Weekly Read Fore! Things: Scottie Scheffler Back Where It Began, A Winning Double Bogey and Augusta National News
More Weekly Read: Designated Events, and Their Flip Side | The End of the WGCs? | An Overreach By the PGA Tour?
Fore! Things
1. Scottie Scheffler returns to where it all began a year ago in Phoenix. He defeated Patrick Cantlay in a playoff to win the first of four events in a seven-week stretch that included the Masters. He went on to be Player of the Year. Rory McIlroy makes his first 2023 start on the PGA Tour.
2. Abraham Ancer, now a member of LIV Golf, won the Saudi International on Sunday, the season-opening event on the Asian Tour. Three PGA Tour players were given releases to compete. Reigning rookie of the year Cameron Young finished second, Lucas Herbert was third and Cam Champ tied for 35th. All three are in the field for this week’s WM Phoenix Open.
3. Daniel Gavins won his second DP World Tour event, but not without some amazing final-hole drama. With a three-shot lead on the final hole of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the UAE, Gavins hit two balls in the water on the 18th hole—then holed a 30-footer for double bogey, which was enough to claim the victory.
4. It is getting late early. LIV Golf, which said at its last event in October that it expected to announce its full field of 48 players, still has yet to do so—two weeks from its first event. No point in guessing when that announcement will come.
Fore! More Things
1. Augusta National announced a couple of changes for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which concludes on the Saturday prior to Masters week at Augusta National. The first two rounds at nearby Champions Retreat will be televised by Golf Channel. The final round is on NBC. Also, instead of having a playoff to determine the players who compete on Saturday, the cut will now include ties. As happened previously, all who compete in the tournament can play Augusta National on Friday prior to the final round.
2. The arbitration hearing that will decide whether LIV golfers can compete in DP World Tour events begins Monday in London. The hearing is expected to last a week with a decision likely not rendered until March. Phil Mickelson predicted how it would go. "I expected the LIV players will win their case in the UK, and we’ll open the doors for all players to play on the European Tour. There’s a very good chance that you’ll have more showdowns, more head-to-head competitions like you saw last week in Dubai (with Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed) and I think that would be a really good thing for the game."
3. There will another event played at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Saudi Arabia soon. Like the men’s tournament just completed, the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, Feb. 16-19, will offer a $5 million purse. There are 13 major winners entered, including Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson. The event is sponsored by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
4. There are 59 days until the first round of the Masters.