Tiger and Phil? Practicing together? It’s happening today at Masters

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.  – The World Golf Hall of Fame released the names of 10 finalists who will be considered for enshrinement in 2021. The list of finalists includes Male and Female Competitors and Contributors. Below is the list of finalists (listed alphabetically by category): Male Competitor (4) Johnny Farrell, United States Padraig Harrington, Ireland Tom Weiskopf, United States Tiger Woods, United States Female Competitor (4) Susie Maxwell Berning, United States Beverly Hanson, United States Sandra Palmer, United States Dottie Pepper, United States Contributor (2) Tim Finchem, United States Marion Hollins, United States The finalists were selected by the Nominating Committee comprised of 26 individuals, including six Hall of Fame Members: Juli Inkster, Hale Irwin, Meg Mallon, Colin Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara and Karrie Webb. Before gaining consideration, each finalist met the necessary qualifications in his or her respective category by way of on-course accomplishments or significant contributions to the game. “The Nominating Committee has selected 10 finalists who represent the highest caliber of golfers and contributors,” said Greg McLaughlin, CEO of World Golf Foundation. “The recent enhancements to the World Golf Hall of Fame Induction criteria provide a great process to ensure the most worthy of candidates are being considered. We are grateful to the Nominating Committee for their work and anticipate the Class of 2021 being one of our strongest to date.” The World Golf Foundation Board of Directors recently approved changes to the eligibility include lowering the age of a Male or Female Competitor from 50 to 45 years of age or three years retired from the game. Additional changes included retiring the Veterans category and changing the name of the former Lifetime Achievement category to the Contributor category. The Selection Committee, a 20-member panel comprised of Hall of Fame Members, media representatives and leaders of the major golf organizations, will be tasked with discussing the merits of each finalist and ultimately selecting the Class of 2021. The 2021 Induction Ceremony date, location and class will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information on the Induction process, visit www.worldgolfhalloffame.org. Class of 2021 Nominating Committee Chairman Greg McLaughlin, World Golf Foundation Hall of Fame Members Juli Inkster Hale Irwin Meg Mallon Colin Montgomerie Mark O’Meara Karrie Webb Institutional Seats World Golf Foundation Board Organizations Heather Daly-Donofrio, LPGA Steve Ethun, The Masters Angela Howe, The R&A Rand Jerris, USGA Allison Keller, PGA TOUR Guy Kinnings, European Tour Julius Mason, PGA of America At-Large Seats Media and at-large selections chosen by World Golf Foundation Board Ron Green, Jr., Global Golf Post Bob Harig, ESPN Nicki Hirayama, International Golf Federation Alastair Johnston, IMG Derek Lawrenson, Daily Mail Rich Lerner, Golf Channel Lewine Mair, Global Golf Post UK Randall Mell, Golf Channel Jimmy Roberts, NBC Dave Shedloski, Golf Digest/Discovery Reiko Takekawa, Golf Digest Kelly Tilghman

Click here to read the full article…

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – A casual round on a par-3 course may have changed the course of Davis Thompson’s career. Thompson had impressed at the University of Georgia, having reached No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, won the SEC’s Player of the Year Award in 2021 and ranked second in that year’s class of PGA TOUR University presented by Velocity Global grads. As an amateur, he separated himself with his strong ballstriking. The margins are much smaller in professional golf, however, and his putting struggles were proving too costly. After missing the cut in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Nashville stop last year – his fourth missed cut in five starts – Thompson played a local par-3 course with a friend and started tinkering with his putting grip. Admittedly a creature of habit, the Korn Ferry Tour rookie was reluctant to depart from a traditional grip. But, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Thompson decided to try the cross-handed, or left-hand-low, style of putting. “I was in a bad place mentally with my putting. … I needed to make a change,” he said recently at Sea Island Golf Club, the venue of this week’s RSM Classic and a course Thompson knows well. His father, Todd, is the RSM’s tournament director and Davis Thompson makes his home in St. Simons Island. He has already played the RSM three times, but this will mark his debut as a PGA TOUR member. He arrives home at 54th in the FedExCup thanks to two top-15 finishes, and credits his mid-season putting switch with making him a TOUR member at just 23 years old. He relied on two drills to get accustomed to the new grip, and they bore almost immediate fruit. He finished fifth in his second event with the new grip – before the final round, he watched putting highlights of Jordan Spieth, the gold standard for the left-hand-low grip – and won his next start. A month later, he’d earned enough points to officially clinch his first TOUR card. The drill: Thompson would hit putts from 3, 6 and 9 feet, requiring himself to make all five 3-footers he attempted, four of five from 5 feet and three of five from 9 feet. He had to start the drill over if he failed to hit all three benchmarks. He’d perform that drill from a variety of angles to the same hole to work on putts with different breaks. Thompson also would hit nine putts of 30 to 40 feet with a goal of averaging two strokes per hole. He said the cross-handed grip has made it easier for him to start his putts on their intended line and keeps his left shoulder from rising too early in the through-stroke. “It kept my left shoulder down—my shoulders are more level,” he said. “One of my flaws when I was putting traditionally was that my left shoulder was up and out of it pretty quickly.” A change to the tempo of his stroke accompanied the grip change. Thompson used to have a “pop” stroke, a la 2012 FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker, but he found it difficult to control his speed on faster greens. Now his tempo is more even throughout the stroke. He practices while using a metronome app on his phone to dial in his tempo. He also counts in his head, a habit that has the added benefit of clearing his mind before he strikes his putts. “It gives my brain something to trigger the stroke and something besides the result to think of,” Thompson said. “I’m more focused on my counting instead of the line or speed or anything like that. “It’s one, look at the hole. Two, look back at the hole. Three, start my backstroke and four, make impact with the ball. It’s really helped create more positive energy on the golf ball. I used to take it back quick and decelerate coming through (impact) because I was trying not to kill it on fast greens. Creating more positive energy, you don’t see as much break because you’re hitting it solidly and the ball is rolling well.” Positive energy in his putting moved Davis Thompson’s career in a positive direction, straight to the PGA TOUR.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…