It’s not the news most golf fans wanted but it’s probably not surprising.
It’s not the news most golf fans wanted but it’s probably not surprising.
On Monday afternoon, Tiger Woods announced on social media that he will not compete in the upcoming Hero World Challenge, his annual bash in the Bahamas.
“I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year at the Hero World Challenge, but always look forward to being tournament host,” he wrote.
He also broke some other news. It was about a month ago that the initial field list was released with 17 names. Tiger’s update on Monday added that the last three spots will go to new dad Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Nick Dunlap.
I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year at the Hero World Challenge, but always look forward to being tournament host and spending the week with @HeroMotoCorp. Excited to welcome our exemptions @JustinThomas34, @JDayGolf and @NickDunlap62 into the field.
He hasn’t announced when he plans to try to play again. He often has used the Hero World Challenge as a barometer of how his body is feeling in a 72-hole, no-cut event and work off some rust after a layoff. Woods last played at the British Open in July.
The 2024 Hero returns to Albany for the ninth year, from Dec. 5-8.
Golfweek’s Adam Scupak contributed to this article.
“It’s nice to actually feel like we have an actual home crowd.”
One of the best parts of team competitions is the home crowd.
In the Ryder Cup, whether the competition is in the United States or Europe, the opposing team is going to deal with constant jeering, raucous applause and more from the fans.
The Americans always have a home-field advantage, with events on home soil being a big advantage regardless of which team competition it is. For the Internationals, this year is bound to be different from the past. And that’s a key if the Internationals want to get their first win since 1998.
“It’s a big part of this competition, I believe, and a big part of team golf where you can ride some momentum and the crowd gets behind you, and you can really feed off that,” International captain Mike Weir said. “I certainly did here in 2007, not only with my match playing Tiger, but just the other matches, you get the crowd energy, and you can raise your level a little bit. So it can be a huge factor.”
One of the challenges the Internationals have faced is trying to unify golfers from around the world for a week to take down the Americans, who compete in team competitions every single year. The Internationals are forced to get people from numerous continents to bond and come together to take down an often-time overmatched foe, and that’s not always simple.
The Presidents Cup has been hosted in Australia, Canada, South Africa and South Korea, which is a home game for a handful of players on the International team. For the rest of the players, though they’re on the same team as the hometown favorites, they’re still outsiders to the fans.
On Tuesday during the pre-tournament press conferences ahead of the 2024 Presidents Cup, Weir and some of his players raved about the Canadian crowd and how it seems different this year. In the past, many International fans were infatuated with cheering for American stars like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson as much as they were pulling for their country’s players to have success.
Canadian fans likely won’t be as starstruck.
Jason Day of Australia and the International Team reacts during a practice round prior to the 2024 Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club on September 24, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
“It’s going to be interesting,” Jason Day said. “This is probably the closest home game that I’ve played in front of because when we go down to Australia, I think they’re just so excited to see everyone because we don’t get a lot of golf down there, like especially the big names. In Canada, it’s obviously so close to the United States, and there’s like that friendly rivalry between the two countries, so it’s nice to actually feel like we have an actual home crowd. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that before in the times that I’ve played.”
In addition to the friendly rivalry between the countries, there’s a PGA Tour event every year in Canada. Numerous Canadian teams play in American sports leagues, so fans north of the border are familiar with stars across all sports.
When it comes to golf, they will pull for their Canadians over anyone, and this week, it’s the International shield they’ll be backing.
“We’re certainly hoping the fans come out hard and cheer a lot for our guys,” Weir said. “Hopefully it is a factor.”
The money is going to a good cause, too, with proceeds going to Brighter Days Foundation, a tournament and charity that Day started with his wife Ellie.
Day left Nike at the start of the year for high-end golf fashion outfit Malbon and he’s been turning heads with his fits ever since, but none more so than during Day 2 of the 2024 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
His sweater was compared to a carton of Marlboro cigarettes, among other things, and the buzz reached epic proportions. He had to finish his first round Friday morning but before his second round, he later confirmed, he was asked to not wear it any longer.
Tiger Woods and Jason Day during the completion of the first round of the 2024 Masters Tournament. (Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Network)
“Yeah, they asked me to take it off, the vest off yesterday,” Day said after his second round. “Yeah, the busy one. Respectfully, you do that because it’s all about the tournament here, and I understand that. I respect the tournament. That’s what we’re here to do is try and play and win the green jacket.”
The auction winner also gets a round of golf with Day.
Brighter Day Foundation supports several Central Ohio nonprofits.
Jason Day and Jordan Spieth are both making return visits to the John Deere Classic after extended periods away.
Day, in particular, last played it in 2011 but his first time to TPC Deere Run was 18 years ago, or to put it another way, 350 starts ago, which made it his PGA Tour debut.
“Yeah, this was my first start as a professional golfer. I still remember it,” he said Wednesday ahead of the 2024 rendition of the event. “Actually, I think we might have stayed down at the Super 8 hotel somewhere.”
Needless to say, golf’s been good to Day, who has gone on to win 13 times on Tour and along the way he became one of 11 golfers to surpass the $60 million mark in career earnings. Needless to say, his Super 8 days are now a thing of the past, but the memories certainly stick.
“My caddie at the time, Colin, you walk into his room and it had a heart-shaped bathtub right next to the bed. It was like high rent stuff back then,” Day said.
“I tried to come back a couple years ago and my back didn’t allow me to,” he continued. “It’s nice to be back. I know Clair Peterson [former tournament director] way back in the day, you know, 18 years ago, was nice enough to give me my first start here, and I’ve always enjoyed the people and the golf tournament. John Deere has been a special partner to the PGA Tour for a long time, so it’s nice to go over those stories from 18 years ago.”
John Deere is celebrating its 25th year with the Tour in 2024.
Day confirmed that he is not, in fact, back at the Super 8 but instead staying in his motorcoach with his family.
As for the on-course stuff, Day says this week is the beginning of a serious ramp-up to his season, which has tailed off lately. He has four top-10s in 2024 but three of those were back in January and February.
“I think I need a little bit of a spark to try and get something going here,” he said. “Obviously coming into the heavy part of the season. We’ve only got seven tournaments left for the year. Guys that are looking, on the outside looking in on the FedEx [Playoffs], it’s kind of crunch time for them.
“Me personally, I’m looking to try and find the good play that I had at the start of the year and try and replicate that through my end part of my year. I’ve got a busy schedule after this. Kind of goes week on here at John Deere and week off and then the Open Championship, week off, Olympics, week off, then the Playoffs. So it’s stop and start, but it’s pretty condensed. Feels like it’s been a pretty full on year so far.”
Spieth and Day are both hoping that the friendly confines of TPC Deere Run will spark their games.
Clair Peterson has waited a long time to welcome back what he called “two favorite sons.”
Peterson, the former tournament director of the John Deere Classic, once wooed a pair of teens – one a newly-minted 17-year-old pro from Australia and the other an 18-year-old member of the national championship-winning University of Texas team – to the northwestern corner of the Land of Lincoln and Silvis, Illinois, one of the cities referred to in these parts as the Quad Cities.
Jason Day, the Aussie, made his PGA Tour debut here in 2006 and cashed his first Tour check – for $8,200 – while Jordan Spieth, the Texan amateur, arrived in the summer of 2012 and went home with something every bit as valuable as money – confirmation his game was Tour ready.
Day came back five consecutive years, finishing T-5 twice, but hasn’t returned since 2011; Spieth won the title in 2013 and 2015 but hasn’t been back either. Peterson spoke to their various camps every year and made his pitch, even whispering sweet nothings in their ears on the range at Torrey Pines in San Diego in January 2022 that the tournament that July would be his 20th and final year as tournament director.
“Jordan was so gracious but I kind of felt like even at that point they had his schedule together and it wouldn’t work out,” Peterson said.
Day agreed to play in 2022 but ended up withdrawing before the tournament began citing a back injury. Peterson never took rejection personally as Day and Spieth both won majors among their 13 Tour titles and each reached world No. 1.
“It’s tough, once you’re getting into all the majors and the signature events, you can play all over the world, it’s tough to build a schedule and include our event,” Peterson said. “But here they are this year coming back and recognizing that we gave them a spot, it’s exciting to have them here and that’s the value of the relationships, I think. There’s no expiration date on ’em.”
Spieth has been absent for nine years, but his victories are part of the tournament highlight reel that still play regularly in Peterson’s head. Competing on a sponsor invite as a pro in 2013, Spieth holed a bunker shot on 18 in the final round that got him into a three-man playoff with David Hearn and Zach Johnson.
“It was one of the biggest roars that I ever heard,” Peterson recalled.
Jordan Spieth defeated Tom Gillis in a playoff to win the 2015 John Deere Classic.
Spieth prevailed in a five-hole playoff, becoming the first teenager to win on the Tour since Ralph Guldahl in 1931. One year later, he came back for the pre-tournament media day and Peterson invited him to try to replicate the bunker shot. Spieth grabbed his sand wedge and three golf balls and jumped at the chance.
“He took one swing to gauge the sand. We didn’t count that one,” Peterson said. “And then what does he do? He went and sank the god-dog thing.”
Spieth finished T-7 in his 2014 title defense. One year later, Spieth won the Masters and the U.S. Open, giving him a chance at the British Open, held the week after the John Deere Classic at the time, to match Ben Hogan in 1953 and win the first three legs of the Grand Slam. The sentiment of the day was that Spieth should skip visiting America’s Heartland and get acclimated to the time change in Scotland and links golf for his best odds at making history. Spieth thought otherwise and honored his commitment to play — his agent, Jay Danzi, confirmed in a text to Peterson that he’d need three seats on the flight across the pond that the tournament always arranges for players heading to the British Open.
“It meant everything for him to come back against all the best advice,” Peterson said. “As far as I’m concerned he paid his dues for what we did for him in 2012 and 2013.”
Spieth won the 2015 John Deere Classic in another playoff – this time over Tom Gillis – and finished a shot out of a playoff in a tie for fourth with Day at the 2015 British Open, which was won by Johnson, who happened to be on the flight from the JDC with Spieth. Even more than Johnson, an Iowa native, past champion and unofficial tournament ambassador, and three-time champ Steve Stricker, who played collegiately at Illinois, Spieth was the player that Peterson was asked about most often when he made his rounds to drum up interest in the tournament. It’s taken nearly a decade for Spieth to defend his 2015 John Deere Classic title.
“Everyone can’t wait,” said Peterson, who plans to be there both as a fan and a volunteer this year. “They had $35,000 in ticket sales within a couple of hours after the announcement was made.”
Guess who's back?!
Get your tickets to see 2X Champion, @JordanSpieth, back at the John Deere Classic!
Spieth and Day are both hoping that the friendly confines of TPC Deere Run, where they’ve both experienced past success, will spark their game. Day, who is ranked No. 28 in the FedEx Cup, has recorded just one top-10 finish in his last 11 starts while Spieth, who is No. 59 in the season-long standings, had failed to register a top 10 in his last nine starts.
The tournament also features its usual crop of promising stars, including Michael Thorbjornsen, who earned a full Tour card for finishing first in PGA Tour U, Luke Clanton, a 20-year-old Florida State University product who finished T-10 last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and sponsor exemptions for Neal Shipley, a recent Ohio State grad, who finished as low amateur at the Masters and U.S. Open, and Jackson Buchanan, the reigning Big 10 men’s individual champ. Peterson compared choosing a sponsor’s invite to the process of selecting an initial public offering in the stock market with hopes of a return on investment.
“There’s no promise that there’s going to be success,” Peterson said, “but you try to do your homework and identify guys in this case that are going to be successful as athletes.”
In the case of Day and Spieth, those picks still are paying dividends all these years later.
Tour pros teed off on the par-3 16th at Muirfield Village last year.
A familiar voice rang out as Jack and Barbara Nicklaus wheeled their golf cart past the 17th tee Wednesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
“Love No. 16,” Matt Kuchar yelled from No. 17 tee.
Nicklaus waved thanks and kept driving, presumably satisfied that at least one PGA Tour player was giving his redesign of the maligned par 3 a thumb’s-up.
Not all players were as enthusiastic with their praise.
“It’s better than it was. Put it that way,” said Jordan Spieth, one of several players who met with Nicklaus after the 2023 Memorial Tournament to share their misgivings about the hole at Muirfield Village, which ranks as the No. 1 private course in Ohio.
If Nicklaus was looking for a universal ringing endorsement of his changes, well, professional golfers seldom are 100 percent thrilled when confronted with a challenging hole.
And No. 16 is dastardly, forcing right-handed players to draw the ball – lefties must fade it – 218 yards into a narrow green with water on the left and a bunker back right. It has undergone several transformations through the years, but none has satisfied everyone.
No hole in the 49-year history of the Memorial Tournament has been criticized by players like the 16th, which took heat in the early days of the event when George Archer complained that no par 3 should be longer than 200 yards.
The complaints reached another level last year when several players took dead aim at the hole.
“It’s a stupid hole,” Westerville resident Jason Day said, echoing the sentiments of many.
Nicklaus took the feedback to heart, changing the hole by moving the tee about 30 yards to the right, which took more of the greenside pond out of play. More significantly, he removed a bunker just to the right of the green, replacing it with a grassy slope.
Jack Nicklaus drives his wife, Barbara, through a crowd of fans during a practice day for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch)
What hasn’t changed is the firmness of the green, which is difficult to hold when tee shots land past the first 20 feet. That is after Nicklaus reshaped the putting surface in 2021 to help keep balls from bouncing off the green even on good shots.
“I’ve always really liked the hole,” Sahith Theegala said, before shooting holes in it. “But there does come a point where you’re hitting a shot and you feel you have no chance of holding the green, whether you hit a good shot or a bad shot, there needs to be a change made. I’ve landed a few balls like four paces on, in the middle of the green, and they went over the back of the green.”
The recent alterations Nicklaus made won’t change that, Theegala said.
“But because the angle changed if you hit a draw in there you can land it on the green and get one close, whereas before the angle was too straight on to be able to do that,” he said. “You’re going to see some guys hit some pretty big draws into the hole, taking less club, just because that bailout area front right is pretty easy now. Before, you pretty much chalk it up to a 4 and move on. It’s easier and a better hole now.”
Collin Morikawa explained that moving the tee actually has less impact than Nicklaus removing the front-right bunker.
“The bunker was never bad, but it’s not like you wanted to be in it,” he said. “The little runoff on the side isn’t as drastic as I thought it would be, so you could actually putt it or chip it across the green. It’s still a tough tee shot, don’t get me wrong. You’re still hitting 7-iron, 6-iron, 5-iron, depending on the wind, to a small, narrow green that doesn’t have a lot of depth.”
Xander Schauffele agreed with Morikawa that removing the bunker makes the 16th more gettable.
“It’s more fair now,” he said. “Taking that bunker out allows you to be as defensive as you would like, without sort of laying up with a 50-yard pitch shot. You’re going to see a lot of balls end up in that little area, especially those front two pins.”
Star-Lord pairs up with Peyton Manning, Rory McIlroy in celebrity pro-am pairing.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt joined join Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and former Ohio State wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez in a group with PGA Tour players Rory McIlroy and Jason Day at Wednesday’s Workday Golden Bear pro-am leading up to this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Pratt, Manning and Gonzalez teed off at 7 a.m. local time with McIlroy, and Day will sub in for McIlroy on the back nine.
The pro-am, which is part of Memorial Tournament week, also features a handful of other celebrities, including actor Rob Lowe playing with defending Memorial winner Viktor Hovland, and former NFL quarterback Steve Young playing with reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.
Other current or former professional athletes teeing it up include Andre Iguodala (NBA), Buster Posey (MLB) and Harris Barton (NFL).
Eight players finished inside the top 25, 16 players missed the weekend cut and one withdrew.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the fourth time in its 106-year history, the PGA Championship is back at Valhalla Golf Club this week.
It’s been a decade since the PGA of America brought its flagship event to the big ballpark in the Bluegrass State, where Rory McIlroy claimed the 2014 PGA Championship in near darkness for his most recent major victory. McIlroy finished with a 16-under-par 268 to beat Phil Mickelson by a shot.
The world No. 2 is back 10 years later coming off back-to-back wins (the Wells Fargo Championship and the team-based Zurich Classic of New Orleans) and is one of 34 players who played the 2014 PGA and have returned this week.
“It was an instantaneous relief in my back and the soreness in my feet … It was completely a shoe thing for me.”
Jason Day’s apparel isn’t the only change to his look this season as he returns to Dallas this week as the defending champion at what is now known as the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
While Day’s partnership with Malbon has made headlines – especially at the Masters – he also is wearing new footwear this season.
Dayhas taken an equity stake in Payntr Golfand will be creating a new collection – a tech classic look that also incorporates Payntr Golf’s proprietary propulsion technology and advanced comfort features – dubbed the X1 Proto.
“It’s been a while since my feet have felt this good,” Day said during a recent Zoom interview with Golfweek and proclaimed the Payntr’s golf footwear “The most comfortable golf shoe I’ve ever worn and it’s not even close”
Day first heard of the upstart Portland company through his agent last fall. When Day’s apparel and shoe deal with Nike expired, he signed on to become the face of Malbon but he remained a free agent for shoes at the start of the year.
Footwear is critical to Day, 36, who estimated he spends 12 hours a day on his feet and has long suffered from a balky back. He conceded there have been shoes in the past that may have looked stylish but they also have been detrimental to the health of his body.
“At the start of the year, my back was quite sore. It wasn’t at the point it was going to seize up, but my feet felt sore after every round. It wasn’t good. As things would go on, my body would tighten up. You feel like maybe my mechanics or off or I’m doing something wrong in the gym,” he explained.
He tried the Payntr shoe and liked the technology but was hesitant to partner with the company because it wasn’t going to match the clothing of Malbon.
“I’ve got enough money. I don’t really need this,” he said.
Jason Day is a stakeholder in Payntr Golf. (Courtesy Payntr Golf)
What changed his mind was two-fold: first a meeting with Mike Forsey, co-founder and President of Payntr Golf, at Pebble Beach during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Forsey pitched him on being involved in the brand’s first foray into developing a silo of golf footwear with a classic design aesthetic. Day was intrigued. Then Forsey and members of his team went to Day’s home in Ohio and ran him through all the technology in the shoe — from the Carbitex propulsion plate to nitrogen in the heel — and won him over with the company’s presentation. When Day put the inner sole of a Payntr shoe into his previous golf shoe at the time, he could feel the difference.
“Fast-forward to Bay Hill (in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational) and I decided you know what, I’m going to jump into the Payntr shoe even though it doesn’t really match the fashion I’m going for,” said Day, who wore the brand’s V 006 RS model. “It was an instantaneous relief in my back and the soreness in my feet. I haven’t had a back issue and the soreness went away. It was completely a shoe thing for me.”
Suddenly Day, a past major winner, world No. 1 and 13-time Tour winner, was ready to go the extra mile to help the company succeed. This is the first time he’s been a stakeholder rather than simply an endorser of a product. As such, he intends to be involved from concept to reveal.
“Let’s face it, when you’re paid to wear something you’re paid to say how good it is. That’s the nature of the beast. But now I’m talking to them every single week, down to the eyelets to make sure there isn’t bunching. I’m trying to really beat the crap out of these golf shoes because they need to be tested. I need to make sure they perform under every condition for amateurs because they hit it everywhere like I do. For me to be able to go in and test it and be able to say that the heel is dipping down and they listened, making the material 5-10 percent firmer, that’s what this is about.”
Day’s feedback has been and will continue to be instrumental in refining the design and functionality of the footwear, ensuring they meet the highest standards of performance, traction, waterproofing and comfort. The goal is for the collection to combine Day’s style elements with Payntr Golf’s proprietary propulsion technology and advanced comfort features, resulting in a product that is both distinctive and performance-driven.
“It’s exciting to be a part of a company and try to find the growth potential of it,” Day said. “I believe golfers should not have to choose between comfort, performance and style. With Payntr Golf footwear you can have all three.”
The CJ Cup Byron Nelson is set to begin next week at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, outside of Dallas. The tournament, formerly sponsored by AT&T, is the third of four stops in the Lone Star State for the Tour in 2024, with the final being the Charles Schwab Challenge in May.
The title sponsor is new but golf fans should know this is the same tournament that was established in 1940 and not the continuation of the CJ Cup event that was previously staged in South Korea, Las Vegas and South Carolina. CJ has simply taken over title sponsorship of the long-running Byron Nelson event.
Dallas residents Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim and Will Zalatoris will be in the field, as will defending champion Jason Day, who shot 9-under 63 on Sunday a year ago to claim his first title in more than five years. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who was in the field last year, is not this year as he and wife Meredith await the birth of their first child.
Here’s a look at the full field for the 2024 CJ Cup Byson Nelson, which will have a field of 156, a total purse of $9.5 million and a first-place-prize of $1.71 million:
