While Rory McIlroy didn’t address his critics directly during his news conference Tuesday at the Players Championship, he wasted little time afterwards when asked about it by two reporters.

When news broke last week of the PGA Tour moving to a Designated Event Model for 2024, where top players will play against each other more often in no-cut events, no one was more vocal than James Hahn, a two-time PGA Tour winner who is now ranked No. 305 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Speaking to Golfweek, Hahn said of the changes: “I hate them. I’m gonna say exactly what 99.99 per cent of fans said about players leaving for the LIV Tour. If our players just said, ‘We’re doing this for the money,’ I would have a lot more respect for them. But how they’re covering up what they’re doing and trying to make it a thing about sponsors and fans and saving opposite-field events. I think that’s all BS.

“Right now, they’re just covering their ass and saying everything that the PGA Tour basically has trained them to say, have taught them to say and try to make it not about money when everyone knows 100 per cent it’s about more guaranteed money being funnelled to the top players in the world. We’ve been talking about money for the last two years and for them not to say that that’s not the No. 1 reason why they’re making these changes—it’s very, very hypocritical.”

RELATED: PGA Tour commissioner maps out future of 8 ‘designated’ no-cut events with 70-80 players

McIlroy didn’t have a problem with Hahn voicing his opinion as much as he did with Hahn not showing up Tuesday morning at TPC Sawgrass for a player meeting that lasted 90 minutes.

“Like, you say all this s— and you’re not even in the meeting? If you want to get informed and be a part of the process—the fact that he wasn’t even in the room was a slap in the face to everyone there,” McIlroy told reporters immediately after his news conference.

Rory says player meeting turnout was good—but noted James Hahn's absence.

"Like, you say all this s— and you’re not even in the meeting? If you want to get informed and be a part of the process—the fact that he wasn't even in the room was a slap in the face to everyone there."

— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) March 7, 2023

Hahn, 41, hasn’t won since the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship. His best finish in the past year was a fourth-place tie at the 3M Open, but he has missed 13 cuts since last year’s Players Championship. He qualified for the Players this year because he finished 113th in the FedEx Cup standings in 2022.

McIlroy, 33, finished a shot behind leader Kurt Kitayama last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He’s ranked No. 3 in the world and has a chance to become No. 1 with a victory this week.

The post Players 2023: Rory McIlroy calls no-show by critic James Hahn a ‘slap in the face’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
These days, it usually takes going exceptionally low to win on the PGA Tour, and it’s apparently no different in qualifying for the US Open.

In the first final qualifier played in North America on Monday at two courses in Dallas, 11-under for 36 holes was the number to be the medallist — and there were four players who achieved that — while seven-under was the score that got players into next month’s major at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

In a qualifier that featured numerous PGA Tour pros, the top 13 out of 98 entrants advanced, and a six-man playoff was required for the final two spots. Those positions went to Davis Shore and Roger Sloan, while Adam Hadwin and Austin Cook were the first and second alternates, respectively.

The day’s low score was a 62 fashioned by Matthew NeSmith, who made nine birdies in the morning round at Royal Oaks Country Club. NeSmith, a third-year PGA Tour player who has competed in only one major, shot 69 in the second round at Lakewood Country Club and joined Americans Kurt Kitayama (65-66) and Sean Crocker (64-67), and Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma (68-63) at 11-under.

Among the notables not advancing were 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Aaron Baddeley, Rory Sabbatini and James Hahn.

The other more recognisable names to advance were Canadians Mackenzie Hughes (nine-under) and Nick Taylor (nine-under) and American Scott Stallings, who was solo 11th at eight-under.

There was one amateur who reached from this final: University of Texas junior Travis Vick, who shot nine-under. Vick was a semi-finalist at last year’s US Amateur at Oakmont.

The remaining nine final qualifiers — eight in the US and one in Canada — will be contested on Monday, June 6.

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The post US Open 2022: These scores were ridiculously low, even in a US Open qualifier appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
“Who could lose this the least?” asked NBC’s David Feherty on Sunday as he assessed the proceedings in the final round of what was turning out to be the Wasted Shots Phoenix Open.

Then Brooks Koepka stepped up and said, “Hold my Mic Ultra.”

With two eagles in the final round, including a chip-in from 97 feet at the short par-4 17th hole, Koepka established a measure of order to what had been an inexplicably chaotic final day in the Waste Management Phoenix Open (the proper name) at TPC Scottsdale. The four-time major winner, who had missed his last three cuts (a first in his career), re-established his competitive bona fides with a six-under 65 for his first victory in more than 18 months.

After battling through a nagging knee and hip injuries and just weeks after parting with his swing coach, Claude Harmon III, Koepka captured his eighth PGA Tour title and first since he outdueled Rory McIlroy to win the 2019 WGC-Fed Ex St. Jude Invitational, also shooting 65 in the final round at TPC Southwind.

“This is probably my favourite win to date, just because of everything I’ve had to go through,” he said after his rally from five strokes back, which tied for the largest comeback in the last three seasons.

Koepka, who led the field in greens in regulation, became only the fourth player to win at TPC Scottsdale after beginning the final round outside the top five on the leader board. He completed 72 holes in 19-under 265, one stroke ahead of Xander Schauffele and K.H. Lee. Schauffele, who began the day tied with Jordan Spieth and three ahead of the rest of the field, was relegated to his eighth runner-up finish since his last win at the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

The measure of Koepka as a stone-cold hard-ass was evident not with his chip-in for the lead, but for his second shot into the green at the par-5 15th hole. Playing partner James Hahn, who held a three-stroke lead with eight to go, had just hooked his second shot into the water. Hitting next, Koepka blistered a 6-iron from 239 yards just over the flag, setting up an 18-footer for eagle. Ruthless stuff. He two-putted for birdie to climb into a share of the lead.

“I live for those moments where you’ve got to close, you got to hit some quality shots, quality putts,” said Koepka, who admitted that the limited number of fans in attendance still made a big difference to his demeanour. “I don’t know, I just like showing off, I guess.”

Xander Schauffele hits his approach shot on the 14th hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Christian Petersen

The win came at the site of his first tour title in 2015. The first win is monumental for any player And, yet, this one obviously meant more. Koepka admitted that he’d gone through some dark places and wondered if he’d ever be “the same competitor.”

Obviously, he is.

“A lot of hard work has gone into this, and I’m actually really proud of myself,” he said.

Xander seconds that (crummy) emotion
When you have more second-place finishes than any other player since the start of the 2017-18 season, of course the first emotion that comes to mind when you fall just short again is “frustration,” which Schauffele expressed after losing to Koepka by one stroke.

For those keeping track, that’s 10 runner-up finishes in the last three-plus seasons for the California native, including three already this season and his second in a row. Second place in that category is World No. 1 Dustin Johnson with seven, but he has collected quite a few wins in that span, including the 2020 Masters in November.

A four-time tour winner, Schauffele is seeking answers, but he seemed to identify where to look after shooting an even-par 71 on Sunday.

“He’s a great example,” Schauffele, ranked fourth in the world, said of Koepka. “Won four majors, true champion and it shows. Hasn’t been in great form, comes out here, and wins a tournament. There is a lot to be said for him and his recipe for winning. Me and my team are trying to figure it out ourself. Another example is Dustin Johnson, where he said he hit some of the worst shots he’s hit in his career and walks out of there with a two-shot win [in Saudi Arabia].”

“Overall, I’m playing good golf,” he added. “I’m disappointed. I heard Jordan [Spieth] say that me and him could have made it a two-man race. If you told me I would shoot two under par out here to win the golf tournament, you know, it’s very doable after the first three rounds that I played.

“Winning is tough. I’ll lick my wounds and come back.”

James Hahn hits from a greenside bunker on the 12th hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. abbie parr

Speaking of wounds, James Hahn has a few
Hahn had a dream start to the final round followed by the most dispiriting finish for a guy playing on a major medical extension and is scratching for every FedEx Cup point he can get.

Hahn, who missed eight months in 2019 because of an elbow injury, birdied six of his first 10 holes for a three-stroke lead and then twice hit into the water on the final eight holes while playing them in four over par. Making matters worse was falling apart while paired with U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, who surged over that same stretch to end up T-4.

The silver lining: Hahn, who was seeking his third tour title, gathered 75 points for 10th place, and after his fourth top-10 of the season he has 382 points, more than enough to retain his card for the rest of the year. He closed with a two-under 69 and 15-under 269 total.

Not exactly worth doing another Gangnam Style dance, like he displayed on the 16th hole in 2013, but clearly the 39-year-old South Korea native from Northern California is moving in the right direction, notwithstanding his finish Sunday.

Carlos Ortiz hits his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Christian Petersen

Carlos recovers nicely
Gotta give some props to Carlos Ortiz, who posted a final-round 64 and sat around for some 90 minutes until someone usurped his clubhouse lead of 17 under par. Which happened to be Koepka.

The native of Mexico, who won his first PGA Tour event in November at the Vivint Houston Open, held a share of the 54-hole lead with eventual winner Patrick Reed at last week’s Farmer’s Insurance Open but dropped all the way to T-29 after skying to a 78. That’s not easy to shake off, but the sixth-year tour player tied for lowest score of the day (with Rory McIlroy) thanks to an eagle-par-birdie-birdie closing stretch.

“I’m trying to, you know, let things go, don’t let bad shots affect me,” said Ortiz, 29, who ended up T-4. “I think I’m way clearer the way I’m thinking around the golf course. I think that’s reflecting on the score, too.”

That 78 at Torrey Pines actually was out of character for Ortiz on Sundays of late. Starting with his closing 65 in Houston, Ortiz’s final-round cards read 65-66-74-64-78-64. Keep that up and more wins are surely coming. “It’s just weird; golf is weird sometimes,” he said. “Probably today I didn’t hit it the best. I don’t know, just somehow I just scored and made some good putts.”

The post Brooks Koepka seizes the day, while Xander Schauffele and James Hahn see title hopes slip away appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
The conclusion of the first tournament of the 2020-‘21 PGA Tour season—what, you thought there was an offseason?—won’t lack for drama. Not with three players (James Hahn, Cameron Percy and Brian Stuard) tied atop the leader board and another 14 lurking within three strokes with one round to go at the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif.

How did we get here? Here are our five takeaways from Saturday’s play at Silverado.

Better late than never
At 46 years old and with 153 events under his belt, Cameron Percy is still looking for his first career win on the PGA Tour. That could change on Sunday after a second-straight 68 that leaves the Aussie with a share of the lead.

How big a deal would that be to Percy?

“It would mean the world to me,” he said. “It would mean I get to go to Augusta, which is a goal. I’ve never been to Augusta, which is the biggest goal you have when you come over here. I just thought I’d get there, I haven’t got there yet, so it’s a big deal.”

One reason he’s in that position: putting.

At last month’s Wyndham Championship, Percy saw Justin Rose practicing with a laser that he used to line up his putter. The concept was intriguing, so Percy used Rose’s and then bought one of his own. He also switched to a SIK putter.

This week, Percy has been one of the best in the field with the flat stick, including on Saturday when he made a half dozen birdies, with three of those coming from outside 15 feet.

“That’s half the battle, lining up where you’re looking,” he said. “I hit a lot of putts on line this week.”

Jed Jacobsohn
James Hahn reacts to a shot from the bunker on the fourth hole during round three of the Safeway Open.

Hahn’s recipe for success: Watching Peppa the Pig
Though most everyone’s status on the tour for this season was already secure because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that’s not true for James Hahn.

He’s on a major medical, so he has only 14 events this season to earn enough points to keep full playing privileges. Three rounds into that journey, he’s off to a good start. After a 67 on Saturday, he’s in position for his first victory since the 2016 Wells Fargo Championship.

“[The pressure] is the same as trying to win a golf tournament, because you’ve heard it before, winning takes care of itself,” Hahn said. “The medical is just something in the back of my mind.”

At least he shouldn’t have a hard time clearing his mind between now and Sunday afternoon. Hahn is staying with family in the same house that he grew up in in Alameda, an hour south of Napa.

“The last thing I want to do is be alone in a hotel room having a million thoughts go through my mind and try to play out all the scenarios,” he said. “It’s easier just to watch some Peppa Pig with my daughter. Most guys don’t have that luxury of watching Peppa Pig, but I do.”

Jed Jacobsohn
Phil Mickelson watches his tee shot on the 16th hole during round three of the Safeway Open.

Mickelson: Worst he has played in ‘three months’
How’s Phil Mickelson doing on the eve of next week’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot, where (as you might have heard) he infamously double bogeyed the 72nd hole to lose by one?

“This is the worst I’ve played in the last three months,” he said Saturday. “It’s deceptive ‘because I didn’t make a bogey, but I didn’t drive it well, I didn’t chip it well and I didn’t putt well. I turned a 64 into a 70 and I’ve got some work to do.”

To his point, the 50-year-old Mickelson, who two weeks ago won in his PGA Champions debut, had more birdies (two) than fairways hit (one). Classic.

If there was an upside, as mentioned, Mickelson didn’t make a bogey, extending his blemish-free streak to 42 straight holes this week. It also marked the first time since the 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge (now the American Express) that he posted back-to-back bogey-free rounds.

Now he’ll have one more round to straighten things out before heading to Winged Foot.

“Heading into this week or the last three, four weeks, I was playing really well,” he said. “So hopefully it’s not far away.”

Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire
Sahith Theegala tees off during the second round of the Safeway Open.

Theegala finding his rhythm

To say Sahith Theegala’s career has gotten off to a rough start would be an understatement. Since the Haskins Award winner out of Pepperdine turned pro, he’d missed three cuts in four starts coming into this week.

Still, even though he could have returned to school for another season after the NCAA granted eligibility relief because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he didn’t regret the choice.

Saturday perhaps showed why.

Playing the weekend on tour for just the second time his young career, the 23-year-old shot a sizzling 64 to race up the leader board and into a tie for 12th at 13 under.

Driving it straight helped. Hitting 15 greens did, too. And so did making 115 feet of putts, including one from 38 feet on the par-3 16th. Theegala, in case you haven’t noticed, also has a unique putting style, using a cross-handed grip for short putts and a conventional one for longer putts.

And now he seems to be finding his rhythm with the rest of his game, too.

“I was just really excited and a little bit nervous the first couple [of starts],” he said. “I was just so excited I’m out here with guys that I grew up watching, all of a sudden I’m competing against them. The last couple weeks, Barracuda and here, I’ve felt so comfortable. I’m just out there playing golf as I know it and I think just having that mindset’s definitely helped a lot.”

Akshay’s crazy eagle
Another young pro who seems to be finding his footing this week? Akshay Bhatia.

Unlike Theegala, Bhatia turned pro out of high school. And like Theegala, he has, not surprisingly, struggled early on. After turning pro last fall, he promptly missed the cut in each of his first four starts. This year hasn’t gone much better with two more missed cuts on the PGA Tour and another on the European Tour.

But last week he tied for 13th at the Invitational at Auburn University Club in the LocaliQ series. Then came Saturday and his second 66 of the week.

Like Theegala, he rolled the ball well, taking 106 feet of putts. But the best highlight of the day? An eagle at the par-5 fifth where he “shanked” a 5-iron into a tree and off a road, got relief, and chipped in.

“It’s probably the craziest eagle I’ve ever made,” Bhatia said. “I told my caddie, ‘I’m just trying to give myself a putt,’ and I mean, I hit a good chip but it landed like pretty firm and just railed the flag and went in.

“That hole went from basically like a 7 to a 3, which is crazy how golf works like that.”

The post Cameron Percy is dreaming of Augusta and four other takeaways from Day 3 of Safeway Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
PARAMUS, N.J. — Sitting down with James Hahn in the media centre at Ridgewood Country Club, I had an odd thought: I hope he takes off his hat. This had nothing to do with etiquette (I couldn’t care less about that silly rule) and everything to do with the fact that this two-time PGA Tour winner cuts his own hair. Hahn wound up giving me a couple glimpses, running his hands through his shiny, black mane, and I must say, hopefully, without this sounding weird, that it looked pretty darn good.

Kudos to Hahn for wielding the clippers almost as well as he wields a set of golf clubs. And it’s a fact made even more impressive by how far he’s come.

It’s been a long time since Hahn was a struggling tour pro selling shoes at Nordstrom’s to make ends meet. This week he will play in the Northern Trust, marking the sixth consecutive year he’s qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, a four-tournament stretch with a $10 million bonus up for grabs. Meanwhile, this could be the week that he crosses $10 million in PGA Tour earnings. And yet, this two-time PGA Tour winner still cuts his own hair, brags to fellow tour pros about travel deals he finds online (He calls himself “The Priceline King”), and lights up when you ask him about the deals he’s found searching Craigslist.

“I always feel like I’m the poorest guy in the room,” Hahn said. “My brother and I, my dad, my mom, we grew up in humble beginnings. And they’ve instilled that in me. What’s the cost of a dollar?”

Hahn joined me to discuss a wide range of topics from his financial philosophy to his unique swing thought to his love of Shark Tank, and yes, his (successful) stint selling women’s shoes. And Joel Beall and I also preview the Northern Trust and talk potential Ryder Cup captain’s picks. Please have a listen:

https://soundcloud.com/user-96678684/fedex-cupnorthern-trust-preview-and-james-hahn-on-tour-life-and-his-craigslist-obsession

The post James Hahn on selling women’s shoes, cutting his own hair, and approaching a PGA Tour milestone beyond his wildest dreams appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
James Hahn wasn’t in the field last week at Shinnecock Hills and has only played in one U.S. Open in his career, in 2016 at Oakmont. That doesn’t leave him any less disenchanted with the USGA, the organizsation in charge of running the event.

The 36-year-old cited an example from his lone appearance in the tournament when, before teeing off in the second round after inclement weather had push its completion to Saturday, he said he asked an official what the Stimpmeter reading was for the greens.

“His response was the greens are really fast but we slowed them down for you guys,” Hahn recalled this week. “He didn’t know the Stimp. None of them knew.”

In between the second and third rounds Hahn said he continued to seek out an answer and was the told the greens were double cut or double rolled. Asking which one it was, he said, no one knew.

“To me, that’s amateur hour,” continued Hahn, now a member of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council, who went on to three-putt his first hole of the round that day, the 462-yard par-4 10th, and later had a four-putt on the 479-yard seventh. “They don’t know how to run a professional event because they don’t run professional events.

“Not only have we lost trust in the USGA as players, but I’ve lost trust in our national open to be in the hands of an organisation like that. For how well other tournaments are run, the U.S. Open has fallen to the worst major that we have.”

Speaking with several players in the wake of what happened Saturday at Shinnecock, where good shots still rolled off greens and the USGA admitted the setup had gotten too hard because of unexpected afternoon winds, the sentiment was similar.

“It’s a private fraternity and you abide by their rules,” one multiple major winner said. “[USGA CEO] Mike Davis is Dean Wormer, except the ending is not as good as Animal House.”

“It’s too big of a tournament to keep having issues,” added Justin Thomas. “It’s too big of a tournament to be talking about the setup afterward when we should be talking about how Brooks [Koepka] won the tournament and beat some of the best in the world on an amazing golf course. Instead, all that’s being talked about is the setup.”

“A lot of players are disenchanted with the organisation, the tournament and the setup,” said a former winner of the event. “No, I don’t trust them.”

“They don’t take opinions or comments from anybody,” said Pat Perez. “They don’t bring the PGA Tour in, Augusta, the R&A or the European Tour. Unfortunately this is the only tournament every year this seems to be a question.”

Officials from all of those organisations were in fact on hand last week at Shinnecock. Some, like PGA Tour VP of Rules Mark Russell and European Tour chief referee John Paramor, served in a rules capacity. But as one source within the tour said, it’s their championship and when it comes to setting up the golf course or seeking input, the USGA ultimately makes the decisions and does so with little to no input from the outside.

“Did anyone ever trust them?” reasoned 2006 U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy. “I think for the most part their intentions are sound, there’s some pretty good golf minds there, but they just can’t get out of their own way. You never have a U.S. Open where they’re not the story. Augusta is never the story of the Masters — this year Patrick Reed was the story of the Masters. It has nothing to do with Augusta. It’s never the R&A, never the PGA Tour, never the PGA of America.”

And in the eyes of many, there is almost never NOT some sort of problem at one point during a U.S. Open. Players cited this year at Shinnecock, last year’s football field-wide fairways at Erin Hills, the bungling of the Dustin Johnson ruling at Oakmont in 2016 as well as pins on Nos. 10 and 14, the condition of the greens at Chambers Bay in 2015, the re-working of Merion in 2013 and of course the last time they went to Shinnecock, in 2004, a course many consider one of the best in the country.

“To some degree I am surprised it keeps happening,” said Zach Johnson, whose first U.S. Open was at Shinnecock in 2004. “If [our input] was important it would’ve happened, so it must not be. I’m all for having Nick Price on the board, he’s one of the model pros. But if controversy is something they want or feed off they’re doing a great job. Shinnecock is probably my favourite course in the United States. I can’t find any negatives about it. I think the people who make up the USGA are good people but good people have to be held accountable. There has to be a level of integrity just like with us and I don’t feel like there is.”

Why do these issues keep arising?

Theories abound on that, too.

“There’s a middle ground to be had somewhere,” said Rory McIlroy. “They could set it up tough and have 67 be a good score but not so tough guys can’t keep balls on greens. They have all this technology they didn’t have in the past and they’re trying to apply an exact science to an inexact game. Lot of guys [in the USGA] haven’t played [professionally] before and haven’t got a feel that, OK, this is good at 9 a.m. but what’s going to be like at 5 p.m.”

Added Jason Day: “They don’t say [publicly] that even par is their thing but I think amongst themselves I think they want even par to win, which is why they have to change the course to make it so even par will win. It’s disappointing.”

“I think it was chasing score to par,” said Jordan Spieth, who won at Chambers Bay three years ago. “We had beautiful conditions with wide fairways so how they are going to get the score to par it’s going to become unfair with greens or pin positions or a combination of the two. They put pins where greens weren’t designed that way. As a golf course design nerd it was frustrating to look at. I was like what are you doing? I played poorly. Even with the setup, I thought it was fantastic for me but the course nerd in me was like I want to play this course at a different time.”

Spieth also said that he thinks the organization is trying to do its best.

What that is, though, seems be unclear when it comes to the tournament’s identity. For years the U.S. Open was about narrow fairways, hack-it-rough, and tough greens.

Now some seem to think it has been left searching in part because of its “obsession” with par and because modern players have become so good that the only place the USGA thinks it can toughen the course is on and around the greens. In the eyes of many players, that’s where many of the problems stem from.

“Courses aren’t meant for greens at that speed,” Perez said of Shinnecock. “We can’t have all these old courses then try to take down the modern player by making the course impossible. They need new venues. The Brooks Koepkas and Dustin Johnsons and Justin Thomases are phenomenal and to neutralize them they make the course unplayable. What’s the point of that?”

Koepka of course won the last two U.S. Opens, so it has worked out for him just fine.

And the USGA, for its part, continues to say it never talks about score. It’s main goal is to set up a stern test that’s fair.

Still, many players think the root of the problems at the U.S. Open are embedded in the fabric of the organization running it.

“They’re stubborn,” Hahn said. “I’ve heard Mike Davis talk and there’s an arrogance about him. He thinks he’s better off the way it is than how we see it.”

So much so Hahn said that after the Johnson ruling three years ago, a small contingent of players considered staging a protest and considered skipping the following year’s event. They didn’t.

“We have to play because it’s our National Open,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do.”

And that is as frustrating as anything.

The post PGA Tour players’ vexation with USGA lingers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Whether golf’s governing bodies decide to do something to curb how far tour pros hit the ball remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a hot topic of conversation. Earlier this week, Jack Nicklaus, long a proponent of rolling back the golf ball, said USGA executive director Mike Davis assured him they’re “getting closer” to reaching such a decision. But even if arguably the greatest golfer of all time is for something, that doesn’t mean all current PGA Tour pros would be on board.

On Friday, two-time PGA Tour winner James Hahn issued this little jab at the USGA on Twitter:

Breaking news. In addition to limited flight balls, the USGA plans to ban working out, proper diet and swinging faster than 105mph. They are also planning on removing the 3 point shot in the NBA.

— James Hahn (@JamesHahnPGA) February 23, 2018

Funny stuff, James. Well, not the part about the 3-point line. Don’t joke about that, please. We already learned earlier this week that Major League Baseball might let managers choose who gets to bat in the ninth inning. Where does it end?!

The post James Hahn takes a jab at the USGA over possible golf ball rollback appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Obviously, Spieth is one of the most popular players in the game—not just with fans but his fellow players. So Hurley has a tough fight ahead with the 24-year-old “Golden Child” in Tuesday’s election. Conversely, Hurley might’ve swayed some votes with this hilarious video he shared on social media on Monday.

For those of you who don’t know, I am running against @JordanSpieth for Chairman of the @PGATOUR Player Advisory Council. One final push for the voting that ends tomorrow pic.twitter.com/dO2uLiTg3B

— Billy Hurley III (@BillyHurley3) February 12, 2018

Fabulous work by Hurley, the winner of the 2016 Quicken Loans Invitational, who served five years in the U.S. Navy after graduating from the Naval Academy. You know even Spieth cracked up after watching this.

The rest of the 2018 PGA Tour Player Advisory Council, which was named in January, includes Justin Thomas, Steve Stricker, Paul Casey, Roberto Castro, Ben Crane, Andres Gonzales, James Hahn, J.J. Henry, Matt Kuchar, Geoff Ogilvy, Rod Pampling, Harold Varner III, Johnson Wagner and Tim Wilkinson.

The post Billy Hurley III calls Jordan Spieth ‘disgusting’ and a ‘thief’ in satirical attack ad that is absolute gold appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
It took six extra holes—the longest playoff in Sony Open in Hawaii history—but Patton Kizzire downed James Hahn for the win to become the first player on the PGA Tour in the 2017-18 season to have two wins.

Almost two months to the day since Kizzire won the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, Kizzire captured the Sony Open with a two-putt par on the par-3 17th. “It wasn’t necessarily pretty but it was nice to come out on top,” said Kizzire.

Although Kizzire stumbled on the greens a bit Sunday (-.717 strokes gained/putting) he still had a good week putting with a 1.711 strokes gained mark with his Scotty Cameron by Titleist GoLo Tour putter. Kizzire also used a split set of Titleist’s relatively new 718 line of irons. Kizzire had a 718 T-MB 4iron, a pair of 718 CB irons for his 5- and 6-irons and the rest of his iron set the 718 MB along with a Titleist Vokey SM7 pitching wedge.

The equipment Patton Kizzire used to win the Sony Open in Hawaii

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Driver: Titleist 917D3 ((Fujikura Atmos Tour Spec 6X shaft), 10.5 degrees

3-wood: Titleist 917F2, 16.5 degrees

Hybrid: Titleist 913H, 19 degrees

Irons (4): Titleist 718 T-MB; (5-6): Titleist 718 CB; (7-9): Titleist 718 MB; (PW): Titleist Vokey SM7

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (52, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey prototype (60 degrees)

Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist GoLo Tour

The post The clubs Patton Kizzire used to win the Sony Open in Hawaii appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
It took an eternity, but that likely won’t matter to Patton Kizzire, who was able to outlast James Hahn in a sudden-death playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii, ending it on the sixth extra hole with a par. It’s the second victory of his career, the first coming just two months ago at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.

“It wasn’t necessarily pretty,” Kizzire said of the longest playoff in Sony Open history, adding, “but it was nice to come out on top. James played a great round today. It was kind of a marathon playoff. I was hoping I could make an eagle on the first hole and end it quickly, but I’ll take it any way I can get it.”

It looked as though the playoff might not have even reached the second hole, when Kizzire left his third shot on the first extra hole short of the green and in the bunker at the par-5 18th. But he came up big on his next, hitting it to within tap-in range for par, which was good enough to extend when Hahn missed his birdie putt. After four more holes of the pair going shot for shot, Kizzire took advantage at the par-3 17th, beating Hahn’s bogey with a par for his second win in his last four starts. Even after this dream start to his 2017-’18 season, Kizzire is still hungry for more.

“This is huge for me, huge for my confidence. One win doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot, two means a little more, and three’s even better. I’m always looking for the next one, I’m super excited right now.”

The victory makes him the first player to two victories on the season, and it’s expected to move him from 105th to inside the top 55 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Hahn entered the final round five shots off the lead, but found himself in the playoff after posting the round of the tournament, an eight-under 62 to join Kizzire at 17-under 263. Hahn, a two-time tour winner was previously 2-0 in playoffs, beating Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson in the 2015 Northern Trust and Roberto Castro in the 2016 Wells Fargo. Unfortunately, that record is no longer perfect, but the runner-up finish is his best since his solo third at last season’s AT&T Byron Nelson.

“I had opportunities to win, didn’t pull it off,” Hahn said. “So, for me, I’m a competitor. I’m a grinder, love to compete, I hate losing. It’s going to push me to be better.”

Tom Hoge, the 54-hole leader, cruised along for most of the day, making three birdies and just one bogey through 15 holes to grab the solo lead at 18 under. Three pars would have earned him his first PGA Tour victory, but he ran into major trouble at the par-4 16th, hitting his approach into a greenside bunker and walking away with a disastrous double bogey. Still, he had chances on the 17th and 18th to earn a spot in the playoff, but neither of his birdie looks fell. He ended up with an even-par 70 to finish in solo third at 16-under 264.

“I played well. I would have liked a few more putts to go early on in the day. Ultimately, it’s a swing on 8 and swing on 16, same ones,” Hoge said. “I was kind of in between yardages on both of them. I was trying to play kind of a low draw to get to the back pins there and just kind of flipped to the bottom left. I was in a tough spot on 16 in the bunker there.”

“I hit two good shots on 17 and 18 to give myself a chance. Hit good putts, just didn’t quite find the bottom. That’s how it goes.”

A potential breakthrough win for Hoge will have to wait, but the solo third is the best finish of his career on the PGA Tour.

For Brian Harman, it was another tough weekend in paradise after holding the 36-hole lead. He played his final two rounds in just two under, including a final-round even-par 70 to finish at 15-under 265 in a tie for fourth. The two-time PGA Tour winner won’t be pleased with walking away without the victory, but the T-4 does mark his fifth top 10 finish in as many starts this season, and his third straight inside the top four.

Harman was joined at 15 under by Webb Simpson and Brian Stuard, who both vaulted into the top 5 with five-under 65s on Sunday. It’s Stuard’s second T-4 finish of the season, and third inside the top 10. For Simpson, he’s now finished T-20 or better in three of his four starts this season.

Gary Woodland, Ben Martin and Ollie Schniederjans finished in a tie for sixth at 14-under 266.

Defending champion Justin Thomas will leave Hawaii without a victory this season, but a final-round two-under 68 earned him a T-14 finish at 12-under 268. One behind Thomas was Jordan Spieth, who carded a second straight four-under 66 to finish in a tie for 18th at 11-under 269.

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