🏌🏻 McIlroy Penalized

Good morning! It's official: spring is right around the corner.

At least, according to Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who did not see his shadow at the Groundhog Day celebration this morning.

That means, according to the legend, we're in for an early spring!

Let’s kick the last of the winters off with a cup of your favorite beverage and this edition of Golf Reporter, where we’re covering Rory’s penalty and Day 1 results of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, PGA Tour players get a share of the $3bn investment and the most impressive PGA Tour streaks ever.

That, and a tip to improve your short game.

PS: Don’t forget to share this newsletter and help us grow. Every subscriber helps!

👟 Deal of the day: Don’t want to miss a game when it rains? This golf rain suit will keep you protected and is on a 50% off limited time deal! Get it on Amazon.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1949, Ben Hogan was nearly killed in a car-bus crash in morning fog on a highway near Van Horn in west Texas. Hogan and wife Valerie's car was struck by an oncoming bus that was trying to pass another vehicle. Incredibly, a year later, Hogan returned to golf and nearly won the Los Angeles Open in his first tournament back.

ALBATROSS
McIlroy Penalized Two Strokes For Breaking New 2023 Rule

Rory McIlroy was assessed a two-stroke penalty for an improper drop on the par-5 seventh hole, a new rule created in 2023. The penalty turned McIlroy’s bogey into a triple bogey.

He signed for a 1-under 71, playing his final four holes in 5-over. In his first round of the 2024 PGA TOUR season, he led at 6-under through 10 holes; he ended the day in the middle of the pack.

PGA Tour Pro and board member Patrick Cantlay saved par five times and had eight birdies at Spyglass Hill for an 8-under 64 that left him one shot behind Thomas Detry of Belgium.

Detry worked his own short-game magic at the end, chipping in from thick, damp rough for birdie on the 18th at Spyglass to finish with three straight birdies and a 63. Torrey Pines winner Matthieu Pavon had the best round at Pebble Beach, closing with four birdies over the last five holes for a 65.

Superstar NFL quarterbacks took center stage too as Tom Brady and Josh Allen hit the links.

Here’s what the top 5 finishing players will make from the $20 million purse:

💰 1st: $3,600,000
💰 2nd: $2,160,000
💰 3rd: $1,360,000
💰 4th: $960,000
💰 5th: $795,000

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
$1.5 Billion For 200 PGA Tour Players

Funded through an investment of up to $3 billion from Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of American sports teams owners led by Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the almost 200 PGA Tour members would collectively be able to receive over $1.5 billion in equity.

The grants, available only to qualified PGA Tour players, would be based on career accomplishments, recent achievement, future participation and services and PGA Tour membership status. The player equity program will give players access to over $1.5 billion in assets, with an initial grant of $900 million to over 200 Tour members.

How will this be doled out? The player director, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the deal, explained that players would earn points for Tour victories, qualifying for the Tour Championship and other competition-related benchmarks over a five-year window with the lion’s share of that equity going to the top 36 points earners.

The next 72 players on this list would earn reduced equity shares and, according to the player director, the plan would also include ways to award “legacy” players, like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, equity grants as well as up-and-coming players like Nick Dunlap, who turned pro last week after winning The American Express as an amateur.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

Tiger Woods has called a press conference ahead of the Genesis Invitational where he's set to announce his "next chapter" of apparel after leaving Nike.

U.S. Women’s Open is offering record-setting purse in 2024 at $12 million. This is up $1 million from the purse awarded last summer at Pebble Beach, and more than double than the prize fund just three years ago ($5.5 million).

Jordan Spieth says the PGA Tour does not need the Saudi Arabia PIF money after doing a $3 billion deal with the Strategic Sports Group of investors.

A day before the start of its third season, the LIV Golf League announced several changes to its format, including how scores will be counted as part of its team competition.

LIV Golf, in partnership with Google, is launching “Any Shot, Any Time,” a feature on the LIV Golf Plus app that will allow users to watch live shots from every player in the field at any time during a tournament, be it live or on replay. It’s built around Google’s Vertex AI platform.

Greg Norman credits LIV Golf for PGA Tour $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group.

BIRDIE
5 Most Impressive PGA Tour Streaks

We have witnessed some remarkable accomplishments on the PGA Tour, but which records are the most impressive?

5. The most consecutive seasons with the highest win total: Tiger won 32 tournaments in total and as a result the most wins by a single player in each of the five consecutive years.

4. Longest consecutive individual tournament win streak: Tiger Woods, Byron Nelson (Tam O'Shanter Open, 1941-45), Gene Sarazen (Miami Open, 1927-30), Walter Hagen (PGA Championship, 1924-27) and Tom Morris Jr. (The Open Championship, 1868-72) all won a specific PGA Tour event four consecutive seasons on the bounce.

3. Longest winless streak: Despite this early career success, Robert Gamez had to wait a staggering 15 years and six months before taking the Valero Texas Open in 2005. In that time he played in 15 Majors, had six runner-up finishes, and never once gave up.

2. Longest consecutive tournament win streak: The legend that is Byron Nelson won on 11 consecutive career starts, starting with the 1945 Canadian Open and ending with the 1945 Miami Four-Ball. The roll-call in this category is a who's who of golf legends, including Tiger Woods (7) and Ben Hogan (6).

1. Most consecutive seasons with a win: The longest consecutive streak of seasons with a win is shared by another two legends of the game, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

Here’s the full article.

DRIVING RANGE
Improve Your Short-Game Distance Control

Parker McLachlin is one of the world's best golf coaches and has been the short-game consultant to over 20 PGA and LPGA players including Collin Morikawa, Keith Mitchell, Kevin Streelman, Anna Nordquist, and more.

Now he is here to share the ingredients to improve your wedge game from 50-125 yards.

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