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Eduardo Molinari named as vice captain for 2023 Ryder Cup

Henrik Stenson has named Italian Edoardo Molinari as his second Vice Captain for the 2023 Ryder Cup which will be played at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy from September 25 – October 1, 2023.

Molinari, alongside his brother Francesco, was part of the victorious European Team in the 2010 Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales. He has also won three times on the DP World Tour, previously known as the European Tour, and has made 356 Tour appearances to date.

The 41-year-old is Stenson’s second Vice Captaincy appointment, following the announcement earlier this month of Dane Thomas Bjørn, the successful 2018 European Captain.

Molinari will undoubtedly be a popular addition to Team Europe amongst the home support when Italy hosts the biennial contest for the first time next year.  

“It’s fantastic to be Ryder Cup vice-captain”

He said: “It is fantastic. I played the Ryder Cup in 2010 and to be able to be a Vice Captain in this one is a dream come true. It was a very unexpected call from Henrik. We had chatted a few times about stats and what I could do to help the team, but I never expected this.

“Knowing Henrik, he will leave no stone unturned. He will do everything he can to win the Ryder Cup back. It will be a lot of fun for all the guys playing for him too. He has always been a very friendly guy, and is always smiling, so I think it will be a fantastic atmosphere in the team room.

“The Italian fans will be loud and passionate at Marco Simone. For the players, it will be a lot of fun to play in front of such supportive crowds. Rome is a fantastic city, one of my favourites in the world. It is going to be a great week overall and I am very happy that the players will get to experience Rome.”

Stenson said: “I’m delighted to welcome Edoardo to the 2023 European Ryder Cup team as a Vice Captain. I’ve known him for a long time and he is obviously a Ryder Cup player himself. He is really into stats and he works with a few of the players who will potentially be on my team.

“I asked him if he would do me the honour of joining the team and he was delighted to. I’m very happy to have him on board and I’m very much looking forward to his input and to lean on his experience. With him being Italian, it is going to be an extra special week for him.

“I envisage Thomas and Edoardo as the working group that I will lean on for the foreseeable future. There will be a lot of healthy discussion and input between us. I’m delighted to have both of them as part of Team Europe.”

The Molinaris have a successful Ryder Cup history

Molinari and his brother Francesco followed compatriot Costantino Rocca into Ryder Cup folklore when they represented Europe in the Ryder Cup in 2010 at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales.

The Molinaris became the first brothers to compete against the United States since Bernard and Geoffrey Hunt played in the 1963 Great Britain & Ireland team, when they played in the 2010 contest at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales. They halved their fourball match against Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar, while Edoardo contributed another crucial half point in his singles match against Rickie Fowler as Europe triumphed 14½-13½.

In addition to his three victories on the DP World Tour, Molinari was also the Challenge Tour Number One in 2009 and was, for a number of years, a respected member of the DP World Tour’s Tournament Committee.

Before turning professional Molinari won the 2005 US Amateur Championship and alongside Francesco, claimed the World Cup of Golf for Italy in 2009 at Mission Hills in China.

(Text: EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP COMMUNICATIONS)

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LPGA Tour

Two months after surgery: Is Nelly Korda about to make a comeback?

Nelly Korda, former number two in women’s golf is probably on the verge of her comeback. The 23-year-old was diagnosed with a blood clot in her left arm three months ago, after complaining of pain in her left arm at a press event in early March. After successful surgery in April, she was on the road to recovery, but there was no talk of a return to the LPGA Tour until now. Now there is news from Nelly Korda’s side. GolfCentral announced in a Twitter post on May 26, 2022, that Korda would attend the press conference for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open in Southern Pines, North Carolina, a possible sign of her start at this important major in the women’s golf world.

Is Nelly Korda’s time off from the LPGA Tour over?

Korda won a total of four LPGA Tour titles last year, including her first major victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, as well as the gold medal at the Olympics. That’s when the unwanted time off due to the blood clot was a major blow to the young golfer. But just three months after the diagnosis and two months after surgery, she could now celebrate her return to the LPGA Tour. Because in addition to the announced press conference in the run-up to the tournament, she showed up again on Instagram with golf clubs on the driving range.

Although the American continues to wear a supportive sleeve on her operated left arm, her swing is promising. And sister Jessica Korda is also confident that she will soon be able to welcome her sister back to the tour. “It’s like you never left!” the elder Korda sister commented under the video.

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Highlights Tours

PGA Championship 2022 – Justin Thomas: “Trophy can speak for itself”

With an incredible comeback after trailing by eight shots at one point, Justin Thomas wins the playoff against Will Zalatoris and the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time after 2017 at Quail Hollow. In an interview afterwards, the winner of the 2022 PGA Championship talks about the exciting final round, the significance of the victory for him and Tiger Woods, who certainly has something to grief about.

Question: Justin, you told us that on Wednesday you were kind of lost, working through your swing with your father on the range, and then you bogeyed the third hole today and you were eight shots back. How did you go from those depths to these heights that you’re standing here with us today?

Justin Thomas: I mean, a lot of self-belief, a lot of patience. I wasn’t looking at leaderboards today. I was just trying to play golf. It kind of goes back to what I said on Thursday of just not trying to play golf swing, not trying to play the field, not trying to play to a certain person really.

Just trying to execute each shot as well as I could, and then wherever it ended up, just give my club to Bones and let’s move on and try to do the best we can on the next one. He did an unbelievable job of keeping me in the moment and keeping me patient today, and yeah, it just is an unbelievable team win for all of us.

Q. Coming into the day, did you think that 5-under would be good enough, and I know you said you weren’t looking at leaderboards, but at what point did you think, okay, I have a chance to win this thing?

Justin Thomas: As soon as I found out I was going to be in a playoff. When I missed the putt on 18 in regulation, I looked at the leaderboard and saw, and I had a pretty good feeling that that putt was pretty important. I hit a really good putt, just hit it a little, little too hard.

I didn’t know what the score was going to be. I kind of looked at a leaderboard last night, just kind of looked at — surveyed it, I guess took one last look at it, if you will. There’s a lot of great players ahead of me, but I know that they hadn’t won a major before, and I know I hadn’t won in a while.

But I just remember how tough it was, and I remember how tough it is now to win, so I knew I was going to be nervous and I knew they’d be feeling the exact same thing. I thought I probably needed to get to 6 or 7 to have a chance, but I also didn’t know. I just as well knew 2 or 3 could be in a playoff. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. Yeah, just glad, stayed patient, and kind of went about my way.

Q. Your dad mentioned that on the range last night Bones kind of gave you a tough-love conversation. Can you share a little bit more about that, and also, was it stuff like that why you really wanted him to come out of retirement and caddie for you?

Justin Thomas: Yeah, I’m fully confident in saying that I wouldn’t be standing here if he didn’t give me that — wasn’t necessarily a speech, but a talk, if you will.

I just needed to let some steam out. I didn’t need to bring my frustration and anger home with me. I didn’t need to leave the golf course in a negative frame of mind. I just went down — I played pretty well yesterday for shooting 4-over, and I felt like I’d played terrible. And he was just like, dude, you’ve got to be stop being so hard on yourself. You’re in contention every single week we’re playing.

I’ve had a lot of chances to win tournaments, and it’s a hard golf course; it’s a major championship. You don’t have to be perfect. Just don’t be hard on yourself. Just kind of let stuff happen, and everything is trending in the right direction. So just keep staying positive so that good stuff can happen.

I left here in an awesome frame of mind. It was very — I think the last player here, it was like this out right now, it was so peaceful. It was almost kind of eerie how beautiful it was outside, and there’s not very many times after shooting 4-over on Saturday of a major I left in as good a frame of mind as I have.

“Best bogey in my life”

Q. You’ve got the trophy, but what happened on No. 6 tee?

Justin Thomas: I shanked it. Just — I just cold shanked it. I don’t really know how else to say it. It was the best bogey I’ve ever made in my life, that’s for sure.

Q. The weather changed so much over the course of the four rounds; I know that adds to the toughness over four days, but you ended up with a pretty beautiful day. How much different did it play from day-to-day?

Justin Thomas: Well, I don’t think I’ve ever played — I mean, a non-Open Championship. I’ve never played it so severe — because when we played Friday morning, it was howling out of the south, and then yesterday it was cold and howling out of the north. That doesn’t happen often, let alone in a major championship and at a place like this.

It just brought out another side of everybody. It challenged us, and I was excited for that because, although I would have loved to have seen this place in a north wind, I hadn’t before. But at the same time, I’m sure a lot of guys hadn’t either. It was just about — it probably helped that I hadn’t been here that often because it was a lot easier to throw the past two rounds of memory out and just almost take each hole from scratch for what it was.

It was very, very tough, but everybody had to deal with the same kind of stuff.

Favorite Major is the next one

Q. Can you speak to how special it is to win the PGA of America’s Major Championship considering your father and your grandfather?

Justin Thomas: Yeah, it’s very, very special. I’m pleased. At this point any of them is great; I don’t care which one it is. As Tom Brady always says, your favorite Super Bowl is your next one, and that’s what my favorite major is. And at this moment, it’s definitely this guy right here.

Yeah, I’m looking forward to talking to my grandma. I’m sure she was watching.

I know somewhere up there, Grandpa was definitely watching today and pulling for me. It’s very, very cool to be able to share this moment with my family.

Q. In what ways are you a better golfer now than when you won your first major championship?

Justin Thomas: I mean, I’ve matured a lot. Five years is a long time, especially at this stage of my life. I would like to think and hope that everything has just gotten a little better. There’s nothing that’s like standing out of a massive difference. I would say the biggest difference is I probably just weigh about 15 pounds more, I don’t know; I’ve put on some weight.

That’s just the big part of it is you just want to get 1 percent better. I don’t need to revamp everything. I don’t need to hit it 30 yards farther. I don’t need to change equipment, change ball, change — it’s just everything that I have and been doing has been working. It’s just trying to just get it a little bit better. I just feel like that’s what I’ve done in every facet.

There’s nothing that stands out, like this is monumentally better. But it’s all improved. (…) my putting for instance, it won me this golf tournament this week in many ways, and you had to have a complete game. So there was all facets were working at different times.

Justin Thomas: “I’m on top of the golfing world”

Q. I was going to say, we know how much you love to needle your friends out here on Tour. You just joined Rory with two PGA Championships. How much are you looking forward to trash talking with some of your buddies out here after this, and also with Tiger and Charlie, as well?

Justin Thomas: I mean, this is a good moment where the trophy can speak for itself. I don’t need to necessarily bring it up on my own. I’m very fortunate right now that although there might be people ranked higher than me in the World Ranking, but at least in my eyes, I’m on top of the golfing world right now, and I’m very, very proud of that. I think I’ll let the trophy and the week speak for itself.

Q. You mentioned the challenges of just coming down the stretch in a major championship. Obviously a lot of guys felt the pressure today. How much did you feel that pressure today, and was there some freedom of chasing from behind?

Justin Thomas: Well, again, I didn’t look at a leaderboard, so I didn’t know where I necessarily was. I think when I made the birdie on 12, there’s just different roars, different energy that you can feel sometimes, and I felt that that one was pretty big. I didn’t hit a very good wedge shot in there, but left it in a good spot and was able to make that putt.

I could just kind of feel the energy. I got a little bit of goosebumps when that went in. Just like, all right, I don’t know where I’m at, but I’m in striking distance.

Yeah, I was obviously nervous. Walking up 18, I wanted to make that putt. But you’d like to have a little straighter, easier uphill putt than a putt breaking a foot and a half, two feet, going away from you. But it all worked out just fine.

Q. From your own opinion, I think you were the only player in the last seven groups to tee off who broke par. How much of that would you attribute to the difficulty of the conditions and pins and what-have-you, and frankly, to the nerves, given so much lack of experience out there, major experience?

Justin Thomas: I would say the golf course and the wind probably 80 percent, and I would say the difficulty of winning a golf tournament and a major, 20 percent, if I had to put a number on it. I mean, it was tough.

Again, the north wind just made it a little bit more difficult, and it was kind of switching a little bit to east. It was northeast, but it kind of was getting a little bit more easterly. So having to try to factor that in.

It’s a simple thing like a little hole like drivable on 17. Obviously you hit a great tee shot, you hit it where you want to go, then you’re looking at birdie. But if you maybe double-cross it over in the back left rough, or if you kind of heel one and it kicks down in the hazard — so quickly out here can a birdie hole turn into salvaging for bogey.

I think that’s just why — that’s one of the reasons I love this place when I first came here. I think it’s a great major championship venue.

Q. What would you say was the difference in your nerves between here and Quail given you were always kind of in the mix at Quail, and you started today, I think you said, “I can’t believe I’m in a playoff,” or something like that. Probably misquoted you.

Justin Thomas: Yeah, I think they were different. I was very calm today. I was very calm in the playoff. I was calm the last couple holes.

I felt like I could do what I wanted to do, which is really all I could ask for. Again, I couldn’t control what anybody else was going to do.

I think it was a different kind of nerves. It was a nerves just for being in the moment versus like I think on 17, it was maybe like nerves as to what’s going to happen and not knowing the outcome, and I want to win my first major.

They’re both very up there, but different kind of nerves.

PGA Championship 2022: Fighting allergies to major win

Q. Just describe the moment from being wheels down in Tulsa, what your week was like in this city, at this club.

Justin Thomas: Yeah, I got my butt kicked by allergies more than I think I ever have in my entire life early this week. Tuesday I wasn’t sure if I was even going to play a practice round. I felt terrible. I thought I had a sinus infection coming. Maybe I did, I don’t know.

But luckily got some medicine in me, got a bunch of rest. I definitely altered my practice schedule just to try to get as much rest as I could and just try to start feeling better.

Then once I started to finally feel better, it decided to be like 55 degrees and windy out, so that didn’t really help my cause. I don’t know, maybe I need to get really bad allergies more often.

Q. Can you describe what it feels like to sort of live the childhood dream of: This is a huge pressure moment, I have to hit this shot like 17 in the playoff? That’s really hard. You did it and executed it. What does that feel like to you?

Justin Thomas: It’s just awesome. I don’t know, really, how else to describe it other than that. I mean, that iron shot on 18 in regulation, like that’s why I play golf. Like that’s why I practice.

All the hours and everything and the time put in, you want to be in that scenario. You want to be in that situation: With the backdrop of the whole gallery up there, knowing that I’m in contention; I have a decent chance to win this tournament; probably one of the hardest, if not the hardest hole on the course.

And I hit a great drive down there, and to be able to just flag an 8-iron like that when I know in my head I needed to make birdie, it’s awesome. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a full-body-chills-type of feeling.

Thomas on Pereira und Woods

Q. The Championship is well earned, of course, but do you feel for Mito at all with the wheels coming off like that?

Justin Thomas: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you don’t — you want to win a golf tournament. You don’t want someone to lose it.

And I think, I mean, I had many, not exactly like that, but I have had times in my career when I feel like I’ve let a tournament get away. And I mean, it’s brutal. It’s not fun.

But at the same time, if you’re able to channel that and look back at it later or whenever the time is when you’re kind of, I guess, calmed down and to reflect, he’ll be able to learn from it and be better from it.

He played unbelievable golf this week. There’s no reason to hang his head. Yeah, I never saw him this week. I don’t really know him that well. I never got to talk to him or anything. But he played great.

There’s however many people were in this field, everybody else would have traded places with him on that 18th tee for sure to have a chance to win.

Q. You and Tiger are the last two to win major championships here; I don’t know that that necessarily makes it more special, but is that meaningful at all? What does that mean to you?

Justin Thomas: Yes, I think now I only have like 150 other things to do that he’s done to where he can stop giving me grief. So I guess it’s just a steppingstone.

I mean, the list of champions at this place I think kind of speaks for itself. When you get good golf courses like this, you don’t — you hate to say a fluke win, whatever, but it seems like you have to know your way around. You just have to play golf and you have to execute.

I think being on the list of champions at this golf course is very, very special because all those others have been able to do that, and it’s definitely nice doing it after he did it in ’07.

Q. As a close friend to Tiger, how tough was it to see him struggle this week? And in a way do you feel like he cleared the stage for you to be here and he’s celebrating back home?

Justin Thomas: I mean, I wouldn’t say how tough it was to see him struggle. I mean, he made the cut in his second major in a row, what, a year and a half after being in a gruesome car accident, broken leg? I don’t think you guys understand how unbelievable that is. He’s a freak of nature. It’s mind-blowing the things that he can do with his mind.

I didn’t play during his prime, but from the times I’ve been out here and him winning the Masters in ’19 and winning the TOUR Championship, him making the cut these last two tournaments for how — some of the conditions he was in last year, it’s absurd. Like beyond absurd.

Yeah, I talked to him a little last night and asked how he was feeling, and he just said he was feeling terrible because my name kept dropping on the leaderboard.

So I was like, “Thanks, good to talk to you too, I’ll talk to you later.”

Q. Do you feel he’s celebrating right now, and have you talked to him?

Justin Thomas: I don’t know, I’m sure he probably will give me a hard time for shanking it. I should have made the putt on 18. Shouldn’t have been in a playoff. I don’t know, he’ll always find something to give me grief about.

(Interview via ASAP Sports)

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Highlights Tours

Tiger Woods will not compete in the final of the PGA Championship 2022

The 46-year-old golf legend has to throw in the towel after three days at the 2022 PGA Championship. Already on Day 1 and 2, you could see the struggle Tiger Woods was fighting with his battered body. Moving Day seems to have been too much for Woods with its change in weather. About five hours after he left the 18th green, the PGA Championship announced that Tiger Woods would not play in the final round.

PGA Championship moving day wore on Woods’ body

After a round of 74 on the first day, Tiger Woods struggled into the weekend with a 69. The strain on his body was already noticeable here. Woods already knew on Friday evening that he was in for a tough weekend: “This weekend I’m going to have to go low. It’s going to be different. The wind is going to be coming out of the north. It’s going to be cooler.” On Moving Day, as expected, conditions deteriorated significantly, leaving Woods with a 79 from the course. He didn’t have many words after this disappointing performance, “Well, I’m sore. I know that is for a fact. We’ll do some work and see how it goes.” Five hours later, the final cancellation.

Is Tiger Woods in over his head?

For Tiger Woods, this week should be only the second full tournament start after his serious car accident. Woods nearly lost his right leg in February 2021, but battled his way back onto the golf course for more than a year and teed off again for the first time at the 2022 Masters. Even at the first major of the year, you could tell he was struggling to cope with the enormous strain. At the second major of the year, this week’s PGA Championship, Tiger Woods had to retire after three rounds. There has been no further information so far.

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Highlights Tours

PGA Championship 2022: Tough day for Tiger Woods – withdrawal possible

Tiger Woods experiences a debacle on the third day of the PGA Championship 2022. The 46-year-old was unable to get his game under control. He too often left approaches far too short, and on the front nine alone his ball went bad twice. On top of that, Woods played one too flat from the sand on the nine and hammered it into the edge of the bunker – next drop, in this case penalty-free.

Things didn’t get any better on the back nine. With three bogeys in a row, Woods made his way back towards the clubhouse. There was no sign of the Woods who had fought his way into the cut on Friday with a strong performance. With only 15 degrees, rain and wind, the 15-time major winner was visibly suffering. The cold is a major problem for Woods, who has undergone several operations. His right leg, which was almost completely shattered in his car accident a year ago, was visibly dragging. Time and again he used his driver or irons on the fairway as a walking aid. Already at the US Masters, Woods slumped after two strong first rounds at the weekend in much cooler weather.

At least Woods’ game stabilised on the second half of the back nine and he escaped the ignominy of playing an 80 by one stroke. Nevertheless, the 79 catapulted him to penultimate place. Only Sepp Straka of Austria fared worse. Following the round, Woods said he would now focus on his recovery. “We’ll work on that and then we’ll see.” On the final day of the 2022 PGA Championship, he would have to take to the course in one of the first groups due to his overall score of twelve over par. As he needs a lot of time for preparation and follow-up due to his physical condition, it is open whether he will play the final round.

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PGA Tour

PGA Championship 2022: Moving Day ahead – Southern Hills voices

Halfway through the 2022 PGA Championship is in the books, and already the Southern Hills tournament is once again writing its own little stories. Veteran Bubba Watson played the best round in the tournament so far on Friday, superstar Tiger Woods gifted fans in Tulsa with two more rounds of “Tiger golf” and although Will Zalatoris is playing only his second PGA Championship, his lead isn’t all that surprising. On the evening of the second round, some of the players were still answering questions from the press. We have compiled the voices of the stars.

Bubba Watson: “I was nervous with every shot. I was nervous on every putt. I didn’t have a lead.”

A 63 on the scorecard and still nervous on every stroke? That also only happens with Bubba Watson. The American played by far the best round so far this week on Friday, but he still doesn’t seem to really understand the golf course at Southern Hills, as he admitted in an interview. “I don’t think I’ve learned how to attack the golf course here. If you look closely at my round, I was nervous on every shot. I was nervous on every putt. I didn’t have a lead,” said the two-time major winner. Asked if the strong round was therefore pure luck, Bubba Watson replied in his usual nonchalant manner, “Every round I play is luck. I’ve never had coaching lessons.” – a classic Watson, in fact.

And yet, a round of 63 actually speaks for itself. But Watson doesn’t necessarily believe in his perfect game, or that he understands the course better than others. For the American, the question of victory or defeat is one that is decided between the ears – it’s all about one’s mindset. “Forget about the golf course. It’s about trusting yourself. If you don’t trust yourself, it doesn’t matter if you have the perfect length or the perfect club.”

PGA Championship 2022 – Tiger Woods: “I’ve won tournaments from the cut line.”


It was a big piece of work that Tiger Woods had to do on Friday of the PGA Championship 2022. But the superstar managed a solid round of 69 on the second day of his comeback at Southern Hills, Tiger improved to +3 and now gets to tee off two more times this weekend. Nice for the 15-time Major winner, even nicer for the numerous fans who have carried their superstar since the first hole. In the second Major after his long injury, Tiger makes the cut. Not everyone would have thought he could make such a comeback. And Tiger Woods? After two rounds, he is just happy to be able to play golf at the highest level again. “Coming back here, to a place where I was successful, and playing against the best players in the world, that’s what we all want. Fortunately, somehow I can do that,” Woods said after his round on Friday.

Looking ahead to the weekend, Tiger hasn’t written anything off yet. Especially with Bubba Watson’s performance in mind, Woods believes it’s entirely possible to make up a few more spots this weekend. “There’s a reason you fight hard to make the cut and give yourself a chance this weekend. You just never know when you’re going to get going. I’ve won tournaments from the cut line,” the 46-year-old said. “Hopefully I can play a round tomorrow like Bubba did today.”

Will Zalatoris: “Full focus on everything because we only have four majors a year.”


Will Zalatoris, 25 years young and playing a seventh major ever with the 2022 PGA Championship. But despite his young age, the American already seems to know exactly what matters at a major tournament, as Zalatoris regularly hits top form, especially at the major tournaments. “I think that when it comes to majors, especially since the Masters, I have an attitude that I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible,” the Texas native said. “I don’t want to look back in 20 years and regret my attitude or anything else.”

So far, he should be pleased with himself. After 36 holes, he leads Chilean and PGA Tour rookie Mito Pereira by one stroke. But Zalatoris, who didn’t record a single bogey on his scorecard Friday, also knows he still has a long way to go before he can hold his first major title in his hands. But Zalatoris knows what matters at the 2022 PGA Championship – and at all other majors.

“I have to make sure I’m fully focused in everything I do, because we only have four of these [majors] a year.”

We can look forward to seeing what we can expect as early as today on Moving Day. The top-20 of the leaderboard is packed with world-class players, and each of them will want to take their chance to win the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday at the PGA Championship.

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Highlights Tours

PGA Championship 2022: Aaron Wise hit in the head by golf ball

Shots are being fired sharply at the PGA Championship 2022, but a dangerous situation arose in Round 2. On the fairway of the seventh hole, Aaron Wise was hit in the head by Cameron Smith’s tee shot from the adjacent 2nd hole just as he was identifying his ball.

Joel Dahmen, Aaron Wise’s playing partner, said after the round: “Thankfully, he’s fine,” Dahmen said. “It was a glancing blow, but the ball took off another 40 or 50 yards down the fairway. It ended up in the rough. You could hear it. All the spectators heard it. It was loud.”

Aaron Wise was fine under the circumstances, able to finish the round normally and only had to recover briefly from the scare. A cold water bottle was immediately used to cool the area on his head. Wise finished the round and is safely in the cut after two days one over par.

“Thankfully he’s fine”

“I had a great up and down on seven and eight,” Wise said. “You know, obviously, there’s a lot of adrenaline in the body after something like that happens. I was just trying to calm myself down and get back to being somewhat normal for the last few holes.”

After the round, Aaron Wise went to the medical centre on the course. After a 20-minute assessment, he was released, including an ice pack for his head. According to Dahmen, Cameron Smith is not to blame for the incident: “It was so far away, and there’s so many people and the wind is blowing,” Dahmen said. “You’re not going to be able to hear it if anyone says ‘fore.’ I don’t fault Cam for that at all. One hundred people could have yelled ‘fore’ and you wouldn’t hear it.”

PGA Championship 2022: Wise in for the weekend

Wise had shot a 72 (+2) after his opening round of 69 on Friday, leaving the American in the tournament’s top 30 at one-over-par. “Aaron is doing well and in good spirits after being hit today,” his management team said in a statement. “We’ll be monitoring his condition overnight but he looks forward to competing tomorrow.” Wise will therefore continue to compete in the upcoming rounds of the 2022 PGA Championship despite the incident.

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Uncategorized

LIV Golf Invitational Series: Two pros lose sponsor UPS

The PGA Championship in Oklahoma at Southern Hills Golf Club had a very interesting fringe event on the first day. Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood were spotted on the course and during the first round without their sponsor UPS on their shirts, the reason could be the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Westwood, who has been with UPS for 14 years, commented, “I consider myself lucky to have been with UPS for 14 years – such a great company.”

LIV Golf Invitational Series the reason for the end of the collaboration?

According to UPS, this decision is all about business. But when you consider the fact that UPS is also the Ryder Cup’s logistics partner, the split could very well have to do with the two pros’ aspirations for their future. Both Westwood and Oosthuizen have been positive about the LIV Golf Invitational Series and plan to participate in the inaugural event in London. As the Ryder Cup’s logistics partner, that might not be compatible for UPS. Especially since it is planned that all players who want to participate in the events will no longer be part of a Ryder Cup.

The LIV Golf Invitational Series has been at the top of the headlines for weeks and is the number one topic of conversation in the golf circuit. Whether it’s the memorable statements made by CEO Greg Norman about the murder of Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia, or that Saudi Arabia is sportswashing with these events, the new tour is facing harsh criticism. It remains exciting to see what further impact this new tour will have on the traditional tours, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

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PGA Championship 2022: Rory McIlroy about his fantastic opening roud

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills Country Club. Joined by Rory McIlroy, who fashioned a 5-under par 65 today. Rory, that’s the quick start you’ve been looking for, yes or no?

RORY MCILROY: Yes or no? No, no, I’d rather shoot 74 and try to make the cut tomorrow. (Laughter.)

Yeah, look, it was a great start to the tournament. I’ve been playing well coming in here. I’ve been carrying some good form. Obviously that took a lot from that last round at Augusta, played well up in D.C. at the Wells Fargo there, and played good in the practice rounds earlier this week.

I think when your game is feeling like that, it’s just a matter of going out there and really sticking to your game plan, executing as well as you possibly can, and just sort of staying in your own little world. I did that really well today. It was nice to get off to that good start and sorta keep it going.

I feel like this course, it lets you be pretty aggressive off the tee if you want to be, so I hit quite a lot of drivers out there and took advantage of my length and finished that off with some nice iron play and some nice putting.

Q. What were you happiest with, and if there was disappointment, what were you most disappointed with?

RORY MCILROY: I think just happy with when you get off to a good start like that, sometimes you can maybe start to be a little careful or start to give yourself a little more margin for error, but I stuck to my game plan.

I stayed aggressive, hit that driver up 4, took an aggressive line on 5. Yeah, I stuck to what I was trying to do out there, which I was pleased with.

Then if anything obviously the two bogeys on the par-3s on the front nine, but it’s very easy to make bogeys out here. You get yourself just a little bit out of position, you catch a little bit of grain around the green, it’s tricky.

I didn’t encounter too many of those tricky scenarios today, but it can certainly be tricky. You get yourself out of position here, you just try to make a 4 or a par and run to the next.

Q. I was going to ask you about that line on 5 you took. Why did you decide to aim at that tree and hit a cut instead of working a draw or something? What’s the thinking?

RORY MCILROY: I snap hooked one on to the driving range yesterday, so at least I knew I wasn’t going to do that. That was basically it. And the wind was off the left. If anything I’m a little more comfortable hitting the driver left to right at the minute. I feel like my body works a little better, I can be more aggressive with my body; body doesn’t stop and arms go.

Some of those right-to-left winds today off the tee it was nice because I could just aim the driver up the middle of the fairway, hit like a nice hold against the wind.

But yeah, that was the reason. It wasn’t all to do with the shot yesterday, but just fits my eye a little better.

Q. You’ve talked about how it can be challenging playing with Tiger Woods or in these super groups. Is there an opposite to that where once you’re playing well you get more in the zone, or what’s the effect out there?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think the nice thing around — like for example, it’s different playing with him here than it is say at East Lake, because East Lake feels so claustrophobic, the crowds are so much more on top of you.

Here it’s big wide corridors. I feel like there’s a lot of room, so it doesn’t feel as oppressive as some other venues. It’s sort of nice that — I was looking forward to the draw anyway. It’s always a cool group to be a part of.

But I think this golf course just with how it’s been opened up, it doesn’t feel quite as boisterous as it usually does.

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PGA Championship 2022: Tiger Woods about his frustrating start

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills. We’re joined by Tiger Woods who opened with a 4-over par 74 today. Looked like a struggle out there. Did you hold it together? It’s not that bad a score.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I did not hit a lot of good iron shots. I drove it well, but my iron shots were not very good. I didn’t get the ball very close. I got off to a great start and didn’t keep it going. I really didn’t give myself any looks for birdie. I was struggling trying to get the ball on the green, and I missed quite a few iron shots both ways. It was a frustrating day.

Q. It looked like you tweaked something, looked like something was bothering you, and also, bunker shots, the ball came out hot —

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, yeah. All the bunker shots sort of came out hot. The sand is a lot faster than I thought it would be. Kind of been that way all week, especially if you get up in the areas where it’s not raked. I had a couple of those balls where it was in those areas. It’s like, is there a lot of sand here, is there not, how should I play it, and when you dig in with your feet you’re not in those areas where it’s raked. I feel like sometimes the sand — I’m guessing, and I guessed wrong.

Yeah, my leg is not feeling as good as I would like it to be. We’ll start the recovery process and get after it tomorrow.

Q. There were a few instances when you went iron off the tee when Rory and Jordan both hit driver. Was that always the strategy and when you see them do that, does it make you think, I’m pretty far back here?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it wouldn’t have been so far back if I would have hit the iron shot solid and put the ball in the fairway. I was playing to my spots, and those guys obviously have a different game plan. It’s just different.

The game is played very differently now, and it’s very aggressive. We were talking about it today, Joey and I, the days of the Lee Janzens and the Scott Simpsons and the Faldos of the world, playing that kind of golf is gone. You go out there and hit driver a lot, and if you have a hot week, you have a hot week and you’re up there.

The game is just different. It’s much more aggressive now, and I know that. But I was playing to my spots. If I would have hit the ball solidly on those two holes and put the ball in the fairway, I would have been fine. I would have had 9-iron, 8-iron in there. That’s not a big deal. But I didn’t do that. I put the ball in the rough over there on 4 and hit the tree on 9 and ended up hitting a 4-iron in there.

Q. When your leg is bothering you more than normal, how does it impact your swing? What does it do that you are not able to do the way you’d like?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I just can’t load it. Loading hurts, pressing off it hurts, and walking hurts, and twisting hurts. It’s just golf. I don’t play that, if I don’t do that, then I’m all right.