Tag: Corey Conners

From a bachelor trip ‘reset’ to Patton Kizzire’s comfortable lead, here are 5 things to know from the 2024 Procore Championship

Catch up on Saturday’s action here.

While most eyes were glued to the Solheim Cup in Virginia, PGA Tour action continued Saturday at the 2024 Procore Championship across Silverado Resort’s North Course. And with 18 holes left to play in Napa, California, the leaderboard is cluttered behind the man up top.

Patton Kizzire, who entered Moving Day in pole position, is alone in first at 18 under after a 5-under 67.

David Lipsky is his closest pursuer at 14 under, while Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes — both players are members of the International Team for the Presidents Cup — are part of a group of four at 13 under, five back.

“(I) made some really nice putts coming down the stretch and hung in there and kept myself in it and that’s all I can ask for when I don’t have my A-game from tee to green.” Lipsky said of his day.

Defending champion Sahith Theegala is 12 under through 54 holes and is tied for seventh.

If you missed any of Saturday’s action, no worries, we have you covered. Here are five things to know from the third round of the Procore Championship.

Procore: Best merchandise | Photos | Leaderboard

Patton Kizzire builds a comfy cushion

Patton Kizzire of the United States hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during the third round of the Procore Championship 2024 at Silverado Resort on September 14, 2024 in Napa, California. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

Kizzire was in the driver’s seat entering Saturday’s third round and got off to a hot start with three straight birdies on Nos. 3-5. Even better, he chipped in for a clutch par on the seventh after missing the green with his tee shot and second.

After making the turn with a 3-under 32, Kizzire three-putted for bogey on the 10th but got the shot right back with a lengthy birdie make on the 11th.

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Two birdies later (Nos. 15 and 17), Kizzire signed for his 67 that was aided heavily by his putter — he ranked second on Saturday in SG: Putting.

“This (course) is very similar to Sony,” he said. “This course has a little more undulation on the greens. The greens were fantastic. The maintenance crew has done a fantastic job, the agronomy team has done a fantastic job. They’re rolling really nice. I’m seeing the greens well and putting it on the line, it’s holding. This is a golf course I really enjoy playing and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Kizzire, who entered the week with three missed cuts in his previous five starts to end the season, hasn’t won since the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Mackenzie Hughes is dialed for Presidents Cup

Mackenzie Hughes of Canada hits his tee shot on the seventh hole during the third round of the Procore Championship 2024 at Silverado Resort on September 14, 2024 in Napa, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

In a few weeks, Mackenzie Hughes will head to his home country of Canada for the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club. Hughes is one of the 12 members of the International Team, and he’s getting dialed in for the biennial event by contending at the Procore.

After opening with a 2-under 70 on Thursday, Hughes has now posted rounds of 67-66 and is tied for third, five back of the lead.

The Canadian, who hasn’t won since the 2022 Sanderson Farms, made three birdies on each half of Silverado Resort’s North Course, gaining nearly 3½ strokes with his iron play (first in Strokes Gained: Approach). If his putter cooperated a bit better, his round could have been special.

“I actually — I had a lot of chances,” he said. “I felt like — I’m not sure what my strokes gained approach would have been today, but I felt I had a lot of close looks that I wasn’t able to convert.”

If the flat-stick heats up on Sunday, watch out for Hughes.

Corey Conners continues to roll

Corey Conners of Canada hits his tee shot on the seventh hole during the third round of the Procore Championship 2024 at Silverado Resort on September 14, 2024 in Napa, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Like Hughes, Conners will don the black and gold at the Presidents Cup for the International Team — Hughes, Conners and Taylor Pendrith are the three Canadians playing at Royal Montreal.

In 22 starts this season, Conners never missed a weekend. That’s a lot of money, but what he failed to do was win.

That could change Sunday with a special round as he sits at 13 under in a tie for third thanks to rounds of 73-64-66.

After making the turn with a 2-under 33, Conners made four birdies on his final six holes to catapult up the leaderboard.

Like it has been all year, Conners’ tee-to-green game was outstanding on Day 3 — he ranked fourth in both SG: Off the Tee and Approach.

International Team captain Mike Weir must like what he’s seeing from Hughes and Conners.

Wilson Furr credits bachelor trip for ‘reset’

Wilson Furr of the United States hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the Procore Championship 2024 at Silverado Resort on September 14, 2024 in Napa, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

It was a tough 2023-24 Tour season for Furr. In 18 starts, he made just four cuts with his best finish coming at the Texas Children’s Houston Open where he tied for 36th.

But over the break — his last Tour start came at the Wyndham Championship, the final event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs — Furr went on his bachelor trip and credited it for a much-needed reset.

“I had my bachelor trip over the break and I felt like it was an amazing reset,” Furr said. “We went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, went fly fishing and exploring Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Yeah, I think that was about as good a reset as I could ask for. Got to see a lot of my friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.”

And how’d the fishing go?

“Sick. We crushed it.”

He also crushed it on the course Saturday, firing a 8-under 64. Furr made five birdies on the front nine before making the turn and adding another on the 16th. He also made an eagle at the par-5 15th after his 216-yard approach shot finished less than three feet from the hole.

Furr will enter the final round in a tie for seventh at 12 under, six back of the lead.

Procore Championship top 10, odds to win

Position Player Score Odds to win
1 Patton Kizzire 18 under (-110)
2 David Lipsky 14 under (+1200)
T-3 Mackenzie Hughes 13 under (+1100)
T-3 Greyson Sigg 13 under (+2200)
T-3 Corey Conners 13 under (+650)
T-3 Patrick Fishburn 13 under (+1400)
T-7 Wilson Furr 12 under (+6500)
T-7 Ben Silverman 12 under (+3500)
T-7 Sahith Theegala 12 under (+1100)
T-10 Chez Reavie 11 under (+11000)
T-10 Justin Lower 11 under (+7500)

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The Olympics are little more than a club championship for this exclusive Florida golf club

The club has eight members competing at the Olympics: six in the men’s field and two in the women’s.

JUPITER, Florida – Most private golf clubs would be thrilled to have a member play in the Olympics, so you can imagine the excitement level at The Dye Preserve when the Olympics men’s golf competition in Paris starts Thursday.

The Dye has eight members competing at the Olympics the next two weeks: six in the men’s field – 10 percent of the 60-player field at Le Golf National − and two in the women’s event that starts Aug. 7.

Safe to say no other golf club in the U.S. is more represented in the Olympics than the Dye.

“It will be awesome to see all the pals in the field this week,” said France’s Matthieu Pavon, a Dye member who gets the rare opportunity to compete at the Olympics in his home country.

“The chance to represent your country in your country for the Olympics is something you dream about, even though you’re not sure it can really happen in your life. But to play alongside all the Dye members makes it even more special.”

Joining Pavon at Le Golf National, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup, will be fellow Dye members Joaquin Niemann and Mito Pereira of Chile, Alex Noren of Sweden, Corey Conners of Canada and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico.

More: USA Today’s 2024 Olympics hub | How to watch | Full men’s field | Full women’s field

All but Pavon played in the pandemic-delayed Olympic golf competition in Tokyo in 2021. Pereira lost a seven-man playoff for the bronze medal (it went to C.T. Pan), Niemann was 10th, a shot out of the playoff, Connors was T13, Noren T14 and Ortiz T42.

“It’s cool, but that’s what happens when you have so many top golfers living in Jupiter,” said Noren, who played for the winning European Ryder Cup team at Le Golf National in 2018. “There are so many great players living here and joining places like Dye Preserve and the Bear’s Club.”

Olympics: Golf-Mens
Alex Noren of Sweden tees off on the sixteenth hole during round three of the men’s individual stroke play of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Kasumigaseki Country Club. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Dye almost had another Olympian: Palm Beach Gardens resident Cristobal Del Solar was the second-highest ranked Chilean behind Niemann to earn a spot in the elite field, but he turned it down because he was among the top players on the Korn Ferry Tour trying to earn his PGA Tour card for the first time. When he was 17th on the KFT points list (the top 30 receive cards) at the June 17 Olympic deadline, he decided to give his spot to fellow Chilean and Dye member Pereira because he was the next-ranked Chilean in the world rankings

What happened next? Del Solar won a KFT event two weeks ago to clinch his PGA Tour card. But it was too late to get back in the Olympic field. Del Solar seemed to be OK with missing out on his first Olympic experience.

“My main goal this year is to get my PGA Tour card,” Del Solar said this spring after he became the first player to shoot a 57 in a PGA-Tour sanctioned event.

Pereira was happy to get this break. The golfing gods owed him one after he double-bogeyed the final hole to lose the 2022 PGA Championship by a shot.

“Cristobal and I had talked about it several times, and he said he wanted to get to a certain number of points to get his PGA Tour card,” Pereira said. “I think it was very smart of him to make that decision.”

Mito Pereira (CHI) tees off on the fifth hole during round one of the men’s individual stroke play of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Kasumigaseki Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Dye’s Olympic contingent split among PGA Tour, LIV Golf

The Dye’s Olympic contingent is a diverse group. Three of them play on the PGA Tour (Pavon, Noren and Conners) and the other half play on LIV Golf (Niemann, Pereira and Ortiz). Niemann leads the LIV money list with $14,231,167 after winning twice this year and finishing co-runner-up Sunday to Jon Rahm in London.

Instead of piling up more green, Niemann is instead concentrating on acquiring gold, silver or bronze in Paris. Unlike his previous Olympic experience, there will be no restrictions because of the pandemic.

“Obviously, I enjoyed a lot being in Japan the last Olympics, and being able to be in another Olympics representing my country and knowing more people will be watching is more special,” Niemann said. “I’m excited to be there in Paris and represent my country.”

There is an extra incentive for LIV players in the Olympics: The winner earns a spot in next year’s four major championships (as well as world ranking points). There is no prize money, although individual countries pay a stipend to medal-winning athletes.

Meanwhile, Dye members Azahara Munoz of Spain and Gaby Lopez of Mexico are competing in the women’s Olympic competition.

2024 Sony Open in Hawaii odds and picks to win at this week’s PGA Tour stop

Waialae could be the perfect fit for Matt Fitzpatrick.

After a fantastic 2024 opener at The Sentry, the PGA Tour heads to Honolulu for the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club. While it’s not a signature event, this year’s field boasts plenty of star power.

Defending champion Si Woo Kim is joined by Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg, Tyrrell Hatton, Sahith Theegala, Brian Harman and Justin Rose. After a final-round 7-under 66 in Maui, Kim tied for 25th at The Sentry.

Will Zalatoris is also in the field and will be making his first official Tour start since withdrawing prior to the 2023 Masters. He did tee it up at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in December, finishing last in the 20-man field.

The Sentry winner Chris Kirk will be a name to watch this week. In ’23, Kirk finished solo third, and in ’21 he grabbed a share of second. Overall, Kirk has five top-10 finishes — four of which are top-5s — at the Sony.

Former world No. 1s Lydia Ko, Jason Day win inaugural 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational

The new silly season event in Florida was a hit for both the LPGA and PGA Tour.

NAPLES, Fla. – With partner Jason Day in the bunker, Lydia Ko stepped up with a 3-wood into the wind from 203 yards and struck the shot of the day on the par-5 17th, essentially locking up the victory at the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational.

“That is so nice,” marveled Day as the ball tracked through the air.

The two former No. 1s joined forces to top the mixed-team field, earning $1 million, or $500,000 each. The final round featured a new modified four-ball format in which both players teed off from their respective tees and then switched for the second shot, playing that ball for the remainder of the hole.

Ko and Day came into the penultimate hole at Tiburon Golf Club knotted with Canadians Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners – playing two groups ahead – at 25 under. While Ko didn’t manage to convert the eagle putt, the closing birdie put them one shot ahead going into the last. They parred the 18th to finish with a 6-under 66 and win by one with a 26-under 190 total.

“I don’t think I’ve seen so many female junior golfers out at an event,” said Day, “especially a PGA Tour event, as I did see them this week.

“This is something that I think we have to keep striving towards.”

The victory at Tiburon was a special kind of vindication for Ko, who failed to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in 2023 after winning the event the year prior.

“As soon as it came off the club face, I was like, I think it’s good, please be good, and it was heading right towards the pin,” said Ko. “I don’t think I could have hit that shot 100 times and it would turn out better.”

A self-described introvert, Ko admitted to being particularly nervous coming into this week having never met Day, who is 10 years older. Day said they’ll now leave Naples lifelong friends.

Major champion Karen Stupples, who follows the LPGA all season working for Golf Channel/NBC, commented after Saturday’s round of 6-under 66 in alternate shot that Ko’s game looked as good as she’d seen it all year.

Ko spent some time with Jin Young Ko’s instructor Siwoo Lee at a couple points this season and again, as Golf Channel analyst Morgan Pressel reported, last week at Lake Nona. Pressel said that Ko’s swing looked less manufactured at Tiburon and that she appeared to be thinking less mechanics.

Ko noted that she’d won her first event of the season on the Ladies European Tour in Saudi Arabia and the final one here at Tiburon. She’d like to cut out everything in between.

“I’m just trying to keep it really simple,” said Ko, “and the less manipulation I can do, the better, and I think I have a better understanding of my swing and my tendencies.”

At No. 19 in the world, Day was the highest-ranked PGA Tour player in the field at Tiburon while Ko ranked 11th. Ko has 19 LPGA titles, including two majors, while Day owns 13 PGA Tour victories, including one major.

Day called it a mostly stress-free victory, noting that he had full confidence that Ko would step up in the end. The Kiwi delivered.

“She actually has a very strong champion mentality,” said Day. “When you’re out there talking to her, and you’re sitting there and you’re thinking, oh, you got a bad bounce or this and that, it’s never like, you’re right, I got a bad bounce or it went up against the lip … she’s always looking forward.”

Earlier this season, Day broke a five-year victory drought at the AT&T Byron Nelson and then later welcomed his fifth child with wife Ellie. With the whole brood on hand in Naples, Day joked that he and Tony Finau were fighting for strokes gained kids on the PGA Tour.

“When you win, and you’ll experience this one day when you have children yourself and you’re still playing,” Day said, turning toward Ko, “there’s nothing quite like having children run up to you after you win a tournament just because of all the emotions start to come out just because you can see how much your children love you and want to be there for you.

“Every time I get to experience that, it fills me. I’m just very grateful for that.”

Newlywed Ko, who has long said she’d be retired by 30, smiled and told Day that maybe she’d someday get that experience at a club championship.

Henderson and Conners, boosted by a pair of eagles, finished with a 9-under 63 on Sunday. A stalled-out finish of three pars to close the round – including the par-5 17th – kept the pair out of the winner’s circle.

“I was able to play with a lot of freedom knowing I had Brooke to back me up,” said Conners, who holed out for eagle on the par-4 ninth. “Yeah, it was so much fun. Just so impressed with her game.”

Madelene Sagstrom and Ludvig Aberg put together the round of the day on Sunday – a 12-under 60 – to vault up the board into solo third at 24 under. The Swedish pair have the same swing coach, and Sagstrom’s fiance is on Aberg’s bag.

The familiar duo spiced things up even more inside the ropes with some side bets. Sagstrom said she ended the round down $20.

“Personally, I’ve struggled a little bit with foursomes,” said Sagstrom, “both in Solheim Cups and in general. I think it’s kind of hard when you really don’t want to screw up someone else. “I felt comfortable today.”

Sagstrom echoed the thoughts of many this week when she that said outside-the-box events are what’s needed to grow the game.

“Lexi did get a bigger cheer than Rickie did on the tee box yesterday, and I take pride in that,” said Sagstrom. “It’s just been a great week to show off our games – even compared to each other.”

World No. 1 Lilia Vu had her visor signed by partner Joel Dahmen and his caddie after their closing 63. The camaraderie shone through for many teams who met in person for the first time in Naples.

“Our team’s going to have more fun than everyone else,” Dahmen promised at the start of the week, “that’s the No. 1 thing.”

They’re already talking about next year.

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What can male amateurs learn from watching the LPGA? PGA Tour players weigh in at Grant Thornton Invitational

“Other than everything? Their poise is incredible,” said Nick Taylor.

NAPLES, Fla. – There are new fans out at Tiburon Golf Club for this week’s Grant Thornton Invitational. In fact, tournament officials say ticket sales and concession sales at the same venue as the QBE Shootout have more than doubled since the format changed this year to a mixed-team event.

Hospitality for the 16-team event and Saturday’s concert on the Tiburon driving range sold out.

That was always the hope, of course, that putting the PGA Tour and LPGA together would draw more interest.

For many PGA Tour players, this marks the first time they’ve teed it up in competition with an elite LPGA player, and it’s been an eye-opening experience.

Those who follow the women’s game closely have long said that male amateur players can learn more from watching the LPGA than the PGA Tour because it’s a more relatable game.

Golfweek asked several PGA Tour players in the field what they think male amateur players can learn from the women and aside from “everything,” here’s what they said:

5 sleeper picks for the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship

It’s time to make a run in Memphis.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings have made their way to Memphis, Tennessee, for the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, this season’s first playoff event.

It’s no surprise to see world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler as the heavy betting favorite at +650. Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, Nos. 3 and 1 on the points list, respectively, are next in line at +900 to win. The Spaniard tied for fifth in Memphis last season while the other two missed the cut.

There’s plenty of star power in the field this week, but that doesn’t mean someone further down the odds list can’t make a run at the title.

Here are five sleeper picks to keep an eye on at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

FedEx St. Jude: Odds, picks to win

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History in the making, a stellar PGA Tour debut and a wonky finishing hole highlight Thursday’s action at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open

Here’s what you missed from the first round of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.

NORTH YORK, Ontario – The RBC Canadian Open, established in 1904, is the second-oldest non-major on the PGA Tour schedule behind the BMW Championship, which dates back to 1899.

This week, some of the PGA Tour’s best are getting a first look at Oakdale Golf and Country Club, as the course hosts the event for the first time and becomes the first new venue for the Canadian Open since 2002.

Two-time defending champion Rory McIlroy called the course good, but also penal if you miss fairways. Justin Rose called it “quirky.”

Despite the unconventional setup – the par-5 18th is forcing most players to tee off with an iron, but more on that later – and inclement weather in the afternoon, players went low and produced a bunched leaderboard after Thursday’s opening round.

From history in the making to stellar Tour debut and more, here’s what you missed from the first round of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.

Four tied for early 2023 RBC Canadian Open lead as players get back to business after PGA Tour bombshell

Conners is looking to become the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954.

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NORTH YORK, Ontario – Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose were grouped together for the opening round of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open and walking down the first fairway the pair made a deal: no talk about the PGA Tour’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund until lunch.

“Rosie and I said, ‘All right, no chatting until lunch so that we can actually concentrate on what we’re doing out there,” said McIlroy, the event’s two-time defending champion who shot a 1-under 71 at Oakdale Golf and Country Club. “So it was nice to play a round of golf and focus on something else for those five hours we were out there.”

After fighting for professional golf supremacy for more than a year now, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan shocked the sports world with the news that the Tour would be partnering with the PIF, the very group it was countersuing amid its struggle with LIV Golf. With the PIF as its sole funder, the upstart circuit has long been criticized as a way for Saudi Arabia to sportswash its controversial human rights record, which includes accusations of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

And while the dust has far from settled on the announcement of the new deal that may shake up professional golf as we know it, it was back to business as usual for the PGA Tour on Thursday in Canada, where the people were just as welcoming as the golf course (so long as you’re in the fairway).

After the early wave of the first round of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, four players are tied for the lead after taking advantage of calm conditions on Thursday morning at Oakdale Golf and Country Club. Playing in his national open for the seventh time, Corey Conners fired a bogey-free 5-under 67 and sits atop the leaderboard alongside Aaron Rai, Justin Lower and Chesson Hadley.

Conners is looking to become the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954, a drought that Mike Weir nearly ended in 2004 before his playoff loss to Vijay Singh. David Hearn had a two-shot lead in the final round in 2015 as late as the 15th hole, but ultimately lost out to Jason Day. A year later, amateur Jared du Toit was a shot back on Sunday before finishing T-9, three behind winner Jhonattan Vegas.

RBC Canadian Open: Photos

“I think golf is a funny game. It’s very different on a day-to-day basis,” said Rai, who has missed four of his last five cuts on Tour. “But it’s funny, the more you try and force it and impose it on coming days, the less it seems to happen. So we’ll definitely take the positives and just try and approach the rounds with the right kind of mindset. Stay patient. Just see what happens, really.

“I’ve been really working hard on driving it better. I’ve driven it like crap all year,” added Lower. “Just really trying to get the ball in the fairway. Especially around this place with the rough being so thick.”

“Course is good. It’s penal,” echoed McIlroy. “If you miss fairways the rough is very, very thick … I certainly hit a few loose shots and got myself out of position, and the golf course does start to get quite tricky from there. So need to do a better job of just putting my ball in play off the tee. Then from there the golf course is still quite scorable.”

While he isn’t at the top of the leaderboard, one of the stars of the day was rookie Ludvig Aberg, who is making his pro debut this week after finishing atop the PGA Tour University rankings and earning a Tour card for the rest of the season. The Texas Tech product began his professional career 4 under on the front nine before signing for a 3-under 69.

“I was nervous. I mean, I think it would have been weird if I wasn’t nervous,” said Aberg of his emotions on the first tee. “But I tried to embrace it. I tried to view it as something fun.”

“I’m super fortunate to be in this position, to actually get my Tour card,” said the 23-year-old from Eslov, Sweden. “I’m just going to be prepared to play a lot of golf. Play as much as I can, get as many points as I can and kind of see where that takes me.”

Betrayed and confused: PGA Tour players sound off on weird vibe at 2023 RBC Canadian Open after major PGA Tour news

“Part of me doesn’t feel like I really should be here right now … this just feels kind of weird.”

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NORTH YORK, Ontario – Wednesday on the PGA Tour was just different this week.

Sure, there were a handful of press conferences and a pro-am for the 2023 RBC Canadian here at Oakdale Golf and Country Club, and while players like two-time defending champion Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar and the Canadian contingent competing in their national open desperately want to keep the attention on the tournament, for many in the field of 156 players, the event isn’t their main focus.

On Tuesday the PGA Tour announced the formation of a new golf entity alongside the DP World Tour and with the backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which had been funding LIV Golf, a rival upstart circuit that has been a thorn in the Tour’s side for more than a year now. The vibe around the course on Wednesday was just flat-out weird, a sentiment echoed by the handful of players willing to talk about the news of the week. It’s not that players refused to speak, they just didn’t know what to say.

“I wish I knew more synonyms, but I would say somber,” said Harry Higgs. “Not in like a death in the family somber, but it’s a little difficult to go about business as usual … Part of me doesn’t feel like I really should be here right now, not that I should leave the tournament, this just feels kind of weird.”

“From the sounds of it, it was something that (PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan) thought about and couldn’t avoid. So it does distract you,” said Mackenzie Hughes. “I mean, I’m answering a question now about something that’s not really pertaining to this week or this championship … but once we get through today and we get going tomorrow, I think that the focus will be on the RBC Canadian Open and that’s where it should be.”

2023 RBC Canadian Open
Mackenzie Hughes plays a shot during the pro-am ahead of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open. (Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)

Fans and even players are learning about the new entity on the fly, and the press release offered little concrete information. What we know is all pending litigation between the Tour and LIV has vanished, and if approved, players would be united once again. Current PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will be the CEO, while Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, will be the chair of the board. The PIF will also be the sole investor and has right of first refusal for new money coming in.

“Sports is business and it’s big business. It’s hard to turn somebody away when they want to invest in what you do,” said Higgs. “There are certainly reasons why you could turn this investor away, many reasons, but eventually the dollar wins out.”

With the PIF as its sole funder, LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for Saudi Arabia to sportswash its controversial human rights record, which includes accusations of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

Players used words like betrayed, frustrated, blind-sided and confused to describe their initial reactions to not just the news, but how the information was relayed. Corey Conners said it was “off-putting” for players in a member-led organization to find out on Twitter, while countryman Hughes noted how players are “used to having bombshells dropped every now and then” since the formation of LIV Golf.

“Even those that have agreed on this deal, it’s an idea,” added Higgs. “There’s no way to know what’s coming, even those that agreed on it don’t know.”

That’s where a lot of the frustration comes in to play. Players are the CEO of their own business, and they all want to benefit from the proposed changes. While most are cautiously optimistic for the future and what may come, they all want answers to their questions, sooner rather than later.

“We don’t know what professional golf is gonna look like and Jay and everybody, they don’t know either,” explained Higgs. “They’re working through this. We just have to trust that those that are working through this on our behalf are going to do so with everybody in mind, everybody to some degree. Certainly Rory should benefit more from this than me. It’s just a constant, ‘We don’t know, wait and see, a true who’s to say.’”

Like McIlroy, Higgs said he still has confidence in Monahan despite his dealings in the dark, but it’s “waning.”

“When you do what we’ve done and keep it a secret, you lose some trust, but I also understand why things were kept a secret, too. I get how business works and again, all of sport is a big business and now golf has a seat at that table,” said Higgs. “We are a big, big business now, which should be a great thing, but no one knows how it’s gonna go in the next 5-10 years, 5-10 weeks, 5-10 days. Sadly, it’s just a lot of wait and see, and that’s just a weird place to be as a professional golfer.

“We don’t know, and now we feel a little uneasy that we could wake up in a week to an email that could say something different. Things are gonna start changing and obviously professional golfers don’t like change, but it should be, in time, a change for the better.”

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Memorial 2023: Justin Thomas, defending champion Billy Horschel among notable pros who have the weekend off after missing the cut at Jack’s Place

Justin Thomas and defending champion Billy Horschel are headed home early.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hideki Matsuyama knows that golf can be cruel.

The Japanese golfer, winner of the Memorial in 2014 and the Masters in 2021, has dealt with a neck injury of late that has stolen some of his distance and forced him to sit out for a month. Asked how’s he feeling, he said, “I feel great. You never know, though, tomorrow morning.”

One day, you have the world by a string, you’re winning the Memorial and your dream of your family celebrating with you on the 18th green comes to fruition. That was Billy Horschel at the 2022 Memorial. One year later, he shot 84 and was holding back tears as he tried to process what had happened during a live interview. Horschel was sent packing on Friday but maybe with an ounce of confidence restored after making six birdies and shooting even-par 72.

That 12-stroke one-day improvement should provide some solace to Horschel as he searches for answers to how his game has soured since one of the crowning achievements of his career.

Justin Thomas’s dip from PGA Championship winner last May to missed cut at the Memorial isn’t as drastic as Horschel but he’s none too happy to be leaving Jack’s Place early and his game appears to have a few more holes in it than he would like with the U.S. Open less than two weeks away.

Among those players who were feeling great like Matsuyama on Friday? World No. 5 Xander Schauffele’s score improved by 11 shots – from an opening-round 77, his highest score since the second round of the 2022 Masters, to a second-round 66. Matt Kuchar went from 79 to 67. And how about nine-time Tour winner Brandt Snedeker, who shot 73-72—145 to make the cut in his first start since September after undergoing experimental surgery on his sternum. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler snuck in on the number — it took 3-over 147 or better to be among the 66 players moving on to the weekend — despite missing a short par putt at 18 that left him dismayed. Golf, it giveth and it taketh away.

As Horschel noted on Thursday, “As low as it feels, it feels like I’m not that far off at the same time. Which is insane to say when you see me shoot 84 today. It doesn’t, it wouldn’t make sense to a lot of people. But I don’t think I’m that far off.”

Confidence is knowing your best golf is still to come. Here are the notables who missed the cut and are hoping better golf for them is just around the corner.