By Alex Myers
Michael Thompson’s emotional victory at the 3M Open proved that nice guys can still finish first on the PGA Tour. Just not nice guys named Tony Finau.

Unfortunately for the affable Finau, it was another frustrating high finish without a win. And if it seems like he’s had a lot of those lately, that’s because he has.

RELATED: Hillarious song parody ponders Tony Finau’s lack of PGA Tour wins

As CBS pointed out during the broadcast, thanks to a closing birdie that vaulted him up to T-3, the 30-year-old now has 30 top 10s since his lone PGA Tour title at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. And as 15th Club’s Justin Ray noted, that ties a tour mark—one Finau has plenty of time to break this season.

Most top-10s without a win on PGA Tour – 4-year spans since 2000

2011-14 Furyk, 30
2015-18 Kuchar, 30
2017-20 Finau, 30
2003-06 Jerry Kelly, 27
2003-06 Chris DiMarco, 27

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) July 27, 2020

As frustrating as racking up so many near-misses must be, Finau has certainly handled it well. He even is getting a kick out of a Sam Harrop song parody about his lack of wins.

And if Finau is looking for a positive, of those other four players, only DiMarco never won again on the PGA Tour. Of course, another positive is that Finau has banked more than $15 million during that span. So, yeah, all things considered he’s doing pretty well for himself.

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By Alex Myers
Jack Nicklaus has made his thoughts about equipment regulations—in particular, those concerning the golf ball—known many times through the years, but he offered perhaps his most blunt public comments regarding the matter on Thursday.

While appearing during Golf Channel’s first-round coverage of the Memorial, the 18-time major champ ripped golf’s governing bodies for what they’re doing to combat distance in the modern game. Or, rather, what they’re not doing.

“The USGA and the R&A have got to wake up sooner or later,” Nicklaus said after being asked about the topic by Nick Faldo. “They can’t just keep burying their heads on this. They see it, they watch television, they see where these guys hit the golf ball. It isn’t about how far they hit it. You just can’t keep making golf courses longer. You just don’t have enough land, you don’t have enough money to do it.”

Again, this isn’t the first time Nicklaus, 80, has expressed such comments. But it’s probably the first time he was asked about the issue on the same day that the same golfer, Bryson DeChambeau, hit two 400-yard drives, including a preposterous 423-yard poke on No. 1.

RELATED: The Memorial tradition Jack Nicklaus won’t put a stop to

Nicklaus has long advocated for a different tournament ball for professionals, something that Colin Montgomerie recently supported as well.

“I’ve been preaching about it for, goodness gracious … 43 years [ago] I first went to the USGA,” Nicklaus continued. “I mean, that’s a long time to be studying something. Guys, stop studying it and do something! Will you, please?”

Nicklaus was referring in part to a two-year Distance Insights Project report that was released in February. The study concluded, “that golf will best thrive over the next decades and beyond if this continuing cycle of ever-increasing hitting distances and golf course lengths is brought to an end.” However, no changes have been made yet.

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By Christopher Powers
Despite some brutal conditions at Muirfield Village, Bryson DeChambeau has still made Thursday’s first round of the Memorial Tournament his own personal long drive contest. On the back nine alone (his front), he uncorked drives of 353 yards, 362 yards and 406 yards. Silly stuff.

RELATED: Bryson DeChambeau sees criticisms as compliments

And yet, his longest drive of the day was still to come. At the par-4 first, with the wind at his back, DeChambeau aimed over the bunkers and over the trees down the right side of the hole. He then proceeded to swing completely out of his shoes, sending one into orbit that eventually came to rest just 45 yards from the hole. For those counting, that meant his drive travelled 423 yards.

423 yards.

423-yard drive. ?
Hits approach to six feet. ?
Makes the putt. ?@b_dechambeau gets back to even par.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/b7DOnHR5oo

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 16, 2020

The best part? He converted the birdie, causing hundreds of haters to delete their prepared “cool, he still didn’t make birdie!” tweets. You really hate to see it, folks.

By the way, DeChambeau followed that 423-yard hellacious seed with a weak 347-yard poke at the par-4 second. What a pipsqueak.

The post Bryson DeChambeau just hit a drive 423 yards (!!) at Muirfield Village appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
China announced it will not stage any international sporting events for the rest of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, putting the fates of two high-profile golf tournaments in doubt.

China’s General Administration of Sports cited “science and order” as impetus for its decision. The country has largely contained and curbed transmission of COVID-19; however, China is on guard for imported cases of the disease.

What that means for the immediate futures of the WGC-HSBC and LPGA Shanghai is unclear.

There is the possibility the WGC-HSBC, originally scheduled for Oct. 29-Nov. 1, is moved to the United States. But the WGC-HSBC is a tri-sanctioned event by the PGA, European and Asia Tours, and whatever move made would need the blessing of all three circuits. There’s also the prospect the event is cancelled and a new temporary event is put in its stead, similar to the situation that saw the Workday Charity Open replace the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour schedule.

As of writing, the PGA Tour has not responded to a Golf Digest request for comment.

As for the LPGA Shangai, scheduled for Oct. 15-18, the LPGA told Golf Digest that “We are communicating with our partners at IMG and the China Golf Association to learn more about this news. We will share more information when it is available.”

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By Joel Beall
The 2020 PGA Championship will be held without fans, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle.

San Francisco city health officials approved plans to hold the PGA of America’s flagship event at TPC Harding Park, but due to California’s battle with the coronavirus pandemic, spectators will not be allowed on property.

PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh told Golf Digest in May that his organization was preparing for a tournament sans galleries.

“The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has been pretty vocal about his opinion on things,” Waugh told Golf Digest. “He’s basically saying no fans at any sporting event until phase four, which for them is where the vaccine is available, and the chances of that are, well, who knows. So we’re assuming no fans, but we’re still planning for both scenarios.

“They [Harding Park] want to have it, and so do we, but we only want to do something that’s in their best interest to be a good partner. And if for some reason something changes or they aren’t comfortable committing to doing it even without fans, then we’ll look to go somewhere else.”

Gov. Newsom has seesawed on the prospect of crowds at sporting events, expressing pessimism towards the idea in April but reversing course in late May. However, after initially containing the virus in spring, California has seen an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases since the state’s reopening phases. On Sunday the state reported +2,615 new cases … 700 more than Florida, second in the new-case category. Overall, only New York and New Jersey have more total reported cases than California.

The Chronicle reports an official announcement will come on Tuesday. As of writing, the PGA of America did not respond to a Golf Digest request for comment.

The 2020 PGA Championship is scheduled to begin Aug. 6. Brooks Koepka is the defending champ.

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By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour’s AT&T Byron Nelson event has found a new home.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the Salesmanship Club and Tour reached a verbal agreement on Tuesday to move the Nelson tournament to TPC Craig Ranch for the next five years, beginning in 2021.

“The PGA Tour and the AT&T Byron Nelson continue to finalise the tournament’s future location,” read a statement from the Salesmanship Club. “We expect the PGA Tour will make an announcement soon.”

Residing in McKinney (about 30 miles outside Dallas), TPC Craig Ranch is a Tom Weiskopf design that opened in 2004. The course, owned by ClubCorp, has previously hosted the 2008 Nationwide Tour Championship and 2012 Web.com Tour Championship.

The decision comes four months after tournament organizers announced the event was leaving Trinity Forest after just three seasons. While the move to Trinity Forest—a Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design opened in 2014—was welcomed by architecture fans, the tournament has suffered a series of woes the past three years. Bad weather kept attendance low, and the property and tournament infrastructure could not combat soggy conditions. Fans also complained about the lack of respite from the sun on the grounds.

Moreover, be it Trinity Forest’s unconventional design or its proximity to the PGA Championship last season (the Nelson was played the week before the major), the tournament failed to attract a healthy field, with just two of the top 20 players in the world playing in 2019’s competition.

This year’s event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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By Joel Beall
The Evian Championship, one of the five majors in women’s professional golf, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Officials for the tournament announced the decision on Tuesday, citing ongoing travel/border restrictions and government quarantine requirements for the cancellation.

“I have been incredibly impressed by the entire team at The Evian Championship. They worked so hard to host this global event despite the obvious challenges,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “They know that high-pursed, career-changing events like The Evian are more important than ever, especially in an LPGA year that has been drastically reduced due to COVID-19. I know this was a tough decision for everyone involved, but it’s one that we had to take given the restrictions we faced.

“It is disappointing to miss a major championship but Evian’s strong history of showcasing the best female golfers will continue once again when we return in 2021. We look forward to being back on the mountain in Evian next year and for a long time to come.”

Tournament chairman Franck Riboud said the decision was delayed to give as much time as possible for the aforementioned obstacles to work themselves out. However, it was clear in the current landscape they couldn’t guarantee the safety of the field.

“All of our teams are very affected by the forced cancellation of our major, but we must not lose sight of what matters most,” Riboud said.

The Evian has battled schedule problems throughout its history, as its historical September date in France often produced rainy and cold weather. The LPGA moved it to the summer in 2019, hoping its new calendar date would bolster its future, but the tournament had already been delayed to August this year due to the pandemic.

Tournament officials promised the event would be back next summer.

“We are already committed to the next edition in 2021 to fully rediscover the values and the spirit of a family celebration, the conviviality and emotions that have made our Major unique for more than 25 years.,” Riboud said.

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