19th Hole

USGA admits they made a mistake with Rory McIlroy’s drop at US Open

Published

2 weeks ago

Jun 27, 2023

In the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, Rory McIlroy came up woefully short on his third shot with a wedge into the par-5 14th hole. The ball came down towards the bunker but ended up embedded in a “vertical wall.”

Related: Tiger Woods delivered stinging message to major winner after denying him lift on private jet

Rory took a drop in front of the bunker and ended up making a bogey on the hole, which proved to be costly as he lost the tournament by one stroke. At the time, there was plenty of speculation on social media as to whether McIlroy took the drop in the correct spot.

Related: John Daly rolls up to Kenny Chesney concert as only he can

This week, Sports Illustrated reached out to the USGA for comment on the situation. The USGA said that it was an “incorrect drop” but maintained that McIlroy did nothing wrong.

“The nearest point of relief was mis-identified; it should have been directly behind the ball,” said Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s chief governance officer. “If there’s no area immediately behind the ball, you go to nearest point in the general area. But if you look at where the ball was embedded, there was a grassy area below and that should have been the starting point.”

Pagel continued: “His ball was 100 percent embedded, and an embedded ball not in sand is entitled to relief. Now Rory did everything at the discretion of the referee. In her discretion, her judgment was that the reference point for relief was to the side of the ball. And from a ruling standpoint, that’s the end of the story.”

The rules official who oversaw the drop was Courtney Myrhum, who is extremely experienced in her role. Myrhum has officiated more than 60 USGA championships and served on the USGA Women’s committee from 2011-2019.

Pagel also added that Myrhum was a “well-qualified referee.”

“She’s an extremely well-qualified referee and she did everything in her judgment where to operate the drop. However, after further review it was determined that there was a spot in the general area immediately behind the ball that was the reference point for relief.”

“If you look at where the ball embedded, just below should have been the starting point (for taking one club length relief),” Pagel said. “But even if his club length had been measured from behind the ball, he still would have been dropping on the shelf from where he played from. As it was, he measured the club length from the top of the wall to the right. As he dropped the ball out of that area, he had to drop a second time.”

Despite the insistence that the correct drop would have had the same result, it’s safe to say that it would have been a different situation for everyone involved if McIlroy would have gone on to win the U.S. Open after taking an incorrect drop.

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19th Hole

Golf fans are loving this awkward Bryson fan interaction video at latest LIV event

Published

12 hours ago

Jul 10, 2023

Matt Vincenzi

Over the weekend at LIV Golf London, Bryson DeChambeau continued his solid run of form, finishing in 13th place. Centurion Club had a respectable turnout of fans on site, with plenty following the big-hitting Dechambeau.

At one point, a fan reached out to fist bump the former U.S. Open champion but didn’t quite reach. The Crushers GC, of which Bryson captains, made a light-hearted post on Instagram with a video of the moment.

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A post shared by Crushers GC (@crushers_gc)

“These fans edits are getting out of control… ?”

DeChambeau commented on the post, “just a couple inches short…”

The 29-year-old will tee it up next at the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. He had success at the Open Championship hosted by St. Andrews last year, finishing in 8th place.

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Content creator leaves golf fans triggered after showing how to make the perfect ‘John Daly’ cocktail

Published

12 hours ago

Jul 10, 2023

Matt Vincenzi

John Daly is one of the biggest names in golf despite not having played at very high level for quite some time due to injuries and health issues. Over the weekend, Daly found himself in some social media controversy once again, although it was no fault of his own.

A popular TikTok account, @cookingwith_darryl, mentioned a drink he called the “John Daly” in one of his videos. The food connoisseur has gotten very popular on the app by posting videos while cooking on his Blackstone grill.

“In my opinion there are two drinks synonymous with golf. You want to argue with me? Bring it! One is the Transfusion, the other is the John Daly. Let’s make the perfect John Daly.”

Darryl then went on to explain the ingredients: A chilled glass, vodka, and equal parts lemonade and iced tea.

@cookingwithdarryl Another classic drink for the golf course…The John Daly #drinks #golf #rukiddingme #rhoback ? original sound – dpostelnick

However, the TikTok users in the comment section were furious with the content creator, saying the drink he described was an “Arnold Palmer,” not a “John Daly.”

Darryl was sure to point out the very important distinction between the two: the “John Daly” contains vodka and “Arnold Palmer” does not.

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19th Hole

‘Heartbreaking’ – Matt Wolff responds after being blasted by LIV teammate Brooks Koepka

Published

3 days ago

Jul 7, 2023

Matt Vincenzi

Yesterday, Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka publicly blasted his teammate Matthew Wolff in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

“I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that’s not competing,” said Koepka. “I’m not a big fan of that. You don’t work hard. It’s very tough. It’s very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you’ve got one guy that won’t work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he’s going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it’s very tough. I’ve basically given up on him—a lot of talent, but I mean the talent’s wasted.”

On Friday morning, Wolff issued his response to Koepka via Sports Illustrated.

The 24-year-old said it was “beyond disappointing” to read Koepka’s comments.

“I read the SI interview with our Captain Brooks Koepka and it was beyond disappointing to me. When I chose to join his Team in 2023, I did so with much optimism about my new home as part of Team Smash and equally as important the chance to be around and learn from a player of Brooks’s stature. Like everyone who has ever played the game at the highest level, I have had competitive moments in the past that I feel I have let myself down and even others in our new team environment. This has been quite difficult for me. My challenges on and off the golf course with my mental health has been well documented. I deal with those challenges every day.

“However, while my 2023 season has not been all I had hoped for to this point, I have made positive strides in managing my life and feel Ike my game is turning for the positive. To hear through the media that our team leader has given up on me is heartbreaking. It’s not what a team member looks to hear from its leader, and I think we all know these comments should have been handled much differently. But I’m moving forward and won’t ever give up on myself. While on course results may not appear now to be positive indicators, I’m trying to win an even BIGGER game with my life.

“Finally, I trust Brooks wants what is best for our team. But it’s hard to imagine his comments in his recent SI interview in any way line up with those priorities. This will be my last comment on this matter. I’m heading out today to the Centurion Club trying to help our team win this week. I appreciate everyone’s continued support and your respect for my privacy.”

Both Koepka and Wolff will be teeing it up at Centurion Club on Friday. Koepka will be playing with Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, while Wolff will play alongside his fellow Smash GC teammates (minus the captain) Chase Koepka and Jason Kokrak.