19th Hole
‘First time in my life that I have felt betrayal’ – McIlroy opens up on ex-Ryder Cup teammates moving to LIV

Several members of past European Ryder Cup teams have left to join LIV Golf.
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Rory McIlroy, who’s just once again become the number one golfer in the world, has said that he feels “betrayed” by the departure of his former teammates.
In an interview with the Guardian, the 33-year-old spoke out against the players he used to have a strong bond with.
“It’s a weird thing. I think it is the first time in my life that I have felt betrayal in a way. It’s an unfamiliar feeling to me. You build bonds with these people through Ryder Cups and other things.
Them knowing that what they are about to do is going to jeopardize them from being a part of that ever again?”
Many of the former European Ryder Cup players such as Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter would have had a chance to be future Ryder Cup captains.
Stenson gave up his captaincy this year to join LIV. Garcia has more Ryder Cup victories than any European player in history and was a surefire future captain. McDowell would have been a great candidate for captaincy in Ireland in 2027. Poulter and Westwood would undoubtedly be considered in the future as well due to their Ryder Cup history.
The fact that these European golf stars gave up on future Ryder Cup glory didn’t sit right with McIlroy.
‘There was a great opportunity for GMac (Graeme McDowell) to maybe be the captain at Adare in 2027. Most of Sergio’s legacy is Ryder Cup-based, same with Poulter and Westwood. I would like to think the Ryder Cup means as much to them as it does to me. Maybe it does. But knowing what the consequences could be, I just could never make that decision.”
“OK, it might not be 100% certain but that it could be the outcome? It just isn’t a move I would be willing to make. I thought they felt the same way.”
Back in June, Golf Monthly reported that the relationship between McIllroy had grown “bitter and personal” over Garcia’s decision to join LIV Golf.
The pair were once a legendary Ryder Cup tandem, and McIlroy even served as an usher in Garcia’s wedding.
Garcia isn’t the only European player who no longer has a personal relationship with McIlroy after the LIV fallout.
Last month, Rory said to Sportsmail: “I wouldn’t say I’ve got much of a relationship with them at the minute. But if you’re talking about Ryder Cup, that’s not the future of the Ryder Cup team.”
‘The future of the Ryder Cup is the Højgaards (Danish twins Rasmus and Nicolai), Bobby Mac (Robert MacIntyre), whoever else is coming up. Like they are the future of The Ryder Cup Team. That’s what we should be like thinking about and talking about.”
The upcoming year will undoubtedly bring more uncertainty to the golf landscape, but one thing remains clear: Rory McIlroy is fully committed to the PGA Tour and will continue to be outspoken in his opposition against everything LIV Golf.
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19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

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.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
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.
19th Hole
How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

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.
19th Hole
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

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.