19th Hole

Long drive competition to form part of 2023 NFL Pro Bowl Skills competitions

Published

3 years ago

Jan 12, 2023

Yesterday, the NFL announced the eight tests that will form the make-up of the 2023 Pro Bowl, and it involves golf. Of sorts.

The All-Star game takes place on 2nd and 5th of February and ESPN will broadcast the event live for the first time, with the made-for-tv festival containing ‘skills’ that NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport called school games.

This is tremendous. The 2023 Pro Bowl Games skills competitions are out and… I can’t wait to tell my kids when they get home from school that NFL players will play all their games pic.twitter.com/D9i4gAIfAv

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2023

On Thursday, the two teams, headed by the coaches Manning – Peyton (AFC) and Eli (NFC) – will face a game of classic dodgeball. The offense and defence of each team will face each other to determine who makes the final and wins three points.

Then follows the bizarre ‘Lightning Round’, something the older readers might have found on Almost Anything Goes! (known as It’s a Knockout for UK subscribers). Then, in the middle, just before ‘Precision Passing’ and ‘Best Catch’ is ‘Longest Drive.’

As NFL.com suggests, this comprises:

“Four players from each conference will compete in a challenge to drive a golf ball the furthest distance off a tee. Each player will get three swings and the player that drives the furthest within the boundaries on each side of the fairway will win three points for his conference.”

It’s not much, and will probably get lost amidst the more relevant football games, as well as Sunday’s ‘Big Catch Finale’, ‘Gridiron Gauntlet’, ‘Kick Tack Toe’ and ‘Move The Chains’, let alone the Flag football games that conclude the jamboree.

News divided potential viewers, and their reaction was mixed.

Many felt that it was a good move, and would be more entertaining than the usual arrangement:

Anything entertaining will be better than what the actual pro bowl game has reduced to and might actually get top names to do these fun activities. Good for fans to see their favorite players being relatable

— Todd (@todd_ray) January 11, 2023

However, there was plenty of opposition too:

Waste of everyone’s time. Have them play a 4 man scramble against every team in the league. Barkley can announce it. That would more entertaining. And no injuries. Guys half ass running throwing a ball into a moving barrell or hula hoop is no bueno

— Steven R. Pearson (@BigDaddy9804) January 11, 2023

So, what about the golf element?

No matter how hard they try, the Long Drive World Championship has never seen other than a novelty event by the vast majority of golf fans, despite the best attempts of 2020 U.S Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

It’s also worth noting how much golf viewing figures take a downturn during the football season, so whilst maybe this is some nod to the sport, it feels like nothing more than more novelty.

Fun, maybe, but the move is unlikely to bring in any converted fans to the sport.

Longest Drive?!?! They could have put soooo many other football challenges in there. But chose golf?

— Vinny Martins, BS, CSCS, USAW (@vinnymart1995) January 11, 2023

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

1 month ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”