Associated Press
MONTREAL (AP) — It’s one thing for Rory McIlroy to be optimistic about the PGA Tour’s talks with LIV Golf’s Saudi investors about a potential investment. McIlroy is a member of the negotiating committee, but he did not attend recent meetings.
I heard another thing from someone in the room at a conference in New York two weeks ago – Guy Kinnings, CEO of European Tours.
DP World Tour is the business name that was part of the original framework agreement announced on June 6, 2023, which led to the creation of PGA Tour Enterprises. The agreement was not signed by the year-end deadline and negotiations are continuing. The PGA Tour has since signed with Strategic Sports Group for a $1.5 billion investment.
“Having been in those meetings, I’ve seen firsthand that all the right organisations, the right parties are involved with the right mindset and a positive attitude to try to find a solution that is good for the game,” Kinnings told reporters last week at the BMW PGA Championship outside London.
“There’s still a long way to go,” he said. “There are still a lot of details and complexities to do.”
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan also declined to offer details, mostly insisting on not making any plans for negotiations public.
But the words “detail” and “complexity” are not to be taken lightly.
McIlroy said three other words pointedly last week — the Department of Justice. Any deal will face scrutiny from the Justice Department, and questions remain about the future of LIV Golf, which has announced four championships in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Thailand and Singapore by 2025.
“I think the people who actually make the decision seem to be pulling in the same direction, in my opinion, which is a very good thing,” McIlroy said. “Even if they were all pulling in the same direction, it doesn’t mean a deal can be made because it’s a very complicated situation.
“But yes, from what I’ve heard, there’s a lot of optimism there, which is reassuring.”
Lydia's Future
Ko, who won her first tournament of the season on the LPGA Tour and is one point away from being inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, has said she will consider retiring sooner rather than later, with some speculating that this year could be the year.
Then she had a fantastic summer. She won Olympic gold, which earned her a spot in the Hall of Fame. Then she won the third leg of the Grand Slam at the Women's British Open at St. Andrews. And last week, Lydia Ko beat her outside Cincinnati.
Now she's thinking about the career majors. The LPGA sweep is a tricky task because the tour has added the Evian Championship (which was previously a regular event) in addition to the other four majors. The LPGA still considers the majors to be four, so Ko would need to win the U.S. Women's Open or the Women's PGA Championship.
She won the Evian Championship in 2015 and the ANA Inspiration in 2016.
“I was struggling a lot mid-season, thinking to myself, ‘OK, am I really going to make the Hall of Fame?’ and all these doubts,” she said. “It’s been a fairytale for the last few months, and now I feel like if I put my mind to it, maybe I can do it.
“I think my goal has always been to complete the career Grand Slam. I think it's incredible,” she said. “I feel like I'm already part of this fairy tale, so why not?”
Erin Hills
Wisconsin’s Erin Hills, where Brooks Koepka won his first major championship, is returning to the USGA stage in a big way, hosting the U.S. Women’s Open next year and a series of USGA amateur events over the next 15 years.
The USGA announced Tuesday that Erin Hills Golf Club will host the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in 2027 and the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball in 2030. After that, Erin Hills Golf Club will host the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2033, followed by the U.S. Amateur in 2035 and the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2039.
Erin Hills will become the 14th course to host the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women's Amateur.
However, there was no mention of hosting the U.S. Open again.
The USGA moved its top championships to the new course in three years, with Jordan Spieth winning the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay and Koepka winning the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills. Chambers Bay was criticized for turf peeling on the greens (a problem that has been fixed), while Erin Hills suffered from extremely low scores. Seven players finished 10 under or lower.
Chambers Bay is scheduled to host the U.S. Junior Amateur Championships in 2027 and 2033.
Pat and Hat
Patrick Cantlay arrived at the Presidents Cup in full uniform, including a hat.
Cantlay was in the spotlight last year when he chose not to wear a hat at the Ryder Cup, which was not surprising considering he went hatless at Whistling Straits in 2021 and on the Walker Cup team in 2011. Cantlay said the brand just wasn't right for him.
However, a false report gained attention that the move was in protest of not being paid, which Cantley said was simply not true.
Apparently this week is a good fit.
“We finally found a hat that's an odd shape but fits well,” U.S. captain Jim Furyk said with a laugh. “I think a lot of that is due to our supplier. He wore a hat in Charlotte two years ago. We have the same supplier on the PGA Tour, and he seems very comfortable with it.”
“If my players feel comfortable wearing hats, they can wear hats. If they don't feel comfortable wearing hats, that's fine.”
The Bream River rises
Helen Briem is on the rise, which is saying a lot for a 6-foot-3, 19-year-old German.
Bream, who won the R&A Women's Championship last year and played in the Junior Ryder Cup, won three consecutive weeks on the European Ladies Tour Access Series. Previously, she played two European Ladies Tour events, tied for 11th at the German Masters and was runner-up at the Domi Helsingborg Open.
This made her the No. 1 female amateur in the world. She then turned professional and won the La Serra Open in her first LET tournament as a professional.
“My goal is to establish myself on the world golf stage, to compete in the Solheim Cup one day and to represent Germany at the Olympics,” Bream said.
Lawn Turf
Brooke Matthews is the fifth player on the Epsom Tour who is mathematically certain to finish in the top 15 on the LPGA Tour next year. The Epsom Tour season ends next week in California. … Vietnam will host its first major tournament next March when it hosts the Women's Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. Past champions of that event include two-time U.S. Women's Open champion Yuka Sasso and former world No. 1 Gino Titikul. … The three Canadians on the International Team are a combined 0-8-0 in the Presidents Cup. Corey Connors and Taylor Pendrith are 0-4 in 2022. Mackenzie Hughes will make her debut this week at Royal Montreal.
This week's data
Talor Gooch, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith failed to win individual titles in the LIV Golf League this year. They all have multiple titles to their credit in 2023.
Final Words
“My goal has never been to be a celebrity or a celebrity or anything like that. My goal has always been to be a PGA Tour golfer. I love coming here to compete and I love going home and having a normal life.” – Scottie Scheffler
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