Author: Elena Reiter

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LPGA Tour

Stacy Lewis named captain for 2023 USA Solheim Cup Team

Stacy Lewis becomes the new captain of the American Solheim Cup team.
Stacy Lewis becomes the new captain of the American Solheim Cup team.

Two-time major champion Stacy Lewis has been named captain of the 2023 USA Solheim Cup Team. Lewis, a four-time member of Team USA, will lead a team of the top 12 American female golfers as they work to reclaim the Solheim Cup from Team Europe at Finca Cortesin in Spain on Sept. 22-24.

Stacy Lewis: “It is an incredible honor”

“To be named captain for the USA Solheim Cup Team is an incredible honor and I’m beyond grateful to the Committee for choosing me,” said Lewis. “I have so many amazing memories from my years on the team and the two opportunities I’ve had to work alongside the team. I absolutely love the Solheim Cup and I want 2023 to be as great an experience for my team as my years wearing Red, White and Blue have been for me.”

Impressive history on the LPGA Tour

Lewis is a 13-time LPGA Tour winner, earning major titles at the 2011 Chevron Championship and the 2013 AIG Women’s Open. She spent 264 consecutive weeks from 2011-16 ranked in the top 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, including 25 weeks at No. 1, and was the 2012 and 2014 Rolex LPGA Player of the Year. In 2016, Lewis was a member of Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Brazil, finishing tied for fourth.

Lewis represented the USA on the 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 Solheim Cup Teams. In 2019, Lewis served as an unofficial assistant captain under Juli Inkster after withdrawing from competition due to injury, and she worked in that role in an official capacity under Pat Hurst in 2021. At 38 years, 7 months and 6 days old on the first day of competition in 2023, she will be the youngest American captain in Solheim Cup history and the second-youngest captain for either side. Patty Sheehan was 45 when she served as USA captain in 2002, while Catrin Nilsmark was 36 when she was the European captain in 2003.

“I have learned so much from the past captains on the Solheim Cup Committee, and the fact that they chose me to lead this team is one of the proudest moments of my career,” said Lewis. “Juli gave me my first taste of captaincy when she asked me to help her with the singles lineup in Germany in 2015. Being an assistant captain for Pat was honestly the most fun week I’ve had at a Solheim Cup. I’m more than ready to step into this role.”

Prior to joining the LPGA Tour, Lewis enjoyed a standout amateur career as a four-time All-American at the University of Arkansas, taking the NCAA Division I national title in 2007 as one of her 12 titles. She graduated in 2008 with a degree in finance and accounting, the same year she became the first player in Curtis Cup history to go 5-0 during a 13-7 USA victory over Great Britain and Ireland on the Old Course at St Andrews.

Lewis is married to Gerrod Chadwell, the head women’s golf coach at Texas A&M University, and has a 3-year-old daughter, Chesnee. She currently serves as a Player Director on the LPGA Board of Directors.

The 2023 Solheim Cup will be held at Finca Cortesin in Spain on Sept. 22-24, with Suzann Pettersen serving as captain for Team Europe. Information on ticket options and prices is available at solheimcup2023.eu.

Text: LPGA

Categories
European Tour

English duo birdie eight of nine holes to win Hero Challenge

Daniel Gavins and Callum Shinkwin claimed the Hero Challenge title. (Photo: Getty)
Daniel Gavins and Callum Shinkwin claimed the Hero Challenge title. (Photo: Getty)

Daniel Gavins and Callum Shinkwin claimed the Hero Challenge title at Al Hamra Golf Club in Ras Al Khaimah after the English duo teamed up to card eight birdies in the nine-hole Texas Scramble event for a winning eight under total.

Team competition for variety

The innovative team event was broadcast on television around the globe as well as on YouTube and social media, where fans could watch the stars of the DP World Tour in a more relaxed atmosphere – chatting regularly to on-course commentators and with some players miked up throughout their round.

In a classic better-ball scramble format, birdies were key and Gavins and Shinkwin looked unstoppable from the word go, birdieing every one of the first seven holes to storm into the lead. A par at the eighth briefly stunted their progress but a four at the par five 18th hole laid down the gauntlet early on.

Many teams tried, but none could get within touching distance of the Englishmen, who earned a two-stroke victory over the field with an eight under score of 28.

Second place was shared by nine teams on six under par, including that of winning 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn and his team-mate James Morrison, and in-form Englishman Richard Bland who teamed up with former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson to card four birdies and an eagle two.

Callum Shinkwin: “It feels fantastic!”

“It feels fantastic, it was a great fun today. I’m glad that the Tour and Hero put this up for us today because we’re here for two weeks, it was great fun to play and obviously Dan is good friend of mine, so it was great.”, Callum Shinkwin said after the competition. “One of our caddies said ten under was going to win but thankfully he was wrong!”

Daniel Gavins used the Hero Challenge for his preparation, “For me it was a little bit about getting out to see the course because I didn’t play here last week so I hadn’t seen it. It was a lot of fun though, it was nice to get out and have a laugh. We were actually a little bit annoyed to par the eighth, we wanted to birdie every hole, but it was nice to win.”

Text: DP World Tour

Categories
Panorama

Brooks Koepka, the new “Slim Shady”? Fans can’t help but comment on his new hairstyle

Brooks Koepka goes blond. (Photo: Twitter/@BKoepka)
Brooks Koepka goes blond. (Photo: Twitter/@BKoepka)

Brooks Koepka shocked his fans twice on Twitter. Koepka profile picture captured all the attention, but just if that was not enough, the American golf star surprised everyone with his new hair colour. The responsible of such a news is Philly “BarberKing” Garcia, the barber who gave Brooks a chic new fringe in the 2000s Eminem look. White blonde from roots to tips, Brooks Koepka hairstyle is on everyone’s lips now, and how he presents himself to his fans. “Blondes have more fun” is his credo for the new hairstyle.

The new “Slim Shady” Brooks Koepka

Koepka himself underlay the video for the new hairstyle with The Eminem classic “The Real Slim Shady”, so it’s no surprise that his fans are providing the comparisons to arguably one of the most famous rappers of the 2000s.

“You must have lost a bet!”

Of course, there is also wild speculation as to why Koepka has gone among the blondes, at the forefront of which is, of course, a lost bet. Could it be that his colour change is not going down well with the fashionistas of the golf course?

The best comparisons

Apart from various speculations on how Brooks Koepka hairstyle came about, fans did not miss the opportunity to compare Koepka’s new look with the fashion icons and faux pas of the past decades. In addition to Miley Cyrus and P!nk, there are numerous boy band members and sitcom actors who were fodder for comparisons.

Gunther from the sitcom “Friends”

Koepka as a 90s boy band member?

Or the new Justin Bieber lookalike:

I wonder if Brooks would have survived long in Game of Thrones. In any case, the hair colour fits in perfectly with House Tagaryen, the white-blond dragon lovers from Westeros.

While we’re on the subject of fantasy epics, the comparison with Harry Potter’s teenage nemesis is not far off. Brooks Koepka as Draco Malfoy’s older cousin? Koepka, with his new hair colour, would fit in really well with the family of the spoilt blond creep from the wizarding saga.

And the political satire “Don’t look up” is also drawn on for gloating about Koepka’s new top coat:

Mixed feelings about the new look

Some fans see Brooks Koepka’s new hair as an upgrade, although not directly for his style:

Some (former) fans must have been very upset by the new hair colour and resorted to harsh words. There are only few things worse than the words of this Twitter user:

Categories
Professionals

Bryson DeChambeau explains why he forgoes the “Fore”.

Bryson DeChambeau is one of the longhitter on tour. (Photo: Getty)
Bryson DeChambeau is one of the longhitter on tour. (Photo: Getty)

“Fore” is one of the words golfers learn very early on in their coaching lessons. At the latest when you stand on the golf course for the first time, you encounter golf’s own warning call for the first time. It doesn’t matter whether you are a novice or a tour professional, the call when you hit a failed ball is part of etiquette and even more, part of the basic safety measures on the golf course and is obligatory in these cases. However, Bryson DeChambeau sees it a little differently. In the podcast “Rick Shiels Golf Show” he now talks about his decision to deliberately omit the “Fore”.

Bryson DeChambeau: “The patrons don’t hear me anyway”

Bryson DeChambeau has repeatedly attracted negative attention in recent years due to his lack of “Fore”. But he does not see himself at fault. He points out that many professionals leave out the warning call on the tours if they think they are not endangering the spectators. “Most of the time when we hit shots, if we don’t think it’s going to get there, there’s really no reason to say anything and most guys don’t on tour.”

But why, then, does it seem that the Tour’s DeChambeau, in particular, is piling up the negative headlines? “You could, because of how far I’m hitting it, every single shot say ‘FORE’. Sometimes, it’s potentially more harmful because people move and they walk into the direction of the golf ball. When I see a ball and it’s close but I don’t think it’s going to get to someone, that’s when I’m like one, they can’t hear me because it’s into the wind.” DeChambeau implies in the podcast that he can judge the landing point of his balls surprisingly accurately from over 300 metres, especially considering that he doesn’t always care where the fairway is as long as he thinks he can hack his way out of the rough.

Even other professionals keep criticising him for his lack of warning calls:

“Of course I care if I hit people”

Bryson DeChambeau has already hit a spectator with his ball in the past. Contrary to popular opinion, as DeChambeau expressed, he does care if he hurts someone with his shot. “I’ve hit people before and it’s been the worst possible feeling in the world, so don’t ever think I don’t care about fans.” Nevertheless, his motto seems to be to shout once too little rather than too often. After all, he does not want to break the concentration of other players with his frequent shouts.

“The one time that looks like I should be yelling fore and I don’t, sometimes that’s the one that I get the most slack for.” This begs the question, isn’t the criticism justified when it comes to the issue of safety, Bryson?

Categories
European Tour Fun Panorama

Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland back to school at the DP World Tour

Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland are hitting the DP World Tour school bag. (Photo: Twitter/ DP World Tour
Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland are hitting the DP World Tour school bag. (Photo: Twitter/ DP World Tour

Last weekend was a throwback to school for Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland at the DP World Tour. The two golf stars competed against each other in a quiz. They were not left alone in the face of danger. Two junior golfers supported these two top DP World Tour players, helping them in this “child’s play” quiz.

What colour is a giraffe’s tongue?

The questions in this somewhat different quiz could be thematically classified as general knowledge. But do the golfers really know which is the longest river in the world? Or how many years ago did the dinosaurs become extinct? Good thing Fleetwood and Hovland counted with the two junior golfers Maya and Daniel to help them get through the exam.

The final challenge was not about general knowledge, but rather about something in what the two golfers are experts at, a putting contest. For the points they had previously earned, they had to move ten feet (3 metres) closer to the flag for each point. In this way, a 30-metre putt can be quizzed into a feasible chance of winning for the better team.

Full video of the DP World Tour and HSBC challenge


Categories
European Tour

Update on the early 2022 DP World Tour schedule

The DP World Tour has to change their schedule. (Photo: Getty)
The DP World Tour has to change their schedule. (Photo: Getty)

The DP World Tour today announced a change to its early 2022 schedule due to ongoing restrictions associated with the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Longer stay in the UAE instead of continuing to Qatar

The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, scheduled for February 10-13, has been postponed until later this Spring and will be replaced by a second US$2million tournament in Ras Al Khaimah.

The Ras Al Khaimah Classic will follow the Ras Al Khaimah Championship Presented by Phoenix Capital (February 3-6), with both events taking place at Al Hamra Golf Club.

DP World Tour: The Middle East swing remains

Those back-to-back tournaments mean the DP World Tour’s Middle East swing remains at four events, with the Ras Al Khaimah double-header preceded by the first two Rolex Series events of 2022 – this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (January 20-23) and the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic (January 27-30).

Text: DP World Tour

Categories
Panorama

“This Djokovic situation is a joke” – Golfers defend unvaccinated tennis star

Eddie Pepperell defends Djokovic. (Photo: Getty)
Eddie Pepperell defends Djokovic. (Photo: Getty)

Novak Djokovic is currently dominating the headlines of sports magazines and the news broadcasts, but not in a positive sense. The exceptional Serbian tennis player decided not to get vaccinated against Covid-19, and he doesn’t seem to be willing to change his mind in the future. This creates some difficulties for him trying to enter the hosting countries of the tournaments.

There also exist opponents to the vaccination on the golf tours. Actually, more than one professional golfer supports Djokovic in his decision.

What happend in Australia?

Novak Djokovic was originally granted the special permission to enter the country by the Australian Tennis Federation, due to the vaccination requirements. This was based on Djokovic’s words, when he ensure that he had tested positive back in December, and therefore, less than six months ago. However, the diagnosis only came from the testimony of a single doctor. Accordingly, the immigration authorities revoked Djokovic’s visa, but Djokovic’s lawyer appealed. The case became a major problem and politics even considered it a social and safety matter. The Immigration Minister Alex Hawke intervened, and the official court has concluded: Djokovic must leave the country. A similar situation is said to have happened to two other players, but they left without a fuss.

Golfers take Djokovic’s side

There are also unvaccinated professionals in golf. In November 2021, there were already tournament cancellations in golf due to vaccination status. For instance, some players were not allowed to travel to the Bermuda Championship because they didn¡t meet with the Corona regulations. One of the top golfers, Bryson DeChambeau made his pointn clear last summer. He defended that there was no need to vaccinate because he was athletic. Only a few weeks later, he missed the Olympic Games after testing positive in Covid, and lost 4.5 kg.

Sadly, DeChambeau is not the only golf athlete against the vaccine.


Other golfers also critize the vaccination and the pandemic situation in general, and two of these players are now rushing to Djokovic’s defence. Eddie Pepperell, in fact, tweeted: “I know there are some out there who are still feeling hysterical about Covid, but this Djokovic situation is a joke. He’s no danger to anyone (in the non tennis sense). Let’s just get on with our lives again. It’s pathetic.”

On his Twitter page, there are also some posts with a clear tendency towards the side of the opponents of vaccination. Pepperell is of the opinion that vaccinations do not mitigate the general pandemic situation.
Support for Djokovic also comes from Australian golfers, Scott Hend emphasises on the social network: “It doesn’t matter if you like Novak Djokovic or not. He did nothing illegal.”

Categories
Panorama Professionals

Ryder Cup player Nicolas Colsaerts suffers from rare kidney disease

Nicolas Colsaerts suffers from a rare kidney disease. (Photo: Getty/ Instagram @nicolascolsaerts)
Nicolas Colsaerts suffers from a rare kidney disease. (Photo: Getty/ Instagram @nicolascolsaerts)

Nicolas Colsaerts is known to many golfers through the “Miracle of Medinah”, the Ryder Cup 2012. The Belgian golfer now shocked his fans with bad news via Instagram. He has fallen ill with a rare kidney disease. This was noticed by swollen ankles and blood clots in his lungs.

Nicolas Colsaerts: “You can imagine what could have happened”

Already a few weeks ago, the Belgian noticed the first symptoms and decided to make an appointment with his doctor. However, the diagnosis of this rare disease took about a week. As Colsaerts wrote on Instagram, it was one of the worse weeks of his life. “I looked my wife in the eye and said I wasn’t ready to go,” he revealed in a short video from his room at the hospital.
Upon closer examination, the doctors also found blood clots in his lungs. Fortunately, they caught it just days before he was supposed to take a flight. “You can imagine what could have happened if I had flown,” he commented. Finally, the diagnosis seems to be primary membranous nephropathy. It is a chronic inflammation of the kidney corpuscles and causes him to lose a lot of protein, in addition to the previous symptoms. The course of the illness could even go as far as to a complete kidney failure.

The beginning of a long road to recovery

For Nicolas Colsaerts, the long road to recovery begins today. The treatment takes up to several months. Also, he has to take immunosuppressants to improve the chances of success of the therapy. Therefore, his immune system is weakened in a controlled way. Especially in times of the Covid 19 pandemic, the risk becomes higher than usually. According to Nicolas Colsaerts, however, the treatment has worked so far and he is confident that the health conditions of Nicolas will improve in a few months at the latest. On the other hand, his wife Rachel Colsaerts also keeps a positive attitude from the hospital: “I hope this day is the beginning of the end and we are on the road to recovery!

Categories
European Tour

DP World Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australia announces extention to strategic alliance

PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour expand their alliance. (Photo: Getty)
PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour expand their alliance. (Photo: Getty)

The DP World Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia (PGATA) are delighted to jointly announce an extension of their Strategic Alliance through until 2026 and to announce that the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship will be returning to Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Golf Club as part of the DP World Tour in late 2022. 

A cooperation with many advantages


The existing strategic partnership from 2017, has provided a range of benefits for PGATA Members including important pathways to global golf tours. PGATA members will benefit from this extension through additional opportunities that strengthen current pathways such as two additional tour cards and a range of other additional exemptions on the DP World Tour. This agreement also reaffirms a joint commitment to the growth of the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia as will show through an increase in prize money for a range of tournaments.
 
The announcement happened on the eve of this week’s Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane, an event which will also take place later in 2022 when it will be co-sanctioned by the PGATA and the DP World Tour, having last featured on the DP World Tour’s schedule at the start of the 2020 season due to the global pandemic. It will be part of the DP World Tour’s 2023 schedule with a larger prize fund of AUD$2million – up from AUD$1million for this week’s event – underlining the event’s position as Australasia’s richest golf tournament and providing playing opportunities for both memberships.   

Australasian golf is also successful worldwide


Five Australasian players finished 2021 inside the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings, with Australians Lucas Herbert and Min Woo Lee winning back-to-back events in July on the European Tour – now named the DP World Tour – the former claiming the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the latter securing his first Rolex Series victory at the abrdn Scottish Open.  

Looking forward to the larger cooperation


 
The PGA TOUR, the DP World Tour’s Strategic Alliance partner and long-time friend of the PGATA, also fully supports this strategic partnership and the positive benefits it will bring to global golf.
 
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour group, said: “Our Tour has a strong historical association with Australasia, and I feel proud this extension to our Strategic Alliance with the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia will build upon that heritage.
 
“Alongside our partnerships with the PGA TOUR and the Sunshine Tour, this new agreement will continue to strengthen the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia and the region’s place in global golf’s ecosystem, providing clearly defined routes for players from Australasia to compete on the biggest stage as well as playing opportunities for DP World Tour members.”
 
Rodger Davis, Chairman of the PGA of Australia, said: “This partnership is a great acknowledgement of the contribution that our members have made to the overall growth of global golf.
 
“We are delighted to continue our association with the DP World Tour and provide greater opportunities for our players.  Australasia has produced exceptional golfers over a long-sustained period of time and we are happy to play our part in continuing this legacy on global tours through the development of players from our region.”

Australia and the PGA Tour join forces to improve the development of the sport of golf


 
Gavin Kirkman, CEO of the PGA of Australia, said: “We are excited to extend our relationship with the DP World Tour and provide a range of great benefits and opportunities for our members and fans.
 
“Australasian players currently hold over 110 tour cards outside of our region and play an important role in the success of global golf tours. This partnership ensures these all-important development opportunities for players on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia. Also, it means that Australasian golf fans can continue to support and cheer their homegrown players on the world stage.”
 
PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said: “The PGA of Australia has been a great partner of the PGA TOUR and has been instrumental in the success of the three playings of the Presidents Cup in Australia to date. We look forward to actively working to further cultivate and promote professional golf with this partnership going forward.”
 
The DP World Tour will recommence its 2022 season later this month with back-to-back Rolex Series events, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links, Abu Dhabi from January 20-23 and the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club from January 27-30.

Text: DP World Tour

Categories
PGA Tour

Bryson DeChambeau withdraws from the 2022 Sony Open due to wrist soreness

Bryson DeChambeau is facing wrist pain and withdraws from the Sony Open. (Photo: Getty)
Bryson DeChambeau is facing wrist pain and withdraws from the Sony Open. (Photo: Getty)

The World number eight golfer Bryson DeChambeau will not play in the 2022 Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu next weekend. DeChambeau’s manager announced this last-minute decision to golfchannel.com on Monday January the 10th of 2022.
And the PGA Tour also confirmed via Twitter that the tour’s long hitter will not play in the second tournament of the Hawaii Swing.

Health problems prevent participation

Bryson DeChambeau, however, is not sitting out entirely by choice. The technical fanatic is struggling with wrist pain, according to this PGA Tour post.

Last weekend, he finished 25th at the Tournament of Champions, which is unusually down in the leaderboard for him, since the total participants was not larger than 40. For the last round, DeChambeau shot one-under-par round, and thus fell far short of expectations. His manager Brett Falkoff told Golf Channel that DeChambeau’s wrist had flared up again in the recent weeks and that he was not ready to play more tournaments back-to-back as he had originally hoped.

Long break for Bryson DeChambeau

“The Hulk” has only played in one official Tour tournament in the last three months and has otherwise kept a low profile. He played well in the Hero World Challenge in December, but there was little else to report from DeChambeau in terms of golf.
He was supposed to attend to a press event at the Saudi International on Monday, for the tenth of January 2022 that also had to be postponed indefinitely. After his cancellation of the Sony Open 2022, Bryson DeChambeau will probably not plan to be back on the field again until the Saudi International, which will take place on February 3rd, 2022.