LIV Golf Wraps Up, PGA Tour's Asian Swing in Doubt and Putter Shopping
More Weekly Read: A Look Into Elevated-Event Life | Rory McIlroy Delivers Again I Watching Freddie Go Low
Fore! Things
1. With his victory at the CJ Cup, Rory McIlroy moved to No. 1 for the ninth different time in his career.
2. The future of the CJ Cup and the PGA Tour’s Asian Swing is in doubt, not because there is anything wrong with the tournaments or sponsorship but simply due to the switch in schedule that will no longer see fall events as part of the FedEx Cup events. The CJ Cup began in South Korea but was switched to the United States in 2020 due to the pandemic. The Zozo Championship has returned to Japan the last two years but the WGC-HSBC Champions will go a third straight year without being played.
3. The Bermuda Championship is the beneficiary of the HSBC Champions cancellation, as for the third year it is a standalone full points event. For those who believe there are too many events and plenty of playing opportunities, the tournament offers some fodder: 20 players who finished outside of the top 150 in FedEx points have made the field.
4. What a nice way to go out. Former major winner Na Yeon Choi had announced that the BMW Ladies Championship in her home country of South Korea would be her last. Choi, a nine-time winner on the LPGA Tour, aced the 12th hole during the third round, winning a BMW in the process.
Fore! More Things
1. The LIV Golf Invitational Series concludes its eight-tournament schedule this week with its Team Championship at Doral but without a television deal that for a time was expected to begin with this event. A Golfweek report had LIV Golf entering into a deal with FS1 (Fox Sports), but barring some last-minute maneuvering, it is not happening in time. LIV Golf originally had planned a four-team event but several weeks ago switched the format to three days in order to have more players competing on Sunday, in theory as a nod to a television partner.
2. The RBC Canadian Open not getting elevated status brought a good bit of consternation, especially considering it is a national Open and a longtime member event on the PGA Tour. But RBC is kicking in for elevated status at the Heritage the week after the Masters. And to do it in 2023 in Canada would have meant three elevated events in a row with the Memorial, Canadian Open and U.S. Open in consecutive weeks. The Travelers Championship follows the U.S. Open and will be elevated in 2023. The solution appears to be a date switch or allowing for three in a row.
If you were at a PGA Tour Superstore an hour from Congaree Golf Club this weekend, maybe you saw Shane Lowry in the putter section.
Stephen B. Morton/AP
3. Shane Lowry broke his putter during the first round of the CJ Cup, inadvertently snapping it “in half’’ when he dropped it and then said he attempted to “flick it with my foot.’’ He ended up driving an hour to a PGA Tour Superstore to find a replacement.
4. A spot in the Masters and the British Open will be at stake this week at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship to be played at Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand. The “grow-the-game" initiative was started by Augusta National in 2009. The runner-up earns a place in final qualifying for the Open.