Hands up, GolfPunk joined the outcry about the lack of a five-year exemption on the LPGA Tour for Sophia Popov after her fantastic win at the AIG Women’s Open. However, having listened to the highly impressive Mike Whan, commissioner of the LPGA, we have somewhat changed our view. In his statement, Whan opened with a firm but passioned statement. Mike Whan, we salute you!
The most common sports on which people bet are typically the ones that have a mass following. Football, soccer, basketball, and cricket all have millions of followers around the world, as a result of which bookmakers focus a lot on these games whenever there is a major tournament in play.
A real headache is emerging for the PGA Tour as Brooks Koepka has withdrawn from the Travelers Championship. Koepka’s caddie Ricky Elliott tested positive for Covid-19 a day after Graeme McDowell’s caddie had a positive test.
Coming to a store, or computer, near you on Friday 21 August is the latest iteration from the folks at 2K, PGA TOUR® 2K21. The game will be available on several platforms and will be the first golf game for some time to feature actual PGA Tour Pros.
The PGA Tour will kick off on 11 June with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas. However, players and caddies returning to the USA for the tour face the headache of 14 days in isolation due to the strict quarantine rules in place in the USA.
Cobblestone Golf Course in Georgia, USA, has come up with an ingenious alternative to the raised cup for golf holes. The smart and simple device allows for a player to hole out and then eject the ball from the hole without touching the flag or the hole.
As we feared the 'Covidiots' have spoiled it for the responsible vast majority in the UK and we are not only in lockdown but golf is also out of bounds! England Golf, Scotland Golf, Wales Golf and the Golfing Union of Ireland all confirmed that courses must now shut until further notice.
Poor old Francesco Laporta, he flew into Doha to play in the Qatar Masters only to be shown the red card and had to turn about and fly straight back to Italy. The Qatari authorities have decided that any passenger arriving on a direct flight from Italy, or having been in the country in the last two weeks have a choice of going into quarantine for 14 days or flying back to Italy.
We love a good 14 club challenge at GolfPunk. In an all European clash, Spain's Sergio Garcia took on Sweden's Henrik on the 170 yard par three 16th hole at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club ahead of last weeks Saudi International. As always it made for some amusing viewing.
The gods were smiling on Justin Thomas in Hawaii on Sunday. Two clear, with three to go it looked like he had the Tournament of Champions in the bag. However, two sloppy bogies in his last three holes saw him have to win a play-off against Patrick Reed and defending champion Xander Schauffele.
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.
We love a good 14 club challenge at GolfPunk. We’re not very good at them but watching the pro’s go at it is always a scream, especially when they manage to hit the green with a putter or equally unsuitable club!
