During a Sunday practice round at TPC Scottsdale, Brandel Chamblee decided to tweak his buddy Brad Faxon.
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Q School is famously the most tense week on tour, but this week’s final stage of the PGA Tour Champions qualifying tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., has already produced one epic laugh for the Forecaddie.
During a Sunday practice round at TPC Scottsdale, Brandel Chamblee decided to tweak his buddy Brad Faxon. Roping in three other pals of Faxon – veterans Brett Quigley and Paul Stankowski, along with swing coach Lucas Wald – the Golf Channel analyst texted a playful video to the eight-time Tour winner (see above).
“Hey Fax, we’re just out here playing a practice round for the Tour school qualifying and we’ve been talking amongst ourselves,” Chamblee said. “We’re just wondering if you ever played good enough to play in the Masters.”
“He won opposite maybe one year,” said Quigley, one of Faxon’s closest friends.
“Yeah, Hattiesburg,” Chamblee quipped.
The video was a joking reference to a round Faxon played recently in Florida in the company of Fox Sports golf producer Mark Loomis, the Forecaddie and a mutual friend. During the round, the friend had innocently asked Faxon if he had ever competed at Augusta National. As Loomis and The Man Out Front stifled a laugh, Faxon winced and said, “Twelve times.”
But Faxon, now a Fox Sports analyst, delivered the perfect response to his tormentors, who are in Scottsdale trying to earn status on the senior circuit for 2020. “Thanks for that video, it made me laugh,” he said in a video texted back while waiting for a flight in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. “I know I can’t remember how many Masters I’ve played in. But I do remember I’ve never played in a Tour school.”
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Ouch. Faxon wins in a knockout. Even Chamblee conceded defeat.
“That’s a better comeback than Tiger Woods winning the Masters,” he said.
The speculation surrounding the PGA Tour’s TV rights has been rampant, with some saying AT&T and Amazon will have a say in the matter.
Thanksgiving came and went with no announcement. The PGA Tour and LPGA Tour’s television future is still only full of possibilities with no concrete answers.
The future of how golf will be broadcast could land moments after this story is published. Or not.
The Tour’s current contracts with CBS, NBC and Golf Channel run through 2021. An international broadcasting arrangement with Discovery network is locked in much longer. What’s the fuss all about with plenty of time to sort this out?
Millions of dollars are at stake. Hundreds of jobs may be affected. The sports media world is eyeing the Tour’s decision. And some of the planet’s most powerful moguls are weighing whether to overpay as they unbundle cable into streaming networks that they will eventually rebundle all over again.
The hopeless effort to guess the outcome started in earnest this summer, with Tour executives hoping to have their next media rights deal locked up in time to enjoy Black Friday. Initial pitches were in early October, and the PGA Tour’s man in charge of the project, Rick Anderson, briefly surfaced to share insights with Sports Business Daily, but otherwise the leaks have been minimal and the speculation has reached levels of absurdity. (I have heard, at one time or another in the last month that every major network was out and also all-in, sometimes with the news arriving the same hour.)
Now, with the Hero World Challenge and Presidents Cup upon us, any announcement of the decision will impact those events given the intrigue surrounding who televises golf and what they will spend for the privilege.
The PGA Tour opened up its bidding early to avoid next year’s NFL rights talks and to buy necessary time should it decide to start a new network. While the timing is less than ideal, the alternatives never were better given how much the NFL is expected to syphon from networks and streaming services.
The only real indication of where the race stood came when CBS did not pick up options on Gary McCord and Peter Kostis, a sign of the network’s eagerness to freshen up its broadcasts in the face of tour apathy toward its week-to-week broadcast presentation. The signing of Davis Love, a longtime Policy Board member with inside knowledge of the Tour’s vision, changed that narrative briefly before a surprising new Champions League rights deal and signs of post-merger Viacom money made clear CBS will be back.
Other reports have suggested AT&T is still proposing to turn its TruTV channel into a new PGA Tour Channel, while incumbents NBC/Golf Channel and former partner ESPN are big parts of the equation. (Full disclosure: I’m a contributor to Golf Channel.)
One fairly consistent rumor: ESPN+ will be the home of significant amounts of streaming coverage.
A few insiders insist Amazon still may have a say in matters, while Fox Sports did not seriously bid. All are grumbling about what you’d expect: outrageous financial demands and contract terms without the streaming wars having even begun in earnest. And there is AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson’s inside access as a longtime PGA Tour Policy Board member that has everyone wondering what that could mean (though Stephenson has much bigger issues on his desk, including a pesky activist investor and billions in merger-related debt).
The main intrigue at this point surrounds the remaining media companies and how far they are willing to go for a sport featuring a wealthy, but ancient demographic by sports standards. Golf fans are highly unlikely to stream in large numbers outside of big weeks or when Tiger Woods is not in the television window. Which is why one sponsor rep called me last week asking if his tournament was going to get what might be seen as an unfavorable broadcast arrangement that could reduce the delivery of eyeballs. Another rep for a massive sponsor said his company was totally in the dark as well, leaving him perplexed given how much his company values its current broadcast setup. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
If sponsors — the lifeblood of the PGA Tour — are in the dark, then you know it’s been a relatively small group in on the discussions.
Soon we’ll know which moguls wrote the biggest checks and who most sees professional golf as a viable media business. For those sponsors in the dark, we’ll find out just how much the new deal valued their desire to reach certain audiences. And fans will soon find out what it will cost to watch their favorite PGA Tour events and stars over the next decade. Small stuff in the grand scheme, but do not tell that to the small world awaiting the Tour’s decision.
Hilary Watson, the wife of eight-time major champion Tom Watson, died after battling pancreatic cancer.
Hilary Watson, the wife of eight-time major champion Tom Watson, has died after battling pancreatic cancer. She was 63.
Tom Watson’s agent, Barry Hyde, confirmed Hilary Watson died Wednesday night.
Hilary Watson had been shopping for socks with her husband when she was told the news of her diagnosis, according to a 2018 report in the Kansas City Star. She received chemotherapy and then underwent surgery to remove the tumor.
Despite her illness, Hilary was determined to continue her love of competing in cutting horse competitions.
“Whether I’m feeling good or not, I was going to still get on that horse. And have some fun doing it. That’s been a godsend for me,” she told the Kansas City Star in May 2018.
Ted Bishop, former PGA of America president, shared a touching tribute to his friends on Facebook.
“Tom will tell you that Hilary was his hero. … and for many reasons. How these two people dealt with the devastation of the worst that cancer can muster up is truly an inspiration to us all. Hilary was a beautiful woman who was also one of the fiercest competitors who ever lived. Tom is an 8-time major champion golfer, but more so a man who has always dealt with adversity in amazing ways. Its a sad day, but Hilary’s fight is over and she leaves us with many beautiful memories.”
Hilary Watson married Tom in 1999 and the two raised her three children on their farm outside Kansas City.
Following the resounding global success of the irons that catapulted the model to among the best-selling in company history, TaylorMade Golf, an industry leader in product innovation, technology and performance, launched a second generation of the …
Following the resounding global success of the irons that catapulted the model to among the best-selling in company history, TaylorMade Golf, an industry leader in product innovation, technology and performance, launched a second generation of the P·790 irons. Like its P700 series siblings, the P·790 irons are a meticulously crafted set combining performance, feel and aesthetics.
To improve on an iron as successful as the original P·790, engineers faced the challenge of taking everything learned from its design, refining and emphasizing many of the unique design elements that made it so successful without drastically changing its DNA. As a result, P•790 irons pack powerful performance into a clean, classic design to deliver breakthrough distance in a players iron. Through a combination of forged hollow-body construction, redesigned tungsten weight, and our revolutionary new SpeedFoam™ Technology, golfers will experience feel, forgiveness, and workability unlike any iron of this caliber.
P•790 Features:
SPEEDFOAM™ – Ultra light urethane foam injected inside the head engineered to push the design limits of face speed while simultaneously improving feel.
LOW PROFILE TUNGSTEN WEIGHTING – New low profile tungsten weight designed for a lower CG and higher launch.
FORGED HOLLOW BODY – Consists of a thin, wrap around forged 4140 face and soft carbon steel body designed to deliver explosive distance and forgiveness
THRU SLOT SPEED POCKET™ – Our most flexible Speed Pocket™ design engineered to maximize ball speeds and provide forgiveness on shots lower on the face.
PROGRESSIVE I.C.T. – Features patented Progressive Inverted Cone Technology strategically located in each iron designed to improve accuracy and protect off-center ball speed.
It’s been 10 years since police responded to a 911 call at Tiger Woods’ mansion that erupted in a sex scandal that derailed his marriage.
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In May, on a rainy evening in Springdale, Ark., a 2009 black Cadillac Escalade with an infamous history headed south on Carlton Street.
A 1997 Chevrolet Blazer headed east on the perpendicular street, McCray Avenue, and both cars approached the intersection.
When the driver of the Escalade failed to yield the right of way, the vehicles collided, and it wasn’t the first accident involving the Escalade. That came about a decade earlier, when the SUV was driven by the most famous golfer on the planet.
Tiger Woods was behind the wheel of that 2009 Escalade on Nov. 27, 2009 when at about 2:30 a.m., outside his former mansion in Windermere, Fla., he collided with a row of hedges and hit a fire hydrant. The vehicle finally came to rest after hitting a tree.
Less than two days earlier, the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods was having an affair with Rachel Uchitel, then a New York nightclub hostess. The car accident and its murky circumstances — paramedics found Woods lying in the road, snoring and without shoes or socks — coincided with Woods’ personal crash.
A full-fledged sex scandal ensued, exposing years of infidelity and rocking Woods’ life.
He lost his wife. He lost sponsorships. He lost his dignity.
With 14 major championships at the time of the car accident, Woods, then 33, still looked like a solid bet to break Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18 majors. But with medical problems developing during Woods’ personal scandal, it took more than a decade for him to win another major — the 2019 Masters, arguably the most meaningful of his career.
While Woods’ free fall became a public spectacle, others connected to his demise have suffered in relative obscurity.
Tiger Woods appears with his wife, Elin, in photographs on the cover of magazines displayed on a newsstand in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. (Kathy Willens/AP)
Mindy Lawton, one of more than a dozen women identified as former mistresses of Woods, was involved in a fatal vehicular accident.
Jamie Jungers, who claimed to have had an 18-month affair with Woods, attempted to use the notoriety during her legal problems.
The trooper who handled the first phase of the investigation into Woods’ accident for the Florida State Highway Patrol faced his own investigation — for shooting an unarmed suspect in the scalp.
The neighbors who wrapped Woods with blankets and put a pillow under his head at the scene of the SUV accident suffered indignities they apparently thought Woods would help spare them.
And then there is the 2009 Cadillac Escalade.
Here are their stories:
Mindy Lawton
On the list of Woods’ alleged ex-mistresses, which included porn stars, escorts and lingerie models, Mindy Lawton stood apart. At the time she met the golfer, Lawton told reporters, she was an $8-an-hour waitress at Perkins restaurant, near Woods’ former mansion in Windermere.
Two weeks after Woods crashed his Escalade, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY, Lawton, then 33, signed a contract designed to cash in on her alleged 14-month affair with Woods that she told reporters ended in 2007.
The deal called for Lawton to be represented by a Florida attorney, Glenn Reid, who would receive 33.3 percent of each $1 million generated by Lawton from media-related opportunities, according to a copy of the contract.
The big payday never came. Lawton went from scandal curiosity to convicted felon.
In January 2011, she pleaded guilty to DUI with serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony. She was sentenced to five years probation and served one year in county jail. The following year, Lawton was unable to find employment, out of money and two weeks from being homeless, according to court records.
The court terminated Lawton’s probation early and allowed her to return to live with her mother in New York, court records show. Then came another crash.
On the morning of June 21, 2015, Lawton was riding on an ATV with her boyfriend, Jamie Kennedy. Kennedy lost control after the ATV hit large rocks and trees, and the two were ejected from the vehicle, according to published reports.
Kennedy, 45, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lawton, then 38, was airlifted to a hospital. She survived after undisclosed medical treatment.
In Kennedy’s obituary found online, Lawton was described as Kennedy’s “companion.’’ Her Facebook page includes photos of her with Kennedy and indicates Lawton, 43, still lives in Ogdensburg, N.Y., a town of 11,128 where she grew up.
The Perkins restaurant where Lawton said Woods regularly ordered the egg-white omelet with broccoli has shut down. And the deal between Lawton and Reid, the Florida attorney, went sour.
Five months after the contract was signed, Reid sued, claiming Lawton cooperated for a “Vanity Fair” magazine article without consulting him.
Lawton did not respond to voicemails and text messages from USA TODAY Sports seeking comment.
Jamie Jungers
Two weeks after Woods’ accident, Jamie Jungers became the first alleged mistress of his to be interviewed on live TV.
Wearing a fur-lined coat on the set of NBC’s Today, Jungers, then 26, said her affair with Woods began in 2005 after the two met in Las Vegas.
The affair ended about a year and a half later after she asked Woods for help with financial problems and he declined, Jungers said. But her notoriety continued over the last decade.
In August 2011, when Jungers was being questioned by Las Vegas police who suspected she had been driving under the influence, she told a police officer she was “a celebrity, related to Tiger Woods.’’
Tiger Woods hugs his mother Kultida Woods after publicly admitting to cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren but maintained that the issues remain “a matter between a husband and a wife.” (Photo: Joe Skipper-Pool/Getty Images)
Jungers made “several references’’ that she was a celebrity and wanted a warning instead of being booked at jail, according to the incident report. She was booked and convicted of DUI.
And booked again in Las Vegas in September 2015 on charges of possession of narcotics paraphernalia and driving on a revoked license.
And booked again in Las Vegas in November 2018 as a fugitive from another state on warrant. Her disappearance was featured on an episode of “Dog the Bounty Hunter,’’ when former bail bondsman Duane “Dog’’ Chapman helped hunt down Jungers in Las Vegas and handed her over to police.
On camera, Jungers said she was struggling with an addiction to heroin — she was on probation in Kansas for heroin possession. She made another cameo on “Dog the Bounty Hunter’’ about three months later, reporting she was successfully completing rehab at KISA Life Recovery, a treatment center in Sedan, Kan.
Jungers, now 36, told USA TODAY Sports she “graduated” from KISA Life Recovery and now works for the treatment center.
Joshua Evans
Evans pulled up to the scene of the crash at 3:01 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Accustomed to handling DUI investigations during his year on the job, the 28-year-old trooper found himself handling the initial stage of investigating the high-profile incident.
On the accident report, Evans noted the estimated damage ($3,300 for the hedges, fire hydrant and tree, and another $8,000 for the Escalade), diagrammed the winding route Woods took (down his driveway and over a concrete curb, onto grass median and swerving back across the concrete curb, onto a grass shoulder before plowing into the hedges, fire hydrant and tree on his neighbors’ property) and the estimated speed (30 mph in a 25-mph zone).
It also was Evans who went to Health Central Hospital in nearby Ocoee, where Woods had been treated and released, and sought a medical sample of Woods’ blood. He suspected the golfer might have been impaired at the time of the crash.
But hospital workers turned Evans away, and the state’s attorney’s office denied Evans’ request for a subpoena to get a sample of Woods’ blood taken the night of the crash.
Almost four years later, it was Evans who was under investigation.
In November 2013, Evans was involved in a high-speed chase. It ended with Evans and the man suspected of driving under the influence struggling at the front door of the home where the driver lived with his parents.
Evans pulled out his Glock 37 and fired seven bullets into the front door, according to court documents. One of the bullets struck the man in the head but did not cause life-threatening injuries, according to court documents.
A grand jury cleared Evans in the incident.
But an internal investigation found Evans violated the Florida Highway Patrol’s policy on excessive force, and he was suspended for 40 hours without pay, said public affairs officer Kim Montes.
Evans declined to comment for this story, according to Montes, who said Evans is still employed by the highway patrol and remains highly regarded for his work.
Montes said Evans made more than 100 DUI arrests in both 2012 and 2013 and also has distinguished himself as a member of the mobile field force that handles civil disturbances, as a felony officer for drug interdiction and the patrol’s hit-and-run crash investigator.
The neighbors
Jarius Adams and his sister, Kimberly Harris, told investigators they discovered Woods lying on the pavement in front of their parents’ house and Elin Nordegren, then Woods’ wife, standing over the golfer.
“Can you please help me?’’ Adams told investigators Nordegren asked him.
First, Adams called 911.
“I need an ambulance immediately,’’ Adams can be heard saying on a recording of the 911 call. “I have someone down in front of my house.’’
Then Adams and his sister wrapped Woods in a blanket and put a pillow under his head. But in the days that followed, things got less neighborly.
A security officer guards the area in front of Tiger Woods’ house, left, in Windermere, Fla., Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. (Photo: Gary W. Green, AP/Orlando Sentinel)
“They all wanted Tiger to pay them is what they really wanted, for helping him,’’ said Bill Sharpe, a Florida attorney who represented the family that owned the house next door to Woods’ former mansion. “That was the real issue.’’
After Woods’ car accident, Sharpe said, he got a call from Jerome Adams Jr., the brother of Jarius Adams and Harris. Their father owned the house next door to Woods.
Sharpe said he had represented Jerome Adams Jr. in the late 1990s on charges of passing worthless bank checks when Adams was attending Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
Six months after the accident, Jerome Adams Jr. launched a website with a pay-per-view video trashing Woods. Adams charged $3.99 for videos on which, according to a 2010 report in the Orlando Sentinel, said things like, “He’s a jerk,” and “The person that you know is just a crafted image.”
On the surface, Sharpe said, it probably seemed odd that members of a family that lived in Isleworth, the exclusive gated subdivision, were charging $3.99 for anti-Tiger videos.
“They had fallen on hard times,’’ Sharpe said.
Jerome Adams Jr.’s home had been in foreclosure, court records show. The house his father owned next to Woods’ home in Isleworth also had been in foreclosure, court records show.
Professional golfer Bubba Watson ended up buying Woods’ former home — the seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom, 7,940-square foot estate, where Woods once lived with Elin and their daughter, Sam, and son, Charlie. But Watson has since moved.
The former neighbors are long gone too. Jerome Adams Sr., then a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, sold the family home in 2011 for $1.8 million.
Jerome Adams Sr. and his wife moved into a home that cost less than $300,000, and he died in 2014. Family members did not respond to voicemails or text messages left by USA TODAY Sports.
The Escalade
The SUV, which can be tracked by its VIN number, rolled off the General Motors assembly line in 2008. GM still owned the vehicle during the time of Woods’ accident. From there things get murky, although CARFAX offers some tidbits.
The Escalade has made its way from Michigan to Florida, and from Tennessee to Missouri, and finally to Arkansas, with its sixth owner.
An image of Tiger Woods Escalade was released by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) on March 12, 2010. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
On May 9, on a rainy evening in Springdale, Ark., Alicia Galvan, 38, was driving the Escalade when it collided with a Chevy Blazer. Galvan was cited for failure to yield the right of way and for driving without a driver’s license or insurance.
The report shows the owner of the Escalade was Refujio Perez-B of Fayetteville, and he listed the same home address as the driver.
Maria Curiel, co-owner of the Fayetteville property, told USA TODAY Sports she would look into the matter.
The next day, Curiel reported by text message, “I contacted the manager of the property, but she does not want to release any information. I am sorry.’’
Like Tiger Woods, there are a lot more miles on the Escalade than there were a decade ago.
The last official odometer for the Escalade, according to a CARFAX report, shows 158,052 miles — and still rolling along a decade after that fateful crash.
It was 10 years ago on Nov. 27 that Tiger Woods ran his car into a fire hydrant and his career off a metaphorical cliff.
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Nov. 27, 2009 is a date that lives in the surreal outer reaches of sports infamy. It is a date that marks the most bizarre self-induced sabotaging of an athlete’s image, career and lifestyle in the history of sports.
It is the date that Tiger Woods ran his car into a fire hydrant at the end of his driveway, triggering a cascade of scandalous revelations that forever altered the way tens of millions of people around the world viewed him as a golfer, pitchman, husband, father and cultural icon.
In other words, the 10th anniversary of Tiger’s drive off the metaphorical cliff is one that undoubtedly will pass without his celebration.
Some might believe that because Tiger has won several high-profile tournaments since those dark days of 2009 – including, finally, another major at this year’s Masters – he has bounced back to where he once was and that everything is the same today as it was the moment before he tore out of his house in his Cadillac Escalade in those early morning hours after Thanksgiving.
That assumption would be wrong. Go ahead and cheer for Tiger all you’d like. Revel in the comeback story of the year, if not the century. Applaud him for acting more like a normal person now, if only because he couldn’t have acted less like a normal person for years.
But make no mistake about it. For Tiger Woods, nothing is the same as it was in those heady days before the world found out who he really was.
Tiger Woods appears with his wife, Elin, in photographs on magazines displayed on a newsstand in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)
Many of us are old enough to remember that the act of turning on a television or walking through an airport often put us face to face with the most prominent athlete of the early days of the 21st century. Tiger’s endorsement deals were legendary: AT&T, Accenture, American Express, Gillette, Buick, General Mills and Gatorade, among others.
Nearly all are long gone. Those companies signed Tiger believing he was what he portrayed himself to be: a fearless athlete with a sweet smile, a storybook marriage and a lovely young family. When he admitted that it was all a clever ruse – “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.” – they dumped him as fast as they could and have never come back.
Most of the companies to stick with him to this day are golf or sports-related companies like Nike, and a Japanese firm that produces a pain medicine Tiger pitches in Japan. Tiger clearly doesn’t need the money, so it doesn’t really matter, but what he lost as a corporate spokesman who transcended sports is incalculable.
Something else also disappeared as one mistress after another appeared on TMZ or in the National Enquirer to tell her tawdry Tiger tales: Trust.
From the mid-1990s until November 2009, Americans saw a lot of Tiger. They felt that they knew him like a member of their family. They were traditional sports fans, for sure, but also grandmothers who couldn’t care less about any other athlete but who planned their Sundays around Tiger’s tee time.
Over the years, a blind reverence developed for Tiger, an adoration that was shaken to its core by the run-in with the fire hydrant. Over time, it has been replaced by a public wariness that wisely extends beyond Tiger to all well-known athletes. If you couldn’t trust Tiger, who could you trust?
We also know that Tiger’s golf game suffered greatly in his very public fall from grace. The humiliation Tiger suffered shattered his aura of athletic invincibility. All of a sudden, he was beatable on a golf course.
The day of the accident, he had won 14 majors and 71 PGA Tour titles. Ten years later, those totals are 15 majors and 82 titles. Not bad, but certainly not what we would have predicted for Tiger had we ventured a guess on Thanksgiving Day 2009.
To be sure, the dominance of a 33-year-old golfer would have been expected to tail off over the next 10 years of his career, especially for a man prone to injury. But certainly not that dramatically. There had even been heady talk of Tiger winning several majors in 2010 to get close to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 because his favorite courses were hosting that year: Augusta National, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews.
But it was not to be, a familiar refrain in the 10 years that have passed in the life of Tiger Woods since that fateful day in 2009.
Looking for some holiday deals for the golfer on your list? Here’s a look at some of the special promotions Golfweek editors have compiled for the season. Check back throughout the week as we’ll keep updating the list: Apparel and equipment Golf …
Looking for some holiday deals for the golfer on your list?
Here’s a look at some of the special promotions Golfweek editors have compiled for the season.
Check back throughout the week as we’ll keep updating the list:
Apparel and equipment
Golf Galaxy: Several deals are being advertised on Golf Galaxy’s web site, including up to 50 percent off select apparel. For those in cooler climates, we see Under Armour Men’s Sweaterfleece Golf ½-Zips for $56.25 (25 percent off) and Adidas Men’s Core Golf ¼-Zips for $34.98 (46 percent off). Men’s Footjoy 2019 Pro/SL are now $60 off.
Dick’s Sporting Goods: Apparel deals for women and men are listed in Dick’s Sporting Goods Black Friday ad including select women’s and men’s Nike or Under Armour performance fleeces for $34.98. Select women’s Nike Essential fleece hoodies and pants are $39.98 and kids Threma Fleece hoodies are $29.98.
Ping Karsten MFG Shop Beanie: Ping is selling its soft, lightweight, Karsten beanie that’s good for playing golf or everyday wear for $22.
Tournaments
Justin Thomas hits from the 18th tee during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind. (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)
FedEx St. Jude Invitational: The tournament’s holiday package includes two day-specific grounds tickets and one round of golf at TPC Southwind for $165. The FedEx St. Jude Invitational is July 2-5 in Memphis.
Travelers Championship: Special packages are available for the holidays to the Travelers, held June 25-28. The Daily Hospitality Experience starts at $165 and includes two Mohegan Sun Club tickets (much choose a day), food and non-alcoholic beverages, parking pass and hat. The Weekly Grounds Experience is $200 and includes two weekly grounds tickets, parking pass and hat. The Travelers will be played at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play: Buy two grounds tickets for the tournament and receive a $25 gift card to the PGA Tour Superstore. The tournament will be held March 25-29 at Austin Country Club. Ticket prices will increase after the holidays, but they are now priced at two Wednesday tickets for $210, two Thursday tickets for $215, two Friday-Sunday tickets for $270 or 2 weekly tickets (Wed.-Sun.) for $790.
U.S. Open: For every two gallery or beer garden (Thursday-Sunday) tickets purchased, receive a limited edition complimentary valuables pouch through Dec. 31 or while supplies last. Gallery tickets cost $120 for Thursday, June 18, and are $150 for Friday-Sunday, June 19-21, at Winged Foot.
The Northern Trust: The Northern Trust is advertising the best ticket prices of the year for its annual event held this year Aug. 12-16, 2020 at TPC Boston. The holiday offer is two good any one-day grounds ticket for $74.38. One weekly ticket which is good the Wednesday-Sunday of the event is also a holiday deal at $132.81 per ticket.
Looking for the perfect gift for your favorite golfer? THE NORTHERN TRUST has you covered!
TPC of Myrtle Beach’s 10th hole (Pete Fontaine/Getty Images)
Myrtle Beach: MyrtleBeachGolfTrips.com and MBN.com, which book trips to South Carolina’s Grand Strand, are offering 50% off select spring tee times when purchasing three-round packages. The deal is available for purchase Nov. 25 through Dec. 2 and is available on any three of Founders Group International’s 21 courses for tee times before 8:30 a.m. and after 1 p.m March 1 through June 7. Included among the deal are courses such as the Resort Course at Grande Dunes, Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club, King’s North at Myrtle Beach National and TPC Myrtle Beach. Go to MyrtleBeachGolfTrips.com or MBN.com for details.
Need to buy for the golfer on your list? Let us offer some suggestions.
As the holiday season approaches, there’s likely a golfer on your shopping list. Maybe you’re that golfer on your shopping list (it’s OK to pick up a little something for yourself, too). Either way, let us guide you through the aisles on your quest for the perfect golf gift.
From tees to footwear to the latest in electronics, get a head start on the holiday season with Golfweek’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide.
Take a look at our picks for some of the best golf-related gifts available in every budget range:
FootJoy Flex XP
Buzz: The Flex family of golf shoes was a popular new addition to the FootJoy family in 2019, and this fall the company is adding a waterproof, spikeless version to its lineup. The Flex XP has turf-grabbing traction elements to go along with its sporty, casual style.
Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and a few others will compete in a friendly event called the Hero Shot ahead of the Hero World Challenge.
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We’re just a week and change away from the 21st Hero World Challenge, but this year’s event at Albany, Bahamas will be unlike any other.
The tournament itself, which benefits Tiger Woods’ TGR Foundation, will be played Wednesday-Saturday on Dec. 4-7, but the week-long event will begin two days prior with the Hero Shot at Baha Mar on Monday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m.
Woods, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson and Gary Woodland will all compete, hitting balls at a bullseye 100 yards over the Reflections pool at Baha Mar. The first of three rounds will feature three head-to-head matches with players hitting six balls toward the target, which consists of three rings each of different values: 100 points for the outer ring, 200 points for the inner ring and 500 points for the bullseye. The sixth ball in each round will be worth double points. The player with the highest score moves on.
In the second round, the three players who advanced will hit an additional six shots, with the lowest score being eliminated and the top scores advancing to the final round. You can watch the Hero Shot on social media via GolfTV, PGA Tour and TGR Live.
The Hero will be Tiger’s first tournament since winning his 82nd PGA Tour title by three strokes over Hideki Matsuyama at the storm-delayed Zozo Championship in Japan on Oct. 27. After the historic win, Woods announced he’d be a playing captain at the Presidents Cup, which will be held after the Hero in Melbourne, Australia, beginning Dec. 12.
Sunday was a lucrative day for Jon Rahm, the 25-year-old Spaniard who walked away from the DP World Tour Championship with $5 million.
Sunday was a lucrative day for Jon Rahm. The 25-year-old Spaniard walked away from the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai with $5 million.
When Rahm putted out for birdie on the final hole at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, he collected the $3 million first-place check for winning the European Tour finale plus an additional $2 million bonus for finishing the season as No. 1 on the Race to Dubai.
The Arizona State grad joins the late Seve Ballesteros in the European Tour record books. Rahm is the second Spaniard, and first since Ballesteros in 1991, to end a season as European No. 1.
