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Professionals

Bryson DeChambeau explains why he forgoes the “Fore”.

“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?

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Panorama Professionals

Ryder Cup player Nicolas Colsaerts suffers from rare kidney disease

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!

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PGA Tour Professionals

Ryder Cup: Viktor Hovland is wise beyond his years

The European Pro golf team took a hard hit this year at the Ryder Cup. As a result of COVID cancelling it last year, it was the most anticipated golf event of the year. Europeans were sure to bring back home the trophy. However they fumbled on US soil. The 24 year old Norwiegen player offers an insightful outlook on the loss during the preview round of Shriner’s children open.

Who is Viktor Hovland?

Hovalnd comes from Oslo, Norway and has been playing golf since he was 11 years old. His father brought back a club from his working trip in the states and the rest is history. He went to play golf at Oklahoma State University and played three seasons there where he had a stella Soon he reached the No. 1 spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

He quickly turned pro in 2019 and didn’t disappoint. He became known for making history as the first Norwegian player to win the U.S. Amateur (2018) and the first player from Norway to compete in the Masters (2019).

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 14: Low amateur Viktor Hovland of Norway celebrates with the Silver Cup during the Green Jacket Ceremony after the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

His 2021 Ryder Cup performance

Hovland was the first Norwegian to represent the EU team at the Ryder Cup. Sadly, It was a quick defeat against the young golfer. In the five matches played he scored one point. His overall record was 0-3-2.

Obviously a disheartening play, but Hovland hasn’t been sulking over his poor performance. Instead he has commented on how thankful he was to even have the opportunity. “Just some great memories, just being around my teammates,” he said. “Being on that team I’m surrounded by legends of European golf the last 20, 25 years. So that was just incredible.”

Did Hovland accept this defeat?

When asked how one gets over a big loss such as that he responded with, “we got beat just by the better team and that’s how it goes sometimes. I just obviously it sucked, but I try to learn from kind of everything that happens and try to turn it into something positive” showing that Hovland can accept a loss just as well as he can accept his wins.

PGA TOUR: Shriners Children’s Open

Hopefully Hovland is keeping this humbleness, as he barely missed the cut this weekend coming in at T44. His head seems to be in the right direction and his performance just needs to catch back up. Stay focused Hovland!

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Professionals

Watching his son: Tiger Woods back on the course

Since his serious car accident at the end of February this year, Tiger Woods has made himself scarce. Understandably so, because it is still completely open whether he will ever return to the Tour. The superstar is still concentrating on his recovery and is intensively attending to his rehab. Pictures have hardly been seen of him. Only one post on Instagram shows the 45-year-old on crutches with his dog in April.

Now he has been spotted without a walker for the first time since. He was back on the golf course with his girlfriend Erica Herman as a spectator at his son Charlie’s golf tournament. Admittedly, a serious statement about the state of his recovery cannot be read from the pictures. But there seems to be some progress, otherwise Woods would not be on the road without crutches.

Tiger Woods back on the course

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Fun Professionals

Black Friday Battle Between Brooks & Bryson

It’s on! Finally, these two will dish it out on the green and only one will come out on top. No more social media scruffs or side eyeing each other at tournaments. The duo will square off in a 12-hole match on November 26 at the Wynn Golf Course, the only golf course on the Las Vegas strip. 

Bryson Dechambeau (28) and Brooks Koepka (31) are both pro American golfers who are stars on the PGA Tour. With their recent success at the Ryder Cup, all spectators have their eyes on these two. However, not only for their golf game. Fans have been sitting on the edge of their seat to see where the drama will lead between the two men. Is one golfer truly better than the other? Is this a fight over skill or over fame? Where did it all begin?

The Beginning

The feud began in 2018, when Koepka criticized how slow DeChambeau was playing. “I just don’t understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, a minute and 15 to hit a golf ball; it’s not that hard,” Koepka said at the time. DeChambeau hit back by digging at Koepka’s physique, claiming he didn’t have any abs.

Koepka then took to social media to retilate..

Then when Dechambeau was paired with Aaron Rogers  for “The Match” against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, Brooks sent a “I’m sorry bro” tweet to Aaron Rogers.  Dechambeau gracefully responded with,

Meme moments

After that, everything came to a head when Koepka became a meme at the PGA Championship. Koepka broke during a post-round conversation with the media when DeChambeau walked past, making a point of making as much noise on the pavement as he could with his spikes.

No, there was no beef at the Ryder Cup.

The two were fortunately not paired and were able to focus on gaining the win for the US team. There were no side eyeing, no tweeting, and no one was called Brooksy. They even seemed to enjoy each other’s presence and sat next to each other during the press conferences.

KOHLER, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 23: Bryson DeChambeau of team United States and Brooks Koepka of team United States attend the opening ceremony for the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits on September 23, 2021 in Kohler, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Anticipating November

So whether the beef is over, was never real, or the two still hate each other, it could all get resolved this November. Hopefully they both don’t eat too much Turkey the day before and give all their best, regardless if they have abs or not.

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European Challenge Tour European Tour Highlights Tours Ladies European Tour Ladies Tours Live LPGA Tour PGA Tour Professionals Satellite Tours Top Tours

How the Skandinavian professional golfers raise up their national pride. A weekend filled out with golf.

Last weekend hosted events for all professional tours, and this is an overview on the performance of the golfers from Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. There are not many players from these countries. However, some of their names are getting more and more noticed within the golf world.

European Tour: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

Starting of with the European Tour, the Swedish golfer Joakim Lagergren, was close to bring home the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship trophy. He signed four rounds of (67-72-67-66) to finish with a total of 16-under par, for a silver medal only two shots behind the winner, Danny Willett. Lagergren showed a very solid game throughout the entire tournament, being two and six the average of bogeys and birdies per round respectively. Kristoffer Broberg finished strong with a fourth round of 7-under par (65) for a T9, coming close to the end one of his best seasons in the European Tour.
To round out the Swedish crew, Alex Noren came in T12 with a total of 11-under par (70-68-70-69). Noren is currently ranked 59th in the OWGR, and he is one of the players from Sweden with the most number of European Tour wins, a total of 10, only one victory behind Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson.
Nicolai HØJGAARD and Jeff Winther, from Denmark also had a good performance that placed them both at T14, finishing with a total score of 10-under par.

Joakim Lagergren of Sweden tees off on the 5th hole during Day Four of The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at The Old Course. (Getty Images)

Challenge Tour: Swiss Challenge

Moving on to the Challenge Tour which consisted of the Swiss Challenge hosted at Golf Saint Apollinaire, Michelbach-Le-Haut, France. Denmark leaves a mark within the Top 10 finishes, bringing the first and second place trophies home. Marcus Helligkilde was proclaimed winner after he signed a total of 25-under par (65-67-62-69). Helligkilde is currently 3rd in the Challenge Tour, and ranked 143rd in the OWGR. All signs point at him playing the Main Tour next season. Only one shot behind at the Swiss Challenge, his fellow national teammate Nicolai Kristensen completed a four-round performance with scores of (65-67-65-67) for a total of 24-under par and a T2. Kristensen improved his Challenge Tour Ranking (CTR) by 28 positions last weekend, although that will not be enough to get the main card just yet.
Niklas Nørgaard MØLLER, also from Denmark, made a Top 5 at Golf Saint Apollinaire, shooting a total of 20-under par, and Lauri Ruuska came in T8 for Finland, only one shot behind of 19-under par.

LPGA Tour: Shoprite LPGA Classic

Looking at the LPGA, we can focus on the Swedish professional golfer Anna Nordqvist. She recently came in at T12 at the Shoprite LPGA Classic with a total of 9-under par and rounds of (69-69-66). Nordqvist currently holds 9 Career victories and 75 Career Top 10. Her solid game shows in the Rolex Ranking, where she is placed 16th. Anna felt at home during the Shoprite LPGA Classic and that is how she wanted to transmit it through social media: “No place like home but some weeks on the road are a little better than others… thank you @borgataac and my @mgmresortsintl family for making me, my clubs and my caddy feel “home” this week during @shopritelpga” published Anna on her Instagram account after the tournament.
Few positions below, her fellow Swedish player Madelene Sagstrom, and the professional golfer from Finland, Matilda Castren finished 6-under par for a T27 position.

Ladies European Tour. LET: Estrella Damm Ladies Open

The Estrella Damm Ladies Open took place last weekend 1st-3rd of October 2021, in Club de Golf Terramar, in Spain. Maja Stark from Sweden, took a 2-shot lead and brought the tophy home after three rounds of nonstop improvement (74-69-65) that drove her to be first with a total of 8-under par.
With a difference of four strokes, Krista Bakker (FIN) came in T4 and Linda Wessberg (SWE) T6 with a total of 3-under par. Sweden showed some golf power as Jessica Karlsson also made a Top 10 on the leaderboard with rounds of (71-70-73).

PGA Tour: Sanderson Farms Championship

Lastly the PGA tour where the Sanderson Farms Championship was played at the Country Club of Jackson, in Jackson, Mississippi. Henrik Norlander sits on the spotlight as he was the only player from the Skandinavian area to make the cut. Norlander left the standards high with a T4, only 2 shots behind the leader Sam Burns, from the U.S.

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Team UK Top Tours

Lee Westwood does his homework to pulish the accuracy of his irons yardage.

The FedexCup Playoffs have been very intense, full of emotions and great golf. The englishman Lee Westwood classified for the first event, known as the Northern Trust. This tournament was played at the Liberty National Golf Course, in New Jersey, where he shot a total of 9-under par for a T27. Westwood fell into the Top 70 players that moved forward into the BMW Championship, the second event of the PlayOffs. It was held at the Caves Valley Golf Club, in Owings Mills, MD.

Performance at the BMW Championship
Westwood showed some consistency off the fairway with a 79.2% of accuracy in greens in regulation. However, his final statistics showed a total of 50% of sand saves. This means that, he would have only saved one out of two pars after missing the green, and that translated into few more bogeys on his scorecard than expected.
Although the englishman completed the BMW Championship with an average of 1.6 putts, he signed a final score of 11-under par, for a T34, falling out of the Top 30 that would sneak into the TOUR Championship, the last event of the FedexCup Playoffs.

Lee Westwood keeps up the good work and shares it with his fans.
Westwood wants to make sure that he gets to know his yardage to improve his performance in the upcoming tournaments. He shares his work on and off the course through his social media, and here there is a video of him putting the effort in the driving range. Westwood is taking notes on his irons yardage with the help of the trackman.

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PGA Tour Team Ireland Top Tours

Rory McIlroy: “There’s no room in golf for people to abuse someone on the golf course when all they’re trying to do is follow their dreams.”

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

East Lake Golf Club
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: This is your 8th start here. You’re a two-time champion. Just what are you looking forward to about coming back here for the ninth time or the eighth time.

RORY MCILROY: I mean, I’m just happy to be here, to be honest. I was 28th going into the week last week at Caves Valley. I knew I needed at least a decent week to make it here and it turned out to be a bit better than that. I played, probably played some of the best golf I’ve played all year, not good enough to keep up with Patrick and Bryson, but certainly good enough to move up a few spots and get here this week.

So, yeah, happy to be here. It’s, I think it’s always a feather in your cap to make the TOUR Championship even though someone in my position is expected to and I obviously expect myself to as well. You look around this week and there’s only 30 players here and you can single out every single player that’s done something really well this year. So to be included in that group is nice and at least I have a chance.

I, it was funny, I saw Sungjae this morning at breakfast, and when I finished on Sunday, it looked like I was projected to start the tournament this week at 4-under and then Sungjae birdied 17, and then I was projected to start the week at 3-under, and then he birdied the last, and then I went down to 2-under. So even before the week started he cost me two shots.

But, no, it’s — and it’s sort of, I think that’s the fun thing about this format. You’re always sort of looking at what the other guys are doing and seeing where you’re going to start. But, yeah, just happy to be here and glad to have a chance.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. You touched on it there. How do you approach starting the week eight behind? Do you just think, that’s just two shots a day, or do you just try and put it out of your mind until you get down to the business end of it?

RORY MCILROY: Not really. I mean, I think East Lake isn’t the easiest golf course in the world and it’s certainly a, it seems to be a course that separates the field somewhat. So the way I look at it, if I go out tomorrow and shoot 6-under, for example, which is the score I shot last year in the first round, get to 8-under par, and some of those top guys shoot even par or even 1- or 2-over, all of a sudden you’re right in it.

So it’s a golf course that you can, I feel like you can make up a lot of ground quickly. You can also lose a lot of ground quickly as well, depending on how it goes. But I certainly don’t feel like I’m out of it. I don’t feel like I’m too far behind. Eight shots around this golf course doesn’t seem like that much, so still pretty optimistic.

But, I mean, I think it just puts the impetus, especially for people that are in my position, the bottom half of the field, you just have to get off to a fast start.

Q. Jon has been kind of outspoken about the format for this week. He points out the fact that you come in having won, four, five times and a major and end up finishing 30th on the points list. And I know you’ve addressed this before, but there is a clarity for the fans, but that’s offset by Jon’s point, which I think a lot of people agree with. Do you have a thought on that one way or the other?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I mean I, look, the first year that it was played in this format I started five back, and I ended up winning the tournament by three. So, like, everyone gets here. The people that have played well have an advantage. It’s not an insurmountable advantage like it has been in previous years where guys have turned up to the TOUR Championship not having to do anything to win the FedExCup and that’s certainly, you don’t want that to happen either.

So I mean, there’s been a few iterations of it and I think this is definitely the best format so far. There’s clarity for the players. There’s clarity for the fans. It’s, again, it’s the playoffs, and I think everyone that’s in the top-30 deserves to be here and then because of that everyone in the top-30 deserves to feel like they have a chance to win it all.

So I can certainly see where Jon is coming from, especially with the year that he’s had. But, look, I’ve went into two, I went into two playoff runs being No. 1 in 2012 and 2014 and didn’t win either of them. So I’ve been on both sides of the coin here.

Look, it is what it is. I mean, the PGA TOUR wanted to create this playoffs format and by nature it is going to be volatile at the end of the year and I think most players have accepted that.

Q. I know you were hitting fades and hitting draws and trying to figure out which one made more sense. Where have you settled on that and why?

RORY MCILROY: I think it’s shot- and hole-dependent. I’m going to try to hit a fade on holes that dictate that that’s the way you should play the hole and I’m going to try to hit a draw on holes or hole locations where it dictates that you should hit a draw. I think I’m, most players in this field and most players on TOUR should be good enough to be able to work the ball both ways.

Certainly there is advantages of just having one shot shape. It takes the options or the choices out of your head somewhat and it simplifies the game, but I think I should be able to swing the club well enough and know what I’m doing that I’m able to hit both shots. I mean, I think for my swing pattern and when it gets off, I think the feeling of a fade is always a good one because it gets the club out more in front of me on the way down. So that’s always going to be a sort of thought or a drill of mine is, like, just keep trying to get the club out in front of me and rotate and hitting those fades because I know if I can hit the fade pretty consistently, then I know I’m swinging well and the club’s not getting stuck behind me, and I know how to hit a draw. I mean, I’ve done that my whole life.

So it’s just a matter of managing your patterns somewhat and basically just hitting the shot that’s required on the hole or, yeah.

Q. With two European Tour counting events remaining for the Ryder Cup, how do you see the Ryder Cup, European Ryder Cup team shaping up? Pads has got a pretty tough task in terms of phone calls before he makes the announcement of the wild cards at Wentworth on that Sunday night.

RORY MCILROY: It depends how Italy and Wentworth go, I guess, the next couple of weeks. Obviously, Bernd Wiesberger had a great chance to play himself into the team in Switzerland and didn’t quite get it done but certainly has a couple more opportunities coming up in Italy and Wentworth to get over the line.

And then I think if that were to happen, if say someone like a Bernd or a Victor Perez or one of those guys gets, plays their way into the team, then I think it makes it a little more difficult for Padraig because then say, for example, if Shane doesn’t get on automatically, then you’re looking at him for a pick or whoever else.

It’s sort of, it’s still all a bit up in the air. But I think at this moment in time, if the qualifications stopped, I think it’s a pretty simple, I think it’s a pretty simple scenario, but a lot can change over the next couple of weeks.

Q. Are we going to see you at Wentworth or not?

RORY MCILROY: No.

Q. Do you feel that fan behavior has become less respectful and if so what do you attribute it to?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I do, a little bit. I think I sort of know what you’re getting at on the back of last week and some things that were said over the past few weeks, I guess. Yeah, a little bit. I think it’s different. As golfers, there’s a very thin rope that separates us from the fans, and then you hit a shot off line, and you have to go into the fans to hit it. So we get a little closer to them than some other sports.

Yeah, I think some of it crosses the line. I think there’s a certain, I think certain other sports culture has fed into our game and fed into the fan base that’s definitely affected it, and people will make the argument that, well, it happens in every other sport. But I would say that we’re not any other sport and I think golf should hold itself to a higher standard. I mean, the players are certainly held to a higher standard than other sports, so why wouldn’t our fan base be.

Q. Do you feel like you have to develop a thicker skin for the Ryder Cup?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, certainly, especially the ones that are played in the United States. But I think the best thing is to just not — someone once told me awhile back, if you don’t take anything personally, you’ll live a very happy life, and I think I try to do that all the time. You just try to let it slide off, not take things personally and if you can do that and if you can train yourself to think that way, it certainly makes it easier.

Q. Everybody seems to be on Bryson’s case at the moment. Do you feel any sympathy for him or do you think he brought it on himself?

RORY MCILROY: I certainly feel some sympathy for him because I certainly, I don’t think that you should be ostracized or criticized for being different, and I think we have all known from the start that Bryson is different and he is not going to conform to the way people want him to be. He is his own person. He thinks his own thoughts and everyone has a right to do that.

There are certainly things that he has done in the past that have brought some of this stuff on himself. I’m not saying that he’s completely blameless in this. But at the same time, I think he has been getting a pretty rough go of it of late and it’s actually pretty sad to see because he, deep down, I think, is a nice person and all he wants to do is try to be the best golfer he can be. And it just seems like every week something else happens and I would say it’s pretty tough to be Bryson DeChambeau right now.

And I don’t know if anyone else on TOUR has spoken up for him, but I definitely, I definitely he feel for him a little bit. And I agree, I don’t think he’s completely blameless in all this, but at the same time, I think he’s trying to become better and he’s trying to learn from his mistakes and I think everyone should give him a chance to try to do that.

Q. Outside observers can’t help but note Patrick Cantlay’s very calm demeanor on the golf course regardless of what the circumstances are. Is that something that the players take note of as well? And what other parts of his game might you point to to, that’s going to make him tough to catch this week?

RORY MCILROY: I mean, if he putts the way he putted last week for the rest of his career we have no chance. (Laughing).

Yeah, Patrick is, he’s a very, what you see on TV is what you get in person. I mean, he’s a pretty, he’s a very smart guy as well. I think that’s the thing. He’s very, he doesn’t say a whole lot, but you can tell that there’s a lot going on in his head and he’s an educated guy. And, yeah, I mean, the performance that he put in last week, I think everyone that, when he hit that shot into the water on 17 in regulation, we all thought, Well, this is Bryson’s to win. But the resolve that he showed to get up-and-down to make bogey there, to birdie the last to force a playoff, and then everything that happened in the playoff, it was really impressive to see.

I think that was a, he’s won some tournaments before and he’s played well, but I think that was, I don’t know if anyone’s ever seen that side of Patrick Cantlay to that extent like we did last week and it was very impressive.

Q. You alluded to the Hazeltine Ryder Cup a little bit earlier and my read on that week was that you expended a ton of energy winning matches early in the week and kind of carrying your team. Obviously, you had that huge energy explosion on the 8th hole against Patrick on Sunday, and then I thought maybe you kind of lost, like you had reached a breaking point almost at that point. I wanted to ask you if that was true, first of all, and then playing off of that, what would you tell, let’s say like a Ryder Cup rookie or how would you advise them about the specific challenges of playing a Ryder Cup in the U.S. in this modern era where fans can be jerks and it’s just like a crazy amount of energy that it takes from you?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, so you’re completely right. That observation is, you hit the nail on the head. I expended so much energy during that week, not just competing on the golf course, but also just everything else that was going on that, everything sort of reached a crescendo on that 8th green on Sunday, and I think both of us, I think both Patrick and I, we certainly didn’t keep that level of play up for the entire match, and I think we both sort of came down a little bit from that, but he was just able to — he made birdie at the last and ended up winning 1-up.

And but, yeah, it was certainly, I took a lot from that. I learned a lot from that and I hopefully won’t make the same mistake again this year because you can only, you only have so much energy, and you can only use it for an amount of time. And I think what I would tell a rookie going into a Ryder Cup, especially on the road, is, yeah, conserve your energy. You don’t, like we’re there from the Monday, the matches don’t start until the Friday, I mean, I would Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday do just enough to feel like you’re prepared, but don’t do too much. Don’t play 18-hole practice rounds every day. Don’t kill yourself in the gym. Don’t like, I mean, do what you need to do to get yourself in the right frame of mind and the right space physically to go out there and play.

And the thing, as well, is if you’re called upon to play all five sessions, that’s a long week. It’s tough and it’s physically draining, but also mentally as well, trying to focus on the job at hand and not get distracted by the crowd or anything else.

So it’s a pretty tough task, I think, for a rookie coming into that environment that’s going to be the toughest week of their golfing life and they have to be prepared for that and all I would say is conserve your energy and put it into the three days.

Q. You said if you don’t think anything personal, you’ll never be upset. How do you put that into practice when you’re in the thick of it and the things people are saying to you are intensely personal?

RORY MCILROY: I think you just have to, you have to think about, Okay, if I were to sit down and have a beer with this person, would they think the same thing, would they say the same thing? And of course they wouldn’t. You go, if someone says something to you and you go up and you confront them about it, they’re not going to say the same thing as either, right? It’s a — it’s just a weird dynamic between fan and competitor and they’re doing it to try to help their own team. They’re doing it because they’re from the United States and they’re trying to — and I think if you — I think I’ve tried to train myself to think about it and think on purpose rather than react, and I think the more you react to it, the more it gets at you, but the more you actually think about it and break it down and it just, it becomes less meaningful and you can just sort of let it roll off.

And I’ve tried to do a really good job of that over the last few years of not react and just try to think about it a little bit more and try to just try to put it in a better perspective, I guess.

Q. It sounds as if you’re on board with what Jay told us yesterday about the fan behavior stuff. But just curious your thoughts on just enforcing that, the difficulty of actually calling people out and maybe asking, booting them or ejecting them in such a situation. Is that realistic?

RORY MCILROY: I think as I said at the start, as golfers I feel like we’re held to a higher standard than other sports and other athletes and I think because of that the people that come to watch us play should be held to a higher standard as well. And enforcing that, I think it should be — there’s no room in golf for people to abuse someone on the golf course when all they’re trying to do is do their best and win a golf tournament and follow their dreams. So there’s no place for that in our game and that might sound a little stiff or snobby or whatever, but that’s golf and we have traditions and we have — you look at like a First Tee Program, for example, what are they taught through golf? They’re taught respect, sportsmanship, etiquette, how to treat others the right way, and that’s everything that we try to do through golf. They are the values of our game and that’s, people need to understand that and they need to try to adopt those same etiquettes and those same beliefs and values when they show up at our tournaments.

Interview Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Justin Rose is named the 2021 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award

Justin Rose, the englishman golfer who is a 11-time PGA winner, as well as the 2013 U.S. Open winner and 2016 Olympic gold medalist in Rio, was named the 2021 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award, which is presented annually by the PGA Tour to the golfer who best exemplifies character, charity and sportsmanship.

Stewart, a three-time major champion, perished in a 1999 plane crash as the reigning U.S. Open champion. A year after that fatal date, the PGA created this award to honor his name and character.
Rose, turned professional in ’98, a year before Payne died, and was able to have a few brief interactions with Payne long before Rose held a trophy in his honor. The 2021 recipient definitely remembers the kind words that Steward had with him at The Open Championship in ’98, when Rose was just hitting balls on the range and Payne stopped by to compliment his swing: “Oh, that’s how it’s done.”

The Payne Stewart Award is specially meaninful because it goes beyond the golfing skills, but instead this prize recognizes the characteristics that define a great role model for the rest of the world, without any descriminations.
Some of the most recognizable players have won this Award in the past as well, such as Ernie Els (2015), Gary Player (2006), Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer both in (2000).
It is a chance for the recipient to bring the world matters back to the spotlight and to create awarness through their actions or foundations. Justin Rose and his wife founded The Kate & Justin Rose Foundation in Florida, which helps members of the community with lack of sources and money to fulfill their plates and to enrich their minds, raising more than $3 million and providing “500,000 hunger-free weekends” and 300,000 books.

“Justin Rose embodies everything the Payne Stewart Award represents,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said. “Like Payne, he has been one of the premier players of his generation while using his platform to better the lives of those around him.”

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Team UK

Lee Westwood named 2020 Seve Ballesteros Award winner as Players’ Player of the Year

Lee Westwood has been named the winner of the Seve Ballesteros Award as the 2020 European Tour Players’ Player of the Year following a remarkable season which culminated in the 48-year-old topping the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and being crowned European Tour Number One for the third time in his storied career.

The announcement coincides with the ten year anniversary of the passing of the Spanish legend Ballesteros, who died on May 7, 2011 following a battle with cancer. Westwood’s first of ten Ryder Cup appearances came in 1997 under Ballesteros, who captained Europe to a famous win at Valderrama.

The Englishman had long ago secured his status alongside the late Ballesteros as one of the European Tour’s greatest ever players, but a memorable 2020 campaign has earned him another accolade after his fellow European Tour Members voted him the Players’ Player of the Year.

It was a season bookended by two of his most impressive performances. In his first appearance of the season, Westwood claimed his second Rolex Series title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, overcoming his fellow Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood as well as France’s Victor Perez.

He capped off his season on a high too, his runner-up finish behind Fitzpatrick at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai earning him the title of 2020 Race to Dubai Champion.

In a disrupted campaign due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Westwood’s consistency was something to behold – in 15 appearances he missed just one cut and produced eight top 20 finishes.

On top of that, Westwood continued to give back to the game and to the European Tour through hosting the 2020 Betfred British Masters at Close House, which marked the first of six events in the UK Swing and was won by Italian Renato Paratore.

“It means a lot that it is voted for by my fellow players, the guys I play with week-in week-out,” said Westwood. “Awards like this are always very special because I feel like they as players know what you have to go through.

“I played a lot of good golf under pressure when I needed to in 2020. The win in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year and then to have a chance to play so well in the final event at the DP World in Dubai, I was really pleased with those two tournaments, but I was also consistent and that was important to me. It was a very difficult year with the pandemic for everyone, and we were very fortunate to play golf during this time.

“Seve was an icon of the game, and still is. When I started playing golf, I was looking at the Europeans and Seve’s name was at the top of that list as somebody to aspire to. The first tournaments I ever went to watch were Ryder Cups in 1989 and 1993, and Seve’s name is synonymous with the Ryder Cup.

“I remember looking at these guys like Seve and Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam wanting to be like them. Then in 1997 I am in a Ryder Cup team captained by Seve Ballesteros, so it was a very short gap between looking and watching and learning from my heroes to actually being amongst them trying to win points in a Ryder Cup. That for me was really one of those pinch yourself moments, like is this really happening to me. Seve was a huge part of that and inspirational in the team room, and just a phenomenal and very calming presence.”

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive Officer at the European Tour, said: “I don’t think it is any surprise that Lee Westwood has won the Seve Ballesteros Award after such a tremendous season. At 48 years of age he is an icon, a former World Number One, our most recent Race to Dubai winner and like Seve, Lee is a true champion. He has an unwavering will to succeed, and he has proven that over and over again in his career.

“Lee is one of the few remaining European Tour players to have competed alongside Seve and to have had the honour to call him a friend. They are two players who will be long remembered in the pantheon of European Tour and Ryder Cup greats.”

Javier Ballesteros, Seve’s oldest son, added: “I am personally very happy Lee Westwood is the winner of the Seve Ballesteros Award for his incredible season. Lee is playing some great golf, I think he is physically in great shape and when you enjoy not only golf but life away from the game, things go well for you, and that has shown in how he has played not only last year but over the past few years around the world.”

David Howell, European Tour Tournament Committee Chairman, said: “It’s obviously not the first time Lee has won the Race to Dubai, and last year was of course a strange year, but it seems fitting that whenever something slightly different comes along Lee Westwood is there to remind us that things are normal.

“Whilst Seve was a worldwide player, a Major winner and one of the biggest stars in the game, you always felt that his heart was with the European Tour. I think that came out with his Ryder Cup heroics and you just knew Seve cared deeply about the growth of the European Tour, and similarly with Lee, while he has been at the top of the tree for many years you just know his heart is with us and he has always supported the European Tour where possible. He has been one of the biggest names for over two decades now and it is great to see someone so loyal to our Tour coming up trumps again last year.”

(Text: European Tour)