Jack Nicklaus helped kick off the 2024 Masters tournament as one of the former champions selected to take an honorary tee shot ahead of the first tee time. It turns out he wasn’t satisifed with merely one swing at Augusta.
The golf legend spoke to reporters in Dublin, Oh. this week ahead of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village and revealed he stuck around Augusta after Scottie Scheffler won to play a few rounds. Nicklaus said he played three times and shot an 88, 90, and 91. He gave a good quote about it, too. Per Golfweek’s Todd Kelly:
“I shot 88, 90 and 91. That’s a 269 for three rounds, which is a pretty good four-round score,” he said. “That’s what I play anymore. They don’t have any forward tees at Augusta. I can’t play 6,400 yards. I hit the ball 190 yards anymore, if I kill it. I played once last year, once the year before, and I’ve played four times this year already.”
Not too shabby for an 84-year-old to break 90 in tournament conditions at one of the hardest courses in professional golf. And it’s hard to imagine there aren’t too many folks of a similar age still able to pipe it nearly 200 yards down the middle off the tee. Not to mention having the skill required to break 100 at Augusta in April, something great amateur golfers 50 years younger than Nicklaus struggle with.
The Louisville Metro Police Department released a series of photos Friday depicting the aftermath of officer Bryan Gillis's encounter with golfer Scottie Scheffler outside of Valhalla Golf Club on May 17.
The photos featured a picture of Gillis's left knee, which was slightly scraped, a rip in the back of the officer's pants, and a small cut near his wrist.
Gillis also had a wrist injury. he said he didn't need EMS but another office said it was protocol. pic.twitter.com/PWPQCIugi7
On that morning of May 17, Scheffler was commuting to the golf course to prepare for the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship when he attempted to drive around traffic caused by a fatal accident. Cops at the scene—including Gillis—told Scheffler to pull over and arrested him.
Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic. Scheffler said in a statement shortly after the incident that it was all a big misunderstanding, and on May 29, all charges against the golfer were dropped.
The police report filed on the day of the incident alleged that Scheffler refused to comply with an officer's request to stop and continued to drive forward, dragging Gillis to the ground. Gillis was taken to the hospital to treat minor injuries. The report also stated that Gillis's $80 pants were "damaged beyond repair."
After the charges were dropped last month, Gillis filed a statement and finished it off by referencing the pants.
"Yes, the department has us buying freaking $80 pants," Gillis wrote. "To those concerned, they were indeed ruined. But Scottie, it’s all good. I never would’ve guessed I’d have the most famous pair of pants in the country for a few weeks because of this. Take care and be safe.”
Scheffler finished tied for eighth place at the PGA Championship. He tied for second place the following weekend at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
C.T. Pan had an eventful final round at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, to say the least.
Pan's usual caddie, Mike "Fluff" Cowan, was on the bag for him during the entire tournament up until he fell on the third hole at Hamilton Golf and Country Club on Sunday.
Pan needed to think quickly about who to use as his caddie for the rest of the round. He ended up selecting a fan out of the crowd who sounded ready for the job.
That fan only caddied on the fourth hole (which Pan bogeyed) until Mike Campbell, a worker from caddy services at the course, stepped in to finish out the front nine.
After the ninth hole, Al Riddell, who is the caddy for Paul Barjon (he missed the cut), took over on the back nine for Pan. What a saga.
🚨 C.T. Pan’s caddie, the legend Mike “Fluff” Cowan slipped coming down the hill on the 3rd hole and was unable to continue caddying. A random fan was asked to carry his clubs the rest of the day. 😲
Riddell was apparently watching the ordeal unfold while at home, as Barjon wasn't playing the weekend, and he raced over to the course to help Pan out, according to Sportsnet's Adam Stanley. What a heroic move.
Pan finished one-under on the day, with a final score of three-under.
DUBLIN, Ohio – The PGA Tour said in a statement Saturday morning that its meeting with representatives of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia on Friday was a continuation of “accelerated’’ talks “where more progress was made.’’
A year ago this week, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF entered into a “framework agreement’’ that has yet to be consummated as a way to bring unity to the men’s professional game.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf League—which is funded by the PIF—are both playing events this weekend, the PGA Tour at the Memorial Tournament and LIV Golf in Houston.
Last month Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott were named to a “transaction committee’’ that is to deal directly with the PIF as part of a plan to get investment in the new PGA Enterprises.
The others on the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan; former Tour player and board liaison Joe Ogilvie; Joe Gorder, who is an executive with Valero and the chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises; and John Henry, a principal with Fenway Sports Group and part of the Strategic Sports Group, which earlier this year invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises.
The group met in New York on Friday with representatives of the PIF, including its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan. McIlroy, who is playing in the Memorial Tournament, participated via video conference.
“I certainly don’t see in the next couple of years LIV slowing down,’’ McIlroy said during an interview Thursday. “They’re buying office space in New York. They have over 200 employees. I don’t see a world where—and I haven’t heard any of those guys say that they don’t want to play over there either, right? You’ve got guys who are on contracts until 2028, 2029.
“Looking a few years down the line, LIV is going to continue to sort of keep going down its path. But hopefully with maybe more of a collaboration or an understanding between the tours. Maybe there is some cross pollenization there where players can start to play on both. I guess that will all be talked about it in the coming weeks.’’
McIlroy said the transaction committee has met a few times amongst themselves and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with representatives of the PIF for the last few weeks.
It’s been a year since the “framework agreement’ was announced, with no deal made and plenty of conjecture back and forth. The SSG commitment stalled talks with the PIF, but seemingly have resumed with plenty of ground to cover. This was the first time the transaction committee met in person with Al-Rumayyan.
“Representatives from the PGA Tour Enterprises Transaction Subcommittee and the PIF have been meeting multiple times weekly to work through potential deal terms and come to a shared vision on the future of professional golf,’’ the Tour said in a statement Saturday. “On Friday evening, an in-person session in New York City included the entire Transaction Subcommittee and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and his team, where more progress was made.
“We remain committed to these negotiations, which require working through complex considerations to best position golf for global growth. We want to get this right, and we are approaching discussions with careful consideration for our players, our fans, our partners and the game’s future.’’
