In what’s become a recurring theme, the field was not released.
Friday was supposed to be the day we learned who was heading to London for the LIV Golf Series opener June 9–11 at the Centurion Golf Club.
In what’s become a recurring theme, the field was not released.
The Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led breakout league has been anything but punctual in the lead-up to the series debut. A few players have committed to play in the event, including Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, and Sergio Garcia.
At the Wells Fargo Championship, Garcia showed that he’s very much looking forward to putting the PGA Tour in his review mirror with his on-camera breakdown over a lost ball.
“We have notified those who have applied that their request has been declined in accordance with the PGA Tour Tournament Regulations. As such, Tour members are not authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event under our Regulations,” said the letter signed by PGA Tour Executive Vice President Tyler Dennis. “As a membership organization, we believe this decision is in the best interest of the PGA Tour and its players.”
Despite earlier reports, LIV Golf will NOT be announcing a field list for its first event today. Am told the announcement will come soon, just not today.
Recently, it was reported that Jack Nicklaus was offered more than $100 million to be the face of the league. It would be objectively funny for LIV to wait until Memorial week to release the field. One, because the list of players set to tee it up at Murfield Village is likely to be loaded, and two, while we watch Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and many others, Norman and LIV are likely to start their campaign upon the backs of players mostly outside the upper echelon.
Said Fowler: “do I currently think that the PGA Tour is the best place to play? I do. Do I think it can be better? Yes.”
TULSA, Okla. — Rickie Fowler has been approached by the LIV Golf Invitational Series and remains undecided if he will play on the start-up circuit that is set to debut in June and funded by the Saudi Arabian-financed Public Investment Fund.
“To be straightforward with you guys, I haven’t necessarily made a decision one way or the other,” he said during a press conference ahead of the 104th PGA Championship. “I’ve mentioned in the past, do I currently think that the PGA Tour is the best place to play? I do. Do I think it can be better? Yes.
“So I think it’s an interesting position. Obviously, there’s the LIV and Premier (Golf League), as well. These tours or leagues or whatever – however you want to classify or call them – they wouldn’t really be coming up if they didn’t see that there was more opportunity out there. I’ve always looked at competition being a good thing. It’s the driving force of our game. You know, being able to have games with guys at home, that’s how I always grew up is competing. I think competition ultimately makes people better, whether it’s business, sport.”
Last week, the PGA Tour denied releases to its members to compete in the debut LIV event at Centurion Golf Club outside of London, June 9-11. Fowler said he thought players would like to know what the consequences would be if they defied the Tour.
“Because if you’re trying to make a decision one way or the other, I know there’s some guys that are probably in a position where the consequence may not matter. They may just be ready to go play and not look back type of thing and see how things come full circle,” he said. “Like I said, it’s an interesting time.”
Fowler, who has slipped to No. 146 in the world and missed the Masters last month for the second straight year, qualified for the PGA Championship at Southern Hills thanks to finishing T-8 at Kiawah a year ago. Fowler, who played his college golf at Oklahoma State, considers this week a homecoming of sorts despite only playing here he figured 15 times.
“This is a special place. We used to come over and play every once in a while, and the membership has always been great to us here. I played the 2009 U.S. Am, but first time back since then,” he said. “Anytime I get to be in Oklahoma, I feel at home.”
Fowler, 33, is making his 13th appearance at the PGA with a career-best of T-3 in 2014. This week marks his 70th career start in a major. Fowler has nine top-10 finishes and for a long time wore the badge of Best Player Never to Win a Major. But he has just one top 10 since Kiawah a year ago (T-3 at the CJ Cup in October). Of being mired in a slump, Fowler said, “it’s been a lot longer road than we’ve wanted it to be.”
“Going through it, it’s never fun,” he added. “ I’ve actually enjoyed it as much as it sucked. I’ve definitely found myself, not that I ever fell out of love with the game or anything like that, but I’ve embraced the grind and the aspect of just taking every day and going out and enjoying it, even though we have been in tough spots.”
The grind he conceded has been taxing mentally, noting it’s been a challenge to build momentum.
“Momentum is really what builds confidence and you can kind of start riding that wave,” he said. “There’s been no swell. I haven’t been able to ride anything.”
Fowler recently started working on the mental side of the game with a third-party expert.
“Instead of it being myself or talking to people on my team or friends, kind of to have a point person and to be able to talk through some things and ultimately simplify the process,” he explained.
But Fowler stopped short of saying who had joined “the team” as his head doctor.
“I don’t know if I should throw names out there or not,” he said. “I won’t mention names yet.”
Was he working with multiple mental coaches?
“I mean, I’m not that messed up,” he said with a smile.
“I said, ‘Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.’”
Greg Norman has long been leading the charge for the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Investments and its new series of events slated to begin in June outside London, but the two-time Open champion wasn’t the only person who was made an offer.
According to a Fire Pit Collective story published on Monday morning, 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus turned down not just one, but two offers to lead the new golf entity that has caused a stir in professional golf over the last year.
“I was offered something in excess of $100 million by the Saudis, to do the job probably similar to the one that Greg (Norman) is doing,” said Nicklaus. “I turned it down. Once verbally, once in writing. I said, ‘Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.’”
Nicklaus was a 73-time winner on Tour, only trailing Sam Snead and Tiger Woods, who both have 82 victories.
Despite a handful of players requesting releases to play in the first LIV Golf event, last week Golfweek broke the news that the Tour had denied releases for the likes of Robert Garrigus, Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson and the rest who made requests.
Tuesday, May 17, is the deadline by which players must request waivers to compete in the second Saudi event, scheduled for July 1-3 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon.
PGA Tour policy does not permit releases to be granted for events played against its own schedule in North America, so no applications for that tournament were expected to be granted.
“They’re not my bosses. We’re independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia.”
Two-time major champion Greg Norman said the new Saudi-backed golf league that he’s CEO of is not attempting to “sportswash” Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuse.
Norman – chief executive of the LIV Golf Invitational, funded primarily by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – appeared to downplay the 2018 killing of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a media day on Wednesday. The LIV Golf Invitational is scheduled to have its inaugural event next month at Centurion Golf Club outside of London.
“Everybody has owned up to it, right?” Norman said, according to London-based newspaper The Times. “It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported. Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”
Norman, 67, shared similar comments during an interview with Sky Sports when asked about Khashoggi and other human rights abuses by the Saudi Arabian government, including the mass execution of 81 people in March.
“It’s reprehensible what happened with Khashoggi. Own up to it, talk about it,” he said. “I’m not going to get into politics, I don’t know what the Saudi government does. I don’t want to get into that. Every country has a cross to bear.”
Norman, who won the British Open in 1986 and 1993, said LIV golf is non-political and is not associated with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
“They’re not my bosses. We’re independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to MBS (Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud),” he said. “I answer to my board of directors, and MBS is not on that. Simple as that.”
Norman, however, said Saudi Arabia is undergoing “a cultural change” through golf.
“The generation of kids that I see today on the driving range, they don’t want that stigma going on into generations and their kids,” he said. “They want to change that culture and they are changing it. And you know how they’re doing it? Golf.”
Norman’s comments come after the PGA Tour denied its members permission to play in the Saudi-funded golf tournament in London next month. The denials were sent to players who had sought permission late Tuesday afternoon.
It had been expected that the PGA Tour would grant waivers for the LIV Golf Invitational event near London because of a precedent allowing players limited releases for overseas events. (All members are required to seek a conflicting event release to compete in non-Tour events.)
However, it is thought the decision is based on a belief that the event in the U.K. is effectively part of a rival series. LIV Golf announced a schedule of eight tournaments with plans for more to come.
The first LIV Golf Invitational is scheduled for June 9-11 at Centurion Golf Club outside of London, with a 48-man field competing for a $20 million purse over 54 holes. The winner gets $4 million — to date the richest prize in golf — and last place gets $120,000.
The Associated Press and Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch contributed to this report.
Players set to receive PGA Tour University benefits have a big decision to make regarding their professional futures.
Greg Norman has said that amateurs would be able to play in his Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, but those in the top 15 of the PGA Tour University Ranking who are considering the rival golf entity may want to think otherwise.
The Tour has previously stated that it “reserves the right to make final determinations regarding a player’s eligibility in PGA Tour University,” and Wednesday Golfweek learned of two amendments, effective immediately.
Players who finish inside the top 15 of the final ranking will be ineligible for PGA Tour University, “and may not accept the performance benefits associated with a top-15 finish (in the current season and subsequent seasons) if such player competes in any professional golf tournament that is not ranked by the Official World Golf Ranking, excluding such events that have been previously approved by the PGA Tour.”
If a player is deemed ineligible or decides not to accept the benefits, they will be offered to the next eligible player in the final ranking. The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event is scheduled for next month, June 9-11, in London. As of now, the LIV Golf events do not offer OWGR points.
The PGA Tour University Ranking is based on results and level of competition. After the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship ends June 1, the top‐15 players in the Class of 2022 will earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour or a PGA Tour international tour.
“I thought that was the perfect response,” said Will Zalatoris.
When the PGA Tour sent an email to its membership late Tuesday informing players that it had denied requests for a conflicting-event release to play in the LIV Golf Invitational Series inaugural event in London the same week as the Tour’s RBC Canadian Open, it was bound to become a topic of conversation at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson.
“As a membership organization, we believe this decision is in the best interest of the PGA Tour and its players,” wrote Tyler Dennis, the Tour’s senior vice president and chief of operation.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said he had a busy night at home, woke up early and played his pro am and hadn’t had much time to process the Tour’s decision, but at first glance supported the move.
“I kind of figured that was something that would happen,” he said in his pre-tournament news conference ahead of the AT&T Byron Nelson in his hometown of Dallas. “If you’re playing here on the PGA Tour, playing in something that could be a rival series to the PGA Tour, being a member of our Tour, it’s definitely not something where we want our membership to do because it’s going to harm the tournament that we have opposite that and that’s, I’m sure that’s why they were, why they did not release the players. Because if we have 15 guys go over there and play that hurts the RBC and the Canadian Open.”
Will Zalatoris reacts after making a putt on the ninth green during the final round of the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports)
Will Zalatoris, last year’s Rookie of the Year and a member of the Tour’s Player Advisory Council, has been involved in talks behind closed doors and fully backed the decision made by Commissioner Jay Monahan.
“I thought that was the perfect response,” Zalatoris said. “Because we’re in a great place, the Tour’s in the best spot it’s ever been, it’s only going to get better and why would we want to, why would we encourage our players to get releases for those events when essentially we have all these sponsors that are involved with the Tour and are only making it better and better. We’re trying to promote our best product possible and if you want to be a part of this where it’s only getting better and better, then you shouldn’t have it both ways. You have a choice, I mean, you really do. You can go if you’d like, but, you know, it is what it is.”
Justin Thomas has made it clear repeatedly that he’s interested in winning tournaments and creating a legacy in the game more than simply lining his bank account with more lucre.
“I would hope it would deter them from going over there,” he said. “I think Jay’s made it very clear from the start of what would happen or, you know, I think a lot of people are probably like, “I can’t believe you did this’ or, ‘Wow, you went through with it.’ But I mean this is what he said was going to happen all along. And, yeah, it’s one of those things to where he just doesn’t want the competing tour, the back and forth. You know, it’s like, Look, if you want to go, go. I mean there’s been plenty of guys that have been advocates of it and have just talked it up all the time and they have been guys behind the scenes that are saying, ‘I’m going, I’m doing this.’ And like my whole thing is, like just go then. Like stop going back and forth or like you say you’re going to do this, it’s like you can do — everybody’s entitled to do what they want, you know what I mean?
“Like if I wanted to go play that tour I could go play that tour. But I’m loyal to the PGA Tour and I’ve said that and I think there’s a lot of opportunity for me to, I mean, break records, make history, do a lot of things on the PGA Tour I want to do. And there could be people that want to make that change and it’s like you’re allowed to have that decision, you’re a human being and that’s just a part of it.”
Former European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, who played most of his career on the DP World Tour, served as both a captain, Ryder Cup teammate and fellow competitor with many of the European players linked with joining the LIV series (including Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia among others) brings a Euro-centric perspective. He expressed his opinion in an interview Wednesday with SiriusXM and joined Scheffler, Thomas and Zalatoris in supporting the established tours, which announced a strategic alliance in 2020 and have been rumored to be discussing a closer relationship to fend off the Saudi threat.
“I’m not gonna make this personal, they’re all friends of mine,” McGinley said. “But I’m very much a traditionalist, I’m very much aligned with the PGA, DP World Tour and the major championships indeed in terms of retaining and improving the status quo that we have at the moment, which is, you know, every week that we have both European and PGA Tours. So I want to enhance that. I think we have commonalities between the two tours trying to enhance that, uh, get somewhat of a world schedule going together. I know there’s some talks gone on behind the scenes in that regard of those two major tours coming together and working more collaboratively going forward.”
LIV Golf, which Tuesday announced a $2 billion infusion to support its launch, has been touting exorbitant purses and guaranteed money to lure players to enter its events.
“I can somewhat understand and see where the guys are coming from. I mean, the amount of money that’s been put on the table is an incredible amount of, huge amount of money. And so late in their careers an opportunity to make so much money,” McGinley said. “In a lot of ways I can understand the enticement that they’ve been offered and why they would be interested in it. But it’s not certainly, personally from my point of view, the side of the fence that I’m on.”
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one pro who splits time on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour told our Eamon Lynch the following: “I’m for sure weighing up the pros and cons of making a jump like this. What Jay [Monahan] decides is a hugely important part of that. Asking permission to play an international ‘tour’ event is something I’ve done with the PGA Tour since I first took my card many years ago. I understand the initial construct of this LIV tour was destructive in nature if the PGA Tour didn’t want part of it. Here in the short term, the events are being scheduled to be as non-conflicting as possible which is difficult to do. As a player who plays multiple tours, conflicting events is something we always deal with and I don’t see how the LIV tour is any different until it’s 48 guys locked in for 14 events a season.”
It had been expected that the PGA Tour would grant waivers for the LIV Golf Invitational event near London.
The PGA Tour has denied its members permission to play in the Saudi-funded golf tournament in London next month. The denials were sent to players who had sought permission late Tuesday afternoon.
It had been expected that the PGA Tour would grant waivers for the LIV Golf Invitational event near London because of a precedent allowing players limited releases for overseas events. (All members are required to seek a conflicting event release to compete in non-Tour events.)
However, it is thought the decision is based on a belief that the event in the U.K. is effectively part of a rival series. LIV Golf, which is funded by the Saudi Arabian regime, has announced a schedule of eight tournaments — the second of which is due to be played July 1-3 in Portland, Oregon — with plans for more to come.
A PGA Tour spokesperson declined to confirm any details regarding what was communicated to members on the releases.
Among those who have acknowledged applying for permission to play the tournament—which has a $25 million purse—are Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood. Players who defy the Tour and play without a green light would be subject to disciplinary action. It is unclear if any player will choose to do that, or if anyone will try to litigate the Tour’s right to influence his schedule.
One player, who spoke with Golfweek under the condition of anonymity, said he has since been monitoring the reaction of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
“I’m for sure weighing up the pros and cons of making a jump like this. What Jay decides is a hugely important part of that. Asking permission to play an international ‘tour’ event is something I’ve done with the PGA Tour since I first took my card many years ago,” the player said. “I understand the initial construct of this LIV tour was destructive in nature if the PGA Tour didn’t want part of it. Here in the short term, the events are being scheduled to be as non-conflicting as possible which is difficult to do. As a player who plays multiple tours, conflicting events is something we always deal with and I don’t see how the LIV tour is any different until it’s 48 guys locked in for 14 events a season.”
Next Tuesday, May 17, is the deadline by which players must request waivers to compete in the second Saudi event, which will be held July 1-3 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon. PGA Tour policy does not permit releases to be granted for events played against its own schedule in North America, so no applications for that tournament were expected to be granted.
Ten events are scheduled for 2023, with more to come in 2024 and 2025.
The first year of the LIV Golf Invitational Series – the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed entity that plans to rival the PGA Tour – will feature an eight-event schedule in 2022 with plenty more to allegedly come in the next year years.
On Monday afternoon LIV Golf announced its 2023-2025 schedule, with 10 events planned for next year and 14 events slated for 2024 and 2025 in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Official dates and locations were not announced.
“We have a long-term vision and we’re here to stay,” said Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, via a release. “We’re going to grow the game, give more opportunities to players, and create a more entertaining product for fans. We believe in adding new experiences and energy to golf, and that includes building out our future schedule in more global markets. We’re creating an entertaining product that will increase golf participation and attract new fans across a broader global footprint. We realize it won’t happen overnight, and we’re excited for the opportunities LIV Golf will add to the game as we continue to grow.”
According to the release, “Schedules will never compete with the Majors, international team events or heritage events so players will always be able to make their own choices about where to play.”
The new series was announced in March and will feature 54-hole, shotgun start tournaments with $255 million in prize purses. The first event for 2022 is slated for June 9–11 at the Centurion Golf Club in London.
Garcia can on occasion be amiable and funny, but even at 42, he is proof that age and maturity are mutually exclusive.
Somewhere deep in the bowels of the budget for LIV Golf, well below the lucrative prize funds and exorbitant gratuities to overlook the gratuitous, closer to the paltry media buys to induce velvety coverage, there should be a line item for diaper-changing facilities to be used by the increasingly infirm or dependably infantile who will occupy its locker rooms.
Take Sergio Garcia (“please,” quoth Henny Youngman). Garcia is not entirely a one-dimensional dipstick. He can on occasion be amiable and funny, but even at 42 he is proof that age and maturity are mutually exclusive. In Thursday’s first round of the Wells Fargo Championship, he demonstrated anew his tendency to process every inconvenience as an injustice.
After being informed—incorrectly, it later emerged—by a PGA Tour rules official that he had exhausted the time allotted to find his ball in a hazard, Garcia snapped. “I can’t wait to leave this tour,” he announced. “I can’t wait to get out of here.” He stomped around a while longer, then added: “A couple of more weeks, I don’t have to deal with you anymore.”
The luckless official must have felt like a bartender who denies service to a belligerent drunk only to hear that he’s taking his custom elsewhere.
The departure from the PGA Tour to which Garcia referred is assumed to mean his playing LIV Golf’s series of sportswashing tournaments financed by Saudi Arabia, which launches next month in the U.K. He didn’t confirm this himself—Garcia avoided media after his first and second rounds—but his agent acknowledged that he requested the required release from the PGA Tour to play the inaugural Saudi event near London.
Competing there doesn’t necessarily signal a break from the PGA Tour. Several members will go since the Tour long ago established a precedent allowing overseas money grabs. Playing the second Saudi event July 1-3 in Portland, Oregon, would be a different matter. Tour policy does not permit waivers for events held in the U.S. Members who defy that rule to play in Portland are explicitly choosing sides. Disciplinary action and protracted litigation would likely follow.
Garcia checks all of the traits common among players associated with the Saudi bid to hijack professional golf: best days are in the rearview, has accomplished all that seems likely in major championships, not playing well enough consistently to benefit from increased purses on the PGA Tour, not sufficiently well-liked to reap fan engagement bonuses, endowed with a stout sense of entitlement, and consumed with petty grievances (mostly imaginary).
Since he scissor-kicked his way to fame in 1999, Garcia has earned $54 million on the PGA Tour, but his career has been defined by petulance. To cite but a few instances: flinging his shoe into a gallery; spitting into a cup, leaving the loogey for those unfortunate groups behind him; flipping off fans (I’d forgive him that—Bethpage galleries were obnoxious); blaming bunker-rakers and unseen forces for his loss in the ’07 Open at Carnoustie; listlessly apologizing for a racially-charged crack about Tiger Woods; being DQ’d from the Saudi International in ’19 for intentionally damaging five greens by tomahawking his club.
Linger a moment on that last one: his conduct was once considered beyond the pale by the Saudis.
Garcia shares another attribute with his peers who are also heavy petting with the bonesaw enthusiasts: their absence from the PGA or DP World tours would scarcely be noticed. That’s the disconnect at the heart of the Saudi seduction. The sums offered by LIV Golf convince players they’re elite, but just entertaining the overture is acknowledgment that they’re not, that their ability to compete against the world’s best is greatly diminished, that they’ll trade a potential hall of fame berth for an assured spot in the hall of shame.
There might be a modicum more respect for honest players who admit to being motivated by money and untroubled by morality. Some, but not much. It’s still pertinent what players are willing to do for that cash, which is be stooges for the public relations agenda of a reprehensible regime. But in lieu of transparency we get execrable equivocations as they attempt to present greed as an act of public service.
In an interview with Jamie Weir of Sky Sports, Lee Westwood admitted the Saudis have issues—he almost said “problems” before catching himself—but insisted they are trying to improve. He didn’t itemize what he believes those issues are or offer evidence of the government’s progress, which would come as news to the human rights groups monitoring its abuses. Westwood went on to suggest that criticism directed toward the Kingdom stems in part from discomfort that the pace of change is too fast.
Whatever compensation scheme Westwood has negotiated, one hopes there’s a bonus for his willingness to debase himself in public by shoveling from that crock.
It’s preposterous to think the futures of the PGA or DP World tours would be impoverished by the loss to LIV Golf of Garcia and Westwood, or any of the others considering abetting Saudi sportswashing. It might even be considered a positive clearing of detritus. Whoever bolts in the coming weeks, it’s worth noting that both tours created the environment that spawned this situation—the DP World Tour by brazenly welcoming tin pot dictatorships to its schedule, and the PGA Tour by operating a nanny state that protects players’ public images from the consequences of their conduct, all in service of an Orwellian ‘These Guys Are Good’ mantra.
It took the Crown Prince to finally expose professional golf’s least admirable characters. Cynical fans might wish to applaud his willingness to take them off our hands.
“Just a couple more weeks until I don’t have to deal with you anymore.”
Sergio Garcia is a major champion with 11 wins on the PGA Tour, and has earned more than $54 million on the U.S. circuit.
But is his time on Tour possibly coming to an end?
After making the turn with a 1-under 34 in his opening round of the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship, Garcia blew his tee shot way left of the 10th fairway into a hazard. After several minutes of searching, he finally found his ball.
However, the rules official said he took too long.
The official said he started the timer once Garcia arrived at the general location of his golf ball, while the Spaniard argued it should have started once he crossed the river as he knew his ball was on the other side and he was just looking for a way to cross.
Despite his persistence, Garcia was forced to take a drop.
After waving his hand in disgust, he said under his breath, “I can’t wait to leave this tour.”
His rant would continue.
“Can’t wait to get outta here. … just a couple more weeks until I don’t have to deal with you anymore.”
Watch the full reaction below:
Sergio Garcia, frustrated with what he thought was the early start of the clock to look for a lost ball, seemingly telling a rules official…
What’s he leaving for? Well, the first event of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf International series is coming up, June 9-11 at Centurion Golf Club in London. On Wednesday, Lee Westwood confirmed he filed for a release to play in the tournament.
On April 25th, Bob Harig of SI.com reported that 15 of the world’s top 100 players have committed to play in London. Garcia currently ranks 47th, filling that criteria. “Due to player confidentiality agreements, the names of the players are not being released,” Harig’s report said.
We’ll have to wait and see if Garcia does in fact leave, but if his behavior at TPC Potomac is any indication, the 2017 Masters champ may be as good as gone.
