The WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale is the PGA Tour’s annual party in the desert.
The fan-favorite event is known for many things, none bigger, however, than the stadium-like stands surrounding the par-3 16th.
It’s madness year in and year out, with fans hoping for the opportunity to throw their beers on the green in celebration of a hole-in-one. The latest to do so was Carlos Ortiz — who has since moved to LIV Golf — in 2022.
Relive some of the iconic moments below.
(Mike Sposa (2002), Steve Stricker (1997), Jay Delsing (1991), Brad Bryant (1990), David Edwards (1990) and Hal Sutton (1988) also made holes-in-one at the 16th at the Phoenix Open, but we were unable to find video footage.)
The deal makes the Fireballs a majority-Spanish team, while Torque is now fully comprised of Latin American talent.
Two teams have completed the LIV Golf League’s first-ever trade.
David Puig, who competed for Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC and finished 31st out of 50 players in LIV’s season-long standings in 2023, has been dealt to Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC for Carlos Ortiz, who placed 15th last season.
The move will make the Fireballs a majority-Spanish team with Garcia, Puig, Eugenio Chacarra and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer. Torque is now fully comprised of Latin American talent with Chileans Niemann and Mito Periera, Ortiz, also from Mexico, and Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz.
LIV Golf has a unique ability to own golf’s silly season with its offseason news, but the upstart circuit has been rather quiet since its team championship in late October. This week marks the first LIV Golf Promotions event, which will earn three players a place on a team for the 2024 season. The event will run Dec. 8-10 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and features an interesting field that includes two former Ryder Cup players, a handful of rising amateurs and a past major champion.
Nineteen players were entered in a final qualifier. One didn’t finish, one withdrew and another didn’t show up.
Amateur and professional golfers across the country flocked to 10 different sites this week for U.S. Open final qualifying – known annually as Golf’s Longest Day – and one of the biggest stories from this year’s 36-hole Marathon Monday was the presence of LIV Golf League players in the fields.
An easy way for players to qualify for major championships is via their Official World Golf Ranking. Seeing as events for the upstart circuit backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund currently don’t offer OWGR points, LIV players have plummeted in the ranking, forcing them to qualify for the third men’s major of the season the hard way.
Of the 19 players entered in a final qualifier, just four (in bold) punched their ticket. One didn’t finish, one withdrew and another didn’t even show up. Here’s how LIV golfers fared in final qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Open, June 15-18, at Los Angeles Country Club.
The antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour that included 11 players on the upstart LIV Golf series has lost a supporter.
The antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour that included 11 players on the upstart LIV Golf series has lost a supporter.
On Tuesday Carlos Ortiz, who still has “PGA Tour player” in his Twitter bio, told Golf Channel that he would be dropping out of the lawsuit that included the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Ian Poulter, Abraham Ancer, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak and Peter Uihlein. The players are challenging their suspensions by the PGA Tour for their actions in joining the Greg Norman-led LIV Golf Invitational Series, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The PGA Tour sent the U.S. District Court of Northern California a 32-page response to the initial lawsuit on Monday, plus a separate seven-page example of what it calls mischaracterizations and mistruths presented by the LIV players. The court is scheduled to hear a complaint on Tuesday on behalf of Gooch, Swafford and Jones, who are seeking an injunction against the Tour to allow them entry into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which begin this week with the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. All three players would have qualified for the playoffs had they not been suspended.
LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record with guaranteed money and multi-million dollar deals. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
Ortiz was suspended by the Tour after making his debut at the second LIV Golf event earlier this summer in Portland. Over just two LIV events Ortiz has made $3.175 million, more than he made all last season on Tour in 28 starts ($2,682,104).
LIV Golf reportedly has continued its signing spree with three new names for this week’s Portland event.
LIV Golf reportedly has continued its signing spree over the weekend with Matthew Wolff, Carlos Ortiz and Eugenio Chacarra expected to join the upstart circuit for its event this week at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland.
LIV Golf previously announced 45 players for its 48-man field at the second of a scheduled eight events in the series.
Wolff, 23, claimed the individual 2019 NCAA Championship title as a sophomore at Oklahoma State, turned pro that June and won the PGA Tour’s 3M Open in just his third event. Playing as a sponsor’s exemption, Wolff canned a 25-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the final hole to edge Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa. Wolff further showed his potential by finishing fourth at the 2020 PGA Championship and shot 65 at Winged Foot in the third round of the U.S. Open later that year to assume the 54-hole lead. He finished second to DeChambeau and rose as high as No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
With his unorthodox swing and charismatic presence, he appeared to be on the verge of being the Tour’s next breakout star. However, Wolff struggled adjusting to Tour life and took two months off from golf last year, citing the need to address his mental health. Wolff has missed the cut in seven of his last 12 starts this season, without a single top-25 finish, and has plummeted to 77th in the world ranking. He shot 66 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, where he made his PGA Tour professional debut in 2019, and finished T-55.
Wolff’s jump to LIV was first reported by The Telegraph of London. It has been rumored for weeks, most notably after his image was included in a LIV Golf sizzle reel promoting the fledgling circuit that is backed by Saudi Arabia’s PIF Investment Fund.
Sports Illustrated reported that Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz has decided to join LIV Golf, too. The 31-year-old Ortiz won the 2020 Houston Open. He is ranked No. 119 in the world. Last week, Mexico’s top-ranked player, Abe Ancer, also made the leap to LIV, giving the circuit a viable Latin American presence.
As noted on Golfweek on Saturday, Chacarra, the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world, was reported to have signed with LIV and planned to forgo his senior year at Oklahoma State and turn pro to compete in the 48-man field in Portland. Writing in Spanish, he noted that he had “received an opportunity I could not turn down,” adding, “it is one of those trains that pass once in a lifetime.”
Good, bad, worse: Artur Beterbiev’s scary performance, so long Carlos Ortiz.
A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
Artur Beterbiev’s victory over Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday was one of the easiest of his career.
That isn’t meant to minimize the Montreal-based Russian’s victory or Smith’s past accomplishments, which are considerable. It merely underscores what we hear all the time, that there are levels to boxing.
Smith is a strong puncher; Beterbiev is a strong puncher who can also box, which is a product of his long amateur career. The result on Saturday – a second-round knockout – was predictable.
Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) quickly closed the distance on Smith (28-4, 22 KOs). And once he did, the willing, but overmatched American simply couldn’t avoid the power punches coming his way. Beterbiev was too good for him.
Every punch that landed did more and damage, until the battered, helpless Smith could take no more in the second round.
I wouldn’t call it the greatest victory in Beterbiev’s career for the reason stated above. Levels. His 10th-round stoppage of Oleksandr Gvozdyk to unify two 175-pound titles in 2019 was more impressive given Gvozdyk’s ability.
However, the victory at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden was huge in terms of where it could lead. He took Smith’s title, giving him three of the four major belts. Now he hopes to face Dmitry Bivol, who holds the fourth.
Who would win a fight between Beterbiev and Bivol for the undisputed championship? Well, first, I wouldn’t draw any conclusions based on what happened on Saturday. Bivol is on Beterbiev’s level, although he has a completely different style.
Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) has limited power but he’s a master boxer, as he demonstrated in his one-sided victory over Canelo Alvarez last month. He would give Beterbiev problems, just as Gvozdyk did.
I would give Beterbiev an edge over Bivol because of his combination of ability and power but it’s essentially a 50-50 matchup. Let’s hope it happens.
BAD
Joe Smith Jr. was overwhelmed by a better fighter. Elsa / Getty Images
Smith’s setback has to be painful for him.
Nothing is more devastating than pouring your heart and soul into a major fight and then failing miserably, as Smith did. And the fact it happened an hour from his Long Island neighborhood – in front of hundreds of his devoted fans – must make it particularly depressing for him.
That feeling will fade, though. In time he will look back on his accomplishments with great pride.
I’ve often said that former lightweight titleholder Rafael Ruelas got more out of his limited natural ability – 100% — than any other fighter I ever encountered.
Smith might be Ruelas’ equal in that regard. The one-time union worker has only so-so boxing skills yet defeated a number of 175-pounders who arguably were more talented than he is (Andrzej Fonfara, Bernard Hopkins, Jesse Hart, Eleider Alvarez and Maxim Vlasov) , won a major belt and took part in a title-unification bout.
That, in its entirety, is called a dream come true.
How’d he do it?
He and Ruelas were blessed with punching power, which helped them overcome deficiencies. That’s only part of the story, though. They relied more on grit and determination than anything else, the will to win fights that they should probably have lost.
Ruelas got up from two first-round knockdowns to outpoint Freddie Pendleton and win his lightweight title in 1994. Smith struggled much of his fight against Vlasov in April of last year but won the final two rounds on all three cards to pull out a victory and win his title.
Grit, determination. Those attributes can take you a long way.
Smith will never be remembered as a great fighter. The skill set isn’t there. At the same time, he will always be admired as a fighter who wouldn’t allow his limitations to derail his pursuit of his dreams.
WORSE
Boxing lost a legend this past Monday.
Carlos Ortiz, one of the greatest lightweights of all time and a Hall of Famer, died in his home state of New York. He was 85.
Ortiz was a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico who moved with his family to New York City when he was 8 years old. It was there that he discovered street fighting, organized boxing and his unusual talent.
He was an excellent technical boxer with solid power and unusual durability. He was stopped only once in his career, in his final fight against a prime Ken Buchanan.
Hall of Fame writer said in an ESPN article that Ortiz “had it all. He was an almost-perfect boxer-fighter: quick, strong, smart and hard-punching, with a swift, sharp left jab.”
Ortiz (61-7-1, 30 KOs) won a junior welterweight title in 1959 but had his greatest success when he moved down to lightweight, a division he dominated for most of the 1960s. He had two title reigns between 1962 and 1968.
His victims were among a who’s who of the best little fighters of the era. Among them: fellow Hall of Famers Duilio Loi (who beat Ortiz in two other fights), Joe Brown, Flash Elorde (twice), Ismael Laguna (against whom he went 2-1) and Sugar Ramos (twice).
And many of his greatest successes occurred in hostile terriotry In addition to the U.S. and Puerto Rico, he fought in Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Panama, the Philippines, Argentina and Mexico.
The late, great boxing writer and historian Bert Randolph Sugar once ranked Ortiz No. 87 on his list of 100 greatest fighters of all time, which was saying something given the thousands of elite fighters who have stepped through the ropes.
That kind of resume and respect gives you an idea why he’s considered one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters of all time, perhaps the greatest.
He certainly was in the class of perhaps more-familiar countrymen Wilfredo Gomez, Felix Trinidad, Hector Camacho, Wilfredo Benitez and Edwin Rosario. The write rGraham ranked him No. 1.
Another Hall of Fame boxing journalist, Hugh McIlvanney, writing in The Observer after Ortiz’s second victory over the great Ismael Laguna, gave Ortiz the ultimate compliment: “[He] demonstrated again that he possesses virtually every attribute required in a professional boxer.”
Good, bad, worse: Artur Beterbiev’s scary performance, so long Carlos Ortiz.
A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
Artur Beterbiev’s victory over Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday was one of the easiest of his career.
That isn’t meant to minimize the Montreal-based Russian’s victory or Smith’s past accomplishments, which are considerable. It merely underscores what we hear all the time, that there are levels to boxing.
Smith is a strong puncher; Beterbiev is a strong puncher who can also box, which is a product of his long amateur career. The result on Saturday – a second-round knockout – was predictable.
Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) quickly closed the distance on Smith (28-4, 22 KOs). And once he did, the willing, but overmatched American simply couldn’t avoid the power punches coming his way. Beterbiev was too good for him.
Every punch that landed did more and damage, until the battered, helpless Smith could take no more in the second round.
I wouldn’t call it the greatest victory in Beterbiev’s career for the reason stated above. Levels. His 10th-round stoppage of Oleksandr Gvozdyk to unify two 175-pound titles in 2019 was more impressive given Gvozdyk’s ability.
However, the victory at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden was huge in terms of where it could lead. He took Smith’s title, giving him three of the four major belts. Now he hopes to face Dmitry Bivol, who holds the fourth.
Who would win a fight between Beterbiev and Bivol for the undisputed championship? Well, first, I wouldn’t draw any conclusions based on what happened on Saturday. Bivol is on Beterbiev’s level, although he has a completely different style.
Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) has limited power but he’s a master boxer, as he demonstrated in his one-sided victory over Canelo Alvarez last month. He would give Beterbiev problems, just as Gvozdyk did.
I would give Beterbiev an edge over Bivol because of his combination of ability and power but it’s essentially a 50-50 matchup. Let’s hope it happens.
BAD
Joe Smith Jr. was overwhelmed by a better fighter. Elsa / Getty Images
Smith’s setback has to be painful for him.
Nothing is more devastating than pouring your heart and soul into a major fight and then failing miserably, as Smith did. And the fact it happened an hour from his Long Island neighborhood – in front of hundreds of his devoted fans – must make it particularly depressing for him.
That feeling will fade, though. In time he will look back on his accomplishments with great pride.
I’ve often said that former lightweight titleholder Rafael Ruelas got more out of his limited natural ability – 100% — than any other fighter I ever encountered.
Smith might be Ruelas’ equal in that regard. The one-time union worker has only so-so boxing skills yet defeated a number of 175-pounders who arguably were more talented than he is (Andrzej Fonfara, Bernard Hopkins, Jesse Hart, Eleider Alvarez and Maxim Vlasov) , won a major belt and took part in a title-unification bout.
That, in its entirety, is called a dream come true.
How’d he do it?
He and Ruelas were blessed with punching power, which helped them overcome deficiencies. That’s only part of the story, though. They relied more on grit and determination than anything else, the will to win fights that they should probably have lost.
Ruelas got up from two first-round knockdowns to outpoint Freddie Pendleton and win his lightweight title in 1994. Smith struggled much of his fight against Vlasov in April of last year but won the final two rounds on all three cards to pull out a victory and win his title.
Grit, determination. Those attributes can take you a long way.
Smith will never be remembered as a great fighter. The skill set isn’t there. At the same time, he will always be admired as a fighter who wouldn’t allow his limitations to derail his pursuit of his dreams.
WORSE
Boxing lost a legend this past Monday.
Carlos Ortiz, one of the greatest lightweights of all time and a Hall of Famer, died in his home state of New York. He was 85.
Ortiz was a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico who moved with his family to New York City when he was 8 years old. It was there that he discovered street fighting, organized boxing and his unusual talent.
He was an excellent technical boxer with solid power and unusual durability. He was stopped only once in his career, in his final fight against a prime Ken Buchanan.
Hall of Fame writer said in an ESPN article that Ortiz “had it all. He was an almost-perfect boxer-fighter: quick, strong, smart and hard-punching, with a swift, sharp left jab.”
Ortiz (61-7-1, 30 KOs) won a junior welterweight title in 1959 but had his greatest success when he moved down to lightweight, a division he dominated for most of the 1960s. He had two title reigns between 1962 and 1968.
His victims were among a who’s who of the best little fighters of the era. Among them: fellow Hall of Famers Duilio Loi (who beat Ortiz in two other fights), Joe Brown, Flash Elorde (twice), Ismael Laguna (against whom he went 2-1) and Sugar Ramos (twice).
And many of his greatest successes occurred in hostile terriotry In addition to the U.S. and Puerto Rico, he fought in Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Panama, the Philippines, Argentina and Mexico.
The late, great boxing writer and historian Bert Randolph Sugar once ranked Ortiz No. 87 on his list of 100 greatest fighters of all time, which was saying something given the thousands of elite fighters who have stepped through the ropes.
That kind of resume and respect gives you an idea why he’s considered one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters of all time, perhaps the greatest.
He certainly was in the class of perhaps more-familiar countrymen Wilfredo Gomez, Felix Trinidad, Hector Camacho, Wilfredo Benitez and Edwin Rosario. The write rGraham ranked him No. 1.
Another Hall of Fame boxing journalist, Hugh McIlvanney, writing in The Observer after Ortiz’s second victory over the great Ismael Laguna, gave Ortiz the ultimate compliment: “[He] demonstrated again that he possesses virtually every attribute required in a professional boxer.”
For the second day in a row, there was an ace on the famous par-3 hole at TPC Scottsdale.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For the second day in a row, there was an ace on the famous par-3 hole at TPC Scottsdale.
The coliseum had gone seven years between aces. Francesco Molinari made a hole-in-one there, the ninth in tournament history, in 2015 before Sam Ryder made the place erupt with his Saturday afternoon ace.
On Sunday, just before lunchtime, Ortiz, who was playing the back nine first, took to the tee box, sized up the green with a pin near the back, and let one fly.
The ball bounces, bounded forward, rolled up close and then dove in from the side.
It’s the now the 11th ace on the hole. It was his third career PGA Tour ace following the 2020 American Express and the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship. It moved Ortiz to 4 under for the day, 10 back of the lead.
And, in case you were wondering, yes, it created another beer-can shower.
Ortiz finished runner-up last week just before his first title defense on Tour.
Carlos Ortiz was running hot heading into his first PGA Tour title defense in this week’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open.
Now he’s no longer in the running for his second PGA Tour title.
Ortiz, who finished runner-up to Viktor Hovland in last week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, withdrew Tuesday from the Houston Open with a left shoulder injury.
Ortiz won his first PGA Tour title last year with rounds of 67-68-67-65 at Memorial Park to finish two shots clear of Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama, who won the next two Masters.
Ortiz, 30, told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio that he was told by doctors on Tuesday to stop playing for at least one month. Ortiz will have an MRI exam. He said he expects to be fully recovered for the start of 2022.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been battling a left shoulder injury since Japan and after meeting with my doctors this morning, it was recommended that I take the rest of the season off to recover,” Ortiz said in a statement. “This is incredibly disappointing to me as I was looking forward to defending my first PGA Tour title in Texas, my second home. I’m honored to be a champion of this event and I look forward to returning next year.”
Ortiz was forced to withdraw from the Zozo Championship in Japan two weeks ago because of the injury. Last week in Mayakoba, he said his shoulder was “sore,” but he was going to grind through it. He still shot 67-65-67-66 to finish second in his home country.
Can Carlos Ortiz follow in Viktor Hovland’s footsteps and defend his title?
After a week in Mexico, the PGA Tour is back state-side for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open. Defending champion Carlos Ortiz returns to Texas in good form, fresh off the heels of a solo runner-up finish to Viktor Hovland at last week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
The biggest name in the field, Brooks Koepka, has struggled so far this season. He missed the cut in Mexico, finished outside the top 35 in a smaller field in Las Vegas and couldn’t break the top 60 at the Shriners. However, Koepka had a great week in Houston last season finishing in a tie for fifth.
Memorial Park Golf Course is a par 70 and will play just over 7,400 yards.
Sam Burns stands on the ninth hole during round three of the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin on October 09, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
In three starts this season, Burns’ worst finish is T-14 (Shriners), and he already has a win at the Sanderson Farms. Last season in Houston, Burns finished T-7. He’ll be expensive for your lineup, but with recent form and tournament history, is worth it if you’re willing to spend.
Cameron Smith (+2000)
Smith is due. Simple as that. He’s been in contention far too many times over the last year with nothing to show for it (FedEx St. Jude, Northern Trust are just a few examples). The Aussie has only one start under his belt this season, but it was a T-9 at the CJ Cup a few weeks ago in Vegas.
Maverick McNealy (+4000)
McNealy is off to a great start this season with three top 25 finishes in five starts including last week in Mexico (T-11). He’s played in the Houston Open each of the last two seasons, both resulting in top 20 finishes.
Scottie Scheffler (+2000)
Scottie Scheffler plays his second shot on the second hole during the first round of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club on August 26, 2021 in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Wouldn’t be right to leave the Texan off this list, right? Scheffler had a solid week south of the border, turning in a solo fourth at Mayakoba. The Ryder Cup rookie has played Memorial Park the last two seasons with mild success (T-28 in 2019, T-32 in 2020).
Matthew Wolff (+3000)
After holding the 18- and 36-hole leads in Mexico last week, a disappointing third-round halted any chances of Wolff capturing his second Tour win. However, the former Oklahoma State star has found his game once again this season with three top 20s in three starts, including two top-fives.
Aaron Wise (+3000)
Wise, like Wolff, is off to a hot start this season – T-8, T-5, and T-15 in his last three events. Last season, Wise finished T-11 at Memorial Park. His only win on Tour came in Texas back at the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson.
Ian Poulter (+9000)
The Englishman had an interesting week down in Mexico. He was in contention on Friday, standing on the 16th tee box 8 under for the week. Thanks to a quadruple-bogey, then a bogey on 17, he missed the cut. A few weeks ago in Vegas, Poulter turned in a top 20 finish, and he won this tournament back in 2018.
Tyrrell Hatton (+3000)
Hatton grabbed a top 20 a few weeks ago at the CJ Cup and made the cut last week in Mexico but was only good enough for a T-40. Last year in Houston, Hatton played great golf finishing T-7.
Russell Henley (+5000)
Henley finished T-56 in Mexico last week, but three of his four rounds were 69 or better (a Saturday 76 was his lone blemish). The Kiawah Island resident won this event back in 2017, but hoisted the trophy at a different golf course. According to Data Golf, Henley’s game fits this track very well, one of the best in this field, actually.
In no specific order.*
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