Blue Monster Won't Spare Scottie & Co.

👋 Hey, Golf fans,

While PGA Tour pros tee off in Florida for the Cadillac Championship, things have come undone at LIV Golf. In case you missed our coverage on PIF’s exit and Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s resignation from the board, check this quick update here. But, as they say, the devil is in the details. Today, we'll unpack how this sends ripples through the whole golf ecosystem. But first, let’s look at Tour’s return to Doral this week.

Onward…

Before we start with today’s edition, let's kick things off with the stories that've been making waves.

Jason Day gets vulnerable talking about his wife’s miscarriage. The couple has faced this before, but that hardly lessens the pain.

Nelly Korda regained the World No. 1 spot. But her outlook on being the world’s best will leave you surprised. Did the answer remind you of Scottie Scheffler?

Global fashion giant just launched its new golf collection. Suffice it to say it hasn’t impressed a single fan.

Cadillac Championship: The talk of the town at Doral is not the 667-yard 12th hole. Nor is it the infamous 18th. At the center of the spotlight is a 20-foot-tall gold statue of POTUS that seemed to be conjured out of thin air. Even pros can’t help but notice it. Rickie Fowler was asked about taking a photo with it. Guess what his response was? Smart play, Rickie. Extremely smart.

Nevertheless, the Blue Monster, staying true to its name, embraces pros, takes them to a proverbial dinner, and when they least expect it, reveals its true self. Water hazards lurk on nearly every hole, and are a deciding factor on the 15th, 16th, and 18th. The par-4 closing hole was the hardest the last time the PGA Tour stopped here (2016); it was also one of the ten hardest holes that season. The course has undergone some changes:

• Six holes have been stretched by at least 24 yards.

• The 2nd, 8th, 12th, and 17th have new tee boxes.

• The 12th plays at a monstrous 667 yards.

It’s a bomber’s paradise. Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young will have an advantage. Rory McIlroy is skipping the event, but World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, is ready to conquer the course. His approach play is firing on all cylinders again, and he is coming with back-to-back runner-up finishes. Collin Morikawa is another top contender, having never finished outside the top ten since February.

Riviera Maya Open: In Mexico, the LPGA is teeing it up at El Camaleon Golf Course. Nelly Korda is back after claiming her third major. Her toughest competitors are the Iwai twins. Defending champion Chizzy is back where she nabbed her first victory. Her sister, Akie (18th), rounds out three top-25 pros present here. Gaby Lopez will enjoy home support with amateur Clarisa Temelo returning to the field.

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Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, muscled LIV into existence to wean Saudi Arabia off its oil dependence. And to grow the game. Yet here he is, some four years later, ditching his position as LIV board chairman. All the buzz about growing the game went the way of the dodo as LIV kept hemorrhaging money.

It’s hard for a startup to make a profit as it is, but when you’re shifting goalposts, it’s doubly harder. Shotgun start, 54-hole format, loud music, the league tried everything. Yet failed to offer the players what they wanted. You only need to listen to Patrick Reed below to sense the unhappiness.

PIF’s unofficial force majeure now sees the league without a financial backer. It needs new moneybags fast, or it's lights out by 2027. So, what’s next? Several of them have already started knocking on the Tour's door. A homecoming ramp might exist, but expect stricter terms. Some LIV pros never had any status on the Tour. Then, some pros messed it up a little too much.

Bryson DeChambeau, who once compared LIV’s existence to a new pizza shop (?), Phil Mickelson, and nine others filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Tour. Hudson Swafford was one of them, and when he inquired about a return opportunity, this is how it panned out. Do you see Phil back on the PGA Tour again after that?

CEO Brian Rolapp says he doesn’t have any scar tissue, but for those who do? Rolapp is cognizant: “It has to be accounted for in some shape or form.” Troubling, indeed. Troubling is also the fact that only a few pros can add tangible value to the PGA Tour. So, if LIV craters in 2027, a bunch of players will be hard-pressed to find another way to make a living.

That’s a puzzle Scott O’Neil needs to solve.

Monday’s Poll Result: 46.8% of you said the Grass League was not a fun addition to golf.

You can probably hit it far with a long iron or a fairway wood. But if one part gets loose at the top or during the turn, your ball might end up in the trash box, as it did for this tour pro. Five-time PGA Tour winner Ben Crane shows a simple way to avoid a similar fate.

• Mistake: Amateurs often hang back on the backswing. It leads to a loss of power and poor contact, resulting in fat shots or reduced distance.

• Technique: As you turn back, put good pressure on your trail leg to avoid falling behind. Notice carefully the moment Crane pushes his trail leg during the turn.

• Assess: An easy way to know whether you are doing it right: check the divot after your shot. It should form slightly in front of the ball and not behind it.

The secret is holding onto every bit of energy at the top of the backswing and through the turn. So try this when you hit the range next time and then follow up with these drills to master clean contact.

Five Drills To Master Clean Contact

If the fairways could talk, they’d have such strange stories to tell. But since they can’t speak, we’ve the people who work or have worked on a golf course to share their experiences. So goes a story from one of them: A known con man sauntered in one fine morning. Our watchful pro shop guy kept tabs to thwart any theft attempt. He goes on a break and comes back to see paramedics and cops swarming the course.

Turns out, the sketchy dude hopped into a cart, went for a joyride, and flipped it. When paramedics examined his waist, they found a 15-pack of Pinnacle Golds plus two shirts crammed under his shirt. Cops came and took care of the business.

But you can’t even guess how bad it gets for our pro shop guy from thereon. The course owner chewed him out the next day, but that was just the start. This stranger-than-fiction incident is a must-read.

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