News

Morning 9: Masters ratings | More talk of TW’s win | Woods hailed by peers | Golden Bell speaks

Published

7 years ago

Apr 16, 2019

Ben Alberstadt

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

April 16, 2019

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans.

1. Masters ratings

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch reports…”Sunday’s final round of the Masters, which was moved up several hours to avoid inclement weather, earned an 7.7 overnight rating on CBS – down 11% from last year (8.7), but up a tick from 2017 (7.6). CBS began coverage at 9 AM ET, compared to a 2 PM start in previous years.”

“The 7.7 is the highest on record for a morning golf telecast (dating back to 1986).”

“Woods’ dramatic victory – his first t the Masters since 2005, his first at any major since 2008, and only his second at any tournament since 2013 – peaked at a 12.1 from 2:15-2:30 PM ET. That is the highest peak rating for the event since 2013 (13.4 from 7-7:30 PM).”

Full piece.

2. “Unequivocally, and utterly done”

Among the golf writers eating crow (myself included) for on-the-record suggestions that TW was finished, Shane Ryan may be at the forefront in attracting venom in the wake of Tiger Woods’ Masters win.

He writes…”What people did read was another story I dashed off in about an hour one afternoon in the media center. It was called “Tiger Woods is totally, completely, unequivocally, and utterly done,” and it was designed to provoke. In my memory, I was frustrated about the attention he still captured at a time when his career was stalled out, and I’m sure there was a good deal of bias on my part since I had just written a book about the game’s young stars. That said, reading the story again, it’s written with such obvious hyperbole that I couldn’t have been too mad-mostly, it seems like a lark, something funny and quick and a little outrageous. If it wasn’t spiritually nourishing, I’m sure it was fun to write; quick and easy and sweet, like a box of candy devoured in seconds that only makes you nauseous later.”

“Now, that said … I was wrong about Tiger Woods. Wrong then, wrong now, wrong forevermore. Gigantically, calamitously wrong. Tiger Woods owns me, I’ve been humbled, and my humiliation will be plastered on the Internet until that blessed day when I steal the Internet keys from my editor and delete it from the face of the earth. Laugh at me, point at me, and have your fun-I will sit here and take it, and I will be mostly okay with that.”

Full piece.

3. Green jacket…and the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Our Gianni Magliocco…”On Monday, following Tiger Woods’ victory at the 2019 Masters, President Donald Trump announced that the 15-time major champion would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

“Along with the Congressional Gold Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, and Woods will become the fourth golfer in history to receive the medal.”

“President George W. Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to both Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, while President Barack Obama bestowed the award upon Charlie Sifford in 2014.”

“President John. F. Kennedy established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, and it is an award which on average is handed out just 11 times per year.”

Full piece.

4. Bigger than ’97?

Christine Brennan is among the first columnists to discuss the relative significance of Woods 2019 vs 2017 Masters victories.

“It’s one thing for a 21-year-old prodigy to burst onto the scene with a 12-stroke victory at a course that was made for him. As spectacular as that was, that’s usually the way sports work.”

“It’s another thing entirely for a 43-year-old who has endured personal scandal and four surgeries on his back, including spinal fusion two years ago, to end a nearly 11-year major championship drought by taking on and beating all challengers on the course he first conquered 22 years ago.”

Read her full argument.

5. Hailed by his peers

Brilliant stuff from Alan Shipnuck, who spoke to Woods peers in the Augusta clubhouse as they watched and waited to see if he’d capture major No. 15.

“In the 11 years since his previous major championship victory, on a broken leg at Torrey Pines, Woods had been to hell and back: tabloid infamy, divorce, swing changes, chip-yips, Hail Mary back surgeries, a DUI, rehab, leaked nude photos. By December 2017 he had cratered at 1,199th in the World Ranking. The long road back began with casual games around South Florida with fellow pros Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas. On Sunday afternoon Fowler leaned against the shoe-shine counter and recounted those days: “His back was against the wall, potentially not being able to compete again. It was cool to see him fall in love with the game again. He’s Tiger again but he’s a different Tiger.”

“He’s freed-up so much. His guard is down, he’s a lot more open, friendly. Before, in his prime, it was very much tunnel-vision. He went out and did his job and took care of business. He’s a lot more engaging now. Freer.”

Full piece.

6. Better Tiger from tee and fairway

Matthew Rudy rounds up opinions on Woods‘ (perhaps surprisingly) improved technique since his spinal fusion surgery.

“Woods was noticeably looser through both his pre-shot routine and swing-a result of both some mechanical adjustments and the hours-long pre-round routine he goes through to increase flexibility in his fused back.”

“What jumps out at you is how much more upright his swing is now,” says Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher Bernie Najar, who is based at Caves Valley Golf Club outside Baltimore. “And he’s back to where you can watch his practice swing and see the kind of shot he’s going to play. It’s loose, continuous and free-flowing, not mechanical or positional. It reminds me of what he looked like when he played his best golf.”

“When his swing plane was flatter and his backswing shorter, Woods had more trouble squaring the club face with the driver-and he had to dramatically torque his body down by the ball to try to get the club in better position. His misses tended to be huge-so much so that he often shied away from hitting driver.”

Full piece.

7. Bigger impact?

Digest’s E. Michael Johnson talked to industry folk about the potential economic impact of Tiger Woods’ Masters win…

“It’s a Hollywood script written by Madison Avenue, and everybody loves a comeback story, said marketing and media expert Joe Favorito, an instructor in strategic communications at Columbia University’s sports management program.”

“There are very few athletes who’ve been knocked down the way Tiger Woods has, and he still keeps coming back,” he said. “I’m pretty sure Michael B. Jordan is already signing up for the movie.”

“Favorito was joking, of course. For the moment. Still, cast against the backdrop of the 22 years that followed his world-altering first green jacket, Woods’ win Sunday has the potential for an even broader impact.”

“You think of all the things Tiger helped germinate that can now really take hold,” he said, referencing the establishment of The First Tee, the momentous rise in golf participation, the huge boost in golf television contracts and PGA Tour purses that all grew from Woods’ debut as a professional golfer. Favorito sees it happening again with Sunday’s performance. “If you wanted a perfect comeback story, you got one that’s now playing on every device possible. You have everybody walking around getting those three-minute highlights from IBM of everything that Tiger did today. I think that’s going to be great for everybody involved with the game inside and out and especially for Tiger, too.”

Full piece.

8. Tiger & time

What introduction can I make for Joe Posnanski’s speaking-as-Golden-Bell account of what transpired at Augusta National, Sunday? And how can I select a fitting excerpt?

Here’s a portion…“Then Tiger Woods stepped to the tee.”

“I looked at him closely. Was this really Tiger Woods, the bold and impertinent kid who believed that nothing was beyond his powers? I could not tell. I began to say my silent prayer for him … but then I stopped because I noticed something. He was not that Tiger Woods. He moved more gingerly. His face was wider. His weather-worn face suggested that he had seen things.”

“And as he began his swing, I caught something in Woods’ glance, something unusual, something I had not seen in, well, in a long time…Deference….He aimed his shot away from the flag.”

“He hit it to that space between my front and back bunker. The ball landed and settled 40 feet from the hole, but dry and safe. It was the shot that young golfers feel too proud and too strong to hit. It was Jack Nicklaus’ shot. And now, it was Tiger Woods’ shot.”

Full piece.

9. Club comparison

Mike O’Malley at Golf Digest put together the handy chart below comparing the clubs Tiger Woods hit into Augusta National’s greens in 1997 vs. 2019. Plenty to consider here: some longer holes, different technology, more/less clubhead speed…interesting conclusions abound, however, but none may be more interesting than this: how long Woods was with a shorter ball and inferior technology

News

Testing Lorem Ipsum

Published

1 hour ago

May 13, 2026

Pro Shop

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day 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.