At Golfweek, we continue to send live bodies on the road at events throughout the year.
Between COVID, advances in technology and myriad other factors, golf beat reporting just isn’t what it once was. Media centers have fewer and fewer members, Zoom calls and transcripts make it easier to keep tabs on players and tournaments from afar and player availability has become increasingly more difficult to secure as many pros (and some college players) are being pulled in numerous directions by sponsors and other responsibilities.
At Golfweek, we continue to send live bodies on the road at events throughout the year — on the PGA Tour, LPGA, LIV, USGA championships, amateur and college events, as well as silly-season tournaments.
Through the hard work of reporters like Adam Schupak, Beth Ann Nichols, Adam Woodard and Cameron Jourdan, we secured a number of great Q&As in 2023 away from the media scrums and online pressers, getting a deeper look at some of the most fascinating personalities that make this game great.
Here’s a look at some of our favorites, in no particular order:
Brush up on your Ryder Cup history with this list of all-time points leaders for Europe and the U.S.
Over its nearly 100-year history the Ryder Cup has featured some impressive performances from the world’s best players, especially since the competition switched to include all of Europe back in 1979.
From Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer to Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods, a handful of players have stood out with their play and find themselves on the all-time points list in the biennial bash.
Of the top 10, six are European players, but when it comes to the top 20 — which includes a handful of active players — the split is right down the middle at 10 a piece.
As the teams of 12 from both the United States and Europe prepare to square off in the next round of matches at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy this week, take a scroll through the all-time points winners in Ryder Cup history from both squads.
Prior to his appearance at the Senior British Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales, Colin Montgomerie discussed his love for the area and his eagerness to play the course.
“Every time I cross that Severn Bridge, the Prince of Wales Bridge, you come to Celtic Manor Resort on the M4, it brings back great memories of our time in Wales and the time I spent in Wales in 2009 and 2010,” he said. “So every time I come back, I relish it, and especially coming to this golf course, as well. This is a damn good golf course, this, damn good golf course. A real test of character and it has a lot of elevation to it.
“But a good test, a good overall test, and we are all looking forward to the challenge of it.”
Suffice it to say Montgomerie did not have the same warm glow as he left the golf course after his final round on Sunday.
Despite sitting at even par through the first two rounds of the tournament, Montgomerie was bludgeoned by wet, windy weather at the course on the weekend. The result was an uncomely 76 on Saturday and then a ghastly 88 on Sunday.
During his final round, the nine-time European Senior Tour winner made the turn at 46, courtesy of four bogeys, two doubles and a triple-bogey seven on the ninth hole.
He carded his lone birdie of the day on the 10th hole, but followed by going 7 over on his final six holes of the day, finishing the back at 42.
The round stirred images of the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills when he shot 14-over 84, then snapped at a reporter who chuckled during one of his answers.
“Make that your last laugh,” the Scotsman said.
Again, this came after Montgomerie showed renewed spirit heading into the event, one in which he said he was ambitious as ever.
Colin Montgomerie says he is “ambitious as ever” at the age of 60 ahead of making his tenth appearance at The Senior Open as he lauded the challenge of host venue Royal Porthcawl ⛳#SeniorOpen
Of course, the conditions weren’t just difficult on the 60-year-old, who previously finished second in this event in 2014 and placed ninth last year as Darren Clarke won at Gleneagles.
In fact, Montgomerie’s 88 didn’t even qualify as the highest score of the day — that honor was reserved for Patrik Sjoland, who finished the day with an 89. All told, 26 players came in with scores of 80 or higher on Sunday. That led some who weren’t playing to enjoy the misery from afar, like Justin Thomas who posted that he couldn’t stop watching.
Not gonna lie, I can’t stop watching the #SeniorOpen… A PROPER links golf weather day. It is absolute carnage for those guys and (I’m sorry) it is fun to watch haha
Colin Montgomerie turns 60 later this year. “Later this year? God, it’s next month. Stop it!” he said with a chuckle.
Colin Montgomerie turns 60 later this year.
“Later this year? God, it’s next month. Stop it!” he said with a chuckle.
Indeed, June 23 is right around the corner but having just come off a third-place tie at the PGA Tour Champions Insperity Invitational in Houston when we talked, Montgomerie isn’t ready to be put out to pasture just yet.
Remarkably, this already is the 10th year on the senior circuit for Monty, who joined the World Golf Hall of Fame a decade ago too, and after years of being Europe’s most devoted star to the home circuit has developed quite the crush on life in America.
Monty is many things —a Ryder Cup hero, Scotland’s finest player since Sandy Lyle, a European Tour stalwart who won eight Order of Merit titles but also never won a major, never won on the PGA Tour, and could throw a tantrum with the best of them.
But this conversation happened fortunately enough on a Wednesday and Montgomerie always was known as “Wonderful on Wednesday” by the media before the birdie and bogey tally swayed his mood one way or the other. In this Q&A with the winner of 31 DP World Tour events, the most of any British player, Monty discusses why he’s in favor of rolling back the golf ball, why Ryder Cup heroes who have departed for LIV Golf shouldn’t be allowed to be captain in the future and you’ll chuckle when you hear which Hall of Fame football coach he gets confused for all the time. The resemblance is striking.
Did Tiger Woods miss an epic chance to say goodbye to competitive golf?
Did Tiger Woods miss an epic chance to say goodbye to competitive golf?
Colin Montgomerie seems to think so.
After making the cut in the first two majors of 2022, Woods took the U.S. Open off to make sure he was ready for St. Andrews and the 150th playing of the Open Championship.
Woods won two of his 15 majors at the Old Course and provided golf fans with one of the major subplots in the final major of the year.
Montgomerie certainly wasn’t alone in his thoughts that perhaps there’d be no better place for Woods to say farewell. Speaking on the Bunkered podcast, Montgomerie said:
“That was the time. Stand on that bridge, start waving, and everyone goes, ‘So, is that it?’ Yeah, it is. It would have been a glorious way to go. The stands were full, the world’s TV cameras—from all continents—were on him, he’s walking up there on his own, tears were in his eyes obviously You can’t beat that walk. I’ve done it myself. When the stands are full, you cannot beat that walk.”
Montgomerie also said he doesn’t see Woods winning any more tournaments.
“I can’t see that happening. I’d love it to happen because it’s great for the game. I would love him to win. But I just can’t see it happening.”
Woods did return to semi-competition at The Match, playing alongside Rory McIlroy. He’ll team up with his son Charlie at the 2022 PNC Championship.
“The goal is to play just the major championships and maybe one or two more. That’s it,” he said. “Physically, that’s all I can do. I told you that, guys, you know, the beginning of this year, too. I mean, I don’t have much left in this leg, so gear up for the biggest ones and hopefully, you know, lightning catches in a bottle and I’m up there in contention with a chance to win and hopefully I remember how to do that.”
The only problem the Saturday magic created was a need for more candy.
Colin Montgomerie knows a thing or two about winning golf tournaments in inclement Scottish weather.
He also knows when it’s time to take advice from others who also know plenty about winning big golf tournaments.
On Saturday, as wet weather made for a miserable day at the Gleneagles Hotel’s Kings Course in Auchterader, Montgomerie and his caddie tried to lighten the mood by chatting with Padraig Harrington about, of all things, candy.
“We were talking to Pádraig Harrington about jelly babies, actually, and we decided to eat jelly babies on the back nine, the best food for everything, apparently,” Montgomerie said. “I thought, oh, he’s won a few majors so we thought we would do the jelly baby trick today.”
The move paid dividends. Montgomerie finished with birdies on his final three holes of the day and while others struggled to deal with the wet conditions, his 68 pulled him within striking distance of the leaders heading into the final day. He’s at 6 under for the tournament, three shots behind leader Paul Broadhurst and two behind Jerry Kelly, Steven Alker and Darren Clarke.
The only problem the Saturday magic created was a need for more candy.
“Wow, the jelly babies worked. So we’re into Auchterarder and come into Auchterarder to buy a load of jelly babies to keep us going for tomorrow because the weather is going to be iffy tomorrow. So we’ll see how we go,” he said. “I said at the start of the week, I wanted to contend and not just compete. And now, we’re beginning to think we’re contending, you know. So we’ll see how we go.”
Montgomerie —who confirmed to reporters that he had a brief stay in a local hospital on Thursday, but didn’t elaborate on the reason — insisted he didn’t do much differently on the final few holes, aside from getting his putter rolling. And he said last week’s championship performance by Cameron Smith on the greens at St. Andrews should shed light on the strategy for success this week.
“The putter … that’s all it is, isn’t it? Hit it to 20-foot at 16th and holed it, 15-foot at 17th and holed it, and a good putt there at the last. It broke a mile. It broke a good 8-footer at the last,” he said. “But you know, you miss these, you shoot 71. You hole them, and you shoot 68. How often do we say this? How often do we say we’re going to hit the ball — everyone out here can hit the ball. Everyone can stand on the range and hit the ball. But it’s all about what happens on the greens.
“And look who won last week, the best putter in the world probably right now, Cam Smith. And who won The Open? THE best putter. That’s what it’s about. If I can hole putts tomorrow, if I can get the damn thing in the hole tomorrow, there’s a chance. You never know.”
Couples, a former World No. 1 who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013, won in Naples in 2010 and 2017.
NAPLES, Fla. — The Chubb Classic added a couple of booms to its field Monday.
Two-time champion Fred Couples (whose nickname is Boom Boom) was announced along with four other World Golf Hall-of-Famers, bringing the total to nine playing in the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO next week.
Davis Love III, Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal and Ian Woosnam were the others, joining previously announced Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Bernhard Langer, and Colin Montgomerie. Langer has won the event, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary, a record three times.
They will join a 78-player field competing in the first full-field event of the 2022 PGA Tour Champions season, Feb. 18-20, for a share of a $1.6 million purse. Players have until 5 p.m. ET this Friday to commit. Golf Channel will televise all three rounds of play.
“We are excited about the strong field of World Golf Hall-of-Fame members and major champions who will be joining us to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO,” said Sandy Diamond, executive director of the Chubb Classic, in a release. “This world-class field will give our great fans the opportunity to watch up close so many legends of the game competing on one of the best destination golf courses in the country in Tiburón Golf Club.”
Couples, a former World No. 1 who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013, won in Naples in 2010 and 2017. He has 13 Champions victories, including two major championships. Couples is a three-time winning captain for U.S. Presidents Cup teams and a two-time U.S. Ryder Cup team vice-captain. He accumulated 15 PGA Tour victories, including the 1992 Masters and two Players Championships.
Love, a 21-time winner on the PGA Tour including the 1997 PGA Championship and 1992 and 2003 Players Championships, will be making his 2022 PGA Tour Champions season debut. A two-time U.S Ryder Cup captain, Love was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.
Lyle, a 2012 Hall-of-Fame inductee, is a two-time major champion – 1985 Open and 1998 Masters – as well as the 1987 Players Champion. He has 30 professional wins worldwide and topped the European Tour’s Order of Merit in 1979, 1980 and 1985.
Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion (1994 and 1999) has recorded 30 professional wins worldwide and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. A seven-time European Ryder Cup team member, Olazábal captained the European Ryder Cup team’s comeback in 2012, eventually defeating the U.S. 14½ to 13½.
Woosnam, a former World No. 1, has accumulated over 50 worldwide victories during his Hall-of-Fame career, including 29 on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) and the 1991 Masters. He joined Love III as a 2017 Hall-of-Fame inductee.
The 2021 Chubb Classic was played last April at The Black Course at Tiburón Golf Club, where Steve Stricker captured his sixth PGA Tour Champions victory by one stroke over Robert Karlsson and Alex Cejka. Tiburón is the only club to host a PGA Tour, LPGA and PGA Tour Champions event in the same calendar year.
Chubb Classic 2022 ticket options
There are four ticket options for fans:
Good-Any-One Day Grounds — $25. General admission daily grounds, valid Thursday, Feb. 17 (Pro-Am), and Friday-Sunday, Feb. 18-20 (tournament rounds).
Legends Lounge 17th Green Suite — $125 per day. Private luxury suite offering exclusive views of the 17th green. Includes hot appetizers, afternoon snacks, soft drinks and cash bar.
ULTRA Club 18th Green Suite — $400 per day. Private luxury suite overlooking the 18th green. Includes premium full lunch buffet, open bar and valet parking.
Montgomerie’s memories of Valderrama are fonder than Furyk’s, for certain.
A fine bogey-free afternoon of golf in the Pacific Northwest had Colin Montgomerie waxing poetic about playing partner and former Ryder Cup adversary Jim Furyk after the second round of the PGA Tour Champions’ Boeing Classic.
After posting a 67 on Saturday, Montgomerie sat a single stroke behind leader Woody Austin and tied for second with Furyk, someone he’s appreciated for decades.
“I enjoyed playing with Jim Furyk, I must admit. A gentleman and someone I’ve admired for many, many years since we first came across Jim in ’97 at Valderrama at the Ryder Cup and I’ve always admired his game and it’s great to play with him here in America,” Montgomerie said.
“I look forward to (the final round) really. I’m going to play with Jim again, I believe, so yeah, I enjoy playing with him and Fluff — lovely fellow. We’ve gotten on for many years.”
Montgomerie’s memories of Valderrama—where the Europeans edged the Americans, 14½ to 13½, to retain the Ryder Cup—are fonder than Furyk’s, for certain. In fact, Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer defeated Furyk and Lee Janzen in the afternoon foursome on Saturday, a pivotal point for the Europeans. Montgomerie had previously teamed with Langer on Friday to down Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara, 5 and 3, in a statement victory.
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Furyk, meanwhile, only managed a single point in his three opportunities, winning a singles match against Nick Faldo 3 and 2 on Sunday.
As for the final round of play at the Boeing, Montgomerie would love to snap a drought that stretches back to 2019 when he captured the Champions’ Invesco QQQ Championship in a playoff over Langer.
When asked if he’d forgotten how to win, the 31-time European Tour champ said he plans on digging deep in his memory.
“Let’s hope not, eh? Let’s hope not. If I don’t win tomorrow, I’ll have forgotten how to do it, how’s that, you know? But what the hell, it’s great to come here, a long way from home, you know, from London,” he said. “We flew over here on Tuesday to Seattle direct and long way, so I’m glad I’m making a run anyway and I look forward to (Sunday).”
And as for picking out a target, a specific player he thinks he’ll have to beat? Montgomerie said Furyk is that person.
“Jim’s the guy. Jim’s very, very steady and doesn’t do anything wrong,” Montgomerie said. “He’s the guy to beat, but if I can hole out, I have a chance.”
Here’s a look at a few players to watch this week at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, which will be played on the club’s Black Course.
The field of the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO is filled with World Golf Hall of Famers, major champions, and those who have made their names on the Champions Tour.
Tiburón had 27 holes, then an additional nine were added, with the Black Course opening in 2002, four years after the Gold. The fourth nine joined with the old South Course to become the Black Course. The North and West became the Gold Course.
Marty Schottenheimer once circumvented Royal Troon golf secretary James Montgomerie, father of PGA and European tour star Colin Montgomerie.
Marty Schottenheimer once circumvented legendary Royal Troon golf secretary James Montgomerie, father of PGA and European tour star Colin Montgomerie, to get a tee time for himself and two team executives.
Also, in a friendly invitational golf event, Schottenheimer literally willed his ball over a creek and onto the green when he refused to lay up like everyone else.
“The ball looked like it was on a trajectory to land dead square in the middle of the creek,” former Browns executive vice president/administration Jim Bailey said Tuesday. “And Marty goes running up the fairway yelling, ‘Get over, you S.O.B!’ And it cleared! It was like the ball responded to him.”
The former NFL coach Schottenheimer, who passed away Monday at age 77 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, had that effect on people as well. The Browns have been to the playoffs 12 times since 1970 and four of those appearances came under Schottenheimer, including two consecutive AFC Championship games in 1986 and ‘87. He also coached the Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins.
Those who worked with Schottenheimer in Cleveland saw the true measure of his competitiveness when he was away from the team’s Baldwin Wallace headquarters.
Bailey laughed through a long story about Schottenheimer getting an offseason gig at a clinic in England on how to coach American football and negotiating a golf trip to Scotland as part of the deal.
He’d twice taken his assistants to coach in the Senior Bowl in Hawaii, a perk given to the staff that lost the AFC Championship. So Schottenheimer decided Bailey and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ernie Accorsi would go with him to Scotland.
“I’m a bad golfer, Ernie’s a good golfer and of course Marty was not going to let a golf ball beat him,” Bailey, now retired, said in a phone interview from Denver.
Bailey belonged to a club at the time and said the golf pro offered to call ahead and set things up, but Schottenheimer insisted they were all set.
Sep 28, 1986; Cleveland Browns head coach Marty Schottenheimer on the sideline against the Detroit Lions at Cleveland Stadium. Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Choice morning tee times were already taken, but darkness doesn’t fall during the summer in Scotland until 11 p.m. Bailey learned just what “all set” meant in Schottenheimer’s world.
Bailey said they would get up early in the morning, Schottenheimer would put on a coat and tie, and they would drive to the course they wanted to play that day.
“Marty would go in and talk to the pro and say, ‘I’m Marty Schottenheimer, head coach of the Cleveland Browns.’ He had this whole routine lined up and he’d talk our way onto the golf course,” Bailey said.
The plan didn’t work at Troon.
“We go to Troon and the pro said, ‘I just sell golf balls, you’ve got to talk to the golf secretary,’” Bailey said. “We walk in, there’s this huge man with mutton chop sideburns, blue blazer with red lapels, glasses down on his nose. Marty goes through his whole routine and the guy looks down at his book and runs his finger down that thing and looks up and says, ‘No.’ It was Colin Montgomerie’s father.”
Of course, the stubborn Schottenheimer was undeterred by the elder Montgomerie, who worked at Troon for nearly 60 years, presided over two British Opens and eventually became the club’s president.
The trio drove into the village to seek out a shopkeeper Schottenheimer had played with at Sharon Golf Club in Sharon Center, Ohio, during the man’s buddy trip to the United States.
The 123 yard par 3, 8th hole named the ‘Postage Stamp’ at Royal Troon.
“He goes in and gets the shopkeeper to take us out as his guests to play at Troon,” Bailey said. “And as we walked by Mr. Montgomerie, Marty thumbed his nose at him.”
The threesome also played St. Andrews, Western Gailes and Prestwick, the site of the first British Open.
“It was kind of a ratty place and the caddies seemed a little sketchy,” Bailey said of Prestwick. “About the second hole, Ernie comes over and says, ‘Hey, those guys are rifling through our bags.’ Every third hole one of us didn’t play, we stayed with the caddies to protect our stuff.”
Then San Diego Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer has a word with wide receiver Vincent Jackson during training camp at Chargers Park. Photo By Stan Liu-USA TODAY Sports.
Bailey said he last saw Schottenheimer at former Browns owner Art Modell’s funeral in 2012. But as Schottenheimer’s family released word last week that the former Browns coach had been moved to hospice, stories came flooding back for Bailey.
He chuckled over the “friendly invitational” held by a friend of Bailey’s in the insurance business that Schottenheimer was determined to win, how the ball responded to his urging and made over the creek.
But for Bailey, the Scotland trip remains his favorite time with Schottenheimer, even if Bailey saw little of Schottenheimer on the course.
“I’d be trying to hack my way out of the gorse and I’d look up and I’d see Ernie’s head sticking out of a pot bunker and Marty would be on the green lining up his putt,” Bailey said. “We never played a shot together other than the tee shot.”
Marla Ridenour is a columnist for the Akron Beacon-Journal, part of the USA Today Network. She can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.
