Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Today (December 30, if you’re reading this blog the day it’s posted) is Tiger Woods’ 46th birthday. The same age at which Jack Nicklaus won his last major championship, the 1986 Masters. That won’t be happening for Woods.

Earlier this month he hosted but did not play in the Hero Challenge in the Bahamas and then did play with his 12-year-old son, Charlie, in the 36-hole PNC Championship in Florida. They finished second, two shots behind John and John Daly, charging through the field with 11 consecutive birdies in one stretch. But it’s one thing to do that, quite another to play tournament golf even close to the stratospheric level Tiger’s game used to be capable of producing. That’s what near-fatal car crashes can do to you.

 

If we believe what he says, Woods is relaxed about this scenario. Maybe no shock there, given that the amputation of his right leg had been a strong possibility after his horrendous car crash in Los Angeles last February. “I got that last major,” he said, referring to the 2019 Masters, which he won almost 11 years after his previous major. “I don’t foresee this leg ever being what it used to be and the clock is ticking. I don’t have the desire to do all that [work anymore]. I have made the climb enough times.” Even if he wouldn’t be able to be competitive, he hopes to play in the Open in July. “I would love to play at St Andrews, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “It’s my favourite golf course in the world. Physically, I hope I can. The tournament is not going to go anywhere but I need to get there.”

What Woods will not talk about is the crash itself, which fortunately involved no other vehicle and came when he was driving at between 84 and 87 mph in a 45 mph limit. A police officer told reporters in April that Woods had applied almost full pressure to the accelerator and none to the brake. It surely must have been a potentially catastrophic error; he was reportedly running late for a film shoot, but Tiger Woods doesn’t rush for anyone. Film shoots wait for him. Woods said: “People are going to poke and prod and want to know more about my business. I understand that. They can poke and prod at me all they want. Just stay away from my family.” An odd thing to say: until he just did, no one had involved his family in the incident of the accident.

There is nothing funny about a huge car crash but there was an amusing touch to the fact that Woods told the California police who were first on the scene that he thought he was home in Florida. In May 2017, after being arrested by police while asleep at the wheel of his stationary car with five drugs (but no alcohol) in his system, he was in Florida but apparently thought he was in California. Whatever, remarkably, within two more years he would be winning big again in Georgia.

The facts would suggest that while Woods, with 15 majors, has no chance of catching Nicklaus on 18, he is also likely to remain tied with Sam Snead on 82 PGA Tour titles. Or might there be one more miracle left?

 

You can follow Robert Green on Twitter @robrtgreen and enjoy his other blog f-factors.com plus you can read more by him on golf at robertgreengolf.com

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

 

Background

Before being hired as the Director of Sports and Business Development, Hazel Clark was an Olympic Track and Field Athlete with a diverse record of experience and accomplishments in television, coaching, health/wellness program administration, marketing and sales. She has extensive national and international travel experience interacting with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. 

The Clark Story

The moment I decided to leave the US and permanently move to Bermuda was the moment that set me on the path to the life I have now. I moved to Bermuda in 2017 to start a life with my now-husband after we met during one of my previous visits. As someone who prides herself on being a planner, this move was one of the first times I made a major decision without a detailed follow-up plan. I have a deep appreciation for Bermuda, especially as it’s a place my husband considers home, but it’s always difficult to leave home, no matter how great the future may be. 

It wasn’t until I saw an ad in the newspaper for the newly created Director of Sports and Business Development role at the Bermuda Tourism Authority that I knew actually what my next move would be. I was worried I wouldn’t find something to be passionate about in my professional life, but when I saw that ad, it felt like a sign. 

 

 

As a former Olympian, I had been a professional athlete for most of life and while I’ve been fortunate to work with incredible companies I mentioned previously, nothing has invigorated me quite like my current work with the Bermuda Tourism Authority. After leaving the world of track and field, I’ve always looked for opportunities that carry the same spirit of challenge and competition and my work with the BTA has definitely provided that feeling. 

We’ve had great success with hosting some of the world’s premier events from triathlons to PGA Championships, sailing events, and more. Although I’ve transitioned out of working directly with the island’s sports tourism to a more holistic business development role, being able to have had an influence in an industry and place I love has been incredibly rewarding. However, none of this would have been possible if I had never taken the leap to move to Bermuda.

 

***

You wake up in the morning -- what's the driving passion?

My role as director of global sales and business development enables me to make significant contributions to Bermuda, my second home and a place I love. There is so much potential in front of us I find it hard to sleep. It is extremely exciting to play a role in helping Bermuda capture opportunities and position our tourism product as competitively as possible.

How much of a tourism falloff has impacted Bermuda commencing in March 2019 and extending through 2020?

In 2019, Bermuda experienced record levels of visitors to the island and this trend was expected to continue throughout 2020. But then the pandemic hit. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bermuda government undertook decisive action closing the island’s borders for several months to ensure the safety of its residents. Upon reopening its borders, Bermuda implemented a variety of COVID-19 protocols designed to help keep its residents and all travelers safe. 

Like many other tourism destinations worldwide the island was slow to regain visitors in the face of the changing nature of the pandemic and travelers’ comfort levels. In the meantime, Bermuda turned to other innovative solutions to bolster tourism and local businesses including launching the Work From Bermuda Certificate, a digital nomad program granting them residency for a year, virtual components for signature events like Restaurant Weeks, and initiatives encouraging locals to support on-island businesses. 

 

How much of a resurgence has there been in 2021 and what do you see happening as we move into 2022?

Our tourism numbers have not yet returned to 2019 levels but there has been an improvement from last year’s drop-off. Moving into 2022, we remain positive regarding travel thanks to signs like the length of stay for leisure visitors and visitors overall continuing to surpass 2019 figures. It will be a gradual process to return to the levels we were at in 2019, but the Bermuda Tourism Authority is dedicated to the task. We are currently working with the government to assist with updating our travel protocols based on the latest testing technology and global vaccination rates to be less of an obstacle to attracting travelers to the island.

The most underappreciated element when visiting Bermuda is what?

Bermuda is known for many things from our beautiful pink sand beaches to turquoise waters, but I’d have to say the sports tourism industry could stand to be recognized more by the average traveler. Globally Bermuda’s standing is acknowledged by some of the most influential names in the business from the USTA to the World Triathlon Association to the PGA and this recognition allows us to host some of their most prestigious events.

 

How important has it been for overall exposure and tourism given the staging the PGA Tour's Butterfield Bermuda Championship held in early November?

Events like the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship underscore Bermuda’s sports credibility and capabilities while exposing us to a well aligned visitor audience.

How big a role do the various golf offerings throughout Bermuda have on revenue generation for tourism?

Bermuda is an ideal location for golf, with the highest concentration of golf courses in the world for its size. Bermuda’s proximity to the Northeast United States positions us as an ideal winter hub enabling us to strengthen our year-round tourism product. 

Additionally, our signature golf events, properties and packages have enabled us to extend revenue from other tourism sectors and deliver tremendous value to the destination. Golf visitors spend significantly more than leisure visitors and this impact is felt island wide.

 

What was the genesis for the Black Golf weekend (played November 5-6, 2021) and how successful was the event?

The Bermuda Tourism Authority created the Black Golfers week to amplify the rich history of black golf in Bermuda and to enhance the accessibility and inclusivity of the sport of golf to members of the black community. Attracting a diverse group of travelers and promoting awareness of the island’s black history has long been a goal of the Bermuda Tourism Authority and this was a great opportunity to extend this narrative into our strong sports tourism arm. 

By approximate percentages what countries represent the largest grouping of visitors based on most recent data?

Based on our most recent visitor’s report, the US (83%) is responsible for the largest number of visitors, followed by the UK with 10%. 

 

Bermuda has had a reputation in being an expensive place to vacation -- how valid is that and what steps are taken to ensure Bermuda is a place where a variety of income levels can visit?

Bermuda has a reputation for luxury travel as the island is home to a variety of top-tier properties like the St. Regis Bermuda and Hamilton Princess & Beach Club in addition to being a superyacht destination. However, the island welcomes all travelers with the same warm hospitality. Avoiding the peak travel season and visiting during fall, or what locals call “the secret season”, is a great way to keep travel costs down. The island has also introduced Airbnb, another option to reduce travel costs. 

Fall in Bermuda boasts warm weather and sunshine, and with a low likelihood of rainfall, it’s the perfect time for outdoor activities like hiking, boating, enjoying spiny lobster season and so much more. Another way would be taking advantage of the amazing deals and packages the island’s partners offer. These packages are offered year-round and target everyone from golf lovers to cruise takers to spa fanatics, giving them a chance to experience the island’s best at a discounted rate. 

 

What makes Bermuda stand out among all other nearby islands - whether in the general Atlantic or Caribbean areas?

There truly isn’t just one unique thing about Bermuda, but rather a variety of them that make it stand out against other Caribbean destinations.  Bermuda’s unique location in the Atlantic provides an extraordinarily pleasant climate that rarely sees extremes of either hot or cold and the northernmost coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean are just offshore.

In addition, as Bermuda was historically one of the first stop for sailors between Europe, Africa, and the Americas the culture of Bermuda is a unique mixture of all those influences. Aside from the people, this fusion of influences can be seen easily in our culture and cuisine. 

***

For more info go to:

www.gotobermuda.com

World Golf Ranking 52/2021

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World Golf Ranking 52/2021

World Golf Ranking 52/2021

This Week	Last week	Nat.	Player	Avg. Pts.	Total Points	Pts Lost (2021)	Pts Won (2021)	Events Played
1	1	ESP	Jon Rahm	9.53	400.41	-411.25	342.51	42
2	2	USA	Collin Morikawa	8.76	437.87	-260.58	418.14	50
3	3	USA	Dustin Johnson	7.12	284.8	-371.29	149.29	38
4	4	USA	Patrick Cantlay	6.46	258.48	-233.23	242.87	35
5	7	USA	Bryson DeChambeau	6.43	263.67	-278.38	208.29	41
6	5	USA	Xander Schauffele	6.39	287.5	-286.57	249.82	45
7	6	USA	Justin Thomas	6.37	299.58	-359.72	237.31	47
8	8	NOR	Viktor Hovland	6.33	329.37	-173.5	307.22	53
9	9	NIR	Rory McIlroy	6.28	276.52	-310.95	266	44
10	10	RSA	Louis Oosthuizen	5.30	227.97	-183.32	226.06	43
11	12	USA	Sam Burns	5.19	244.01	-75.12	267.22	47
12	11	USA	Scottie Scheffler	5.08	264.11	-157.62	260.62	55
13	13	USA	Harris English	5.03	236.19	-159.44	226.6	47
14	14	USA	Jordan Spieth	4.90	220.48	-123.41	266.57	45
15	15	USA	Tony Finau	4.89	254.04	-220.49	259.72	52
16	16	USA	Brooks Koepka	4.88	195.05	-243.42	214.52	39
17	17	MEX	Abraham Ancer	4.85	252.39	-181.13	242.39	55
18	18	JPN	Hideki Matsuyama	4.79	244.51	-204.85	236.13	51
19	19	USA	Daniel Berger	4.66	186.31	-171.35	155.31	39
20	21	USA	Jason Kokrak	4.41	211.76	-143.7	187.42	48
21	20	AUS	Cameron Smith	4.41	198.34	-138.92	170.8	45
22	22	ENG	Tyrrell Hatton	4.28	192.67	-230.67	134.61	45
23	23	USA	Billy Horschel	4.24	216	-149.89	225.48	51
24	24	ENG	Matt Fitzpatrick	4.10	213.44	-198.78	174.22	53
25	25	USA	Patrick Reed	4.05	210.8	-276.51	183.8	58

World Golf Ranking 52/2021

World Golf Ranking 52/2021

This Week	Last week	Nat.	Player	Avg. Pts.	Total Points	Pts Lost (2021)	Pts Won (2021)	Events Played
26	26	KOR	Sungjae Im	3.98	207.18	-191.8	188.02	64
27	28	USA	Webb Simpson	3.90	155.9	-238.82	106.96	40
28	27	ENG	Paul Casey	3.83	176.16	-186.65	191.47	46
29	29	USA	Kevin Na	3.76	176.95	-144.54	190.52	47
30	31	USA	Matthew Wolff	3.09	132.96	-126.73	75.28	43
31	30	CHI	Joaquin Niemann	3.06	159.29	-137.37	166.9	54
32	32	USA	Talor Gooch	2.90	150.77	-69.25	139.46	54
33	35	USA	Phil Mickelson	2.85	114.2	-85.75	120.1	40
34	33	USA	Will Zalatoris	2.85	136.77	-86.65	141.6	48
35	36	USA	Max Homa	2.83	144.22	-99.23	168.74	51
36	34	AUS	Marc Leishman	2.81	126.3	-141.53	119.62	45
37	37	ENG	Lee Westwood	2.67	120.03	-125.82	112.95	45
38	38	CAN	Corey Conners	2.64	137.43	-114.51	138.6	54
39	39	CAN	Mackenzie Hughes	2.56	132.93	-90.51	107.76	53
40	40	ENG	Tommy Fleetwood	2.53	126.36	-194.53	102.54	50
41	41	AUS	Lucas Herbert	2.50	100.09	-64.65	90.1	39
42	42	USA	Kevin Kisner	2.46	122.79	-140.56	84.76	50
43	43	ENG	Justin Rose	2.45	105.14	-139.26	100.92	43
44	44	IRL	Shane Lowry	2.44	126.81	-152.9	125.25	54
45	46	ESP	Sergio Garcia	2.44	117.05	-115.28	111.29	48
46	45	AUS	Adam Scott	2.40	96.13	-149.11	82.73	35
47	48	USA	Ryan Palmer	2.38	107.02	-119.34	91.7	45
48	47	RSA	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	2.34	121.59	-122.79	87.77	53
49	49	AUS	Min Woo Lee	2.25	94.47	-39.57	94.88	42
50	50	JPN	Takumi Kanaya	2.24	89.51	-42.68	78.82	35
51	51	USA	Cameron Tringale	2.17	106.39	-59.78	102.86	49
52	52	KOR	Siwoo Kim	2.16	112.36	-87.71	121.74	58
53	53	USA	Stewart Cink	2.15	96.57	-54.67	104.39	45
54	54	ENG	Ian Poulter	2.12	110.33	-101.25	96.96	53
55	55	SCO	Robert MacIntyre	2.11	101.24	-98.46	94.37	48
56	56	MEX	Carlos Ortiz	2.11	109.57	-84.48	88.52	52
57	57	USA	Russell Henley	2.10	98.93	-78.73	75.53	47
58	58	AUT	Bernd Wiesberger	2.02	96.84	-121.58	89.57	48
59	59	COL	Sebastian Munoz	2.01	104.7	-90.79	92.81	62
60	60	RSA	Garrick Higgo	1.99	103.65	-62.17	104.08	52
61	61	USA	Brian Harman	1.99	103.24	-86.25	110.12	52
62	62	USA	Chan Kim	1.97	78.97	-61.75	70.01	38
63	63	KOR	Kyoung-Hoon Lee	1.91	99.16	-52.52	119.8	58
64	64	RSA	Erik van Rooyen	1.90	98.64	-101.76	85.96	53
65	65	BEL	Thomas Pieters	1.89	75.5	-63.88	71.21	40
66	68	USA	Aaron Wise	1.88	84.82	-45.07	70.25	45
67	66	RSA	Dean Burmester	1.88	97.54	-48.7	95.96	54
68	67	RSA	Branden Grace	1.86	96.56	-72.39	101.38	54
69	70	USA	Maverick McNealy	1.84	92.08	-50.08	90.33	50
70	72	JPN	Ryosuke Kinoshita	1.82	74.61	-27.83	72.7	41
71	69	SWE	Alex Noren	1.82	94.44	-69.08	85.92	52
72	71	IRL	Seamus Power	1.80	72.11	-20.7	76.69	37
73	74	RSA	Shaun Norris	1.78	88.95	-66.46	82.21	50
74	76	ENG	Richard Bland	1.76	82.9	-41.13	81.47	47
75	75	USA	Charley Hoffman	1.76	89.91	-64.76	96.69	51
76	77	RSA	Daniel van Tonder	1.76	86.25	-45.19	83.11	49
77	73	USA	Kevin Streelman	1.76	91.34	-99.02	77.03	54
78	78	ENG	Matt Wallace	1.71	88.77	-110.71	74.93	58
79	79	AUS	Cameron Davis	1.70	85.05	-49.87	94.36	50
80	81	DEN	Marcus Helligkilde	1.69	67.47	-9.21	69.06	38
81	80	FRA	Victor Perez	1.69	77.57	-117.32	61.22	46
82	82	USA	Bubba Watson	1.67	66.61	-88.35	44.57	40
83	84	VEN	Jhonattan Vegas	1.65	79.2	-45.17	86.04	48
84	86	USA	Cameron Champ	1.63	73.26	-79.58	60.41	45
85	83	USA	Rickie Fowler	1.62	69.62	-86.51	63.27	43
86	85	ENG	Laurie Canter	1.62	74.31	-40.42	60.28	46
87	88	USA	Keegan Bradley	1.61	79.08	-67.96	81.93	49
88	87	ITA	Guido Migliozzi	1.59	76.16	-51.25	88.79	48
89	90	USA	Keith Mitchell	1.58	82.21	-51.46	84.81	53
90	94	USA	Joel Dahmen	1.57	78.7	-85.57	62.18	50
91	89	BEL	Thomas Detry	1.57	81.68	-72.31	69.11	53
92	91	ARG	Emiliano Grillo	1.57	81.6	-59.08	85.16	57
93	96	DEN	Nicolai Hojgaard	1.57	70.59	-15	73.74	45
94	92	USA	Harold Varner III	1.55	80.75	-65.19	81.07	52
95	93	USA	Chris Kirk	1.55	68.2	-39.34	82.16	44
96	97	DEN	Rasmus Hojgaard	1.55	71.11	-59.81	59.57	46
97	98	JPN	Rikuya Hoshino	1.54	64.62	-56.08	60.91	42
98	95	CHI	Guillermo Mito Pereira	1.53	79.79	-26.45	84.68	52
99	102	JPN	Yuki Inamori	1.52	60.71	-29.4	46.1	40
100	99	ESP	Santiago Tarrio Ben	1.50	59.96	-19.09	61.32	37
101	100	ENG	Aaron Rai	1.49	74.43	-59	50.74	50
102	103	USA	Brendan Steele	1.49	68.36	-59.67	65.25	46
103	104	USA	Johannes Veerman	1.48	64.95	-24.3	63.07	44
104	101	AUS	Matt Jones	1.47	76.35	-79.05	84.89	55
105	105	USA	Troy Merritt	1.44	74.91	-55.37	72.75	58
106	106	DEN	Joachim B Hansen	1.44	74.73	-44.22	60.27	53
107	107	USA	Lanto Griffin	1.42	73.99	-92.1	62.56	57
108	108	RSA	Charl Schwartzel	1.42	62.49	-34.66	63.3	44
109	110	ZIM	Scott Vincent	1.42	73.77	-39.82	70.48	53
110	112	USA	Tom Hoge	1.41	73.54	-59.69	65.79	62
111	111	RSA	Dylan Frittelli	1.41	73.31	-77.99	51.85	58
112	113	SVK	Rory Sabbatini	1.41	73.25	-67.15	70	53
113	116	WAL	Jamie Donaldson	1.41	61.89	-29.75	52.06	44
114	109	USA	Matt Kuchar	1.41	66.06	-132.48	57.81	47
115	114	ENG	Sam Horsfield	1.40	61.53	-56.35	50.82	44
116	118	FRA	Antoine Rozner	1.39	66.74	-59.7	59.12	48
117	117	USA	Gary Woodland	1.38	65.09	-132.62	60.18	47
118	115	GER	Martin Kaymer	1.37	56.29	-65.8	43.74	41
119	120	RSA	Justin Harding	1.36	70.49	-60.3	74.94	59
120	124	USA	Lucas Glover	1.35	68.95	-68.55	66.21	51
121	121	USA	Taylor Moore	1.35	59.4	-13.77	66.39	44
122	122	FRA	Julien Brun	1.35	53.82	-16.44	49.4	38
123	119	AUS	Jason Day	1.35	56.5	-91.33	31.74	42
124	132	JPN	Jinichiro Kozuma	1.34	54.75	-17.93	48.48	41
125	125	USA	Robert Streb	1.33	67.87	-45.98	42.75	51
126	126	ENG	Danny Willett	1.32	68.73	-96.03	63.67	53
127	123	USA	Brendon Todd	1.32	68.62	-94.66	51.66	53
128	130	JPN	Hideto Tanihara	1.31	52.49	-19.02	39.68	31
129	128	GER	Stephan Jaeger	1.31	62.65	-34.36	60.27	48
130	127	USA	John Catlin	1.30	67.7	-58.61	50.14	53
131	129	KOR	Joohyung Kim(June2002)	1.30	52.03	-43.42	50.34	34
132	131	SCO	Martin Laird	1.30	51.85	-49.75	31.95	39
133	135	SWE	Alexander Bjork	1.30	57	-24.08	55.52	44
134	133	USA	Cameron Young	1.29	51.5	-13.6	53.88	37
135	134	SCO	Calum Hill(Nov1994)	1.29	64.32	-46.73	71.33	50
136	138	USA	Kramer Hickok	1.26	59.29	-28.02	64.44	47
137	136	USA	Harry Higgs	1.25	65.07	-61.43	56.67	54
138	141	JPN	Tomoharu Otsuki	1.23	55.31	-32.08	49.45	45
139	139	JPN	Shugo Imahira	1.23	52.7	-79.1	45.71	43
140	137	ENG	Andy Sullivan	1.22	59.98	-72.82	32.89	49
141	142	ESP	Adri Arnaus	1.20	57.81	-55.76	49.66	48
142	140	USA	Adam Long	1.20	62.48	-81.17	33.15	59
143	143	USA	Patton Kizzire	1.18	59.11	-38.51	60.24	50
144	144	USA	Sean Crocker	1.18	59.05	-30.7	49.08	50
145	145	TPE	C.T. Pan	1.18	60.03	-55.24	56.38	51
146	146	POR	Ricardo Gouveia	1.14	45.8	-6.42	48.76	37
147	151	JPN	Mikumu Horikawa	1.14	49.96	-37.73	42.51	44
148	148	AUS	Jason Scrivener	1.13	48.75	-49.47	56.47	43
149	150	ENG	Marcus Armitage	1.13	56.58	-32.1	49.52	50
150	149	CAN	Adam Hadwin	1.13	56.53	-76.28	55.64	50
151	147	USA	Luke List	1.12	58.11	-47.32	55.44	57
152	152	JPN	Yuta Ikeda(Dec1985)	1.11	44.57	-22.51	43.28	38
153	154	ESP	Rafa Cabrera Bello	1.10	57.07	-76.51	57.82	59
154	155	USA	Adam Schenk	1.10	56.96	-35.92	54.5	58
155	153	USA	Greyson Sigg	1.09	54.68	-26.85	50.84	50
156	156	USA	Andrew Putnam	1.09	56.5	-56.68	68.42	53
157	159	SCO	Grant Forrest	1.08	51.8	-22.6	48.87	48
158	161	DEN	Jeff Winther	1.07	48.13	-25.01	48.24	45
159	164	RSA	Oliver Bekker	1.06	53.15	-13.12	56.09	50
160	157	AUT	Matthias Schwab	1.06	53.02	-67.62	49.93	50
161	158	SWE	Henrik Norlander	1.06	55.08	-52.38	54.99	54
162	160	USA	Hudson Swafford	1.05	51.4	-30.3	45.62	49
163	166	POL	Adrian Meronk	1.05	50.18	-35.39	44.17	48
164	167	ITA	Francesco Laporta	1.04	50.05	-40.09	44.8	48
165	163	IRL	Padraig Harrington	1.04	41.56	-24.73	45.04	39
166	162	RSA	Brandon Stone	1.03	52.64	-49.16	55.24	51
167	165	JPN	Hiroshi Iwata	1.03	41.27	-22.9	39.05	38
168	169	USA	Hayden Buckley	1.02	43.01	-13.4	47.05	42
169	168	JPN	Masahiro Kawamura	1.02	53.17	-41.71	40.6	59
170	171	GER	Marcel Schneider	1.02	44.89	-19.05	41.03	44
171	170	JPN	Naoyuki Kataoka	1.01	40.48	-5.16	45.64	28
172	172	JPN	Kazuki Higa	1.01	42.43	-30.47	42.22	42
173	175	ENG	Daniel Gavins	0.98	41.32	-7.72	45.55	42
174	173	USA	J.T. Poston	0.98	50.83	-85.48	42.19	56
175	178	USA	Zach Johnson	0.95	41.98	-45.89	24.37	44
176	176	USA	Chad Ramey	0.95	46.72	-25.89	43.33	49
177	174	RSA	George Coetzee	0.95	45.61	-63.36	29.93	48
178	181	USA	Michael Thompson	0.95	43.52	-55.07	33.97	46
179	179	USA	Denny McCarthy	0.94	48.95	-42.51	45.42	57
180	180	FIN	Kalle Samooja	0.93	41.98	-44.94	37.47	45
181	182	CAN	Adam Svensson	0.93	44.76	-18.75	50.02	48
182	177	SWE	Henrik Stenson	0.93	39.12	-75.83	32.75	42
183	184	USA	David Lipsky	0.91	47.28	-44.28	48.7	52
184	183	JPN	Ryo Ishikawa	0.91	36.31	-52.01	26.85	39
185	185	FIN	Mikko Korhonen	0.89	35.59	-32.45	37.98	37
186	190	USA	Andrew Landry	0.89	40.87	-54.15	24.37	46
187	187	THA	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	0.88	39.69	-27.89	38.41	45
188	196	USA	Brandt Snedeker	0.88	40.52	-71.29	38.28	46
189	188	ENG	Andrew Johnston	0.88	35.11	-30.04	32.45	27
189	186	USA	Richy Werenski	0.88	44.76	-50.86	37.9	51
191	188	USA	Hank Lebioda	0.88	42.11	-26.89	43.7	48
192	203	JPN	Yosuke Asaji	0.88	35.96	-21.77	38.14	41
193	197	USA	Scott Stallings	0.87	43.73	-33.04	40.22	50
194	195	JPN	Tomohiro Ishizaka	0.87	34.92	-7.85	32.17	31
195	191	USA	Joseph Bramlett	0.87	45.37	-27.67	44.02	54
196	193	USA	Patrick Rodgers	0.87	45.24	-33.85	42.79	65
197	192	USA	Chez Reavie	0.87	45.22	-95.47	31.93	56
198	194	ESP	Adrian Otaegui	0.86	44.96	-39.88	27.07	53
199	198	THA	Phachara Khongwatmai	0.86	34.44	-18.09	30.97	25
200	200	SWE	Kristoffer Broberg	0.86	34.33	-2.3	36.63	24

World Golf Ranking 52/2021

 

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

 

TGA Premier Sports was launched in 2003 in twelve Los Angeles elementary schools creating the first after-school golf enrichment curriculum of its kind. In 2006, the demand grew for more programming and the enrichment program was scaled and re-launched as the first ever youth sports franchise company that specialized in golf.

TGA focuses on athletes ages 6-14, providing introductory and recreational golf programs at schools, parks and rec, and then transitions them to golf courses and other national programs. TGA has grown to be one of the leading junior golf programs in the industry reaching over 825,000 kids to date nationwide across 77 markets, 23 states (plus Washington D.C.), and Canada.

In 2021, Youth Athletes United, with 284 franchise units, recognized how TGA Premier Sports was the perfect complement to Amazing Athletes and Soccer stars filling a void in programming for older players. With the acquisition of TGA, Youth Athletes United took a major step toward its mission of becoming the largest and most encompassing youth sports organization in the country, with the goal of positively impacting more than 1 million kids each year.

 

​Background

Adam Geisler has spent his entire career around sports. The first ten years was with the 118-year-old global fitness and lifestyle brand, Everlast, where he became president. Following Everlast, Geisler led the startup sports performance company called MISSION. 

While at MISSION, he led Strategy, Merchandising, and Sales growing it to $50M. He then went on to Authentic Brands Group where he was the Global Brand Manager of their sports portfolio – Prince, Spyder, and Airwalk to name a few. Geisler, along with private equity firm Reynolds Channel, his partners and the pre-existing management team, co-founded Youth Athletes United. 

His goal of creating the largest youth sports franchise platform in the country is sweeping the nation with 284 franchise units across Soccer Stars, Amazing Athletes, JumpBunch and now TGA Premier Sports.

 

The Geisler Story

Growing up, playing sports was always a huge passion of mine. My favorite sport was basketball and when I was 13, my dream was to play it professionally. And, no one could convince me otherwise. I played and practiced every day and worked on my skills, but my ability never quite caught up to my desire and passion. So, when I was cut from the basketball team in the 11th grade, while it crushed me and I thought my sports career was over, I realized a life in sports was still achievable. My passion for sports, combined with my drive and dedication led me to a career in sports, after all.

I recognized that, like me, millions of kids nationwide might not make a sports team, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play sports or have sports impact their lives in a number of beneficial ways. Today, my desire to provide a better life for kids through sports is what drives me and I give all the credit to the sports and coaches in my life for helping me get here.

***

You wake up in the morning -- what' the driving passion that gets you going? 

I no longer have a job I have a passion and a goal. Every day we can have a profound impact on kids’ lives through sports like golf and grow the game for a living. I’m the most passionate I’ve been in my career because of how we are impacting kids through our sports programs.

The core mission of Youth Athletes United is what? 

We believe every kid is an athlete. If we can give them the confidence through fun and engaging content, while teaching them the fundamentals through sport, we have an athlete for life.

What specific benchmarks do you use in order to define success for the initiatives you carry out? 

We want to impact a million kids a year through our programs. In three short years, we’re a quarter of the way there. Success will be measured by accomplishing this goal with both registered programs as well as providing free and subsidized programming to underserved communities.

 

What impact has the pandemic played in term of the activities and related programs you are bringing forward? 

Parents and children are embracing outdoor activities and sports now more than ever. Participation rates are at all-time highs. Kids want to be active and social in fun and engaging environments. Parents have also been very excited and open to having their kids participate in the lifelong individual sports of golf and tennis where social distancing is built in, and they can also participate with them. This is a big reason why these two sports have seen double digit increases.

The compression of time in everyone's daily life weighs heavily in golf -- what specific steps can be brought to bear in dealing with this topic? 

There are two steps that can be made: First, I think we have to continue getting away from putting an emphasis on 18-holes, which the industry is already starting to do by promoting 6-holes or even less. We are currently doing this in a pilot program with our new TGA Golf Academy. This program focuses on key fundamentals of the game including short game, then transitions them to our partner golf course onsite where kids then play 3-holes. 

This leaves them wanting more and gets their families interested and joining them sometimes as well. When the family gets involved, they spend even more time on the golf course. Also, the growing popularity of short courses and playing forward tees is also helping to improve the time it can take to play. It was cool to see in the recent “Match” on TV that they played just 12-holes.

Golf is attracting more girls to the sport in recent years, but the bigger anchor is how does golf successfully engage minorities and those from the lowest levels on the socio-economic ladder? What's your take on this?

The largest barriers for lower income areas, minorities, or under resourced schools has been sustainable costs and getting kids to golf courses. It is important to find ways or create programs that bring golf directly to those areas. TGA’s model does that with our in-school programs promoting a pathway to the golf course, and we also do this with executing programs at under-resourced schools. 

The TGA Sports Foundation breaks down barriers to the entry point, while partnering with Youth On Course aids that transition to golf course making the pathway more sustainable and affordable for those lower on the socio-economic ladder.

 

What have you seen in your TGA programs with regards to girl’s participation? 

We have seen a significant increase in girls' participation over the years. Today, over 40 percent of our registrations are female, and it’s been very exciting to not only see that, but how they are transitioning and staying in the sport. In Detroit, our franchise saw over 40 girls the past two years who started golf with TGA, qualify for the Michigan state high school golf championships, as well as returning as coaches, and playing college golf.

If you could change one thing in golf unilaterally - what would it be and why?

The cost barrier to get into the game. From equipment prices to green fees, if golf ever wants to compete against mainstream sports like football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc., it needs to create pricing that attracts not only new players who might be interested but can’t afford it, but also for kids in under resourced communities. $100 for a pair of basketball shoes and a basketball, or $20 for a soccer ball is a long-ways from a $300-$500 set of golf clubs and $50 - $100 green fees.

All of the major golf organizations -- USGA, PGA of America, R&A, PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, et al -- talk about the importance of "growing the game." What letter grade do they receive for their efforts thus far and what counsel would you give them in regards to future actions in this area? 

I would give them an A-. I don’t think we could say that 10-15 years ago, but they have done an excellent job with programs like USGA Girls Golf, PGA Junior League, DCP, as well as First Tee. 

One of the areas they could focus more on in the future is being more cohesive and working together to create a streamlined and seamless player pathway, which would benefit the entire industry. Many of our franchises are transitioning kids into these national programs right from our in-school introductory programs. For example, over the last two years several franchises have had hundreds of kids sign up for Drive Chip and Putt or PGA Junior League, and in several of our markets we’re partnering with Youth on Course.

 

Best advice you ever received -- what was it and who from? 

Paraphrasing but find your passion and you will no longer have a job; you will have a lifestyle -- from my parents.

The biggest challenges -- short and long term - facing Youth Athletes United is what? And how do you see dealing with these matters successfully? 

We face two big challenges, inequity and digital growth. We have to continue to support programs like Youth on Course and ensure that all kids including in underserved communities get access to golf. TGA Golf has positioned itself to be at the forefront of growing the game from the bottom up. 

Long term, as kids continue to get more engaged on-line, we have to find ways to make the game more exciting and meet them where they are. Technology through Indoor simulators and the gamification of golf should be embraced as a way to bring more kids into the sport. TGA is working with these partners across the country to reach and impact more kids.

***

For more info go to:

www.franchisetga.com

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

 

On BBC1 on Saturday evenings, the comedian Michael McIntyre has a quiz show called The Wheel. I happened to see the latter part of it last Saturday while waiting to catch the latest gloomy Covid-19 update on the news. There was a guy called Godwin playing for £92,000 (yes, that much money!) and as it happened the question was about golf.

It came up on screen in the fashion made famous by Who Wants to be a Millionaire? It read: ‘Which of the four golf championships that make up the Majors is held at the same golf course every year?’ The options read ‘The US Open’, ‘The British Open’ (I know, on a UK television show; the R&A will need to be having words), ‘The Masters’ and ‘The PGA’. (Note, not the USPGA.) For any golfer, obviously it’s a breeze, and happily Godwin knew enough about golf to have heard of Augusta National and he duly went home with all that lolly.

His performance was in quite stark contrast to that of the team from Reading University who took on Dundee in episode 21 of University Challenge last month. Jeremy Paxman told the teams they would be shown a “map of golf clubs that play host to the annual Open Championship”. First up was a location in Kent which Reading named as ‘Sandwich’, an answer Paxman (quite reasonably) accepted even though he would have preferred to hear Royal St George’s.

With the starter question out of the way, things went downhill faster than a putt at Augusta National. Next up was Hoylake (or Royal Liverpool) but Reading thought it was St Annes. The second was obviously in Northern Ireland but after somehow managing to mention The Belfry it became apparent that they had never heard of Portrush and so they passed on that. The final course was on the east coast of Scotland. They went for St Andrews. They should have gone for Carnoustie. (I guess Dundee would have definitely got that one! )

There were a couple of notes of controversy, though. Paxman said there were 10 links courses on the “Open rota”. First, the R&A always insists there is no rota as such, and I guess they are right. Portrush held the Open in1951 and then not again until 2019, so I would suggest it would not have been regarded as being on the “Open rota” if Paxman had been asking that question in, say, 1991. Royal Cinque Ports at Deal has hosted it twice, but not since 1920. Does that count as still being on it?

Quiz Time - Open venues

Second, those 10 courses? It would appear that the setters of the questions for University Challenge consider Turnberry, which hosted the most recent of its four in 2009, to still be on the rota. Which would be nice news for Donald Trump but otherwise would seem unlikely to be the case.

Merry Christmas!

 

You can follow Robert Green on Twitter @robrtgreen and enjoy his other blog f-factors.com plus you can read more by him on golf at robertgreengolf.com

World Golf Ranking 51/2021

World Golf Ranking 51/2021

---

World Golf Ranking 51/2021

This Week	Last Week	Nat.	Player	Avg. Pts	Total Pts	Pts Lost (2021)	Pts Gained (2021)	Events Played
1	1	ESP	Jon Rahm	9.53	400.41	-411.25	342.51	42
2	2	USA	Collin Morikawa	8.76	437.87	-260.58	418.14	50
3	3	USA	Dustin Johnson	7.12	284.8	-371.29	149.29	38
4	4	USA	Patrick Cantlay	6.46	258.48	-233.23	242.87	35
5	7	USA	Bryson DeChambeau	6.43	263.67	-278.38	208.29	41
6	5	USA	Xander Schauffele	6.39	287.5	-286.57	249.82	45
7	6	USA	Justin Thomas	6.37	299.58	-359.72	237.31	47
8	8	NOR	Viktor Hovland	6.33	329.37	-173.5	307.22	53
9	9	NIR	Rory McIlroy	6.28	276.52	-310.95	266	44
10	10	RSA	Louis Oosthuizen	5.30	227.97	-183.32	226.06	43
11	12	USA	Sam Burns	5.19	244.01	-75.12	267.22	47
12	11	USA	Scottie Scheffler	5.08	264.11	-157.62	260.62	55
13	13	USA	Harris English	5.03	236.19	-159.44	226.6	47
14	14	USA	Jordan Spieth	4.90	220.48	-123.41	266.57	45
15	15	USA	Tony Finau	4.89	254.04	-220.49	259.72	52
16	16	USA	Brooks Koepka	4.88	195.05	-243.42	214.52	39
17	17	MEX	Abraham Ancer	4.85	252.39	-181.13	242.39	55
18	18	JPN	Hideki Matsuyama	4.79	244.51	-204.85	236.13	51
19	19	USA	Daniel Berger	4.66	186.31	-171.35	155.31	39
20	21	USA	Jason Kokrak	4.41	211.76	-143.7	187.42	48
21	20	AUS	Cameron Smith	4.41	198.34	-138.92	170.8	45
22	22	ENG	Tyrrell Hatton	4.28	192.67	-230.67	134.61	45
23	23	USA	Billy Horschel	4.24	216	-149.89	225.48	51
24	24	ENG	Matt Fitzpatrick	4.10	213.44	-198.78	174.22	53
25	25	USA	Patrick Reed	4.05	210.8	-276.51	183.8	58

World Golf Ranking 51/2021

World Golf Ranking 51/2021

This Week	Last Week	Nat.	Player	Avg. Pts	Total Pts	Pts Lost (2021)	Pts Gained (2021)	Events Played
26	26	KOR	Sungjae Im	3.98	207.18	-191.8	188.02	64
27	28	USA	Webb Simpson	3.90	155.9	-238.82	106.96	40
28	27	ENG	Paul Casey	3.83	176.16	-186.65	191.47	46
29	29	USA	Kevin Na	3.76	176.95	-144.54	190.52	47
30	31	USA	Matthew Wolff	3.09	132.96	-126.73	75.28	43
31	30	CHI	Joaquin Niemann	3.06	159.29	-137.37	166.9	54
32	32	USA	Talor Gooch	2.90	150.77	-69.25	139.46	54
33	35	USA	Phil Mickelson	2.85	114.2	-85.75	120.1	40
34	33	USA	Will Zalatoris	2.85	136.77	-86.65	141.6	48
35	36	USA	Max Homa	2.83	144.22	-99.23	168.74	51
36	34	AUS	Marc Leishman	2.81	126.3	-141.53	119.62	45
37	37	ENG	Lee Westwood	2.67	120.03	-125.82	112.95	45
38	38	CAN	Corey Conners	2.64	137.43	-114.51	138.6	54
39	39	CAN	Mackenzie Hughes	2.56	132.93	-90.51	107.76	53
40	40	ENG	Tommy Fleetwood	2.53	126.36	-194.53	102.54	50
41	41	AUS	Lucas Herbert	2.50	100.09	-64.65	90.1	39
42	42	USA	Kevin Kisner	2.46	122.79	-140.56	84.76	50
43	43	ENG	Justin Rose	2.45	105.14	-139.26	100.92	43
44	44	IRL	Shane Lowry	2.44	126.81	-152.9	125.25	54
45	46	ESP	Sergio Garcia	2.44	117.05	-115.28	111.29	48
46	45	AUS	Adam Scott	2.40	96.13	-149.11	82.73	35
47	48	USA	Ryan Palmer	2.38	107.02	-119.34	91.7	45
48	47	RSA	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	2.34	121.59	-122.79	87.77	53
49	49	AUS	Min Woo Lee	2.25	94.47	-39.57	94.88	42
50	50	JPN	Takumi Kanaya	2.24	89.51	-42.68	78.82	35
51	51	USA	Cameron Tringale	2.17	106.39	-59.78	102.86	49
52	52	KOR	Siwoo Kim	2.16	112.36	-87.71	121.74	58
53	53	USA	Stewart Cink	2.15	96.57	-54.67	104.39	45
54	54	ENG	Ian Poulter	2.12	110.33	-101.25	96.96	53
55	55	SCO	Robert MacIntyre	2.11	101.24	-98.46	94.37	48
56	56	MEX	Carlos Ortiz	2.11	109.57	-84.48	88.52	52
57	57	USA	Russell Henley	2.10	98.93	-78.73	75.53	47
58	58	AUT	Bernd Wiesberger	2.02	96.84	-121.58	89.57	48
59	59	COL	Sebastian Munoz	2.01	104.7	-90.79	92.81	62
60	60	RSA	Garrick Higgo	1.99	103.65	-62.17	104.08	52
61	61	USA	Brian Harman	1.99	103.24	-86.25	110.12	52
62	62	USA	Chan Kim	1.97	78.97	-61.75	70.01	38
63	63	KOR	Kyoung-Hoon Lee	1.91	99.16	-52.52	119.8	58
64	64	RSA	Erik van Rooyen	1.90	98.64	-101.76	85.96	53
65	65	BEL	Thomas Pieters	1.89	75.5	-63.88	71.21	40
66	68	USA	Aaron Wise	1.88	84.82	-45.07	70.25	45
67	66	RSA	Dean Burmester	1.88	97.54	-48.7	95.96	54
68	67	RSA	Branden Grace	1.86	96.56	-72.39	101.38	54
69	70	USA	Maverick McNealy	1.84	92.08	-50.08	90.33	50
70	72	JPN	Ryosuke Kinoshita	1.82	74.61	-27.83	72.7	41
71	69	SWE	Alex Noren	1.82	94.44	-69.08	85.92	52
72	71	IRL	Seamus Power	1.80	72.11	-20.7	76.69	37
73	74	RSA	Shaun Norris	1.78	88.95	-66.46	82.21	50
74	76	ENG	Richard Bland	1.76	82.9	-41.13	81.47	47
75	75	USA	Charley Hoffman	1.76	89.91	-64.76	96.69	51
76	77	RSA	Daniel van Tonder	1.76	86.25	-45.19	83.11	49
77	73	USA	Kevin Streelman	1.76	91.34	-99.02	77.03	54
78	78	ENG	Matt Wallace	1.71	88.77	-110.71	74.93	58
79	79	AUS	Cameron Davis	1.70	85.05	-49.87	94.36	50
80	81	DEN	Marcus Helligkilde	1.69	67.47	-9.21	69.06	38
81	80	FRA	Victor Perez	1.69	77.57	-117.32	61.22	46
82	82	USA	Bubba Watson	1.67	66.61	-88.35	44.57	40
83	84	VEN	Jhonattan Vegas	1.65	79.2	-45.17	86.04	48
84	86	USA	Cameron Champ	1.63	73.26	-79.58	60.41	45
85	83	USA	Rickie Fowler	1.62	69.62	-86.51	63.27	43
86	85	ENG	Laurie Canter	1.62	74.31	-40.42	60.28	46
87	88	USA	Keegan Bradley	1.61	79.08	-67.96	81.93	49
88	87	ITA	Guido Migliozzi	1.59	76.16	-51.25	88.79	48
89	90	USA	Keith Mitchell	1.58	82.21	-51.46	84.81	53
90	94	USA	Joel Dahmen	1.57	78.7	-85.57	62.18	50
91	89	BEL	Thomas Detry	1.57	81.68	-72.31	69.11	53
92	91	ARG	Emiliano Grillo	1.57	81.6	-59.08	85.16	57
93	96	DEN	Nicolai Hojgaard	1.57	70.59	-15	73.74	45
94	92	USA	Harold Varner III	1.55	80.75	-65.19	81.07	52
95	93	USA	Chris Kirk	1.55	68.2	-39.34	82.16	44
96	97	DEN	Rasmus Hojgaard	1.55	71.11	-59.81	59.57	46
97	98	JPN	Rikuya Hoshino	1.54	64.62	-56.08	60.91	42
98	95	CHI	Guillermo Mito Pereira	1.53	79.79	-26.45	84.68	52
99	102	JPN	Yuki Inamori	1.52	60.71	-29.4	46.1	40
100	99	ESP	Santiago Tarrio Ben	1.50	59.96	-19.09	61.32	37
101	100	ENG	Aaron Rai	1.49	74.43	-59	50.74	50
102	103	USA	Brendan Steele	1.49	68.36	-59.67	65.25	46
103	104	USA	Johannes Veerman	1.48	64.95	-24.3	63.07	44
104	101	AUS	Matt Jones	1.47	76.35	-79.05	84.89	55
105	105	USA	Troy Merritt	1.44	74.91	-55.37	72.75	58
106	106	DEN	Joachim B Hansen	1.44	74.73	-44.22	60.27	53
107	107	USA	Lanto Griffin	1.42	73.99	-92.1	62.56	57
108	108	RSA	Charl Schwartzel	1.42	62.49	-34.66	63.3	44
109	110	ZIM	Scott Vincent	1.42	73.77	-39.82	70.48	53
110	112	USA	Tom Hoge	1.41	73.54	-59.69	65.79	62
111	111	RSA	Dylan Frittelli	1.41	73.31	-77.99	51.85	58
112	113	SVK	Rory Sabbatini	1.41	73.25	-67.15	70	53
113	116	WAL	Jamie Donaldson	1.41	61.89	-29.75	52.06	44
114	109	USA	Matt Kuchar	1.41	66.06	-132.48	57.81	47
115	114	ENG	Sam Horsfield	1.40	61.53	-56.35	50.82	44
116	118	FRA	Antoine Rozner	1.39	66.74	-59.7	59.12	48
117	117	USA	Gary Woodland	1.38	65.09	-132.62	60.18	47
118	115	GER	Martin Kaymer	1.37	56.29	-65.8	43.74	41
119	120	RSA	Justin Harding	1.36	70.49	-60.3	74.94	59
120	124	USA	Lucas Glover	1.35	68.95	-68.55	66.21	51
121	121	USA	Taylor Moore	1.35	59.4	-13.77	66.39	44
122	122	FRA	Julien Brun	1.35	53.82	-16.44	49.4	38
123	119	AUS	Jason Day	1.35	56.5	-91.33	31.74	42
124	132	JPN	Jinichiro Kozuma	1.34	54.75	-17.93	48.48	41
125	125	USA	Robert Streb	1.33	67.87	-45.98	42.75	51
126	126	ENG	Danny Willett	1.32	68.73	-96.03	63.67	53
127	123	USA	Brendon Todd	1.32	68.62	-94.66	51.66	53
128	130	JPN	Hideto Tanihara	1.31	52.49	-19.02	39.68	31
129	128	GER	Stephan Jaeger	1.31	62.65	-34.36	60.27	48
130	127	USA	John Catlin	1.30	67.7	-58.61	50.14	53
131	129	KOR	Joohyung Kim(June2002)	1.30	52.03	-43.42	50.34	34
132	131	SCO	Martin Laird	1.30	51.85	-49.75	31.95	39
133	135	SWE	Alexander Bjork	1.30	57	-24.08	55.52	44
134	133	USA	Cameron Young	1.29	51.5	-13.6	53.88	37
135	134	SCO	Calum Hill(Nov1994)	1.29	64.32	-46.73	71.33	50
136	138	USA	Kramer Hickok	1.26	59.29	-28.02	64.44	47
137	136	USA	Harry Higgs	1.25	65.07	-61.43	56.67	54
138	141	JPN	Tomoharu Otsuki	1.23	55.31	-32.08	49.45	45
139	139	JPN	Shugo Imahira	1.23	52.7	-79.1	45.71	43
140	137	ENG	Andy Sullivan	1.22	59.98	-72.82	32.89	49
141	142	ESP	Adri Arnaus	1.20	57.81	-55.76	49.66	48
142	140	USA	Adam Long	1.20	62.48	-81.17	33.15	59
143	143	USA	Patton Kizzire	1.18	59.11	-38.51	60.24	50
144	144	USA	Sean Crocker	1.18	59.05	-30.7	49.08	50
145	145	TPE	C.T. Pan	1.18	60.03	-55.24	56.38	51
146	146	POR	Ricardo Gouveia	1.14	45.8	-6.42	48.76	37
147	151	JPN	Mikumu Horikawa	1.14	49.96	-37.73	42.51	44
148	148	AUS	Jason Scrivener	1.13	48.75	-49.47	56.47	43
149	150	ENG	Marcus Armitage	1.13	56.58	-32.1	49.52	50
150	149	CAN	Adam Hadwin	1.13	56.53	-76.28	55.64	50
151	147	USA	Luke List	1.12	58.11	-47.32	55.44	57
152	152	JPN	Yuta Ikeda(Dec1985)	1.11	44.57	-22.51	43.28	38
153	154	ESP	Rafa Cabrera Bello	1.10	57.07	-76.51	57.82	59
154	155	USA	Adam Schenk	1.10	56.96	-35.92	54.5	58
155	153	USA	Greyson Sigg	1.09	54.68	-26.85	50.84	50
156	156	USA	Andrew Putnam	1.09	56.5	-56.68	68.42	53
157	159	SCO	Grant Forrest	1.08	51.8	-22.6	48.87	48
158	161	DEN	Jeff Winther	1.07	48.13	-25.01	48.24	45
159	164	RSA	Oliver Bekker	1.06	53.15	-13.12	56.09	50
160	157	AUT	Matthias Schwab	1.06	53.02	-67.62	49.93	50
161	158	SWE	Henrik Norlander	1.06	55.08	-52.38	54.99	54
162	160	USA	Hudson Swafford	1.05	51.4	-30.3	45.62	49
163	166	POL	Adrian Meronk	1.05	50.18	-35.39	44.17	48
164	167	ITA	Francesco Laporta	1.04	50.05	-40.09	44.8	48
165	163	IRL	Padraig Harrington	1.04	41.56	-24.73	45.04	39
166	162	RSA	Brandon Stone	1.03	52.64	-49.16	55.24	51
167	165	JPN	Hiroshi Iwata	1.03	41.27	-22.9	39.05	38
168	169	USA	Hayden Buckley	1.02	43.01	-13.4	47.05	42
169	168	JPN	Masahiro Kawamura	1.02	53.17	-41.71	40.6	59
170	171	GER	Marcel Schneider	1.02	44.89	-19.05	41.03	44
171	170	JPN	Naoyuki Kataoka	1.01	40.48	-5.16	45.64	28
172	172	JPN	Kazuki Higa	1.01	42.43	-30.47	42.22	42
173	175	ENG	Daniel Gavins	0.98	41.32	-7.72	45.55	42
174	173	USA	J.T. Poston	0.98	50.83	-85.48	42.19	56
175	178	USA	Zach Johnson	0.95	41.98	-45.89	24.37	44
176	176	USA	Chad Ramey	0.95	46.72	-25.89	43.33	49
177	174	RSA	George Coetzee	0.95	45.61	-63.36	29.93	48
178	181	USA	Michael Thompson	0.95	43.52	-55.07	33.97	46
179	179	USA	Denny McCarthy	0.94	48.95	-42.51	45.42	57
180	180	FIN	Kalle Samooja	0.93	41.98	-44.94	37.47	45
181	182	CAN	Adam Svensson	0.93	44.76	-18.75	50.02	48
182	177	SWE	Henrik Stenson	0.93	39.12	-75.83	32.75	42
183	184	USA	David Lipsky	0.91	47.28	-44.28	48.7	52
184	183	JPN	Ryo Ishikawa	0.91	36.31	-52.01	26.85	39
185	185	FIN	Mikko Korhonen	0.89	35.59	-32.45	37.98	37
186	190	USA	Andrew Landry	0.89	40.87	-54.15	24.37	46
187	187	THA	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	0.88	39.69	-27.89	38.41	45
188	196	USA	Brandt Snedeker	0.88	40.52	-71.29	38.28	46
189	188	ENG	Andrew Johnston	0.88	35.11	-30.04	32.45	27
189	186	USA	Richy Werenski	0.88	44.76	-50.86	37.9	51
191	188	USA	Hank Lebioda	0.88	42.11	-26.89	43.7	48
192	203	JPN	Yosuke Asaji	0.88	35.96	-21.77	38.14	41
193	197	USA	Scott Stallings	0.87	43.73	-33.04	40.22	50
194	195	JPN	Tomohiro Ishizaka	0.87	34.92	-7.85	32.17	31
195	191	USA	Joseph Bramlett	0.87	45.37	-27.67	44.02	54
196	193	USA	Patrick Rodgers	0.87	45.24	-33.85	42.79	65
197	192	USA	Chez Reavie	0.87	45.22	-95.47	31.93	56
198	194	ESP	Adrian Otaegui	0.86	44.96	-39.88	27.07	53
199	198	THA	Phachara Khongwatmai	0.86	34.44	-18.09	30.97	25
200	200	SWE	Kristoffer Broberg	0.86	34.33	-2.3	36.63	24

World Golf Ranking 51/2021

PNC Championship 2021 R2
December 18-19
The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando, Florida
Round 1

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

John Daly and John Daly II won the PNC Championship by two shots on Sunday.

Winning on their 6th appearance in the Championship, they also shot a course record for the two days finishing at 27 under par 117. Team Daly had finished in the top ten of all their PNC Championship experiences (2016/T8, 2017/T9, 2018/T2, 2019/5, 2020/8).

PNC Championship 2021 R2

“Holidays everything and, just playing golf with my son every day when I can is just awesome. To watch him grow up to do the things he could do with a golf ball and a swing that's so perfect, but saving my you know what from putting yesterday, and he played phenomenal and I helped him with a few shots here and there. But it was just an awesome weekend, and PNC and Teo (Sodeman) and Alastair (Johnston) and all the volunteers and this whole community, it's just a blast coming here every year.”

On what this win means to him in the context of his Major wins: “It's up there. You can't beat it. For fathers, as we’re on the Senior Tour, we're not playing the British Opens and majors competitive like I used to. I can still play the British Open and the PGA but nothing comes close. I've always told the media for years, the greatest days of my life were seeing my kids born. You can't top that. To be here and win a big tournament like this with my son, nothing can beat it.”

PNC Championship 2021 R2

“Every year we always try and win but this was the year just enjoyed it and being here playing with him in the holidays," said John Daly II. "I guess that's what happens, when you win, I don't know, it's awesome. All the volunteers are great like he said, the PNC, all the military guys and everyone. Wouldn't be possible without them, so I just want to thank them.”

PNC Championship 2021 R2

A run of 11 consecutive birdies(Nos. 7-17), by Team Woods before a par at the 18th saw them narrowly miss out on a play-off finishing at 25-under 117.

“We had a little run there," said Woods. "It was nice. It was fun. When we played the turn, I told Charlie, I said we're going to have to at least birdie out to at least make eight out of the nine on the back nine to have a chance. There were just too many groups that were either tied with us or ahead of us. And we got on a nice heater, and as you said, we made 11 in a row, and on the last hole, we probably -- we knew on the tee box that we needed three to probably get into a playoff or at least make it interesting for the Dalys back there. Unfortunately, we didn't chip-in and we didn't make the putts, either. But it was fun. The goals this week, two things: One, to have fun; and two, no bogeys, and we accomplished both.”

PNC Championship 2021 R2

On if his performance exceeded expectations: “I wouldn't say "better." I think I had a better sense of my feel of what I could do, the shots I could hit. If you noticed out there, I didn't really play a whole lot of draws. If I did, they were all short irons. Most of them were just hot cuts or slappy cuts up there, you know, something out there. The hardest part for me was that -- what I saw distance-wise and what I felt on my last look -- I always play by my hands and my last look, it didn't match up a lot of times. I was short. And then a few times, I actually hit it solid and I smoked it over a couple greens. You know, I've got some work ahead of me.”

On feeling competitive after the car crash 10 months ago that damaged his right leg so badly that amputation was a possibility: “The competitive juices, they are never going to go away. This is my environment. This is what I've done my entire life. I'm just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to do it again. Earlier this year was not a very good start to the year and it didn't look very good. But the last few weeks, to push as hard as we have the last seven months with taking no days off and just working our butts off each and every day, and to have this opportunity to be able to play with my son and to have these memories, for us, for both of us, our lifetime, it's worth all the pain.”

PNC Championship 2021 R2

Pos.	Team	To Par	R1	R2	Total
1	Team Daly	-27	60	57	117
2	Team Woods	-25	62	57	119
T3	Team Thomas	-24	60	60	120
T3	Team Cink	-24	59	61	120
T5	Team Lehman	-21	62	61	123
T5	Team Singh	-21	61	62	123
7	Team Kuchar	-20	62	62	124
T8	Team O'Meara	-19	63	62	125
T8	Team Stenson	-19	62	63	125
T10	Team Beem	-18	65	61	126
T10	Team Player	-18	62	64	126
12	Team Korda	-17	63	64	127
T13	Team Duval	-16	65	63	128
T13	Team B Watson	-16	63	65	128
15	Team Harrington	-15	67	62	129
T16	Team T Watson	-14	65	65	130
T16	Team Furyk	-14	65	65	130
T16	Team Price	-14	65	65	130
T16	Team Faldo	-14	62	68	130
20	Team Trevino	-13	64	67	131

PNC Championship 2021 R1
December 18-19
The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando, Florida
Round 2

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Stuart Cink and his son Reagan lead the 2021 PNC Championship by a single shot following a blemish free 13-under opening round. Cink won on his debut in 2013 alongside his elder son Cameron who he also partnered in 2014, 2016, 2018. This is the third time he has partnered Reagan. (2015, 2017)

PNC Championship 2021 R1

“They are different kind of golfers, I don't think there's anything I can do," said Stuart. "They will handle things how they want to, and it's not completely up to them whether we end up competing at the end of this tournament tomorrow or not. It's a lot of my job, too. So as far as, I'll let him answer the part about the family pressure.”

“I really want to win this tournament," said Reagan. "Connor does not play very much golf. He happens to be a really good putter. He holds it over me. I beat him every time we play golf together, and he has won this tournament and I have not.”

PNC Championship 2021 R1

Defending champions Justin and Mike Thomas are well placed in tied second place alongside Team Daly after an opening round of 60.

Justin Thomas on his round: “Crazy cool to be out on the course with Tiger, Charlie, my dad. Definitely calling it a success both my dad and Tiger made it 18 holes, so that's good.”

PNC Championship 2021 R1

Tiger and Charlie Woods lie in tied 5th after an opening round of 62

“Charlie and I had a blast playing together again, playing with the Thomas family, again, we're extremely close so it was a bunch of fun there, was a lot of needling going on the entire day.

"We're pulling pranks on each other and giving each other some under-the-breath remarks that I'm glad they didn't capture. We had a great time. It was just a blast and we had a blast last year on the first year it was the same. We had so much fun out there. We had one thing we wanted to do. We wanted to keep a clean card. Last year we made a bogey in each round. This year we didn't, our third straight 62 which I think is pretty good. Hopefully tomorrow we get off to a quick start and keep it going.”

PNC Championship 2021 R1

Henrik Stenson playing with son Karl, the youngest player in the tournament, also lies in T5.

“I think I've never been more proud of him in my life, I'd say. He did exceptionally well given it's our first time out there, lots of people. He put pressure on himself. I tried not to but it's a big occasion, so I think he did exceptionally well and very happy to have him as my team member.”

PNC Championship 2021 R1

Pos.	Team	To Par	R1
1	Team Cink	-13	59
T2	Team Daly	-12	60
T2	Team Thomas	-12	60
4	Team Singh	-11	61
T5	Team Faldo	-10	62
T5	Team Player	-10	62
T5	Team Lehman	-10	62
T5	Team Kuchar	-10	62
T5	Team Stenson	-10	62
T5	Team Woods	-10	62
T11	Team O'Meara	-9	63
T11	Team B Watson	-9	63
T11	Team Korda	-9	63
14	Team Trevino	-8	64
T15	Team Beem	-7	65
T15	Team Price	-7	65
T15	Team T Watson	-7	65
T15	Team Furyk	-7	65
T15	Team Duval	-7	65
20	Team Harrington	-5	67

Scottish Summer Golf Pass

Golf fans have a unique opportunity to experience three world class championships in 2022 - including two Major Championships and a Rolex Series event - with the new Scottish Summer Golf Pass from the DP World Tour, Legends Tour, and The R&A.

The Genesis Scottish Open, the Senior Open Presented by Rolex and the AIG Women’s Open are part of an unparalleled summer of golf in Scotland next year, and fans can save both money and time by securing tickets for all three championships in a single purchase. 

A limited number of Scottish Summer Golf Passes are available to purchase now at et.golf/ScottishSummerGolfPass, making the ideal Christmas gift for golf fans. Priced at £85, the Scottish Summer Golf Pass includes tickets for one championship day at each of the Genesis Scottish Open, the Senior Open Presented by Rolex and the AIG Women’s Open, with a saving of up to £20 on individual purchase prices.

The Genesis Scottish Open, the third Rolex Series event of the 2022 DP World Tour season, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR, will see a global field gather at the Renaissance Club in East Lothian from 7-10 July. Two weeks later, from 21-24 July, Gleneagles will host the Senior Open Presented by Rolex for the first time when the iconic Scottish venue welcomes Europe’s only Senior Major Championship in 2022. 

The third championship included in the Scottish Summer Golf Pass is the AIG Women’s Open from 4-7 August, as Muirfield in East Lothian hosts the world’s best golfers for the final Major Championship of the LET and LPGA seasons.

The three championships are part of an incredible summer of golf in Scotland, with six tournaments over five weeks in July and August, also including The 150th Open at St Andrews, the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews and the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. 

Scottish Summer Golf Pass

Genesis Scottish Open Championship Director, Rory Colville said: “We’re delighted to partner with The R&A to create the Scottish Summer Golf Pass - a unique opportunity for golf fans to watch the best male and female golfers in the world within just a few weeks. This promises to be an unmissable summer for golf fans in Scotland and beyond, and we can’t wait to tee off the action with the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.”

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A commented: “It is our goal to make golf at every level open and accessible for everyone to enjoy and the Scottish Summer of Golf Pass will provide fans with the opportunity to attend three world class championships in Scotland next year. Fans will be able to watch the world’s best men, women and male senior golfers compete for prestigious titles over some of the country’s best courses.” 

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events, VisitScotland sad: “We have long-standing partnerships with The R&A and European Tour group and to see them collaborating in this way is excellent. This is a fantastic offer for golf and sports fans to watch the world’s best golfers tee it up next summer. 2022 offers an unheralded run of major golf tournaments across the country which cements Scotland’s reputation as the Home of Golf and the perfect stage for events.”

Buy the Scottish Summer Golf Pass now at et.golf/ScottishSummerGolfPass

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

 

Baja California Sur, Mexico
13th Hole / Par-3 / 148 Yards
Architect: Jack Nicklaus (2014)

 

When reaching the teeing area for the 13th hole at Quivira you have already ventured through some of the most eye-catching terrain for golf that exists in the greater Cabo San Lucas area.

 

The most immediate impact when viewing the hole is the utter isolation encountered. The only sound you hear is the rapid beating of your heart. The green sits high above the pounding shoreline and while the 13th is listed at just 148 yards there are few days when the wind does not play a major role.

It is on blustery days when the shotmaking challenge intensifies mightily. Commitment to the chosen club is a must -- marrying proper length and trajectory is mandatory because the slightest doubt invariably means certain doom.

The only safe haven is the verdant green grass which is engulfed ferociously by native granite rocks. Failure to execute portends eternal damnation for one's golf ball The left side near the green can provide a helpful bounce but shots drifting ever slightly too far right will have a permanent rendezvous with the azure blue Pacific Ocean located 100 feet below.

The putting surface provides sufficient room but when viewed from the teeing area can create the same anxiety fighter pilots face when attempting a landing on an aircraft carrier. Those finding the green cannot drop their guard -- an array of vexing internal movements mandates a discerning eye to properly navigate them.

 

Those playing late in the day can gaze at an intoxicating sunset over the ocean. The panorama is incredibly striking. However, those losing focus will soon find the 13th a most unlucky number.

For more info go to:
www.quiviraloscabos.com/golf
Photos Courtesy: Quivira Golf Club