The PGA Tour is back on the Monterey Peninsula for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the second signature event of 2024.
The old Crosby Clambake got a facelift this offseason, with amateurs playing on just Thursday and Friday. Monterey Peninsula Country Club was cut from the rotation, meaning the field will play Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill for the first two rounds before the pros battle for the championship at Pebble over the weekend.
Thanks to its elevated status, this year’s field is loaded: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay will all tee it up Thursday morning.
Golf courses
Pebble Beach Golf Links | Par 72 | 6,972 yards
Spyglass Hill | Par 72 | 7,041 yards
Matt Fitzpatrick of England putts on the seventh green during the third round of the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Alabama sophomore Golfer Nick Dunlap turns Pro after American Express Open victory
This past weekend, Alabama sophomore [autotag]Nick Dunlap[/autotag] made history as he became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson last did it in 1991. He shot 29 under par to win the American Express Open in La Quinta, California by one stroke over Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa. At only 20 years of age, Dunlap is on an unbelieve trajectory with a professional victory now under his belt.
Dunlap was hot the first two days of the tournament as he shot a 64 and 65, but he went absolutely nuclear on Saturday as he shot a 60. Since Dunlap was still an amateur he unfortunately had to forego his $1.5 million winnings. However, that will no longer be an issue moving forward as Dunlap announced today that he was going to forego his remaining eligibility and turn to the PGA Tour full-time.
It was this past summer that Dunlap really broke onto the scene as he became only the second player to ever win the US Amateur Championship as well as the US Junior Am along side some guy named Tiger Woods. Between Justin Thomas, Lee Hodges and now Dunlap, Alabama fans might soon become experts of the PGA Tour.
20-year-old @NickDunlap62 has announced he's turning pro!
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.
20-year-old Nick Dunlap wins PGA Tour event as amateur for first time in over 30 years
When you think of Alabama golfers the names that immediately come to mind are [autotag]Justin Thomas[/autotag] and [autotag]Lee Hodges[/autotag], however, [autotag]Nick Dunlap[/autotag] is a name that you need to get to know now. At only 20 years of age, he is ascending as rapidly as any collegiate golfer in recent memory.
Today, Dunlap just became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since 1991 when it was last done by Phil Mickelson. He is also only the eighth amateur to ever win on the Tour. Dunlap won the American Express in La Quinta, California while shooting a remarkable -29. Over the first three rounds he shot 64, 65 and 60 and was able to hold off on Sunday with a 70.
Dunlap is a Huntsville native and only a sophomore at the University of Alabama. Dunlap was first-team All-SEC last fall and won the U.S. Amateur Championship back in the summer. Since he is still in college, Dunlap will not be able to collect the $1.5 million winnings without giving up his amateur status.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.
After a few weeks in Hawaii, the PGA Tour is back on the mainland next week for The American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, California.
World No. 1 and 2023 Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler headlines the field. Joining him will be Justin Thomas, Tom Kim, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Sam Burns and Min Woo Lee, among many others.
Chris Kirk now has a chance to join the short list.
The PGA Tour’s 2024 season is off and running.
The first event of the new year is in the books with Chris Kirk winning The Sentry on the Plantation course at Kapalua in Maui. He bested a field of 59 golfers who vied for a $20 million prize in the first signature event of the new year.
With that victory, Kirk now has a chance to join a short list of golfers who have put the career Hawaii double dip on their resumes.
Here’s a closer look at the six golfers who have won both The Sentry and the Sony Open in Hawaii.
For Will Zalatoris, he was one of the big sliders the wrong direction. Not his fault, really, as he underwent back surgery and missed a lot of action.
Meanwhile, rising star Ludvig Aberg is more like a shooting star, as he has rocketed into the top 10 of the December 2023 rankings.
Here’s a closer look at some of the biggest movers in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings from a year ago. How they work:
Jeff Sagarin’s rating system is based on a mathematical formula that uses a player’s won-lost-tied record against other players when they play on the same course on the same day, and the stroke differential between those players, then links all players to one another based on common opponents. The ratings give an indication of who is playing well over the past 52 weeks.
Also, players must have played in at least 10 events to be ranked.
Editor’s note: We’ve included the Official World Golf Ranking for the sake of comparison.
Here’s to a 2024 where the only drama is on the course and not off it.
With the new year upon us, time to dream up some fun scenarios for the 2024 PGA Tour season. Some may be wishful thinking but I will happily settle for a handful.
I want to see Patrick Cantlay get a new hat deal – how about one of those giant hats – and for Will Zalatoris to figure out his short putting issues as well as Lucas Glover did this year. I want to see Tiger play more than just hit-n-giggle golf in December and avoid sending out a press release about another surgery. I want to see Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas back in the winner’s circle.
I want to see top pros support the smaller events – don’t just play the $20 million signature tournaments fellas – because as Sam Saunders put it, there are no bad tournaments. They’re all great and the people in the Quad Cities and San Antonio have been showing up year after year for 50+, 100+ years and deserve to see quality fields.
I want to see someone like Chesson Hadley take advantage of the dome-like conditions in Palm Desert, California, and shoot 57 at the American Express. How cool would it be to go up to Al Geiberger and Jim Furyk and introduce yourself as Mr. 57?
Justin Rose poses with the trophy on the 18th hole during the continuation of the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament at Pebble Beach Golf Links. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
I want to see the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am have some juice again. It had become Exhibit A for a tournament that was losing its stars other than Jordan Spieth, who is paid by the title sponsor to be there. I’m excited to see a reinvigorated field at one of the cathedrals of golf. I’ll take a star-studded field at Pebble over Ray Romano and Bill Murray every day.
I want to see an ace at 16 at the WM Phoenix Open during the day and Duran Duran, who is performing in February at the Bird’s Nest, at night. “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Rio” and “Girls on Film?” Count me in.
I want to see the winner of the Genesis Invitational shake Tiger’s hand at the trophy ceremony and be eligible to defend his title in 2025. The last two winners have been Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm, who both bolted to LIV before the next tourney. Actually, the coolest too-good-to-be-true Hollywood would reject the script scenario would be Tiger winning at Riviera, his kryptonite and the course and tournament he’s played the most without winning, to claim his 83rd title and break a tie with Sam Snead for all-time career wins on Tour. The Internet would explode.
I want to see Rickie Fowler, who happily signs autographs like Arnold Palmer once did, slip into the King’s alpaca red sweater awarded to the champion of Palmer’s tournament in Orlando.
On the occasion of the 50th Players, I want to see the winner dive into the lake at 18 at TPC Sawgrass like Jerry Pate did in 1982. That should be the men’s version of Poppy’s Pond.
I want to see Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm in the final group on Sunday at the Masters. It wouldn’t suck if Tiger and Scottie Scheffler were in the next group and they were all tied for the lead as they hit the back nine.
My colleague Beth Ann Nichols said she’d like to see more co-ed teams at the Grant Thornton Invitational. I second that but I’m going to go one step further: let’s make the Zurich Classic of New Orleans an official co-ed team event. The team format breathed new life into this event but let’s go next level and get the women involved.
I don’t care if it is an existing tournament switching things up or a brand new one but the PGA Tour needs to bring back a match-play tournament ASAP. Not a good look for the Tour letting Austin fall off the calendar.
I want to see a first-time major winner at the PGA: Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau are about due but I like Viktor Hovland to break through next.
I want to see Billy Horschel win the Memorial and go from first to worst back to first. That’s how you stamp that you’re back.
It doesn’t get much better than the U.S. Open being at Pinehurst No. 2. That’s the major I’m most looking forward to attending in ‘24. It’s Disney for golf geeks there. Here’s hoping Martin Kaymer, who a reader reminded me has one year left on his 10-year exemption for winning there at No. 2 in 2014, can re-find some of his magic from a decade ago, and some Cinderella story fills the Jason Gore role as the new Prince of Pinehurst.
I want to see Daniel Berger return from injury and win the Travelers Championship. Still can’t believe Jordan Spieth holed that bunker shot to beat him in a playoff. Or that it happened back in 2017.
Robert MacIntyre celebrates a par putt on the 13th green during Day Four of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club on July 16, 2023 in United Kingdom. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
I want to see the wind blow again on Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open and this time native son Bobby Mac, who got pipped by Rory this year, win his national open.
I want to see Tommy Fleetwood win a PGA Tour title so I can stop writing that he hasn’t and he should go big or go home and win the British at Troon. Then we can start asking him if he’s ever going to win in the U.S.
I want to see some drama with gold medals on the line in Paris. Ooh la la, can you imagine how the Norwegian announcers will lose their minds if Viktor Hovland were to sink a winning putt at 18 at Le Golf National?
I want to see an amateur win on Tour for the first time since Phil Mickelson in 1991. Rocket Mortgage Classic, 3M Open or Barracuda Championship feel ripe for the taking by the likes of Gordon Sargent or Nick Dunlap.
I want to see a down-and-out pro, who barely broke 80 all season capture some last-minute magic and win the Wyndham Championship and qualify for the FedEx Cup like Jim Herman before him and Lucas Glover did in August.
And for the ultimate rags to riches story, I want to see a “mule” win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup for the everyman.
Royal Montreal needs to be the site of an International Team victory. I want to see Nick Taylor, one year after becoming the first Canuck to win the RBC Canadian Open in forever, win the clinching point of the Presidents Cup in Montreal…and for Adam Hadwin to get leveled again by security while trying to celebrate with him.
But most of all, I want to see the best players compete against each other more often. If that doesn’t work out, let’s hope that powers-that-be at least can agree on a PGA Tour-LIV Ryder Cup-style competition. Here’s to a 2024 where the only drama is on the course and not off it.
“I can’t quite give him as much grief anymore because he’s close to beating me up.” JT on Charlie Woods.
ORLANDO – Tiger Woods, the father, isn’t that different from you or me. The 15-time major champ and father of two doesn’t like when son, Charlie, stares at his phone all the time.
“Put your phone away and just look around. That’s one of the things that I think all parents struggle with is most kids don’t look up anymore. Everyone is looking down,” he said when asked to name a pet peeve or something Charlie does that gets under his skin. “Look around you, the world is so beautiful around you, just look up. But everyone is staring into a screen, and that’s how people view life. It drives me nuts at times because he’s always looking down and there’s so many things around you that are so beautiful at the same time.”
“You can see how much he’s grown from last year. It’s amazing how much he has grown, has changed, and it’s a moving target with him, right? He’s grown somewhere near four inches this year, so his swing has changed, it’s evolved, clubs have evolved,” Tiger said. “And we kept trying to adjust things, and it’s been a lot of fun. But it’s also challenging for him because each and every couple weeks, things change. He just has – he’s growing so fast.”
“He’s leading the tournament in inches grown,” Justin Thomas said. “I can’t quite give him as much grief anymore because he’s close to beating me up.”
Tiger noted that Charlie is hitting it past him now, and just to keep things fair in this 36-hole competition, he’s playing one set back this year at a length of 6,576 yards.
Imagine trying to grow up as the son of one of, if not, the best ever to play a sport. And yet Charlie has fallen hard for golf and seems to be able to handle all of the inevitable comparisons. Imagine being able to learn the game from Tiger. Well, Charlie still has some mixed feelings about that. When Will McGee, the 12-year-old son of Annika Sorenstam, asked him if he listens to his dad’s tips, Charlie said, “It doesn’t happen very often. I mean, when I get desperate, yeah.
Charlie Woods warms up as father Tiger Woods of the United States looks on during the pro-am prior to the PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on December 15, 2023, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
“Sometimes he doesn’t see it the way I saw it, which is fun, but I think it’s the understanding of how to hit the proper shot at the proper time. And that’s what all kids have to learn is when do I hit a certain shot at the right time, or how do I take stuff off a shot, how do I hit it a little bit harder, what do I need to do.
“You can do that at home all you want, but under tournament conditions, it’s just so different. And being able to share that with him, share my experiences with him in game-time mode, I think that it was great for both of us because I think we both are able to learn from it and grow from it. I think I learned to be a better teacher with it, and I think that he became a better player because of it.”
Imagine there being a blessing in disguise from Tiger’s accident. His injuries have prevented him from practicing as much as he’d like with Charlie but on the bright side he said he has been home more and able to watch Charlie’s high school matches and caddie for him at junior tournaments, which he might not otherwise have been able to do. This week is special for Team Woods to test their games together under tournament conditions.
“We push each other, which is great,” Tiger said. “And the needle is always out. If you’re going to be able to mouth off and give the jabs, then you have to be able to take it. That’s been a lot of fun for both of us.”
Imagine being able to get a wedge lesson from the legend Lee Trevino. After the pro-am, Charlie hit the range and when Tiger joined him, they made sure to visit with Trevino, who was digging it out of the dirt at age 84 at the far end of the range. They hugged, laughed, and traded stories and tips.
Imagine if Tiger and Charlie were to win the PNC Championship this week. JT has and he took a guess where it would rank for Tiger. “It would be No. 1 for special,” he said.
“Winning majors is unbelievable, and how he’s won his majors, but seeing how much he cares about Charlie and having Sam out here and him doing that together with Charlie and as he’s watched him grow up, it would be a very, very different kind of win that doesn’t maybe come with the record books and history and whatnot,” Thomas added. “I know it would suck for us because they would really rub that in our face.”
Here’s how to watch the annual 36-hole silly season family event in Florida.
Originally called The Father/Son Challenge when it debuted back in 1995, the PNC Championship returns this week with the 26th edition of the annual family hit-and-giggle.
The field consists of 20 two-player teams featuring a PGA Tour, Champions tour or LPGA player and one of their family members. The professional player must either be a major champion or winner of the Players Championship and the family member cannot be a current touring professional.
After a two-day, 36-hole scramble, the winner takes home the Willie Park Trophy, named after the father-son British Open champions, Willie Park Sr. and Willie Park Jr.
Here’s how to watch the 2023 PNC Championship, Dec. 16-17, at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando.
Dan Hicks will handle the play-by-play duties alongside analyst Peter Jacobsen. Steve Sands will be on the holes coverage with John Wood and Notah Begay III serving as the on-course reporters. Cara Banks will also be reporting on-site.
On Friday morning, NBC announced due to looming bad weather that first round coverage will move up from 1 p.m. ET to 8:15 a.m. ET live on its Peacock streaming service. Tee times have already been shifted earlier to start at 7:15 a.m. NBC’s regularly scheduled 2:30 p.m. ET TV start time will not change but that window will show a replay of the earlier action.
Sunday’s TV and streaming times are unchanged.
Saturday, Dec. 16
Peacock: 8:15 a.m. ET NBC/Peacock: 2:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. ET
The defending champions lead 18 returning teams who will tee it up this week in Orlando.
Golf’s silly season continues this week with the 2023 PNC Championship, the annual hit-and-giggle that features major champions and their family members.
This year’s event will run Dec. 14-17 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando and feature 20 teams, including 18 from last year’s competition, where Vijay Singh and Qass Singh claimed a two-shot win. Out of the field this year are Gary Player and his son, Jordan, as well as Jordan Spieth and his father, Shawn. Replacing them will be Steve Stricker and his daughter, Izzi, and Retief Goosen and his son, Leo.
Get to know all 20 teams comprised of LPGA and PGA Tour players below.
