PGA Tour-LIV alliance faces government scrutiny

It was certainly fitting that on the final Sunday of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season, Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy found themselves in the thick of a fight for the FedExCup. The two were among the top performers this season, both ultimately winning three times. While McIlroy claimed his second FedExCup title along with winning THE PLAYERS Championship in March, Koepka’s body of work included winning a major and a World Golf Championships — and he was no worse than fourth in all four majors. Although these two superstars were part of many highlights this season, they weren’t the only players deserving of plaudits. We’ve dissected the entire season and present to you without further ado: The best of the best. BEST WINS Tiger Woods at the Masters We had been given a taste of Woods’ ability to return to greatness when he won the TOUR Championship at the end of the 2017-18 season, but it was still incredible to see the 43-year-old turn back the clock for a vintage display at Augusta National. Woods used his guile and experience to hang tough on Sunday while others faulted and held off the likes of Koepka and Dustin Johnson down the stretch. It was PGA TOUR win No. 81 and major win No. 15, breaking an 11-year-drought in majors. The iconic image of him hugging his kids just off the 18th green, years after he hugged his dad after the first of his five green jackets, was incredible. Said Tiger: “Just unreal. The whole tournament has meant so much to me over the years. Coming here in ’95 for the first time and being able to play as an amateur; winning in ’97, and then come full circle, 22 years later, to be able to do it again… This has meant so much to me and my family, this tournament, and to have everyone here, it’s something I’ll never, ever forget.â€� Rory McIlroy at THE PLAYERS Championship McIlroy was one of eight players who tasted the lead during a wild final round at TPC Sawgrass. But what might have been forgotten since he was the man to ultimately triumph was his recent struggles on Sunday, failing to win from the final group in his previous nine attempts. While he wasn’t in the final group at THE PLAYERS either, there was no doubting the lack of closing was on his mind in Florida. McIlroy fought back from an early double bogey, producing a brilliant birdie on the 15th hole to take the lead before making clutch pars on 17 and 18 for the win. It was the first of three wins on the season, the last coming at East Lake. Said McIlroy: “I hit a 6-iron out of the fairway bunker on 15 at THE PLAYERS on Sunday, sort of curved it around a tree, got it up there to 15 feet, and holed the putt for birdie. I think that basically set up me going on and winning THE PLAYERS Championship. If I don’t win THE PLAYERS, I don’t know what happens after that and where the season might go.â€� Corey Conners at the Valero Texas Open Conners had to survive a six-for-one playoff in Monday qualifying, after an early double bogey, just to get into the main field. Once he did that, he knew he had nothing to lose. He’d already finished in the top five of the Sony Open of Hawaii after getting though a Monday pressure cooker, so the Canadian was confident. Conners figured he could win, even if no one else was expecting it. With Si Woo Kim leading after 18, 36 and 54 holes, Conners positioned himself nicely in behind. He then turned the unthinkable into reality, shooting a closing 66 for a two-shot win. He was the first Monday qualifier to win since Arjun Atwal in 2010. Said Conners: “No more Monday qualifying. That’s the best deal from this. Amazing. It’s a dream come true. I won’t be as stressful on Mondays.â€� Shane Lowry at The Open Championship With the Open back in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951, it was phenomenal to see Lowry, who grew up just a few hours away in Ireland, take the Claret Jug. As top local hope Rory McIlroy just missing the cut after a sizzling second round following his disasterous opener, Lowry positioned himself into a tie for the lead through 36 holes. It had the fans daring to dream. Lowry then produced a 8-under 63 in the third round (see below) to take command with a four-shot lead heading to Sunday. By the end of it all 24 hours later, he’d won by six. The jubilant crowd scenes will live forever. BEST ROUNDS Xander Schauffele’s 62, final round at the Sentry Tournament of Champions After an opening hole bogey on Sunday at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Schauffele sat six shots off the lead. An ultimate underdog. Just how he likes it. He then played his last 16 holes in 12 under par with two eagles and eight birdies for a course record tying 11-under 62. He had an 11-foot eagle putt on the last to break it that slid by. But little matter. It was enough for a one-shot win. Said Schauffele: “This is the stuff you sort of dream about. This is why everyone works hard and does the right stuff. But to actually pull it off it feels awesome.â€� Rory McIlroy’s 61, final round at the RBC Canadian Open How do you ensure you turn a 54-hole co-lead into victory? Go out and shoot a 9-under 61 in the final round certainly helps. In his first trip to the RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf & Country Club, McIlroy came out all guns blazing on Sunday. Five birdies in his opening seven holes set the tone. Four more in a row from 11 through 14 had everyone hoping for a sub-60 round. A bogey on the 16th seemed to have put paid to that but a bounce back eagle meant a final hole birdie would make 59. That wasn’t to be … and even a final hole bogey couldn’t sour a special round and a huge win. Said McIlroy: “By the time I got to the 14th tee I wasn’t really thinking of winning the tournament. I was thinking of trying to shoot 59. I had to reassess my goals a little bit in the middle of that back nine. This is what I feel I can do. I’ve been able to do it before. It was nice to get back to that feeling.â€� Shane Lowry’s 63, third round at The Open Championship Fairytales don’t always come true but at Royal Portrush, one most certainly did. Lowry had already produced two good rounds to earn a share of the halfway lead but his Saturday effort is what really helped him realize a Claret Jug dream. Eight birdies, no bogeys. A tremendous 8-under 63 to set up a four-shot buffer over Tommy Fleetwood and be six or more clear of anyone else. He rode the energy of a raucous crowd the whole way. Said Lowry: “Honestly, that’s the most incredible day I’ve ever had on the golf course. I honestly can’t explain what it was like. I said to Bo walking off the 17th tee, we might never have a day like this on the golf course again. So let’s enjoy this next half hour. You know what I mean? And that’s what I did. The crowd was incredible. I just can’t believe what it was like.â€� BEST SHOTS Russell Knox at the Valspar Championship There had never been an albatross at the Valspar Championship before until Knox took dead aim with a 3-wood from 275 yards out on the par-5 11th. The Scotsman had one of three long-range albatrosses on the season, along with Lucas Glover (255 yards at John Deere Classic) and Harris English (236 yards at THE PLAYERS). Tiger Woods at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play At the Match Play in his battle against Brandt Snedeker, Woods found himself under a bush near the 10th green and in trouble. That was until he played a shot left-handed, club hooded, from his knees to 3 feet. In his match against Patrick Cantlay, Woods was in the midst of overtaking his younger opponent when he holed out for eagle from 83 yards to really stick the knife in and advance to the final 16. Tiger Woods at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship Woods found himself blocked out from the green in a fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway. Nevermind. With a whip-like swing, he cut the ball a mile out of the sand from 132 yards to 10 feet. Incredible stuff. Tiger Woods at the Masters With the tournament still in the balance Woods stepped up to the par-3 16th hole at Augusta National and promptly hit the near-perfect shot. The traditional pin allows players to suck the ball down the slope and perhaps even jag an ace. Woods’ ball did everything but find the cup as it settled past the hole to a foot and provided a clutch birdie. Jhonattan Vegas at THE PLAYERS Championship The par-3 17th island green has long given us highlights. And so it was late Sunday this season when Vegas dropped a 70-foot birdie bomb across the length of the putting surface. From the low point on the green, up and over the rise and around the corner to the traditional Sunday pin. It was brilliant. Gary Woodland at the U.S. Open Chasing his first major championship and with the intimidating Koepka coming after him, Woodland faced a dilemma on the 71st hole, the 17th at Pebble Beach. He’d found the fringe of the putting surface on the iconic par 3 but was on the complete wrong side of the enormous green. Instead of defensively putting across the expanse Woodland stood up and chipped the ball. He could have thinned it or chunked it but instead clipped it perfectly and almost holed it. A hole later he was national champion. Said Woodland: “Fortunately I had the same shot earlier in the week, so I already executed it once. I was just trying to fly it over the ridge. You’re trying to take your medicine a little bit. And 4’s not going to be the end of the world. So it came off beautifully, and I thought it had a chance to go in there. But that’s definitely one — it gave me a little cushion on the last.” BEST COMEBACKS Rickie Fowler at the Waste Management Phoenix Open The final round at TPC Scottsdale went from looking like a Fowler procession to a serious test of his mental mettle. Five shots clear after the front nine, Fowler was giving the raucous crowds reason to get the party started early. Then what followed was diabolical. The saga began when Fowler’s approach to the 483-yard par-4 11th hole came up short. He got too aggressive with his third, which skidded through the rain-soaked green, trickled down the hill behind it, and tumbled in the pond. Fowler took a drop at water’s edge and walked up the hill to look at the green. With the rain intensifying and Fowler having turned his back, the ball that was at rest rolled down the hill and into the water. A one-shot penalty. He dropped again, chipped his sixth shot onto the green, and rolled in a 17-foot putt for 7. After a bogey on 12, Fowler was now one behind the lead. It would be enough to rattle anyone and you figured Fowler would bomb out of the race from there. Instead he bounced back with two clutch birdies and ultimately won by two. A brilliant display of mental fortitude coming after a series of mental, and unlucky, errors. Said Fowler: “It really wasn’t fun there for a couple holes. The nice thing about going in with a 54-hole lead and having a bit of a cushion, it allows for mistakes. And to step up after that, I feel like I played the last five holes pretty well… Just had to find a way to get it done. It wasn’t very fun. It will be fun now, and it will be well worth it. Good learning experience. But, yeah, I don’t want to have to go through that again.â€� Charles Howell III at the RSM Classic This is a comeback of a different sort — a comeback to the winner’s circle. It only took 11 years. Howell held of a storming Patrick Rodgers to finally produce PGA TOUR win No. 3. Rodgers shot 17 under on the weekend alone to force a playoff with Howell, but it was the Georgia native who would ultimately prevail. He dropped a 15-foot birdie in the second playoff hole to send his children into tears of joy. No surprise that he joined them. Said Howell: “It’s been 11 years since I’ve won a golf tournament and quite honestly, I didn’t know if I would ever win one again for the obvious reasons that I had come up short so many times and the fact of how the game is changing. I just spent 36 holes with Cameron Champ, who hits a 3-iron 290 yards off almost every tee and it gets your attention how golf’s changing. Every time one of these guys comes out like that, there seems another and another and another. Yeah, the fact I’m sitting here with this trophy, it’s still a bit of a dream.â€� Graeme McDowell at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship When McDowell opened the tournament with a 1-over 73 to fall seven shots off the pace in the Dominican Republic. you would have put your house on the fact he would not be ending a win drought that spanned back to 2015 on the PGA TOUR. Even after his 8-under 64 on Friday, the Northern Irishman was still three back. But he put up another 64 on Saturday to assume control of the tournament and then held it together on Sunday, making a clutch birdie on 17, to win his fourth PGA TOUR title. Said McDowell: “This is big for the people that stood by me. It’s been a grind for my whole family, my wife, my kids back home. It’s been a rough few years.â€� BEST ROOKIE PERFORMANCES Matthew Wolff at the 3M Open In just his third professional start and with his unique swing that has him marked as a “disrupter,â€� Wolff provided a phenomenal finish at the new 3M Open. With fellow rookie Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau pushing him all the way, Wolff stepped up in the clutch. On the final hole he sent his approach to the par-5 18th to the fringe of the green. From there, he buried the putt for eagle and ultimately the victory. It was a stunning “Here I amâ€� moment that we will likely look back on for years to come. Said Wolff: “I’m really not an emotional guy, but tears came to my eyes.â€� Collin Morikawa at the Barracuda Championship Just a few weeks removed from being beaten at the buzzer by Wolff in Minnesota, Morikawa kept his own hot streak going by clinching the Barracuda Championship. The modified stableford format proved to be perfect for the young star as he set about aggressively chasing birdies in Reno. On Sunday, when some youngsters would definitely feel the heat, Morikawa birdied four of the last five holes, including the last three, to take the trophy. Adam Long at the Desert Classic Talk about a long shot. In just his sixth start on the PGA TOUR, Long sat in a final round threesome including Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin. Mickelson had the 54-hole lead. Hadwin has a knack for the Desert Classic; he had shot a 59 the year prior. Meanwhile, Long was 20 over par in his previous five TOUR. But by the time they reached the 18th hole, Long had chipped in twice, and reeled int the three shots Mickelson started ahead. When he stood over a 15-foot birdie putt to win there was still a vibe he couldn’t possibly win… and then he nailed the putt. It took nine years as a pro to make the TOUR but less than nine starts to become a winner. Cameron Champ at the Sanderson Farms Championship The new wave of golfer arrived early in the season last October when the huge-hitting Champ destroyed the course and his opposition in Jackson, Mississippi. Through three rounds, Champ had looked like just that, setting up a four-shot lead. But the inevitable Sunday nerves hit and by the turn he was tied at the top. It was a sink-or-swim moment for the 23-year-old as he took a deep breath ahead of his last nine holes. He swam. Birdies on five of his last six holes returned his four-shot buffer and announced him as a player of the future. Sungjae Im’s 35 starts Although the Korean rookie didn’t win this season, he became the TOUR’s new Iron Man. His 35 starts were the most by any player; the next closest was Tom Hoge’s 32. Three times this season, he played six consecutive weeks. His 122 rounds played were 20 more than any other player. He produced seven top-10 finishes (just seven players had more this season) and used those high finishes to become the only rookie to reach the TOUR Championship. Oh, and if you’re wondering if he’s planning to slow down next season … well, he’s slated to play six of the first eight weeks. 

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Players on the PGA TOUR have enjoyed playing the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, South Carolina, for a variety of reasons. The challenging, but fun golf course designed by Pete Dye and consultant Jack Nicklaus. The laid-back atmosphere, which is particularly inviting for those making the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Augusta after playing in the Masters the previous week during a normal TOUR season. Seafood, swimming and all those family-friendly activities, too. TOUR rookie Matt NeSmith had another reason for wanting to play in the RBC Heritage this season. Just over two years ago, in the shadow of the iconic red-and-white lighthouse at Harbour Town Golf Links, he proposed to Abigail Pait on the 18th green. She said, yes, of course, and the two were married on Nov. 1, 2019, during a break from his fourth and fifth tournaments as a card-carrying PGA TOUR member. Competing at the RBC Heritage this year – or any year, for that matter – would have been “awesome,â€� NeSmith says. “We’d be reminiscing about the whole day.â€� NeSmith was playing his best golf of the season when the coronavirus pandemic called an abrupt halt to play on the PGA TOUR, with this week’s previously scheduled RBC Heritage among the canceled tournaments. He’d made the cut in eight of his previous nine starts, posting top-15 finishes in three of those tournaments, and was ranked No. 64 in the FedExCup standings. It’s disappointing that he and his wife aren’t at Hilton Head this week, but the memories of that day and the start of their lives together offer warm feelings. He and Pait had met while both were students at the University of South Carolina. He played golf while she was on the equestrian team. Turns out, the two had a mutual friend in Will Starke, who was NeSmith’s roommate and teammate. Pait used to come over to the dorm and have breakfast with Starke each Friday. “I was sitting on the couch and she came over and said hello and we kind of talked a little bit,â€� NeSmith recalls. “I was very shy, always shy with pretty girls.â€� The two ran into each other later that day. Well, not exactly. Pait was behind the wheel of her car, and she spotted NeSmith walking on campus. “She’s very outgoing and I was a little bit shy and awkward to say at least, probably,â€� he recalls. “And she honked at me with all her friends in the car. She’s like, oh, there’s this nice guy that I just met in Will Starke’s dorm. … “I was like, oh, good Lord, and just kind of kept walking. So, she’s like, oh, I guess he’s just shy.â€� The romance blossomed, though, and endured after NeSmith graduated and turned pro. He played two seasons on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada before heading to the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2018-19 season. A win at the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco earned him a TOUR card. NeSmith and Pait fell in love with Hilton Head while he was still an amateur. During his college days, he was regularly on the leaderboard at the Players Amateur played at Berkeley Hall in nearby Bluffton. He won the event in 2015, firing a final-round 65 that enabled him to overtake Chase Koepka, who had started the final round with a five-stroke lead. NeSmith – and later, Pait – became close to his host family, the Andreolettis. “This family has three kids — the youngest one’s now eight .. and I’ve known the youngest one since she was a baby,â€� NeSmith says. “… We’d go down there three or four times a year and spend some time with them.â€� One of those times was the weekend of March 11, 2018. NeSmith had decided to propose. He had bought the engagement ring several months earlier and although he says he’s not the most creative guy in the world, he concocted a plan. “She had voiced that she wanted to go down for her birthday and just kind of hang out and be down there and have a good time,â€� he says. “So it just made sense.â€� First, NeSmith got a tee time at Harbour Town and invited Pait along. She enjoys riding in the cart with him when he goes out to play, which enables NeSmith to get some work in and “we can have some good quality time together,â€� he says. A friend was hiding in the bushes about 100 yards from the 18th green to take photographs when the couple arrived. He didn’t have a telescopic lens to capture the moment when NeSmith got down on one knee but that didn’t put a damper on the proposal. The champagne flowed at Bluffton when the couple returned to the Andreoletti home that afternoon, and they had another celebration after returning home to Aiken, South Carolina. The two were married 18 months later at an Augusta church where three other generations of his family have also said their vows, the first wedding held back in 1899. But Harbour Town and that scenic par 4 closing hole that meanders down the shore of the Cailbogue Sound always will hold a spot in their hearts, even if they need to wait another year. “I thought it’d be special for the both of us,â€� he says with a smile. “It was just a right time, right place kind of thing.â€�

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TULSA, Okla. – Count Rory McIlroy among the interested consumers of the copious preview content that precedes every major championship. McIlroy had never played Southern Hills before this week, not that a previous appearance would have helped much. The course underwent a dramatic renovation by Gil Hanse since it last hosted a professional tournament. To get ready for this week, McIlroy watched flyover videos from online outlets like Golf Digest and The Fried Egg to get a feel for the course. He went so far as seeking highlights from last year’s Senior PGA Championship at Southern Hills. “Just did a little bit of digging online, and it sort of seemed pretty apparent that this is an approach shot and short game — like iron play and chipping is going to be really important this week,” said McIlroy, who also shared the videos with his caddie, Harry Diamond. What once was a traditional major test, with thick Bermudagrass rough lining narrow fairways and greens, has been reimagined. The fairways have been widened and short grass is more prevalent around the greens. The new design fits modern trends while also harkening back to the Golden Age of course architecture. After playing practice rounds, McIlroy did say that the course seems wider than it appeared on video and that, despite the plethora of short grass around the greens, putting from off the green is often not an option, requiring players to execute touchy chip shots from tight lies to a putting surface that sits above them. “I think he’s done a wonderful job with it,” McIlroy said about Hanse. “Love the green complexes. I love that he gives you options off the tee. “I think you’re going to see a lot of different strategies this week, guys hitting driver where maybe other guys aren’t and vice versa. It’s a really good track. I really enjoyed playing it yesterday, and I think it’s going to be a wonderful test this week.”

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