Connect with us

19th Hole

The Match Pt. 3 – The perfect candidates to pair up with Tiger and Phil

Published

on

@championstour

After Sunday’s hugely successful The Match: Champions for Charity, golf fans are already demanding for the third instalment to complete the Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson trilogy.

Whether it’s athletes from other sports, current LPGA stars or celebrities, there’s been plenty of names touted to pair up with Tiger and Phil, and here’s a rundown of some of the biggest contenders to tee it up for The Match Pt. 3.

Sporting Greats

Michael Jordan

A sporting superstar, an avid golfer and a high roller gambler – the world would tune in for MJ. If The Match 3 wants to go in the same direction as the second instalment then landing MJ would be a massive coup, and during an interview with Dan Patrick this week, Phil said he wants him involved.

  • Handicap: 1.9

Steph Curry

One of the biggest NBA players in the game, serial golfer and a man who has done some incredible things for the game of golf to help the sport grow. Curry has already teed it up on the formerly known Web.com Tour, and he has the game to hold his own in this contest.

  • Handicap: 0.1

Tony Romo

The former Cowboys QB loves his golf and provided plenty of highlights when he teed it up last year at the PGA Tour’s Safeway Open. Romo has a natural flair for the mic, and he’s already shown he’s not afraid to mix it with the pros.

  • Handicap: +0.3

LPGA Stars

Lexi Thompson

I’d love to see more mixed events, and if The Match 3 is to involve LPGA players, then Lexi Thompson has to be involved. Arguably the most recognizable face on the LPGA Tour, Thompson would be a great addition with her power game, blessed with the ability to hit both bombs and hellacious seeds – the perfect fit for the event.

Danielle Kang

The World Number 5 in the world, and Danielle Kang’s star is on the rise. Not only can she play, but she’s not afraid to talk the talk too. She may not have “made the Europeans cry” as she hoped at the 2019 Solheim Cup, but that likely wouldn’t hold her back from trash-talking either Tiger or Phil.

Nelly Korda

The 21-year-old may not have a major to her name just yet, but her number 2 ranking shows she’s close to breaking through. America’s highest-ranked player and one of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour.

Celebrities

Larry David

As comics go, Larry David is difficult not to love. He may not be the best golfer in the world, but the humor he would bring to the event would more than compensate for any suspect shots.

  • Handicap: 15

Bill Murray 

A golf icon in his own right, Bill Murray is seen annually entertaining the crowds at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and his golf game is very solid too. He’d be a popular choice, and there’s no chance the occasion would get the better of him.

  • Handicap: 7.2

Ray Romano

Just like Murray, Ray Romano loves his golf and is seen annually at Pebble Beach during the Tour’s Pro-Am. His game may not hold up as well as Murray, but his entertainment value would more than make up for that.

  • Handicap: 17

WRXers, who do you want to see tee it up with Tiger and Phil for ‘The Match Pt. 3’? 

Let us know what you think!

 

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at gianni@golfwrx.com.

19th Hole

‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

Published

on

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.”

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.

Continue Reading

19th Hole

How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

Published

on

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.

Check out Young’s winning WITB here.

Continue Reading

19th Hole

Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending