US Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker has added Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples to his group of vice-captains for this month’s match at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Couples and Mickelson join fellow Ryder Cup veterans Davis Love III, Zach Johnson and Jim Furyk in Stricker’s back-room team. There is no official place for Tiger Woods, who is still recovering from the multiple leg injuries he sustained in a car crash in February.
Mickelson had hoped to play his way onto the team after winning the PGA Championship but has bowed to the inevitable after not being able to post another top-10 all year. It ends his run of playing in 12 consecutive Ryder Cups since 1995.
“I’ve been staying in close contact with both Freddie and Phil, talking about all things Ryder Cup, for a while now,” Stricker said. “They provide honest and impactful feedback and both have such a passion for the Ryder Cup.
“I’m honoured that they are willing to join our team and help put us in the best position to win in a few weeks at Whistling Straits.”
It is not known if Stricker asked Woods to be one of his vice-captains. What is clear is he won’t be part of the team set-up in Wisconsin.
“He’s just not there this time,” Stricker confirmed. “He’s progressing nicely but Whistling Straits is a tough place to get around. He’s already been helping and will continue to do so.”
Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay have qualified for the US team. Stricker will name his six captain’s picks on Wednesday.
The European Tour has announced technology provider Slync.io as title sponsor of the Dubai Desert Classic, to be played at the Emirates Golf Club on 27-30 January 2022.
For the first time since the event was inaugurated 32 years ago, the tournament becomes part of the tour’s Rolex Series and will have a prize fund of $8 million.
It will be one of three Rolex Series events in the Middle East next year, along with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, also played in January, and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
“It is a real statement of intent that Slync.io’s first title sponsorship in golf will be as part of the Rolex Series,” European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said. “We look forward to working together to build on the incredible history of the Dubai Desert Classic.
“Alongside the Genesis Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship, the three Rolex Series events in the Middle East mean our five premium tournaments in 2022 will be played at key times in the golfing calendar when the eyes of the world are on the European Tour.
They will be incredible highlights in what promises to be a momentous 50th anniversary season for the European Tour.”
Slync.io previously had a foothold in professional golf through its #TeamSlync Brand Ambassadors. They include Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland, Eric van Rooyen, Jennifer Kupcho, Bernd Wiesberger, Sepp Straka, Albane Valenzuela and Xinjun Zhang.
The European Tour has added two events to its 2021 international schedule.
The Mallorca Golf Open, last played in 2011, returns to Golf Santa Ponsa on 21-24 October while the Portugal Masters, postponed in April because of COVID-19, returns to the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course at Vilamoura on 4-7 November. The former has a €1 million prize fund while the latter offers €1.5 million.
“We are delighted to add the Mallorca Open to our 2021 schedule as part of a three-week swing in Spain this October,” said the European Tour’s chief executive, Keith Pelley. “Despite the ongoing international travel challenges caused by the global pandemic, we are fully committed to providing a full schedule of playing opportunities for our members, replacing an y events which have been cancelled and minimising travel for them where possible.”
“We are delighted to confirm the rescheduled Portugal Masters as we continue to reshape the end of our season. Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course has been a popular venue with our players, and it has produced plenty of drama, so we are pleased to return for an 11th year in a row.”
Sarah Ingram will captain the US Curtis Cup team for a second time in the 2022 match at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania.
The news was confirmed just days after Ingram led the US side to victory against Great Britain & Ireland in the 41st Curtis Cup match at Conwy Golf Club in Wales.
“It was a highlight of my career to captain a team of such talented and wonderful young ladies who are certainly the future of the game,” she said. “It is an honour and a dream to be asked by the USGA to captain the 2022 team.”
Ingram is a three-time winner of the US Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship and played in three Curtis Cups (1992, 1994 and 1996). She won the 1990 Canadian Women’s Amateur and was a victorious US team member in the 1994 World Amateur Team Championship at Le Golf National in France.
The 42nd Curtis Cup will be played at Merion from 10-12 June next year. The R&A recently announced the 2024 match will be staged at Sunningdale Golf Club, England.
Scotland’s Hannah Darling and England’s Caley McGinty were rewarded with significant breakthroughs on the World Amateur Golf Ranking after appearing on the losing GB&I Curtis Cup team. Darling, who recorded three points from five appearances, broke into the top 20 for the first time following the match, with a six-ranking move to 19th.
McGinty, the only GB&I player to win in the final singles session with a 4-and-3 defeat of Gina Kim, became a top-50 player with a move of four positions to a career high 49th place.
Meanwhile, a pair of Latvian twins made a dramatic debut in the ranking. Marlena Gavare and Francis Gavars did not have WAGR status when they arrived for the respective Latvian Junior Open championships at Jurmala Golf Club. But Marlena, born one minute before her brother, won the girls’ event before younger twin Francis triumphed an hour later in the boys’ tournament. Francis joined the table on the men’s side at No 5,756 while Marlena entered as world No 3,129 on the women’s side.
The WGC-HSBC Champions event in China has been cancelled for a second successive year.
The event, co-sanctioned by the European Tour and PGA Tour, was scheduled for Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai at the end of October but has been shelved because of COVID-19 concerns.
The Bermuda Championship, originally scheduled as an opposite field event on the PGA Tour the same week, has been given elevated status with an increased prize purse and a full allocation of FedEx Cup points.
“Following discussions with HSBC, we can confirm the cancellation of the 2021 WGC-HSBC Champions,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said. “Although it’s unfortunate to have to do so, we must ensure that we abide by the epidemic prevention policies of different markets which may cause inconvenience to the players and make tournament operations very challenging.”
The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation will stage the 2021 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates from 10-13 November.
The WAAP, won by home favourite Yuka Yasuda of Japan in 2019, makes a return to the international amateur schedule after being cancelled in 2020 because of COVID-19.
“After the disruption caused by the pandemic over the last 18 months, we are excited to be staging the Women’s Amateur Asia–Pacific Championship at such a fantastic venue in Abu Dhabi,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said. “It is more important than ever to provide opportunities for elite women and amateurs to compete in Asia-Pacific, and we look forward to another thrilling championship in November.”
Taimur Hassan Amin, chairman of the APGC, said: “The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship has been a wonderful addition to the APGC’s golfing calendar and we very much look forward to welcoming it back to the schedule following last year’s cancellation due to COVID-19.”
The winner will earn AIG Women’s Open and Amundi Evian Championship exemptions, plus an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
NBC Sports will break new ground when it fields an all-woman broadcast team at the forthcoming ShopRite LPGA Classic at the Bay Course at Seaview in New Jersey next month.
The commentary team features Cara Banks handling play-by-play duties alongside analysts Judy Rankin and Paige Mackenzie, and on-course reporters Karen Stupples and Kay Cockerill. Tournament coverage will be produced by veteran Beth Hutter, who recently created another slice of history when she became the first woman to produce the US Women’s Open and women’s golf coverage at the Tokyo Olympics.
“We’re thrilled to assemble this incredibly accomplished group of women for our broadcast of the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Golf Channel,” confirmed Molly Solomon, executive producer for NBC Olympics coverage and for Golf Channel. “Our NBC team features talented women at all levels – both on-camera and behind the scenes – who are essential to making our coverage on every platform.”
Colin Callander and Alistair Tait