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GolfWRX Morning 9: Scrap the tee system? | JT still mad about U.S. Kids loss | A Ketel for the King

Published

8 years ago

Aug 23, 2018

Ben Alberstadt

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

August 23, 2018

Good Thursday morning, golf fans.

1. Officially official: Woods-Mickelson set

Our Gianni Magliocco with the details…”Thanksgiving weekend is the date set for Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson, an event being called “The Match.” Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, Nevada, will host the $9 million winner-take-all match. And for those not lucky enough to be able to attend the showdown, the match will be shown live on pay-per-view via DirectTV, B/R Live and other on-demand platforms.”

“The decision to broadcast the event on PPV has unsurprisingly not gone down too well with some golf fans. Many have taken to social media platforms to vent their disapproval.”

“Phil also confirmed via ESPN that the duo and their caddies will be mic’d up.”

“While the event is winner-take-all, reports also say that Phil and Tiger will be able to make side bets throughout the match, with the winnings going to charity.”

“Las Vegas Superbook has released early odds on the showdown, making Woods a -180 favorite over Mickelson (+150).”

2. Should we just scrap the tee system?

A good discussion over at National Club Golfer about the merits of stipulating who plays which tees.

Alex Perry: I’ve been quite outspoken on this matter. I’m sure it will disappear as we move onto the next generation of golfers, but this stigma surrounding which tees you play off is pathetic. Tees should be based on your handicap, not your gender.

Jordan Elliott: I play off 4, and if I play a championship course I want to play it off the tips. I want to enjoy the course from the same tees that the pros do.

Alex Perry: I play off 14 and if I play a championship course I want to play it off tees that aren’t going to make me feel like I’ve been beaten up by the 3rd hole.

This is but the tip of the iceberg in a solid back and forth. Check it out.

3. Writeth the Nantz

Back again with his newly minted “View from Pebble Beach” column for Golf Digest, Jim Nantz writes

“If there’s one thing I see as an absolute lock, it’s that the success of the revamped 2019 PGA Tour schedule-the dates of the FedEx Cup playoffs and season-ending Tour Championship especially-is going to be, for myriad reasons, a gimme.”

“The Tour Championship traditionally ended the third Sunday in September, which in a television context put it dead up against the NFL national doubleheader games aired on CBS or Fox. There’s no denying the NFL is America’s favorite television sport. For example, the 2018 Super Bowl produced a Nielsen household rating of 43.1, and the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier that same Sunday drew what is considered a respectable 2.5. Even high-profile golf events don’t produce numbers that come close to the mighty NFL. The memorable Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in 2016 produced a 2.7, and in 2014, when it was broadcast from Scotland and aired early in the day here in the United States, a 1.6.”

“And what happens when golf regularly goes head-to-head with the NFL? Over the past 10 years, the late NFL game on Tour Championship Sunday has dominated the golf by a whopping 13.4 to 1.7.”

Nantz’s full piece.

4. The Challenge Tour made me what I am

If you think too much is made of the path Brooks Koepka took to the PGA Tour, it doesn’t sound like he thinks so.

Ahead of the Northern Trust, Koepka said…”I wouldn’t be where I am at today…To maybe spend a year on the [Web.com Tour], I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I definitely learned a lot about myself traveling Europe and you’re on your own for months at a time.”

5. Ryder Cup Radicals return

Luke and Shane are firing off emails again…

Shane asks…”Am I a bad American if I root for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup?”

“(Obama voice): LET ME BE CLEAR … I have not decided if I will actually root for Europe. But I am definitely thinking of rooting for Europe, and I want to know exactly how disloyal this would be before I proceed.”

“Here’s the thing-it’s a very loosely guarded secret in golf media that on average European golfers are more entertaining, thoughtful and generally easier to deal with. That’s not a universal truth, but generally speaking I’d rather have a beer and a chat with a European pro any time. There’s also the fact that they’re pretty big underdogs this year-at least we think so-and it’s always better to pull for the underdog than the juggernaut.”

“What do you think? Is it OK since it’s “only” a golf tournament? Or am I a wretched traitor for even thinking of such a betrayal?

LUKE…”Ultimately, Shane, you’re American, and as I was reminded at the World Cup earlier this summer: There’s nothing worse than American’s pretending not to be American. Going around calling it futbol and half-heartedly cheering for Croatia because you quite like that player … what’s his name … oh yeah, Luka MAW-DRIK. Ugh. No. Don’t be that guy, Shane.”

Check out their full exchange.

6. No black socks for you!

A gentleman by the name of David Cole was told he had to change his socks to play semi-private Letchworth Golf Club.

He tweeted” “Got refused @GolfLetchworth as my socks were not white!.(they were black spots socks) I was wearing shorts and a polo shirt but still got refused! They would rather so no to £60 between me and my brother for a sock colour which you can hardly see!”

The management responded, saying that he would surely have been offered the opportunity to change into the necessary white socks, to which Cole replied he wasn’t inclined to buy a pair of whites from their pro shop and went home.

7. Air quality issues

Golfweek’s Kevin Casey…”All should be better by the time the tournament starts, but the site of PGA Tour Champions’ Boeing Classic is currently dealing with air quality issues.”

“Per Golf Digest, TPC Snoqualmie Ridge (this week’s Boeing Classic site) is currently experiencing “unhealthy” air conditions.”

“This is according to Washington’s Air Monitoring Network and is the result of fires east of the Cascade mountains that have affected air to the west.”

8. Festering Thomas

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Asked on Tuesday at The Northern Trust if he’d been able to move past last year’s finish at the Tour Championship, where he finished second to Xander Schauffele but still won the FedExCup, his answer was telling.”

“I’m still pretty mad that I didn’t win that tournament. [No.] 18 is one of the easier holes on the course. It’s a driver, 5-iron for me and I had a 30-footer for birdie,” he said. “I should have birdied that to have a chance at a playoff. So it still bothers me.”

He’s also still burning about, well...”Totally choked the U.S. Kids [Championship] when I was 8 years old. I shot 32, 30, I shot 37 in the second round,” Thomas explained. “I’m dead serious. I lost in a playoff. I got up-and-down on the first playoff hole then I lost on the second playoff hole, made bogey. My dad was caddying for me. I choked it. I was so mad.”

9. Special Ketel One for the King’s birthday

Golf Digest’s Stephen Hennessey (appropriately chosen to write about booze)…”Lesser known than Arnie’s affinity for mixing iced tea and lemonade might be his tendency to relax with a vodka on the rocks (with a lemon, or a twist, for the initiated). To honor Palmer with his birthday coming up (he would’ve turned 89 on Sept. 10), Ketel One has released a limited-edition Arnold Palmer Collector’s Edition bottle ($25 for a 750 ML bottle, $32 for a one-liter bottle).”

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Testing Lorem Ipsum

Published

12 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Pro Shop

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Why do we use it?

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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.