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Ladies Tours

Defaulting payer: LPGA Tour cancels tournament

Fir Hills LPGA event canceled. (Image: Getty)
Fir Hills LPGA event canceled. (Image: Getty)

The LPGA Tour has canceled the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship (March 20-23) at Palos Verdes Golf Club near Los Angeles, the sixth tournament on the circuit, which kicks off the season this week with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida. According to an LPGA statement, a business partner had not met its obligations and had not made the payments for 2024 and 2025. The cancellation of the tournament, which is hosted by five-time Korean major winner Seri Pak, was therefore unavoidable.

It remains unclear whether the sponsor refers to the main sponsor Fir Hills. The Silicon Valley investment firm signed a multi-year contract with the LPGA at the beginning of last year to sponsor the tournament. However, it is revealing that interim commissioner Liz Moore apologized to the players and fans and thanked the club and the organizer, but did not mention Fir Hills at all. The LPGA is currently looking to host the tournament in the fall, where Nelly Korda is the defending champion.

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Live Panorama

TGL: Atlanta Drive Makes a Statement Against New York

Wrap-up at the TGL match between Atlanta Drive GC and New York GC. (Photo: X/@TGL)
Wrap-up at the TGL match between Atlanta Drive GC and New York GC. (Photo: X/@TGL)

The third match day of the TGL brought a new match and a new record in the still young history of the league. Atlanta Drive GC, led by Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel and Patrick Cantlay, beat New York Golf Club 4-0 at the SoFi Centre in Palm Beach Gardens. This was the first shutout victory in the young history of TGL.

TGL: Atlanta Drive Takes Early Command

Atlanta controlled the action right from the start. Even in the ‘triples’ format, in which all three players on the team take it in turns to hit, the team’s dominance prevailed. The very first hole set the tone for the entire match. Cameron Young’s tee shot landed out of bounds and Atlanta Drive took the opportunity to take the lead with a solid par. In contrast, New York continued to struggle with accuracy on the greens in the triples session.
Justin Thomas established himself as the driving force behind Atlanta Drive GC. The two-time major winner holed a 7-metre putt on the fourth hole to take a 2-0 lead into the individual matches.

Justin Thomas Leads Atlanta to a Perfect Debut

Atlanta Drive followed up in the individual matches. Justin Thomas defeated Young with a birdie on the tenth hole, while Billy Horschel scored against Matt Fitzpatrick after the latter landed in the water and then in two bunkers. Thomas went one better with another long putt on the 13th hole and finally secured Atlanta’s historic shutout – and didn’t even have to resort to the strategic ‘hammer’ option to secure the 4-0 win.

Preview to the Upcoming Challenges

With this win, Atlanta Drive moves to the top of the SoFi Cup standings and now prepares for a doubleheader on 17 February against Los Angeles GC and The Bay Golf Club. New York Golf Club, on the other hand, with two losses under their belt, will take on Jupiter Links GC in an attempt to salvage their season.

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Highlights Tours

The Open Championship Returns to St Andrews in 2027

The 150th British Open took place on the Old Course at St Andrews in 2022. (Source: Getty)
The 150th British Open took place on the Old Course at St Andrews in 2022. (Source: Getty)

The R&A announced on Thursday that The Open Championship will be held in St Andrews in 2027. The connection between The Open and St Andrews is one of the most traditional in golf: the Major will be held on the historic Old Course for the 31st time. The club first hosted the tournament in 1873.

From 15 to 18 July 2027, the St Andrews Golf Club in Scotland will open its doors for the 155th Open. The Open Championship is the only one of the four majors to be held on European soil. It traditionally marks the end of the major season in July.

A special anniversary will be celebrated in 2027: 100 years ago then, in 1927, amateur Bobby Jones triumphed at The Open in St Andrews and celebrated his second of a total of three Open Championship victories.

The Open Championship and St Andrews: A Shared History

The last time The Open Championship was held in St Andrews was in 2022 to mark its 150th anniversary. Back then, Cameron Smith won the tournament with an overall score of 20 strokes under par. The first event on the Old Course took place in 1873, still over 36 holes. Tom Kidd won back then with rounds of 91 and 88 – the highest winning score over 36 holes in the history of the tournament.

In 2024, the St Andrews Links Trust, the R&A, the Scottish Government and VisitScotland agreed on a long-term partnership. This agreement ensures that The Open Championship will return to Scotland on a regular basis over the next eleven years.

Mark Dabon, Chief Executive of the R&A, emphasized the importance of the tournament: “St Andrews is the home of golf and it generates a unique atmosphere for the fans and the players as well as providing an amazing spectacle on television and digitally for millions of viewers around the world. It promises to be another milestone occasion at one of sport’s greatest and most historic venues and we will be doing everything we can to make it a memorable experience for everyone involved.”

Before returning to St Andrews in 2027, the tournament will be held at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland on 17-20 July 2025 and Royal Birkdale Golf Club in England in 2026.

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European Challenge Tour

Challenge Tour: Name change for a golf tour

Challenge Tour becomes HotelPlanner Tour. (Photo: HotelPlanner Tour)
Challenge Tour becomes HotelPlanner Tour. (Photo: HotelPlanner Tour)

The Challenge Tour is entering 2025 with an exciting new addition: HotelPlanner, a leading company in the field of travel technology, is becoming the official title sponsor of the tour. From the coming season, the tour will be called the ‘HotelPlanner Tour’. This partnership marks the first title sponsorship of the Challenge Tour since its official foundation in 1989 and represents a milestone in the history of golf’s second division.

Challenge Tour: New name, new chances?

The collaboration is intended to promote the development of the tour by not only increasing the prize money, but also enhancing the quality of the events along the ‘Road to Mallorca’. With a record prize fund of over nine million euros for the 2025 season, the HotelPlanner Tour will offer players new financial incentives. At least €300,000 in prize money has been earmarked for each European event, which means an increase in prize money for a total of 16 tournaments this season. The tour calendar includes 29 events in 18 different countries on three continents. The highlight of the season will be the Rolex Grand Final in Mallorca, supported by The R&A. However, the partnership between HotelPlanner and the Challenge Tour goes beyond title sponsorship. The company will invest in six events in 2025 and support a total of 40 tournaments during the multi-year collaboration. The exact duration of the partnership has not yet been announced.

‘We are delighted to become the title partner of the Challenge Tour. The Challenge Tour has been the foundation of so many great golfing names and we are excited to see the HotelPlanner Tour continue to open doors for the next generation of superstars.’ explains HotelPlanner CEO Tim Hentschel.

HotelPlanner’s strategic partnership with the Challenge Tour comes at a time when the golf market is becoming increasingly globalised and connected. HotelPlanner uses a combination of artificial intelligence and a global customer service network to help travellers worldwide. This technology will also help to drive the Tour’s growth by providing a strong platform for international travel and events, the Tour has revealed.

Name changes in golf

In recent years, name changes for golf tours have become a strategic means of promoting the economic and organisational development of tournaments. One example of this is the renaming of the European Tour to the DP World Tour in 2022, after the global logistics company DP World was acquired as the main sponsor. Another renaming was that of the Korn Ferry Tour, which was known as the Web.com Tour until 2019 after partnering with global recruitment consultancy Korn Ferry.

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PGA Tour

Jon Rahm and the Status of his Ryder Cup Relationship: It’s Getting Complicated

Photo: Getty
Photo: Getty

What’s the difference between Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton? No, it’s not the fact that one looks like a Basque bear, while the other – albeit English – looks like an Irish leprechaun in a tall hat under his baseball cap and all too often behaves like one. Like on Saturday at the Dubai Desert Classic, when Hatton smashed a tee marker in anger.

Rather, what is meant is the loudly proclaimed claim of both to be called up for Bethpage Black, for the European Ryder Cup team’s away match on Long Island in September.

Hatton Strengthens Ryder Cup Bid, While Rahm Faces Struggles

While Hatton underlined his claim again yesterday with victory in Dubai after winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October, his eighth title in his 200th start on the DP World Tour, Rahm lacks precisely such successes. Instead, the Spanish LIV star made a false start to the 2025 golf year, firing an underground 77 after an opening 69 on Friday and missing the weekend – also because he lost out in the battle with a bush.

Now, of all times, the supposed Ryder Cup top performer has missed his first cut at a Rolex Series event and his third in more than four years. Now, of course, it is premature and completely inappropriate to pass the sporting baton on the 30-year-old. Team boss Luke Donald will hardly be able to avoid giving Rahm the wild card for his fourth continental competition anyway; after all, he finished second and sixth in his two Spanish home appearances in autumn 2024. Nevertheless, the status of the relationship with regard to the Ryder Cup is likely to remain unchanged: It’s going to be complicated.

Rahm’s Ryder Cup Chances Clouded by Legal Issues

After all, Rahm is virtually operating in a legal vacuum and is speculating that he will ‘survive’ in it until September. That does have a certain flavour. As a reminder, the Spaniard – like Hatton – has lodged an appeal against the multi-million fine imposed by the DP World Tour for the unauthorised switch to the LIV League, is playing under a temporary injunction and is counting on the expected judgement against him not being passed until after the Ryder Cup. The competent appeals court has already legitimised the Tour’s sanctions in other cases, and should a decision be made in Rahm’s case before September, he would have to pay in order to actually be able to play in the USA.

Anyone who doubts that Rahm would also pay without hesitation if, as hoped, the fine is not due until after Bethpage Black. The man to whom the Saudis are paying a guaranteed fee of 450 million dollars for four years and who was already worth over 50 million dollars beforehand has a family of four to feed, so you have to keep your pennies together. Irony off again. Instead, it would be desirable for Rahm to do the same as Hatton – not in terms of tea markers, but to mask the stale odour of his tactics with the fragrance of sporting success. The Englishman also plays with the proviso of a revision. But at least he wins. And gets a lot of encouragement for it:

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Top Tours

Rory McIlroy: Clear Message to Tom McKibbin – “I Wouldn’t Make That Decision”

Rory McIlroy shares his perspective on Tom McKibbin’s potential move to LIV Golf. (Photo: DP World Tour)

Rory McIlroy and Tom McKibbin – two golfers from the small Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland, whose careers could not be more contrasting. While McIlroy has established himself as one of golf’s all-time greats, McKibbin is still carving his path. Now, at just 22, McKibbin faces a pivotal choice: a possible move to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour.

“He’s Giving Up A Lot To Not Really Benefit That Much”

“I’ve known Tom since he was, I don’t know, 10 or 11 years old. As soon as he got the offer, he rang me,” McIlroy said ahead of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

This call was unsurprising, as McIlroy has long served as a mentor to McKibbin. “We had a really good conversation, and I’ve talked to him multiple times over the course of December to sort of get a feel of what he was thinking and what he was going to do,” he added. McIlroy didn’t hold back: “I told him that if I were in your shoes, I would make a different choice than the one you’re thinking of making.”

McIlroy’s advice to his compatriot was unequivocal. For him, the drawbacks of switching outweigh the benefits. He highlighted McKibbin’s promising career trajectory and the potential he sees in him.

“I think working so hard to get your tour card in the States, which he really did to achieve that goal last year, was a big achievement. I think what he’s potentially sacrificing and giving up—with access to majors or a potential Ryder Cup spot, depending on how he would play—wouldn’t be worth it,” McIlroy emphasized.

A Career at a Crossroads

Despite his strong opinions, McIlroy made it clear that he didn’t intend to pressure McKibbin into any decision. “I’m not in his shoes. He’s a grown man at this point and can make his own decisions. All I can do is try to give him my perspective,” McIlroy said. Still, he admitted he’d be personally disappointed if McKibbin joined LIV Golf: “I think we all see the potential that he has, and I definitely think he can be a top-10 player in the world. But obviously his ranking won’t show that for the next couple years if he makes one decision over another.”

McIlroy’s LIV Golf Stance Remains Firm

While McKibbin reflects on his future, McIlroy is focusing on his game. As the defending champion of the Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy is aiming for his third consecutive victory at the event, held at the venue of his first professional win in 2009.

Yet, LIV Golf continues to cast a shadow over the tournament. “What I would say is, there is still a ton of money to be made on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour,” McIlroy remarked. “But at the same time, I feel like he’s giving up a lot to not really benefit that much, you know.”

Whether McKibbin will ultimately choose LIV Golf remains to be seen. But McIlroy leaves no doubt about his own stance: “At the end of the day, he has to make his own decision, and when he does, whatever way that goes, I’m always going to be a fan of his,” McIlroy said. “I’m always going to try to help him in whatever way that I can.”

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Highlights Tours

Bernhard Langer: One last time at The Masters

(Photo: Getty)
(Photo: Getty)

Bernhard Langer, a pioneer of golf in Germany, will take part in the Masters Tournament in Augusta for the last time in 2025. After four decades on the famous course and two victories in 1985 and 1993, the 67-year-old will finally bid farewell to the stage that has played a key role in shaping his career.

End of an era: Bernhard Langer plays his last Masters in 2025

‘It’s time to say goodbye,’ says Langer, the 67-year-old from Anhausen. A post shared by the PGA Champions Tour and the PGA Tour confirms Bernhard Langer’s decision to play his last Masters in 2025. This was actually already planned for 2024 before ‘Mr Consistency’ ruptured his Achilles tendon. After decades that have shaped the sport of golf, the German golf legend is bidding farewell to the stage that made him famous. The Masters was always more than just a tournament for him – it was the stage on which he made golfing history in 1985 and 1993.

 
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Between triumph and tradition

In 1985, Bernhard Langer slipped into the green jacket, the symbol of victory at the Masters, for the first time. His triumph was not only a milestone for him personally, but also for golf in Germany. His performance brought the sport out of its niche and into the limelight. Eight years later, he repeated this success at Augusta National Golf Club and proved that his first victory was no fluke.

The challenge of the new generation

At the age of 67, Langer has now achieved almost everything that is possible in golf. Nevertheless, he himself describes the increasing physical demands of the game as one of the reasons for his retirement. ‘It’s a totally different course for the young players,’ he explained. ‘They are 80 to 100 yards ahead of me at times. They are hitting a wedge and I got a 2-hybrid off a sidehill, downhill lie,’ he reflected with a grin.

Despite these challenges, Langer has managed to remain competitive. On the PGA Champions Tour, he set the all-time record with 47 victories.

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PGA Tour

PGA Tour: Favorit Xander Schauffele WDs from American Express

Xander Schauffele WDs from American Express on PGA Tour. (Photo: Getty)
Xander Schauffele WDs from American Express on PGA Tour. (Photo: Getty)

After Scottie Scheffler withdrew from the American Express on the PGA Tour due to his hand injury, Xander Schauffele, the world No. 2 and two-time major winner, was considered the main favourite for the tournament. But on Monday, the 31-year-old also withdrew from this week’s event, which is regarded as one of the easiest tournaments on the PGA Tour.

PGA Tour: Xander Schauffele withdraws from American Express

The reason for Schauffele’s cancellation is medical reasons, ESPN was told by his manager, but no specific details were given. Schauffele had most recently started his season at The Sentry and suffered a heavy defeat at the TGL premiere with the New York Golf Club.

Following the cancellation of Schauffele and Scheffler, who wants to give his hand more time to heal after an injury at Christmas, Wyndham Clark is the only player from the world’s top 10 who will be competing this week. Like Schauffele, Clark took part in the TGL premiere in Florida and was part of the victorious Bay GC. He starts the tournament in 7th place in the world rankings. Defending champion Nick Dunlap, who won the tournament last year as an amateur, will also be competing. He was the first winning amateur since 1991.

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PGA Tour

PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler still out of action

Scottie Scheffler still injured. (Image: Getty)
Scottie Scheffler still injured. (Image: Getty)

Scottie Scheffler, who already missed the PGA Tour’s first tournament of the year with The Sentry, is also withdrawing from the American Express, he announced on Instagram on Monday.

PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler withdraws from American Express

“After consulting with my medical team, I have made the decision to withdraw from the American Express tournament next week to give my injury more time to heal,” Scheffler said on Instagram.

Scheffler had injured himself on Christmas Day while cooking Christmas dinner on broken glass and had to have surgery on his right hand to remove small pieces of glass. Following the injury, Scheffler’s manager Blake Smith spoke of a recovery period of “three to four weeks”. While Scheffer withdrew from The Sentry, he was still targeting The American Express to start the year at that point.

Instead, the two-time Masters winner is taking some more time to heal and has the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the second signature event of the year, as his next target. It takes place from January 30 to February 2. After an absolute 2024 season in which he earned the title of “Player of the Year” for the third time in a row, it remains to be seen whether Scheffler can continue his dominance on the tour.

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PGA Tour

PGA Tour: Tour Championship changing to a group format?

A change to the Tour Championship format might be in the works. (Photo: Getty)
A change to the Tour Championship format might be in the works. (Photo: Getty)

Schedule: The PGA Tour is considering a change to the tournament format for the Tour Championship. According to US media reports, a bracket solution is being discussed for the season finale at East Lake Country Club, i.e. dividing the field of participants into two groups, which will then play out the champion in stroke play and match play. The current format is controversial among active players, but a format with direct duels would be well received. ‘I’d like to see something the players are excited about and the fans are excited about,’ said Patrick Cantlay, a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, which has to approve a change. As only the top 30 players of the season or the play-offs are competing in East Lake anyway, the problem that makes a match play format unattractive for standard tournaments would also be obsolete: because no underdogs could fight their way through to the semi-finals or final and then possibly rather unattractive names with low ratings would duel each other at prime time on Sunday.