Homa rips fan, fresh Mickelson rumour, Tour pro bust up | The Social Scramble #1
Want to find out what happened in pro golf over the last week? Well, you won't miss a beat with The Social Scramble, a new weekly feature by GolfMagic.
If you're a golf junkie then The Social Scramble is for you. Here, our Ben Smith recaps the week in golf.
Let's dive in.
Tyrrell Hatton, please never change...
I’d pay $100 to have Hatton mic’ed up for each of the remaining shots pic.twitter.com/hW7kxAl6xl
— Collin Wilson (@_Collin1) August 20, 2023
When you watch Tyrrell Hatton you know deep down you're never far from a viral moment. Hatton threatened to spontaneously combust during the final round of the BMW Championship. If you're not in the know, the BMW Championship is the final leg of the FedExCup playoffs and only the top 30 players advance to the season-ending Tour Championship. Our dear, sweet Tyrrell was in a precarious position. He knew it. But then he also had the situation explained to him in excruciatingly unnecessary detail by a PGA Tour official which was absolutely f---ing hilarious.
"You f--ing clown"
Max Homa booked his spot for Team USA for next month's Ryder Cup. He tied for eighth at the BMW Championship but was involved in a fiery exchange with a spectator. Turns out, said 'clown' spectator was gambling with his pal and yelled 'pull it' during Homa's backswing. Homa is usually one of the most reserved, happy, easy-going dudes on the PGA Tour but he wasn't pleased. He wasn't pleased at all.
Baby Brooks is finally home!
Congratulations are in order for Brooks Koepka as he and his glamorous wife Jena Sims were finally able to bring their baby boy Crew home. Crew was born six weeks early and spent 20 days in the NICU for an undisclosed reason. He's happy, healthy and - most importantly - home with his parents.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
It seems we can't go a week without Phil Mickelson hitting the headlines. This week it was revealed Lefty had wagered more than $1bn over three decades, with over $100m in losses. Mickelson was also alleged to have wanted to bet $400,000 on Team USA to lift the 2012 Ryder Cup of which he was a part of at Medinah. Walters then joined ESPN to talk through the conversation he had with Phil about the bet. "I said, 'Man, have you lost your mind?'" Shortly after Mickelson offered a non-denial denial, another allegation emerged with the claim that he was previously investigated by the FBI for money-laundering. So the story goes, Walters claims Lefty hired a lawyer he knew from KPMG who then pulled a legal trick Harry Houdini would have been proud of to help Phil wriggle free.
"It's bizarre"
The dreaded 'over-the-bunker' shot made to look easy courtesy of @YannikPaul pic.twitter.com/Fug55Upmo3
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 11, 2023
We are edging closer to the Ryder Cup and golfers are jockeying for position to make each side automatically. Over at GolfMagic we were a little confused to see German Yannik Paul skip the ISPS Handa World Invitational given that he's very much in the frame to book his spot on Luke Donald's side. His agent told Telegraph Sport his client understood perhaps he should've shown a bit more willing.
He said what?!
Speaking of the Ryder Cup, Ian Poulter raised a few eyebrows before he teed it up on the Asian Tour's event in England. Poulter, whose son Luke made the cut in the very same tournament, suggested LIV Golf events are like 'mini Ryder Cups'. Sorry Mr Postman, I'm not buying that.
Pace of play woes
5hrs40 to play a round of golf by professionals. A fuck’n joke.
— Mike Lorenzo-Vera (@MikeLorenzoVer1) August 18, 2023
Pace of play once again continues to annoy French tour pro Mike Lorenzo-Vera. In June the golfer decided to post live updates of his slow round during the BMW International Open. He later claimed there are some players on the tournament committee that are slow. And they're the ones meant to be sorting out the problem. Turns out the issue has not been addressed and he played behind a group that took five hours and 40 minutes to play one round at the ISPS Hand World Invitational. "A f---ing joke," he fumed.
You cannot have it both ways!
I've been a keen observer of the LIV Golf-PGA Tour legal jousting since last August. The two organisations have now made a commitment to try and be best buds for life. But the 'framework agreement' between the PGA Tour and PIF (LIV Golf's Saudi backer), is under scrutiny from US lawmakers. We've already heard from two high-ranking officials about the stunning deal but we haven't yet heard from those over at LIV Golf. Chief exec Greg Norman and Saudi businessman Yasir Al-Rumayyan cited scheduling conflicts as to why they couldn't attend the first hearing. Lawmakers still want to hear from Mr Al-Rumayyan but he's now claiming he can't provide testimony because he is a minister bound Saudi Arabia's laws regarding confidentiality of certain information. Snip, snap! He's been told he can't have it both ways.
"They need to go"
Speaking of LIV Golf, England's Richard Bland has called for PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley to resign. Blandy threw Jay and Keith under the bus. Then reversed over them. "Regardless of LIV I wasn't a fan of where Keith was taking the tour by trying to partner up with the PGA Tour," he told bunkered. "I didn't understand that. In a month's time we're trying to play the Ryder Cup against them and now we're in bed with them."
Good riddance!
— MaryAnn Reilly O’Neill (@LifeofReillyO) August 18, 2023
On the eve of the FedExCup playoffs, the PGA Tour announced the departure of Andy Pazder. Pazder had been with the tour for 34 years so his abrupt, effective-immediate resignation was surprising given he was in a hugely influential and important role that apparently raked in more than $2m a year. Pazder was ripped by the former partner of tour pro Tom Pernice Jr, who claims he covered up her domestic abuse allegations. MaryAnn Reilly O'Neill described Pazder as a 'demonic sociopath'. Crikey.
Eddie's spat with Lee!
England's Eddie Pepperell and Lee Westwood got into a fiery spat on social media on Monday morning. It's been weeks since the PGA Tour/DP World Tour announced their plan to partner with LIV Golf's Saudi backers. But that doesn't mean everybody is friends again. Yet. Pepperell and Westwood traded barbs. Probably the funniest thing about this exchange was that Pepperell came out with the funniest insult in quite some time, saying it was 'a joke' that Westwood earned £100,000 at a LIV Golf event for despite 'playing like a turnip'. Eddie had a good week on tour and then posted this:
Thanks for all the nice messages! Felt good to be back out competing and not playing like a complete turnip.
Off to Prague next. Podcast recording tomorrow so any questions, get them in!
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) August 20, 2023
"Rome is going to be fun"
As a European it was great to see Viktor Hovland hit form at the right time by winning the BMW Championship.
I enjoyed this exchange he had with Rory McIlroy as he walked off the green immediately after posting the clubhouse lead:
“Rome’s gonna be fun.”
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) August 21, 2023
Yeah, we're inclined to agree.
That's it for this week. I'll see you next Monday!
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