Good morning. We bring a very exciting edition of Golf Reporter this morning, covering the top trending stories and features that’ll shock, amaze and entertain you!

That, and a tip to stop over-swinging, in today’s edition of the Golf Reporter.

Today's Trivia: The Players Championship 2024 starts in three weeks' time at TPC Sawgrass. Besides Florida, only two other states have hosted the tournament in its 50-year history - they are?  Answer at the end of the email.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1955, Arnold Palmer, playing his inaugural season on the PGA Tour, finished playing in the Texas Open for the first time. He had scores of 69-70-64-67—270 to tie for sixth. However, because he was serving a six-month apprenticeship, he wasn’t allowed to collect approximately $460 in prize money.

NEXT ON THE TEE
Tournaments This Week

PGA Tour: Mexico Open 

📍When and Where: Feb. 22-25, Vidanta Vallarta, Mexico
💰 Purse: $8.1 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Tony Finau, Nicolai Hojgaard, Thorbjørn Olesen

DP World Tour: Kenya Open

📍When and Where: Feb. 22-25, Muthaiga Golf Course, Kenya
💰 Purse: $2.5 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Rikuya Hoshino, Dylan Frittelli, Edoardo Molinari

LPGA Tour: Honda LPGA Thailand

📍 When and Where: Feb. 22-25, Siam Country Club, Pattaya
💰 Purse: $1.7 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Lilia Vu, Celine Boutier, Ruoning Yin, Charley Hull

ALBATROSS
These Are The Head-Turners At The Mexico Open

The PGA Tour action shifts to the Vidanta Vallarta Golf Course for this week's Mexico Open.

While the field appears to be weak, there's a lot to look forward to.

🏌️ Defending Champion Tony Finau: Tony Finau (WR 24) is the highest-ranked player and the defending champion at this week's Mexico Open. Multiple top players are absent but he will face a tough challenge from the likes of Nicolai Hojgaard (WR 34), Emiliano Grillo (WR 40) and Ryan Fox (WR 41) among others.

🚩 Will Zalatoris Withdraws: The Genesis Invitational joint runner-up Will Zalatoris has withdrawn from the Mexico Open at Vidanta. The reason behind his decision has not yet been revealed.

🧢 Sponsor's Invite For Mr 57: Cristobal Del Solar has been handed a sponsor's invite the PGA Tour’s Mexico Open. The Chilean recently carded a 57 on the Korn Ferry Tour - the lowest ever score in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

⚠️ Tony Finau Lawsuit: Finau is making news off the field as well. The Utah Court of Appeals has dismissed one of the two pending cases against him while the other one is set for an October trial.

🌤️ Weather: Sunny and warm conditions are expected to welcome fans and players at this week's Mexico Open. Saturday and Sunday could be partly cloudy but there's no rain threat.

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
LIV Golfers' Pathway To The Majors

LIV Golf continues to be denied OWGR points and the players are traveling to the corners of the globe in search of major championship golf quotas.

David Puig recently won himself a quota at The Open Championship by winning the Malaysian Open on the Asian Tour. More LIV golfers are now participating in events on the Asian Tour that offer spots in the Majors.

While the struggle goes on for most of them, some LIV golfers have already booked themselves a spot in the Majors by fulfilling their qualification criteria.

Here are the LIV Golf players who have already qualified.

⛳️ The Masters: Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk.

⛳️ US Open: Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Martin Kaymer, Tyrrell Hatton

⛳️ PGA Championship: Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Martin Kaymer, Tyrrell Hatton

⛳️ The Open Championship: Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Dean Burmester, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson, David Puig, Tyrrell Hatton.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

Masters: The second hole at Augusta National, Pink Dogwood, has been lengthened by 10 yards ahead of the 2024 Masters. 

Mexico Open Qualifiers: Four players earned spots in this week’s Mexico Open field – Preston Stanley, Stuart Macdonald, Matt Atkins and Ben Sigel – via the open qualifier, contested at Black Hawk Country Club in Richmond, Texas.

PGA Tour Champions: Two-time Major Champion Angel Carbera will participate in this week's Trophy Hassan II on the PGA Tour Champions circuit - his first PGA Tour-sanctioned event since being released from prison.

Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler's No 1 rank is in question following his 11-month winless streak and dismal putting record.

Greg Norman: LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has taken another dig at the Official World Golf Rankings, calling it "laughable" as LIV Golf's biggest stars continue to tumble down the list after being denied OWGR points.

BIRDIE
These Top Golfers Are Yet To Win A Major

The four Majors are the pinnacle of the sport - here's a surprising list of veterans and rising stars who are yet to win one.

🏌🏻 Rickie Fowler: Fowler has six wins on tour and three international victories in 327 starts. He certainly has the calibre to win a Major in the coming days.

🏌🏻 Viktor Hovland: World No 4 Hovland is one of the sport's most recognisable stars. He has only missed the cut 10 times in his entire career and has six wins on the PGA Tour. Hovland is likely to get himself out of this list very soon.

🏌🏻 Patrick Cantlay: Cantlay has 167 starts across his pro career and has been in the top 10 about a third of the time (55 top 10 finishes). Astonishingly, he's made the cut 85% of the time, so he rarely ever has a bad day. But he hasn't been able to break the Majors jinx.

🏌🏻 Xander Schauffele: Schauffele is currently ranked fifth in the world and deservingly so, given how consistent he is. He just hasn't landed a Major title that cements his place as one of the best in the sport.containing alcohol were being emptied from the stands onto fans below.

🏌🏻 Max Homa: Homa has six tour wins, one international win and 31 top 10 finishes (13 top five placements) in 181 starts. But it remains to be seen if he has what it takes to win a Major beating the best in the game.

DRIVING RANGE
Drills To Stop Over-Swinging

In this video, we bring to you three simple drills that will help you fix the common problem of over-swinging and ensure you've a perfect backswing.

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