If officials of the WM Phoenix Open were embarrassed by the drunken boorishness of what’s touted as the “People’s Open” – and given the promise for change, according to a report last week by GGP’s Ron Green Jr., they were – they can take a small measure of solace in this fact: Not many TV viewers saw it.
According to Sports Media Watch, a crowded weekend of live sports leading into Super Bowl XVIII left the weather-delayed Phoenix Open as something less than must-watch TV.
The Saturday shenanigans at TPC Scottsdale, marred by inclement weather, rowdy behavior and a record number of arrests, was watched by only 1.665 million viewers on NBC, according to Nielsen’s ratings. That was a 32 percent drop from a year earlier. LIV Golf, which finished play Saturday in Las Vegas ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, attracted only 297,000 to the CW Network.
Viewership for the Sunday finish of the Phoenix Open also fell significantly from last year, though it was dwarfed by the all-day hype of the Super Bowl on CBS. The Phoenix Open, still playing catchup from previous weather delays, spilled over its final-round time slot into a playoff eventually won by Nick Taylor. According to the Nielsen ratings, only 2.38 million viewers watched the final round on NBC, which was down 35 percent from last year’s Phoenix Open. It was the least-watched final round of the event in more than a decade, Nielsen reported.
A taped showing Sunday of LIV Golf’s final round attracted only 121,000 viewers to the CW Network. READ MORE and MORE
Spain’s David Puig won his second Asian Tour title in the past four months, claiming the IRS Prima Malaysian Open with a 62-62 weekend and 23-under 261 total at the Mines Resort and Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur.
With the victory, the 22-year-old Puig earned $180,000 from the $1 million purse and a spot in the Open Championship via the Open Qualifying Series. He will be joined at Scotland’s Royal Troon on July 18-21 by runner-up Jeunghun Wang of South Korea and Thailand’s Denwit Boriboonsub, who tied for third in Malaysia with American John Catlin.
Puig signed with LIV Golf in 2022 after three college seasons at Arizona State. He is a member of Sergio García’s Fireballs GC. READ MORE
South San Francisco’s elegant California Golf Club has been abuzz this month after two of its affiliate members won back-to-back tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Isaiah Salinda won the Panama Championship on February 4, one week before Kevin Velo took the Astara Championship in Bogotá, Colombia.
Dating to the early 1950s, when club president Eddie Lowery – the diminutive caddie for Francis Ouimet in his stunning victory at the 1913 U.S. Open – extended low-cost playing privileges to Bay Area native son Ken Venturi, the Cal Club has supported local players in their quests to compete. One of those in more recent years was Martin Trainer, who won twice in 2018 on what was then the Web.com Tour, earning a promotion to the PGA Tour, where he won the 2019 Puerto Rico Open. GGP’s John Steinbreder profiled the relationship between Trainer and the Cal Club.
Today, Salinda and Velo are among seven aspiring professionals who call the Cal Club home under the Venturi program.
Salinda, 26, is a San Francisco native who played college golf at Stanford in nearby Palo Alto. It was his first victory in 10 career starts on the PGA Tour’s top developmental circuit and worth $180,000.
Velo, also 26, was born in Redwood City and also played college golf in the Bay Area, at San Jose State. He won with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff, after a birdie-birdie finish in regulation to set the tournament scoring record, in only his fourth career start on the Korn Ferry Tour. He earned $180,000.
TAP-INS
The PGA Tour’s inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic will take a 21st-century approach toward getting the word out about the event. Sixteen golf personalities who have attracted large social-media audiences will compete in a special 18-hole qualifier on March 4 at TPC Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. The winner will earn an exemption into the $3.9 million tournament, to be played May 9-12 at Dunes Golf and Beach Club and opposite the Wells Fargo Championship, a $20 million “signature event” on the tour schedule. READ MORE
Todd Fleming has been named executive director of the Cognizant Classic, the PGA Tour’s longtime southeast Florida stop formerly known as the Honda Classic. Fleming, who had been head of sales at Legends, recently helped the USGA with hospitality at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Fleming will succeed Joie Chitwood III, Cognizant’s interim director, after this year’s tournament, which is being overseen by the tour’s Championship Management division and will be played February 29-March 3 at PGA National. READ MORE
Netflix released a 27-second teaser to its second season of the “Full Swing” documentary about life on the PGA Tour in 2023. The eight-episode series is scheduled to debut March 6 on the streaming service. VIEW MORE
American automaker Ford Motor will sponsor the LPGA tournament in the Phoenix area next month, the tour announced. The $2 million Ford Championship will be played March 28-31 at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Arizona. READ MORE
The Asian Tour will make a second consecutive stop on the African continent this summer, adding the Karen Classic to its schedule. The $750,000 tournament will be played July 11-14 at Karen Country Club in Nairobi, Kenya, one week after the $2 million International Series Morocco in Rabat. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon