Italy has just gone into lockdown and around the world sports events are starting to be impacted by the Coronavirus crisis. All golf events cancelled to date have been mainly in Asia but now Europe and the USA are beginning to take action to stem the spread of the virus. The Masters is only a month away, and the signs are not promising.
We love Paige Spiranac, she is not only a good golfer but she also speaks her mind. Her Podcast ‘Playing a Round’ is well worth a listen and in her most recent one she takes a shot at golf and the hypocrisy within the game.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
The Golf Channel has decided to up sticks and move its base from Orlando, Florida to Stamford, Connecticut, home of its parent company Comcast. The irony will not be missed by many that the news started to leak out during the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Palmer was one of the founders of the Golf Channel some 25 years ago.
Trial by television was with us again at the Bay Hill Classic on Thursday. No Patrick Reed this time but rather the squeaky-clean Justin Rose. Rose had a tricky chip from the back of the 11th which he ran some 10 feet past the pin but did he move the ball at address?
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
Martin Slumbers, the R&A chief executive, recently stated that “Golf has to change” when referring to the restrictive dress regulations at golf clubs as one of the reasons why prospective players are put off, with membership levels down across the UK. Fashion brands Lyle & Scott are in total agreement as borne out by their recent collaboration.
It was a worrying time for the European Tour as Italian golfers Edoardo Molinari and Lorenzo Gagli were quarantined in Muscat and originally forced to pull out of the Oman Open over fears they may have contracted the coronavirus. However, the pair will now play, partnering each other after Gagli’s test proved negative.
Royal Troon first hosted The Open in 1923, and the great event will return to the famed links course in South Ayrshire a century on from that first staging. In 2023 Royal Troon will be staging the event for the tenth time, the last time being 2016 when Henrik Stenson prevailed in a mighty battle with Phil Mickelson.
Lauren Stephenson ended with an eagle three on the last hole for an eight-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic Bonville on Friday.
Surely the least contentious and well-deserved award for 2019 was Jon Rahm being voted the Seve Ballesteros Award as the 2019 European Tour Players' Player of the Year, after a spectacular campaign which included two Rolex Series titles, another victory on home soil and culminated in him being crowned the Race to Dubai Champion.
As expected, the LPGA has confirmed that they have cancelled two more events in Asia. The Honda LPGA Thailand in Pattaya, Thailand that was scheduled to be played between 20th and 23rd February and the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore the following week are both casualties of the Coronavirus scare.
