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“Welcome to our field of dreams,” Waugh told the crowd of several hundred PGA of America pros, officials, City of Frisco leaders and employees. “This is a rare project which has turned out better than we ever dreamed it would.”

The ambitious $550 million, 600-acre campus will bring the first men’s major golf championship to North Texas since the 1963 PGA Championship at Dallas Athletic Club, won by Jack Nicklaus.

“This area has been known for golf tournaments (the Byron Nelson), but we’re going to bring golf championships here to PGA Frisco and keep it coming,” Waugh said. “There a difference between a golf championship and a tournament. We’re making this the home of championships.”

The PGA is already in the process of selling tickets and looking for sponsors and volunteers for the 2023 PGA Senior Championship, May 24-28, at the Gil Hanse-designed PGA Fields Ranch East course, the new layout named for the local farming family which once owned the land here.

PGA of America President Jim Richerson said the organization consisting of 28,000 golf professionals is committed to bring at least 26 major golf championships to Frisco, 30 minutes north of downtown Dallas.

Travel

After the Senior PGA, there will be the KPMG Women’s PGA in 2025 and the PGA Championship in 2026, the first of three scheduled for the Hanse course.

It will also host several PGA Junior League events and, perhaps, even the 2041 Ryder Cup.

“Who doesn’t want to be at this great place and be together to change golf, where the eyes of the golf world will be on us and our mission,” Richerson said.

During his introductory speech to the large crowd, which included Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his son Stephen, who own the NFL team’s headquarters just 15 minutes south of PGA Frisco, Waugh said the PGA hasn’t always done a good job of mirroring the entire golf population as a whole.

That’s exactly what former PGA President Suzy Whaley, the first female president in the organization’s history, is hoping this 106,621 square-foot facility — and the 500 men and women who now occupy it — can help change.

“This gives us an opportunity to have something here for everybody in the game,” Whaley said. “We have two public 18-hole golf courses, we have a 10-hole short course, a huge putting green, Topgolf, golf games, Omni Resort, eating places, bars and shops. This gives us a great opportunity to reinvent our game and gain interest for all parts of the public — those who love the game and those who have never played it.”

Tim Cusick, a long-time North Texas golf teacher, came over from the former site of the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson. He said the ability to teach a new generation of pros is what attracted him to PGA Frisco.

“We bring in young pros from all over the country and teach them best methods and best practices, they can go back and teach others,” he said. “We’re empowering the next generation of golf.”

While the four-story, glass-enclosed facility has plenty of offices and conference rooms, the first floor is largely composed of indoor hitting bays for Cusick and his team, along with a large turf putting green and bunker in the front window of the facility, allowing players and teachers and even staff to practice their games during the week.

The two courses — the East by Hanse, which will host most of the championships, and the West by architect Beau Welling — will be open to the public in March 2023.

“It’s an exciting day and an exhausting day and a fun day,” Waugh said, “but now the real work begins to activate our people to change the game of golf.”

NEWSLETTER

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The post How much can PGA Championship fans eat? We’re about to find out. appeared first on Golf.

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That’s because, in what is thought to be a first for a sporting event of this size, all concession food and non-alcoholic beverages at the 104th PGA are included in the price of admission for fans attending the tournament rounds.  

That price isn’t cheap — $195, or a nearly 40 percent mark-up from what the PGA of America charged at Kiawah last year — but it will guarantee that fans won’t go hungry or thirsty.

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“If you wanted to have a hot-dog eating contest with your buddy, you could do that,” Bryan Karns, the PGA Championship director, joked in a telephone interview Wednesday morning.

Quips aside, the PGA of America’s decision to move to an all-you-can-eat model was not taken lightly. The idea was proposed by food-service management company Delaware North, with whom the PGA of America has partnered to handle its food-and-beverage offerings the last two years. Delaware North is deep in the sports space, managing concessions at venues such as Lambeau Field, Busch Stadium and MetLife Stadium, and it saw the PGA Championship as an ideal opportunity to extend the offering into golf.     

“No one has done it to this level,” Karns said. “But the [sports] industry as a whole is headed this way.”

Karns said the model should make for a fun experience for spectators, while also helping to keep food fresh and lines moving quickly. “We felt like that’s an incredible feeling, particularly on Thursday and Friday when it’s going to be warm out here, for people just to be able to go, You know, I want a water. Instead of having to go up there to reach into their pockets, it’s already taken care of.”

Here’s how it will work: When fans come through the main gates at Southern Hills, they’ll be given a bracelet that will grant them all-you-can-eat-and-drink privileges at the half-dozen or so concessions around the property. Upon each concession visit, fans can request two entrées (hot dogs, burgers, catfish po-boys, etc.), two sides (chips, pretzels, etc.) and two non-alcoholic drinks (water, soda, etc.). Then, should they choose, they can do it all over again. And again. And again.

How much fans will, in fact, consume this week is a bit of a mystery, but the PGA of America says its shelves and fridges are adequately stocked.

“We planned for one and half times the normal behavior,” Karns said. “So if I’d normally go and get one burger and a bag of chips, probably now I’m going to go and get at least two and maybe three bags of chips. We have a game plan in terms of what we anticipate, and we’re closely monitoring that. There’s absolutely going to be some learnings from this week, but I think we’ve overprepared. We really want this be a success the first year so anywhere we were concerned we’d be under, we’ve just added more.”

Instruction

Karns added that Delaware North and its subsidiaries have “tremendous amounts of data on consumer behavior,” as does the PGA of America from conducting its own events. “We know how much the average person spent, what they spent, what the popular items were, and then we levered that against other venues like Lambeau Field that have some level of all-inclusive and looked at how is the consumer behavior there.”

The price of admission is steep by golf tournament standards, but Karns said the nearly $200 fee is “still accessible” and not unreasonable given what’s on offer paired with all the increases in operational costs the PGA of America has had to absorb on account of inflation. “It’s still less than $200 to come out to a major championship that in a place like Tulsa is viewed as a once-in-a-decade opportunity,” he said.

Karns said the PGA of America has worked hard to alert ticketholders of the all-inclusive element but that given the late move to Southern Hills as the venue for this PGA Championship and the scramble to get all the pieces in place quickly, it’s possible that some fans will arrive on site unaware of the baked-in perk.  

“I think a lot of people are going to show and go, Wait, I can do what?” Karns said.

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The post ‘$18 for a freakin’ beer?’: PGA Championship prices leave golf fans aghast appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘$18 for a freakin’ beer?’: PGA Championship prices leave golf fans aghast appeared first on Golf.

On Monday, the concession menu at Southern Hills made its way to social media, and its prices left golf fans dreaming of the days when a Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich was the biggest of their golf concession-related problems.

On the grounds at Southern Hills, the beers are liquid gold … and priced like it. For the hop-minded fan, Michelob Ultra represents the far most egregious menu offense. At the PGA, a single, 24 oz. can retails for the nosebleed price of $18 — or $1 more than the cost of an 18-pack of Michelob Ultra at your nearest Target. For $19, fans can upgrade their beer selection to a Stella Artois of a similar size or a Mich Ultra organic hard seltzer.

Bargain shoppers will be excited to learn that for just $15, they too can own a 12-oz. Kona Big Wave or standard cocktail. Step that up to a “signature” or “souvenir” cocktail, however, and the cost returns once again to $19. Wine by the glass likely represents the best bang-for-buck, costing just $13.

In the opinion of this golf writer, it would be wise for the hangover-conscious to plot an alternative hydration strategy before arriving at the course. Bottles of Aquafina — the tournament’s official water — run at $6 a pop. (Expected temperatures for the weekend in Tulsa are in the upper-80s.)

Over on social media, the response was predictably cataclysmic. Golf Twitter stampeded over the news with the grace of a freight train.

“Whoa, those are airport prices,” a fan tweeted in response.

“How much does a ticket cost to get a $1.50 egg salad?” Another chimed in, referencing Augusta National’s famously cheap concession offerings.

On Instagram, the response wasn’t much better.

“$18 for a freakin (sic) beer??????” Justin Thomas commented on one post. “What does it cure cancer or something!!????”

Back in reality, though, the cost wasn’t quite as egregious. Rather, it was a reflection of a growing trend of exorbitantly priced concessions at professional sports games. At this year’s Super Bowl, prices were only marginally cheaper ($17 for a draft beer and seltzer, $19 for a craft brew) than at the PGA. While the New York Islanders’ new arena, beers are $19, and cocktails stretch all the way to $25.

Food

Sure, both of the aforementioned venues were located in major media markets (New York and Los Angeles), while this year’s PGA is being contested in Tulsa, Okla. But the point remains: the PGA Championship isn’t as much of an outlier as it appears in the world of professional sports concessions.

Of course, there’s still a conversation to be had about the morality of that decision. For fans paying close to $200 to attend a tournament in person, it feels exploitative to sling another $50 just to eat. And while it is the norm in pro sports, that doesn’t make it right.

This isn’t to specifically target the PGA of America, which didn’t respond to GOLF’s request for comment. Golf events across the country regularly see concession prices as high (or higher) than those at Southern Hills. Rather, it’s a reminder of who makes these tournaments what they are, and who is most adversely affected by these decisions: the fans.

Fans are the lifeblood of sports, as our sports’ stakeholders so frequently remind us. But when it comes to serving the most committed fans — the people willing to dedicate their time and money — our sports have a bad habit of seeing only dollar signs. Concessions are a piece of that, yes, but they’re far from the only thing.

Ultimately, it leaves us in an odd race to the bottom. Our sports charge more money, so they make more money, which drives more profits, which leads to … higher prices.

It’s good business, rest assured — so long as you don’t think about the price.

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The post ‘I’ve had a number of conversations with him’: PGA CEO talking with Phil Mickelson appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘I’ve had a number of conversations with him’: PGA CEO talking with Phil Mickelson appeared first on Golf.

“I’ve had a number of conversations with him before, you know, call it, last fall and since then and recently,” Seth Waugh said this week on the 5 Clubs Conversation podcast. “I think he, you know, he is — you said it well, I think he’s trying to figure out when the right time for him is. I think the game is trying to figure out the right time for him, too. How long is long enough? And is he ready mentally and physically to do it?”

Last week, Mickelson’s agent said the player had registered to play in both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, along with requesting a release from the PGA Tour to play in the first LIV Golf Invitational Series event, which is June 9-11 in London. Registering for these events, however, does not mean Mickelson will definitely play in them.  

Should he, the tournaments would be his first since the Saudi International during the first week of February. A few weeks later, he put out a statement on his social media channels, saying he would be “taking some time away” following controversial comments on the LIV series, a new, Saudi Arabia-funded golf league.

“Although it doesn’t look this way now given my recent comments, my actions throughout this process have always been with the best interest of golf, my peers, sponsors, and fans,” Mickelson wrote. “There is the problem of off record comments being shared out of context and without my consent, but the bigger issue is that I used words I sincerely regret that do not reflect my true feelings or intentions. It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words. I’m beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect and learn from this.”

The comments Mickelson was referring to came in an excerpt for a forthcoming biography by Alan Shipnuck, published Feb. 17 on firepitcollective.com. (Shipnuck has disputed Mickelson’s characterization of their conversation.) 

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The excerpt detailed Mickelson’s involvement with LIV Golf, the new company headed by Greg Norman that is expected to launch the new golf tour this year and is backed by the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi Arabia government. Mickelson called his new partners “scary motherf———s,” and he also insisted that PGA Tour media rights should be redistributed more equitably to Tour members.

On the podcast, Waugh said “the whole thing is just sad.”

“It’s sad for Phil, it’s sad for the game,” he said. “He’s been great for the game for a really long time and I do believe in redemption and I do believe that he can figure this out. I think he’s got to decide what he wants to be. Does he want to be part of the ecosystem or change the ecosystem? And I think he’s kind of caught in between a little bit, right.”

But will Mickelson play in the PGA Championship, which starts May 19 at Southern Hills in Tulsa? Last year, the then-50-year-old won the event to become the oldest-ever major champion, but Waugh said on the podcast that he thought Mickelson would make a “late decision” to play. 

“And I think, you know, we’ll continue to have conversations,” he said. “I’ve known Phil for 20-something years, and he’s a complicated guy with complicated thoughts and in a complicated situation. And so we’re all trying to figure out what’s best for him and frankly what’s best for the game and we’re going to keep having those conversations.”

The podcast’s host, Gary Williams, then asked Waugh, whether there would be “procedures in place, let’s say, in the event that he does play, as far as him meeting the media.”

“Yeah, we’ve talked about it a lot,” Waugh said on the podcast. “And I hope what we can do is have that before, you know, the flag goes up, right. So the idea is, if he does play, and if he’s able to and allowed to if he will play, he would certainly have to face the media. But I hope it’s Monday or Tuesday, and then once the flag goes up, it’s about the golf, right. And that’s — what we’re trying to do is deliver a major championship, not a circus, right. And so I would hope that he can avoid that, and everybody can avoid that. And we’re talking about golf shots instead of, you know, verbal gaffes, right, once we get going. 

“But there’s certainly, I think, part of his thinking is am I ready to face that glare and have that conversation and have all the answers that everybody is going to be looking for. And if I do it that week, am I then able to compete on a major championship venue under that kind of pressure, right, with everything going on. But we would do everything we could to make it happen either before our week or very early in the week.” 

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The post Why America’s heartland has become golf’s next big opportunity appeared first on Golf.

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America’s premier golf governing body followed its own precedent and added Pebble to Pinehurst and Oakmont as its ‘anchor sites’ for many of their upcoming major championships. So we now know that the greatest meeting of land and sea will host the 2027, 2032, 2037, 2040 and 2044 U.S. Opens. Get your son’s sons ready for that last one. It’s a similar story for the women’s game (’23, ’35, ’40 and ’48) and your daughter’s daughters.

All jokes about the future aside, the USGA’s focused approach is fine. It works for them and will work for many fans, too. It does present an opportunity, though, for the PGA of America. More on that in a second.

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Bringing the biggest events to the country’s best, most historic courses solves a couple important issues for the USGA:

1. The trustworthiness of visiting, say, Oakmont, is that the USGA doesn’t have to work as hard. The course will be the course and it will be great without much involvement from the USGA. Pinehurst and Pebble Beach are the same.

2. Players love it. One of the overarching notes that top-level players shared with the USGA the last few years is they would like to see some sort of rota for the U.S. Open, similar to that of the Open Championship.

We can discuss the necessity of appeasing the players some other time. Just know that their relationship with the governing body took a hit in the 2010s, and this is a subtle move to help repair it. And it’s a fine move! It’s just there’s something organically beautiful about events held at courses players don’t know very well. Like when the lads went to Aronimink for the first time in 1962. Or when the ladies go to Muirfield for the first time this August. Someone will play Brookline for the first time in their life this summer, and also contend there just a couple days later, simply because they golfed their ball the best. 

That’s why our next major will be a ton of fun. Southern Hills, the PGA, in Tulsa, for the first time since 2007. The course that raised its hand to host when the PGA pulled away from a Donald Trump-owned property in January 2021. The course that represents a starved region of the country for major championship golf. 

Like many pockets of the country that often lose sporting attention to the coasts, Oklahoma has its golfers, too. They’re happy to board a plane to see major championship golf, but they like them at home, too. This year under the big leaderboard at Augusta, I met a pair of brothers from Tulsa. They attended the Masters for the first time, were giddy taking their disposable camera all over the property, but even more giddy at the idea of these pros flying into their home airport a month later. One of them, a priest, was already in discussions to host pros for mass. 

People like that — populations like Tulsa’s — they tend to respond in spades when the Tour comes to town. Bellerive may not have been the greatest golf course for the PGA to visit in 2018, but remember what it meant for St. Louis’ golf community? The greatest player to ever live creating a forever memory in the summer heat. Special visits to under-visited areas could become the PGA’s calling card. 

Now, don’t confuse this with a call for sympathy for the Midwest and center of the country. The Midwest has done well with its Ryder Cups (the last three stateside), Erin Hills’ U.S. Open, and the four future Women’s Opens headed to Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Michigan. But on the men’s side, there is decreasing space for these locales to get their time in the sun. And with the PGA’s calendar relocation to May, there will almost surely be no more PGA Championships at Whistling Straits. Hazeltine? Same thing. Medinah? Perhaps! But just a maybe. Oak Hill, in Rochester, N.Y. will host its fifth PGA next spring, and potentially its last. All of those sites should be considered potential stops for the KPMG Women’s PGA, hosted in the middle of June. But without much competition from the USGA, the list of places the PGA could take the best men in the world to will only grow.

Seattle. Sweet. Kentucky. Sure thing. Indiana, with an invite to John Daly? Hell yeah. Why not Denver? Missouri? Alabama? Mississippi has the 16th-most golfers per capita in the States, but has never hosted a men’s major. Let the PGA get weird. All kinds of people will benefit.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to lob praise, critiques or any commentary to the author at sean.zak@golf.com.

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PGA of America officials issued a public apology on Monday to Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka — both players in Sunday’s final pairing — for a fan reaction it says “briefly overwhelmed” security at Kiawah Island.

The moment in question came on the 72nd hole of Phil Mickelson’s historic win, where fans swarmed into the center of the fairway after the two players hit their approach shots into the 18th green. The goal, it appeared, was to have fans walk the final hole with the leaders and surround the 18th green, creating a fitting coronation for the soon-to-be crowned oldest major champion in golf history.

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Instead, the crowd powered past security and briefly enveloped Mickelson; a moment he categorized as “unnerving” in a post-round interview with Amanda Balionis. Koepka was also swarmed, and suggested after the round that fans might have been targeting his injured knee in the process.

“Somebody jammed Ricky, Ricky stopped unintentionally because he got drilled in the face, and then I got drilled in the back because he got stopped so quickly,” Koepka said of his caddie, Ricky Elliott. “But I don’t know what someone tried to or what, I don’t know what the deal was. There were so many people around.

“Yeah, it would have been cool if I didn’t have a knee injury and got dinged a few times in the knee in that crowd because no one really gave a s—, personally,” he continued. “But if I was fine, yeah, it would have been cool. Yeah, it’s cool for Phil. But getting dinged a few times isn’t exactly my idea of fun.”

The scene lasted only a minute or so, with security moving quickly to regain control of the situation and form a protective barrier around the players. Still, the momentary breach was enough to draw an apology from PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh.

“While we welcome enthusiastic fan engagement,” a statement from Waugh read. “We regret that a moment of high elation and pent-up emotion by spectators on the 18th hole during the conclusion of yesterday’s historic PGA Championship briefly overwhelmed security and made two players and their caddies feel vulnerable.”

Waugh, who has been the PGA’s CEO since 2018, said he spoke individually with both Mickelson and Koepka to express his regret.

“We always put player safety at the top of our list and are grateful that order was restored,” Waugh said. “I have spoken to both players and apologized on behalf of the Association.”

On Sunday, Mickelson won his sixth major with a two-stroke victory at the Ocean Course.

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The post PGA of America to allow distance-measuring devices in its major championships appeared first on Golf.

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The use of rangefinders had previously been allowed in practice rounds but never in competition on golf’s biggest tours or its major tournaments. Permitting them should help speed up play, as players and caddies can spend less time walking off tricky yardages.

Accessories

“We’re always interested in methods that may help improve the flow of play during our Championships,” said PGA of America President Jim Richerson in a release. “The use of distance-measuring devices is already common within the game and is now a part of the Rules of Golf. Players and caddies have long used them during practice rounds to gather relevant yardages.”

Players and/or caddies can use the devices as long as they conform to Rule 4.3a (1), which allows obtaining distance information but not measuring slope or to get a recommended line of play or club.

The first PGA of America major for 2021 is the PGA Championship on May 20-23 at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C.

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The post Why Gil Hanse’s new risk-reward Texas course is Ryder Cup-ready (even if it hasn’t landed one yet) appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Gil Hanse’s new risk-reward Texas course is Ryder Cup-ready (even if it hasn’t landed one yet) appeared first on Golf.

“It’s a cherished opportunity,” Hanse said. “There are not many of them out there.”

Or any — at least, not opportunities quite like this one.

Travel

Never before has a U.S. course had more than 20 professional and amateur golf events — including two PGA Championships (the first in 2027) and two Senior PGA Championships (the first in 2023) — destined for its fairways while it’s still under construction. All course work will be done later this fall, giving the site a year and a half to grow in and mature.

The property also will feature a second course, the West Course, designed by Beau Welling; a practice area and a 10-hole short course; an Omni resort; and PGA headquarters buildings.

One event presumed to be headed to PGA Frisco but which has not yet been officially announced is the most anticipated: a future Ryder Cup. It would represent the first-ever Ryder Cup in North Texas and only the second in the Lone Star State. The next available date is 2041, but that hasn’t stopped the planning or dreaming.

PGA of America COO Darrell Crall, who knows the 600-acre property about as well as anybody, said there is a path to a PGA Frisco Ryder Cup, but the PGA of America first wants to ensure the course is primed for such a big event. “We certainly feel like it will be,” he said. Crall said the association also wants to see how the local community interacts with the other tournaments planned for PGA Frisco.

Hanse says his design will be tailor-made for match play and “fireworks” down the stretch of tight contests.

“If you look at most past Ryder Cups, a lot of matches end on holes 15 or 16,” he said. “So if you have a drivable par 4 on 15 [340 yards from the back tees], a long 16th [506-yard par-4], plus a short par-3 17th [150 yards], we feel like we’re creating drama here.”

Hanse, who has walked the site dozens of times and has a full-time crew of 200 working daily on property, said one of the goals for him and his associate Jim Wagner was to create more chances for scoring and success than punishment and failure.

“We want to set up the course where players have a chance to win with positive shots, not lose with negative ones,” Hanse said.

To that end, he has a drivable par-4 on each nine — No. 7 is 330 yards from the back tees — and plenty of risks and rewards, including a creek that protects the left side of the par-3 13th and another creek that golfers must cross on the par-5 18th.

“Two of the pleasant surprises when we walked this facility was the elevation change we found here and the way Panther Creek comes into play on several of the holes,” Hanse said.

Hanse has set up the course for maximum flexibility, because while pros will compete in big-time events here, the majority of the rounds will be played by the general public.

“We designed a long ribbon of tee boxes to give the PGA flexibility on a day-to-day basis,” Hanse said. “With the NorthRidge bermuda grass we’re using on the fairways, you can cut it to make it really wide or very narrow. That’s something we learned when we designed the Rio (Olympic) course for both men and women, pros and amateur.”

Frisco, 40 minutes north of downtown Dallas, will own the two courses, while the PGA of America has a long-term contract as the operator.

“Our expectations were super-high, but Gil and his team have exceeded them,” Crall said. “They have made a legacy play.”

NEWSLETTER

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The post 8 reasons why Whistling Straits will be a phenomenal Ryder Cup host appeared first on Golf.

The post 8 reasons why Whistling Straits will be a phenomenal Ryder Cup host appeared first on Golf.

Whistling Straits has established itself as one of the premier major event hosts in the country over the last 20 years, and the Kohler property has benefitted from the PGA of America bringing three PGA Championships there. But now, it’ll bring the crown jewel. 

After visiting Whistling Straits this summer and imagining what a Ryder Cup will look like on the grounds of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, here are eight reasons why 2021 will be particularly great.

1. Captain Stricker has already altered the golf course

As many Ryder Cup captains have done and love to do, Steve Stricker has already changed some aspects of Whistling Straits to favor the Americans for next year’s event. Below are the changes as of August:

1. Widened fairway on the par-4 9th

2. Widened fairway on the par-5 11th

3. Rough added around the greens of Nos. 2, 5 and 9, instead of tightly mown areas

Stricker’s goal is obvious with a few of these moves. Open it up a bit more, and let the American brand of ‘Driver Everywhere’ have a little more room. Are these significant changes? Not totally, but it’s definitely a sign of Team USA’s focus when it comes to course setup. After 2018, in which the European team narrowed the fairways at Le Golf National and forced the Americans into playing a throttled-down, precision-focused game, the 2021 setup will likely mirror some aspects of 2016 at Hazeltine. Big ballparks with very graduated rough let the big dogs eat. And we have already seen what that meant at Winged Foot.

2. The Eagle

We have the potential for a very American moment at Whistling Straits, and one unlike any we’ve seen at RCs of the past. All we need is a little cooperation from the eagle who lives on property.

Yes, there’s a bald eagle who calls Whistling Straits home, and has been living there for years. Its nest is located in some tall pines left of the 10th tee box, but it periodically hangs out atop the trees between the 9th and 18th fairways, perfectly within sight of the 1st tee. So yes, we could see a bald eagle fly over the raucous grandstand at 8 a.m. Or we could see it soar over approach shots on one of the best finishing holes in golf. Or we could see it perch above the 10th tee as a pivotal match makes the turn. Somehow, some way, we need that eagle involved. 

3. We’ve never seen Whistling in September

Whistling Straits has been generally adored as a major venue in the three times it has hosted the PGA Championship. But each of those instances took place in early to mid-August. By late September, Wisconsin is a much different place, and Whistling is a different course.

The wind will likely be up and the temperatures will likely be down. BOTH of those are good for Ryder Cups. There’s something special about players rocking beanies on the first tee (which we saw at Hazeltine in 2016), and there’s something really special and proper about Rory McIlroy in a sweater vest bowing to American fans.

Temperature highs in the last week of September can be anywhere from the mid-50s to the mid-70s. The ball could soar, or the course could play brutally long in the cold. Could it snow? Yes, it could! Winds whipping off Lake Michigan will make those lakeside par 3s (Nos. 3, 7, 12, 17) some of the best golf theater we’ll get all year long.

4. The finishing stretch is elite

The routing of a Ryder Cup setup is always tricky. Do you allow the course to play as its normal self, or do your change things up to force the best holes into the first 14 during the event? Most matches will not reach the 18th hole, and many will not reach the 17th. Thankfully, Whistling’s finishing five holes are all uniquely challenging.

The 14th plays short enough to see exclusively wedges on approach shots, with players trying to land it tight. 

The 15th is long and often fights the wind the entire way.

The 16th is an uphill par 5 that will be reachable in two with a gigantic green. 

The 17th is a long par 3 that is probably impacted by the wind (and looming hazard) more than any other hole on the property.

The 18th is one of the toughest holes in the country. If it plays into the wind, good luck. 

6. The Walk

One of the most underrated aspects of every Ryder Cup is the walk to the 1st tee. It’s important. As players make their way from the driving range to the putting green to the 1st tee, anticipation grows and grows and grows. And then Tiger Woods peeks his head out of the tunnel and the coast of Lake Michigan has never been louder.

Folks, this is going to happen.

The walk at Whistling Straits — with its gigantic driving range — is longer than just about any of its Ryder cup competitors. The closer players get to their tee time, the closer their prep brings them to the nerve-bending 1st tee, and the louder it gets. There’s truly nothing like it in golf.

7. The course will be more spectator-friendly

One of the fair knocks on Whistling Straits over the years is that it was a difficult walk for spectators. The dunes that make life so interesting for golfers — both pros and ams — make life hellish for those who just want to watch. O’Reilly confirmed to GOLF.com that various mounding on both nines has been softened and spread out so that walking paths between dunes are wider and the dunes themselves aren’t so drastically hilly where spectator flow is expected. He specifically cited the area between the 3rd and 4th holes, left of 8 and left of 9, where I coincidentally slipped in 2015 walking inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth. Other mounding has been softened on various spots on the back nine as well.

This is important not just for future major championships, O’Reilly said, but in particular for the Ryder Cup, where there are just two dozen golfers (at most) and often just four matches on the course. Spectators move around a Ryder Cup much differently, following particular matches from hole to hole instead of plopping down in one spot and watching all the play shuffle through. “It’s more people traveling together.” O’Reilly said. “It’s like every group is Tiger. You know when Tiger moves around, there’s seven people deep and people rushing to the next hole. That’s how every group is.”

8. When will we see Whistling again? 

Generally, a course like Whistling Straits has always had another big event on its docket. When Jason Day dominated at the 2015 PGA Championship, we knew the 2020 (now 2021) RC was on the schedule. But with the PGA Championship’s move to May, it’s likely we will not see Whistling host that event again in the near future.

But could we see the KPMG Women’s PGA head to Wisconsin? There are a number of open host spots in the next decade for that event. Could the USGA swoop in and bring a summer Straits event back with the U.S. Open or a similarly significant championship? We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy the hell outta this last scheduled ride along Lake Michigan until there’s another to look forward to.

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The post 8 reasons why Whistling Straits will be a phenomenal Ryder Cup host appeared first on Golf.

The post PGA of America announces its Player of the Year (hint: it’s not Dustin Johnson) appeared first on Golf.

The post PGA of America announces its Player of the Year (hint: it’s not Dustin Johnson) appeared first on Golf.

Instead, Justin Thomas took home the award, the second PGA Player of the Year of his career, after first earning the honors following his breakthrough 2017 season.

So what gives? It all comes down to points.

The PGA of America awards determines its Player of the Year through a season-long points system, not by vote, as the PGA Tour does for its own Player of the Year award.

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In addition, while players earned points at the Tour Championship, they were awarded based on the low score, not the tournament leaderboard. Johnson’s three-shot victory was aided by his 10 under starting score, resulting from his top FedEx Cup ranking to start the event. Tour Championship runner-up Xander Schauffele actually had the lowest 72-hole score, and as a result collected the 10 PGA POY points as if he had won.

So while Johnson collected plenty of points with his wins at the Travelers and the Northern Trust, he didn’t get credit for his triumph at East Lake.

Thomas, on the other hand, captured three Tour victories this season, all of which earned him valuable POY points, even though the first of those wins came in October, at the CJ Cup, and the second in January, at the Tournament of Champions (which, like the Tour Championship, featured a similarly slim field). He won an additional 20 POY points for topping the money list, and also finished third in the Vardon Trophy race, earning him another 16 points.

All in all, Thomas accumulated 66 points, a full 10 points clear of runner-up Jon Rahm (56). Collin Morikawa finished third with 54 points thanks to his win at the PGA Championship, the only major counting towards the 2020 award.

Finishing in fourth place was Webb Simpson (52 points), who also took home the Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average for the first time.

Though Johnson finished in fifth place in the PGA of America’s ranking, he still has another chance to take home some POY hardware. The PGA Tour presents its own Player of the Year award, which is determined by a membership vote, later this month.

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The post PGA of America announces its Player of the Year (hint: it’s not Dustin Johnson) appeared first on Golf.