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Why The Asterisk?

Published

18 years ago

on

Before you decide to flame me or call me names, just hear me out.  I think the fact that some believe the winner of the British Open should have an asterisk is absolutely absurd.  Seriously.  I’m totally open for suggestions here.  Give me one good reason that someone’s hard-earned win should have a footnote that Mr. Tiger Woods was not playing? 

These golfers have spent their lives preparing for professional golf.  They train hard and practice.  If they play their game right and work the course, they come out on top.  It is truly a shame that when they are interviewed they are consistently asked about Tiger Woods.  They deserve their own press without mentioning another player.

Incidentally, I’m definitely a Tiger Woods fan.  I’ve watched his entire career and truly admire him as an athlete, a golfer, and a human being.  He is one of the elite and has elevated the sport.  Even so, there should not be a special note next to those who win tournaments he is not in.  In addition, there should be no special accommodations for those who beat him.  In 2007, Tiger finished 12th in the British Open.  Does the winner of that event, Padraig Harrington, have an asterisk next to his win?  If this year’s winner must have a footnote that Tiger wasn’t playing then Harrington should have one saying he finished in first in spite of Tiger’s presence.

If there is a sidebar to this year’s British Open winner then there are several more that need to be added.  For example, there needs to be an asterisk next to the New York Giants Super Bowl winning season.  They deserve a bit extra since they beat the previously undefeated New England Patriots.  In addition, any team that beat the Chicago Bulls after Michael Jordan left should have an asterisk next to their win.

It all sounds very silly, doesn’t it?  The British Open winner this year deserves to be called just that, the winner.

 

 

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10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Joe

    Aug 10, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    well said. i cant believe somebody even suggested an asterisk??? thats like saying EVERY tourney that someone wins that Tiger wasnt playing in should have an asterisk next to their name. thats just absurd and ridiculous.

    Reply Report comment

  2. rio

    Jul 26, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    Agreed.

    There’s no asterisk next to major winners the year after Hogan was mauled and crushed in that car wreck. While on that subject, had Tiger Woods been in a similar auto accident and subsequently performed like Hogan did afterwards, today’s media would talk about Woods in the same breath as God himself.

    Oh, and there’s no asterisk next to all the major winners after Jack turned 50, either. You must show up at the first tee and hit it. It’s that simple.

    Reply Report comment

  3. bullard

    Jul 26, 2008 at 2:09 am

    “The British Open winner this year deserves to be called just that, the winner*.”

    Reply Report comment

  4. interossiter

    Jul 23, 2008 at 12:08 pm

    Agreed the asterisk is silly. All you can do in a tournament is play whoever shows up. Should there be additional asterisks because Nicklaus, Hogan and Bobby Jones weren’t there?

    Reply Report comment

  5. 8thehardway

    Jul 23, 2008 at 11:24 am

    The asterisk would be a nasty little reminder that for purposes of comparison ‘conditions were significantly changed’ by Tiger’s absence and would unfairly single out the few winners lucky enough to play while Tiger was recourerating. There’s a better approach — all golf records should be recategorized into Before Tiger (BT) During Tiger (DT) and After the reign of Tiger (AT). The Gregorian calendar enjoyed wide acceptance casting Christ as their central figure (BC, AD) and golf should do the same. This format has the benefit of lumping together all those lucky golfers who won without having to compete against Tiger – Old Tom Morris, Bobby Jones, etc. – and might even sell some calendars.

    Reply Report comment

  6. juliogolf

    Jul 22, 2008 at 6:19 pm

    I meant “breaks” not “breaks”

    Reply Report comment

  7. juliogolf

    Jul 22, 2008 at 6:17 pm

    I agree everything but one point: Tiger Woods WAS playing.

    Well, he actually wasn’t in the championship but let me use an example to explain my point:

    In a F1 race when someone brakes hi car and needs to go to the boxes to repair, it use to be because he’s been too aggressive and has taken his machine to the limit to win the race. But it’s still in the race.

    Tiger is now in his boxes fixing his machine and getting ready to go back to the race and become the greatest golfer in history.

    Congratulations to the Champion Golfer of the year (no asterisk)

    Reply Report comment

  8. bobsuruncle

    Jul 22, 2008 at 12:40 pm

    Here, here…you’ve hit the nail on the head…good call

    Reply Report comment

  9. Don

    Jul 22, 2008 at 12:18 am

    Who won The Open Championship last year when Woods was in the field?

    Paddy, that’s who! He’s already proven he can beat the toughest competitors in the toughest conditions.

    Reply Report comment

  10. Chris

    Jul 21, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Amen brother!

    Reply Report comment

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

May 12, 2026

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

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GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

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How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

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Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

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