For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the John Deere Classic gets underway.

1. Wie West officially retiring at  Pebble

Golf Channel’s Mercer Baggs…”This is it. The last one, according to the 33-year-old. “I’m going to put my clubs in the darkest corner of my garage,” she said.”

• “She’s been eyeing this event for some time now. Pine Needles, site of last year’s championship, would have been the perfect place to go out, so near to Pinehurst where she won her lone major.”

• “But a Pebble Beach Open is the ultimate. And, for Wie West, this will be her ultimate event…”

• “I really, really wanted to play longer. I really wanted to – especially after having Makenna and her being a girl, I really wanted to play longer,” Wie West said. “In an ideal world I wish I was still out on Tour and playing.

• “Unfortunately, it’s just I had to make a hard decision with my body. It is hard. It is hard to be a mom out here. You have to make a lot of sacrifices. I just had to make a hard, medical body decision and also a personal decision.”

2. Sergio misses out on Open qualifying

An ESPN report…”Sergio Garcia’s quest to play in his 25th straight Open Championship ended Tuesday when he failed to qualify for the season’s fourth major.”

• “Playing in a qualifier at West Lancashire Golf Club, Garcia shot a 5-under 67 in the morning round of the 36-hole competition. But after taking the lead at 8 under following three birdies in the first six holes of the second round, Garcia couldn’t keep up the pace.”

• “Garcia, 43, hit his drive into the rough on the par-4 seventh hole and he wound up with a bogey on his way to a 71 and a cumulative 6-under par.”

• “He finished tied for sixth after 36 holes, with only the top five finishers qualifying for The Open, which begins July 20 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside, England.”

3. Cam Smith likes lighter schedule, says “team golf is here to say”

Cameron Jourdan for Golfweek…”Last year, LIV had eight events and moved to 14 this year. In addition to the reported signing-bonus money and boosted purses, a lighter schedule is why numerous pros said they left the Tour for LIV.”

• “Smith agrees. He’s a fan of a lighter schedule.”

• “Exactly like it is this year would be perfect for me, 14 and four majors, I’d take that for the rest of my career,” Smith said.

• “Then Smith was asked about comments Nick Faldo made last week about whether LIV would survive in the future and remain part of the golf ecosystem. Safe to say he’s confident in the future of the league.”

• “I really can’t see LIV Golf going away. I think team golf is here to stay, and if you asked every one of us out here, all the 48 guys, I think everyone has such a good time and everyone enjoys what they’re doing out here, they love the competition. That team element really brings three or four guys really close that perhaps weren’t before.

4. Block on McIlroy comments

Ben Fleming for Golf Monthly…”However, speaking exclusively to Golf Monthly at Dundonald Links this week ahead of Open Final Qualifying, Block was keen to clarify what he actually meant.”

• “It was totally misconstrued, misconceived, the whole thing. I really feel like if you’re a real golfer, you kind of understood what I had meant,” he said.

• “That was an incomprehensible thing where yeah, if I gained 60 yards, if I had a gap wedge into every green rather than a four iron into every green, would I be better? I’d be a whole hell of a lot better.

• “Would I be better than Roy McIlroy? Absolutely not. Rory is an absolute stud and at no point, in any shape or form, was I ever trying to say anything about Rory or the tour professionals.

• “I was just one hundred per cent saying, if I had an extra 60 yards off of every tee, every day of my life, would I be on tour? Probably. Guaranteed? Absolutely not.

• “I know I can’t say I don’t care what people say or think – of course I do – but, at the same time, I understand what I meant, and I know for a fact, I didn’t mean to hurt anybody or say anything that would.

• “It was taken completely out of context but is also my fault, I guess. I said it the wrong way. I did a couple of thousand interviews [after the tournament] but I guess I did say one thing wrong but it’s okay.”

5. Butch: Rickie’s win means the most

Our Matt Vincenzi…”Legendary swing coach Butch Harmon has coached Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson during the peaks of their careers, but none of their wins have meant more to him than Rickie Fowler’s win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week.”

• “While appearing on PGA Tour Radio’s “Gravy and the Sleeze,” hosted by Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz, on Monday, Harmon reflected on the moment.”

• “It was spectacular. I think my anxiety was probably the same level as his was when he was playing, just because I wanted it for him so bad,” Harmon said. “To come from 185th in the world all the way to 23rd in eight months is an incredible journey that he’s taken.”

• “And guys I’ll be honest with ya,” Harmon continued. “I think this one meant more to me personally than a lot of the majors that I’ve won with different guys, just ’cause I know how far down Rickie was, and to watch him come back, it was a joy to watch.”

6. Migliaccio reporter-player at USWO

Golf Channel’s Mercer Baggs…”Migliaccio is not only competing this week, she’s working as an on-course reporter.”

• “Tuesday, Lexi Thompson was part of her practice foursome. Thursday, she’ll be part of Migliaccio’s featured group coverage on Peacock.”

• “Migliaccio will be on the course for Thompson, Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko for their 8:50 a.m. PT start on the 10th hole.”

• “She won’t be able to wrap up the group, however, as she tees off alongside Alice Hewson and Kana Mikashima at 1:18 p.m. off the first.”

• “They’ll let me leave when I feel comfortable doing so and I’ll have a cart, so hopefully won’t have to walk too much. But it should be great,” she said. “I’m really excited to get to see, you know, three of the best players in the world play golf and just seeing how it’s playing for them, then getting to go out in the afternoon and getting to try to replicate that.”

7. Tim Tucker back on Bryson’s bag for the week

Cameron Jourdan for Golfweek…”Two years ago this week, Tim Tucker quit working for his boss, Bryson DeChambeau, the night before the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic, a tournament where DeChambeau was the defending champion.”

• However, the tandem is back together this week.

• Tucker is back on the bag for DeChambeau at this week’s LIV Golf event in London at Centurion Club, DeChambeau’s agent, Brett Falkoff, confirmed to Golfweek. Tucker caddied for DeChambeau in all eight of his PGA Tour victories and was on the bag for Kurt Kitayama’s first Tour win this spring at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

• DeChambeau’s caddie, Greg Bodine, is attending to a personal matter this week, which is why Tucker and DeChambeau are back together. No Laying Up first reported the pair joining up in London.

8. Zach hints at Ryder Cup inclusion for LIV pros

John Turnbull for Bunkered…”US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson has hinted that he will select LIV golfers for his team this September.”

• “Before the PGA Championship, the 47-year-old admitted that the prospect of those players featuring in Rome was “not even a discussion item.””

• “But Johnson has now acknowledged that LIV golfers are eligible to make his team of 12 for the biennial battle with Europe.”

• “He said: “These guys that left the PGA TOUR that had status and left to play on that other tour, the LIV Tour, they’re still members of the PGA of America, so they are still able to garner points.”

• “They’re able to play in the PGA Championship as a result, because that’s what the PGA of America runs.”

• “(They) obviously, technically, can still be a part of Team USA.”

9. John Deere Classic photos

• Check out all of our photos from this week’s event!