Tag: golf round

LIV Golf Going Away (After 2026?)

In the words of LIV CEO Scott O’Neil:  Even though the 2026 season for LIV Golf continues as planned, “the long-term viability beyond this year is in question.” That’s a short answer for the potential uncertainty that lies ahead for golf’s hot sensation with hefty payouts and all kinds of seasonal flexibility designed with pro players in mind.

Designed to be wild ride like the Phoenix Open on steroids, LIV Golf came in with a bang. They swooped up some key players and made some big promises about what they were going do (and what they were definitely not going to do). That made it a big deal for guys like Lefty and Brooks, even some guys who had lingered on the lower end of the PGA Tour.

Nowadays, I’m just as mixed up about who’s who and what’s what in LIV Golf as the roster of players lined up to tee off in Mexico City this past weekend.

What we do know is that if top-ranked pros like John Rahm return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf suspensions might be placed upon them. Imagine the impact of a one-year suspension from the PGA Tour for pro golfers. Loss of endorsement deals and sponsorships? How do you plan to pay for coaching and training, even that wellness coach and nutritionist, who have contributed to your recent success? It could hurt a few careers which do not have opportunities in the broadcast booth or with any type of Golf Channel specials or Netflix golf documentary series in mind.

In the meantime, as I tried to watch the final round of LIV Golf from Mexico City, I somehow lost interest before John Rahm had a chance to tee off. There was some great golf being played. Bubba Watson made an impressive reading of the green with a roundabout putt on his first hole of the day, while some of the approach shots to the greens opened doors to potential birdies and even eagles.

And I think that might be it. . .

While I do not care for the PGA’s tendency to overdo its restructuring of holes and fairways as if they’re seeking to make par near-impossible, I can see where the LIV Golf course seemed almost “too easy” for some of these pros to navigate. The mystery of the challenge seemed lost as I observed guys master holes that they might have conquered after their initial rounds and some decent practice rounds.

It didn’t seem like they were really facing the pinnacle of pro challenges in the form of course design. In fact, I watched on golfer almost mirror his performance on a single hole from the prior day (same club, same shot, similar hole placement, etc.).

We just finished witnessing a historic PGA Masters Tournament as golf fans. We don’t see that Rory 100% of the time. We got a glimpse of him last week. We won’t get that type of story on the LIV Golf broadcasts. LIV Golf doesn’t have the attachment of a storied legacy like Augusta to compete with the PGA.

So is LIV Golf going away after 2026?

We don’t have any real answers to that yet. We’re still having too much fun with the 2026 tour in play. Right now, as far as we all know, it is a lot of talk with very little substance to go with it. No decisions have been made. No changes have been implemented. It’s just the buzz of the business right now.

Read the April 15th ESPN article from Mark Schlabach available online.

Also, check out Joel Beall’s article on LIV Golf’s finances and future for www.golfdigest.com.

Rory Goes Back to Back at Augusta

Only four people have done it.

Tiger.

Nick Faldo.

Jack Nicklaus.

And now. . . Rory McIlroy.

Aside from the Southern charm and the pageantry of the Masters, Rory faced a challenge many kept buzzing about all the way through the final hole.

Plenty of folks second-guessed Rory. They felt like he was losing his grip. They saw him as one of the guys who had passed his prime.

Greatness will always be met with some form of criticism. It attracts naysayers and haters alike.

Now, as Rory makes his victory lap amid the PGA superstars, you can only imagine what will be said next.

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Getting Fit for the Fairway

Let’s not lie to ourselves. Aging and fitness do not always align themselves with our personal aspirations.

I’m being serious, y’all!

Regular Exercise

Regular exercise is more like some form of geriatric preventive care equivalent to morning breakfast shakes of Ensure. I hit the gym for a workout at least 4 days per week, adding in 2 days of deep stretching, yoga and cardio.

And, at times, I feel like that doesn’t cut it. It is as if there needs to be an additional workout for making up for the kinks and the aches and pains that the regular exercise create for me. I just don’t think such a thing truly exists for us who are undergoing aging.

Extended Recovery Time

Recovering from an injury seems to take forever nowadays. It doesn’t matter if it’s a twisted ankle or a busted knee, the amount of time to properly recover seems to drag on for ages. To truly recover from an injury these days, you have to spend some time working on your own rebound.

To recover from an injury today, you need the right liquids and supplements to digest along with the proper pain medications in moderation. You cannot simply pop a few Advil and keep it pushing. Recovery does not work like that. You need braces or KT Tape, even the proper medicated sports tape for wrapping areas of soreness for conditioning and rehab during recovery.

No room for softies who cannot take the bountiful scent of Icy Hot after a simple workout.

Finding My Way Back to the Fairway

Due to the recent barrage of injuries, I haven’t jumped back on the course immediately. However, I train with golf in mind. I train with walking at least 9 holes with a lightweight golf bag slung across my back as my goal for summertime this year. I train with golf on my brain.

By the time I make it back onto the fairway, I expect my scores to be regulated by week #3 if I go out there consistently. I plan to play a full round of 18 holes at least 2x’s per month. By this time next year, I will play twice as much. However, for right now, I am suited for increasing my weekly workouts and adding some more cardio with running and hiking. Let’s see where that gets us.

AIG Women’s Open Final Results

Japan’s Yamashita led all golfers most of the tournament with consistent bogey-free golf. She wasn’t big on distance. She didn’t lay out any high-powered drives to speak of at all. Round by round, she played consistently and steadily.

We can’t say the same for the competition.

England’s Georgia Hall finished 1 under par on Sunday. Her comeback is still in the works. Hall remains one of the top LPGA players when it comes to tournament top finishers.

Japan’s Takeda finished the tournament with a 71 for the final round. Her 7 under was not enough to compete with Yamashita’s dominating position on the leaderboard at 12 under at that time.

It appeared that both A.L. Kim and Charlie Hull were Yamashita’s top competitors.

A.L. Kim was all over the course off the tee. She could have used some of Yamashita’s top scrambling abilities to recover from a few of those tee shots landing in the rough. Nevertheless, she could not finish the final round any better than 1 over par, ending up tied for 4th with Takeda.

Rock Bottom Golf Triple Feature Sale!

Hull tried her best to rev up the engine down the final round’s stretch but it just did not work out for her. She had 2 bogeys leading up to the final hole, narrowing her chances of chasing down Yamashita. At that rate, Hull was depending more on a mistake on Yamashita’s part than a great play on her own end.

It never went down that way.

Yamashita proved why big time players grab a lead and hold onto it relentlessly on the leaderboard. She offered no place for any of her competitors to break into the lead. She was composed. She was consistent. She was the epitome of a top player in the lead on display.

Congratulations to Miyu Yamashita!

Former No. 1 Amateur wins Women’s Scottish Open in Her Pro Debut

Not many amateurs make an impression when competing with the professionals. Lottie Woad left a lasting impression last year as an amateur. However, playing as pro makes a major difference, especially when it comes to expectations and pressure.

When it came to the 2025 Women’s Scottish Open, Lottie Woad did not disappoint on any level during any round in her professional debut on LPGA Tour.


Lottie Woad, a former No. 1 amateur in the world, stepped up at the Women’s Scottish Open to take home the victory and prize money. The English phenom took on Dundonald Links and did not let off the gas until she was raising the trophy to symbolize her first victory on the LPGA Tour.

This victory should more than proved she’s ready for the pressure of the professional game. Her final round of 68 led to her finishing the tourney at 21 under par. That was enough to clear secure her first professional victory while competing with Nelly Korda and other top LPGA pros. This victory marks Wood’s start and makes an impressive statement about what she plans to do on the LPGA Tour this year.

What else can we expect from this English golfer who has snagged the attention of women’s golf for the moment?

She should focus on staying on top of her game throughout this initial pro season. Even if she doesn’t kill another tournament like she did this one, she can remain relevant. It’s best that she not go dark or end up in some dark place due to depression and disappointment from the onslaught of public pressure .

In the Process of Development

No matter how you may have heard about this story, this is how it really went that day:

It was Christmas Eve. I was off of work for the winter holidays. I was off-duty from managing anything and everything related to my mom because my cousin was visiting and she wanted time with Mom that afternoon. Cool! I set up a tee time and loaded the clubs to hit Mission Trails.

I was worry-free. Mom’s care at the facility was going well and I figured we’d celebrate Christmas and the new year before making any decisions beyond that.

I was so carefree that day that my swing was on target. I hit the 2nd and 3rd holes in regulation. I had a par on the 2nd hole after opening the round with a par on a long par 5 1st hole. The 3rd hole give me grief with a my par shot lipping put of the hole.

I tackled the 4th hole like I owned it.

Anyone who has played Mission Trails before knows that the 4th hole starts with an elevated tee shot aimed at an equally-elevated green nestled in the side of a hill that makes anything that isn’t perfect roll down that hill into running water. I teed up from the whites on that elevated block of grass and ripped a shot that felt like it just absorbed all my power into it. I lost sight of the ball in the trees and i figured I was chipping from the ravine down below.

I went in search of my ball along with the rest of my foursome. I didn’t see it near the ravine and I continued to ride along the ravine, hoping that it hadn’t rolled down with so much momentum that it went on the other side of the ravine.

Leave it to me to leave the positive thinking back in the car while on the golf course.

“Hey, Man!” one of my foursome called out from just above the green overhead. “Your ball is up here.”

I made my way up there with haste. In my thinking, “up here” had to mean on the fringe or even on the side of the hill just above the green. As my cart eased into position behind the others, I could not believe my eyes. My ball was about 10 feet from the hole.

I walked up to the ball on the green to mark it, but the reality of it all was that I was checking to ensure that this was really my Pinnacle Rush with my mark on it. It was mine. I left my marker there and commenced to cleaning my ball as I pondered how my TaylorMade Burner 3 wood had proven worthy of its weight in my bag.

After the other guys worked their way onto the green with some nice chipping and pitching, even a recovery shot from behind some pine trees, we started working our way to getting the ball into the hole. I was up third with a straight but bumpy 10-foot ride to the hole. I stroked it a little too heavy and it rolled and bounced its way right beyond the cup.

I settled for a birdie.

And how does that sound?

Me. . . settling for a birdie. . . as if, you know.

That’s when I got the call.

Mom had just passed.

I had leave. I excused myself from the foursome and wished them the best as I rolled the cart at a high speed back to the clubhouse. I dropped off the cart in an obscure spot and facing the wrong way near the bar that is perched above the green of the 18th hole. I drug my clubs to my car.

I wanted to change my clothes or at least my shoes, but I couldn’t do it.

I just cried for a moment.

Breast cancer had defeated my mom after a long and hard fought battle.

She was gone now. And I felt like someone had punched me in my gut and gave me the whooping of a lifetime.

The plan is to host 2 golf tournaments. One golf tournament in December to honor the passing of my mother and the other in August to celebrate my mom’s birthday. The tourney in December would focus on a drive for donations to the American Cancer Society (San Diego), while the tourney in August would focus on supporting minority education in the greater San Diego area (a cause that my mother thrived to support throughout her lifetime in San Diego).

Subscribe to this blog and stay updated as we prepare to launch these special events in honor of Mom.

Hideki Matsuyama Wins the FedEx St Jude Against the Odds

When we think about beating the odds, we usually think about stuff that we could easily hurdle and conquer. For most of us weekend golfers, that might include a golf ball neatly dropped into a gopher hole just off the fairway or a pack of geese trampling your golf ball on an otherwise-smooth green. We usually don’t think of the stuff that requires a little extra boost of energy and internal strength.

Hideki Matsuyama wasn’t facing those types of odds on his way to winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship this past week.

Prior to the major golf event, Matsuyama, his caddie, and his coach were all robbed at a London airport. Oddly enough, this resulted in both Matsuyma’s caddie and coach losing their passports and being forced to return to Japan to have them reissued to them.

Matsuyama was headed to Memphis on his own. Neither his regular caddie or long-term coach would be there with him.

And what does he do?

He wins that golf tournament with his caddie or coach. He won the tournament by making a birdie on each of the 2 final holes of the tournament. After having recently won the bronze medal in Olympic golf in Paris, Matsuyama looks like he is in full swing again. At this rate, I can’t wait to see what else a player like Matsuyama can do in the future.

Choices Come with Consequences

Golf can be one of those ventures that has big rewards and payoffs for taking certain risks. Yet, it also has some real simple consequences for taking other types of risks. That’s just some conventional wisdom for the course for you to nibble on to start out right now.

 What I really wanted to dig into was the multiple hole playoff between Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and rookie sensation Jesper Svensson at the Porsche Singapore Classic. Those powerful drives amid strong gusts of wind along with those clutch putts made for stellar drama on the 18th hole. however, even that storyline had to take a back seat to what I witnessed among the LPGA players at Fir Hills for the Seri Pak Championship.

Ruoning Yin added a whole load of drama to the uneventful closure of the third round at Fir Hills. Everyone seemed to make more of a thing about former USC golfer Malia Nam returning to LPGA play and standing out among the top players at Fir Hills, but it appears that Yin was intent upon taking big risks to finish the day off. And that’s one thing that stole the spotlight from Malia Nam’s steady play for remaining in contention for a share of the lead and a potential shot at victory.

Leading the Pack Since Round 2

Yin was ahead of her fellow players at -11 coming into the 18th hole. Her tee shot landed her in the rough amid some trees with low-hanging branches. That left her with a decision to make. And this is where many of us recreational golfers could both readily and easily empathize with the Chinese golfer’s agonizing decision. She decided on a low punch shot between the trees rather than a high percentage shot like a pitch back into the fairway from the rough.

As I watched on, I recognized the predicament. No one was within any closer to her than 2 strokes. She had the outright lead and her game seemed to be working for her.

Yin Pays the Price

Yin drew back and made an attempt at punching it, and then all you heard was the thud of a golf ball striking bark. Anyone who has played on a course with any kind of woods on it knows that sound. It’s so distinct that it’s almost haunting.

In fact this sound was merely the awakening of a steady dwindle on a downward spiral with little to no chance of return or even redemption.

And that’s putting it lightly.

Consequences continued to come against her as she and her caddie sought some relief from her ball ending what looked like a drain and within a club length of a work shed. But even with that drop and hitting 4 from the rough, Yin ended up short of the green on the 18th. That left her pitching upward to try to finish up the hole.

Things didn’t work out well for her at all on 18. She finished the hole with a triple bogey. She finished the round even at 71 for the day. She ended up tied for third at -7 after holding onto the lead most of the day.

Look at the Lesson

Yin isn’t by herself.

I’ve been there before.

How about you?

Have you ever had that one hole that just tore up everything that you have put together throughout a decent round? I bet it burned you intensely. I would imagine how badly it would feel to have everything going right and then BOOM! It all just falls apart.

Yin is the defending champion for the tournament. She even had a better understanding of the course layout and structure from the prior year’s victory. Hopefully, she recovered and can make the most of this final round at Fir Hills today. But, like many of us, she took a high risk and it cost her enough strokes to shock her. Either way, it surely caught my attention away from Svensson and Aphibarnrat battling for a new Porsche and $450,000.

Who knows? If given the opportunity again, I might try to punch it through the trees, too.

Golf is anything but easy.

A Storied Ending of the West Coast Swing

The Genesis Invitational was set to provide a thrilling storyline for pro golf. In fact, this pro golf tournament tournament hosted by Tiger Woods on behalf of TGR Foundation is held at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. It serves as a befitting end to the West Coast Swing portion of the annual golf season.

What we got from the Genesis Invitational was way more than any of us bargained for along with most probably less Tiger Woods than we originally expected to see. The lineups and foursomes were great pairings for viewers of the event. The struggles on the course called for some sensational news like Cantlay fighting to maintain an early lead or Jordan Spieth getting disqualified for signing the wrong score on his scorecard. That all came around the same time that we heard about Tiger having back spasms and other issues on the course. It wasn’t long before we got word of Tiger pulling out of the tournament altogether.

All of that made for great fodder, but the true story was being etched out day by day on the course. Hideki Matsuyama was delivering sub-70 golf scores daily at Riviera starting with an opening round of 69 and ending with a final round 62. Matsuyama finished the tournament with a 6 stroke lead at the end. Matsuyama took home a $4 million dollar prize and an additional 700 Fedexcup Points.

Watching the final round of the tournament had me looking for who might catch up to Matsuyama and provide another playoff weekend. But that never happened here. Masuyama maintained his lead at a safe distance from his competitors and won this tournament free and clear.

After watching a post-game interview with Hideki Matsuyama sharing about overcoming back issues and his closing in on the course record during this final round, I was motivated. I was motivated to pick up my irons and chip and putt for some more practice around the green. According to Matsuyama, everything was not working for him during the entire final round, but he was able to remain consistent with his short game and his putting. That told me that we all can tee it up high and let it fly, but if we’re going to keep winging we better do it strategically to stay the course.