Horschel is also auctioning off the West Ham FC bag he used in his 2024 Open Championship run.
Billy Horschel has never been one to let a small mistake keep a good golfer down.
During Monday’s practice round at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, Horschel was one of two players to approach Nicolai Hojgaard about his victory at the Irish Open last week.
But Rasmus Hojgaard was the Danish twin who won the event, beating Rory McIlroy at Royal County Down for the title. He wasn’t the only one to make the mistake, Justin Rose also misidentified the two.
Of course, Horschel bounced back in style, telling the story to a group that enjoyed his honesty.
And during Friday’s second round of the DP World Tour event, Horschel had a similar moment where he saved face after a goof. On the eighth hole, the Florida product pulled his drive into the woods and was forced to lay up in front of a lake.
But he nearly dropped his approach shot from the water’s edge, winding it up high and watching it roll just inches from the cup.
Horschel’s 69 on Friday put him in an advantageous position at the tournament’s midway point, as he sits five shots back of leader Matthew Baldwin.
Also, Horschel announced on Thursday that he was auctioning off the golf bag he used during the 2024 Open Championship, where he finished runner-up to Xander Schauffele.
Horschel, a longtime supporter of the English Premier League team West Ham United FC, used a bag signed by all the team’s players. As of noon on Friday, the highest bid was for $6,500.
Auctioning off my West Ham bag from this year’s @theopen championship. I get a lot of great comments and offers of people wanting the bag. Well here’s your opportunity. Forgot to mention that this year’s West Ham Squad has signed the bag. And the legend himself, Mark Noble, has… pic.twitter.com/sfnzTjXKGi
Close-up and in-hand images of golf equipment being used by players who are on the first page of the leaderboard at the 2024 PGA Championship.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The rain subsided and the sun eventually came out at Valhalla Golf Club, and as players went through their warmup routines and prepared to take on the course on Saturday and Sunday, Golfweek’s resident gearhead, senior writer David Dusek, was there. Along with his camera, David spent plenty of time in the practice area, observing what each player had in his bag.
The gallery of images below was created throughout the weekend and includes close-up shots of most of the golfers who were in contention to win the Wannamaker trophy and clinch the second major championship of the 2024 season, including the eventual winner, Xander Schauffele.
“Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62. I knew what was at stake.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Shane Lowry couldn’t get the honor.
He’d made birdie on four of the first five holes and yet his fellow playing competitor, Justin Rose, had matched him stroke for stroke. Walking off the fifth green, Lowry turned to Rose and said, “What am I going to have to do to get the honor off you today?”
It took a birdie at No. 9, his sixth of the day, to do so and spurred him to a record-tying Saturday at Valhalla Golf Club. Lowry birdied half his holes, making a career-best 161 feet, two inches of putts, and tied a record with the fifth 62 in major championship history. The 37-year-old Irishman narrowly missed an 11-foot birdie putt at 18, the easiest hole on course, to be the first to shoot 61.
“Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62,” he said. “I knew what was at stake.”
Lowry was part of the winning team at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans three weeks ago with Rory McIlroy, but conceded that McIlroy did the heavy-lifting. All year, Lowry has been striking the ball as well as ever but his putter has betrayed him. Finally, he became so fed up he switched to a TaylorMade Spider Tour Z putter in New Orleans, went back to some old putting drills and tried to putt more instinctively.
“I’ve sort of felt all season that if I could warm my putter up that I could be dangerous,” he said.
During the first two rounds of the PGA Championship, Lowry’s putter carried him into the weekend at 4-under 138, while he termed his tee-to-green game “probably the worst I’ve played in a long time.” So, on Friday afternoon, he headed to the range with his coach and sorted out his swing. It was simply an alignment issue.
“I was set up too far left and all sorts of bad things happen for me when I do that,” he explained.
Eight strokes behind 36-hole leader Xander Schauffele, Lowry figured getting into double digits and shooting 65 would be a good target score. He did even better than that. Four birdies in a row starting at the second, including a 20-footer at the fourth, lifted his confidence as he and Rose fed off each other.
“There was definitely that urgency to feel like you wanted to stay on track and keep up the momentum today to try to give yourself a shot going into tomorrow,” he said. “It was the classic moving day, and job well done.”
Soft greens and a warm, sun-soaked day made for ideal scoring conditions. “Gettable,” is how Lowry described the course and he and Rose were getting after it. Rose, who played with Rickie Fowler when he shot the second 62 in major championship history during the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open, noted that after the hot start through seven holes, he had “a weird feeling” he was going to shoot 61. “Kind of felt like it was on, and then I’m still super frustrated by going 5-5 at 9 and 10. Kind of felt like I lost my momentum there a little bit.”
Rose settled for 64.
Shane Lowry is congratulated by Justin Rose after hitting a 62 during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports
Out in 29 after the birdie at nine and Lowry already began thinking that he had a special round of his own in the making. But he poured in a 37-foot downhill birdie at No. 13, punching his right arm to the sky. When shown the replay during a post-round interview, he said, “I kept rolling them in…It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it.” Next, they flashed his 32-foot birdie at No. 14, where he clenched his right fist in celebration. “I did make a lot of putts, didn’t I,” he said.
And that’s when he started thinking about making history.
“Here we go,” he said he thought to himself. “It was in my mind from about 14 onwards.”
In Lowry’s gallery was his father, Brendan, clad in a green Augusta National member logo shirt, his manager, and several friends, including Brendan and Deirdre Donovan, who follow Lowry at all the majors and always can be found wearing the County Clare football jersey of Lowry’s hometown. Deirdre grew up there as well before marrying Brendan, who went to high school with PGA president John Lindert.
“It’s a small town. We all know everybody because we all go to church together,” Deirdre said.
They were there at Royal Portrush when Lowry shot 63, his previous low score in a major, in the third round of the 2019 British Open to take the 54-hole lead. This time, Lowry cooled off momentarily with pars at the difficult 15th and 16th, leaving a 30-foot birdie putt uncharacteristically short. But one hole later, he planted a short iron six feet from the hole and sank it for his ninth birdie.
At the par-5 18th, he pushed his drive into the right rough. He said he had 170 yards to clear the water if he went for the green from 240 yards. Decision time.
“The ball was kind of sitting up in the rough,” he explained. “I probably could have done it, but it felt like it was maybe a silly decision to go for it under the circumstances. I knew if I made five that I’m still in the tournament. If I made six, I’d be livid with myself. I felt like it was probably a bit too risky to take on.”
Lowry wedged to 11 feet. Of the putt, he said he wanted to make it “probably too much.” But he did take a moment to stand back and soak it all in.
“It was a pretty cool moment to have,” he said. “It would have been a pretty cool moment to kind of seal the deal and do it.”
He started the putt a little too much left and it never really had a chance. He settled for the second 62 of the week — Xander Schauffele shot the course record on Thursday — and a piece of major championship history. But just as importantly, he lifted himself into the thick of the trophy hunt at the 106th PGA Championship and a chance to claim a second major title.
“I knew even if I didn’t do it that I done what I needed to do today, and I’m pretty happy with that,” he said. “I’m going to enjoy this round.”
WEDGES:Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (52 degrees), with KBS Tour C-Taper shaft, (56 degrees), with KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 shaft, Vokey Design SM10 (60 degrees), with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 125 shaft
After TGL’s stadium collapsed at the end of last year, its debut was pushed back to 2025. But as the date draws closer, we now have a significant information about the start-up technology-driven league started by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports.
The first night of matches will take place on Jan. 7, 2025, in primetime on ESPN.
“As we plan the 2025 launch of TGL presented by SoFi, we now have the first three Tuesdays in January circled to introduce sports fans to this new form of team golf. January is a tremendous time of year for fans looking for prime time sports and TGL’s launch will complement the start of the PGA TOUR season and take advantage of ESPN’s promotional machine across their coverage of the NFL and college football playoffs,” said Mike McCarley, founder and CEO of TMRW Sports.
Countless PGA Tour stars are involved in the new circuit, including Woods, McIlroy, Max Homa, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, among others.
Learn everything you need to know about the TGL below.
One of the perks of winning on the PGA Tour is better tee times.
One of the perks of winning on the PGA Tour is better tee times. Just ask Jake Knapp, who went from the outhouse to the penthouse in one week.
Knapp, a 29-year-old rookie who was working as a bouncer at a bar-restaurant in Southern California just two years ago to make ends meet, teed off in the third-to-last group of his wave last week in the opening rounds at the Mexico Open at Vidanta. That’s when the greens are bumpier and riddled with spike marks and the wind blows its hardest. None of that bothered Knapp, who won the tournament.
Along with the seven-figure check and a berth in the Masters, Knapp received primo tee times for the first two rounds of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches alongside former world No. 1 and 2012 Cognizant Classic winner Rory McIlroy and defending Cognizant Classic champion Chris Kirk.
How did Knapp feel playing in one of the featured groups in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, alongside McIlroy, one of the game’s biggest stars?
Jake Knapp prepares to hit his approach shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the 2024 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches at PGA National. (Photo: Jeff Romance/Palm Beach Post)
“Not nearly as nerve-racking as I thought it was going to be, to be honest,” Knapp said. “I met him this morning in dining and had some casual conversation, and he’s a super, super nice guy. So is Chris. It was just a good easy morning.”
Indeed, it was for Knapp, a UCLA product, who opened with a solid 3-under 68 at PGA National Resort’s Champion Course on Thursday, one stroke more than Kirk and McIlroy, who said of playing with Knapp that he “likes to put people at ease,” and four back of the co-leaders Chad Ramey and S.H. Kim.
Like many of today’s current crop of players, Knapp grew up idolizing Tiger Woods. He also admired the game of former world No. 1’s Luke Donald and Dustin Johnson. Knapp, who grew to become one of the longer hitters in the game, was short in stature as a kid and tried to emulate Donald’s wizardry with a wedge and putter until hitting his growth spurt as a junior in high school.
“Then as I started to hit it farther, started to transition more into the DJ category,” Knapp said. “Obviously over the last few years, a lot of people have tried to emulate Rory and just all the things he does on and off the course.”
McIlroy and Knapp shared a mutual admiration. While the Northern Irishman outdrove him on this day – an average of 327 yards for McIlroy to 319 yards for Knapp on the two measured driving holes – he couldn’t say enough good things about Knapp – an example of game recognizing game.
“He could definitely be a star. It looks like he’s got the full package. He’s obviously got the speed. He can control that speed pretty well. He hit some beautiful shots out there today,” McIlroy said. “He could be a superstar out here, for sure.”
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — On Tuesday, Rory McIlroy said LIV defectors shouldn’t be punished if seeking a return to the PGA Tour. Not all of his fellow competitors share his latest view.
“The good thing is the decision’s not up to me,” said Rickie Fowler when asked his opinion after the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday.
But when pressed on the matter, Fowler took a firmer stance on the issue.
“I don’t think it’s a direct road,” he said. “I mean, they made decisions and there’s — there has to be something for it. Whether how small or big, that’s not up to me.”
Patrick Cantlay, one of the independent player directors on the Tour’s board, spoke only in broad terms on the topic.
“I think everyone’s divided,” he said. “It’s up to a group of us. I know players feel all over the board on that issue, and so my job as a player director is to represent the entire membership. So if something like that were to come down the road, I’m sure we would have to have a robust conversation around that topic.”
He added: “I haven’t really been putting a ton of thought into that until the moment comes because I’ve been trying to focus on what’s in front of me.”
Justin Rose, the defending champion this week, said it’s complicated, noting “there will never be a one-for-one ration where one guy feels good about everyone coming back because they got something and they didn’t.
“But I think ultimately, if this is all structured the right way, those guys coming back strengthens the Tour and everybody that’s now involved in this new structure is going to benefit from those great names coming back and being a part of the Tour. So you have to look at it objectively as well. Anything that’s going to strengthen the Tour in the long term is going to benefit the players now. From that point, you’ve got to get your head around that, I suppose. I don’t think there’s an easy reintegration anytime soon, but I don’t see that as off the table.”
McIlroy, once the most vocal proponent for the Tour, has softened his stance since saying in June that “the people that left the PGA Tour (for LIV) irreparably harmed this tour” and as a result there must be “consequences to actions.”
“If people still have eligibility on this Tour and they want to come back and play or you want to try and do something, let them come back,” said McIlroy during his pre-tournament press conference. “I think it’s hard to punish people.
“Obviously I’ve changed my tune on that because I see where golf is, and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and having a diminished LIV tour or anything else is bad for both parties. It would be much better being together and moving forward together for the good of the game. That’s my opinion of it. So to me, the faster that we can all get back together and start to play and start to have the strongest fields possible I think is great for golf.”
It didn’t take long at the Sony Open in Hawaii for news to spread among the Europeans in the field.
HONOLULU – It didn’t take long at the Sony Open in Hawaii for news to spread among the Europeans in the field that DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley announced he was leaving the circuit after eight and a half years in the role to join Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, as well as the city’s MLS and Canadian Football League franchises.
Pelley, who had been at the DP World Tour since 2015, came to golf from Rogers Media, where he oversaw its ownership of the Toronto Blue Jays. Since he never worked in the golf industry, Pelley brought a fresh perspective to the job and wasn’t afraid to step beyond perceived boundaries and break free of some of the sport’s long-held traditions.
Music and pyrotechnics on the first tee? Did it. A 40-second shot clock to improve pace of play? He signed off on the Shot Clock Masters in Austria in 2018. He signed Rolex to underwrite a lucrative series of tournaments and sold title rights to the circuit.
He also allowed Saudi Arabia to get its tentacles into golf with the creation of the Saudi International. Ultimately, Pelley chose to partner with the PGA Tour through its strategic alliance. It is part of the framework agreement with the Saudi Arabia’s PIF but has taken a backseat in the negotiations to the PGA Tour. Guy Kinnings, the current deputy CEO and executive director – Ryder Cup, will become the European Tour group’s new CEO effective April 2.
Here’s what several European prso had to say about his move.
What took place at the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational was a new concept – and they want more of it.
NAPLES, Fla. – Rose Zhang wasn’t even born the last time the PGA Tour and LPGA held a mixed-team event. Ludvig Aberg was a mere 2 months old in December of 1999, when legends Laura Davies and John Daly won the final edition of the JCPenney Classic.
For generations of players, what took place this week at the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitation was a new concept – and they want more of it.
“We need to do this for the game of golf,” said Billy Horschel of bringing the two tours together. “We do a lot of stuff that looks out for the players, but we need to make sure we are taking care of the fans and thinking about the fans more.”
Speaking of fans, there were more at Tiburon Golf Club than at previous QBE Shootouts and CME Group Tour Championships. Cheyenne Knight teed off early with partner Tom Hoge and was surprised by the number of fans on the first tee. Ticket sales and concession sales doubled this week compared to last year’s QBE and hospitality sold out, according to tournament officials.
Knight hopes some of these local fans come back next year for the CME, where the winner will receive a $4 million first-place check, the largest in all of women’s sports.
Joel Dahmen marveled at the number of kids he saw this week, particularly little girls, far more than an average week on the PGA Tour, he said. He called watching Lexi Thompson’s ace on Saturday one of the highlights of his year, and said he’d like to see the Grant Thornton field expand from 16 teams in 2024.
“There’s no reason we can’t have more mixed-team events,” said Dahmen after Saturday foursomes. “There are so many events on the PGA Tour, ratings aren’t always amazing in some of those fields. To bring in the women’s game would be awesome.
“I was completely outclassed today by Lexi.”
Lexi Thompson of the United States and Rickie Fowler of the United States look on from the first green during the second round of the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club on December 09, 2023 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Early week buzz at the Grant Thornton was overshadowed by U.S. Golf Association and R&A rollback news and Jon Rahm to LIV Golf drama, controversies that dominated the golf chatter on social media and beyond. The action at Tiburon, however, provided a much-needed escape from that which divides golf fans.
The Grant Thornton was a celebration of what unites – camaraderie, competition and inspiration. Thursday’s junior clinic with Amy Bockerstette, Jessica Korda, Leona Maguire and Dahmen epitomizes what golf can do for good. Bockerstette’s “I Got This Foundation” is one of the charities that benefits from money raised this week.
Walking onto the first tee Friday, Sahith Theegala turned to Dahmen’s caddie and noted how “cool” it was to play in the same group as Lilia Vu, the first world No. 1 he’d ever played alongside, and to partner with Zhang, a dominant amateur he predicted would be a future No. 1 on the LPGA.
“Me and Joel were joking that Lilia and Rose will be better than maybe we ever will be,” said Theegala, who won his first PGA Tour title at this year’s Fortinet Championship.
PGA Tour players admired the games of LPGA players all week, and it felt genuine. Former No. 1 Jason Day asked Lydia Ko about her wedge game, noting that he’d be trying to emulate his Kiwi partner during the offseason.
Major champion Justin Rose described his playing partner, Charley Hull, as an old-school player, detailing the way she shapes her iron shots. He called Hull “fearless” and described her short game as “unbelievable.”
Such praise goes a long way in building respect for female players who fight weekly for the attention of not just the sports world, but of those already within the golf landscape.
Justin Rose of England and Charley Hull of England talk on the second green during the first round of the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club on December 08, 2023 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas DeFelice/Getty Images)
Rose, who founded and backed the Rose Ladies Series during the COVID-19 pandemic to give British players a place to compete, gets it more than most.
“You need fan awareness to have the pay equality,” said Rose. “Because obviously at the end of the day, it’s a commercial business. You need the eyes watching it to kind of make the TV dollars on the back end.
“So I think obviously fans being able to pick their favorite players, to be a bit more aware around the skill level around the women’s game, identify with the players and their stories – they’re more likely to watch going forward. I think this is absolutely one of those key events to help do that.”
Nick Taylor took note how the fans in Naples reacted with surprise to the women often hitting it closer than their male counterparts. There was no Shotlink available this week, but hopefully next year as the unique formats – particularly the modified fourball, where players hit drives and then switch balls – can provide some interesting data points.
Making Olympic golf a mixed event has long been talked about and came up once again in Naples, as did a larger mixed team event like the Presidents Cup.
“Looking at my grand ball, someone’s got to step up,” said Horshel.
“A team competition, Ryder Cup-style between the U.S. and Europe, or whether it be the U.S. and the world, men and women … I think that would be another home run for everyone involved. I think that’s coming down the line.
“If it’s not being talked about then I don’t know, maybe we need to change the people in the positions and get some more innovative thinkers in there.”
“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:
