News

GolfWRX Morning 9: More venom for USGA, Mickelson | The specter of 5-hour rounds

Published

8 years ago

Jun 19, 2018

Good morning, GolfWRX members. As most of you are signed up for our newsletters, you likely already know that I’ve been sending this little Morning 9 roundup of nine items of note to start your day.

In case you’ve missed it, or you prefer to read on site rather than in your email, we’re including it here. Check out today’s Morning 9 below. Feedback is always welcome–send everything from news tips to complaints (hopefully more tips than complaints)!

If you’re not signed up for our newsletters, you can subscribe here.

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

June 19 2018

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans.

1.”No obvious leadership”

Ganging up on the USGA–both when warranted and when not–is a sport in the world of golf. Thus, it’s not surprising to see the takesmiths continuing to reload and empty their clips.

That said, Brandel Chamblee’s remarks were particularly scathing and far reaching.

“Something’s amiss in a big, big way,” Chamblee said. “I think the USGA has lost a lot of the trust of the golf world.”

“They missed the rebound effect and the combination of the rebound effect [with] the ball. They missed it, on their watch. And now, the feeling is that they’re crying foul, even though it was on their watch. And so, essentially, the equipment companies got it done, by [the USGA’s] standards, legally.

“There’s penalties that they levy that make absolutely no sense, penalties that they don’t levy,” Chamblee said. “Disqualifying Phil Mickelson made perfect sense.”

“There seems to be no obvious leadership, you know, to me,” he said. “No obvious leadership heading in the right direction.”

(h/t to Joel Beall for the transcription)

2. Mickelson dragging continues

Plenty of ink continues to be spilled condemning Phil Mickelson and/or the USGA. Here’s a bit from Nick Rodger at Scotland’s The Herald.

“Mickelson’s well-documented antics during the third round of the US Open, where he deliberately hit a moving ball on the 13th green to prevent it trundling goodness knows where, brought widespread condemnation but no disqualification.”

“He should’ve been but the USGA officials effectively buried their heads in the technical mumbo jumbo of the rule book even though Mickelson brazenly admitted to the breach.”

“Rather like failing to punish marquee names for slow play, this was another example of lily-livered officialdom. Mickelson’s crass celebration at holing a putt on the same green on Sunday was another Harvey Smith salute to the spirit of the game.”

Lily-livered!…More

3. Say what you will, this U.S. Open was entertaining

Good for golf? Bad for golf? Bad for the USGA? Bad for Phil Mickelson? Bad for Dustin Johnson? Who cares, writes the AP’s Charles Curtis, the U.S. Open was entertaining.

He catalogues everything from Bryson DeChambeau’s “clown golf” comments, to Mickelson’s meltdown, to Dustin Johnson’s slow burn in this piece.

Read it

4. Back to work for Spieth and McIlroy

A friendly reminder that following disappointing weeks at Shinnecock, both Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are back to work this week at TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship.

Spieth, if you’ll recall, won the tournament in a playoff last year (remember Michael Greller throwing the rake in celebration?). He’ll look to get his putting back on track.

Rory McIlroy, for his part, is coming off a week where he simply did not look sharp in many facets of his game.

It’s not all that common for big names to be back in action the week after a major, so many will relish the opportunity to see if something is indeed rotten for the duo.

5. Bridgestone Golf’s new leader

Following the departure of Angel Ilagan late last month, Bridgestone Golf has appointed Dan Murphy as President and CEO.

Murphy was previously with the company from 2004 to 2015. He most recently served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Since 2015, Murphy was President of textile manufacturer Kentwool and Vice President of American Achievement Corporation.

Says Murphy. “We make the most technologically-advanced golf balls in the world and my role is to help ensure Bridgestone is recognized as the industry’s leading example of how science and data is used to make products that improve the performance of all golfers.”

6. How a recreational round of golf takes 5 hours

“1.56pm: The standard of play gets increasingly ragged as we edge towards four hours on the course. The sandwich seems a distant memory, everyone has run out of water and snacks and the round starts to drift.”

That’s a dispatch from the trenches in a funny-if-it-weren’t-so-true piece by Mark Towsend for National Club Golfer. Townsend examines the phenomenon of the agonizingly slow round in a gruesome breakdown of a recent Saturday morning round.

Read it.

7. (In)famous disqualifications.

Following Phil Mickelson’s avoidance of disqualification at the U.S. Open, Kevin Markham at the Irish Examiner put together a rundown of some of the great DQs in the game’s history.

“It’s not often that two golfers get disqualified at once but that’s what happened at the 2003 Open Championship, at Royal St George’s. Mark Roe and Jesper Parnevik played together in the third round and recorded every score correctly. They signed their cards at the end of the round and Roe’s 67 meant he was in third place entering the final day, set to play alongside Tiger Woods.”

“Only it wasn’t to be: the two men had not exchanged cards at the beginning of the round and therefore ended up signing the wrong cards. The Rules officials wouldn’t budge despite the outcry over such an error and the game’s archaic scoring traditions remained intact.”

More.

8. Well played, Suzy Whaley!

The incoming PGA of America president–and first woman to serve in that capacity–Suzy Whaley fired a 73 in qualifying at The Olympic Club to earn a spot in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

Said Whaley (per Golf Digest): “I’d like to see more women’s golf on network TV and the golf purses increase

“I want to see these women showcased for their talent and skills and the role models that they are around the world. … Young girls can see themselves as elite athletes or as women in positions of authority. Golf has the opportunity to provide that empowerment and that opportunity”.

9. Place your bets

With the second major of the year newly mothballed, odds for the third major of the year are being refined. Here are the latest Open Championship odds, via Bovada.

Dustin Johnson: 11/1

Rory McIlroy: 12/1

Jordan Spieth:12/1

Rickie Fowler:16/1

Justin Rose:16/1

Tommy Fleetwood:18/1

Brooks Koepka:18/1

Justin Thomas:20/1

Tiger Woods:20/1

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Ben Alberstadt

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

6 Comments

Chuck Barkley

Jun 19, 2018 at 9:21 pm

Pickleson is a frat boy, single minded, selfish, tax dodging, rule violating, gambling, unapologetic professional swindler!! Plain and simple. As stated, the spineless USGA’s proverbial heads were buried in Hefty’s Pickle juice and they basically
drowned themselves in the pool of “Love ya Phil” quicksand! Love how this single act of ignorance was recorded for all to
see for years to come and then some more. I had just about had it with his “Eddie Haskel” collar up, angelic smile, awe shucks s*it kickers grin on his goofy mug! He has soiled himself with this foolishness! I’m sure his respected Dad is
proud of the behavior. I tell ya, had this been Harold Varner III, Pat Perez, or the human volcano himself, Steve Pate, acted a fool as Pickle did, justice would have been served IMMEDIATELY!!

Reply Report comment
- Commoner
  
  Jun 22, 2018 at 7:31 pm
  
  Wow!!! Don’t disagree with anything. In fact, I envy your great expression.
  
  Reply Report comment
youraway

Jun 19, 2018 at 7:45 am

With all said, the USGA and it’s leadership has proven themselves to be no more than inept. That are not now and have not been protectors of the game for years. It would not surprise me if the R&A separated themselves from them, but follow the money. Brandel makes good points and there are more, square grooves, anchoring, two penalties on DJ during two Opens, they must not like him, and changing the Rules to satisfy media interest. The time is now for a complete house cleaning of the USGA, removing the overpaid, I hate to use the word leadership. The very lame reasoning for using 14-5 and not 1-2 is self interest, or fear, driven. Phil (now known as 1-2) opening stated he intentionally violated a Rule to gain an advantage, he said he planned it and could not believe he hadn’t intentionally undertaken this action previously. When a player, 1-2, opening states he violated the Sprint and Rules of the game therefore gaining an advantage, DQ is obvious, but not for the USGA. This is a sad time for the game and having any respect for it’s leadership. In addition, it was my hope that 1-2, even though he played in the final round, would have written “WD” on his card when turning it into Scoring, but he didn’t and all the players who finished behind him were cheated.

Reply Report comment
- sjn
  
  Jun 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm
  
  well said,couldn’t have put it better myself
  
  Reply Report comment
- JThunder
  
  Jun 19, 2018 at 5:51 pm
  
  Can you point to the specific Rule which advocates DQ for “violating the spirit of the game”, and how such violation is defined?
  
  Can you also point to where in the rules it states that a player is DQ’d for an intentional violation of any Rule? Do then, the Rules entirely apply only to unintentional violations?
  
  These things have been said an nauseum this weekend, but I have yet to see anyone directly quote the Rule(s).
  
  Reply Report comment
  - youraway
    
    Jun 19, 2018 at 8:17 pm
    
    *Penalty for Breach of Rule 1-2:
    Match play – Loss of hole; Stroke play – Two strokes.
    
    *In the case of a serious breach of Rule 1-2, the Committee may impose a penalty of disqualification.
    
    Note 1: A player is deemed to have committed a serious breach of Rule 1-2 if the Committee considers that the action taken in breach of this Rule has allowed him or another player to gain a significant advantage or has placed another player, other than his partner, at a significant disadvantage.
    
    Reply Report comment

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May 13, 2026

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

2 days 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.