Tag: Golfing

The Most Heartbreaking Almost Hole-in-One You’ll Ever See

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Absolute heartbreak city right here. Like most people that walk this fine Earth, I have never hit a hole-in-one. I did nearly sink one playing at Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick Links on Martha’s Vineyard though. It was a Par 3 so it was feasible for an average golfer. Hit one of those shots where everything just feels perfect, one of those you get maybe once a round that keeps you coming back for more.

As I walked down the fairway I realized I couldn’t see my ball even as I neared the green, so I allowed the excitement to creep in. Did I just bury an Ace, on Amity Island in July no less?

I walked up and took a peak in the cup anddd it was not there.

It had actually bounced off the back of the green into some bushes and my wife made sure to chirp me for the misplaced confidence there. They say hitting a home run is the hardest thing to do in sports, but getting an Ace really should be at the top of that list. It can’t all be luck, right?

Players Around the PGA Tour Wore Red in Support of Tiger Woods and It Was An Awesome Sight

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If you ever questioned just how much Tiger Woods means to his peers, yesterday effectively ended that debate as players all across the tour wore Tiger’s trademark Sunday Red to honor their injured friend. It was an awesome sight to see and I’ll be honest it got a little dusty over here.

So thankfully Tiger’s car accident wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We hope to see him back out on the course one day, but more importantly it’s good to still have him with us.

Super Classy Move from Billy Horschel as Collin Morikawa Wins the WGC – Workday Championship

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Golf is the ultimate emotional rollercoaster. In no other sport can you go from wanting to throw your equipment in the lake and quit entirely followed almost immediately by pure elation after hitting a great shot. You really can run the gamut of emotions in 18 holes, which is why being even keeled is so important if you’re ever going to play well and more importantly have any fun.

Now imagine it’s your career and there’s hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line with each and every shot.

Well, that was Billy Horschel on Sunday as he was trying to chase down Collin Morikawa who had a 54 hole lead going into the day and was trying to fend off the pack. Horschel nearly pulled it off, but ultimately had two bogies on the back 9 that sunk his chances. Dropping to a tie for second cost Horschel over a million dollars so you can imagine the guy was probably more than a little upset. I wouldn’t blame someone for throwing a wedge into the lake at that point.

Instead though, the mics picked up an exchange between the pair and an absolute class move from Horschel on the 18th green.

With the final outcome all but decided, it would have been understandable for Horschel to be frustrated, let Morikawa tap his own putt in first, and then finish his own round after. But that would have led to an awkward, delayed, and anti-climactic celebration for Morikawa. So Horschel turned down Morikawa’s offer to go first so the kid could properly celebrate and enjoy his 4th career victor on the PGA Tour.

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Classy stuff right there. I don’t know about you guys, but I know I’ll be rooting for Horschel to break through with his first win of the year after 3 Top 10 finishes so far this season. Whatever you do, just don’t talk any shit from the stands or you might have a Happy Gilmore situation on your hands.

Your Guide to Betting The Masters

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Looking to throw down a few bucks on The Masters this weekend? Preferably in a way thats not completely random and reckless so you might actually walk away a richer man? Well, look no further. I picked Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka to win at Augusta last year, both of whom tied for second place one stroke back of Tiger Woods. Here’s to hoping for a little more luck this year so I can continue my outlandishly expensive habit of actually playing golf.

With that being said lets take a look at the odds on some of the top names in golf to take home the green jacket this year.

Bryson DeChambeau (+800) is the betting favorite currently and will be the player to watch as he’s just been mashing this year with his Happy Gilmore-esque drives. He took home the US Open trophy earlier this season by outdriving, and outputting, everyone on tour. So while he’s finished outside the Top 25 his last two outings at the Masters, 2020 has been his year.

Tiger Woods (+3400) returns to Augusta this week in what is presumably the longest Masters title defense ever without actually repeating as Tiger won the green jacket 19 months ago. Tiger has been inconsistent recently, but those are some excellent odds for the defending champ.

Dustin Johnson (+900) has been hands down the best golfer in the world this year with nine Top 10 finishes and two wins, including an absolutely ridiculous performance at The Northern Trust when he shot a -30 and won by 11 strokes. DJ however is coming off an unforced vacation after he tested positive for the coronavirus so it remains to be seen if there are any lingering effects or rust he’ll need to shake off.

Jon Rahm (+1000) and Justin Thomas (+1100) are the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked golfers in the world so they should be in the mix this weekend. Not to mention Rahm hit maybe the greatest shot of all time with this practice round hole in one yesterday.

Collin Morikawa (+3300) made his PGA Tour debut in 2019, but he blew onto the scene with his ballsy win at the PGA Championship earlier this season so we’ll see if he’s ready for the gigantic stage of Augusta.

Xander Schauffele (+1400) finished second at the Masters last year (and cost me a big chunk of change) and has seven Top 10 finishes in 2020 (including a win at the Tour Championship) so he’s been knocking on the door for a while.

Rory McIlroy (+1200) is always a favorite to win anytime he steps onto the course, which is no surprise since he’s the No. 5 ranked golfer in the world with six Top 10 finishes on the year. What else is there to be said about Rory that hasn’t already been said? A slight knock on Rory is the fact that he did immediately kill the PGA Tour video game franchise after taking over for Tiger.

Brooks Koepka (+1600) is coming off a knee injury that forced him to miss some time this season, but as everyone knows Koepka ALWAYS shows up for majors. It’s actually kind of crazy when you look at the numbers. Koepka has seven career victories on the PGA Tour with four of those coming in majors. He’s won the 2017 US Open, the 2018 US Open, the 2018 PGA Championship, and the 2019 PGA Championship, which made him the first golfer ever to hold back to back titles in two majors simultaneously. More than half of his PGA Tour wins have come in the biggest tournaments in the game. Thats banana land.

Webb Simpson (+3300), Tyrell Hatton (+2800), and Patrick Cantlay (+2500) round out the Top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings so those guys are always a safe bet.

Patrick Reed (+2800) is one of my favorite golfers to watch because he is an absolute hothead like your buddy that snaps his club in half after a bad shot. No, literally.

Patrick Reed: the people’s golfer for people like me who sometimes flip out on the course. But Reed did win the Masters just two years ago so he’s always in play.

Keep an eye Matthew Wolff (+3300) too, who was in great position to win the US Open this season before melting down on the final day when he shot a 75 and ultimately finished second as DeChambeau took home the trophy. He’s a pretty solid dark horse bet, plus how great would it be to see a 21-year-old with the most unconventional swing in the game win at the most storied course in the world?

Although he’s been shaky on the PGA Tour lately, Phil Mickelson (+7000) is a 3x Masters champ so you can never count him out at Augusta. He also has battered the competition so bad on the Senior Tour, excuse me the PGA Tour Champions, that it should realistically be considered elderly abuse. My point is that while he may be “just” the 64th ranked golfer in the world currently, he’s far from washed up. I don’t know if I’d bet more than some pocket change on him, but if you’re looking for long shots you could do a lot worse than Lefty.

The Official Pick:

As my long shot I’m going with Collin Morikawa (+3300) because even though he’s been pretty off since winning the PGA Championship, he showed he’s got ice in his veins when he’s in it down the stretch. Then I’m hedging a bit with Brooks Koepka (+1600) since he is absolutely nails in majors and to round it out I’m taking Xander Schauffele (+1400) because this man has been banging on the door for a while now with five Top 10 finishes at majors.

So who do you think takes home the green jacket? Tweet us your picks @The300sBoston

Bryson DeChambeau Earns His First Major, Crushes the Competition at the US Open

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While it may not have been the way he pictured it, Bryson DeChambeau won his first career major, dominating the field to win the US Open at a Winged Foot course that crushed most of his peers.

DeChambeau is one of the most polarizing figures in all of golf as people seem to either love him or hate him. I for one don’t understand the hate for a young American challenging the status quo in a sport full of stuffy unwritten rules. I fully admit that he is an interesting cat and has a way of rocking the boat (bitching and moaning to officials) that probably rubs some people the wrong way, but golf is a sport that has been begging for some novelty. Bring on the guy who goes out of his way to do things differently like just randomly deciding to put on 40 pounds

Or a guy that is custom designing his irons so they are all the same exact length. Odd, but hey it works. It’s not like Bryson is showing up in jorts and giving people the DX suck it sign after bombing one off the tee like he’s Kenny Powers. He’s just looking at the way things have always been done and said well what if I do it differently?

Bryson has been criticized a ton because he always tries to just overpower courses like he’s Happy Gilmore.

That criticism was especially loud this past weekend as the US Open took place on a ruthlessly tight and unforgiving course like Winged Foot, but it worked for DeChambeau in a huge way as he dominated the field. He was the only player to finish under par and finished a full 6 strokes ahead of Matthew Wolff who melted down on Sunday to finish in second place. Bryson basically punted on accuracy and figured if I can just bomb it as far as possible, the course is set up in a way that I can recover from most roughs.

You know, assuming your ball doesn’t end up with a lie like the grass in a public park that hasn’t been mowed in six months because the entire landscaping crew got furloughed.

DeChambeau’s percentage of fairways hit was ugly at 41%, but because of that extra 20-30 yards he was getting off the tee, he was able to pick up a legit advantage like grabbing an eagle on a long Par 5 on Sunday.

If you watch golf every weekend you’re well aware of DeChambeau’s “Scientist” nickname, but if you’re even a casual fan this isn’t stuff that you would automatically know. I feel like I’ve heard it 20 times, but it doesn’t make it any less insane that DeChambeau uses a driver with a 5 degree loft. That is absolutely bananas. Most guys are using 9.5-10.5 degree drivers and DeChambeau figured out if he swings at a fast enough speed he can maximize his distance off the tee by basically swinging with a frying pan for a club. I mean his putter has more loft than his driver for christ’s sake.

Does he fairly get criticized for pissing and moaning to the officials more than your average bear? Yup, the fire ants complaint was a Hall of Fame moment of unintentional comedy.

But even yesterday he knew the rule where he was close enough to a sprinkler head in the rough just off the green that it warranted a drop in any direction within a club’s length. Granted he was up a handful of shots at the time, but knowing that rule allowed him to move his ball from the rough onto the green. Cannot hate on that awareness.

While the celebratory zoom call with his parents got a little awkward as a crowd surrounded and millions at home watched the private convo, but it was hard to not get choked up witnessing his initial reaction to seeing his parents.

So Bryson’s an unconventional guy, but with Tiger and Phil at the tail ends of their careers we could use some more unconventional guys and personalities on tour to keep this game growing beyond its core audience.

2K Sports Just Announced PGA Tour 2K21 from the CLOUDS

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Last year I went on the hunt for a golf game actually made this century since as we all know Tiger Woods PGA Tour hasn’t been a thing in years. Luckily I stumbled on to The Golf Club 2019, which is a pretty solid game as well as a very realistic round of golf.

It can be a little too realistic at times though and just as frustrating as actual golf is sometimes. Think Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge.

So I would like something a little more casual as it pertains to the laws of physics. Hell I’d love a new Mario Golf platform game, which Nintendo has kept locked away in its IP vault since 2003 for some reason.

Well out of nowhere 2K sports just announced they are coming out with PGA Tour 2K21! Talk about some much needed good news during this never ending quarantine. This is huge because despite its solid gameplay, one of the biggest drawbacks to The Golf Club 2019 is that it doesn’t have the full PGA license so there are only a couple of real courses and zero real golfers in the game. Well PGA Tour 2K21 seems to have no such issues as the teaser shows off the gorgeous 17th green island at TPC Sawgrass.

PGA Tour 2K21 will actually be developed by HB studios too, which is the group that made The Golf Club 2019. 2K teased the fact that more info will be released next week. So help me God if this game isn’t coming out real soon because without actual golf or actual anything happening right now, I think we are all going a little stir crazy.

Take my $60 right now and let me and Brooks Koepka CRUSH the competition as we go for the Tiger Slam.

The Premier Golf League is Hoping to Overthrow the PGA Tour

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ESPN – It was no coincidence when Phil Mickelson’s partners during the pro-am at last week’s Saudi International tournament happened to be three key figures in a proposed new golf tour that could potentially shake the foundations of the longstanding PGA Tour and European Tour and enrich the biggest names in the game.

A few days earlier, Mickelson had told reporters in San Diego that he was “intrigued” by a concept known as the Premier Golf League that would launch in two years’ time and potentially have limited fields, guaranteed paydays, $10 million purses and a team concept with ownership stakes.

New sports leagues sprouting up to compete with established giants that have been around since the 1920s is nothing new. We have the latest one in the XFL kicking off this weekend and now there are reports of a brand new experimental golf league looking to take on the PGA Tour; the Premier Golf League.

Wait, what?

The Premier Golf League is something that has been in the works for the past few years, but due to Phil Mickelson’s recent pro-am partners is starting to attract a lot of attention. This new tour would look to shake things up, consist of 48 players with 18 tournaments played weekly in the US and other countries.

“The events would be 54 holes with no cut and shotgun starts over the first two days to better showcase all the players during a television window.”

A shotgun start is intriguing because how often do you want to watch a specific golfer or two and they’re playing at 7 am and 3 pm respectively. Not exactly conducive to a neat and tidy TV (or streaming) broadcast. So having everyone tee off at the same time makes watching all your favorite golfers at once a reality.

Thats not even the biggest proposed tweak.

“There would be 12 teams of four players each, with a season-long competition that culminates in a season-ending event for players and teams.”

The PGA Tour tries to build this season long momentum with the FedEx Cup and a bonus to the individual points leader, but the team format could be interesting. Rather than rooting for just one or two guys that you like, with this concept you’d pick a team to follow all year long. I don’t know if that is too different from rooting for a specific guy, but the marketing power of four golfers coming together on one entity could be a windfall for awareness and merchandise sales.

Speaking of sales, the main driver behind this new league is of course money. Big money.

“The Premier Golf League is talking about $240 million, with a $10 million weekly purse for 17 events with a season-ending event. There would be $2 million paid to the winner, and a $10 million bonus to the overall individual champion. In addition, there would be a $40 million team bonus pool.”

That is some serious dough being thrown around, which is why this is starting to make some sense. Whether it’s realistic to launch a $240 million golf league from nothing remains to be seen, but I can see why guys would be listening. On the PGA Tour purses range from $3-$12 million with 1st place taking home anywhere from $500k-$2.1 million depending on the event. Not exactly chump change, but thats over the course of 50 events. Compare that to this Premier Golf League where in theory an elite golfer could be bringing in $1-$2 million *every week* for 4 months straight.

“Many in the golf world have declined to comment. They are sensitive to what the PGA Tour (and European Tour) has accomplished but also curious what this is all about. The reason? There is a sense among those in the game that the top players are underpaid.”

A guy like Mickelson “only” made $2.4 million on the tour in 2019, but he also raked in more than $40 million in endorsements last year. Lefty likely isn’t going to be winning a tournament a week at his age so I’d have to imagine there’s some serious equity investment opportunities being offered to make it worth his while.

However, all it takes is one top ranked player like Brooks Koepka to consider this new venture and it suddenly starts to become an uncomfortable conversation at PGA Tour HQ. Koepka made $9.6 million on the tour last year so in theory guys like him could double their take home pay with a strong four month stretch in this new league.

Thats one thing for the superstars of the game, but it might be a risk that players without gigantic endorsement deals to fall back wouldn’t be willing to take. Especially if it puts them at odds with the PGA Tour.

“As a member of the PGA Tour, a player agrees to certain stipulations, as expected. One of them is that you cannot play in competing events around the world. And since the tour has events some 48 weeks of the year, that’s a problem…To play the Premier Golf League, a player would basically have to leave the PGA Tour.”

If I’m a guy on the fringe of the PGA Tour, I’m probably happy playing golf for a living and taking home a million bucks a year. Why bite the hand that feeds you and risk your wellbeing on an upstart league that could go bankrupt before Labor Day?

That seems to be the selling point though as the PGL is aimed at making big bucks for the biggest stars, but not everybody gets to be Tiger Woods so they’ll need to assuage the fears of the other 47 guys they hope to sign up or this could wind up being a failure to launch.

But what would make fans feel the need to watch this new league? What would it do differently than the standards the PGA Tour have put in place? Golf Digest pointed out the answer could be in the league’s initial investors:

“We’d be remiss in forgetting the gambling element to golf. It’s worth noting one of the early partners is the Raine Group, which was integral in funding venture capital rounds for daily fantasy site DraftKings. It’s not a matter of if betting will be involved, an agent told Golf Digest, but to what extent, and how much of the cut will go in the players’ direction.”

Now we’re cooking with gas! Imagine a golf league with gambling fully baked into every broadcast? I was already screaming at the TV as Tiger cost me $1,200 bucks with his vintage win at The Masters last year. Imagine a broadcast with live updated odds, prop bets, and the commentators discussing fading a guy after he junks a couple of tee shots? Now THAT sounds like a great Saturday afternoon.

These upstart sports leagues fail way more often than they succeed, but there are success stories over the years. The key to those success stories is always innovation so it’s imperative for the Premier Golf League to shake things up if they want to stick around. We’re still a couple of years away from this launching, if ever, but I will be watching this like a hawk because who doesn’t love a little chaos?

Justin Thomas and Max Homa Golf in Kobe Jerseys at the Waste Management Phoenix Open

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Such a cool move especially because golf is usually so stuffy that you wouldn’t expect to see guys rocking a basketball jersey on the course.

Not much else I can really add to this as we see the Kobe tributes and old stories continue to pour in. Rest in Peace Mamba.

Korean Golfer Gets THREE YEAR Ban for Flipping Off Some Fans

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ESPN – The Korean Tour has suspended current money leader Bio Kim for three years after he made an obscene gesture to fans during the final round of a tournament this past weekend…Kim reacted angrily after a cellphone camera went off during his downswing. His drive ended up going about 100 yards, according to the Korea Herald.

After the poor shot, Kim, 29, turned to the crowd, flipped off fans and slammed his driver into the ground. The incident was captured on live TV in Korea.

On Monday, the Korean Professional Golfers’ Association, which operates the Korean Tour, voted unanimously to suspend Kim for the next three years. It also fined him about $8,350 in U.S. currency. In a statement, the Korean Tour said: “Kim Bi-o damaged the dignity of a golfer with etiquette violation and inappropriate behavior.”

Korean Shooter McGavin over here is clearly part of the not fucking around crew.

Damn you people go back to your shanties! Three years seems a bit harsh for flipping the bird no? I know I’ve done a lot worse on the golf course after a shitty shot. Granted I’m *paying* for the privilege of drinking 6 beers before noon and throwing my club into the woods, but hey golf is frustrating no matter the level.

I’ve never understood the unwritten rules of golf and the expected silence on the course. Sure you shouldn’t be blowing air horns on the course (even if you have bursitis), but if you can’t deal with the sound of a camera snapping a photo then maybe you’re not ready for primetime.