Golf can be a serious business when it comes to having a positive effect on the economy. A new report from Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre reveals that the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles made a contribution of £106 million to the Scottish economy, which is pretty amazing for an event that’s in theory only three days long.
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.
Master Craftsman Scotty Cameron has produced a reboot of his classic designs to produce eight new blade and mid-mallet setups precision milled putters. Retaining the classic Scotty Cameron look the putters look to deliver a tour level performance to the retail market.
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.
With all due respect to Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods et al we think the Golf Writers Association of America (“GWAA”) were spot on in voting for Brooks Koepka as Player of the Year for 2019. Koepka’s performance at the four majors was undeniable impressive – to win one, finish second in two and tie fourth in the other is quite some feat.
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.
There were lots of hugs and high fives as Team USA fought back from a 10-8 deficit to win the Presidents Cup, once again, by a score of 16-14. That huge smile we saw after Wood’s victory at Augusta was back and the there was obvious emotion in the US Captain’s voice when talking after his team’s victory.
Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey was arrested as part of a prostitution sting in Central Florida. Gainey has been a pro golfer since 1997 and joined the PGA Tour in 2008, where he became famous for wearing gloves on both hands when playing.
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.
When Peter Fowler picked up the winner’s trophy at the MCB Tour Championship it was not his golf that was centre stage in the post event online discussions. The trophy Fowler received is apparently inspired by the coc de mer or Seychelles’ nut but did they seriously not realise what else it might resemble?
Puma Golf’s rolled out its new “Saltwater Collection” at the Hero World Challenge at the Albany Golf Course in the Bahamas this week. In the collection is the, rather tongue in cheek, Slow Play Golf Polo, which sports lovable turtles holding clubs and flagsticks in its design. Gary Woodland from the Puma fold was happy to wear the shirt but one Bryson DeChambeau, who can be seen on the website wearing the new creation, was not so keen to take to the course in it.
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 guys at adidas are not known for being shrinking violets and their new limited edition Collection (Zero) will certainly raise some eyebrows. The collection will certainly push the boundaries on the definition of what performance apparel can look like on the golf course.
GolfPunk send it condolences and prayers to Tom Watson and his family on the sad passing of Hilary Watson just before midnight on Thanksgiving Eve. Hilary, who Tom described as ‘my hero’ had been battling pancreatic cancer for two years.
We pondered yesterday what would the result of the Race to Dubai be if Jon Rahm won the DP World Tour Championship and Tommy Fleetwood was alone in second? The answer was confirmed when Rahm holed a three foot putt birdie putt on the 18th to take the World Tour Championship and also pip Fleetwood to the Race to Dubai title.
For the first time since 1955 there will be no live coverage of any golf on the BBC in 2020. The BBC has lost their rights to show any live coverage of the Augusta event which means that the UK pay TV Channel Sky is now the only place to watch live coverage of the majors. This is the end game for millions of golf fans who have seen the free to air coverage of their favourite sport fade and die in the hands of the BBC over the past decade.
In the final Hero Challenge of the year South African Erik van Rooyen defeated former Masters Champion Danny Willett. You know the Hero Challenge, it’s the one where 6 top pros compete at target golf, hitting to a floating green out in an expanse of water. The closer to the flag you are the more points you score, with the closest ring being 50 points the next 25, well you get the gist.
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.
This coming weekend the LPGA Tour reaches its climax at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida. The winner will pick up a cheque for a cool $1.5 million. Meanwhile, the members of the ladies European Tour are sitting out yet another week. Their last event was the Hero Women’s Indian Open back at the beginning of October.
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.
In a week where there has been much discussion about the Billy Mayfair affair Russell Henly has reminded us all that the vast majority of tour players are honourable golfers. On dishing out signed golf balls to fans after finishing his second round at the Mayakoba Golf Classic Henly realised he had violated the One Ball rule and called an eight shot penalty on himself.
In their never-ending quest to help us folk who don’t swing the club quite so quickly, Cobra have come up with their latest iteration of the popular F-MAX collection which have been re-engineered using new weight-saving technologies. COBRA’s new F-MAX AIRSPEED men’s and women’s clubs deliver a new level of lightweight performance, maximizing clubhead speed, distance and forgiveness for players with moderate swing speeds.
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.
Derek The Donkey, GolfPunk's grumpy horse-envier once again delivers his 'Joke of the Week'. As you know he likes nothing better than a proper good laugh as long as it's at someone else's expense...
Take one tour pro, 500 golf balls and a 165-yard par three hole. The challenge, to make a hole-in-one. The odds of an average golfer making an ace are roughly one in 100,000, while stats suggest a European Tour pro's chances are closer to one in 2,500. Step up Thomas Pieters.
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.
Bio Kim has had a busy few weeks. Starting the month by giving the finger to a member of the crowd at the Daegu–Gyeongbuk Open, he won the event before being given a £6,500 fine and an unbelievably harsh three-year suspension. Luckily, the Korean Professional Golfers' Association have seen sense and reduced that ban to one year following a meeting between the Tour's board of directors.
Jason Day gets in private jet, hot foots it from CJ Cup in China where he was 31st and then beats Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and home favourite Hideki Matsuyama to the spoils taking home $210,000 of the $350,000 pot. Happy Days then (do you see what we did there?)! Well perhaps for Jason but not really for golf as the inaugural 'The Challenge: Japan Skins' lived up to our pretty low expectations.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the main results and stories from the weekend!
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama will go head to head in a globally televised skins game, the first in a series of annual competitions staged by GOLFTV. "The Challenge: Japan Skins" will take place on the 21st October ahead of the PGA Tour's Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Chiba, Japan, and we will not be watching.
Take one bike, one set of clubs, 14 different Open venues and one complete nutter and you have the ‘The Great British Open Challenge’. London-based PGA professional, Luke Willett, he with a famous golfing namesake, is to pedal his way between all the Open venues playing 18 holes at each and cycling with his clubs on his back!
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the main results and stories from the weekend!
Cobra Golf today introduced its next generation of KING Forged TEC Irons, featuring a traditional muscle-back shape with a hollow design for softer feel and improved power preferred available in a variable or ONE Length set make-up.
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!
The 2022 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, in Italy, will take place from 30th September to the 2nd October 2022. It will be the first time The Ryder Cup has been played in Italy, with the country following England, Scotland, Spain, Ireland, Wales and France as European nations to host the biennial contest between Europe and the United States.
As we head into October there is a definite chill in the air and those hopes of an Indian Summer might be waning. With this in mind the stylish, but practical, folk at adidas have introduced their Frostguard Collection. A new layering collection for both men and women that was designed to help golfers extend their golf seasons during the colder months of the year.
Victor Perez became the first French winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship after one of the most exciting finishes in the history of the event, winning by one shot from England’s Matthew Southgate at St Andrews. Whilst, at the same time, Rory McIlroy, finishing tied for 26th place complains to the BBC that the European Tour is too easy.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend!
England’s Matthew Southgate and Victor Perez of France take a two shot lead into the final round at the Old Course, St Andrews in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Perez shot his second 64 of the week at Kingsbarns Golf Links to move to twenty under and was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Southgate who birdied his final hole at St Andrews to card a 65.
We were all on the edge of our seats when Suzann Pettersen holed that six foot putt to win the Solheim Cup. Now Gleneagles are bringing back their offer to allow us ordinary folk to play that course, or one of the other two, for the princely sum of £201.90. Better hurry as we assume it may go up to £202.00 come January!
Danny Willett made a welcome return to form winning the BMW PGA Championship with a comfortable three shot victory after posting a five-under-par 67 on Sunday at Wentworth. Overnight joint leader, John Rahm of Spain struggled to card a 70 whilst South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout's charge slightly petered out leaving him third.
Cleveland’s brand-new Launcher UHX Irons claim to be the most progressive combo set of hollow and cavity back irons on the market. As the company boldly states, they provide a completely new way to approach one complete set of irons.
The Sanderson Farms Championship from the Country Club of Jackson delivered another first-time winner when Sebastian Munoz saw off 2019 Rookie of the Year, Sungjae Im, on the first hole of a playoff. It was the Columbian’s first tour victory and follows the win by Joaquin Niemann of Chile at last week’s win at the A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier.
Those clever people at Honma have come up with their latest new range of clubs in its renowned T//WORLD Series aimed at the game improvement sector of the market. The beautifully crafted high-performance clubs include complementary drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons for both men and women.
It was as you were at Wentworth as both overnight leaders shot four-under-par rounds of 68 to extend their lead to three shot over the field. Chasing them are Englishman Justin Rose, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who both carded 69, and India’s Shubhankar Sharma who had one of the round of the day, a six-under 66.
A rejuvenated Danny Willett heads the leaderboard alongside Jon Rahm of Spain on eleven-under-par after day two of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Two shots back sit Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, world number four Justin Rose and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa.
Matt Wallace is a man in form. Following a third place in the KLM Open in Holland last week he shot a flawless seven under par 65 to take a one stroke lead at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth yesterday. Londoner, Wallace leads Spain’s Joh Rahm and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson by one shot. With Justin Rose a further short back after a five under 67.
European Captain Padraig Harrington has named Robert Karlsson as his first vice captain for The 2020 Ryder Cup against the United States at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin next September. Karlsson twice played in the Ryder Cup, in the victorious 2006 team that crushed the USA at the K Club and on the losing side two years later at Valhalla.
They may have been looking to run up high scores in the Ashes over the summer but yesterday three of England’s heroes were looking to go low at the ProAm event at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club.
It was a brutal day at Gleneagles with high winds, rain and low temperatures testing the mettle of both teams. Team USA came out narrowly on top taking the afternoon fourballs by 2½ matches to 1½ after the morning foursomes had been shared. So, it is all tied at 8-8 ahead of the twelve singles today and the Americans, given their past record in singles, must be viewed as the favourites.
The teams were introduced, the crowds were bedecked in the colours of the teams and Sharleen Spiteri and Texas hit the stage to liven up proceedings. First points in the fashion stakes probably went to Europe with their mid length coats and Solheim Cup tartan scarves winning it out over the the not quite so flattering short jackets of Team USA. A real spectacle indeed and here are some of the best images.
The players in the afternoon fourballs are on the back nine. The target time for the matches is four and half hours and they are on five hours and forty-five-minute pace. It seems that the men’s game is not the only one plagued by slow play problems.
The haggis has been piped in, the Solheim tartan is out in force and the smiles are out, for the meoment. Countdown to the Solheim Cup has begun and may the best team win. This year, of the twenty four players taking part nine of them are rookies, three on Team Europe side and a record six joining Team USA.
In near perfect conditions at Royal Liverpool, team USA showed their class in turning an overnight deficit of two points into a resounding victory by a score of 15½ to 10½. Having clinched the morning foursomes by 2½ to 1½, the American crushed the home side in the singles 8-2.
We very much like the prize being offered to the winning professional at this year’s Highland Golf Links Pro Am. As well as a cheque for a few bob the winner will receive a bottle of Tomatin 50-year-old single malt, which has been bottled exclusively for the tournament and is valued at more than £10,000!
Matt Fitzpatrick’s little brother, Alex, led the way for team Great Britain and Ireland at Royal Liverpool yesterday. Following a foursomes win in the morning, with partner Conor Purcell, Fitzpatrick took out world number one amateur Cole Hammer (great name!) in the top afternoon singles game to help The GB&I team to a 7-5 lead after day one.
Something for the weekend? Ooh suit you!
Two Foxhills members both hit a hole-in-one on the same hole with consecutive shots. Apparently, the odds of this happening are millions to one although we must confess, we haven’t a clue how that is calculated.
Is it just us or can you not get excited about the Walker Cup? The amateur version of the Ryder Cup takes place this weekend over the famous Royal Liverpool Golf Club links at Hoylake. The two teams of 10 players will compete over the two days of foursomes and singles matches first to 13½ points winning.
Cleveland wedges are definitely always in the mix when you think about premium tour products and we loved their recent CBX 2 launch aimed at the slightly more regular golfers amongst us. What they aren’t as well known for are their top of the line putters and perhaps, with the new Frontline range, that is about to change?
The techies at Cleveland believe that the keys to success are control and feel which gives confidence in putting and their new Huntington Beach SOFT range does just that, so that we make more putts, "plain and simple!"
Something for the weekend? Ooh, suit you!
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 Tour Championship is looking like it will provide a thrilling finale to the men’s season on Sunday as at the halfway point as Brooks Koepke leads Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas by one stroke, with Xander Schauffele and Paul Casey still very much in contention.
Something for the weekend? Ooh suit you!
There was lots of concern that the new format of the Tour Championship was going to result in the FedEx Cup leader running away with things and there being a lack of drama at East Lake Golf Club over the last big weekend for the PGA Tour. Well things didn’t really work out like that as Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka all start day two tied on 10 under with Rory just one behind.
This Sunday evening the winner of the FedEx Cup Tour Championship will pick up a cheque for a cool $15 million dollars. The same evening at the CP Women's Open Aurora, Ontario, Canada the winner will take home a cheque for a paltry $337,500. However, earlier in the day in far flung Czechoslovakia those competing in the final round of the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open will take home the combined sum of roughly $135,000!
The finale of the PGA Tour season is upon us and already we have a leaderboard in the race for that crazy payout of $15 million to the winner. Thirty men, honourable and true, will tee it up at the East Lake Golf Club just outside Atlanta with dollar signs in their eyes. Justin Thomas already leads by two, crazy we know but then again, the whole thing is.
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.
Local favourite Stephanie Meadow will take a four shot lead into the final round of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational. The 27-year-old from Jordanstown, Northern Ireland shot a six under par 67 to sit on ten under for the event, four clear of England’s Eleanor Givens. In the men’s event, Damien Perrier of France and Todd Clement of England lead the field by a single shot following another long day with rain delays at Galgorm Castle.
Scotland’s Craig Ross and England’s Eleanor Givens are the first round leaders lead in the The ISPS HANDA World Invitational, both carding an impressive 6 under par. Ross shot an impressive birdie free round of 64 Massereene Golf Club while Givens had seven birdies and one solitary bogey in carding a 67 at Galgorm Castle Golf Club.
It has rather flown under the radar but yesterday the ISPS HANDA World Invitational event for both men and women teed of at Galgorm Castle Golf Club and Massereene Golf Club. A first for golf in Europe as women will play alongside (sort of) the men and will play for the same money.
Well they say the best form of defence is attack. It seems that one Bryson DeChambeau has adopted this tactic in his campaign to prove that he is not a slow player. The latest instalment has 'Speedy' Dechambeau posting a video from the fairway of the Pro-am at the BMW Championship with a few choice words for his 'haters' as he calls them.
Not one to avoid courting controversy the big man JD met up with the president of the US of A for a round of golf at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Decked out in a natty pair of American flag shorts and a blue golf shirt Daly took to the links with Donald Trump and tweeted about the experience after 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.
Following the Ladies Scottish Open the first eight players have been confirmed for the 2019 European Solheim Cup team. This afternoon the Team Europe captain Catriona Matthew will break some hearts and delight others as she makes her four captain’s picks. But GolfPunk have it covered, so you can relax Catriona as these are the picks!
TaylorMade are on a roll, of that there can be little doubt and when the TP Patina Putter collection drops you can be sure it will cause more than a little stir. The marketing bumpf is all well and good, but well, just look at them.
Catriona Matthew has made her captain’s picks, the team is decided and now Skechers have revealed the new design for the Team Europe footwear. The GO GOLF Pro 2 will be as comfy as ever and incorporate the statutory Solheim tartan along with the blue and yellow colours of Team Europe.
Well we nearly got the final line up right in that we predicted three of the four captain’s picks. European Captain Catriona Matthew went for France’s Celine Boutier, English stars Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Bronte Law and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.
The stuff that's floated our boats and scrunched our undies this week...
The European tour has been pretty creative with its content of late, who can forget the ‘Content Committee’ or Eddie Pepperell’s prank on Matt Wallace. By far our favourite though are the ongoing 14 Club Challenges.
As we start the end of season scramble, which is the Fedex Cup playoff, starting first at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, the problem of slow play rears its ugly head once again. Both Rory and Brooks were asked in yesterday’s interviews about the problem and neither of them held back their criticism and the need for the governing bodies to take action.
With all of the majors now done and dusted, attention in the women's game turns to The 16th Solheim Cup which will be played on the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles from 13th to the 15th of September. Here is your GolfPunk guide to all thing Solheimy.
Well we have run out of majors but Tiger will still be coming out to play in August as the FedEx Cup Playoffs commence this week in Jersey City, with The Northern Trust. It’s all change with the play-offs and we had to read it a few times before we sussed it out. So here’s how it will work..
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 AIG Women’s British Open is now set to follow Woburn Golf Club with back to back regal courses with Royal Troon added to the Championship roster for 2020 and Royal Porthcawl confirmed for 2021. It seems therefore, that that we are set for some quality golf on iconic courses now that The R&A has taken over the women's home Championship.
What's floated our golf boat and upset us at day two of the AIG Women’s British Open. The GolfPunk team took to the fairways, well ok the path bits down the sides, to see what was good and bad on the Marquess course at Woburn Golf Club.
Less than 24 hours after the Evian Championship was wrapped up by Jin Young Ko, 49 of the top 50 women in the world hightailed it to Milton Keynes to somehow prepare themselves for the very different test that Woburn Golf Club’s Marquess Course will offer. Or at least most of them would have been preparing had Lexi Thompson not left her passport in her bag!
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.
South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim holds a one-shot lead over compatriot Sung Hyun Park heading into day four of the Evian Championship. Indeed, Kim has no shortage of company from home as five of the top six players are from South Korea with the only interloper being Shanshan Feng of China.
Paula Creamer was going along nicely in the sun at the Evian Resort in Evian-Les-Bains when the weather took a turn for the worst. Wearing a rather provocative top with ‘Kiss My Putt’ emblazoned across her chest, the American sank a monster putt from the edge of the 12th hole to move the overnight leader to nine under par and one off the lead.
The men’s majors are over and so attention turns to the women, or ladies as they were referred to when I was growing up. We have a double header with the Evian Championship in France this week followed straight away by the Women's British Open. And we thought the men were compressing their majors too much!
Well it’s been a pretty exciting week for golf on the island of Ireland. First, Shane Lowry’s spectacular win at the 148th Open in Northern Ireland and then the magnificent Adare Manor in County Limerick has been announced as host of The Ryder Cup 2026. Not too shabby!
They needed it to be tough out there if they were going to challenge Shane Lowry but in the end, it was too tough and the conditions actually played in to the hands of the big man. For a man who grew up playing links golf up and down Ireland he was always going to be one of best equipped if the really high winds came.
As we sit and watch the various trials and tribulations of the players at the 148th Open, something pops up and immediately the whole team at GolfPunk are in total agreement, an event which I can assure you is as rare as rocking horse poop. The chance to own a luxury residence at the Hamilton Grand one of the most iconic buildings located virtually on top of the 18th hole of the Old Course at St. Andrews and in time for the 150th Open in 2021. The very definition of lovely stuff!
The fairy tale has slowly unwound. Local boy, Darren Clarke, who led the field off on Thursday in the 148th Open Championship, took seven at the last to miss the cut. Rory McIlroy, who famously shot 61 around Royal Portrush at the age of 16, shot 65, equalling best score of the day, but agonisingly missed the cut by one. And our man, Gmac, held firm just making it through on the cut line, nine back from the leader.
There have been many incredible Open debuts, here is our Top 10...
There have been many an odd occurence at the oldest of all the majors but these are our pick of the top ten weirdest Open Championship moments.
Why is the golf now only on Sky TV in the UK with the BBC set to produce, if last year is anything to go by, a set of very ordinary highlights programmes? Who is to blame - Sky, the BBC, the politicians, the R&A or perhaps even Brexit?
