News

Morning 9: MWW in TOC | Pat Perez owes Si Woo Kim $100K | Stenson’s Saudi dilemma

Published

4 years ago

Jan 19, 2022

Ben Alberstadt

By Ben Alberstadt

For comments—or if you’re looking for a fourth—email me at ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com.

January 19, 2022

1. MWW in the TOC

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…”Wie West, 32, hasn’t won on the LPGA since 2018. The TOC typically invites winners from the previous two seasons and last year, Wie West missed the event while still on maternity leave. Because the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, winners from the previous three seasons were invited to the event in 2021.”

“Before I committed,” said Wie West, “I texted Marina (Alex), ‘Hey, what’s up with this event? Do I really want to play in it? Something I should do?’ ”

“This year’s event will be staged at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club and boasts a field of 29 players, including last year’s champion Jessica Korda and her sister, World No. 1 Nelly Korda. LPGA players will compete for a purse of $1.5 million with the winner’s portion of $225,000. The 50 celebrities compete in a modified stableford format for $500,000.”

“…Wie West and husband Jonnie West, son of NBA legend Jerry West and an executive with the Golden State Warriors, recently moved from San Francisco to the Los Angeles area.”

Full piece.

2. Autograph policy changes

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”One of the ongoing issues faced by PGA Tour officials since the circuit restarted its schedule in the summer of 2020 was how to handle autographs, which were originally banned upon the resumption of play.”

“That policy has been adjusted for this season with the Tour creating designated areas for players to sign autographs “with a primary focus on young fans,” according to a memo sent to players late last year.”

“The new policy prohibits on-course autographs and individual tournaments are being encouraged to create dedicated autograph areas. It also prohibits “paraphernalia” from being brought onto tournament venues, which had been an issue before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Tour to reexamine its autograph policy.”

Full piece.

3. Report: Stenson told to choose between Saudi money and Ryder Cup captaincy

Our Jason Daniels…??”Stenson has a contract with Saudi International that means he will take part in the big-money Saudi International next month and is a likely catch for the global Super Golf League, a concept that has caused some consternation amongst the big names.”

“According to James Corrigan’s Telegraph report, Stenson’s hopes of captaining the European Ryder Cup team in 2023 rest on whether or not the Swede opts to accept a potential Saudi Super Golf League offer, which is believed to be $30 million.”

“Per the report, a close member of his entourage told the Telegraph:”

“It’s complicated not only by the huge amounts on offer. This [captaincy] could be his one and only chance with so many big Europe figures about to come into the picture for future matches.”

“But then, it’s far from guaranteed he will get it this time anyway, with Luke obviously having a strong shout and the case for Karlsson seemingly strengthening by the day.”

Full piece.

4. Kang’s goals

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”Kang begins what is her 11th season on the LPGA at this week’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions with a similar mindset. She’s focusing solely on the things that she can control and not getting too far ahead of herself. Instead of sitting down with her coach, Butch Harmon, during the offseason and jotting down a list of overarching, result-oriented goals for the year, she’s taking a more micro-view, specifically with her body and mind.”

“By the time Kang arrived at last year’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, she was physically spent, down weight and muscle mass, and had lost significant speed – and more than 20 yards of distance – with the driver. While her power has since returned, she knows it won’t stay that way without a week-to-week effort, dedicated and detailed, in the gym and practice, both at home and on the road.”

“I think we’re more focused on how I feel and where my body is to be able to do the swing he’s taught me, to be able to produce the speed that I can produce on the range,” Kang said. “I sometimes don’t … and I’m swinging probably 7 mph slower. Those are the things we’re trying to be consistent with. We can’t focus so much on the results – becoming blank, or I have to win blank – I mean, at the end of the day I just have to get consistent and feel comfortable every week that I play.

Full piece.

One for the Memory Banks is a hilarious, and poignant, memoir about Luke Reese’s fascination-turned-obsession with golf and about the friendships forged by a mutual love of the great game played on great courses. Part travelogue, part biography, part memoir, One for the Memory Banks captures the give and take of competition and conjures these memories and relationships in technicolor. Through vignettes, Luke Reese carries readers on a sweeping journey across the UK and Ireland, introducing them to a motley crew of people who share a passion, and reminding them what makes golf so great.

5. Charlie Sifford Exemption

Via the Golf Channel Digital team…”APGA member Aaron Beverly will play in next month’s Genesis Invitational after receiving the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption from tournament host Tiger Woods.”

“Beverly, who starred at Sacramento State, recently won the APGA Tour’s Fall Series finale at Wilshire. Earlier in the year, his first on the developmental circuit, he endured a bout with COVID-19 that saw him lose nearly 20 pounds.”

“Receiving the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption and having the opportunity to play in the Genesis Invitational is a true honor and the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Beverly, who also has experience on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and Mackenzie tours. “This is the moment all my hard work and dedication has been preparing me for, and I look forward to competing at Riviera.”

Full piece.

6. Pat Perez owes Si Woo Kim $100K

PGATour.com’s Ben Everill…”Kim has snapped more clubs than he cares to remember, or count. But it is a source of great pride when he says he hasn’t broken one in over eight months. And that is where Perez comes in.”

“Last April, Kim was in contention in the second round of the Masters Tournament when he snapped his putter in frustration on the 15th hole. He had to use his fairway wood on Augusta National’s famously slick putting surfaces the rest of the way, but still finished the round just three off the lead.”

“Snapping sticks had become almost routine for Kim, and Perez wagered $100,000 that Kim couldn’t stop doing it. But he has, which begs the question: When does Perez have to pay up? Kim’s caddie, former TOUR player Brian Vranesh, figured the end date should have been the turn of the calendar. But the two players didn’t make it clear, so Perez is technically still alive in the wager. That hasn’t stopped Kim from reminding the veteran Perez, always with a big smile, that he hasn’t forgotten about the $100K.“

Full piece.

7. Another chance to take the top spot

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Collin Morikawa this week will have a third chance to become the top-ranked player in the world.”

“The first opportunity came in December at the Hero World Challenge, where he failed to convert a five-shot lead heading into the final round. He closed with 76, his worst score since March.”

“I was frustrated for a couple days, and then you get over it and then I’m motivated,” Morikawa told reporters Tuesday ahead of his appearance at the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, where he’ll tee off as the reigning Race to Dubai champion.”

“So now it’s more motivation. But what you learn from a round like that is a lot. … It was a weird Sunday because I felt great going into it. Game felt good. Warmup felt great. First couple holes felt good. It was just something I couldn’t get out of, and I went from trying to win the tournament to just trying to hit a decent putt. Just trying to start the ball on-line, and that’s the worst thing when you’re trying to win a tournament is when you’re thinking about things.”

Full piece.

8. Kyle Kuzma loves golf

Jeff Eisenband of PGATOUR.COM talked with the Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma…

PGATOUR.COM: How’d you get into golf?

KYLE KUZMA: I got into golf briefly in college. I had a lot of golf friends that played college at the University of Utah. And then I kind of went away from the game after I got drafted into the NBA, obviously had a lot of different focuses, but when we had the NBA Bubble in Orlando, I just got out back on the golf course with a few of my assistant coaches and fell in love with the game. I had a bunch of fun with a bunch of guys and I’ve been hooked since.

PGATOUR.COM: Yeah, so about that bubble. When they said you guys could only do so many things and golf was one of them, how did guys in the NBA react?

KYLE KUZMA: Well, it’s not that many guys that play golf in the NBA. I mean, there’s a bunch, but there’s not that many regulars. We had a few options. It was either golf, fishing or bowling. Fishing is kind of dirty and bowling is inside. So, I think golf was an easy way just to be outside and still just have fun and enjoy your time within that bubble. It did its job for sure.

Full piece.

9. Dufner talks 10-year-old 7-wood

Our Andrew Tursky…”Dufner has used the 915F 21-degree fairway wood since 2014 when the club first launched, and it’s not leaving the bag anytime soon.”

“That’s not going anywhere until it breaks,” Dufner told GolfWRX.”

“Even if something drastic happens in the meantime (knock on wood), Dufner has a backup.”

“I have that head, which is the original, and I’ve got another head that I haven’t hit yet,” Dufner said. “So I’ve got at least six more years if this one goes.”

“When I asked Dufner if he’s tested any other 7-woods recently to capitalize on newer technologies, Dufner’s answer was simple and matter-of-fact: “No.”

“It’s safe to say Dufner isn’t changing out that 915F 7-wood, which is smart, because it looks like he’s missed the center of the face with it no more than two or three times in the last 8 years.”

Full piece.

News

Testing Lorem Ipsum

Published

9 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Pro Shop

What is Lorem Ipsum?

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Why do we use it?

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).

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.