Sergio Garcia is one of 13 players representing LIV Golf this week at the 2024 Masters, and trust us, it’s going to be hard to miss him at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday.
Garcia, the 2017 Masters champ, debuted his look — which matches with his wife, Angela — on social media before teeing off for the opening round of the year’s first major championship.
There’s a lot we could say about this fit. Is he now sponsored by Starry? Is he attempting some sort of camouflage? Or has he had this outfit laid out in his closet for the last few months?
“So please don’t tell me the LIV Tour is as good as the PGA Tour. I don’t want to hear it.”
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Masters champions Sergio Garcia and Fred Couples presented different opinions about the state of professional golf on Tuesday at Augusta National Golf Club.
To Garcia, who has missed the cut in four of the last five years since winning the title in 2017, the game is “in a perfect spot…I think we have the most amount of people playing the game, which is great.”
To Garcia, who defected to LIV Golf and gave up his PGA Tour and DP World Tour membership, the media is to blame for making a story about the fracture in the professional game and the bad blood that exists.
“I mean, you guys love these things. You keep building up these things, and there’s nothing. There’s nothing,” he said. “You guys love to kind of dig and just kind of try to make it sound like we get in the locker room and we’re fighting each other and stuff like that. It’s not like that. At the end of the day, it’s golf. We’re all trying to play the best way we can, and that’s it.”
Garcia’s comments don’t pass the smell test. For starters, he and McIlroy had a very public fallout of their friendship, which has since been ironed out, and Garcia also was reported to have gone on an expletive-laden rant at the 2022 BMW International Open Germany when he was fined and suspended by the European circuit.
Robert MacIntyre, who reportedly witnessed the Garcia’s tantrum tweeted, “Amazing how fast you can lose respect for someone that you’ve looked up to all your life.”
But Garcia did make one point that showed he has at least an ounce of self-awareness: “People have to realize one thing, that the future of the game – we’re not the future of the game. Neither me or Rory, no, we’re not the future. We’re the present of the game, but the future of the game is those kids that are watching us play, that want to get into the game, that want to play, and then maybe become professionals. I think that’s what sometimes people forget.”
Couples, winner of the Masters in 1992, has been unafraid to voice his displeasure with LIV and the players who left the Tour he’s called home for more than 40 years.
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand it. Maybe I’ll go to one and see what it’s really, really like. I know how great they are as players. I get it all, and I get the 54 holes and you drive a cart to your tee and shotgun. That’s easy to pick on. Sometimes I’ve picked on comments that people have made, and I’ve picked on comments that they talk about the Tour, which I’ve said I have now 44 years invested in, and I don’t want anyone picking on a tour that I think is very good,” he said. “Now, everything can get better, but let me tell you, if the LIV Tour is better for golf, I’m missing something there. But again, I’m not here to bash them anymore. I’m going to see them all tonight (at the Champions Dinner)…I love DJ. I love Brooks (who won’t be at the winners-only affair). I don’t know if they even comment on the LIV Tour. They just play golf. So please don’t tell me the LIV Tour is as good as the PGA Tour. I don’t want to hear it.”
If Garcia and Couples could agree on something, it is that the Champions Dinner, hosted by defending champion Jon Rahm, should be conducted free of any tension between the two sides.
“The dinner is pretty simple. He’s going to sit up there. He’s going to serve us all great food and wine and we’re going to have a great time,” Couples said. “Was it uncomfortable last year? I don’t think so. It’s a long table, and I sit near my guys every year, and it’s a pretty fast two hours with not much talking. But Jon Rahm is a tremendous champion of this tournament, and he’s there to have a great night. I don’t think there’s any issues at all with anybody.”
The win is Burmester’s first since joining the Saudi-backed league last season.
Sergio Garcia had his sights on a first LIV Golf win Sunday, but a late bogey opened the door for Dean Burmester to steal the honor.
The 34-year-old South African took down the 2017 Masters champion in a two-hole playoff at 2024 LIV Golf Miami at Trump National Doral to claim the $4 million prize and hand Garcia his third playoff loss since joining LIV.
Burmester shot consistent rounds of 68-69-68 to finish tied with Garcia at 11 under and then won LIV’s fifth event of the season with a par on the second playoff hole after each player made par the first time around. The victory is Burmester’s third in the last year after he won the Joburg Open and South African Open on the DP World Tour in consecutive weeks at the end of 2023.
“It’s special because coming over, obviously I was coming over to three friends and I was excited about that, but I also wanted to prove myself against a lot of the best players in the world, a lot of major champions,” said Burmester. “Now that I’ve done that a year and a half in, I’m super stoked and proud of myself and now we’re going to try to do it again.”
“I mean, it’s certainly probably the best golf of my career,” he said of his current form. “If I look at it that way, the amount of wins, the amount of top 10s, top 5s that I’m producing is some really special stuff.”
On the team side, Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII held off Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats GC by a single shot at 22 under for their second win of the season. Louis Oosthuizen and Burmester’s Stinger GC finished in a distant third at 15 under.
“Well, I guess that so far we’ve done well on challenging golf courses. I think more importantly this week, though, was to bounce back after how we finished last in Hong Kong,” said Tyrrell Hatton. “I think we were all pretty sad about that. To come back out next event and win as a team is great, and now we look forward to Adelaide.”
“The best part for us is that I don’t think either of us has played even what I would say is their best golf for a whole week,” said Rahm of his team. “I feel like all of us have had some rounds where we left quite a few shots out there. I know some rounds might not count, but I think, exactly, it’s a lot of good to look forward to when all of us show up to a tournament when we’re all playing our B+ or A game. Either one of us four is capable of winning individually at any given tournament, and I’m looking forward for that day to happen.”
Thirteen LIV players will take their talents down Magnolia Lane this week for the 2024 Masters while the rest of the 54-player field will take a break before traveling to Australia for 2024 LIV Golf Adelaide, April 26-28, at the Grange Golf Club.
The shirts started flying out of the merchandise tent early Thursday and by Friday they were all gone.
SAN ANTONIO — Ask those who consistently play the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course, and the responses regarding the unique design of the 16th green are, um … unsavory.
“Who would do that?”
“I feel like they were trying to torture us.”
“To be honest, I don’t understand what the hell they were thinking when they built that hole.”
These were just a few of the comments from volunteers and members who play the Greg Norman-designed 18 on a regular basis.
The 16th hole measures around 180 yards, depending on tee placement, and includes a feature that is distinctive, to say the least — a massive bunker smack dab in the middle of the green. It’s long been an interesting twist for PGA Tour players at the Valero Texas Open. The attribute was likely paying homage to No. 6 at Riviera Country Club, a course designed by George C. Thomas Jr. and William P. Bell.
The Oaks Course was designed by Norman, in consultation with Sergio Garcia. When Norman was working through the project, Garcia was dating his daughter, Morgan-Leigh Norman. The two split up, however, before TPC San Antonio officially opened in 2010.
The StrackaLine yardage book for the 16th hole at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course in Texas, site of the PGA Tour’s Texas Valero Open (Courtesy of StrackaLine)
But leave it to a merchandising manager to see how delectable the feature could be.
Enter Liz Ortiz, a graduate of nearby Texas State, who started working in merchandising with the course nearly four years ago. Ortiz admits she knows little about golf, but when she first toured the course, the thing that popped out to her was the green on 16.
“During COVID we were out here looking at the property. It was my first Valero,” said Ortiz, who originally hails from Fort Worth. “The former merchandising manager was showing me around and on 16 I was like, ‘Wow is this called the avocado hole?’ She looked at me and said, ‘No, it’s just 16.’ And I said, ‘Well it looks a lot like an avocado. Let’s call it that.’ But nothing really happened.”
Ortiz, who has been promoted, got a nudge from Jason Polka, the resort’s former director of golf, to dust off her idea.
“We normally collaborate on artwork and someone asked if we had a signature hole. I was like, well, not really, but I do love the 16th because it looks like an avocado,” she said. “They loved the idea and mocked up some artwork.”
Merchandise from the 2024 Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. (Photo: Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
“Everyone has been coming in here saying, ‘Where’s the avocado shirt? Where’s the avocado shirt?'” Ortiz said. “It’s done really, really well.”
So what’s next, now that The Avocado has clearly struck a chord with fans?
“Next year we’ll try to have more shirts, headwear, accessories, towels, everything,” Ortiz said. “I want to bring it into the golf shop and add it to our network. I think it’s cool.”
Garcia has been on the winning side six times in 10 Ryder Cup appearances.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Ryder Cup holds a dear place in Sergio Garcia’s heart, and rightfully so. The passionate Spaniard is one of the most decorated players in the history of the competition, starting his career at 19 as the youngest Ryder Cupper ever back in 1999 (a record that still stands) and he’s boasted an outstanding 25-13-7 record in 45 matches.
But Garcia, along with the likes of former European Ryder Cup stalwarts such as Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer, was deemed ineligible to be selected to Luke Donald’s 2025 Euro squad because of the requirements to be a member of the DP World Tour, which runs the European side for the biennial matches. Garcia originally resigned from that tour in May.
The 44-year-old former Masters champion, who has played for LIV Golf since 2022, is intent on getting back onto the DP World Tour, and paid hefty fines of more than $800,000 to make amends. However, Garcia reportedly missed the deadline to apply for 2024 membership and is now hoping that current negotiations with PIF might allow a pathway back into the international competition.
“I look at it two ways. If I’m not able to play anymore it’ll be a little bit sad,” Garcia said while attending a fundraiser for Lions Municipal Golf Course, a municipal course in Austin where he resides with his wife Angela. “But at the same time, I look at it that I’ve played many, many times. I’ve been successful in it both individually and as a team. So that’s what I take from it.”
Sergio Garcia stands with his wife Angela on the green carpet prior to the Save Muny fundraiser at Austin City Limits Moody Theater. (Photo: Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
Garcia has been on the winning side six times in 10 Ryder Cup appearances and has the most points (28 ½) of any European player. And Garcia hinted that a resolution to his situation was coming soon.
“Hopefully, things will kind of settle and, you know, we’ll see where everything sits at the end. And hopefully, they just give us the possibility — all of us — to be a part of it again if we’re playing well enough. We’ll see where that settles in the near future.”
Donald will return as the European Captain at Bethpage Black on Long Island, having led Europe to a 16½ – 11½ victory against the United States in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy.
He will become Europe’s first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher performed the role in three consecutive Ryder Cups in 1991, 1993 and 1995.
Donald will aim to become only the second captain to lead Europe to victories both home and away, following Tony Jacklin, who achieved the double at Muirfield Village in Ohio in 1987, retaining the Ryder Cup following his team’s victory two years previously at The Belfry, in England, in 1985.
Garcia would be a popular selection, if he found his way back onto the European side. Before he made the jump to LIV Golf, Jon Rahm openly lobbied for his fellow countryman, perhaps in a vice captain’s role.
“I think it would be really stupid of anybody not to lean on Sergio García’s experience in the Ryder Cup,” said Rahm when asked if he would like to see his friend back in the fold. “I mean, he is the best player Europe has ever had, won the most points and has shown it time and time again. If he were able to be a vice captain, I absolutely would lean on him.”
Crenshaw, Sergio Garcia, Kyle Chandler, Asleep at the Wheel and more were on hand for the event.
AUSTIN, Texas — Ben Crenshaw has worked on golf courses all over the globe, first as a two-time Masters champ and PGA Tour star and now as part of the illustrious Coore & Crenshaw golf course design team.
But one of the courses he’s worked hardest on, Lions Municipal Golf Course in this Texas capital city, still hasn’t seen the outcome he’s been hoping for.
On Sunday, Crenshaw and a cavalcade of stars were on hand at Austin City Limits’ Moody Theater, raising money as the Muny Conservancy attempts to purchase or lease the land and maintain it as a golf course and greenspace.
The land on which Muny sits is part of the 500 acres known as the Brackenridge Tract, all owned by the University of Texas. The course is considered the first fully desegregated municipal course south of the Mason-Dixon line and the city has leased 140 acres for Muny since 1936, paying UT about $500,000 a year. If the parties don’t come to an understanding, the university could be free to lease the property to another entity, develop it or sell it.
On Sunday, the group raised another $1 million for the cause, marking the third straight year the gala could be considered a major success. Musical talent included Asleep at the Wheel lead singer and Save Muny Board Member Ray Benson, Larry Gatlin, Jimmie Vaughan, and Gary P. Nunn.
But those on hand admitted some frustration as talks continue to lag, and university officials have done little to show which direction they might be leaning with the property.
“We’re hoping for a long-term resolution. We’d love to have a long-term lease,” Crenshaw said while flanked by his wife, Julie. “The city and the university need to get together somehow. And we need to extend it. It’s a hundred years, 100 years of success in our town. It’s not only a golf course, but it’s a great space. We’re growing so fast. In this town, we’re losing space rapidly. So it’s a multi-pronged asset. To me, it’s the health and vibrancy of the community. Because I think it raises good people.”
Among others on hand was actor Kyle Chandler of “Friday Night Lights” fame. Chandler has long been an advocate of the cause and he lives in Austin, where he has been known to play Lions with Crenshaw’s longtime manager and friend Scotty Sayers and others.
Chandler is hoping the fundraising and visibility will be enough to dissuade university officials from making a poor decision, but he’s also surprised this has carried on as long as it has.
“I’m always kind of shocked that it’s even an issue that this piece of property, this land, this piece of history would be an error on a piece of paper erased from the community,” Chandler said. “That is what it is. It’s community. It’s family. It is the history. It means a lot to people.
“And hopefully, the people involved in making these decisions can be a lot smarter than expecting people 20 years from now saying, ‘Man these strip malls are absolutely gorgeous, I hope they last another 80 years.'”
Proposals to downsize the nearly 100-year-old course from 18 holes to 12 or to shut it permanently were presented.
The only public golf course in the council area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland — which sits just 20 miles northwest of Glasgow — will not be closed or downsized, it has been confirmed. This news came following a signature campaign to preserve the course that included a note from LIV Golf’s Sergio Garcia.
The decision was announced at West Dunbartonshire Council’s (WDC) budget meeting last week.
Proposals to downsize Dalmuir Municipal Golf Course from 18 holes to 12 or to shut it permanently were presented to councilors.
Councilor Martin Rooney, leader of the council, confirmed the proposals had been rejected.
Sergio Garcia of Team Fireballs during the final round of the LIV Golf Mayakoba tournament at El Chamaleon Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
These proposals were included in a list of more than 50 money-saving options being considered by the council in an effort to plug its £8.3m budget gap.
Closure of the golf course would have meant there were no publicly accessible golf facilities within the region. The parkland-style golf course opened in 1928.
Prior to the meeting, which is currently being held at WDC’s headquarters on Church Street in Dumbarton, golfers at Overtoun Golf Club launched a petition to save the landmark course.
It has since received more than 7,500 signatures and backing from famous sporting figures including soccer star John McGinn, award-winning caddie Craig Connelly, and Spanish professional golfer Garcia.
“I think Patrick had just made eagle and I’m just like ‘Had to be him.'”
Last year was a battle between old foes — a challenge Rory McIlroy looks back on fondly.
The Northern Irishman and Ryder Cup rival Patrick Reed were once again in the midst of a showdown, this time at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Punches were thrown, rebuttals came frequently, and the trophy came down to the final hole.
After he was forced to lay up on the closing par 5, McIlroy hit his third to makeable range. Once the winning putt fell, McIlroy’s celebration showed the importance of the day.
“I think mentally today was probably one of the toughest rounds I’ve ever had to play because it would be really easy to let your emotions get in the way and I just had to really concentrate on focusing on myself,” said McIlroy afterward. “Forget who was up there on the leaderboard, and I did that really, really well.”
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates after holing the winning putt on the 18th green during the final round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on January 30, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, McIlroy was asked to recount the moment.
“What I remember, I remember standing on the 10th tee and I think Patrick had just made eagle and I’m just like (dropping head), ‘Had to be him.’
“But I think just the sort of mental fortitude I showed on that back nine to not sort of let my emotions get the better of me and really stay focused, and yeah, just to make that birdie on the last to win by one, yeah, it meant — in the grand scheme of things, are people going to remember my third Dubai Desert Classic, I don’t know.
“But it meant a lot to me. I felt like I came through a bit of, not adversity, but I really just had to control my mind and my thoughts and my emotions on that back nine. I felt like I did a really golf club of that.”
At a golf course where McIlroy owns an impressive course history — 3rd in 2022 on top of his wins in ’23, ’15 and ’09— it’s easy to see why he’s the favorite in ’24, especially when you account for his runner-up finish last week to Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational.
Before his solo second, McIlroy has played competitively just once since the Ryder Cup, the DP World Tour Championship in November, a tournament McIlroy admits he wasn’t “100 percent motivated.” (McIlroy had already locked up the season-long points title.)
“I feel like I’ve had a three-month off-season, basically. So I think once — you’re going to come back and play,” he said. “You’re going to make some of those mistakes early on, and you know, it’s good to play an event like last week where you can learn from them and try to put those things right this week.
“And in the bigger scheme of things, you know, with this being a Rolex Series Event and the success that I’ve had here, look, I would have loved to have won last week.
“But even with all those mistakes I made, the fact that I still had a one-shot lead going down the last, you know, it says to me that my game is in really good shape, and I should be quite excited for this week.”
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.
“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around.”
ROME — How does Rory McIlroy feel about a Ryder Cup without Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, among others?
“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around,” he said on Wednesday during his pre-Ryder Cup press conference.
Garcia, Poulter and Westwood have been stalwarts of the European side, with Poulter and Garcia the heart and soul of the team. While they likely wouldn’t have qualified for the team or even garnered a captain’s pick given the current state of their games, they likely would have been involved in the backroom as a vice captain or in some capacity had they not defected to LIV Golf and renounced their DP World Tour membership, which made them ineligible for the Ryder Cup team. McIlroy mused the consequences of their decision to jump ship for the riches of LIV would be most apparent this week.
“I think this week of all weeks, it’s going to hit home with them that, you know, they are not here, and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them,” he said. “It’s just more I think this week is a realization that the decision that they made has led to not being a part of this week, and that’s tough. The landscape in golf is ever-changing and more dynamic, and we’ll see what happens and whether they will be part of it in the future.”
He added: “This is a bit of a transitional period for the European Team and there’s people that have been part of the European Team for a long time that aren’t here this week. But I think the guys that we brought in are going to be awesome. Nicolai (Hojgaard), Ludvig (Aberg), Bob (McIntyre), that’s the future of our team and the future of the Ryder Cup.”
Rory McIlroy of Team Europe tees off on the 11th hole during a practice round prior to the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
But McIlroy’s Euro teammate, Jon Rahm of Spain, said he reached out to some of the old guard, including Poulter and Garcia, who teamed with Rahm to great effect as one of the few bright spots for the Euros at Whistling Straits in 2021.
“I did have a little bit of a chat with him, and with Poulter, as well,” Rahm said. “Not that it’s going to be easy to take on the role that those two had both on and off the golf course, but just to hear them talk about what they thought and what they felt is obviously invaluable information.”
While the Euro side has lost a great deal of veteran leadership – Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson deserve mention too – McIlroy contends the void will be filled and the European scouting trip to Marco Simone before the BMW Championship earlier this month laid the foundation for team unity.
“I couldn’t believe that we’ve never done it before,” McIlroy said. “We played a practice round and we got familiar with the golf course but then the sort of time we spent off the course I thought was great. Just sort of sharing stories around the fire pit and sort of describing our journeys in golf and what the Ryder Cup means to us. Sort of just getting to know one another a little better, even people that I thought that I knew for a long time, sort of getting to know them a little better, too, was wonderful.”
McIlroy also shared what he told the younger players about his role in the team room and mentoring the newcomers.
“I don’t want anyone looking up to me,” he said. “I just want everyone looking at the side. I want them looking over to me. I don’t want them looking up to me in any way. I want them to see me like I’m on their level. And there’s no hierarchy on our team. It’s we are all one part of a 12-man team and we all go forward together. I guess that’s the one message I’ve tried to relay to some of the younger guys on the team.”
McIlroy credited Euro captain Luke Donald with setting a proper mood for the team.
“I think Luke and his vice captains have really sort of tapped into that emotional connection around Team Europe this week, and we have all bought into it,” he said. “It’s been an amazing experience so far, and it’s only Wednesday. There’s a lot of great things to come. But couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the team, and to have those other 11 guys be my teammates.”
