Too many sports fans, including a surprising number of golf followers, use “PGA” interchangeably when referring to the PGA of America and the PGA Tour.
As a Global Golf Post reader, you no doubt know the distinction. The PGA of America is taking steps to distinguish itself as an organization for 29,000 club and teaching professionals from its younger cousin that oversees the game’s top touring pros.
As Ryder Cup week begins today, the PGA of America will launch a campaign that it hopes will clear up any confusion. “We Love this Game” will be featured prominently on NBC and its Peacock streaming and Golf Channel affiliates plus USA Network during the 44th Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy.
The goal, according to Jeff Price, the PGA of America’s chief commercial officer, is to “celebrate and differentiate” between the two organizations, which split in 1968 when the touring professionals broke off from the PGA of America to form what would become today’s PGA Tour. READ MORE
U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis criticized a perceived lack of promotion between women’s golf’s premier team event and the following week’s Ryder Cup, both played in Europe, as “a missed opportunity.” That prompted some pushback from the PGA of America, which owns the biennial Ryder Cup when it is played in the U.S. In a statement issued to Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, the PGA pointed toward its collaboration with the LPGA on their respective social-media channels and editorial content on PGA.com plus a video of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in which the players and captain supported the American Solheim Cup team. READ MORE
The PGA of America announced its Hall of Fame class for 2023: PGA members Robert Dolan, Don Wegrzyn, Suzy Whaley and Herb Wimberly, the late LPGA champion Kathy Whitworth and TV announcer Jim Nantz. READ MORE
courtesy r&A
Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, called his nation’s proposed alliance with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour “a game-changer for the golf industry” and shrugged off criticism of the initiative as “sportswashing.”
In a wide-ranging interview about the Saudis’ role in world affairs with Fox News’ Bret Baier, bin Salman made no apologies for his oil-rich nation’s growing presence in sports, particularly golf.
“You have competition, and you have focus on developing the game,” he said. “That’s good for the players and the fans who love golf.”
Through the Public Investment Fund, a sovereign-wealth fund estimated at more than $700 billion, the Saudis backed the launch of LIV Golf last year and have invested heavily in Formula One racing and the Premier League soccer, among other sports. Critics say the Saudis are attempting to cover up their human-rights misdeeds with a presence in sports.
“Well, if sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1 percent, then we’ll continue doing sportswashing,” he said. “I don’t care. I have 1-percent growth in GDP from sport and I’m aiming for another 1½ percent, call it whatever you want. We’re going to get that 1½ percent.” READ MORE
The PGA Tour will return to the fire-ravaged Hawaiian island of Maui for its customary year-opening The Sentry tournament in early January, the tour announced in a memo to players last week.
Wildfires ravaged the beach town of Lahaina, killing 97 and destroying about 2,700 structures, most of them residential, and caused an estimated $4 billion of damage.
Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course, site of the annual tour event about 10 miles north of Lahaina, was spared the worst of the devastation and is expected to reopen in October. Tourism is a key part of Maui’s economy. Commissioner Jay Monahan, who is working with Hawaiian officials to assist with disaster relief, said he hopes The Sentry will be a “source of inspiration for the great people of Maui and Lahaina.” READ MORE
Gary Woodland was recuperating after brain surgery last week removed “the majority of the tumor,” according to the PGA Tour, which cited Woodland’s social-media reports. Woodland, 39, made 18 cuts in 24 starts this season. He is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 2019 U.S. Open. Meanwhile, the University of Kansas voted to name the practice facility at The Jayhawk Club in Lawrence, home to the school’s men’s and women’s golf teams, after Woodland, a 2007 alumnus and Topeka native who maintains a home in Lawrence. READ MORE and MORE
Michael Block, the California club pro who became the darling of the 2023 PGA Championship by contending into the final round, has earned two more starts on the PGA Tour. Block successfully defended his title in the Southern California PGA Section last week, meriting starts in the American Express in La Quinta and the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego early next year. With his tie for 15th at the PGA last year, Block earned an exemption into the 2024 PGA Championship, to be played May 16-19 at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky. READ MORE
TAP-INS
In a social-media post, Phil Mickelson said he will not be gambling on football this fall as he continues to recover from a gambling addiction. The disclosure came about a month after professional gambler Billy Walters, who was convicted of insider trading in 2017, alleged in his book “Gambler: Secrets from a Life of Risk” that Mickelson bet more than $1 billion during the past three decades, including numerous six-figure wagers. READ MORE
A fire late Friday at a golf-ball factory in southern Taiwan killed at least 10, including four firefighters during a subsequent explosion at the Launch Technologies facility, and injured about 100, according to local media reports. READ MORE
Spikemark, which replaced Golfstat as the NCAA’s scoring platform for college golf, melted down during its debut in the fall season. “We rushed it,” an official conceded to GolfChannel.com’s Brentley Romine after technology issues crashed the site. As a result of the problems, the Women’s Golf Coaches Association has indefinitely suspended its polls. READ MORE and MORE
Paige Spiranac, one of golf’s highest-profile social-media stars, has launched the children’s book “Hattie Goes Golfing,” Back Nine Press announced. READ MORE
Tiger Woods has expanded his off-course interests with the opening of the sports bar and restaurant T-Squared in New York City’s Manhattan borough in partnership with entertainer Justin Timberlake. READ MORE
Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend, Erica Herman, won’t go away quietly. Herman filed a 53-page brief in a Florida court attempting to review a lawsuit that a judge dismissed in May. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon