🏌🏻 $3bn Golf Investment

Good morning. The weekend tournaments on the PGA and LPGA tours brought a lot of excitement: a dramatic playoff decided the winner at the Drive On Championship, while a rookie won the Farmers Insurance Open.

We also dive deeper into the whopper of an investment that PGA is set to receive, and how Golf is expanding, with women leading the way.

That, and a rotation drill to help you improve your game in today's edition of Golf Reporter.

⛳ This day in history: Jack Burke Jr., a Masters and PGA champion, was born on this date in 1923. He died recently on January 19, 2024 at 100, and at the time of death was the oldest living major winner.

ALBATROSS
Korda Wins Drive On Title, Ko Finishes Second

LPGA: Drive On Championship Update

🚀 Nelly Korda produced an eagle-birdie finish to salvage a two-over 73 on the final day in Florida and force a play-off with Lydia Ko, before beating her with a par on the second extra hole. This is Korda's first victory on the LPGA Tour since November 2022.

US Solheim Cup star Megan Khang played well to take third place. World No 1 Lilia Vu had a poor outing and finished T-55.

Korda bagged the winner’s prize check of $262,500 while Ko took home $163,689.

PGA: Farmers Insurance Open Update

🚀 Mathieu Pavon became the first French player to win on the PGA Tour since Arnaud Massy in 1907. He shot a three-under-par round of 69 to win by one shot ahead of Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

Germany's Stephan Jaeger and American duo Nate Lashley and Jake Knapp tied for third place on 11 under. Tony Finau finished T-6 while Ludvig Aberg and Xander Schauffele were placed T-9.

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
PGA Set For $3 Billion Investment

The PGA Tour is closing in on a deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of US sports owners, with money set to be invested in the Tour as early as next week. The agreement will see the partner invest in the Tour's newly-created for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, helping to cover the domestic rights deal.

Strategic Sports Group is being driven by Fenway Sports Group - owners of Liverpool and Boston Red Sox - but also features prominent American sports owners such as the New York Mets' Steve Cohen and the Atlanta Falcons' Arthur Blank. The deal is worth around $3 billion.

The PGA-SSG deal will not affect the Tour's potential merger with LIV Golf. An agreement between PGA and LIV is expected to be reached before the Masters in April.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

What’s In The Bag: Mathieu Pavon won the Farmers Insurance Open while Nelly Korda bagged the Drive On Championship title. Check out the equipment they used for their respective events.

PGA Tour: The PGA Tour has announced the Player Advisory Council for the year ahead. Among the list of 16 players are eight new appointments namely Lanto Griffin, Nick Hardy, Grayson Murray, Seamus Power, Adam Schenk, Nick Taylor, Josh Teater, Justin Thomas.

LIV Golf:  LIV Golf has agreed a deal with Spanish subscription platform Movistar Plus+ to show all of the competition's events across the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons. The league will also be broadcast on YouTube for viewers outside Spain.

DP World Tour: Thorbjorn Olesen secured his eighth DP World Tour title following a comfortable six-shot victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the UAE. Rasmus Hojgaard finished second.

Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Tyrrell Hatton and Wyndham Clark, who have recently been linked with a move to LIV Golf, have confirmed their participation in PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The tournament is scheduled to be held from February 1 to 4.

BIRDIE
Women's Game On The Rise

🏌️ More than 800,000 American women started playing golf between 2020 and 2022, according to the National Golf Foundation, representing a 15% increase.

🏌️ In 2021, women accounted for ~20% of the then $5.59 billion golf market.

🏌️ 38% of players under 18 years old today are girls, compared to just 14% in 1986, indicating that this demographic shift might be here to stay.

🏌️ Activewear brands like Lululemon, Adidas, and Nike carry golf clothing for women, as do high-end fashion brands.

Women's golf is booming, here's how. 

DRIVING RANGE
Best Rotation Drill

Rotation in the golf swing is key, do it well and the swing can be easy, effortless and repeatable and in this video, we show you how to do just that.

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