• “To help understand the U.S. Women’s Open purse of $5.5 million, the USGA broke it down even further for Golfweek. The USWO purse is the highest among the LPGA’s five majors but is still $7 million behind the men. While there’s a national conversation around equal pay for women, some in golf have also questioned the wide gap.”

• “According to the USGA, it costs $19 million to conduct the U.S. Women’s Open (including qualifiers), which most consider to be the crown jewel of women’s golf. The USGA sees about $9 million comes back by way of ticket sales, corporate hospitality and partner support.”

• “The bottom line: The USGA loses about $10.4 million on the Women’s Open.”

Full piece.

• “…Matthews made headlines at last year’s Argentina Open when he hugged a fan with Down Syndrome who inadvertently yelled in his stroke during a playoff. A startled Matthews missed the 8-foot putt that he needed to make to extend the playoff.”

• “At first, Matthews was frustrated by the distraction. Then he learned that the man had Down Syndrome. Matthews sought him out to give him a signed glove and a big hug.”

• …”The people at the Arnold Palmer Invitational noticed, and rewarded Matthews with a sponsor exemption. The event’s Twitter feed said Matthews responded “just as Mr. Palmer would have – with kindness, humility and grace.”

• “Whenever i (sic) post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologize if any of my recents (sic) story posts have been offensive,” he wrote. “I will do better!”

• “Per Golf Digest, Piercy “shared a homophobic meme … directed at former South Bend mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Pete Buttigieg. … [He] also posted a message about QAnon, which is a far-right conspiracy theory involving a secret plot by a ‘deep state’ against the government, one that accuses its critics of child sex trafficking.”

• “Harold Varner III is at Bay Hill preparing for this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. He remembers not feeling so alone when Tiger Woods reached out to show him some empathy after Varner struggled through the final round of the Genesis Invitational with an early chance to win.”

• “Well, it wasn’t really empathy, but it was the best attempt the greatest closer in the history of the game could muster.”

• “Now, it’s a reasonably funny self-deprecating joke. Tiger smirked, but then he said, ‘How many woods do you carry now?’ So, I make a joke about myself and Tiger has to immediately annihilate me with a joke about me and my game. Tiger’s needle is long, sharp and he uses it a lot. He just needled a Champions Tour player on Tuesday at Bay Hill. I’m so far down the threat level to Tiger’s game. I’m non-existent in his world.”

• “I thought, ‘Holy crap, this guy is back. He’s a killer. That’s a killer attitude. He doesn’t care who you are.’ If you’re one of the 144-man field he is going to stomp you if he has to. I walked away and went over to my caddie and said, ‘Oh, Jesus, these guys have no idea what’s coming. They’re not ready for this.’ These guys that say, they’d love to compete against Tiger? They have no idea. Tiger is back to being a killer. When I told him that joke, that’s when I knew.”

• “If you got in a boat on the beach at Seminole and sailed south about 20 nautical miles-past Lost Tree Village, the gated community where Jack Nicklaus lives, past Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s private club-you would eventually see another true oceanfront course, designed by Raymundo himself, which he did at no charge. It’s a muni! It’s owned and operated by the town of Palm Beach.”

• “There’s no other course quite like it. It comprises 18 par-3 holes, representing all the popular wind directions, on 39 acres smack-dab between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. It would be impossible to put a price tag on the property-a half billion? Probably far more, but the town’s not selling, not now, not ever. That would be like Honolulu selling Waikiki Beach.”

• “About 12 years ago, Floyd inherited a 1961 18-hole Dick Wilson course that had become a financial drain on the town. “I took a course that was losing money, changed the routing and everything about it, and now it makes so much money it carries everything the town’s rec department does,” Floyd said in a telephone interview while the fourth round of the Honda Classic was underway. Floyd lives a couple miles south, at a golf development called Old Palm, where there’s a course he designed.”

Full piece.