By Alex Myers
With no live golf these days there has been a surge in rewatching old tournaments. It’s how golf fans got through a Masters week with no Masters, and apparently, it’s how some players are passing the time as well.

Take Justin Leonard, who hosted his own private viewing party for Tuesday night’s re-airing of the final day of the 1999 Ryder Cup. If you recall, that event is known for four main things:

1.) Ben Crenshaw looking like a crazy man predicting a Sunday U.S. comeback.
2.) Ben Crenshaw not looking so crazy when the U.S. pulled off the comeback.
3.) Justin Leonard’s 50-foot winning birdie putt to cap said U.S. comeback.
4.) The most hideous golf shirts of all time.

Turns out, Leonard still has his shirt. And to really get into the spirit, he dusted it off and put it on to relive this epic event at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

Ready to go. This shirt smells like sweet victory, which is oddly similar to 20 year-old dried champagne. pic.twitter.com/PCKu5dEWrN

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) April 22, 2020

Very nice. As were Leonard’s 75(!) subsequent tweets, most of which answered fan questions and comments. He even acknowledged Team USA’s weak Champagne spraying efforts.

No joke. It really was pathetic. https://t.co/5oqRDDTZex

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) April 22, 2020

And what the celebratory drinking schedule looked like that night/next morning:

Champagne early, then beer later, then something else, then beer again. https://t.co/2OMKRzQZGW

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) April 22, 2020

As for his legendary putt, Leonard said he would have left the flagstick in under today’s rules. He also noted his opponent, Jose Maria Olazabal, was all class despite Leonard’s—and Team USA’s—premature celebration in what would be a 14.5-13.5 win after trailing 10-6 to start the day.

He has and always will be a perfect gentleman. He has never been anything but nice to me. https://t.co/QVAj5oHenj

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) April 22, 2020

Not surprisingly, the current NBC/Golf Channel commentator isn’t a big fan of a potential Ryder Cup without fans:

The fans are a bigger part of the Ryder Cup than they are at any other event. It would almost be like a neutral site if there are no fans. https://t.co/YptQmz9tOm

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) April 22, 2020

And of course, he had a couple comments about those hideous shirts, one of which was auctioned off for an absurd amount a couple years ago:

It is actually way too big. Amazing how cuts and fabrics have changed. https://t.co/wOqrhIJPTF

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) April 22, 2020

Tough call on that one. https://t.co/S9SwqSZsRo

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) April 22, 2020

Sorry, Justin. Considering Duval “only” won his match 5-and-4, we’re going with the shirt on that one.

The post Justin Leonard dusted off the ugliest golf shirt ever and had a nice little 1999 Ryder Cup rewatch party appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The power game was again on display at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where Champ led the field in strokes-gained/off the tee through 54 holes. But this time around, he offered a new way to showcase his unique talents. On the driving range Sunday at the Conutry Club of Jackson (Miss.) roughly 30 minutes before teeing off in the final round with a four-stroke lead, Champ did this to his Ping G400 Max driver:

This is the driver of Cameron Champ 20 minutes before his final round tee time with a 4 shot lead. He had a backup in the car, and was able to hit a few on the range. pic.twitter.com/QfnvStHFqW

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) October 28, 2018

The scary part of this wasn’t that he did it; you’ve got to believe this isn’t the first driver Champ has cracked in his career. Rather, it was the nonchalant way he rolled with it. Here’s a guy trying to win his first PGA Tour title and he’s got a four-stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes. Any outside distraction would seemingly be a nerve-jarring calamity.

Yet by all reports, Champ handling the situation, well, like a Champ. Golf Channel commentator Justin Leonard says he overheard Champ talking to his father, Jeff, on his cellphone, asking him to retrieve a back-up club. And there apparently was no panic in Cameron’s voice: “Don’t worry, not a rush, I’m not going to hit it until the third hole.”

Sure enough, Champ’s backup was up to the task, as was Champ himself. He led the field in driving distance on Sunday (311.7 yards). And despite a few anxious moments mid-round, where he let the four-stroke lead to start the day disappear, Champ regrouped to make five birdies over his last six holes and win by four.

Asked about it afterward, again Champ seemed unfazed.

“It was very unexpected,” he said. “Then my backup is actually my old one I have that week. I didn’t bring a new new head. It was an older one from my previous driver. I know the weighting was just a little bit off, so just tried to hit as many balls as I could on the range with it just to get used to it a little bit.

“I tried to manage it. Obviously I knew mostly today was probably mixed with nerves and adrenaline and just trying to find my tempo and my swing and whatnot.”

Apparently it will take more than a cracked driver to rattle Champ.

RELATED: Cameron Champ wins first PGA Tour title by four at the Sanderson Farms

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By John Strege
Johnny Miller’s currency as NBC’s golf analyst for nearly 30 years is that he is largely unfiltered, that whatever he is thinking he is saying, and it was evident from the outset. It began with the thought heard ‘round the golf world.

“This is absolutely the easiest shot to choke I’ve ever seen in my life,” Miller said as Peter Jacobsen faced a challenging second shot to the 18th green on the 72nd hole of the 1990 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, with the tournament on the line.

The Dreaded “C” Word, he called it in his memoir, “I Call the Shots.” From the backlash (“You’d think I’d exposed warts on Miss America,” he wrote), one might have surmised he was in violation of the FCC’s Obscenity, Decency and Profanity clause.

Love him or hate him, Miller, 71, set a high and entertaining bar, and should he decide to retire after the Ryder Cup, as he has hinted he might do, his will be a tough act to follow.

The question then becomes, by whom will he be followed? Let the speculation begin.

Several names immediately come to mind and are familiar to golf viewers, and in no particular order include David Feherty, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, David Duval, Geoff Ogilvy, Justin Leonard, Colin Montgomerie and even Paul Azinger, currently with Fox Sports.

Arguments could be made either for or against each of them, depending on who is doing the arguing, but this much seems certain: There is no obvious choice.

So we turned to an authority on televising golf, Terry Jastrow, who emphatically insists there is an obvious choice.

“The preemptive No. 1 answer to it, which is the home run, I’d launch an all-out assault on Phil Mickelson,” Terry Jastrow said.

We did not see that coming.

A protege of sports and news television legend Roone Arledge, Jastrow is a winner of seven Emmys and produced or directed more than 60 major championships for ABC Sports, including the 1990 U.S. Amateur that Mickelson won.

Jastrow disclosed that he has a friendship with Mickelson and his wife Amy (he produced and directed an instructional video for Mickelson, as he has done for other notables), but that does not disqualify him from making an interesting case.

“I learned so much about television sports from the altar of Roone Arledge,” Jastrow said. “He was a big advocate of the personality of the announcer. It wasn’t just the context with regard to their expertise of the event, but how fun he was. He hired Dave Marr, who was at Winged Foot where Roone played. Marr was a good friend of Frank Gifford’s.”

Gifford was among Arledge’s closest friends, and Marr often joined them for dinners at Jimmy Weston’s or Toots Shor’s in New York City. “And he found out what a great personality [Marr] was. For different reasons, the same with Bob Rosburg. He was a ball.

“We used to bring Phil to the booth with Jack Whitaker and Dave Marr. You know he’s hugely intelligent, very articulate. Been there, done that. But nobody is more fun to have a four-hour dinner with, a four-hour dinner and two bottles of wine with, than Phil.”

Gregory Shamus
Mickelson would be a long-term play who would ease his way into the booth.

Mickelson, however, remains competitive, even at 47—he won the WGC-Mexico Championship earlier this year and made the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He is determined to continue competing, largely in pursuit of the elusive U.S. Open victory.

“I’d go to Steve Loy [Mickelson’s agent] and make a preemptive bid for Phil,” Jastrow said. “He’s likely to be less available just now, but more available over time. I don’t know how interested he’s going to be in the PGA Tour Champions. But I would go to Steve Loy and say, ‘We want to be Phil’s television home for the rest of his life in golf.’ I’d give him as much work as I could now and over time he’d be playing less and you’d be getting more.

“You’ve got to get out ahead of it. Otherwise you’ve got to line up with six other guys [trying to hire him]. Phil’s trying to win the next U.S. Open, but you’ve got to go in and get him for the future. When we hired Nicklaus, we did it on this basis. Look, play all you want, but when you’re done come be with us.”

Nicklaus worked U.S. Open telecasts from 1986 through 1994 and PGA Championships from 1986 through 1990 for Jastrow and ABC.

Another point working in Mickelson’s favor: He’s a major champion. It is not necessarily a requirement, Jastrow said, “but it’s a de facto responsibility that you have major championship winners talking about major championships. You’re not going to have a .120 hitter on talking about how the greatest hitters hit.”

Historically major champions have gotten the 18th hole analyst’s chair, whatever the network. CBS, for instance, has gone from Ken Venturi to Lanny Wadkins to Nick Faldo, while NBC had Lee Trevino before Miller took over. Paul Azinger was the lead analyst with ABC and ESPN, before moving over to Fox to replace Greg Norman.

For those keeping score, that’s eight claret Jugs, four U.S. Opens, four PGA Championships and three green jackets among them.

Dom Furore
Azinger is with Fox, but given he only works a handful of events, perhaps he could be lured away.

It is unknown what the hierarchy at NBC/Golf Channel is thinking, should Miller retire. Understandably, executives there won’t comment. And it’s possible Miller could be persuaded to come back for another year, maybe with a reduced schedule.

But if he isn’t …

Some consider Azinger the best tournament analyst working today. Yet he works only a handful of USGA events for Fox and might welcome the broader audience he once had at ABC. One unknown and a potential obstacle is whether his contract is an exclusive with Fox. Then again, contracts can be bought out.

Chamblee, meanwhile, does not have a major championship, but he has become the preeminent studio analyst for Golf Channel. Studious and opinionated, he, like Miller, is wholly unafraid of the backlash for offering unpopular opinions. In this business, a thick skin helps.

There’s no major on Nobilo’s resume, either, and he also works tournaments for CBS, but he is an astute analyst for Golf Channel and an occasional sparring partner for Chamblee, entertainingly so.

Feherty has only a major sense of humor, but he is smart and witty and likely would flourish on a larger stage. Montgomerie is a World Golf Hall of Famer, though without a major, and, as one player noted, can be just as unwittingly polarizing as Miller has been. Kudos to him for that.

Duval, a British Open winner and once ranked No. 1 in the world, has the playing chops and has joined Golf Channel’s first team of studio analysts. Leonard, too, has a claret jug and a stellar playing record and has shown a knack for working tournament broadcasts. Ogilvy is as perceptive and thoughtful as anyone in golf, but he is only 41, presumably still interested in playing, and is moving his family to Australia.

It is all speculative, of course, but if you’re going to speculate, go big. And no one in this conversation is bigger than Phil Mickelson.

The post Who will replace NBC’s Johnny Miller when he retires? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Following a stint as a commentator at the Winter Olympics, David Feherty will be back inside the ropes this week as golf gears up for the Masters. Feherty’s eponymous show is also returning to the Golf Channel on March 5, ditching its historical one-on-one format in favor of a panel discussion. These roundtable discussions will feature Rickie Fowler and Jack Nicklaus (March 5), Tom Lehman and Justin Leonard (March 12), and Ray Allen and Jon Lester (March 19). On tour to promote the show, we talked to Feherty about rowdy fan behavior, Rory McIlroy’s struggles and why Tiger Woods will win again.

Golf Digest: You just finished up coverage for the Winter Games. With two Olympics under you belt, what’s surprised you about working this event?

David Feherty: Well the Winter Games were a lot colder! I fell down a lot more; I think I only fell once during the Summer Games. I can’t tell you how many times I slipped and fell on my ass. I invited a new skating jump: the Triple Klutz. That’s when you fall down once and fall down twice more trying to get up.     

It was a great experience both times, but the Winter Games would be my favorite. I enjoy the sports more and getting to see them live and up close for the first time was incredible.

You’ve made numerous endeavours outside the scope of golf, such as standup, writing and charity work. Obviously your show and work with NBC takes a sizable amount of your time, but, similar to your Olympic experience, are there any other ventures outside of golf that you eventually want to try?

Good question. Not off the top of my head…No. I think I’ve gotten to the point where if I start doing something else I’m going to have stop doing something. Ideas these days, if I get one, I have to sort of throw it out.

Tiger Woods just had his most promising showing of his latest return at the Honda. I think most in golf considered a clean bill of health for the Masters as the standard of success in his comeback, but following his performance at PGA National, is it time, or even fair, to expand those expectations a bit?

I think so. Just from first look, he’s carrying himself differently, he’s walking differently, his body language is markedly different from the way it has been.

And it gives me the sense that something’s stirring in there. It might be an awakening. If he can stay healthy, I think he’ll win again. The only mistakes I’ve ever made about Tiger is when I’ve underestimated him. He has such a strength of will. The thing people don’t bring up very often is how much he adores the game. He loves, loves to play golf. And you have to love to play golf to go through what he’s gone through the past couple years, because Lord knows he doesn’t need to.

Scott Halleran

Fan behaviour has become a recurring topic as of late; just this weekend Justin Thomas tossed someone from the gallery. There’s a certain degree of latitude when this concerns Phoenix, but the rowdiness seems to be spreading, and as we saw at Hazeltine a few falls back, it can be a blemish on the game. You’re inside the ropes with these guys; are these merely isolated cases, or is there a genuine cause for concern?

Well, I’ll tell you, it’s something Tiger has put up with for many years. The distractions he’s had to put up with are amazing compared to what everyone else has had to deal with.

I saw what happened (with Thomas). What seems to have happened with this guy is that he didn’t make just one comment, he had made a few appearances on the ropes. If you get someone stalking a player and making negative comments, it’s time to go. It’s not part of our game.

And I get the Phoenix thing, I do. I wouldn’t want to see Phoenix every week, but I’d like to see a little of Phoenix every week. A little more of that. But you got to be respectful of the players just before and when they hit, it’s the nature of our game. Now, after they hit, that’s an entirely different thing. If someone makes a comment then, well, shut up.

Are you worried we are going to see crowd issues at the Ryder Cup in France?

We were just talking about that. If people think Minnesotans are rude, wait til we get to Paris! It will be very partisan, and I imagine fairly raucous there. I’m familiar with the venue because we used to play the French Open there…I expect it will be a hell of an event when it comes to that.

But in golf, the fans police themselves to a certain extent, just like how players police themselves. If you get someone who is completely out of order, he’s liable to get the shit kicked out of him. I don’t think it will be a problem.

Sam Greenwood/Getty Image

Speaking of Thomas, the last three seasons or so have seen the top ranks dominated by youth. This doesn’t appear to be an aberration, with players continuing to make an impact in their early-20s. Why are these guys so formidable at a young age now?

The reason they’re so formidable is just coming back himself. Tiger Woods is solely responsible because the way he played around the turn of the century and these kids were seven, eight, nine years old. You know they had a golf club in their hand watching their fathers’ watch Tiger Woods. He raised the bar to a point where, well, people like me could get underneath it.

You know, it was something to aim for these kids, something to strive for. And in the meantime, it’s not possible…they’re not going to play like he did. Nobody is. My children won’t see that golf, their children might not see that golf. Hell, he won a U.S. Open by 15 shots. The last person to win a major championship like that was Old Tom Morris at the Open in 1862, back when he was playing with a badger’s testicles stuffed with seagull feathers.

It seems like every few weeks we’re watching a fledgling talent enjoy a breakthrough. Is there anyone you have in mind who seems ripe for the next star turn?

You know, for the life of me, I don’t really understand what’s happened with Rory. I think he’s going to be a player that has streaks, he’s not going to be that consistent. I think he still has a lot left in him though, and there’s a lot left to see there.

But there are just so many good young players now. The strength and depth out there is amazing. There are players on the Web.com Tour who could easily win on the PGA Tour, and honestly, probably win a major…

…You saw that with Sam Burns at the Honda, going toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods…

Yes! Exactly right. That’s the kind of youngster that has the type of attitude to get it done.

And what amazes me is nobody chokes anymore. What the hell happened to that? I remember choking very vividly. It’s like these kids forgot how to do it, or maybe they never learned. But they’re so steady now.

David Cannon/Getty Images

You’re changing the format of your show from one-on-one interviews to a roundtable discussion. You’ve enjoyed success with its previous configuration; what spurred this change?

Well, it wasn’t broken so we decided to fix it…I’m not sure what spurred it. It was a lot of lying around on a sofa, so we decided to get a sofa and put people on it. And the hope that we would get crosstalk as well. If I’m listening to someone like Ray Allen ask Jon Lester a question, I think that’s just as relevant as one I might ask, and probably more interesting.

It is something of an experiment, but from the shows I’ve done so far, I think it works. There have been a couple of shows, I’m thinking of one we did with Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner and Pat Perez that was just hysterical. And we’re hoping we get a lot more of that.

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Leonard, who now works for NBC Sports/Golf Channel, has put up his Aspen property for a cool $15.9 million. According to Realtor.com, Leonard—who is an avid skier—purchased the home in 2015 for $9.45 million. The listing says the 5,500-square-foot abode “has been remodeled to perfection.”  

And before you ask, yes, there is a photo of Leonard sinking the clinching putt at the 1999 Ryder Cup.  

No word if the claret jug comes with the purchase.

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The 17-year-old Dubai-based Indian amateur No.1 was two-under at the turn in his opening round at Skokie Country Club but eventually mixed five birdies with as many bogeys (including dropped shots on 16 and 18) to sign for an even par 71. It left the dual Dubai Creek and Emirates GC member, ranked 66^th in the official world amateur rankings, in a 17-way share of 49^th place in the 156-player field.

The leading 44 players and ties after today’s second round advance to Thursday’s final 36 holes of stroke play. Thereafter, the top 16 progress to the ‘Sweet 16’, the historic event’s match play phase to be decided over Friday and Saturday.

Thomas tees it up at 8.40am (5.40pm UAE time) today and surviving the first cut would be another huge confidence boost after he missed the match play phase of The (British) Amateur in Northern Ireland by a solitary stroke before becoming the first Indian to progress to the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Flint Hills GC in Kansas last month (he was beaten 5&4 by eventual runner-up, Texan Noah Goodwin).

Thomas moved inside the top 1000 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) on the back of his U.S. Junior Amateur performance. To put his 972^nd rating into context, injury-sidelined former world No.1 Tiger Woods is currently ranked 1046^th.

The Emirates Golf Federation star is five shots adrift of the Western Am’s overnight leaders – Americans Stephen Franken, Dawson Armstrong and Collin Morikawa, Australian Ruben Sondjaja and New Zealander Nick Voke – and a sub-par round is likely to do the job Wednesday. Among other notable scores, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo shot 80 in his first big amateur event while defending champion Dylan Meyer ( Indiana), made two bogeys over his final five holes to finish with a 72. Morikawa is the world No.2 and 2013 Western Am champion while Armstrong captured the 2015 edition of the tournament first played in 1899.

The Western Am is one of the most prestigious events on the amateur calendar. Past champions include Francis Ouimet, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Chris DiMarco, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Woods, Ryan Moore and Danny Lee.

Catch the first round highlights here:

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