News

GolfWRX Morning 9: Captain Woods Down Under | Bush’s advice to Norman | Newsmaker: Growth of women’s golf worldwide

Published

7 years ago

Dec 6, 2018

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt (ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com)

December 6, 2018

Good Thursday morning, golf fans.

1. Tiger Down Under

Captain Woods is in Australia for promotional, logistic duties for the 2019 Presidents Cup. A concern: the proximity of the Hero World Challenge to the competition in Melbourne.

AP Report…”U.S. captain Tiger Woods will have discussions with golf officials in Melbourne on how to best prepare his team for the 2019 Presidents Cup next December at Royal Melbourne.”

“Woods, in Melbourne for a promotional visit, said the talks later Thursday would focus on the options of the Americans playing his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, coming to Melbourne the week prior for practice with sand-belt techniques, or playing the Australian Open as the lead-up event at The Australian in Sydney.”

“We have to figure out some logistical things between now and then and that’s the reason I’m here,” Woods said.

“We’ve got a few meetings here today to try to get a plan going forward so we can get the best that we can at the Hero as well as get everyone here from the Bahamas rested and prepared and ready to play.”

Full piece.

2. Playing captain?

AAP report…”Tiger Woods has given the strongest indication yet that he will tee it up as a rare playing captain in the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.”

“But 14-time Major winner Woods has declared he will accept the role of playing skipper — which has happened just once — if he is to earn automatic qualification for what will be a star-studded American team.”

“If I am part of the top eight, yes, I will play,” Woods told AAP in Melbourne.

Full piece.

Additionally, Woods indicated that if he and his vice captains agree the best way for him to help the team would be to accept a captain’s pick, should he be in that position, he would do so.

3. Worth keeping an eye on…

EuropeanTour.com report…”Ernie Els produced a stunning birdie blitz around the turn to share the early lead on day one of the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg.”

“The four-time Major Championship winner is seeking a sixth title in his home Open and he delighted the fans at Randpark Golf Club as he moved to five under after 13 holes of his opening round.”

More.

4. Return of the Roar

ESPN press release…”The historic comeback season of Tiger Woods will be documented in a prime time film debuting on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 30 – Woods’ 43rd birthday.”

“Tiger Woods: Return of the Roar, airing at 9 p.m. ET, chronicles the 2017-18 season that saw Woods overcome career-threatening back surgery to win on the PGA TOUR for the first time in five years. Beginning with his return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge in Albany, The Bahamas, in late 2017 and culminating with his stirring victory at the 2018 TOUR Championship in Atlanta – the 80th of his PGA TOUR career – the film captures the season that reenergized the career of arguably the game’s greatest player.”
“With new, never-before-seen content, including multiple interviews with Woods, viewers will get behind-the-scenes access to PGA TOUR events central to Woods’ return, including the Valspar Championship and the TOUR Championship, featuring stylized off-speed cameras and inside-the-ropes viewpoints.”
“The film also will touch upon Woods’ growing role as a leader and mentor on the PGA TOUR, highlighting his role as Captain’s Assistant at the 2017 Presidents Cup and the announcement made in March that he will captain the U.S. Team at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia. Due to his remarkable comeback, Woods is in position to be the first playing captain since World Golf Hall of Fame member Hale Irwin at the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994.”
“Featured are more than 60 interviews with PGA TOUR players as well as various professional athletes, all offering unique context to Woods’ comeback. The film also includes a new interview with Woods’ caddie, Joe LaCava, on his front-row seat to this historic season.”

5. Return of the Luke

Cameron Morfit at PGATour.com…”Luke Donald hasn’t played a shot on the PGA TOUR since he missed the cut at the RBC Heritage in April, but he will tee it up with partner Andrew Landry at the QBE Shootout starting Friday.”

“Donald, who will turn 41 later this week, missed six months with a lower back injury in 2018. In nine starts he made just three cuts and earned 42 FedExCup points, and he will start the 2019 season on a major-medical extension.”

“The state of the game is unknown,” he said after his pro-am round Wednesday. “We’ll see. I’ve been able to work hard the last couple months with no pain. I’ve certainly been putting in the time, but to bring it from your home course out here into a competitive situation, we’ll see how it goes.”

Full piece.

6. Newsmaker: The women’s game globally

Continuing to count down the top-10 newsmakers of the year Golf Channel in general, and Randall Mell in particular, write the global growth of women’s golf is the No. 9 entry.

Among other developments, Mell notes...”Back in the spring, Augusta National Golf Club stepped up, announcing it would launch the Augusta Women’s National Amateur in 2019. It’s a 54-hole event that will conclude with the top amateur women in the world playing the final round at Augusta National’s iconic venue.”

“In November, Suzy Whaley was elected president of the PGA of America, becoming the first female to hold that position in the 102-year history of the organization.”

“In December, the LPGA announced that CME Group CEO Terry Duffy would double the purse for the season-ending Tour Championship in 2019 and raise the winner’s check to $1.5 million, the largest in the history of the women’s game. It is notable that it will be greater than the first-place check was in 33 of 47 PGA Tour events last season.”

Full piece.

7. Bush’s advice to Norman

Greg Hardwig of the Naples Daily News, via Golfweek…”Norman even sought out Bush’s advice when the office of President Clinton, a Democrat, contacted Norman about playing golf with him because he was coming to Australia. Norman, who is a Republican, wasn’t sure about playing with Clinton.”

“I don’t want to play with him because I don’t really like a lot of things he’s trying to recommend,” Norman told Bush.

“Bush gave a very direct answer.…”Greg, you shall respect the Office of the President of the United States,” Bush said.”

“I said ‘Yes, sir’ and I played with President Clinton,” Norman said. “It was all about the office, and respect for the office, regardless of the person who’s in it.”

Full piece.

8. Pepperell’s path to Bettinardi

Eddie Pepperell is a singular quantity in to world of golf, so it’s not surprising that the Englishman has taken a unique route to becoming a Bettinardi staffer.

20 months ago, the two-time European Tour winner walked into Core Golf in Thame, Oxfordshire, and bought four putters, including a Bettinardi Studio Stock No. 8.

Pepperell, who jumped from No. 513 to No. 38 in the OWGR since putting the Bettinardi in play in April 2017, won’t have to pay for his putters any more. He joins the likes Francesco Molinari, Haotong Li, and Matt Kuchar as a Bettinardi staffer, the company announced the today.
“I’ve tried a number of putters and time and again, it’s the one model I keep coming back to.” said Eddie. “Positively I won’t have to buy a Bettinardi putter again, but having bought four putters from Core Golf I’m just hoping I haven’t put them of business as a result!” he added.

Full piece.

9. Epic Flash sighting

We spotted both Steve Stricker and Kevin Na hitting Callaway Epic Flash woods on the range of the Ritz Carlton Golf Resort ahead of the QBE Shootout in Naples, Florida, today.

The Epic Flash and Epic Flash Sub Zero showed up on the USGA’s conforming list just this Monday. As with all photos from that registry, however, the images were both in black and white and only of the sole of the club. Fortunately, with apparent Tour seeding and testing under way, we can catch a glimpse of the color scheme, face, and crown designs.

Full piece.

News

Testing Lorem Ipsum

Published

7 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Pro Shop

What is Lorem Ipsum?

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Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).

News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

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.