🏌‍♀Is LIV Golf Copying From The Masters?

Good Morning! The field is set for this week’s 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities - click here to find out the groups and tee times for Round 1 and 2.

Don’t forget to check out our top betting picks for the tournament!

Fun Fact: The 3M Open debuted in 2019 and no non-American has won the event (5 editions) till date.

⛳ This day in history: On this date, back-to-back PGA Championships concluded. In 1966 Al Geiberger won by four shots at Firestone Country Club, and in 1967, Don January won the 49th PGA, played at Columbine Country Club.

ODDS AND PICKS
Our Top Picks For The 3M Open

🚩 The 3M Open tees off tomorrow with stars across the PGA Tour assembling at TPC Twin Cities to battle it out for the prestigious title.

💰 Purse: $8.1 million, winner takes home $1.48 million.

Here are our top picks we’re betting on:

🚀Most Likely to Win: Tony Finau (+1100) returns to a course where he has excelled before. In five visits to TPC Twin Cities, he has achieved three top-10 finishes, including a victory in 2022 and a seventh place last year. This makes for an ideal opportunity for the six-time PGA Tour champion to bounce back.

🚀Key Player in the Top 5: Erik Van Rooyen (+850) has been playing well this year, recently showcasing his skills at the Scottish Open where he gained over 7.5 strokes in ball-striking. Van Rooyen has also secured top-10 finishes at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the Myrtle Beach Classic, the Cognizant Classic, and the Mexico Open - courses similar to TPC Twin Cities.

🚀Key Player in the Top 10: Jhonattan Vegas (+500) is always a strong contender on water-heavy TPC courses, evidenced by his previous runner-up finish at TPC Twin Cities. With recent back-to-back top-25 finishes and over seven strokes gained in ball-striking, Vegas is expected to continue his impressive performance on this course.

🚀Key Player in the Top 20: Austin Eckroat (+210) won the Cognizant Classic this year, thanks to his accuracy off the tee and precise approach shots. These skills should serve him well at TPC Twin Cities, setting up the 25-year-old for a potentially big week.

🚀Underdog Likely to Emerge: Carson Young (+15000) is a highly accurate driver with significant ball-striking potential. Having already achieved top-10 finishes at the Mexico Open and John Deere Classic this year, Young has shown promising form on similar courses that favor aggressive play.

* All odds via BetMGM, at the time of publishing.

ALBATROSS
DeChambeau Golfs With Ex-President Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump was able to show off his golf swing in a charity challenge with reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau less than a month after he got into a testy conversation with President Joe Biden about their respective golf handicaps during the first presidential debate.

Playing at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey, Trump and DeChambeau combined to score 22-under. The duo pledged to donate $10,000 for each stroke under par to the Wounded Warrior Project — totaling $220,000 for the day.

Trump claims a 2 handicap, or at least claims to have been a 2 at some point, and has also won a bunch of club championships at his courses. Given his propensity for promotion, some raise an eyebrow at all of that.

But there’s no denying his acumen with two particular clubs — the driver and putter. Click here to watch him play.

⛳️ Bradley Appoints Vice-Captain: US captain Keegan Bradley has selected Webb Simpson as his first vice captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup.

Simpson won the 2012 U.S. Open and is a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour. The 38-year-old North Carolinan competed in the Ryder Cup in 2012, 2014 and 2018 and has played in the Presidents Cup three times.

The Ryder Cup will be played Sept 26-28, 2025, at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. Europe has won 10 of the last 14 competitions

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
Is LIV Golf Copying From The Masters?

The LIV Golf League officially launched its 'Any Shot, Any Time' feature last week, giving fans the choice of being able to watch every moment involving their favorite players. Any Shot, Any Time - which is a similar concept to the 'Every Shot, Every Hole' feature launched by The Masters back in 2019 - will continue to operate at LIV Golf UK this week as JCB Golf and Country Club makes its long-awaited debut.

The difference between The Masters' version and LIV's version is that clips are on a slight delay at Augusta whereas the 54-hole league's coverage of every player, team, or group will be live. After testing the product over the last few months, LIV released the feature via a soft rollout at June's Nashville event before giving the green light for full launch at Real Club Valderrama.

Available on the app only, the new coverage feature reportedly showed all of the near-11,800 shots at Valderrama as Sergio Garcia - who is up to second in the LIV Golf money list - won his first ever LIV event in Andalucia while his Fireballs GC made it a double victory via success in the team competition.

🚨 TV Ratings Hit Record Low @ The Open: The final round coverage of The Open Championship on NBC and Peacock saw a 4% drop on the previous year with just 3.39 million viewers tuning in. The figure is the lowest number for the final round of the Major since 2015, when Zach Johnson beat Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a playoff at St. Andrews.

Xander Schauffele may have served up a brilliant final round of 65 at the fourth Major of the year, The Open at Royal Troon, but it failed to capture the imagination of the TV-watching public in the US.

It has been a mixed year for the Majors with the Masters and The Open seeing a significant drop in Viewership while the PGA Championship and the US Open recorded a rise from previous years.

Away from the Majors, it has been an equally confusing picture throughout the PGA Tour season, with even its flagship event, The Players Championship, seeing a drop on the previous year in the final round despite a grandstand finish.

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LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

Charlie Out: Charlie Woods, the 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods, missed the cut at the US Junior Amateur by 18 strokes.

Daly Jr. In: John Daly Jr. carded 2-under 68 at Dallas’ Brook Hollow Golf Club and survived a 5-for-4 playoff to qualify for the US Amateur at the famed Minnesota venue, which will host the US Amateur for the second time.

Equipment Tales: Ping releases a special edition PLD Milled SE DS72 putter inspired by Viktor Hovland - click here to check it out.

PGA Tour: After being held at Keene Trace Golf Club, just outside of Lexington, for the past six years, the ISCO Championship is moving to Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville.

BIRDIE
These Male Golfers Are Favorites To Win Gold @ Olympics

The Paris 2024 Olympic Men's Golf competition will be held at Le Golf National from August 1–4 - let us take a look at the front-runners to win the coveted gold medal.

🏌️Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler comes to Le Golf National with six PGA Tour victories, including the Masters Tournament, the Players Championship, and four other Signature Events. He has 14 top-10 finishes in 16 tournaments this season.

The World No 1 is the overwhelming favorite to win Gold in Paris.

🏌️Xander Schauffele: Schauffele will be looking to defend his title from three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics. Having won two major championships during the season, he will head to Paris with a lot of momentum.

He has had a great 2024 season with 18 tournaments played and 12 top 10 finishes, including the Masters and the US Open.

🏌️Rory McIlroy: McIlroy's 2024 season includes two wins on the PGA Tour and one on the DP World Tour. On the PGA Tour, he has six top-10 finishes in 16 events, including a tie for second at the US Open.

McIlroy will be playing in his third Olympics and will be looking to finally win his first medal. He finished T-3 at Tokyo 2021 but lost out in a seven-way playoff for the bronze medal.

🏌️Ludvig Aberg: Aberg will be making his Olympic debut when he represents Sweden in Paris. Aberg comes into the tournament ranked fourth in the world and with good results throughout the season.

The Swede has played in 16 PGA Tour events and made 14 cuts - he has seven top-10 finishes to his credit, including two runner-up finishes.

🏌️Jon Rahm: Rahm's season includes ten top-10 finishes in as many events on the LIV Golf circuit. His participation in the majors started on a poor note though and his season was then hampered by injuries.

However, he fared much better at the Open Championship at Royal Troon, finishing T-7. As such, he has momentum on his side.

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DRIVING RANGE
Chipping Made Simple

In this video, we discuss how to chip better and share a simple drill to help golfers at all levels.

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