To Viktor Go the Spoils

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Viktor Hovland is on a heater.

Our favorite Norwegian captured the FedEx Cup yesterday at East Lake in a Tiger-esque manner, firing at pins with long irons, bombing drives, and saving par with the flat stick whenever he needed to.

Hovi didn’t concede an inch to Xander Schauffele, who chased to within three at one point as Hovland stood over a 25-footer for par before he calmly rolled it in to stay bogey-free. A couple of birdies to finish was the icing on the cake – as well as collecting the $18 million prize for his efforts. That means $21.6 million in gross prize money in the last eight days. Huh. He is also 37 under par for his last eight rounds, with a -17 at the BMW and a Sunday 63 to ensure -20 at East Lake.

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Our attention now turns to the Ryder Cup in a month’s time. Hovland is probably Europe’s Number 1 guy – and you’d back him against anyone right now. After we watched Scottie Scheffler continue to miss putts inside three feet, it will be interesting to see who the US can put up against Hovland. My bet is Morikawa may be the best man to silence him, especially after their epic half last time around at Whistling Straits.

The US team room is a bit of a shambles, with everyone contributing their two cents as to whether Finau deserves a look-in, whether Koepka should be there, if DJ can make the cut if Lucas Glover has rolled back the years enough to deserve a seat – who do you pair with Wyndham Clark – and other questions.

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To be honest, those in the media care way more about Koepka’s presence on the plane than the players probably do, I think it is expected that Brooks is in Rome.

He almost played his way in two tournaments alone and is still a killer.

In terms of European pairings, I can see Rory and Hovi making an epic duo, but Rory is more of a team veteran now and may be responsible for looking after one of the newcomers in the European dressing room, a Sepp Straka sort of character might shape up well, just as Thomas Pieters did in 2016.

If Ludvig Aberg makes the team, we could see a Scandinavian partnership or stick him with an Englishman who can provide stability if Hovi brings the flair. Maybe even Matt Fitz or Tommy Fleetwood can accompany newly crowned FedEx Cup champion Viktor as he continues to take dead aim from anywhere.

Cover Image via SBNation

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Patrick joined us in May 2022 with a strong passion for the game and a writing style to match. He is a good golfer, originally from Cumbria in the UK, and now living in British Columbia, Canada. He focuses on writing opinion pieces while keeping up to date with LIV Golf, Tour events and Major championships, providing good insights into the professional game.His best golf memories are shooting 72 with a double on 18, running the Golf Society at Lancaster University, and steering them to the first ever Varsity win against rivals York. His favorite club is his Scotty Cameron Newport 2.0, and his favorite event is the Masters!

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According to a recent source, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf are set to join forces in 2025 as part of a unified global golf tour featuring 18 tournaments where all three leagues would effectively operate under an umbrella organization run by the PGA Tour, a new report claims.

After the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf signed a framework agreement in June to end separate operations and join together to bring the best players in the world into one golf league, the details of a unified operation have been under negotiation.

Jordan Spieth of the PGA Tour and Phil Mickelson of LIV Golf were paired together during the final round of the 2023 Masters (Image: Golf Magazine)

However, it appears the details are now becoming more clear, according to Daily Mail Sport, which reported this morning that the three tours will cohesively operate beginning in 2025.

Next year, the three tours are still expected to operate independently. This will change the following year, as an “elite series of 18 events, in addition to the four majors” would be slotted for the “leading players” on each Tour to compete against one another.

12 of the 18 events are expected to take place in the United States.

The invitations sent will be determined by world rankings, although wildcard entrants may be permitted, the report claims.

This will allow the top players who left either the PGA Tour or DP World Tour for LIV Golf to compete against the top competition in golf 22 times a year: 18 times in the new promotion and four times in Major Championships.

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Sources also indicated that the three tours would fall under a single “umbrella organization,” which would be run and controlled by the PGA Tour. This would allow the PGA Tour, which differs from the PGA, to control the 18 events that would feature athletes from all three tours.

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf have not put out an explicit statement confirming or denying the report. However, we do know that the negotiations have been ongoing since June, and many players were convinced a deal might not be done by the end of the year.

However, PGA Tour brass, especially Commissioner Jay Monahan, came out in support of a deal and assured those who were concerned that the three Tours would ultimately agree on the framework by the end of 2023.

Cover Image via Sporting News

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Zach Johnson’s response to why Dustin Johnson was not considered for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team was interesting, to say the least.

DJ was ranked 40th on the U.S. Ryder Cup Standings at the time of the team selection earlier this week when Captain Zach Johnson made his six picks. DJ was not selected, and while there may have been several names in LIV Golf that could be argued as stronger selections, like Bryson DeChambeau for example, DJ may have been more deserving than other names that made the team based on 2023 performance alone.

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Zach Johnson said a few weeks ago that it would be tough to choose LIV Players for the Ryder Cup Team because he does not get to watch them play as regularly.

Of course, LIV Golf consists of 54-hole tournaments that span over three days instead of four. They also play significantly fewer events than the PGA Tour.

Zach Johnson said:

“I love DJ. He’s a dear friend. Obviously, a stud when it comes to playing in competitions. Through & through, his record speaks for itself. You know, it was one of those situations where it’s hard to gather form. It’s hard to see how guys are doing when they’re not competing against these guys that earned their way in the team in particular. The way I see it, all the guys that do not play on the PGA Tour had an opportunity to earn their way, or at least be in the realm of complete discussion, and Brooks Koepka put himself in that position with his play.”

However, based on the Majors, Koepka is not the only one to deserve some mention here. Koepka walked away from the field with the Wannamaker Trophy at the 2023 PGA Championship, effectively giving him an automatic spot, although he just fell short of one.

DJ may not have won a Major this year, and his performance in the four Majors was far from what we may expect from him typically. However, he made three of the four cuts and managed to take home a Top 10 at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Johnson also won a LIV event in May in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Zach Johnson said the following about Dustin Johnson:

“I love DJ. He’s a dear friend. Obviously, a stud when it comes to playing in competitions. Through & through, his record speaks for itself. You know, it was one of those situations where it’s hard to gather form.”

DJ’s…

— Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) (@LouStagner) August 30, 2023

Meanwhile, Justin Thomas, who is arguably the most controversial pick of them all, missed the cut in three of the four Majors, and only mustered up a handful of Top 10s in his 20 events played on the PGA Tour.

Based on performance in Majors alone, do you think that Dustin Johnson deserved a Ryder Cup spot more than players that made the team?

Cover Image via Sports Illustrated

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Fred Couples defended Justin Thomas’s selection to the U.S. Ryder Cup Team despite his form during the 2022-23 PGA Tour Season.

Couples is serving as Vice Captain for the Americans this year as the U.S. looks to win its first Ryder Cup on European soil in 30 years.

Couples said:

“I think the JT thing is the strongest pick. That was a no-brainer. The analytics would say no, the way he plays golf, said yes.”

Thomas has struggled significantly this season. The two-time PGA Champion suffered perhaps the toughest year in his Tour career, missing the FedEx Cup Playoffs entirely and finishing the year with just three Top 10s in 20 events played.

Justin Thomas was chosen by Zach Johnson to represent the U.S. in Rome.

Fred Couples explains how JT’s past Ryder Cup experience was factored into the decision. Catch more of Fred’s Ryder Cup insight Tuesday at 10pm ET!@fredcouplesgolf | @ZachJohnsonPGA | @JustinThomas34 pic.twitter.com/dgHG57M4Xf

— SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (@SiriusXMPGATOUR) August 29, 2023

However, despite Thomas’s struggles, American Captain Zach Johnson chose to include JT in the American squad, snubbing players like Keegan Bradley, who won twice on Tour this year, including one elevated event, and Cameron Young, who was projected to win a Captain’s Pick spot due to his 9th place position in the Ryder Cup standings.

Bradley was ranked ahead of Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, and Thomas in the standings.

Young was in front of all three, as well as Collin Morikawa, who also made the team.

Couples also commented on the absence of these players, especially Young, who Couples said would be in Rome next month competing for the Americans:

“I’ve got 50 texts today, why two or three guys aren’t on the team. And I don’t have an answer for that. The only answer I have is, this is the team, and the team has spoken. And if the team likes another guy a little bit better than that guy who didn’t win six tournaments and do all this, then, then no one has a problem with any of it.”

Couples is always going to stick up for his Captain and the players he will lead to Marco Simone Golf & Country Club next month. If the picks would have been the other way, we’d be hearing Couples sing a different tune.

Cover Image via Golf Digest

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