Three days before the debut of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, the field for the $25 million event is nearly finalized.
One spot remains open in the 48-man field. Could it have Phil Mickelson’s name on it?
Play begins Thursday at Centurion Club north of London in the three-day, 54-hole event that will feature a team component and the richest winner’s prize in golf: $4 million.
The massive amount of money, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund worth some $600 billion in oil-fueled assets, has been enough to lure some of the game’s top players, notably American Dustin Johnson and other major champions such as Spain’s Sergio García, Germany’s Martin Kaymer, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. However, you would be excused for not recognizing the names of some of the other participants.
Five players qualified Sunday at the International Series England event won by Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent, who already was on the LIV list: runner-up Travis Smith of Australia and Viraj Madappa of India, the two highest finishers who were not otherwise exempt; and South Africa’s Ian Snyman, Australia’s Kevin Yuan and Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat, who qualified via the International Series Order of Merit.
Recently, American Kevin Na, perhaps in a pre-emptive move to thwart discipline, resigned his membership on the PGA Tour, which denied permission to players seeking to compete in the LIV Golf series.
In another development, longtime broadcaster Jerry Foltz left Golf Channel to work for LIV Golf, Golf Digest reported, citing sources. In his 23 years at Golf Channel, Foltz had grown into an authority on the LPGA and women’s golf. He was not part of the network’s team at last week’s U.S. Women’s Open.
Here is the 47-player list for LIV Golf’s inaugural event, with one player to be named (a-amateur):
Oliver Bekker (South Africa)
Richard Bland (England)
Itthipat Buranatanyarat (Thailand)
Laurie Canter (England)
a-Ratchanon “T.K.” Chantananuwat (Thailand)
Hennie Du Plessis (South Africa)
Oliver Fisher (England)
Sergio García (Spain)
Talor Gooch (U.S.)
Branden Grace (South Africa)
Justin Harding (South Africa)
Sam Horsfield (England)
Dustin Johnson (U.S.)
Matt Jones (Australia)
Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thailand)
Martin Kaymer (Germany)
Phachara Khongwatmai (Thailand)
Sihwan Kim (U.S.)
Ryosuke Kinoshita (Japan)
Chase Koepka (U.S.)
Jinichiro Kozuma (Japan)
Pablo Larrazabal (Spain)
Viraj Madappa (India)
Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland)
Jediah Morgan (Australia)
Kevin Na (U.S.)
Shaun Norris (South Africa)
Andy Ogletree (U.S.)
Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa)
Wade Ormsby (Australia)
Adrian Otaegui (Spain)
Turk Pettit (U.S.)
a-James Piot (U.S.)
Ian Poulter (England)
a-David Puig (Spain)
J.C. Ritchie (South Africa)
Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)
Travis Smith (Australia)
Ian Snyman (South Africa)
Hudson Swafford (U.S.)
Hideto Tanihara (Japan)
Peter Uihlein (U.S.)
Scott Vincent (Zimbabwe)
Lee Westwood (England)
Bernd Wiesberger (Austria)
Blake Windred (Australia)
Kevin Yuan (Australia)
If you’re lamenting another Monday at the office today, think about what those aspiring U.S. Open participants will be facing.
The U.S. Open Final Qualifying, a 36-hole marathon to be held at nine sites – eight in the U.S. and one in Canada – promises the 708 contenders only a few dozen slots at the June 16-19 national championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. The actual number of qualifiers will be set by the USGA.
Known as “Golf’s Longest Day,” the qualifying will be a marathon of sorts for Golf Channel, as well. The network plans to broadcast 10 hours of live coverage – 7-9 a.m., noon-2 p.m. and 6 p.m.-midnight EDT – with reporters and camera crews at each site (FIELD / SCORING).
Bart Bryant, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who routed Tiger Woods to win the 2005 Tour Championship, died May 31 in a two-vehicle crash in Polk City, Florida, according to news reports. He was 59.
In a statement released by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to the Associated Press, Bryant was stopped in traffic in a construction zone when a truck slammed into his SUV. Bryant was unresponsive when treated by emergency responders at the accident scene and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. His wife, Donna, 49, was in the vehicle and hospitalized with minor injuries, authorities said. They were residents of nearby Auburndale. An investigation into the crash was underway.
Bryant won all three of his PGA Tour titles in his 40s. He also won three times on the senior tour. He recorded a career year in 2005, at age 42. Bryant held off Fred Couples to win the Memorial before going wire-to-wire at the Tour Championship, beating runner-up Woods by six strokes.
Bryant’s older brother, Brad, also is a former winner on the PGA Tour (READ MORE).
Earth-moving equipment worked amid the bare red-tinted ground at Augusta National’s par-3 course in an image released via social media by Eureka Earth, signaling big changes at the club’s short course.
Club officials made no announcement of renovations to the 11-hole, short course, which sits on a 22-acre site on the northeast corner of the Augusta National property, but the images show massive renovations underway including the draining of the pond that holes 3, 4, 5 and 6 play around during the nine-hole Par 3 Contest and the removal of all the trees between what plays as the first hole and the pond.
The par-3 course, adjacent to its brawnier big brother that hosts the annual Masters Tournament, is the site of the annual Par 3 Contest on the Wednesday of Masters week since 1960. Patrons typically are lined shoulder-to-shoulder, often mere feet from tees and greens. The original nine holes were designed by George Cobb in 1958 with the two new finishing holes added in 1987 by Tom Fazio.
After completing victory in the English Senior Men’s Stroke Play Championship at Ashridge Golf Club, Trevor Foster shared tears with his wife, Debbie, and then revealed that the success had come after a long-standing struggle with mental-health problems.
“I’m not embarrassed to say it, and I hope it helps people,” Foster said after completing rounds of 69-71-76 for a 1-over 216 total (the second round was played at Berkhamsted) to end the week one stroke clear of two-time champion Ian Attoe. “I’ve suffered with depression and anxiety for 30 years. My wife has been an absolute rock for me, and I had a false hip (fitted) six years ago. I thought my golf was ended, but no. I’ve won the Irish, I’ve won the British, and now to win the English is really, really special. It was the one I wanted to win” (READ MORE / VIDEO).
TAP-INS
Italy’s Edoardo Molinari has been named an assistant captain for the European team in the 2023 Ryder Cup, captain Henrik Stenson announced. Molinari, 41, a three-time winner on the European Tour, teamed with younger brother Francesco to help win the 2010 Ryder Cup for Europe at Celtic Manor in Wales. The elder Molinari joins Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn as European assistants. The 2023 Ryder Cup will be played at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome (READ MORE).
One week after winning the individual NCAA Women’s Championship and helping Stanford claim the team title, Rose Zhang is cashing in. Adidas announced that Zhang, 19, a freshman from Irvine, California, has become the first student-athlete to sign a name, image and likeness deal with the manufacturer of golf equipment and apparel (READ MORE).
Oklahoma’s Chris Gotterup, who led the Sooners to the NCAA quarterfinals, won two of the most prestigious awards in college golf. Gotterup was named winner of the Fred Haskins Award as the top college golfer, and he also won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top player in Division I. Gotterup, a fifth-year senior from Little Silver, New Jersey, was the No. 1 player in the Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, having transferred after four seasons at Rutgers. In 12 tournaments, he won twice and posted seven other top-10 results, including fifth place at the recent NCAA Championship (READ MORE).
San Jose State’s Natasha Andrea Oon was named winner of the Inkster Award, which recognizes the highest-ranked NCAA Division I women’s golfer in her final year of eligibility. Oon finished No. 3 in Golfstat and No. 4 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings (READ MORE).
Six teams from historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, will compete in the inaugural Charlie Sifford Centennial Cup on Aug. 29 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, the PGA Tour announced. Johnson C. Smith will serve as tournament host and be joined by Howard, Florida A&M, Alabama State, Texas Southern and Livingstone (READ MORE).
Texas’ Pierceson Coody led the top-five finishers in the PGA Tour’s Velocity Global Ranking, joining Clemson’s Jacob Bridgeman, Oklahoma’s Logan McAllister, Washington’s R.J. Manke and Texas’ Cole Hammer in qualifying for Korn Ferry Tour membership this summer. The program, in its second year and previously called PGA Tour University, awards spots on the PGA Tour’s top developmental tour, beginning with this week’s BMW Charity Pro-Am, and exempt status into the final stage of the KFT’s Qualifying Tournament. Nos. 6-15 in the rankings earned spots on a PGA Tour international tour (READ MORE).
The PGA of America has agreed to sell Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, to a group of club members for an undisclosed price, the association announced. Valhalla, a 1986 Jack Nicklaus design, has been the site of three PGA Championships (1996, 2000 and 2014) and will play host to the 2024 PGA. It also hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup (READ MORE).
The R&A will conduct a ticket ballot for the 2023 Open Championship, with entries opening June 21 and concluding July 20, when the 2022 Open ends at St. Andrews’ Old Course in Scotland. The 151st Open will be played July 20-23, 2023, at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England (READ MORE).
The Asian Tour announced two tournaments in August as part of its anticipated 10-event International Series. The International Series Singapore will be played Aug. 11-14 at Tanah Merah Country Club’s Tampines Course, followed by the International Series Korea on Aug. 18-21 at Lotte SkyHill on Jeju Island. Both tournaments will offer $1.5 million prize funds (READ MORE).
Staff and Wire Reports