• “Tiger Woods wasn’t in Washington for National Golf Day, but there was plenty of talk about the impact his fifth Masters victory has on the industry. According to the latest Golf Industry Report released by the National Golf Foundation, 74 million people watched or read about golf without playing in 2018, an increase of about 12 percent year over year. Part of the growth is “attributable to Woods,” the NGF says.”

• “When you go beyond the hard-core golf enthusiast and you’re trying to capture the casual masses, it is Tiger. It is only Tiger,” says Patrick Rishe, director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis, when asked about the impact of Woods’ latest win at Augusta National.”

• “It’s no secret that golf faces tough challenges – as demonstrated in the continued trend of course closures in the U.S. (198.5 18-hole equivalent courses closed last year while 12.5 of the same type of courses opened) and the competition the sport faces in trying to attract busy adults and teens who don’t have free time or the resources to play.”

• “But a Tiger resurgence changes the conversation around the state of the game, sports economists say.”

• “The association confirmed Wednesday that 63 of its employees, roughly 15 percent of its workforce, were offered “voluntary retirement incentive” plans. According to a USGA spokesperson, the plan was offered to employees who were part of the association’s benefit plan which closed to new participants in 2008 and who were 55 or older.”

• “As the USGA continues to evolve its organizational structure in an effort to drive greater impact and sustain a strong financial future, we have offered a voluntary retirement incentive plan to a segment of our staff,” the USGA said in a statement provided to GolfChannel.com. “It provides eligible employees with enhanced pension and retiree health benefits, with no obligation to participate.”

• The Dubai Moonlight Classic on the Ladies European Tour is being held on a Nick Faldo-designed Emirates Golf Club course featuring floodlights.

• Each of the 56 players play at least nine holes of one of their opening two rounds in the 54-hole tournament under the new eco-friendly LED lights.

• “Maguire sank a 25-foot birdie on the 18th under the lights to lead by two.”

• “It seems like night golf suits me. I can’t really complain,” said world number 237 Maguire, who made nine birdies and one bogey.

• AP Report…”Alex Beach seized control with three straight birdies on the front nine and closed with a 3-under 69 to hold off Danny Balin and win the PGA Professional Championship on Wednesday.

• “They were among 20 club pros who earned spots in the PGA Championship in two weeks at Bethpage Black.”

• “Beach, an assistant pro at Westchester Country Club in New York, had a one-shot lead when he hit his approach from the left rough over the trees to a back pin, stopping it 7 feet away for birdie on the 15th hole. He closed with three solid pars at Belfair Country Club to finish at 10-under 277.”

• Andy Levinson, executive director of the PGA Tour’s Anti-Doping Program, told Golf Digest’s Brittany Romano that his department has seen an increase of inquiries regarding its legality on the PGA Tour.

• “CBD in its pure form is not prohibited,” Levinson told Golf Digest. “But the use of CBD in any of its currently available forms would be at a player’s own risk.” According to the advocacy group Marijuana Moment, the PGA Tour issued a warning to its players in early April that “CBD products (like all supplements) pose a risk to athletes because they have limited government regulation and may contain THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis that is prohibited.”

• “Nevertheless, a number of players, including Scott Piercy and Champions member Scott McCarron, have endorsed or invested in CBD-related companies. On Wednesday, Bubba Watson became the highest-profile player to officially sign with a CBD company, announcing an endorsement with cbdMD.”

• “The changes to McIlroy’s address have allowed him to “neutralize” his ball flight, i.e. curve it less. By getting more hinge in his hips, McIlroy was able to steepen his shoulder turn. That kept the club from getting too far behind him on the backswing.”

• “I was relying a lot on timing,” he said. “I was relying a lot on upper-body rotation, sort of out of sync a little bit. … I was coming up out of my posture and falling back on my heels.”

• “During some of his most successful seasons, McIlroy said his head dropped slightly during the backswing and rose at impact. The opposite had been happening recently.”

• “I was explaining the other day that I was blowing into balloons,” Day said Wednesday after playing in the Wells Fargo’s pro-am. “Which is crazy, because I haven’t really trained at all this year because I’ve been so sore.”

• Day, 31, who seems kind of embarrassed about the balloon therapy, explains that doing so helps get his rib cage, hips and shoulders aligned, thus alleviating pressure on his back. It’s a process that takes 20-to-30 minutes, twice a day.

• “Blowing into balloons, that’s as far as I go,” he said of the therapy. “Long story short, I try to keep my rib cage down. My rib cage gets up and then it blocks my mid back and then I can’t really turn. So I get it from somewhere else and that’s why my back flares up.

• “At 8:30 Wednesday morning, the temperature at Bethpage State Park was 51 degrees and golfers were playing on the Green and Red Courses under cloudy skies. A chilly breeze fluttered the flags and water droplets clung to the blades of grass beside the fairways.”

• “Surprisingly, the Black Course had been open to the public for two weeks before shutting down last Sunday.”

• “According to Scott Reid, the PGA of America’s 2019 PGA Championship director, if the Black Course needed extra work or conditions were not ideal, course superintendent Andy Wilson and other tournament officials could have kept it closed to the public until after the tournament, but a mild winter allowed them to keep things on schedule.”

Full piece.