Rebound! Mission Hills' Dinah Shore Course Is (Already) Back With A 2023 Tournament

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The LPGA and Chevron are reportedly eyeing something called The Clubs at Houston Oaks for the Dinah Shore/Chevron (From Beth Ann Nichols in Golfweek). But Mission Hills is already on the rebound with plans to host a Champions Tour event in 2023.

From Doug Ferguson of the AP:

The PGA Tour Champions announced a partnership with healthcare company Grail to sponsor The Galleri Classic, named after Grail’s multi-cancer early detection test. The tournament will be March 24-26 on the Dinah Shore Tournament course at Mission Hills, which had hosted the LPGA Tour for 51 years. That PGA Tour Champions was last in the Coachella Valley in 1993, when Raymond Floyd won the final edition of the Gulfstream Aerospace Invitational at Indian Wells.

Boeing Classic: Pampling Wins First Champions Title, Earns Really Oversized Bomber Jacket

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Forget a navy blazer with captain’s wings, Boeing went with a bomber’s jacket cut for a very large-sized man. Rod Pampling pulled it off despite the sizeable cut.

Points for the concept, maybe not so many for the execution. Unless Rod wants to turn it into a leather lounge chair to commemorate his first PGA Tour Champions win:

World Champions Cup: Three Six-Man Teams, Nine Hole Matches

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It’s always been mysterious how rarely the Champions Tour is used as a format incubator of sorts. The old guys are just happy to be upright, out of the house and maybe still playing like they did 20 years ago. They’re open to fresh formats and whatever it takes to keep the product going.

So news of the World Champions Cup debuting this November intrigues as much on the format. Particularly as Olympic golf, which desperately needed to be a team event to “grow the game” and is instead looking increasingly doomed by relying on individuals.

Could this format be a test run? Likely not, but it has merits for those hoping golf figures out a better and more captivating way to approach Olympic golf. For Immediate Release:

World Champions Cup set to debut in 2022, featuring major champions, Hall of Famers and legends of the game squaring off in a first-of-its-kind international team golf competition  

Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Darren Clarke on board to captain Team USA, Team World and Team Europe, respectively, in the first playing of the new annual competition

 CHICAGO (MARCH 16, 2021) – A unique and exciting new professional golf competition is ready to take the world stage, as sports media and marketing firm Intersport announced today the creation of the World Champions Cup, scheduled to debut in the fall of 2022.

Inspired by the passion and tradition of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the World Champions Cup will be a first-of-its-kind golf tournament featuring Team USA, Team Europe and Team World squaring off over three days of competition that will renew some of the game’s most storied rivalries as the teams battle for international pride and global bragging rights.

World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els, 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and 2011 The Open champion Darren Clarke will each serve as playing captains for their respective teams of six competitors, all aged 50 and older, in the first playing of the World Champions Cup. Seven-time PGA TOUR winner and popular golf commentator Peter Jacobsen will serve as Chairman of the inaugural event.

“This is a truly exciting day for golf fans and for all of us who love the game,” said Charles N. Besser, Chairman and CEO of Intersport. “Our team at Intersport has invested a significant amount of time and effort into developing this concept. The World Champions Cup is a continuation of Intersport’s history of launching significant new events that endure for decades. We are confident that the World Champions Cup will renew golf’s legendary rivalries on a global stage while bringing innovation to the game we love. We can’t wait to tee off in 2022.”

Intersport has been creating award-winning sports and entertainment-based marketing platforms since 1985. In addition to launching and operating the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, which, in its inaugural year, was the TOUR’s most awarded event on the 2018-19 schedule, Intersport is an Emmy Award winner and owns and operates nearly a dozen nationally televised sports properties.

The World Champions Cup is sanctioned by the PGA TOUR. The annual three-team, three-day match play competition will be held at one of America’s great golf courses and will be contested across twice-daily, nine-hole matches featuring team formats and singles play, with points being earned for each hole won in each match. When the three-day competition concludes, the team with the highest point total across all matches will be crowned the champion. 

“We are excited to add this global event to the golf calendar starting in 2022 and are appreciative of Intersport’s passion to begin a new world-wide golf tradition,” said Miller Brady, President of PGA TOUR Champions. “The World Champions Cup will give golf fans the opportunity to see the game’s greatest players come together in a team format on the world’s biggest stage. International team events are some of the most significant competitions in our game and it will be fun to see Ernie, Jim and Darren, along with their teammates, compete for the inaugural World Champions Cup next year.”

Intersport is currently engaged in preliminary conversations with potential media partners, title sponsors, and host courses.

Els, a native of South Africa, will captain Team World. The former World No. 1 player, elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, boasts a resume that includes 19 PGA TOUR victories and 47 international wins. The biggest among those are his two U.S. Open titles (1994 and 1997) and his two wins a full decade apart at The Open (2002, 2012). The Big Easy has been a member of eight Presidents Cup teams and captained the International squad in 2019.

“International team golf events have provided me with some of my greatest golf memories,” Els said. “I have spent my career competing in global golf championships and supporting the growth of the game across the world. It’s a great honor to be named the captain of Team World for the inaugural World Champions Cup.” 

Furyk will captain Team USA. Throughout his career, Furyk has represented Team USA in seven Presidents Cups, nine Ryder Cups and served as a Ryder Cup captain in 2018. He is a 17-time winner on the PGA TOUR, the 2003 U.S. Open champion, and a two-time winner on PGA TOUR Champions. Furyk is also the owner of the lowest round in PGA TOUR history, having shot 58 in the fourth round of the Travelers Championship in 2016.

“I am excited to lead Team USA and recapture the great global team championships I have been fortunate enough to enjoy during my career,” Furyk said. “For more than 20 years, I have been competing against Ernie and Darren, and I look forward to having the chance to captain Team USA and play against them in the World Champions Cup.”

Clarke, a native of Northern Ireland, will captain Team Europe. He is most famous for his 2011 victory at The Open at Royal St. George’s, where he finished three strokes better than Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. A member of five Ryder Cup teams and the 2016 captain for Team Europe, Clarke’s resume includes victories at two PGA TOUR World Golf Championships events and two PGA TOUR Champions events, as well as 15 international wins.

“I am extremely proud to be named captain of Team Europe for the inaugural playing of the World Champions Cup,” Clarke said. “To be selected along with Jim and Ernie, two of golf’s all-time great players, is an honor. I have been fortunate to compete in many global team events, but I am as excited about captaining and playing in the World Champions Cup as I ever have been throughout my career.”

Jacobsen, the Chairman of the inaugural World Champions Cup, is a seven-time PGA TOUR winner, two-time PGA TOUR Champions winner and the 2004 U.S. Senior Open champion. A popular golf media personality for the past two decades, Jacobsen has established himself as one of the great ambassadors of golf. He represents everything a professional athlete and committed community leader should be. Throughout the years he has used his talents and status to transcend the game of golf and touch the lives of many.

“I have spent nearly all of my life playing, watching, talking and loving the game of golf,” Jacobsen said. “After nearly 40 years on the PGA TOUR, it is the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to represent something as significant as the World Champions Cup will one day be for golf.”

Additional information about the World Champions Cup is available atwww.WorldChampionsCup.com, on Twitter (@WorldChampsCup) and on Instagram (@WorldChampionsCup).

Phil Being Phil: Wild Flip Shot Recovery; 2 For 2 On Champions Tour After Dominion Energy Win

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He’s back with the flatbellies at this week’s ZOZO Championship outside L.A— but Phil Mickelson is now 2 for 2 on the PGA Tour Champions after passing Mike Weir to win the Dominion Energy Classic.

He may make some odd course management decisions, but the flexibility and strength at 50 is so impressive and why he could be competitive a long time:

His post-65 final round comments:

"Mark Calcavecchia recounts COVID-19 ordeal as he returns to play"

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ESPN.com’s Bob Harig talked to 13-time PGA Tour winner Mark Calcaveccia about his COVID-19 bout and efforts to get back to normal.

"It's the worst I ever felt," he said. "Every bone in my body hurt."

Calcavecchia can't pinpoint where he picked up the virus. And he said the fact that neither his wife, Brenda, nor any of the people he played with on a weeklong golf vacation in Nebraska (including two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen and tour pro Scott Dunlap), contracted COVID-19 is "a minor miracle."

He goes on to describe a harrowing cross-country journey with worsening conditions each day until heading to the hospital for testing and treatment.

Next Week's Champions Event In Sioux Falls Welcoming Fans Back With Plenty Of Precautions

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Golfweek.com’s Adam Schupak reports on the Sanford International (September 11-13) becoming the first COVID-19 era event to welcome back the paying public.

Played at Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Minnehaha Country Club the event is sponsored by the PGA Tour’s official COVID-19 testing partner and while typically well-attended, will be playing it extra things carefully knowing they are the first.

Schupak spoke to tournament director Hollis Cavner and writes:

All spectators are encouraged to take their own temperature before heading to the tournament. Upon arrival, FDA approved non-contact wrist thermometers will be utilized at each parking lot prior to spectators getting on a shuttle bus. Temperature checks will also take place at the main entrance for those that arrive without taking a shuttle. Anyone with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher will be turned away and asked to seek medical attention.

Fans will be given free masks, if needed, as well as gloves, if requested. The golf course has been roped so fans won’t be able to get as close to the players as usual. Stationary hand sanitizer units will be placed at entrances to public bleachers, hospitality structures, and the clubhouse. Portolets and restroom trailers will each be equipped with sanitizer pumps and handwashing stations as well. For the safety of the players and gallery members alike, autographs will be prohibited.

“We’re on 250 acres. Spacing people on 250 acres is like 12 people inside a Super Wal-Mart,” Cavner said. “We’re the guinea pig for bringing people back to golf with live crowds, so we’ve gone overboard to make sure we don’t have any issues.”

Not likely to be welcome at the tournament: retired company founder T. Denny Sanford, who is currently under investigation.

Phil And The Aviators Take Branson By Storm!

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Phil Mickelson’s eye-opening—if you could see behind the aviators—22-under-par PGA Tour Champions debut outside Branson was impressive. That’s even if the competitive setting more closely resembled afternoon cart games at The Bridges than big boy golf, but Mickelson proved he’s still got something special during a four-stroke win over Tim Petrovic.

Jay Busbee with this on the win and Tiger’s assessment…or was it a dig?

Look, it’s easy to laugh off Mickelson’s achievement as an unfair matchup, the golf equivalent of LeBron James rolling over a neighborhood pickup basketball game. Mickelson’s odds to win the tournament were as low as +220 (bet $100 to win $220); that’s getting in the neighborhood of prime Tiger right there.

Woods himself knows just how much of an advantage Mickelson currently owns. “He was already one of the longest hitters out here [on the PGA Tour],” Woods said Wednesday at the BMW Championship, “and now he goes to where he’s going to pick up a huge advantage off the tee ... There’s no reason why he can’t win every event he plays out there. He’s got such a big advantage over the rest of the field just with sheer length.”

That’s right, he could win every week “out there”!

More importantly, buried lede here: Phil is putting with a blade and making putts. I feel the Golf Gods at work here. The entire bag of Callaways for Mickelson including a nice shot of his old school putter.

Also, the cart driving was magnificent! This man has a Ryder Cup captaincy in his future!

Oh, and the trophy is…sizeable.

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One start. One win. 🏆

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Branson Phil Shoots 61, Hocks Forthcoming Coffee Line

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Forget the playoffs, we’ve got Phil Mickelson giving the Champions Tour a 61 in his debut round, the Frank Poncherello shades, and after the 11-birdie effort, some Ricky Bobby channeling. A story only Branson could manage. Let’s get the Phil-being-Phil post-round plug:

This humility and respect for the field killed the Ricky Bobby vibe quickly. From an ubylined AP story:

"We have a lot of golf left," said Mickelson, who hit all but one green in regulation. "A lot of players went really low. The quality of golf out here is really impressive."

Mickelson, who turned 50 in June, was optimistic that his game was rounding into shape for the U.S. Open, the only major championship he hasn't won. But that missed cut on the PGA Tour left him with the possibility of not playing the next two weeks heading into the Safeway Open, which would be his final tune-up for Winged Foot.

Champions Tour: Mickelson Gets To Show Off His Cart Driving Skills For Captain Stricker

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While Branson isn’t what it used to be—at least until post-COVID shows get people paying to watch performing holograms of Roy Clark, Glen Campbell and Tony Orlando—the next big thing is Phil Mickelson turning up at Ozarks National to begin a new Champions Tour career.

For this special Monday-Wednesday of old man golf, we have a Coore-Crenshaw course making its national TV debut.

Then there is Phil’s first grouping with Retief Goosen and 2020/21 Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker. Since carts seem likely at Ozarks, it’s an ideal opportunity for Lefty to show off his cart-driving skills on tough terrain (hint, hint Captain Strick, just like Whistling Straits!).

And finally, there is the group prior to Mickelson featuring Bernhard Langer, Darren Clarke and old buddy Vijay Singh, who might even bring out a special pair of spikes to welcome Mickelson.

My listings say Golf Channel is bringing us this fine entertainment from 6-8 eastern time Monday.

Here’s a nice preview of the course that should add to the fun:

Davis Love is liking what he’s seeing:

Phil Heads To Branson For His Champions Tour Debut

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What a shame that Branson’s theaters are shut down right now. A little time in Missouri’s creative hotbed could motivate Phil Mickelson to stave off that next career option, the PGA Tour Champions.

As COVID-19 has halted Branson's Famous Baldknobbers, some shows by people you did not know still inhabited Earth, and even a few family-friendly Andy Williams tributes, Mickelson would not have time any way. He’s only got 48 hours to prepare for battles against the likes of Blake, Perry and Parel in the “Charles Schwab Series” at Ozark National.

From Ryan Lavner’s GolfChannel.com report at the Northern Trust, where Mickelson was eliminated from the playoffs:

“I feel like coming into this event I’ve been playing really well at home. I was excited to play. And I feel like I’ve been playing decent,” said Mickelson, who was set to miss The Northern Trust cut at even-par 142. “So I want to play. I really want to play golf. So that’ll give me a chance to play three competitive rounds.”

Monty On Reacquainting Himself With Pilates, Flexibility And Dropping 42 Pounds

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Here’s a lede from the Akron Beacon-Journal’s Marla Ridenour I wouldn’t have seen coming a few years ago:

Reacquainting himself with Pilates and focused on losing weight during the coronavirus lockdown, Colin Montgomerie admitted he gave up his favorite foods.

Anyhow, if you haven’t seen of the Senior Players, Monty is one off the 36 hole lead and preaching about his impressive transformation. Bryson’s diet, it is not. The goals are also different:

Montgomerie said he chose Pilates because he believes it will extend his career.

“Flexibility is going to stop us,” he said. “It’s what stopped Nick Faldo, it’s what stopped Seve [Ballesteros] in his later years. It stopped Ian Woosnam, really. It stopped Sandy [Lyle] many times. There’s only one of that top five that’s kept going, and it’s Bernhard [Langer]. And I don’t know what all he does.

“But flexibility will stop us playing the game. I’m very lucky, I’m very flexible, but I’ve got to keep it.”

Hoag Classic Win: Ernie Els Injects Champions Tour With Much Needed Jolt

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Sunday at Newport Beach Country Club played out like an old-style PGA Tour Champions event, with Hall of Famers battling successful ex PGA Tour players and a few journeyman, including a Monday qualifier. And just in time for a Tour that has not gotten support from the legends as much in recent years, Ernie Els appeared rejuvenated by his first pro win in over six years (2013 BMW International).

Andrew Turner with the LA Times story on Els’ Hoag Classic win coming just weeks after a playoff loss in the season opener.

“I didn’t have that free-flowing feeling,” said Els, who shot four-under 67 in the final round. “I had to work hard for it, and that’s a good thing to do, to work hard for something. You don’t want something falling in your lap. I’m glad the first one’s over with, and we can move on now and it gets more comfortable after this.

“After being in a playoff in Hawaii, coming close to winning there, I didn’t want to mess this one up. I had a great opportunity, and I wanted to try and take that.”

Along with Els, having Couples still playing well and maybe a more Davis Love participation, it could be the boost PGA Tour Champions needs.

Els polished off the win with a classy bunker shot at 18:

Couples On Premier League: "You want to win one of these things or you want to win the L.A. Open?"

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Greg Hardwig of the Naples News talked to Champions playing this week’s Chubb Classic and asked Fred Couples, Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer and Jack Nicklaus about the proposed Premier Golf League.

Two-time Genesis Invitational winner—yeah I went there—Fred Couples thinks the PGA Tour essentially has a prestige component that a new tour just does not have. Except that the prestige event he mentions does not exist as he refers to it…

"I saw Jay Monahan's quote. That's how long I follow it," Couples said Thursday, where the two-time Chubb Classic champion was practicing for this week at The Classics at Lely Resort.

"You play there, you don't play on the Tour," he summarized Monahan. "Your choice. You want to win one of these things or you want to win the L.A. Open?

Bernhard Langer said he talked to the World Golf Group or representatives of the tour about the concept and raised the very persistent question: how do players come and go, how does young talent emerge and what happens when great players become a little less great?

"I was talking to them," Langer said Tuesday. "Again, it's in competition with the existing tour. Those guys, so if you take top 50 in the world or whatever, 10 might fall out because they want to have the young talent come up. So where do those 10 go? You're not exempt anywhere, so where do you go? You're done. The tours didn't like it basically, I think. You're dealing in direct competition unless they're involved."

And the Golden Bear just shot it down as only he can.

"I just don't think it's viable," said Jack Nicklaus, whom Jastrow contacted back in 2002. "I just don't think financially they can make it. I don't think they'll ever get the golf courses. I don't think the tour would ever let it happen. I don't think the guys would leave. There's just so many things that have to happen, I just don't think it's possible."

Besides what happens to players on the bubble, Nicklaus hits on what I think is ultimately the proposed tour’s biggest issue: where will they play?

With today’s players cutting out alcohol, deadlifting more weight than any athletes in the history of sports and generally carrying superhuman status, their 340-yard drives severely limit options. The PGA Tour has several of the clear-cut best courses in major markets, while the others possibly able to host something likely have little interest.

Now, with smaller fields and if the ball didn’t fly so far, you might be able to drum up support for some more remote destinations or classics left behind by the modern game.

"The PGA Tour Champions has long since ceased being a showcase for fading legends and is instead an annuity for journeymen"

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Phil Mickelson hit his share of “bombs” in his 2020 season opener at the American Express, but missed the cut handily despite the speed on display. Overall, his iron play and putting have declined and his obsession with speed is virtual malpractice. (It’s hard to pinpoint his issues with so few stat. All but his opening three 2019-20 rounds have been at ShotLink-free or light venues).

But the bombs keep him believing he is relevant on the PGA Tour—or Saudi Arabia where he’s headed after playing Torrey Pines this week. Mickelson has no top-20’s since last February’s win at Pebble Beach.

Given his self-belief, Champions Tour play starting this June when he turns 50 seems unlikely. One problem not of Mickelson’s doing: the decline of the tour as a place to showcase legends.

Eamon Lynch considers the state of that Tour, once a playground for true greats. But in 2020 the one genuine legend eligible isn’t giving it much thought, reinforcing a huge shift in the Tour’s identity.

But 40 years after it was founded, the PGA Tour Champions has long since ceased being a showcase for fading legends and is instead an annuity for journeymen who couldn’t draw a crowd if they were playing in thongs amid the many vigorous widows at The Villages.

This won’t present as a problem to players currently reaping the benefits of the Tour — and there are surely some who will be happy not to have greater competition at the trough — but Mickelson matters simply because there aren’t any more with his star power waiting in the wings. This is where we see the trickle-down effect of Tiger Woods having impoverished the trophy cases of a generation. Every Tour needs its superstar, and Mickelson is the last undisputed legend the PGA Tour Champions will see this side of Woods getting his AARP card six years hence. And a man with young kids and a broken body who doesn’t need the money probably isn’t a great bet to play either.

GWAA: Writers Name Brooks Koepka, Jin Young Ko, Scott McCarron 2019 Players Of The Year

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On the wings of his T2-1-2-T4 finish in the 2019 majors, Brooks Koepka was named the Golf Writers Association of America player of the year. Also on the ballot with Koepka were Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, who made strong cases for the award. But Koepka’s consistency in the majors ultimately got him the nod, it would seem.

McIlroy was named player of the year by his PGA Tour peers.

The full release:

KOEPKA, KO, MCCARRON VOTED 2019 GWAA PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

HOUSTON (January 7, 2020) – World No. 1 Brooks Koepka’s impressive record in last year’s majors propelled him to his second consecutive Golf Writers Association of America’s Player of the Year Award, while Jin Young Ko and Scott McCarron won their respective 2019 Player of the Year honors.

Koepka is the first player to win back-to-back since Tiger Woods won back to back in 2006-2007 (he also won in 2005).  Koepka got 44 percent of the vote to world No. 2’s Rory McIlroy’s 36 percent while Woods, who has won the Player of the Year honor 10 times, was third.

Koepka, who was sidelined with a knee injury in the fall, crushed the majors in 2019. In addition to winning his second consecutive PGA Championship, he finished in the top four at the other three majors. He was tied for second at the Masters, second alone at the U.S. Open and T-4 at The Open. In addition to the PGA, he won the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational and T-2 at the Classic, T-3 at the TOUR Championship and fourth at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

"I am extremely humbled to receive this award for a second year in a row,” said Koepka. “The GWAA does so much for the game we all love, so to be their Player of the Year again is a real honor.’’

Ko, in just her second season on the LPGA Tour, ran away with the Female POY race with Nelly Korda finishing a distant second. 

The South Korean star won four times, including two majors and swept every major LPGA award. She won the ANA Inspiration and Evian Championship and posted 12 top-10 finishes and ended the year winning the Rolex Player of the Year, the money title and Vare Trophy. Her 69.052 average was the second-lowest mark in LPGA history to Annika Sorenstam’s record of 68.697 in 2002.

She made headlines, too, for playing 114 holes without a bogey, besting Woods’ record by four holes.

"It is a great honor to win this prestigious award,” said Ko. “To be recognized by golf writers, who cover our sport of golf all year long, makes it even more special. I'm really proud and excited to be named alongside all the other recipients of this award in the past."

 McCarron won three tournaments and the Schwab Cup and had 14 top-10 finishes in 26 events to edge twin-tour wizard Steve Stricker. The 54-year-old McCarron won The Mitsubishi Electric, Insperity Invitational and Mastercard Japan.

 "To be selected Senior Player of the year by the Golf Writers Association of America is truly a great honor," said McCarron.

Koepka, Ko and McCarron will receive their awards at the 48th ISPS HANDA GWAA Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday April 8 in Augusta, Georgia.