To do so, we took the qualifying criteria that Masters chairman Fred Ridley outlined during his 2023 pre-tournament press conference more than seven months ago. At that time, Ridley announced the addition of the NCAA D-I individual champion as an invitee (ironically 2023 winner Fred Biondi turned pro, so won’t be playing), clarified that only those who qualified for the Tour Championship and were eligible to compete the PGA Tour’s final FedEx Cup event also receive Masters invites (the Talor Gooch loophole being closed), and explained that winners of the FedEx Cup Fall Series events would also earn their way into the field. More recently, Ridley made it sound unlikely that the Masters would be adding a special criteria for a handful of LIV Golf members to have direct entry into the event.

So with that, here’s the way things seem to have shaken out so far in terms of players in the field, 81 amateurs and pros that include 17 past champions who are invited but are not expected to compete (listed with an asterisk), meaning an effective field of 64 for the time being. (You’ll see qualifying criteria at the bottom of the article.)

Tommy Aaron, 1*

Ludvig Aberg, 17 (RSM Classic)

Keegan Bradley, 17 (Travelers), 18

Jack Burke, Jr., 1*

Angel Cabrera, 1*

Patrick Cantlay, 18

Wyndham Clark, 2, 14, 17 (Wells Fargo, US Open), 18

Corey Conners , 18

Charles Coody, 1*

Fred Couples, 1

Ben Crenshaw, 1*

Cam Davis, 16

Jason Day, 17 (Byron Nelson)

Bryson DeChambeau, 2, 16

Nick Dunlap (a), 7

Nick Faldo, 1*

Tony Finau, 17 (Mexico Open), 18

Matt Fitzpatrick, 2, 13, 17 (RBC Heritage), 18

Tommy Fleetwood , 18

Raymond Floyd, 1*

Rickie Fowler, 17 (Rocket Mortgage), 18

Sergio Garcia, 1

Lucas Glover, 17 (Wyndham, St. Jude), 18

Emiliano Grillo, 17 (Colonial), 18

Stewart Hagestad (a), 11

Brian Harman, 3, 17 (British Open), 18

Tyrrell Hatton, 18

Russell Henley, 13, 18

Lee Hodges, 17 (3M Open)

Max Homa, 18

Viktor Hovland, 13, 16, 17 (Memorial, BMW), 18

Sungjae Im, 18

Trevor Immelman, 1*

Dustin Johnson, 1

Zach Johnson, 1

Tom Kim, 15, 17 (Shriners), 18

Si Woo Kim, 18

Kurt Kitayama, 16

Brooks Koepka, 4, 13, 16, 17

Christo Lamprechet (a), 8

Bernhard Langer, 1

Luke List, 17 (Sanderson)

Sandy Lyle, 1•

Hideki Matsuyama, 1, 3

Rory McIlroy, 13, 17 (Scottish Open), 18

Phil Mickelson, 1, 4, 13

Larry Mize, 1*

Taylor Moore, 18

Collin Morikawa, 3, 4, 13

Jack Nicklaus, 1*

Mark O’Meara, 1*

Jose Maria Olazabal, 1

Gary Player, 1*

Jon Rahm, 1, 2, 15, 17 (Masters), 18

Patrick Reed, 1, 13

Xander Schauffele, 18

Scottie Scheffler, 1, 5, 13, 14, 16, 18

Adam Schenk, 18

Charl Schwartzel, 1

Adam Scott, 1

Neal Shipley (a), 7

Vijay Singh, 1

Cameron Smith, 3, 5, 14

Jordan Spieth, 1, 13, 18

Craig Stadler, 1*

Sepp Straka, 15, 17 (John Deere), 18

Jasper Stubbs (a), 9

Nick Taylor, 17 (RBC Canadian), 18

Sahith Theegala, 13, 17 (Fortinet)

Justin Thomas, 4

Erik van Rooyen, 17 (World Wide Technology)

Camilo Villegas, 17 (Bermuda)

Tom Watson, 1*

Bubba Watson, 1

Mike Weir, 1

Danny Willett, 1

Gary Woodland, 2

Tiger Woods, 1

Ian Woosnam, 1*

Cameron Young, 13

Fuzzy Zoeller, 1*

Let us remind you, however, that there is one more subset of players who will know by year’s end if they’ve also qualified to play in the event. The last criteria still to be triggered in 2023 for the 2024 major is anybody listed in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the final listing of 2023. So here is a list of those who appear to be mathematical locks for remaining in the top 50 and who don’t have invites just yet:

Sam Burns

Ryan Fox

Will Zalatoris

Denny McCarthey

Harris English

Justin Rose

Eric Cole

J.P. Poston

Min Woo Lee

Adam Hadwin

In addition to these 10, there are two players in the top 50 as of today who would also get invites. However, these two could fall out of the top 50 before year’s end, so they have work to do in the DP World Tour events being held between now and Dec. 31 or must sweat out how the final OWGR list plays out.

Adrian Meronk

Nicolai Hojgaard

And on the opposite end of that spectrum, Robert MacIntyre is ranked No. 56 right now. He could play his way into the top 50, but it would require a top-50 finish at this week’s Australian PGA Championship and a win at next week’s Australian Open, so it’s a tough path to follow.

Mind you all, there is still plenty of time to qualify for the Masters in 2024. Anybody not in the field who wins a PGA Tour full-field event will get in, plus there will be more World Ranking top-50 cut-offs for players who start the year strong. And the winner of the Latin America Amateur Championsihp in January will be the final amateur for 2024.

Masters qualifying criteria

1: Masters champions (lifetime)

2: U.S. Open champions (five years)

3: Open champions (five years)

4: PGA champion (five years)

5: Players champion (three years)

6: Current Olympic gold medalist (one year)

7: Current U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up (one year)

8: Current British Amateur champion (one year)

9: Current Asia-Pacific Amateur champion (one year)

10: Current Latin America Amateur champion (one year)

11: Current U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (one year)

12: Current NCAA Division I Men’s Individual champion (one year)

13: First 12 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters

14: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open

15: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Open Championship

16: First 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship

17: Individual winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point FedEx Cup allocation, from previous Masters to current Masters

18: Those qualifying and eligible for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship

19: 50 leaders on the final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year

20: 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters

Image: J.D. Cuban

The post Majors on our minds (already) – just 138 days to go appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Earlier this month, the LIV league was denied an application for Official World Golf Ranking points based on its team element and lack of promotion/relegation. LIV’s star players, such as Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, then called for a category to be made to ensure LIV’s players are not frozen out of golf’s four majors as their world rankings have taken a hit. DeChambeau called for the top 12 on LIV’s money list to be exempt into the majors, and LIV’s acting COO Gary Davidson (they have since appointed a new COO) said the league was in early discussions with organisers of two of the majors about the pathways into the tournaments.

Asked whether the Masters and the Open would create such exemptions for 2024, Slumbers brought up a recent media report suggesting talks were already under way to specifically include LIV golfers, and he rejected that notion.

“There’s been some speculation in the media recently on the topic that you’re raising,” Slumbers said at the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne. “I would say that it is completely off the mark. I would like to make it very clear that exemptions for the Open, we do not discuss them with anyone and nor would we at any point in time. I think it’s very important that you don’t lose sight of the fact that the Open is intended to be open to everybody, that you earn your place in the field, through exemptions, and that won’t change.”

The Open differs from the Masters in that it actively runs qualifying events, both at PGA Tour and DP World Tour events around the world via its Open Qualifying Series, as well as 36-hole final qualifying tournaments. The Masters is an invitational with criteria and special exemptions for entrants.

Ridley said the criteria for invitations to the 2024 Masters, which will use the OWGR’s top 50 by certain dates, are not likely to be tweaked other than three changes revealed at Augusta National in April this year. They are: an official invitation to the NCAA Division I champion; players who qualified for the PGA Tour’s 2023 season-ending Tour Championship; and winners of full-point PGA Tour events this autumn.

However, Ridley did leave the door open for future revisions.

“If you look back over the history of the Masters tournament, and the qualifications that existed, we have changed those qualifications in numerous times, dozens of times,” Ridley said. “We look at those every year. We don’t make changes every year, but we do look at them under the current circumstances. As you’ll recall last year, there was some speculation as to whether or not we would invite LIV golfers. We stayed true to our qualification criteria. We invited everyone who was eligible.

“While we do not, at this time, anticipate making a change in 2024, we do always look at [criteria], and we will continue to do that. Our qualifications are very much dynamic, and we adjust to what we feel is in the best interest of a tournament representing the best players in the world. We’ll always look at that.”

Without access to OWGR points, LIV players’ rankings have suffered. Cameron Smith left the PGA Tour ranked World No. 2 and is now 19th. Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson dropped from 13th to 131st, and DeChambeau has gone from 29th to 140th. However, the trio are recent major winners and remain eligible for the majors.

Others aren’t so fortunate. Talor Gooch, who has dropped from 35th to 214th in the OWGR, was eligible for the PGA Tour’s finale last year, but was banned for having left for LIV. This year, the Oklahoma native has won three LIV Golf tournaments and claimed the $18 million season-long individual points title.

Asked if they felt it was unfortunate that LIV players such as Gooch will continue to fall down the rankings and lose pathways to the majors, Ridley and Slumbers reiterated the best interests of their tournaments would be the focus.

“They [LIV golfers] made decisions based on what they thought was in the best interests of their golf careers,” Ridley said. “Our invitation criteria does say that we reserve the right to issue special exemptions to international players, [and] we did issue a special exemption to an [American] amateur and NCAA champion last year [Gordon Sargent]. So, we’re always looking at that. But these decisions have been made and will have to do with what’s in the best interest of the Masters.”

Added Slumbers: “From my perspective, without getting into detail, we make sure there are plenty of opportunities for any player in the world, who has [played] good enough, to have a chance to qualify and play in the Open Championship, irrespective of which tour they are participating on and that will not change.”

Main image: Ross Kinnaird

The post Masters, Open execs reject latest ideas that would create a path for LIV golfers into the majors appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There were plenty of great moments to cherry pick from the ensuing celebrations, but our favorite belongs to Fox who was seen gleefully whispering to caddie Dean Smith during the trophy presentation “We get to go back to August next year.” Indeed you, Ryan. Indeed you do.

"We're going back to Augusta."@ryanfoxgolfer ?#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/lE7JZyuN4e

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 18, 2023

If you’ve ever wondered if the pros care as much about the Masters as much as you do, this is your reminder. Sure, the $1.4 million pay day was nice, but Fox and Smith were downright giddy about the prospect of teeing it up at Augusta National next season. That tells you everything you need to know about the Augusta aura.

The 2024 Masters will be Fox’s second Masters after qualifying for the first time in 2023. As for Smith, he had one simple request for his player: “Go and win it.”

The post Watch as giddy Ryan Fox whispers: ‘We get to go back to Augusta’ to caddie appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

If there’s one thing we know about Phil Mickelson, it’s that the man is not afraid to break a few rules. But at Augusta National Golf Club, even Lefty, a three-time green jacket winner, is supposed to fall in line. Supposed to.

Evidently, that’s not the case, according to an incredibly-told story by Mickelson himself that he put out on all his social channels on Thursday night. To set the scene, Mickelson, sitting in his golf cart, takes viewers 20 years back to the 2004 Masters, a tournament he was entering on an absolute tear, in part thanks to a “towel drill” he had been working on that season with legendary short game coach Dave Pelz.

Oddly enough, the drill was designed for Mickelson to set up towels at specific yardages, all the way up to 175 yards, making it sound like a little more than just a short-game drill. The idea was to build reference points, and Mickelson needed a large area to himself on the range to do it. He had been doing it all season up to that point, and wanted to continue doing it the week of the Masters.

We’ll let him take it from there:

Story time with Phil (me:)
Enjoy ? pic.twitter.com/koePrh38Il

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 25, 2023

Mickelson has proven time and time again that he’s got one serious brass neck, but even for him, this was extreme. Just the idea of sneaking under the giant magnolia trees to literally steal something from Augusta National Golf Club, be it a blade of grass or a sign, is a terrifying. But then to plot to do it again at the following year’s Champions Dinner, again waiting everything out to duck under the trees and swipe another sign, is downright insane behaviour. He was quite literally asking to be banned from the property, or at least be given some sort of stern talking to or strongly worded letter to stop what he was doing or else. Some people are just above the law.

Mickelson is a lot of things, but one thing he is not is a bad stroyteller. By the way, if these are the stories he’s willing to share with us, can you imagine the ones he’s not?

The post It’s amazing Phil Mickelson wasn’t banned from Augusta National based off this incredible story from the Masters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

While the world’s workers and businesses brace for recession, the golf mega-mansion market continues to boom. In February, actor Mark Wahlberg sold his Beverly Hills home with a backyard pitch-and-putt for $55 million. A few months later we saw a Calgary compound with its own nine-hole track and clubhouse hit the market for $14 million and marvelled at a Scottish estate steps from two of the most famous links greens on earth. Recently we even got a peek at Patrick Mahomes’ new backyard golf haven. Now we have another entry to the golf real-estate portfolio with this $8-million Columbus-area estate featuring its own immaculately manicured par-3 hole and putting green.

If you didn’t know any better, you might mistake that for Augusta National’s iconic 16th hole and the similarities don’t end there. In addition to the six bedrooms, seven-and-a-half bathrooms and four fireplaces, the Delaware County home features a study modelled after Augusta National’s wood-paneled clubhouse.

The 12,000-square-foot spread offers plenty of perks beyond just ANGC worship, including 10-12 foot ceilings on every floor, an elevator, an outdoor infinity pool and a fully renovated party barn that sits on top of a 10-car garage. Needless to say, if you’re looking for a luxurious taste of the Masters in southern Ohio (and have the cash for it), you could do a lot worse than this gem.

The post Ohio mansion with backyard golf complex and study modelled after Augusta National’s clubhouse could be yours for $8 million appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Now that the 2023 major season is complete, which of the 30 LIV Golf League members who teed it up in at least one of golf’s four biggest tournaments this year produced the best overall performance?

Well, only one of those players came away with a trophy, so the answer is easy. No LIV player had a better run in the majors this season than Smash Captain Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship after tying for second at the Masters. He also made the cut in the last two majors.
As for the other 29 …

To rank the LIV players who competed in the majors, we came up with a relatively simple formula. For each $1,000 in prize money won at a major, a player receives 1 point. Thus, $50,000 in earnings is worth 50 points, $100,000 is worth 100 points and so on. The only caveat — a player must have made the cut to get those points.

While players do receive prize money at majors even if they don’t make the cut, for the majority of the majors, those purses are distributed evenly among all missed cuts regardless of score. For our purposes, we weighted points for missed cuts depending on how close a player came to the cut line. Missing the cut by one stroke = 5 points; by two strokes = 4 points; by 3 strokes = 3 points; 4 strokes = 2 points, and 5 strokes = 1 point. Players who missed the cut by more than five strokes received no points.

In using those calculations, here’s how the 30 LIV players ranked in the overall majors. And just a reminder — these are strictly unofficial rankings, purely a fun exercise in how to appraise the major starters.

1. BROOKS KOEPKA (5,057 points)
His PGA Championship win was worth 3,150 points, and his tie for second at the Masters worth 1,584 points.
2. CAMERON SMITH (1,637 points)
Most of his points came from a solo fourth at the US Open (991 points) and a tie for ninth at the PGA (465 points).
3. PHIL MICKELSON (1,622 points)
His tie for second with Koepka at the Masters was the big point-producer.
4. PATRICK REED (1,086 points)
Joins Koepka and Smith as the only LIV golfers to make the cut in all four majors this year. The majority of his points came from a tie for fourth at the Masters (744 points) and a tie for 18th at the PGA (214 points).
5. BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (965 points)
His tie for fourth at the PGA was worth 720 points. Also played well at the US Open with a tie for 20th (200 points).
6. DUSTIN JOHNSON (521 points)
A tie for 10th at the US Open gave him 435 points. Made the cut at the Masters and PGA. Alas, no need to discuss the Open.
7. JOAQUIN NIEMANN (376 points)
Finished in the top 20 at the Masters (261 points) and had a decent result at the US Open (108 points). Came close to the cut line in the other two majors (combined seven points).
8. MITO PEREIRA (286 points)
His tie for 18th at the PGA was worth 214 points.
9. HENRIK STENSON (233 points)
His only major start this year was at the Open Championship, where he tied for 13th, the best result among all LIV golfers at Royal Liverpool.
10. HAROLD VARNER III (215 points)
Tied for 29th in both the Masters (125 points) and PGA (90 points).
11. LAURIE CANTER (188 points)
Earned a spot in the Open through final qualifying and tied for 17th in his only major start.
12. ABRAHAM ANCER (170 points)
Finished consistently in the middle of the pack in three majors – Masters, US Open and Open.
13. SERGIO GARCIA (145 points)
Almost all his points came from a tie for 27th at the US Open.
14. THOMAS PIETERS (140 points)
He was middle of the pack in two majors — Masters and PGA — and made the cut at the Open.
15. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN (122 points)
Tied for 23rd at the Open to earn all his points.
16. TALOR GOOCH (100 points)
The current LIV Golf points leader made the cut in just one of three starts, tying for 34th at the Masters.
17. DAVID PUIG (85 points)
The 21-year-old from Spain made his major debut at the US Open and tied for 39th after a sizzling final round.
18. RICHARD BLAND (84 points)
The 50-year-old from England played in just one major, tying for 33rd at the Open.
19. SEBASTIÁN MUÑOZ (49 points)
Was a qualifier for the US Open and tied for 49th.
20. CHARL SCHWARTZEL (48 points)
Tied for 50th at the Masters, a tournament in which he has a lifetime exemption thanks to his 2011 win.
21. DEAN BURMESTER (36 points)
Finished 54th in his only major start at the PGA.
22. SIHWAN KIM (32 points)
Tied for 62nd in his only major start at the PGA.
23. BRENDAN STEELE (5 points)
Came within a stroke of making the cut at the PGA.
24. ANIRBAN LAHIRI (4 points)
Came within two strokes of making the cut at the PGA.
25. MARTIN KAYMER (2 points)
The two-time major winner had to withdraw with injury at the PGA and was four strokes off the cut line at the US Open.
26. JASON KOKRAK (1 point)
Missed the cut by five strokes at the Masters.
T27. BRANDEN GRACE, KEVIN NA, CARLOS ORTIZ, BUBBA WATSON (0 points)
Na withdrew from the Masters mid-tournament with an injury, while the other three missed the cut in their respective majors by more than five strokes.

The post Major review: Ranking the LIV Golfers in 2023 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

If his Sunday 65 at the Masters wasn’t enough proof, Phil Mickelson’s recent Twitter rebirth has further driven home the fact that the man is starting to feel himself again.

Last year around this same time, Mickelson took a quieter, more robotic-like approach with the media in the early stages of the LIV-PGA Tour saga. He did the same on Twitter, a forum he joined in 2018 and seemed to enjoy the back-and-forth of until jumping to the new tour and going dark on social media.

That has not been the case of late, however, with Mickelson tweeting and replying to everything and anything in regard to LIV, the PGA Tour, major exemptions, world ranking points, etc. The six-time major champion was asked why, with all he’s accomplished in this game, he’s felt the need to get back on the bird app to fire off takes. His answer was an interesting one, to say the least.

“I guess it’s because I know some things that others don’t,” Mickelson said. “I just want to make sure everybody’s held accountable.”

Lefty’s Twitter comeback tour continued on Tuesday, just two days after he tied for 58th at Oak Hill in his PGA Championship ‘defence’ (Mickelson skipped the 2022 PGA at Southern Hills). After witnessing fellow LIV golfer Brooks Koepka’s impressive victory, and knowing how well he and a number of LIV golfers played at the Masters as well as the PGA, the 52-year-old felt confident enough to make a rather bold declaration.

Love LIV or hate it, it’s the best way/Tour to be your best in the majors. Enough events to keep you sharp, fresh and ready, yet not be worn down from too many tournaments or obligations. 14 LIV events, 34 weeks left open to prepare for the 4 majors. Fact.

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 23, 2023

The use of “Fact” here from Mickelson seems to imply that this take is not up for debate. In fairness, albeit in a small sample size, the LIV players have thoroughly impressed at the two majors, a reminder that the biggest LIV stars are still very good at golf. Three LIVers, Mickelson included, finished in the top five at the Masters. At Oak Hill, three LIV players placed inside of the top 10, including winner Brooks Koepka.

Again, small sample size.

As Mickelson has quickly come to find out, everything on Twitter is up for debate in 2023, including “facts”. He has already received almost 900 replies, 9,000 likes and 700 retweets a nice reminder that sometimes it’s best to simply log off.

The post Phil Mickelson calls LIV ‘the best tour to be your best in majors,’ implies that it’s not up for debate appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Maya Palanza Gaudin is seriously well travelled and has made a serious mark on the game of golf, with victories in Abu Dhabi, India, Scotland, Boston and at the famous Augusta National in Georgia to name a few.

Oh, and she’s 13.

In a tale that reads like a fanciful work of fi ction from the mind of a Hollywood feel good scriptwriter, Maya’s journey already has more twists and turns than a drive up Jebel Hafeet, and — even with victory at the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta during Masters week in April — this is a trip that still has miles to go.

While Abu Dhabi-based Maya is one of the latest products to come off the conveyor belt of young UAE-based golfing talent, it is amazing that she even made it this far at all.

Maya was in serious danger when her biological mother died shortly after childbirth in her South Ethiopian village near the Kenyan border. With no one to breastfeed the baby, her father and uncles carried Maya the 55 miles to the nearest hospital. Once Maya was safe, her father gave her one more gift for the best shot at a good life by putting her up for adoption.

Maya was taken in by a Bostonian couple based in Abu Dhabi — Stephen Gaudin, a former overseas FBI agent, and his wife Cassandra, who works in the American embassy in the UAE capital. The golf-loving pair introduced Maya to the game at the age of fi ve and enrolled her in the Emirates Golf Federation’s Future Falcons National Junior Development Programme.

“The way I see it, Maya’s birth mother gave her life and her birth father saved her life, and our job since has been to love, nurture and provide every opportunity to Maya to embrace her life including this wonderful gift for the game of golf,” Cassandra explained on the Masters website.

Under Stephen’s guidance, a young Maya became an EGF Future Falcon and was already showing talent well beyond her years with a victory in India before she won the 2021 Ladies Championship in the Yas Links Abu Dhabi sunshine. That was followed up in somewhat diff erent conditions at the US Kids European Championship (12yo Category) at The Glen Golf Club, North Berwick, in the permanently wet, cold and breezy Scottish weather, to win by four strokes.

Maya Palanza Gaudin reacts to her putt on the 18th green in the Drive, Chip and Putt. David Cannon

“I got to play at St Andrews afterwards,” a smiling Maya said. “We drove up there. It’s my close-second favourite now I have seen Augusta.”

Boston was next on the calendar and Maya was just getting warmed up. “The golf ball doesn’t care who you are, or where you were born,” the wisebeyond-her-years youngster said after her victory booked her spot in the Augusta fi eld. “The golf ball doesn’t care how much money you may have or about what your father and grandfather did for a job. The golf ball doesn’t care about the colour of your skin, or how tall, skinny, heavy or popular you are. The golf ball doesn’t care about what school you go to. The golf ball only cares about one thing and only one thing: how you swing the club. That’s what I love about golf — it’s just about you and the golf ball.”

Through the connection with Yas Links, Maya has some head-turning friends, too. She has teed it up with Rory McIlroy in DP World Tour proams, as well as Thomas Pieters, Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre.

Maya Palanza Gaudin and family with Rory Mcilroy. David Cannon

The pros know Maya so well by now that, when her parents were searching for her at Yas Links this January during the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, McIlroy told Stephen and Cassandra: “I just saw her. She’s inside.’”

“He’s so nice to me,” Maya said of four-time major winner McIlroy. “He’s very kind. I get to see him almost every time when he comes to Abu Dhabi tournaments.”

Maya’s appearance at the National Finals was no easy feat and it was something she had been trying to achieve for half of her short lifetime.

“Six times [I tried to qualify], but it would’ve been seven with the COVID year,” Maya said after her famous win that received a congratulatory tweet from McIlroy.

At the Drive, Chip and Putt, participants compete in three skills (unsurprisingly driving distance, and chipping and putting accuracy), with three shots per skill going towards a final score. With 26 points, Maya won the Girls 12-13 years category by four points from joint runners-up Narah Hope Kim, from Georgia, and Ruihan Kendria Wang, from Washington.

“It probably wasn’t supposed to happen, but it did and it’s surreal,” an emotional Maya said refl ecting on her journey. “I don’t really have any words for it. Very surreal. I can’t believe it. Just coming here was surreal and then winning is on a whole other level.”

Maya’s next mission? More US junior golf tournaments. Each summer, Maya and her parents travel to the US from Abu Dhabi and she tees up in New England PGA junior tournaments. She has tried to qualify for the US Girls’ Junior three times.

In golf timing is everything, and Maya’s jaunt to the Augusta Masters this year linked in nicely with Ramadan, allowing her to take a little time off school. She dreams of competing in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and was watching on this year ahead of the Masters as Rose Zhang triumphed.

“It was very exciting. Congratulations to Rose,” Maya said. “The last two holes were nail-biting for me. I can’t imagine how it was for Rose. I would love to play in that tournament.” With her tenacious perseverance, there is no reason why she herself cannot be teeing it up in Georgia once again.

A young(er) Maya in Abu Dhabi. Supplied

Following her own success, Maya and her family stayed on to witness Jon Rahm’s famous victory at a stormy Augusta before enjoying some well-earned time with her extended family in Boston, while her friends and mentors looked on from the UAE.

“It is a great accomplishment for Maya and UAE golf to compete and win the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta on the Sunday before The Masters,” Abdullah Alhashmi, ViceChariman of the Emirates Golf Club, told Golf Digest Middle East. “Maya is a graduate of the Future Falcons Programme where her golf journey started, and is another great example of talent that we have here in the UAE.

“Congratulations to Maya and her family. All of their hard work is paying off .”

Already an inspiration for others, Maya has some sage advice for those looking to follow in her footsteps: “Never stop trying. You can do it!”

While normal life may return with a bump with the school bell beckoning back in Abu Dhabi, Maya knows there will be plenty more tournaments and twists on this amazing trip.

Who knows where the journey will end up…

The post The UAE’s Maya Palanza Gaudin Masters new heights appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

So … when a free and indelible souvenir falls right in front of you, you have to take that opportunity.

A Redditor over the weekend dropped quite the post on r/golf with the title “Small divot from the 13th hole at Augusta National landed next to me two weeks ago, took it home in a chip bag. It’s thriving.”

Along with the caption, the thread from u/skinow84 came with an image of a seemingly innocuous piece of turf in a pot. Innocuous, that is, until you remember where it’s from.

One commenter went so far as to joke that “Augusta is going to send an assassin for it” to which the OP replied: “I was well within the patron rope, it was going to die anyway, yet I was nervous for some reason. I put it in the potato chip bag with a couple drops of water and planted it the day I got home.”

That potato chip bag came in handy for sure. The moral of the story here is to always be eating chips just in case.

The entire thread is an impressive showing of one-liners and Augusta National quips, so you might want to check it out, but this writer’s favorites included:
PLAY AUGUSTA WITH YOUR FRIENDS USING THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK!!!!!
With the right fertilizer, we can have Second Augusta in a few thousand years.
I would hit a ball off that bad boy so I could say I hit a shot off Augusta turf.

We don’t know whether the new Augusta National greenkeeper got too paranoid after posting or if Fred Ridley and company got to him, but the account has been deleted since the post.

We just hope that wherever this person is, they’re enjoying their Masters memento and that they’re slowly working on a way to duplicate the vaunted course with this divot as the catalyst.

The post Redditor takes divot from Augusta National, deletes account after post goes viral appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Bennett won’t be sporting a T-Mobile logo during this week’s SEC Championship, his first college start since his T-16 at the Masters, or the upcoming NCAA post-season. Instead, the arrangement calls for him to promote the brand through social posts and event appearances.

According to a T-Mobile spokesperson: “Bennett will help amplify T-Mobile’s efforts in the college athletics and NIL spaces, sharing how the Un-carrier helps him stay connected to friends and family while away competing through branded social posts, event appearances, and more.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sam Bennett (@sambennettgolf)

No details were given on how much money Bennett is receiving. Luke Feldlam, whose Advance NIL advisory company works with college athletes, estimated to Golf Digest during the Masters that future deals for Bennett could fall in the six- and even seven-figure range based on the attention he received at Augusta National.

Bennett is the fourth collegiate athlete that the company has signed, joining softball players Jaiden Fields (Georgia) and Montana Fouts (Alabama) and basketball player Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana). T-Mobile is also a sponsor of the SEC and Texas A&M.

The arrangement all falls in line with the NCAA’s updated rules on student-athletes being able to benefit off their name, image and likeness, as well as changes to the USGA/R&A’s rules of amateur status.

The reigning US Amateur champion, Bennett was a breakout star at Augusta National two weeks ago, opening with a pair of 68s to play his way into the final threesome of the third round. He eventually finished tied for 16th to earn low amateur honours in lieu of the $261,000 that professionals who finished in the same spot earned.

After the SEC Championship, the Aggies are in line to qualify for the NCAA Regionals with the hope of advancing to the NCAA Championship. Bennett, meanwhile, is ranked No. 4 in the PGA Tour University Velocity Global Ranking for outgoing seniors. If he remains in the top five after the conclusion of the NCAA Championship, he will earn a Korn Ferry Tour card for the remainder of the 2023 season.

The post Masters breakout amateur Sam Bennett sees first sign of Augusta bump with new NIL deal appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.