Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa is in the market for a new caddie again after parting ways with Joe Greiner ahead of last week’s Rocket Classic in Detroit.
KK Limbhasut, a former teammate of Morikawa’s at Cal Berkeley who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour, carried his bag at Detroit Golf Club. In a news conference last Wednesday, Morikawa described Limbhasut as a “fill-in.”
Greiner, who worked with Max Homa until they split in early April, had been on Morikawa’s bag for his past five PGA Tour starts. Morikawa split with J.J. Jakovac, the only caddie he had had as a pro to that point, in late April.
“I think people, they’re going to be surprised, but the way I put it is just because two people are great at what they do doesn’t mean they’re going to be great together,” Morikawa said. “I think Joe is an amazing caddie, but I think just the way we kind of saw things, or just day to day how we kind of went about it, we were just a little bit on a different page.” READ MORE
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Local pro Joe Hooks made his PGA Tour debut at last week’s Rocket Classic on the course he grew up playing.
Hooks, 32, earned a spot in the field at Detroit Golf Club last week by winning the John Shippen Men’s Invitational on the same course two Sundays ago. The Shippen tournament is part of a series of competitions created to provide playing opportunities on the PGA and LPGA tours for the nation’s top Black golfers.
Hooks estimated that he had played more than a thousand rounds at Detroit Golf Club starting at age 7. During summers, his parents would drop him off at the course on their way to work at the family’s grocery store and pick him up on the way home.
“We used to talk about PGA Tour events maybe coming here when I was younger, so it’s crazy that there is one here now and I get to play in it finally,” Hooks said.
A Wayne State University graduate and four-time winner on the Advocates Professional Golf Tour, Hooks shot 72-76 and missed the cut in his maiden PGA Tour outing. READ MORE
A crisis of conscience prompted a pair of disqualifications from the Korn Ferry Tour’s Memorial Health Championship in Springfield, Illinois, last Friday.
Cole Hammer, the former University of Texas standout and world No. 1 amateur, reported an exchange between him and playing competitor Nelson Ledesma’s caddie during the first round in which the looper, Nico Torres, flashed four fingers at Hammer after Hammer had hit a 4-iron into the par-3 17th hole.
“Out of instinct, I flashed ‘4’ as well,” Hammer told GolfChannel.com, which first reported the incident. “It was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and I didn’t think a whole lot about it until after the round.”
Acknowledging the exchange didn’t sit well with him overnight, Hammer reported it to a rules official on Friday, which resulted in both him and Ledesma being disqualified for violating Rule 10.2a, which prohibits competitors from giving or asking for advice from anyone other than their caddie. READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Frenchmen Adrien Saddier and Martin Couvra, the winner and runner-up in the DP World Tour’s Italian Open on Sunday, earned berths in next month’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush by virtue of their performances. The Italian Open offered two spots as part of the Open Qualifying Series. Sergio García also earned an Open Championship berth as the top-ranked player not otherwise exempt within the top five of the LIV Golf individual standings at the end of June. READ MORE
The LPGA and Dow Chemical have created the Dow Impact Award, an annual honor that recognizes athletes who excel in their sport while making extraordinary contributions to their communities. Nominees for the inaugural award are Jennifer Kupcho, Gaby Lopez, Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang and sisters Moriya and Ariya Jutanugarn. Two finalists will be announced Oct. 7, and the winner, chosen through a combination of committee evaluation and fan voting, will be announced Nov. 6. READ MORE
The Broadmoor’s East Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will host the 2031 and 2037 U.S. Senior Opens, the USGA announced. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity