“There was great sorrow, tears in my eyes, when I first learned the Golf Hall of Fame was leaving the cradle of American golf,” said McInnis, a Pinehurst member, of the hall’s 1998 move from North Carolina to Florida. “I don’t know why it happened. … And the Good Lord always tells us everything happens for a reason. When one door closes, another opens. Today, our doors open.”

Hyberbole aside, it was a milestone day for golf in Carolina’s sandhills region. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, State Representative Jamie Boles and McInnis were on hand, joining USGA CEO Mike Whan and World Golf Foundation CEO Greg McLaughlin, for the official announcement that the World Golf Hall of Fame will move from St Augustine, Florida, to Pinehurst and open in 2024. The scaled-down version of the hall will occupy the second floor of the new seven-acre campus the USGA is building to complement its headquarters in Liberty Corner, New Jersey

World Golf Hall of Fame moved to St Augustine in 1998. That will close with the move back to Pinehurst in 2024. Jeff Greenberg

The new hall will be independently operated by the WGF, but the collaboration with the USGA is seen as a way to benefit both agencies. The hall will be buoyed by the one million golfers who visit the Pinehurst area each year, as well as the influx of fans from the numerous USGA championships that will be contested over the next 25 years at a venue the USGA has identified as an anchor site. Not coincidentally, the next Hall of Fame induction will be held in 2024 on the Tuesday of US Open week at Pinehurst No. 2.

“The World Golf Hall of Fame started here 50 years ago, and like a lot of people from the East Coast, it spent a little time in Florida, got some time in the sun and enjoyed it, and now is returning home,” Whan said with a smile.

It was an ambitious, and some would say audacious, idea by the owners of the Pinehurst Resort to open up a World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Though Pinehurst had hosted USGA championships since 1962 and was something of a destination for golfers from around the world, it was still a small, forested spot, many miles from a major airport.

The PGA of America, which had its own hall since the 1940s, merged with and took over the operation of the Pinehurst hall in 1983 but it ultimately couldn’t make it work financially, and after the non-profit World Golf Foundation was formed in 1994, plans were made to build a new hall that opened in 1998 in St Augustine.

The World Golf Hall of Fame has been there since, but there’s been a growing sense that the location and hall itself had become dated and needed a boost.

Discussions between Whan and McLaughlin about a return to Pinehurst began last summer, and they became more substantive when it became clear that the government in North Carolina was willing to pitch in significant dollars. Nearly two years ago, the Moore County Commission unanimously approved a deal in which the USGA received an $18 million grant and 90-per cent property tax break. At the time, it was reported that local incentives could cost the county an estimated $25 million. The North Carolina General Assembly also recently awarded the USGA $7 million toward the hall project.

In return, the USGA was required to invest $5 million in the state, build at least two buildings, employ at least 50 people, hold at least one men’s championship at Pinehurst every five years and women’s championship here every 10 years.

McLaughlin said the plan is for the smaller hall to be more interactive and digitally driven for a younger audience. One popular feature that will remain are the ‘locker’ areas of the hall members.

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By Dan Rapaport
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — Collin Morikawa was fresh out the womb back in April 1997, when Tiger Woods became Tiger Woods. Two months old, to be exact. Woods has presided over golf for the entirety of Morikawa’s life. Asking him what impact Tiger has had on his golf life is a bit like asking a child what impact his mother has had on him. Still, Morikawa has heard the question hundreds of times by now. He heard it after he won the WGC-Workday Championship at the Concession five days after Woods flipped an SUV, and he heard it again Tuesday, one day before Woods will be enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame. His answer was the same both times.

“He’s everything.”

Sometimes there’s just nothing else to say. Woods isn’t merely an inspiration to the generation of professional golfers who came of age during his dominance—for them, he and the sport are one entity. Tiger Woods is golf, and golf is Tiger Woods. It is oddly fitting that the week of Woods’ induction coincides with the first time in history that the top five players in the Official World Golf Rankings are all younger than 30.

“What can I say about Tiger that we haven’t said already?” asks Jon Rahm, whose tenuous grip on No. 1 is under threat this week from four other Tiger disciples: Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay.

[divider] [/divider]

TIGER WOODS REFLECTS ON HIS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

The 15-time major champion discusses the unique dynamic of entering the Hall with his competitive career still not complete.

[divider] [/divider]

“He inspired a whole generation. Besides entertaining all of us for 20 years and doing unbelievable things, he inspired the generation of players that you’re seeing today. You have at the top of the world a lot of 20-some-year-olds and early 30-year-olds that grew up watching him and trying to copy him, and I think that’s why the level of the game is as high as it is right now. You know, aside from everything that he did, I think it’s a testament to what he was able to accomplish and how many people he was able to inspire.”

Tour pros speak of Woods with utter reverence. He is the man who inspired them to be better, yes, but also the reason a 30th-place finish at this week’s Players Championship comes with a $137,000 cheque.

“I always say, all of us that are playing here this week have to thank Tiger for where the game is and where the tour is,” Rory McIlroy said.

But they speak of him mostly in past tense, the way they talk about Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. He did that. He was this. Those men will never play another round where their score means something. Tiger will. Where he’ll shoot them, when and what the scores might be remain a mystery. None of the players know and neither does Woods. It’s a strange dynamic—Wednesday night’s ceremony will celebrate a career, because that’s the whole point of a Hall of Fame ceremony. But that career, as uncertain as it is, is not finished.

“Most sports you have to wait five years after you retire just to be eligible,” Woods says. “Our sport is different. You can go into the Hall and still play and compete out here. There are players that have won out here on tour after they’ve gone into the Hall. It’s very different.

“But it’s also an acknowledgement that you’ve had a successful career. I feel like I have, but it feels like it’s still not over yet.”

Woods, 46, is eligible only due to a 2020 rule change that saw the age requirement drop from 50 to 45. That change was surely made with a night like Wednesday in mind, and his ceremony will draw a who’s who of PGA Tour players—as well as those who have been in Woods’ famously tight circle throughout his roller-coaster career.

“Everyone who has been close to me and supported me through childhood all the way up—I’ve had friends literally since childhood—family, foundation, everyone that has been close to me and involved in my life, I want them there,” Woods said.

That includes his 14-year-old daughter, Sam, who will introduce her father on Wednesday. Her younger brother, Charlie, has relished the spotlight the past two years playing alongside Tiger at the PNC Challenge. Sam prefers soccer, and Woods is a constant fixture at her games. Woods may still fancy himself a contender on tour, and he may still don the red and black on Sundays, but he is not the same professional as he was in his 20s or 30s. He once poured every ounce of his energy into golf; his body won’t allow him to do that anymore, nor would he want to. Woods treasures his time at home with his kids, and his mother, Tida, who lives 15 minutes away in South Florida, frequently joins in.

“I wish my dad would’ve been here to see that, because he’s the one who got me started in the game. But my mom’s going to be there,” Woods said. “She’s the one who took me to all my junior tournaments in Southern California. We’d get up, go play the pee-wee league in the 11-and-under division in Riverside—that’s an hour, hour and a half drive … never complained, we hopped in that Plymouth Duster and we’d head out there, she’d keep the score and give the report to my dad when I got home. That, to me, is special, to have her still around.”

The Plymouth Duster has been replaced by the courtesy car, and Woods’ children now occupy the back seat that Tiger himself once sat in. But Tiger is a golfer all the same, still, all these years and all these injuries later. This game is different indeed.

The post Tiger Woods’ Hall of Fame induction celebrates his past while he holds out hope for the future appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
Charlie Sifford and Renee Powell both spoke of the barriers and struggles they faced as African Americans who wanted to excel in golf. They each took on that challenge with strengths that earned them status at the highest levels of the professional game.

Now they are joined one more time in a new endeavour by the World Golf Hall of Fame. On the 17th anniversary on Monday of Sifford’s induction into the Hall, the organization announced that Powell will be the first recipient of the Charlie Sifford Award.

The award, the Hall said, “honours an individual who personifies Sifford’s groundbreaking achievements through perseverance, confidence, respect and adaptability. Powell—the second African American woman to ever compete on the LPGA Tour—demonstrated resilience amidst her own obstacles of racial adversity and segregation and dedicated her life to making golf a sport for all.”

The award, presented by Southern Company, will be given to Powell as part of the Hall of Fame’s 2022 induction ceremony on March 9 during the PGA Tour’s Players Championship week. Tiger Woods, Susie Maxwell Berning, Tim Finchem and Marion Hollins are the four inductees.

Powell, 75, competed as a member of the LPGA from 1967 to 1980, playing in more than 250 pro events. Since 1995 she has served as the head PGA/LPGA professional at Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio. The club was established in 1946 by her father, William Powell, as the first U.S. golf course designed, built, owned and operated by an African American. The club’s non-profit Clearview Legacy Foundation focuses on education, preservation, and research, with an emphasis on youth, minorities, veterans, seniors and other underrepresented groups.

“As a youngster, my parents fought to get me into tournaments when I was not welcomed because of the colour of my skin, which instilled in me how important it is to get young people into the game to help build their self-confidence,” Powell said in a statement. “I’m honoured to be the first recipient of this award and to see Charlie Sifford be recognized for breaking down barriers that never should have been put in front of him and all others of colour who strived to play this game. I was taught early on by my parents that golf should be a sport for everyone, and we can all diversify this game in so many ways.”

Sifford, who died in 2015, turned pro in 1948 but was excluded from playing on the PGA Tour until 1961, when he became the first African American to compete as a member. He won twice on tour and finished in the top 60 on the money list in each of his first nine seasons as a member. Sifford was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

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Posting a bogey-free 65, Mickelson claimed the tournament title at the Charles Schwab Championship, shooting a 19-under 265 over 72 holes. Fending off Steven Alker by a shot, Lefty earned his fourth title in six career senior starts, joining Jack Nicklaus as the fastest to four in PGA Tour Champions history.

“It’s fun to come out on top, and to get back and play here in Phoenix is a special feeling,” said the 51-year-old. “Amy [his wife] and I have had so many great years here; the birth of our first two children were here, we met here over at Arizona State and spent so many great years here. It’s so fun for us to come back and play in front of everybody one.”

Posting an up-and-down 69, Langer finished solo 17th in the tournament, seven back of Mickelson. It was still good enough, however, for the German to claim the senior tour’s season-long Charles Schwab Cup (and an accompanying $1 million bonus) for a record sixth time.

“I’m just overwhelmed, you know, at 64 to win this thing six times,” Langer said. “It will probably be my last one, I’m almost sure of that, but it’s very, very special.”

Both Mickelson and Langer got some help on Sunday from Jim Furyk, the 54-hole leader who must have thought all the holes were covered in plastic during the final round. Furyk started the day at 16 under and proceeded to shoot a one-over 71, one of just two over-par scores posted by a player who finished in the top 20. Had Furyk won the tournament proper, he also would have claimed the season-long title.

Furyk still had a chance at besting Langer on the final hole, needing to chip in for an eagle 3 on the par-5 18th from wood chips to the left of the green. It didn’t happen.

Langer’s performance over the course of the PGA Tour Champions 2020-21 super season was remarkable for its consistency. He played in all 39 events and posted 24 top-10 finishes. He won only twice, running up his career senior victory part to 42, but was a constant presence on leader boards.

“It’s really amazing how Bernhard has played so well for so long, but he works at it,” Mickelson said. “He works so hard at it and is in the gym constantly and he’s constantly working out, recovering and practicing and hitting balls. His work ethic is second to none and the results show. He’s kind of the gold standard for what professional golf is about. You have talent, but you’ve got to put in the time and work in to have success. ”

Still, Langer nearly saw all the work go for naught when back spasms flared up early in the week. During his opening round Thursday, Langer said that he was close to withdrawing from the tournament after only three holes, playing through the worst pain he can remember having in his career. But each day he got progressively better, to the point where he broke his age by a shot with his Saturday 63.

Mickelson, having become the oldest winner of a major title with his victory at the PGA Championship in May, was a less frequent participant at the senior level. When he did play, he did so with enthusiasm, genuinely enjoying rekindling old acquaintances.

“It’s been fun for me to play out here and see so many guys that I grew up and spent decades with, life-long friends,” Mickelson said. “Then to play well and have some success is very meaningful.”

In turn, his peers appreciated Mickelson making the effort; Kirk Triplett told Lefty during his round Friday just how big a deal it was to the rest of them that he support the PGA Tour Champions.

Mickelson is set to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary this coming week. Langer is flying to Germany to have a procedure done on his knee that will keep him from hitting balls for six to eight weeks. Indeed, both sounded ready to hang up their clubs for a while.

Both will do so knowing full well they accomplished big things in 2021—and hope for more of the same in 2022.

The post Bernhard Langer, Phil Mickelson make for fitting winners at the PGA Tour Champions finale appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Tiger Woods’ Hall of Fame induction will have to wait.

The ceremony for Woods, who was elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame in March, was supposed to take place in 2021. However, the World Golf Foundation announced Monday the celebration is delayed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Moving the ceremony back a year will give us a better opportunity to properly recognise and honour this important class,” said Greg McLaughlin, chief executive officer of the World Golf Foundation. “We look forward to shining a light on their achievements and inspiring future golfers around the world through this ceremony and celebration.”

The 15-time major winner will be honored at TPC Sawgrass during the 2022 Players Championship. Joining Woods in the Hall of Fame class are Susie Maxwell Berning, Marion Hollins and Tim Finchem.

Woods became eligible for Hall of Fame election thanks to a rule change in 2020, which moved the age requirement from 50 to 45 (Woods turns 45 on Dec. 30). The age limit had recently been moved from 40 to 50 just four years prior, but the Hall made the switch as “an effort to ensure the game’s greats from around the world are actively recognised and celebrated.”

“Recognising the game’s greatest players and contributors is an important endeavour and one our sport takes very seriously,” said World Golf Foundation board chairman and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “We are committed to regularly evaluating the selection process to ensure we approach it with both historical context and the future in mind.”

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By Alex Myers
Vijay Singh has shown little sign of slowing down for a man who celebrated his 57th birthday in February. Seriously, have you ever seen video of this guy working out? He’s a total beast. But the man known for his tireless practice habits and packed tournament slate—in addition to those 34 PGA Tour titles and three majors, of course—is poised for a scheduling first in his Hall-of-Fame career when the golf season resumes.

Singh plans to play the first week of the proposed restart—just not on the PGA Tour. Or the PGA Tour Champions, where he’s won an additional four times. Instead, it looks like he’ll tee it up on the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time ever. Thanks to Ryan French, AKA Monday Q Info on Twitter, for bringing this to our attention:

The new Korn Ferry Event that will reopen the season has:

34 PGA Tour Wins
13 Euro Wins
5 Asian Tour Wins
2 Sunshine Tour Wins
4 Champions Tour Wins
and Roughly $100 Million in worldwide Career earnings…

in the field…by guys named Vijay Singh pic.twitter.com/UONKyeIN6y

— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) May 7, 2020

The “Not exempt for current event” means Singh isn’t in the field at that week’s (June 11-14) Charles Schwab Challenge, the first event of the PGA Tour’s proposed restart. Instead, Singh is on the Korn Ferry Challenge field list, which was obtained by French from a player in the tournament.

And no, we’re not talking about Singh making his first Korn Ferry Tour start since it’s been called the Korn Ferry Tour. This will be Singh’s debut on the developmental circuit no matter the sponsor because he managed to skip it entirely on his way to becoming one of the best players in golf history.

Singh won four European Tour titles before officially becoming a PGA Tour member in 1993. He won Rookie of the Year that season and never looked back.

So why play on the Korn Ferry Tour now? Clearly, a man who is fourth all-time on the PGA Tour money list doesn’t need the cash. But like many golfers, he’s likely looking forward to some competition. It also helps that the new event is practically in his backyard. The inaugural Korn Ferry Challenge is being played at TPC Sawgrass.

Considering there won’t be spectators in attendance, Singh’s decision won’t draw anymore eyeballs to the event. But it’s sure to raise some eyebrows from fellow tour pros.

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“I don’t think the challenges we had were in the same ballpark of what he’s dealing with,” Finchem said Monday on a conference call after the World Golf Hall of Fame announced his selection as an inductee in 2021. “I can’t tell you how many people in the last three weeks or months have come up to me and said, Would you like to be commissioner now? The answer is yes, because that’s what you like to do, and I loved doing it.

“But no, Jay … is dealing with a unique set of circumstances … trying to figure out how you can play sports competitions, and this applies to any of the major sports to some extent, and analyze the options that you have and the information that you need to get to make good decisions, and the outreach you have to perform to make sure that the constituencies that you have are knowledgeable about kind of the directions you’re going. It’s a whole other workload level, and to my way of looking at it, very tricky.

“I think Jay, thus far, has done a fabulous job,” Finchem added. “He is, as you know, a superb communicator, and he is going about it with his team in a way that is spectacular in my view.”

To date, the PGA Tour has cancelled nine events and tentatively reconfigured the schedule for the remainder of the year in cooperation with other golf organizations that either have postponed or, in the case of the Open Championship, cancelled major championships. Monahan shut down the Tour’s flagship event, the Players Championship, after the first round was played on March 14. No Tour-affiliated tournaments have been conducted since, but competition is scheduled to resume with the Charles Schwab Challenge reset for June 11-14.

Finchem, who turned 73 on Sunday, served as PGA Tour commissioner from 1994 to 2016 before handing the reins to Monahan, his hand-picked successor. Finchem maintains a role with the tour as an advisor, but he insists that he hasn’t contributed much of late because of the distinct nature of the situation at hand.

Chris Condon/PGA Tour
Finchem poses with incoming commissioner Jay Monahan during the PGA Tour meeting in November 2016.

“He hasn’t leaned on me much at all,” Finchem said of Monahan. “Early on we had a couple conversations about what was happening. From time to time he’ll share with me what direction he’s going. But given what I said earlier, given the load that he’s dealing with … it’s kind of difficult to avoid working in the dark a little bit when you have so many variables sitting out there. He’s got to spend an enormous percentage of his time in those areas, and he’s got a great team.

“He lives about 100 yards from me, so if he wanted to talk to me about something, he knows I’m available. But he’s got to steer the ship. He’s got a million things going on, and I’m quite aware of that.”

During his tenure, Finchem oversaw an exponential growth in prize money, going from $100 million per year on three tours to more than $400 million on six tours when he retired. His biggest initiatives included the Presidents Cup, the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the creation of The First Tee, to which he devotes the most time today. In addition, Finchem was instrumental in seeing the Tour and its tournaments raise $2 billion in charitable contributions. That last accomplishment, he said, with the Tour increasing its charity fundraising from around $35 million to $200 million annually, “is near the top.”

Finchem will be inducted at a date yet to be determined in 2021, along with Tiger Woods—whose career spanned most of Finchem’s as commissioner—and Marion Hollins, an architect, course developer and outstanding female amateur. A fourth inductee is to be announced in the coming days.

Given the current socioeconomic circumstances, Finchem hasn’t allowed himself time to consider who will be his presenter at his induction. He has some ideas on what he plans to give to the Hall of Fame for his display. He hesitatingly revealed one item.

“I’ll tell you what it is without telling you what it says. It’s a letter to me from Arnold Palmer, and it’s one of the coolest things that I have in my office,” he said. “They’re not putting me in the Hall of Fame because I played golf great, so we don’t have to worry about that part of it. It’ll be more about people that I’ve dealt with.

“It just occurs to me how lucky I was to come along at a time that allowed me to get to know Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and then 100 other players. I mean, that to me … I was just lucky, I guess. Every one of those people, just phenomenal people, and very interesting people.”

As for his inclusion in the Hall of Fame, Finchem said, “I kind of, in many ways, don’t feel like I am deserving, because I just had so much fun being in the job for so long. It was absolutely captivating for me year after year after year.”

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By John Strege
Tim Finchem’s 22-year tenure as commissioner of the PGA Tour was overwhelming successful by any reasonable accounting, starting with the bottom line. Prize money grew from $91 million on three tours and to more than $401 million on six tours, while charitable contributions steadily increased and reached a record of more than $166 million in his last year on the job, 2016.

Finchem, 73, has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, the Hall announced on Monday. Finchem is the third tour commissioner to have been elected to the Hall, joining Joseph Dey and Deane Beman. He was selected through the Hall’s Contributor category.

“It is the greatest honour to be elected to join golf’s most legendary players and contributors in the World Golf Hall of Fame,” Finchem said in a release. “This is a truly humbling moment, for which I am most grateful, and I look forward to celebrating with my family and friends throughout the game of golf and the many people who made this possible for me. I am especially proud to stand alongside one of the world’s all-time greats, Tiger Woods, in the Class of 2021 and look forward to what will be an exciting year ahead.”

Finchem is the third member of the Hall’s Class of 2021 that includes Woods and Marion Hollins.

“Tim Finchem’s vision and leadership have made an indelible impact on the game of golf over the past 25 years,” Jay Monahan, PGA Tour Commissioner and World Golf Foundation Board Chairman, said in a news release.

“His enshrinement into the World Golf Hall of Fame will forever stand as a testament to his tireless dedication and contributions, but more importantly, so will the countless lives—whether those are the players on the PGA Tour and beyond, millions of First Tee participants, or charitable organisations around the world—impacted by his life’s work.”

In 1994, Finchem was selected to succeed Beman, and it was his good fortune to have Woods come along less than three years later. But Finchem expertly helped leverage Woods’ crossover appeal that lifted the game from its status as a niche sport to the benefit of the entire tour.

Finchem was instrumental in the evolution of the World Golf Championship tournaments, as well as the FedEx Cup and the FedEx Cup playoffs.

“The way the tour looks in 2016 compared with when Tim got the chair, it’s astonishing the difference,” former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy told Helen Ross of PGATour.com in 2016. “It’s been incredible. I guess on a global scale, the PGA Tour has always been the premium tour, but it’s not even a decision anymore. It’s just by far and away really the only place that anyone wants to play the best players in the world. It’s been an impressive, impressive era.”

The post Former PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem becomes latest selection for the World Golf Hall of Fame appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — The inevitable happened early Thursday UAE time. In perhaps the least surprising bit of news any golf fan could hear, Tiger Woods has been elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“I am both honoured and humbled to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame,” Woods said in a statement. “This past year has been such an incredible journey, and the support I’ve received from my family, friends and fans has been overwhelming. This achievement is the ultimate recognition to never give up and keep chasing.”

Woods is the first member of the Class of 2021 picked by the Hall of Fame’s 20-member Selection Committee. The Committee voted on Wednesday from a list of 10 finalists. Additional inductees will be announced later, according to officials with the Hall of Fame. Specifics on the formal induction ceremony, which will take place next year, are also to be determined.

Woods, 44, has amassed 15 major championships and a record-tying 82 PGA Tour victories over his storied professional career. He’s one of the few phenoms who end up surpassing expectations—Woods won three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs and three straight U.S. Amateurs before turning professional in 1996.

He won his first major at the 1997 Masters, where he set the scoring record of 18 under par and won by a record 12 shots. He’d add 13 more majors over the next 11 years—including winning four in a row, the Tiger Slam, from the 2000 U.S. Open through the 2001 Masters—before winning his 15th last April at Augusta, after an 11-year drought marked by personal and physical struggles.

“Tiger has done more for the game of golf than anyone ever thought possible, and his historic feats on the course are only one aspect of his impact,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “His imprint on the game is immeasurable, and his unparalleled legacy is one we look forward to celebrating as he’s inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame next year.”

Woods holds a number of PGA Tour records, including the most made cuts in a row (142) and most weeks spent atop the World Golf Rankings (683).

The only surprise is how soon Woods has been elected into the Hall of Fame—the minimum age for enshrinement had been 50 until it was moved to 45 earlier this year. Woods will turn 45 on Dec. 30.

The announcement comes during the Players Championship, which Woods is missing for the first time since 2017 to rest a sore back. He has maintained throughout the year that the singular goal of his preparation is to be ready to mount a strong title defence at Augusta National next month.

The remaining finalists who are being considered to join Woods are Johnny Farrell, Padraig Harrington, Tom Weiskopf, Susie Maxwell Berning, Beverly Hanson, Sandra Palmer and Dottie Pepper, and contributors Tim Finchem and Marion Hollins.

The post Tiger Woods elected to World Golf Hall of Fame as first member of Class of 2021 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

WE’RE BUYING

Sungjae Im: Tales of this young man’s ball-striking were not exaggerated. He is the real deal. And he won’t turn 22 until the end of the month. Congrats to Im on picking up his first PGA Tour title at the Honda Classic. And the Presidents Cupper did it in rather impressive fashion by firing at the flagstick on both of the vaunted Bear Trap’s par 3s. Those shots that set up two clutch birdies were so impressive that runner-up Mackenzie Hughes paid his playing partner the ultimate sign of respect:

Mackenzie Hughes perfectly sums up Sungjae’s Sunday at Honda.

(Wait for it.) pic.twitter.com/K92B2FINk2

— Skratch (@Skratch) March 1, 2020

Transatlantic Twitter war: With so many awful things going on in the world, it’s great having Golf Twitter getting up and arms about something an announcer said. Here’s the clip that nearly reignited the Revolutionary War:

Is paul Azinger a complete moron??? 'THAT' tour…. and a wobble of the head at @WestwoodLee s amazing wins on the #europeantour .
Who the hell is Mark Wilson also.??? pic.twitter.com/l2G1niQ5bX

— SHanny (@HansonStuart) March 1, 2020

Was Azinger’s tone condescending? Yes. Did he (and others involved in NBC’s broadcast) focus too much on the fact that Tommy Fleetwood, a five-time European Tour winner and Ryder Cup star, has yet to win on the PGA Tour? Probably. But like it or not, it is a fact that the PGA Tour is the better tour and that Fleetwood has yet to win on it. And it’s a fact that Fleetwood is well aware of and agrees with:

From Fleetwood’s own mouth. His words, not ours. Not trying to devalue winning tournaments around the world. Winning anywhere is extremely hard. But these guys know that winning in the US is a step in their careers. That’s all. Not sure what all the fuss is about. pic.twitter.com/2lNhflNNIT

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) March 1, 2020

And as rough as it was seeing Fleetwood find the water on the 72nd hole and blow a chance at the maiden PGA Tour title, European Golf Twitter would have been insufferable. Although I do love seeing British slang like “bollocks,” “wanker,” and “shiite.” I need to start incorporating those words more.

Lee Westwood: For one thing, it’s always nice to see a late-career revival. For another, I loved Westwood’s “Ask your parents” response when he gets asked about what it was like in the 90s. And finally, yes, I had a little money on the man, both to win (sigh) and finish top 10 (cha-ching). Our Christopher Powers dubbed Lee’s 2019 Open Championship run “Westy’s Last Stand,” but he’s still got plenty in the tank.

Rickie Fowler’s schedule: The PGA Tour star said he spends 25 to 30 days per year with sponsors, including shooting commercials. I’m totally buying it because his face is everywhere during a golf broadcast and he looks like a NASCAR driver with all those sponsors on his shirt. He’s also over 30, married, and out of the top 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Hey, you’ve got to pay the bills somehow.

WE’RE SELLING

Tiger’s new schedule: Tiger Woods skipping the Arnold Palmer Invitational isn’t reason for his fans to panic, but the latest indication that the rest of his career will consist of a very limited schedule is still sad. In an effort to avoid back-to-back starts, Tiger is opting not to play at a place where he’s won eight times and possibly the spot that gives him the best chance for a record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour title. But Woods is far more concerned about increasing his major total, and considering he also skipped this event last year, maybe this isn’t the worst news. . .

Andrew Redington

Brooks Koepka’s responses: I love Blunt Brooks or Candid Koepka as much as the next guy, but in the span of a few days he claimed he once made a hole-in-one at Augusta National and forgot about it later that day, said $200 million wouldn’t change his life, and insisted he played well two days in a row despite not coming close to making the cut at the Honda Classic. As the guy ventures further and further into too-cool-for-school territory, we’re starting to take some of his remarks with a huge grain of salt.

Being quarantined: Edoardo Molinari and Lorenzo Gagli were initially pulled from the Oman Open and placed in solitary confinement by the European Tour out of fear they had the Coronavirus. Fortunately, they didn’t, but it didn’t sound like a fun experience:

For everyone asking, I am absolutely fine. No symptoms at all, no fever, no cold, nothing wrong at all…just very bored and annoyed. Hopefully this nightmare will be over soon!

— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) February 27, 2020

Both players were eventually reinstated and Gagli even finished T-10. But yeah, that couldn’t have been a great feeling.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour continues its Florida Swing with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, AKA that place where Tiger Woods used to win every year, but now skips every year. It was more fun when he was winning every year.

Random tournament fact: Last year, Francesco Molinari became the first player in PGA Tour history to sink the winning putt with the flagstick in.

?? @F_Molinari's clutch birdie on the 72nd hole @APinv is even more exciting when called by @GOLFTV's Italian broadcasters. ? pic.twitter.com/uFE5INGzNq

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 10, 2019

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Zinger will say, “That European Tour” on this week’s broadcast: 1-MILLION-to-1 odds
—Francesco Molinari will win this week: 90-to-1 odds
—Francesco would rather miss another cut than be quarantined like his brother: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

This guy just keeps on going:

Stan Badz

That’s a remarkable 41st career PGA Tour Champions title for Bernhard Langer (hence, the pose), bringing him within four of Hale Irwin’s record. That also pushed the 62-year-old past $29 million in earnings on the senior circuit. He made $10 million on the PGA Tour. Remarkable.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (MUSICAL DIVISION)

Our man Sam Harrop is back with another fantastic song parody. This time, it’s a plea for Anthony Kim to come back:

Not quite sure how one is supposed to follow-up something like that Tony Finau video, but, well…here's where I ended up.

And, if all else fails, I'm pretty sure I speak on behalf of the entire golf community when I say, AK – we want you back.

RTs appreciated, as ever ? pic.twitter.com/Q7VS1PmHtk

— Sam Harrop (@sam_golf) February 27, 2020

This is beautiful—and important—work. Well done, Sam. And hope you’re listening, AK.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (FAIL DIVISION)

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9K5NqxJM3v/?utm_source=ig_embed

LOL Luke McDonald?! The guy is a former World No. 1 for crying out loud! Where’s the respect?!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’m not even sure that he’s polarizing. I’m not sure there’s too many people on the other side, you know what I mean? I mean, ‘there is no God’ was the first thing I said after he’d won last week. There is no God, you know, that’s proof of it right there. Amazing. I mean, he is amazing. He’s Captain Oblivious, just can let everything run off his back. I’ve never seen anything like it.” —David Feherty on Patrick Reed. My word! Tell us what you really think, David!

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Turns out, Mike Trout can smoke a golf ball even harder than he hits a baseball:

Mike Trout hitting rockets isn’t exclusive to the baseball field. pic.twitter.com/tuEyIzxqQ5

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) March 2, 2020

Decent athlete, that one.

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

FOLKS, we have a GRETZKY wedding alert!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Pk4xnHKlQ/?utm_source=ig_embed

Sorry, hope you didn’t get too excited. It was Ty getting hitched, not Paulina. But Paulina and DJ were there looking fancy. And The Great One was there making heartfelt toasts. And one of these days we’ll finally get the golf royal wedding we’ve been waiting for since 2013. Right? Maybe? Fingers crossed, because there’s going to be a lot of CONTENT when it does happen.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Phil Mickelson might be even better playing Pebble Beach on a simulator than he is at playing Pebble Beach in real life:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9MwYADjY2g/?utm_source=ig_embed

Speaking of content, please attempt that in the real tournament next year. Please.

THIS AND THAT

Sami Valimaki, 21, won his first European Tour title just 18 months removed from finishing up his required military service for Finland. Guessing the food in player dining is just a bit better than at his previous gig. . . . Dustin Johnson said he will not play in the Tokyo Olympics later this year, even if he qualifies for the U.S. team. Is this a hint of a July wedding? . . . Tiger Woods has been officially announced as a finalist for the World Golf Hall of Fame 2021 class. Fingers crossed he has the votes to get in. . . . And finally, I’m in the midst of a dental emergency stemming from a root canal I underwent two years ago. I will spare you a photo, but suffice it to say, THE GRIND has extra meaning behind it this week.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who will deliver Tiger’s Hall-of-Fame introduction speech?
How many days a year did Maria Sharapova spend with sponsors?
How many days this year am I going to have to spend at the dentist?

The post A Transatlantic Twitter war, a heartfelt plea to Anthony Kim, and a Gretzky wedding (just not the one you’re thinking) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.