One thing is for sure, this week’s US Open won’t be an “exhibition” which is how PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan described the inaugural LIV Golf London Invitational where wheelbarrows of greenbacks were rolled away by those who took the Saudi dollar.
Many of those who played in the Centurion Club hightailed it back across the Atlantic for this season’s third men’s Major, with Dustin Johnson one of the first to get on to the course at Brookline for a practice round.
Monahan — energised no doubt by the red-hot competitive fare down the stretch of the Canadian Open where McIlroy held off Justin Thomas and Tony Finau — remarked of the start-up tour and those who played.
“Those players have chosen to play in a series of exhibition matches against the same players over and over again. You look at that versus what we [have], you have true, pure competition,” insisted Monahan.
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One grey area yet to be clarified is when or if the LIV players will be entitled to earn world ranking points, which is so often the ranking used to earn exemptions into the four Majors (The Masters, the US PGA, the US Open and the British Open).
It is believed that LIV Golf have submitted a request for their events − the next one is in Portland, Oregon in a head-on clash with the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet — to provide world ranking points for its players.
Forward planning USGA
The USGA — who organise the US Open — can’t be accused of a lack of advance planning, with venues for future championships that stretch as far ahead as 2051 already mapped out.
That 2051 championship will be staged at Oakland Hills Country Club, which will also stage the 2034 US Open.
More immediately, this year’s champion at Brookline will be followed next year by a US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club with Pinehurst (No 2) staging the event in 2024.
By the numbers: 21
You got to hand it to Rory McIlroy, has his finger on the pulse. “21, one more than someone else,” remarked McIlroy of his 21st victory on the PGA Tour ... one more than none other than Greg Norman.
Word of Mouth
“My sister went to school in St Andrews and my dad is a member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. I have been very fortunate to have been going over there from a young age and be able to experience the traditions and always dream about The Open ... my dad’s only concern the whole year was about me playing The Open and he told me that the whole year” — Keith Mitchell on securing an exempt into next month’s 150th Open on the Old Course through his tied-seventh finish in the Canadian Open.
Twitter Twaddle
Justin Thomas may have come out on the wrong end of his duel with McIlroy but still got the competitive juices flowing.
Eddie Pepperell clearly not on the side of the sportswashinng LIV Golf start-up.
Eddie Pepperell again.
On this day: June 14th, 1998
JP Hayes ventured into unknown territory in his quest for a breakthrough PGA Tour win in the Buick Classic at Westchester. He’d never won on tour before, and had never even been in the final pairing in the final round.
He found himself locked in a duel with Jim Furyk and answered every question put to him.
Hayes made a fabulous save out of a greenside bunker on the 54th hole of the weather-shortened tournament (for a total of 12-under-par 201) to get into a playoff with Furyk and then rolled in an eight-footer for birdie at the first hole of sudden death to clinch victory.
Before the win, Hayes’s best performance had been a tied-42nd place in the Greater Greensboro Classic, he had missed the cut in five of his previous eight tournaments and his largest cheque was for $16,712 ... with the win, Hayes cashed a pay-day of $324,000, secured his tour card for two years.
“It’s a tremendous feeling of satisfaction to play like that under those conditions,” said Hayes of his breakthrough win.
In the Bag: Rory McIlroy — RBC Canadian Open
Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ (9 degrees @7.5)
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (15 degrees)
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (19 degrees @17.55)
Irons: TaylorMade P730 Rors proto (3-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG3 (54 and 60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X Hydro Blast
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
Know the Rules
Q
Player A plays her second shot, searches for her ball briefly in the greenside rough down the right and then goes back to the fairway and drops another ball under penalty of stroke and distance. She is about to play what would be her fourth shot when her original ball is then found within the three minutes of when she originally started searching for it, and before she played the dropped ball. What is the ruling?
A
Player A must continue with the dropped ball. Once the play put another ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance, the original ball is no longer in play and must not be played (Rule 18.1).
