1987. It marks Mickelson's return to the PGA Championship for the first time since 2021 when, aged 50, he defied the odds to become the oldest major winner in history.

☆ Rahm, Smith and Fitzpatrick form PGA Championship major attraction
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] May 15, 2023; Rochester, New York, USA; Jon Rahm tees off on the 8th hole during a practice round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Oak Hill Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA... Read moreROCHESTER, New York, May 16 (Reuters) - Spaniard Jon Rahm, Australian Cameron Smith and Briton Matt Fitzpatrick were put together on Tuesday in a star-studded group of major champions for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship. Another power threesome of PGA Championship winners heads out at 8:11 AM ET (1211 GMT) with reigning champion Justin Thomas opening the defence of his crown in the company of Northern Ireland's four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and double major winner Collin Morikawa. World number two Scottie Scheffler will partner twice PGA Championship winner and LIV Golf hope Brooks Koepka and 2019 U.S. Open winner Gary Woodland. Also carrying the LIV flag will be Phil Mickelson, the six-time major winner, partnered with world number four Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler who will go out in the afternoon wave.

☆ After Mishap-Laden Masters, McIlroy Seeks a Sharper Swing and a Clearer Mind
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — About six weeks ago — that is, a missed Masters Tournament cut, a self-imposed hiatus and a tie for 47th at the Wells Fargo Championship ago — Rory McIlroy talked about pies. “It’s just putting all those ingredients in and setting the oven to the right temperature and letting it all sort of come to fruition.”This week’s P.G.A. But a victory or a strong showing would quiet the doubts that have arisen around McIlroy, who is No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking but perpetually shadowed by his failure to capture a major championship since 2014. Despite his membership at Oak Hill, McIlroy has been reluctant to declare some sort of home-course advantage since he, after all, lives in Florida.

☆ PGA Tour and LIV take feud to PGA Championship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ROCHESTER, New York, May 15 (Reuters) - The PGA Tour and LIV Golf take their feud to Oak Hill Country Club for the PGA Championship this week with the Saudi-bankrolled rebel circuit again seeking major validation. That was until world number one Spaniard Jon Rahm came to the PGA Tour's rescue, finishing top of the leaderboard to leave Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson runners-up. Like the Masters there will be 18 LIV members in the field led by twice PGA Championship winners Koepka and 52-year-old Mickelson and Australian Cameron Smith, who signed on with LIV after winning last year's British Open. Rahm and world number two Scottie Scheffler both are in top form coming into Rochester. Spieth, who withdrew from the Byron Nelson citing a left wrist injury, needs only a PGA Championship to join the elite club that includes, Woods, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.

☆ Wells Fargo Championship : Wyndham Clark soars to first PGA Tour victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Moments later, the American tapped home to clinch the Wells Fargo Championship and his first ever PGA Tour title. “Since I’ve been on the PGA Tour, you fantasize about it all the time, and I’ve done it multiple times this year where I catch myself daydreaming about winning. “To do it at this golf course against this competition is better than I could ever have imagined.”Clark celebrates a first career PGA Tour title. It marked the second-lowest score in relation to par in the event’s history, second only to Rory McIlroy’s 21-under in 2015, according to the PGA Tour. Chris Carlson/APHaving turned pro in 2017, Clark was five years and 133 PGA Tour starts without a win.

☆ McIlroy takes aim at remaining majors after Masters disappointment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

McIlroy, who won the last of his four majors in 2014, was looking to become the sixth player to complete the men's career Grand Slam at Augusta National but missed the cut by two shots. read moreMcIlroy told Golf Channel on Tuesday he needed the time away. "Obviously, after the disappointment of Augusta, and it's been a pretty taxing 12 months mentally, so it was nice to just try to disconnect and get away from it," he said. The PGA Championship, the second major of the year, will be held later in May followed by the U.S. Open in June and The Open Championship in July. Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Jon Rahm sets new PGA Tour earnings record with four months still to play
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —It’s been quite the year for Jon Rahm – and he’s got the prize money to prove it. A runner-up finish at the Mexico Open on Sunday took the Spaniard’s PGA Tour season earnings to $14,462,840, setting a new Tour record for money earned in a single season. With $49,486,883 in total earnings since joining the PGA Tour in 2016, Rahm looks set to pass the $50 million mark imminently upon his return. The American had finished joint-second, one shot shy, of Rahm at last year’s event, but improved his total by eight shots to end on 24-under and clinch his sixth PGA Tour title. Orlando Ramirez/Getty ImagesGiven his form, Rahm looks well-placed to add to his two majors and 11 PGA Tour titles this year, but the 28-year-old is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

The triumphant pair on Sunday will also receive a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. The Fitzpatrick brothers will pair together at the Zurich Classic. The golf world is very different from when I started to when he’s playing now so he’s going to focus on the Challenge Tour probably, he’s excited for that. Yet Fitzpatrick – dubbed the hardest-working golfer on the PGA Tour – has no intention of accepting his place in the food chain. “I’m constantly looking at ways to improve and get better, and that’s what’s really important is to keep pushing myself and try and catch them up.”

☆ McIlroy takes $3 mln hit for skipping second designated event
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

That total represents 25% of the $12 million bonus he was awarded for finishing second behind Tiger Woods on last year's PIP list which rewards the golfers who have the biggest positive impact on the PGA Tour. Golfers can skip one designated event and still collect their full bonus but McIlroy has now missed two of them, which the PGA Tour created to get the top players competing against each other more often amid a threat posed by LIV Golf. To miss a second designated event without penalty, players need an excused absence, like an injury, or risk losing part of their PIP payout from the previous year. World number three McIlroy announced his decision to withdraw from the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina on the heels of his missed cut at the Masters, which was his sixth PGA Tour start in nine weeks. Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ McIlroy withdraws from RBC Heritage after missing Masters cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Golf - The Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - Augusta, Georgia, U.S. - April 6, 2023 Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the 4th hole during the first round REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstApril 10 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy has withdrawn from this week's RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, the PGA Tour said on Monday, after the world number three failed to make the cut at the Masters last week. McIlroy bid for a career Grand Slam ended when he shot a disappointing second-round 77 after being a favorite to win his first Green Jacket at Augusta National heading into the major. McIlroy will not be replaced by an alternate, with the field reduced to 143 players for the tournament on Hilton Head Island, where Jordan Spieth is the defending champion. The 33-year-old McIlroy, who captured the last of his four majors in 2014, had been hoping to win the Masters so that he could join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the only players to achieve the career Grand Slam. Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ McIlroy's career Grand Slam bid officially ends with missed cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

One of the pre-tournament favourites, McIlroy's disappointment dragged on into Saturday as 39 players returned to complete their weather hit rounds where the cut line was set at three over. Major winners Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson along with Jason Kokrak all missed the cut. Tiger Woods made the cut but by the skin of his teeth when good friend Justin Thomas bogeyed the 17th moving the cut line to three over. "I've always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event," said Woods at the end of his round before the cut line had been set. Couples also became the oldest player in Masters history to make the cut when the 63-year-old returned a second round two-over 74 for a one-over total.

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