🏌🏻Why Pros Don't Want Merger

Good morning! Tommy Fleetwood is among the long list of the game’s biggest stars playing in this week’s 2024 BMW Championship at the Wentworth Club in England.

However, it was his son, Frankie, that made a memory that will last a lifetime when he met Tom Holland, Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Click here to check out the wholesome interaction. 

Fun Fact: Patton Kizzire's five-shot win at the Procore Championship marks the largest margin of victory on TOUR since Davis Riley won the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge by five shots over Keegan Bradley and Scottie Scheffler.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1913, American Francis Ouimet and Englishmen Harry Vardon and Ted Ray tied at 304 after four rounds of the US Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

ALBATROSS
Presidents Cup: Can Team US Defend Title?

The US will be led at Royal Montreal Golf Club by the top two players in the world, FedEx Cup - champion Scottie Scheffler and two-time major winner Xander Schauffele. Eight members of the US squad – including two captain’s picks – are ranked in the top 14 of the world.

Let's take a look at the biggest talking points before play gets underway on September 26.

⛳️ Scheffler's Performance In Team Play: Scottie Scheffler was a winless captain’s pick when he first represented the US as a pro at the 2021 Ryder Cup. That first Ryder Cup remains his best performance in the red, white and blue.

Scheffler was the PGA TOUR Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023, yet went a combined 0 wins 5 losses and 3 ties in the cup events those years. Records can be deceiving, especially in the team formats, when the final outcome is determined not only by you, but also your partner and your opponents.

Still, his record at the 2022 Presidents Cup and 2023 Ryder Cup is befuddling.

⛳️ Max Homa's Form: Homa finished 46th in the FedEx Cup, the worst ranking of anyone on the US Team. But he found his way on the team when Jim Furyk decided to use his six captain’s picks on Nos. 7-12 in the US points standings - Homa was 12th.

While his current form could be cause for concern, his performance in the past two team events is unparalleled among his US teammates. He’s been the United States’ star in the past two Cups, going a combined 7 wins 1 loss 1 tie and producing his share of fist pumps and highlights.

⛳️ Spieth and JT's Absence: The US is missing two of its stalwarts this year: Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

Spieth needed wrist surgery after a season that saw him post the second-worst FedEx Cup ranking of his career, so he wasn’t an option for Furyk.

Thomas was, however but he was overlooked. His absence will be second-guessed if the United States doesn’t win at Royal Montreal or if Harman and Homa struggle.

The US' title defense will depend a lot on these factors.

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TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
Rory Leads Strong Field @ BMW PGA C'ship

Rory McIlroy will be in action at the DP World Tour's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club from September 19 to 22. He notably finished in a tie for 7th place in the 2023 edition.

This year, the Irishman returns as the highest-ranked golfer in the field. The World No 3 has top-3 finishes in all the three DP World events he participated in.

He is part of a strong field comprising big names like Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Billy Horschel and defending champion Ryan Fox.

🤯 Pros Don't Want Merger? Rory McIlroy believes that half the players on both tours don’t want the PGA-LIV merger to happen.

Last week, PGA Tour officials flew to New York to meet with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The two parties are allegedly working on finalizing terms of a deal that would inject more than $1 billion from the PIF into PGA Tour Enterprises, the newly created for-profit entity launched earlier this year.

But the merger just keeps getting delayed.

📍Ryder Cup Captaincy Unlikely For LIV Golfers: McIlroy believes it will be difficult for Ian Poulter or Lee Westwood to be a future Ryder Cup captain because they no longer have a connection with Europe's emerging stars after defecting to the LIV Golf League.

Players such as Poulter and Westwood would struggle to reintegrate themselves after an unsavory split from the European tour.

McIlroy doesn't deny that Poulter has the "credentials" to be a Ryder Cup captain, given his passion for the event and past results - but it's unlikely that he'll be given the role under present circumstances.

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LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

The Twins: Rasmus Højgaard, twin brother of Nicolai, is in position to join his sibling on TOUR in 2025 following his victory at the Amgen Irish Open. Højgaard, 23, has already won five times on the DP World Tour.

For Sale: A six-bedroom home on an LPGA host golf course in Arkansas is available for purchase at just over $3 million - check out the property here.

LPGA Tour: There will be 11 players from the 2024 Solheim Cup competing in the Kroger Queen City Championship - three of those - Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang are from the winning American side.

BIRDIE
LIV Golf Team Championship: All You Need To Know

This week's LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship represents the 14th and final event of the league's third campaign. Jon Rahm won the individual title last week but $50 million is at stake this week for the champion team.

Despite his strong play throughout the year, Rahm and his Legion XIII teammates are looking up at Bryson DeChambeau and his Crushers, who serve as LIV Golf defending champions. Both the Crushers and Legion XIII have earned a bye in the quarterfinals -- as have the all-Australian squad Ripper GC -- ahead of a three-day affair filled with singles matches, foursomes, stroke play and a whole lot of money.

Brooks Koepka's Smash would have received a bye any other year, but with the introduction of a new team (Legion XIII), Smash will be the top seed to play in the quarterfinals. Smash, along with those teams seeded Nos. 5-13, vie for a spot in Saturday's semifinals.

The past two seasons captains from each team would match up against each other in a singles match, but that has changed this year as teams are free to choose where to slot their players.

The remaining three members from each team will be split up between another singles match and a foursomes match. Whichever team earns two points will advance to the next day.

The last day of competition will return to standard stroke play where all 13 teams will participate in a three-tier system. Each player's score will count for their team with the lowest cumulative squad from the top four teams being crowned the third-ever LIV Golf team champion.

⛳️Event: LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship

🗓️Dates: Sept 20-22

💰Purse: $50 million

📍Location: Maridoe Golf Club — Carrollton, Texas

📺Viewing info: Friday: 12-5 p.m. (The CW App, YouTube) | Saturday-Sunday: 12-5 p.m. (The CW Network, App)

DRIVING RANGE
Stay On Plane In The Golf Swing

In today's video, we explain how to stay on plane during your golf swing, an essential aspect for consistency and accuracy.

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