Tag: Nick Faldo

Scottie Scheffler passes another Official World Golf Ranking milestone after Hero victory

Scheffler is the 25th golfer all-time to reach No. 1.

Scottie Scheffler capped his incredible 2024 season on Sunday with his ninth victory of the calendar year at the Hero World Challenge.

And come Monday, he’s primed to pass another benchmark previously accomplished by only two golfers.

When the Official World Golf Ranking updates Monday, Scheffler will be in the No. 1 spot for the 82nd consecutive week, breaking a tie with Nick Faldo for the fourth longest span of all-time. The only two golfers to spend more consecutive weeks atop the OWGR are Tiger Woods, who did it twice for 281 and 264 weeks, respectively, and Greg Norman, who was No. 1 for 96 straight weeks.

Scheffler is the 25th golfer all-time to reach No. 1, and he has held the position since May 21, 2023. With his massive lead in points, he’s not going anywhere for some time, either.

Next week will mark Scheffler’s 117th as No. 1 in the world, only five weeks behind Rory McIlroy’s 122, a mark he’ll pass in the middle of January. Dustin Johnson is next on the list, being in the top spot for 135 weeks, another mark that Scheffler is likely to top.

Another feat Scheffler is bound to pass is Norman’s longest stretch on top of the world at 96 straight weeks. Because of how many average points Scheffler has between he and world No. 2 Xander Schauffele, the chances of him losing the top spot in the world in the early part of 2025 are slim to none, meaning he’s likely to become the second golfer ever to spend at least 100 consecutive weeks at No. 1.

As far as catching No. 1 on that list? We’ll check back in a couple years.

As mentioned above, Scheffler earned the fourth-most OWGR points in a single year in 2024, trailing only Woods’ 2000, 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Woods is by far the most successful golfer in OWGR history, with Norman a distant second. The 28-year-old Scheffler is closing in on third with arguably the prime of his career just starting.

Nick Faldo sounds off on Ryder Cup and PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf

“America, to be honest, I looked and thought, ‘These guys, they’ve got too much peripheral vision.'”

Nick Faldo retired from his role as lead analyst for CBS Sports’s PGA Tour coverage, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still a man of many opinions.

Speaking on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio’s “Gravy & The Sleeze” show Wednesday, Faldo, a former stalwart of Team Europe and team captain in 2008, touched on several topics including takeaways from last month’s Ryder Cup.

“The Big Four (European players) came in and you’ve got to get a huge bunch of points,” he said. “Then I thought it was very cool that our rookies, America doesn’t know a lot about our rookies, [Nicolai] Hojgaard and [Ludvig] Aberg and Bobby MacIntyre, they don’t know a lot about these guys and that can be very useful. So, which they obviously did, the captains can say, ‘Relax, you’ve all to gain this week. If you can just get me a point you’ve done a great job.’ Well, they did more than that. So we got that added bonus as well. And then we had to look at Zach’s picks, his six picks, I mean, all those guys are great guys, great golfers, but they were all running hot and cold, or trying to find their games and saying, you know, ‘I can turn it on for you, Captain.’

“But I’ve been there and got the T-shirt. When you’re not playing great at a Ryder Cup I can promise you it is the worst arena to be playing in because you are under so much pressure to do something for the rest of the team. And you won’t find it, and we saw all of that unravel. And Europe was extremely focused. You could literally see it in their eyes right on the first tee. They stood up there and looked down the fairway. And America, to be honest, I looked and thought, ‘These guys, they’ve got too much peripheral vision. They’re just looking at everything.’ And Europe was very focused on the job at hand, what they had to do.”

Faldo also addressed the differences he sees between the LIV Golf League and the PGA Tour.

“It is a different style of golf (LIV). And the Tour is the Tour, or the Tours, you know, and we would deem it as proper golf, 72 holes, 36-hole cut. All of that is all part of your learning experience. ‘Cause you’ve gotta strive, you know? Here’s the bottom line, you know, you’ve got to strive, you know, everything in life is a struggle, isn’t it? So you strive and from striving, you then achieve something,” he said. “So if you’ve achieved something, you then get satisfaction from doing that. And then from your satisfaction, you then create a memory. Well, if there’s nothing to strive for then there’s no memory. When I look back at my career, you don’t think of the dollar sign. You think, I went through a swing change for two years and then came out of it and finally winning, win my first major and what have you, and then became a pretty darn decent golfer for five years. That makes you proud of what you did. And that’s with me forever. I mean, that’s where I see a difference. Sure, I would’ve loved to earn tens of millions more. I’m not denying that. But there’s something about competing and putting yourself through the ringer, and then you feel proud of your achievements. … That’s why I think the Tour’s competitive golf will stand up because their tour is not the same competition. It really isn’t.”

Best of the best: Ryder Cup all-time points leaders for Europe, United States

Brush up on your Ryder Cup history with this list of all-time points leaders for Europe and the U.S.

Over its nearly 100-year history the Ryder Cup has featured some impressive performances from the world’s best players, especially since the competition switched to include all of Europe back in 1979.

From Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer to Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods, a handful of players have stood out with their play and find themselves on the all-time points list in the biennial bash.

Of the top 10, six are European players, but when it comes to the top 20 — which includes a handful of active players — the split is right down the middle at 10 a piece.

As the teams of 12 from both the United States and Europe prepare to square off in the next round of matches at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy this week, take a scroll through the all-time points winners in Ryder Cup history from both squads.

MORE: Everything you need to know for the 2023 Ryder Cup

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Why Nick Faldo isn’t calling the Masters on CBS in 2023

Wondering where Faldo is for the 2023 Masters? Here’s the answer.

Sir Nick Faldo was on the mic with Jim Nantz and the CBS golf team for 16 years.

But if you’re here, you may have noticed that he’s not on the broadcast for the 2023 Masters alongside Nantz — this year, it’s former PGA Tour golfer Trevor Immelman on analyst duty with Ian Baker-Finch.

So what happened to Faldo?

This is a good time to remind you that Faldo was done with CBS last year, delivering a tearful goodbye to his colleagues on the air that you can watch below. He retired from the booth.

Now you know the answer! Here’s that moment from August of 2022:

Masters Leaderboard: Live leaderboard, schedule, tee times

Tiger Woods is gearing up for his second act, according to Jack Nicklaus

Nicklaus was a guest of Nick Faldo when he started talking about Tiger using a golf cart because of his physical limitations.

Tiger Woods has hinted at extending his golf career when he turns 50. But never have his words been as strong as those of Jack Nicklaus, the man Tiger is chasing when it comes to major championships.

Nicklaus was a guest of Nick Faldo when he started talking about Tiger using a golf cart because of his physical limitations.

“I told him, ‘Tiger, you’re eligible to take a cart,’” Nicklaus, the North Palm Beach resident, said on Faldo’s podcast. “He says, ‘I’m not going to do that.’”

Nicklaus continues: “He says, ‘When I get to the senior tour, I will.’”

Faldo then asked, “He’s actually thinking he would come back out at 50?”

Said Nicklaus: “He wants to play the senior tour.”

Players on the Tour Champions can use a cart. On the PGA Tour if they have a disability they must apply to ride during a competitive round. Woods certainly could do that now but he refuses.

Woods is 47. He becomes eligible for the Tour Champions when he turns 50 on Dec. 30, 2025. He’s proven he can still swing a club even after multiple back surgeries and a horrific car crash in which he nearly died.

But bouncing back from those injuries, more specifically that accident outside of L.A. two years ago in which he suffered two leg fractures and a shattered ankle, has been the challenge. Since the accident, Tiger’s biggest test has been walking five rounds (including one practice) in five or six days.

The Jupiter Island resident has played four events in the last year, the Masters, PGA Championship and Open Championship in 2022, and the Genesis Invitational last month.

Tiger missed the cut in the Open Championship in July; withdrew after three rounds at the PGA Championship last May, visibly limping and in pain; and played all four rounds at the Masters and Genesis.

He shot a pair of 78s the last two rounds of the Masters. At Riviera, he had a strong third round (67) before carding a 73 on the final day.

“It certainly was a little bit more difficult than I probably let on,” Woods said following his 45th-place finish at Genesis. “My team has been fantastic in getting my body recovered day to day and getting me ready to play each and every day.

“That’s the hard part that I can’t simulate at home. Even if I played four days at home, it’s not the same as adrenaline, it’s not the same as the system being ramped up like that, the intensity, just the focus that it takes to play at this level. I’m very good at simulating that at home, but it’s just not the same as being out here and doing it.”

Tiger’s next tournament will be the Masters in three weeks. With 15 major titles, he trails Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18. His 82 career PGA Tour victories are tied with Sam Snead for the most.

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Trevor Immelman becomes the new face — and lead analyst voice — of CBS Sports golf

“I’m going to be myself, I’m going to be authentic and I’m going to be honest.”

SAN DIEGO – Trevor Immelman was out early on Thursday walking the South Course at Torrey Pines as the Santa Ana wind blew tumbleweed across greens and cardboard recycling bins tumbled down hills.

“It’s a perfect day if you’re a fan watching, but as a player you’re freaking out. I just watched Patrick Rodgers rinse his third in the water on 18,” Immelman said. “Kind of happy with just being in the tower this week.”

Immelman, who won twice on the PGA Tour, including the 2008 Masters, will be in the CBS Sports “super tower,” and beginning Friday becomes just the fifth person to serve as “The Eye’s” lead analyst, following in the footsteps of Ken Venturi, Lanny Wadkins and most recently Nick Faldo, who stepped down in August after 16 years in the big seat.

Faldo’s departure came as a bit of a surprise to Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports, who said he had no intention of replacing Faldo until they had their annual breakfast during last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and Faldo broke the news that he planned to retire and build a ranch in Montana.

“The first name that popped into my head was Trevor’s,” McManus said during a recent Zoom interview with Golfweek. “And I thought, you know, who can go into that booth in a seamless way? You know, he’s done television, he’s proven how good he is at television. So it really for me, listen, we thought about other people and we discussed other, you know, other possible folks to go into that slot. But no one came up to the level of Trevor. Every time I listened to him, I thought, boy, full time role working with Jim Nantz on most of our tournaments and Andrew Catalon on the others, he’s my choice.”

Nantz, who is kicking off his 38th year with CBS, has broken in new partners before, but as put it, “we’re not having to put the training wheels on here.”

Added Nantz: “I am not bringing in a new partner, I’ve got a partner who has got a tremendous amount of experience. I’ve worked with him numerous times and he is very skilled at this. He is a naturally gifted communicator, who carries himself in a way that exudes class and integrity. And there’s a high warmth quotient to the man; I think he’s going to be just such a hit for people to have in their living room.”

Immelman didn’t give TV a thought until he began battling various injuries and his game hit the rocks. In 2017, a Golf Channel producer convinced him to do a try out at the Wyndham Championship, and a new door was opened.

“I love the sport of golf so much, I was trying to think of ways that I could still stay involved and stay a big part of it, and fortunately, that’s when I got the opportunities to dip my toe in the water for TV,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoyed it, I could feel the energy. At the tournament, I felt the excitement and the adrenaline rush of trying to find the right words to explain to the viewer what was going on with the action.”

Nantz remembers distinctly that once Immelman started working with CBS as a hole analyst, Immelman would call him seeking constructive criticism on how he could improve at his new craft.

“He was so anxious to be great at this, and I was flabbergasted how good he was right away,” Nantz said. “He would call all the time. I was completely at a loss for words. I didn’t know how to tell him to get better. He was already there. And I think there was a period where he thought maybe I was just passing it off, didn’t want to invest in the hard truth. This is what you need to do. I was being truthful with him. You’re doing really well. Just keep getting more reps…He’s going to be brilliant.” (Immelman noted that broadcaster Brian Anderson has been a mentor and that his wife, Carminita, is his toughest critic – “My wife is straight to the point, always has been,” he said.)

With Nantz in Kansas City to call the NFL’s AFC Championship game on Sunday, Immelman and Nantz will call their debut this week at the Farmers Insurance Open from many miles apart. But Immelman said he expects at some point next week at Pebble Beach when they are seat side by side, “I’ll be like, Whoa, this is, you know, he’s the voice of – I don’t want to sound negative – but he’s the voice of my youth.”

Immelman, a native of South Africa, recalled being six years old and staying up after midnight to watch his first Masters in 1986 and hearing Nantz call Jack Nicklaus’s heroics.

“That moment is like etched in my memory,” said Immelman, who 22 years later sat next to Nantz in Butler Cabin as the champion and received his green jacket.

Immelman served as captain of the International team at the 2022 Presidents Cup and is deeply entrenched among the current players he’ll now be covering. He got some additional reps as analyst for Golf Channel this fall. His preparation also included a trip to Cincinnati in December to see how Nantz and partner Tony Romo called a football game (Bengals vs Chiefs) and sit in their production meetings.

“That was his idea,” Nantz said of Immelman. “And it’s typical of Trevor trying to find every means possible to try to make himself better.”

Making his debut at Torrey Pines is fitting for Immelman, who first visited these sun-soaked shores to play in the 13-14 age group of the World Juniors and won the 1998 U.S. Amateur Public Links here. In the years that followed, Immelman experienced the highs and lows of professional golf, and he believes that will serve him well in his new role.

“I wasn’t an elite player, was nice player, I won the Masters, which is, you know, huge. But, so I know what it takes to get to there, I know what it takes to play at that level. And to mix it up with the best,” he said. “But then I also have all the experiences of being on the other side, where it’s not quite going your way, where you’re struggling to keep your card. And it’s two different worlds, I can promise you, it’s two different worlds. But when you’re in it, you don’t realize how fine the line is. And so that’s what I think I have to bring to the table is the understanding of both sides of the spectrum. And I have a real passion for the game and love for the game. So hopefully I can find a way to tell those stories with the appropriate energy and enthusiasm to where people at home enjoy it.”

In his role as Presidents Cup captain, Immelman was an outspoken and opinionated leader. Will he be that strong a voice in the 18th tower and able to criticize players for whom he’s developed deep ties?

“I’m going to be myself, I’m going to be authentic and I’m going to be honest. If there’s something that I see that a player or a caddie or a coach or anything that’s happening on our air takes place that I disagree with, or if I have an opinion on, I’m going to go ahead and say that, that is my job. That’s what I’ve been put in that seat to do,” he said. “And if I don’t do that, we’re going to have millions of fans sitting at home, who can see that call me out. So, it’s up to me to make sure that I go ahead and be honest and be authentic.”

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Nick Faldo says LIV Golf players shouldn’t play Ryder Cup: ‘You’ve got to move on’

The debate over whether LIV Golf players should be eligible to play in the 2023 Ryder Cup continues to rage.

The debate over whether LIV Golf players should be eligible to play in the 2023 Ryder Cup continues to rage, and now one of the European side’s most prolific participants has added his two cents.

Rory McIlroy, a Ryder Cup veteran and leader for the European side, has been outspoken in his belief that those who made the jump to LIV Golf should not be on the team bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Jon Rahm has stated he’d be in favor of LIV players, such as Sergio Garcia, being on the team.

And 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick said he would support LIV players being in the mix for the biennial bash against the Americans next fall because he wants the Euros to field the strongest team possible by selecting the best dozen players.

But Sir Nick Faldo feels otherwise, as he indicated in a frank interview with Sky Sports that was released this week.

“They shouldn’t be there because they’ve gone off and you’ve got to move on,” Faldo told Sky Sports News.

“They’re all at the age where Europe needs to find a new breed of 25-year-olds that can play half a dozen or more Ryder Cups, and I think we’re going to have that.”

Faldo, 65, won 33 times internationally and another nine on the PGA Tour. He won three green jackets at the Masters and three British Opens. His best finish in the U.S. Open was solo second in 1988; he also tied for second in the 1992 PGA Championship. Along the way, he held the top spot on the Official World Golf Ranking for 97 weeks. He was a TV analyst for nearly two decades.

And his success in Ryder Cup play was substantial, as he held a 23-19-4 record in the competition.

“What gripes me is it (LIV Golf) is not growing the game of golf. That really gets me when they fly across the world to a country that’s been playing golf for 100-plus years and say, ‘we’re growing the game of golf’,” Faldo said. “If they keep saying they want to grow the game of golf, go and take it to new regions. Countries in the early days of being interested in golf now. Try that rather than just trying to antagonize everybody.

“Whatever they want to do, go and do it. Let these youngsters play what we deem is real, competitive golf. Once you’ve decided to retire, disappear, move on, or go to another job. No one’s going to talk about you, so just go and do your thing and get on with it.”

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Nick Faldo picks up new job as host of DP World Tour’s Betfred British Masters at The Belfry

One of Faldo’s 30 DP World Tour wins came at the 1989 British Masters, and he won two Ryder Cups at The Belfry.

It didn’t take long for Sir Nick Faldo to find his next job in golf after his retirement from TV last year.

The six-time major champion announced Monday morning that he will be the new long-term host for the DP World Tour’s Betfred British Masters, held at The Belfry in England until 2026. The 2023 event is set for June 29-July 2.

“I’m very honored to have some very exciting news. Next year the Betfred British Masters will be hosted by yours truly, Sir Nick Faldo,” he said in a video released on Twitter. “It will be played at The Belfry, I’ve got lots of fun, happy memories there from the great Ryder Cup days. I will be hosting it for the next five years, so I’m sure we’re going to have a great field.”

One of Faldo’s 30 DP World Tour wins came at the 1989 British Masters (held at Woburn). While he never won an individual tournament at The Belfry, Faldo played in three Ryder Cups at the resort in Warwickshire, winning twice in 1985 and 1989 while posting a 2-4-1 record. He later compiled a 2-1-2 mark when the event returned to The Belfry in 1993, the last time the Europeans lost on home soil.

Danny Willett (2021-22), Lee Westwood (2017, 2020), Tommy Fleetwood (2019), Justin Rose (2018), Luke Donald (2016) and Ian Poulter (2015) have all previously served as tournament hosts. Recent British Masters champions at The Belfry include Thorbjorn Olesen in 2022 and Richard Bland, who in 2021 at 48 years old won his first DP World Tour event in his 478th career start.

Faldo ended his broadcast career last August after the final round of CBS’ coverage of the 2022 Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, which is where he made his PGA Tour debut in 1979. He was honored with a plaque behind the ninth green on the club’s Wall of Fame, where he joins the likes of Charlie Sifford and Arnold Palmer.

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Will a revolving door of voices make golf’s TV broadcasts better or worse? And why so much turnover?

It will be different watching golf in 2023 and not hearing Faldo, Maltbie or Koch.

Each PGA Tour season starts with new faces and new names for fans to learn and embrace. Whether it is a raw rookie fresh off the Korn Ferry Tour, a college star getting a handful of starts and making some waves or a European player taking a shot at the U.S.-based tour, there is always something new.

But in recent years, the new faces aren’t just on the golf course. The faces have come with new voices to the broadcast booths of PGA Tour events. That carousel seems to be spinning faster and faster these days.

At NBC, Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie, two long-time golf announcers who are both in their 70s, are out as 2023 begins. They are replaced by Brad Faxon and Smylie Kaufman, two more former players.

At CBS, Nick Faldo left as lead analyst at the end of the network’s coverage in 2022. Faldo will be replaced by Trevor Immelman, a former Masters champion. Immelman, who was already on the CBS team, is 42. Faldo is 65, and he apparently wanted to work a more limited schedule. CBS decided that didn’t work for the network, so Faldo retired.

So the voices get younger as 2023 begins, and it seems like a lot of change for the two main networks that cover the PGA Tour (Golf Channel covers its own PGA Tour tournaments as well as sharing producing and voices at times with NBC and CBS). But have things really changed that fast this year, or is it just the world of social media that has pushed the idea that changes have come at a break-neck speed?

Remember Johnny Miller? It might seem like a long time ago when Miller stepped down as a straight-talking lead analyst for NBC. But it was only in 2019 that he ended a nearly three-decade career with the network. Former PGA champion and Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger stepped in for Miller.

That was about the same time, by the way, that CBS, in an effort to freshen its golf broadcasts, said goodbye to Gary McCord and Peter Kostis, a pair of voices who had been with CBS for three decades themselves.

And of course, David Feherty didn’t hold back when explaining reasons why he left NBC/Golf Channel to go to be LIV Golf’s biggest broadcaster.

“Money,” Feherty told the Toledo Blade. “People don’t talk about it. I hear, ‘Well, it’s to grow the game.’ Bull … they paid me a lot of money.”

The LIV Golf Invitational Series is still without a television partner, but Feherty’s move gave the Greg Norman-led, Saudi Arabia-funded upstart circuit a known name on its broadcast team. He made his debut at LIV Bedminster.

Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, and Sir Nick Faldo of The Golf Channel discuss the action during the first round of the 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Changes happening all the time

And there have been other changes. Jim “Bones” MacKay, longtime caddie for Phil Mickelson, became a respected on-course commentator for NBC before returning to caddie duties for Justin Thomas. John Wood, another longtime tour caddie, is drawing raves for his work for NBC.

That might seem like a lot of changes in a short period of time. But remember, it was just 20 years ago, in the 2002 season, that Ken Venturi ended a run of 35 years as the lead analyst for CBS.

Networks understand that golf needs to appeal to a younger audience. It’s great that people 50 and over love and watch the sport, because that demographic tends to have more leisure time and more disposable income — things that advertisers crave in a viewer. But the sport needs younger viewers, too, fans who will embrace the sport now and follow the young stars for the next 15 or 20 years or even longer. So younger voices might seem like the right thing to do.

It’s not that Maltbie or Koch or McCord or Kostis did a bad job of reporting on PGA Tour events or were rapidly deteriorating as broadcasters. But inevitably, older voices get pushed aside by younger voices. That’s true in any part of media or entertainment.

Faxon has some experience in broadcasting and has shown he can hold his own. Kaufman, once a rising player on the tour whose game disappeared with a string of missed cuts in his last three years, proved to be a breakout star working for Golf Channel and NBC last year. Immelman has been a strong part of the CBS team for several years and should fit in fine at Augusta National, where he won in 2008.

But it will be different watching golf as 2023 begins not hearing Faldo or Maltbie or Koch. Some familiar voices, such as Mark Rolfing at NBC and Ian Baker-Finch at CBS, remain, as do the main anchors for their network, Dan Hicks at NBC and Jim Nantz at CBS.

Will it be better or worse? Chances are it will be about the same, with the networks throwing in some technical innovations but hanging on to the tried and true method of broadcasting a PGA Tour event. Sometimes it isn’t the voices that need to be freshened, it is the approach to the broadcast itself that gets stale.

Either way, golf will look familiar in 2023 on NBC, CBS and Golf Channel, even if it sounds a little different.

Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Golfweek’s Cameron Jourdan contributed to this report.

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ESPN’s College GameDay picks winners for USC vs UCLA, Utah vs Oregon and more

Who do you have winning the big games today?

The top college football pregame show went to cold Montana, as they were in live from Bozeman for the matchup between Montana and Montana State. There aren’t a lot of big games this Saturday but enough with plenty of intrigue that Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Lee Corso (welcome back), Kirk Herbstreit and guest picker, the three-time winner of both the Open Championship and Masters Championship Sir Nick Faldo. That group selected who they believe will be winners during week 12’s action.