19th Hole
Tour pro denies ‘sexist-elitist’ accusations after refusing to play combined mens and women’s Australian Open

Australian pro golfer Scott Hend has never been afraid of making his feeling know.
The 49-year-old winner of ten Asian Tour events is a firm believer in the freedom to play wherever a player wants, saying in July that if the LIV tour held qualifying stages, he would unquestionably sign up.
Throwing it out there….. If @LIVGolfInv was to have a Q-school and charged $5k entry fee with the Top 2 guys getting the whole season playing their events….. How many Guys would enter….??$$$$$$$ #golflife #JustSayn #Maaaaaaybe
— Scott Hend (@hendygolf) July 3, 2022
Yes Sir????
— Scott Hend (@hendygolf) July 3, 2022
Now he has been picked up for comments made surrounding the upcoming Australian Open, and the changes allowing both the men’s and women’s championship to be played on the same course, at the same time.
Hend has returned home to play this week’s Queensland PGA and the following Australian PGA, but has decided against entering the country’s flagship event as he believes the combined event lessens the prestige.
In a tweet posted at the end of October, Hend mentions he has been called a “sexist elitist by some people,” but explains that he simply wants both events to have their “own week.”
Mate I'd love to come Play the Australian Open @GolfAust, yet I've been hammered as a sexist elitist by some people for my stance that the Women and Men should have their "Own Week" and not 2 cuts for this prestigious event. That being my stance, I can't come. #golflife #Brutal https://t.co/gF5k6aTX3k
— Scott Hend (@hendygolf) October 31, 2022
The 2016 Asian Order of Merit winner expanded on his post via Fox Sports:
“My exact words were I believe the Australian Open is such a prestigious event. The women and the men deserve their own week for the event.
It’s nothing about being against women playing golf, it’s nothing about prize-money being exactly the same… it’s just about the event having the history of how long the event (has been going for, that) both men and women should have their own week to shine.”
Hend continued, “That’s all I’ve said, and that’s what I firmly believe in. So that being the case, I haven’t entered to play, I’m not going to try to pre-qualify… because I still believe that both men and women should have their own week to stand out and shine by themselves, not together, when people are going to compare them against each other in the one tournament.”
“That’s not what the Australian Open is all about.”
The women’s event has been won by the likes of the elite players of their time, such as Karrie Webb, Laura Davies, Jiyai Shin, Lydia Ko, Jin-Yung Ko, Nelly Korda and Inbee Park – quite a roll-call!
The men’s list is equally impressive, with winners Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Cam Davies appearing alongside the name of legends Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and current LIV CEO Greg Norman, winner on five occasions.
It is a huge deal for a home player to not be playing in the event, and whilst Hend has no issues with the mixing of genders in other events, he is sticking firm on this decision.
Asked is he received an invitation, Hend replied, “I didn’t ask, I haven’t entered, I don’t want to be a hypocrite…. I still believe both sexes deserve their own week. Not sure how that isn’t Pro Women’s Golf…..”
As the Australian Open takes place, Hend will play at the Indonesian Masters, part of the Asian Tour he knows so well.
With the recent links between the Asian Tour and their LIV sponsors, the irony of not trying to follow Norman into the Victoria winner’s circle is not lost – particularly after his comments on leaving the DP World Tour behind from 2023.
Continuing his stance of freedom, and the belief that he felt the DP World Tour was “petty and childish” when issuing sanctions against LIV players, he has decided enough is enough.
“I’m done with Europe, I’m done with the politics, I’m done with the lying to players, I’m done with having to ask for a release when I want to go play in other tournaments,” he said.
“For the last 25 years I’ve played where I want, when I want and I haven’t had to ask for permission to go to play another event.”
He continued, “Now… if you want to playing in another place, you need to get permission from that tour, otherwise they’re going to sanction you, so if that’s going to be the case, I don’t want to be involved in that anymore.”
“I play golf because I love playing golf. I don’t want to have to get permission every week to go play somewhere else.”
With LIV arriving in Adelaide as part of their revamped 2023 schedule, Hend is keeping one eye on any chance to jump in, hoping to qualify for the cash-rich tour via the Asian Tour.
“I’m 50 in August. People say I’m washed up, I’m done, I’ve got nothing left, but if I can produce what I know I can produce, I can possibly qualify through the Asian Tour”
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19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
19th Hole
How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
19th Hole
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.