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February 28, 2023
Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for what is one of the best fields we will see all year at this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational.
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1. Lavner: LIV season debut underwhelms
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”The actual tournament competition? That remains the least compelling aspect, and apparently millions of sports fans agree – the ratings for the first CW broadcast were abysmal, even when strategically put up against what was easily the weakest PGA Tour event of the year. The product now has to stand on its own merits, and this was an unsteady start.”
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“LIV’s drawbacks can’t immediately be remedied, because they’re part of the upstart league’s DNA. There are no stakes, no consequences, no substantive storylines. There is no upward mobility, no context to a player's performance, no career milestones to achieve. It’s a closed shop: the same 48 players in 13 stroke-play tournaments, all of equal importance, competing for nothing but pride and a boatload of cash, devoid of any meaning or significance.”
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“League officials eagerly flaunt how much they’re playing for, and yet that doesn't really resonate with the audience when these guys have already signed up for massive signing bonuses. It creates the perception that all they want is more, more, more. It’s like rooting for Leonardo DiCaprio to finally find true love.”
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2. An “unbelievable” week
PGATour.com’s Kevin Prise on the Monday qualifiers incredible week…”Gerard, 23, earns a spot in next week’s Puerto Rico Open via a top-10 finish, an appreciative addition to his winter schedule as the Korn Ferry Tour is in the midst of a five-week break.”
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“The North Carolina native was bogey-free in Sunday’s final round before his second shot at the par-5 18th found the water en route to bogey. Gerard remained upbeat, though, realizing the magnitude of his accomplishment. He was greeted off the 18th green by fellow UNC-Chapel Hill alum Ben Griffin, who finished T21 at the Honda, as well as fellow pro and friend Austin Hitt – who will compete in Monday’s open qualifier for the Puerto Rico Open.”
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“Gerard had a tee time in the Monday qualifier, but he won’t need it.”
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“It was unbelievable,” Gerard said of his week at the Honda. “It’s everything you could dream of. When you’re a kid practicing at night on a putting green, you’re like, ‘I have this putt to win a PGA TOUR event.’ It’s funny to say because I was just there four or five years ago in high school thinking about it, and now – I never had a putt to win, but I kind of felt like I had a chance coming down the stretch if I put some stuff together.
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3. No more LIV signings in 2023?
James Corrigan for the Telegraph…”LIV Golf has slammed down the shutters and revealed that no new signings will be competing in the 2023 season.”
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“Insiders in LIV are adamant that even in the highly implausible scenario of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy suddenly wanting to jump ship to join Greg Norman’s enterprise, they would have to bide their time until next year to tee it up.”
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“The field is the field for this year,” a spokesperson said. “And the 12 teams are the 12 teams.
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4. On LIV’s promotion/relegation plans
Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”When it comes to the league format, those plans are more European than American, especially with its new promotion and relegation system. LIV views open competition not only as a cornerstone of its evolving product, but also as a way to legitimize its place in the professional golf landscape.”
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“Starting later this year, the LIV Golf Promotions Event will help to ensure there are open player pathways for golfers to join the LIV Golf League in 2024.”
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“Who automatically qualifies for the 2024 season and is safe from relegation?...The season-long points list that ultimately decides the individual champion – Dustin Johnson in 2022 – will also double as a way for players to earn their spot for the next season. Players who finish Nos. 1-24 at each event during the regular season earn a massive payday as well as points: 40 points for the winner all the way down to just one for the 24th-place finisher. After the 13 regular-season tournaments, those who finish inside the top 24 for the year will keep their status for the following season. Simple enough.”
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5. Jack expecting a stronger “Honda” field ahead
AP report…”This year, the tour had two elevated events before the Honda, with two more to immediately follow at Bay Hill and The Players Championship.”
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“Honda is ending its title sponsorship of the tournament at PGA National, but Nicklaus said the event will remain the start of the Florida swing in 2024.”
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"Next year's schedule are Pebble and LA are their elevated tournaments," Nicklaus said. "Phoenix is not. Then they go to Mexico, then they come here. So, we will have players next year. And then they've got Bay Hill and Players. The tournament's going to be just fine."
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7. Heck out indefinitely with shoulder injury
Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“If Stanford is to repeat as NCAA champion, it may have to do so without one of its best players….Junior Rachel Heck, the 2021 NCAA individual champion and player of the year, missed the Cardinal's first two events of the spring because of thoracic outlet syndrome, a shoulder condition in the area between the first rib and the collarbone.”
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“Stanford head coach Anne Walker told GolfChannel.com that Heck's return is "up in the air" as she continues to be evaluated by doctors.”
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“Heck last played for the Cardinal at their fall finale in October, the Pac-12 Preview, where she tied for 22nd. She was also T-3 at the Stephens Cup earlier that month, and she began the spring on the watch list for the Annika Award, which she won as a freshman.”
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8. Two LIV pros climb rankings
Mike Hall for Golf Monthly..."Because of the inability of LIV Golf to offer its players world ranking points, attention has regularly turned to the plight of players who have tumbled down the rankings since opting to play on the big-money circuit."
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"Bizarrely, though, it wasn’t all bad news for LIV Golf players in the world rankings following the tournament at El Camaleon Golf Club. Harold Varner III began last week’s tournament as World No.51, but even though his appearance meant he didn’t accumulate so much as a single world ranking point in Mexico, he rose two places to sneak back inside the world’s top 50 at World No.49."
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"He wasn’t the only LIV player to experience an unexpected boost either. New recruit Mito Pereira climbed two places as well, from World No.50 to World No.48. In both cases, though, the rise is highly likely to be the exception rather than the norm over the weeks to come."
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9 Best driver
- Another shameless plug for our 2023 Best Driver piece! Find out what driver is best for YOUR game.
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