Andrew Gardiner Archives - Golf Digest Middle East https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/tag/andrew-gardiner/ Golf Instruction, Equipment, Courses, Travel, News Thu, 27 Feb 2020 12:20:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/gd-favicon.ico Andrew Gardiner Archives - Golf Digest Middle East https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/tag/andrew-gardiner/ 32 32 Patrick Reed’s Twitter blocking rampage, a Tiger Woods scare, and the most embarrassing golf shot ever https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/patrick-reeds-twitter-blocking-rampage-a-tiger-woods-scare-and-the-most-embarrassing-golf-shot-ever/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/patrick-reeds-twitter-blocking-rampage-a-tiger-woods-scare-and-the-most-embarrassing-golf-shot-ever/#respond Fri, 28 Feb 2020 03:00:28 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=33484 Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we’re pretty sure we’ve seen this movie before. An American dressed in all black just imposing his will South of the Border.

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By Alex Myers
Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we’re pretty sure we’ve seen this movie before. An American dressed in all black just imposing his will South of the Border. Yep, we’ve definitely seen this movie before:

Of course, this had a slightly different ending with Patrick Reed taking home a trophy instead of getting his eyes gouged out like Johnny Depp. But overall, the good guys won. And if there’s anything we can all agree on these days, it’s that Patrick Reed is one of the good guys. Wait. No? OK, well, we’ve got a lot to discuss then.

WE’RE BUYING

Patrick Reed on Sundays: To be clear, I’m not giving Reed credit for being resilient and overcoming adversity at Club de Golf Chapultepec. This mess of him morphing from Captain America into Captain Controversy is his own making. But I am giving him credit for not succumbing to final-round pressure and being able to close out (big) golf tournaments better than just about anyone else these days. In addition to a green jacket and being a Ryder Cup hero, Reed now has two World Golf Championships, two FedEx Cup playoff events, and eight PGA Tour titles. Before turning 30. That is quite a résumé. And yes, he won just days after Brooks Koepka and Peter Kostis called him out for breaking the rules.

Apparently it’s easier to shush the haters at altitude. Although, Team Reed went on a Twitter blocking rampage following the victory, targeting everyone from fans to members of the media to fellow tour pros:

Jeez. Not even Bryson DeChambeau has Eddie blocked! Anyway, congrats to Patrick Reed on the win and congrats to me on not getting blocked. Yet.

Viktor Hovland: Now here was an overwhelmingly popular victory. Hovland picked up his first win as a pro and the first for the country of Norway on the PGA Tour. Not surprisingly, Norwegian announcers absolutely lost their minds when he drained a 30-foot birdie putt to win on the final hole:

What a talent, what a personality. This 22-year-old has superstar written all over him. We just hope he can overcome the Curse of Coco Beach.

Erik Van Rooyen: First of all, the South African more than held his own at the WGC-Mexico Championship with a T-3 finish. But just as impressively, the dude shreds on the guitar:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B55dsyclvcS/?utm_source=ig_embed

Great song, great playing. It’s almost enough to look past those joggers he wears on the course. Almost.

This bathroom: A bathroom is usually the least exciting room in a house, but that’s not the case for this man:

Absolutely beautiful. And how about that toilet tucked away? That’s an Amen Corner everyone can appreciate. If this were a match, MASTERS bathroom is Tiger Woods and your typical master bathroom is Stephen Ames.

WE’RE SELLING

The Premier Golf League: The CEO of the potential new league, Andrew Gardiner, stepped out of the shadows and presented some interesting ideas like shotgun starts and four-man teams, but it might have been too little too late after Rory McIlroy said he’s “Out” and that he wants “to be on the right side of history.” With no Rory and Tiger/Phil barely on the right side of 50, it doesn’t seem like the PGL stands much of a chance. Even with Twitter gems like this:

https://twitter.com/premgolfleague/status/1230949491970379776

“Thank you Tiger”: Speaking of Tiger—well, not really—this was trending on Twitter on Friday and had golf fans freaking out that Tiger Woods was hanging it up:

https://twitter.com/xxJAHOOxx/status/1230127379760189440

Instead, it had to do with a Japanese wrestling referee Tiger Hattori retiring. PHEW!

This shot: My Golf Digest pal Christopher Powers loves (over)using the headline, “This is it, this is the best/worst (insert something) ever. But this is one case in which it applies. So without further ado . . . This is it, this is the most embarrassing golf shot ever hit:

There are shanks and then there’s this. Just brutal. And it occurred on the opening hole of the world’s most storied course and in front of a gallery. Talk about a nightmare.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour begins its Florida Swing with the Honda Classic, AKA that event with the Bear Trap. Unfortunately, because of the new(er) schedule, it can’t corral many of the PGA Tour’s stars, even the many who live in Jupiter and could walk to the course.

Random tournament fact: Keith Mitchell won last year and got quite the headline in the local Palm Beach Post:

Ouch.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—A PGA Tour pro will get attacked by an actual bear: 10,000-to-1 odds

—My wife will ever go for a bathroom like that: 1-MILLION -to-1 odds

—Patrick Reed doesn’t care what this no-name golf writer thinks of him: LOCK

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Brooks Koepka going all GQ. Literally.

Nicely done, Brooks. As someone who also did a shoot with GQ, I know there’s no better way to pad your wardrobe without spending a dime.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK (INVOLVING PUTTING GREENS)

Introducing Bryson DeChambeau’s “towel guy”:

Turns out, he was creating shade so Bryson could see the laser attached to his putter. True story. Still, quite a look. And how about Colin Montgomerie practising his putting at a PGA Tour Superstore?

No laser for Monty. Old school.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Check out 84-year-old Mary Ann Wakefield draining a 94-foot, full-court putt at an Ole Miss basketball game to win a new car:

Good for her. Rory McIlroy might want to take some notes.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I just suck at chipping.” —Viktor Hovland’s brutal assessment of his short game following his win in Puerto Rico was nearly as entertaining as that winning putt:

Although, with ball-striking stats like this, he could chip like my boss and still win on tour:

OK, maybe not my boss, but you get the point.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

The political mudslinging has gotten particularly nasty as we approach November’s Presidential election. First, Donald Trump knocked Mike Bloomberg swing’s speed:

Then this past week, Bloomberg hit back with this billboard:

https://twitter.com/Mike2020/status/1230924914468773890

What a country.

THIS WEEK IN PGA TOUR PRO-WAGS PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Jimmy Walker and Erin Walker shared their first cooking video together:

First of all, it’s tough to beat steak and pasta. Secondly, Netflix might be calling about filming a new cooking series.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Golf’s ultimate showman took in a show during a trip to NYC:

Thanks for the rec, Phil, but I wish you’d stopped by the office.

THIS AND THAT

Charles Howell III has now passed $1 million in earnings for 20 consecutive seasons and the 40-year-old is closing in on crossing the $40 million mark for his career. . . . Nineteen-year-old Stephanie Kyriacou, the 90th-ranked amateur golfer in the world, won the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville by eight shots. Something tells me there aren’t actually 89 amateur golfers better than her right now. . . . And apparently, there are some degenerates out there betting on which golfer gets to the tee box first:

This makes me feel a lot better about myself.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

What’s the dumbest golf bet I’ve ever made?

What’s the most embarrassing golf shot I’ve ever hit?

Has Patrick Reed blocked me on Twitter yet?

 

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]]> https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/patrick-reeds-twitter-blocking-rampage-a-tiger-woods-scare-and-the-most-embarrassing-golf-shot-ever/feed/ 0 The man behind the Premier Golf League emerges to reveal some—but not all—of his vision https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/the-man-behind-the-premier-golf-league-emerges-to-reveal-some-but-not-all-of-his-vision/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/the-man-behind-the-premier-golf-league-emerges-to-reveal-some-but-not-all-of-his-vision/#respond Sat, 22 Feb 2020 16:42:20 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=33353 By Max Adler Two great notions have rocked golf in this very young decade. 1. Reigning in distance by rolling back equipment. 2. The establishment of a world super circuit that would relegate the PGA Tour to second-class. At this point they are just that, notions, and both claim the best interests of the game […]

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]]> By Max Adler
Two great notions have rocked golf in this very young decade.

1. Reigning in distance by rolling back equipment.

2. The establishment of a world super circuit that would relegate the PGA Tour to second-class.

At this point they are just that, notions, and both claim the best interests of the game as their guiding light. While the first has gathered steam with transparency—the USGA and R&A made their voluminous report available to all and is seeking comment before announcing their next wave of specific research topics next month—the second has played out more like a theatrical happening. Is the Premier Golf League for real?

Aside from one announcement from an anonymous email account, the presumed author(s) of this coup have communicated primarily through the puzzled, cautiously interested voices of players they’ve courted.

Well, the press room ventriloquism is over.

Andrew Gardiner, a British attorney and businessman whose association with PGL has been known since he teed it up with Phil Mickelson at the Saudi International, has come forward as the league’s chief executive officer. After three weeks hanging under the radar at events on the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing, he says, “I figured now was probably time. I’m aware of enough people saying we have to speak, and I wanted to make sure people had the ability to know where we’re coming from.”

If Gardiner wants to make one point clear, it’s that he wants to be seen as a facilitator, not an overthrower. “The planning is all done, the platform is built, the financial backing is in place. Now, this will only happen with the support of the players, the sponsors and broadcasters, and the fans.”

He thinks his proposal, an 18-event schedule of 54-hole tournaments with shotgun starts the first two rounds—with 10 tournaments in the United States, with swings through Europe, Asia, Australia and one stop in the Middle East, plus the majors—could commence in January 2022. Teams of four players would simultaneously compete for an individual and team prize, with a captain deciding before each round which two players’ scores will count for the team. “It’s easier to become emotionally engaged with a team, and it will generate other dimensions of storylines and content,” Gardiner says. As a fan, he likes the idea of being able to make Rory play against Brooks every round, or until a more interesting matchup develops.

An eloquent Englishman and a keen golfer, Gardiner says he’s developed relationships with executives and sponsors of the European Tour throughout his career in finance. And it was 10 years ago, he says, that over an impassioned three-day spurt he wrote a 100-page manifesto on what professional golf could be like if it started over. Many times he shared his fan “flight of fancy,” and almost as many times was surprised not to be called an idiot. Financial backers of the game, he says, wished there was more certainty around when and where the best players in the world would be squaring off. He started to realize that the barriers to pulling off what Greg Norman couldn’t, perhaps, weren’t as tall as he imagined.

One doesn’t arise to the position of chief executive officer of anything by divulging more than intended in an interview. After my phone conversation with Gardiner this morning, many questions remain, but here are my takeaways in no real order.

• Gardiner doesn’t regard Rory McIlroy saying this week, “I’m out,” as particularly damaging. “It brought to mind the Mark Twain quote, ‘Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated,’ as if this were some fatal wound,” Gardiner says. Gardiner acknowledges Rory as one of the few golfers who truly capture fans, and is intrigued by Rory’s desire to be on the right side of history. “Everything we’ve done in the past six years was meant to be on the right side of history,” Gardiner says. Like being discreet about it all until now. The fact that McIlroy mentioned Arnold Palmer, who was a leader in the PGA Tour breaking from the PGA of America in 1968, Gardiner views as a window in the trees.

• What about the fact that the emotional allegiances to sports teams are generally sown over generations, not organized in an instant around golf equipment makers or agents? Gardiner sees both as potential organizing principles, in addition to geography. “You’ll see the personalities of the teams start to present themselves, and the teams will develop as brands as we go through the process, perhaps rather quickly. … One of the first thoughts that occurred to me as I sat down to write the manifesto was this idea of friends waiting for each other to finish on the 18th green.”

• Is Gardiner familiar with the term sportswashing, or the supporting of sporting events by a country associated with human rights violations to improve its reputation? He is, same as anyone else. “Well, if you’re referring to the financial support we have, our shareholder base is extraordinarily diverse, just north of 60 partners, and we’ve been very selective about each. … The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is incredibly passionate about golf and its future, and I’m delighted to have them involved.”

• What about the golfer who isn’t exactly a star, ranked 40th in the world or so, who participates in the PGL for a season and then falls out? Where does he go? “That depends whether we achieve collaboration [with the PGA Tour]. And it’s possible we don’t. There will be a draft system in place and an opportunity for that golfer to play his way back in. If he doesn’t, he then becomes like any other golfer who has the freedom to apply to become a member of any other tour.” Gardiner also notes there will be “parachute payments” to ensure no golfers suffer financial hardship as the result of falling out. “When we speak about collaboration, we envisage a stronger structure where everybody is plugged in and the Premier Golf League merely forms the top of the pyramid. … It’s hard to imagine a situation where a player who is regarded as one of the best in the world is prevented from plying his trade wherever he chooses, but I’m not in a position to make that decision now.”

• And the title sponsors of PGA Tour events who also sponsor individual players, like Farmers Insurance and Rickie Fowler, just to name one. Surely, these are strong ties to dismantle. “Should we come to pass, you won’t necessarily see any change in any sponsorship worn by any player,” Gardiner says.

• And just how strict is the 18-event schedule, which with the majors and a Ryder Cup is more than some stars may care to play? Pretty strict, Gardiner says, although there would be the ability to substitute players due to injury.

• The venues?! Aside from the humans who are good at golf, the courses are part of the allure of any great broadcast. Gardiner apologizes for being unable to disclose the names of any venues at this time.

• And the distance debate? Where does the new face of the Premier Golf League stand on the distances elite players are driving it? I’m promised we’ll discuss that next time.

For now, Gardiner concludes that the decision whether this super circuit will come to be “will hopefully be made in the not too distant future.”

Good day.

 

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