Saturday News Dump: PGA Of America Locks In Baltusrol For '23 KPMG LPGA, '29 PGA

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I'm fairly certainly a Saturday in the summertime is the only opportunity more likely to get something less notice than a Friday evening in summertime. 

As Kevin Casey notes for Golfweek, this is the second joint KPMG LPGA and PGA Championship site announcement and great news for the women, who will return to a former U.S. Women's Open site and scene of many fine championships.

For Immediate Release:

PGA OF AMERICA TO HOST KPMG WOMEN’S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AND

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AT BALTUSROL GOLF CLUB

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (June 30, 2018) – The PGA of America announced today that Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey will host two of its pillar championships: the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2023 and the PGA Championship in 2029.

Founded in 1895, Baltusrol has played a prominent role on the national golf stage for nearly 125 years. Both Championships will be staged on Baltusrol’s famed Lower Course, which is an A.W. Tillinghast design. Since opening in 1922, the Lower Course has hosted 10 major golf events, including seven professional major championships.

The 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be the second women’s major championship played on the Lower Course. In a duel of World Golf Hall-of-Famers, Mickey Wright topped Betsy Rawls by six shots to win the 1961 U.S. Women’s Open.  

This will be Baltusrol’s third PGA Championship: Phil Mickelson and Jimmy Walker notched memorable one-shot victories on the Lower Course in 2005 and 2016, respectively.  

“The PGA of America is delighted to continue our wonderful relationship with Baltusrol well into the future,” said PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua. “We’re excited to watch the best men and women in the game measure themselves against one of the most historic and challenging golf courses in the world, Baltusrol’s Lower Course.”

The KPMG Women’s Championship is a collaboration of the PGA of America, LPGA and KPMG, and focuses on the development, advancement and empowerment of women.

“KPMG’s commitment to elevating women on and off the golf course is exemplified by the selection of Baltusrol Golf Club as the host of the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship,” said Lynne Doughtie, KPMG U.S. Chairman and CEO. “To help more women in business advance to the C-suite, the KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit will be held at Baltusrol and bring together top leaders across multiple industries with women nominated by their CEOs to attend.”

“The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship has quickly become synonymous with greatness, and what better venue to solidify that than Baltusrol,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “Even casual fans equate Baltusrol with ‘major’ moments in golf, and we’re thrilled that the best female golfers in the world will get to test their games at such an iconic venue in 2023.”

In 2014, Baltusrol Golf Club was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service, one of only four golf properties to earn this distinction.

“Since 1901 the best players in the world have competed against each other on our golf courses," said Rick Shea, Baltusrol President. "We look forward to working with the PGA of America to showcase the best women and men in these two Major Championships.”

Is Rocco Mediate Angling For A USGA Executive Committee Seat?

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Because I’m not sure how else to make sense of his rant about player suggestions that Shinnecock Hills was out of control when it got…out of control. And included an on-air USGA apology regarding several hole locations, prompted by Paul Azinger's question and a discussion on national television Rocco evidently missed.

Kevin Casey with Rocco’s post-round U.S. Senior Open rant.

Apparently Mediate wanted to throw up and still managed a 2-under par opening round at The Broadmoor that has him in second place. 

Let me ask you this question, too. Remember the one about the golf course changed from the morning – have you ever played one that didn’t? Of course it’s going to change. That’s what it’s supposed to do.

Sometimes it can get softer in the afternoon. Sometimes it gets firmer.

What I heard that week made me want to throw up, basically. Just shut up, play. 

Instagram Wrap: Land Of Lincoln Weather, Range Picker Up In Flames, St. George's CC From Above, Augusta National Is Final Jeopardy

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The Web.com Tour's Lincoln Land Championship play was suspended during Thursday's first round due to...

The range picker at Greenville Country Club has seen better days...

Jon Cavalier has been posting some Long Island beauties shot recently in peak season form, including the incredible Devereux Emmet-designed St. George’s:

And what an oddly benign Final Jeopardy question posed this week:

The Time Peter Thomson's Son Took The Claret Jug To School For Show And Tell...

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The Sydney Morning-Herald's Martin Blake reports on the well-attended memorial for Peter Thomson and the surprise presence of the Claret Jug, brought to Australia by the R&A's Martin Slumbers for the service.

Maybe the best anecdote belonged to Thomson's son Andrew, who brought the Claret Jug to school soon after one of his father's five Open wins. He came home crying from show-and-tell.

"What’s wrong?" Thomson said.

"They rubbished me at school," his son replied. "One boy said his father’s got a dozen of those!"

The moment, Andrew said, tickled his father, who kept touch with his roots as a public course player at Royal Park. "Because as much as professional golf, he loved club golf. He said club golf was the plasma of the game, people trying their luck and coming home with a trophy, just like him."

State Of The Game 79: Ramifications Of The 2018 U.S. Open, Other Stuff Too

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Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and yours truly reconvened to consider the residual issues from this year's U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills as well as a little backstopping talk, some Ryder Cup and more on the late Peter Thomson.

As always, check your preferred podcast subscription outlet or the iTunes store.

Maybe No One Needs To Scout The Ryder Cup Venue Because There Isn't That Much To Study?

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With Le Golf National hosting and only Justin Thomas playing the French Open to scout out the course, this naturally opened the doors to pre-Ryder Cup chit-chat. 

There's also the calendar, which suggests we only have a little over eight weeks to figure out who will be teeing it up. 

I'm most struck, however, by the shock and sadness that only Thomas made the voyage to search for deep, hidden mystery on the grounds. As if this were the French's best Old Course impersonator. 

Thomas, as respectfully as possible, explained how Ryder Cup week scouting will be enough for most players. From Alistair Tait's Golfweek item on Thomas playing this week:

“It’s a great test of golf,” Thomas said. “It’s all right in front of you. It’s not like there’s any hidden tricks or anything like that.”

And as Captain Thomas Bjorn noted in this item by Tait, he doesn't plan to get carried away with trying to create some sort of European advantage. 

“It’s not particularly much narrower than it’s ever been,” Bjorn said. “It’s pretty much where it’s always been. Once you have great golf courses like this one, you’ve got to be careful you don’t overthink it and overdo it too much in the sense of that’s the golf course that’s there, that’s the course they’ve got to go out and play.

I've never seen the course but over the years it has never exuded a sense of rewarding great local knowledge or experience. 

Now if the Europeans really wanted a home course advantage, the Old Course sure would make for a fun Ryder Cup venue!

The French Really Know How To Get Us Excited For The Ryder Cup!

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Michael Lorenzo-Vera

Michael Lorenzo-Vera

As the European Tour visits this Le Golf National this week and site of the Ryder Cup this fall, the New York Times' John Clarke interviews 33-year-old Michael Lorenzo-Vera about the state of French golf.

His honesty is refreshing, but it also suggests a hoped-for boost to French golf has not yet materialized as hoped.

If you say to people in France that you play golf, they will say: “No, but really. What’s your real job?” Golf is not a good thing here. It’s for rich people and spoiled kids. That’s the image we have. Actually, we are trying to work on that. People like Alex Lévy are trying to make the game look more fun. But it’s a lot of work. I am just trying to be really nice to everyone.

Nice is good, nice is good.

What do the French think about hosting the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National?

People don’t care about the Ryder Cup. Honestly, nobody knows there’s going to be a Ryder Cup in France. Only the golfers know. That’s it. There won’t be many French there. There will be so many more from England or Spain. Golf is a very private thing for people in France. Private courses for only rich families or rich people — that’s it.


Well, but the food will be amazing!

Video: Living Brand On Fox & Friends To Talk World Economy, ESPN's Body Issue

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It's always enlightening to get Greg Norman's finger-on-the-pulse take, especially when he's out front promoting his nude photo spread for ESPN's Body Issue. Since I know you're all anxiously awaiting the issue's arrival on your doorsteps, maybe this three minutes will make the wait less agonizing (embed code not working.)

The President of the United States was also quite pleased with the appearance and the Living Brand's physical appearance:

Smoltz Tees Off In U.S. Senior Open: "It's probably the No. 1 thing that I've ever accomplished,”

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The former Cy Young Award-winning and Hall of Fame Atlanta Braves ace tees off in the U.S. Senior Open at 7:21 am MT with Jim McGovern and Bob Ford.

Now Fox's lead baseball analyst with Joe Buck, Smoltz will be playing in a USGA.org exclusive window and in Fox Sports 1's Friday broadcast time.

Either way, he's still more proud 

“It's probably the No. 1 thing that I've ever accomplished,” said Smoltz on Tuesday. “I'm proud of all my accomplishments from a team aspect, but as an individual, I haven't had anything anywhere close to this.”

He played his Wednesday practice round with Fred Couples:

Whoa: David Feherty Profiled By John Feinstein

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This is the first story of any depth profiling Golf Channel's David Feherty since the death of his son, Shey. 

John Feinstein writing for Golf World:

On July 4, Anita had gotten a text from Shey saying he needed to go back to rehab. He had never gotten there.

For a year, Feherty had been told by professionals that he needed to stay away from Shey, that he was enabling his drug habit by giving him money. He and Anita had agreed the night before that they would call him the next day—Saturday—to wish him a happy birthday.

"The truth is, I'd broken down on several occasions and given him money again," Feherty says. "He was so sweet, and I couldn't say no to him. Plus, like all of us addicts, he was a very good liar. He convinced me the money wasn't for drugs. I'm sure I knew deep down he was lying, but I wanted to believe he was really on the way to coming out on the other side.

"Not talking to him regularly, not seeing him, was painful. But this ..."

He stops, unable to go on.

295's Within Reach! Huge Spike In Driving Distance Enters The Monster-Drive Season

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As we head into the warm weather months and silly-long drives, the 2018 spike has a chance to spill well over the 295-yard driving distance average mark on the PGA Tour. 

Of course, this is noteworthy since the governing bodies said way back in the early years of the George W. Bush administration that they were drawing the line and have maintained little has changed. And while we know that the addition of extra fiber in diets, more widespread implementation of mindfulness and of course, drinking cold brew coffee, have driven this year's spike, the Statement of Principles said the reasoning would not matter in a decision to take action.

PGA Tour driving distance average through the Travelers:

2018: 294.7

2017: 289.3

2016: 288.2

2015: 288.1

2014: 287.8

2013: 286.4

2012 287.1

2011: 288.0

Instagram: R.I.P. Phil Rodgers, Tiger Benches His Scotty, Freddie & Davis At The Broadmoor, Inverness From Above

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Jack Nicklaus, who competed against, with and even learned from Phil Rodgers, says farewell to the short game wizard.

Rodgers is remembered with this sensational obituary by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Tod Leonard.

Today we lost one of golf’s greats, one of its most colorful individuals, and one of my dearest friends in Phil Rodgers. Phil had been battling leukemia for years, but thanks to the efforts of a close mutual friend in Bryan Naugle, my wife Barbara and I had a chance to reunite with Phil in May at the @insperityinvitational. He was struggling greatly, but it meant the world to me to see him, even if it was briefly. I have known Phil Rodgers for almost 65 years. We started out as young rivals. I think we first competed in Columbus, Georgia, in 1955 at the U.S. National Jaycees. I was 15 and Phil was 17. We tied for medalist honors and he won via a tiebreaker. But from that week on, we played a lot of golf together. We competed against each other and as partners. In fact, my first @pgatour tournament as a pro—the Los Angeles Open—Phil and I were both rookies. Phil won going away (9 shots) and I finished 50th and won $33.33. Phil was a terrific junior and tremendous college player, winning the 1958 NCAA title at Houston. As a pro, Phil won six times—all by the time he was 28. He was a terrific ball-striker, had a great short game, and became a gifted teacher. Phil was instrumental in my resurgence in 1980, and I give a lot of credit to him for my success that year. At the end of 1979, my game—particularly my short game—was awful. I called Phil and we worked together in Los Angeles at the start of 1980. He taught me his famous “Figure 8” method and I went on to win two majors that year, thanks to Phil. We golfed, fished and socialized together. Phil was one of my dearest friends in the game and out, and I will miss him. I will miss him dearly, just as the game will miss this very special man. Barbara and I send our love and prayers to his wife Karen and their family. Our hearts hurt for them, and his many friends in and outside of the golf world. 🙏🏼

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Tiger Woods benched his Scotty Cameron Newport 2 in favor of a TaylorMade TP Collection Ardmore 3 for Tuesday's practice round at TPC Potomac.  More details here from Dan Kilbridge.

Fred Couples and Davis Love are aging gracefully as they walk around The Broadmoor for this week's U.S. Senior Open.

The Fried Egg offers an aerial view of Inverness, post tree-removal, bunker remodeling and overall effort to put as much Ross back into an American classic.

Quite the championship test. Inverness has got its Ross soul back.

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Phil Admits: It Really Wasn't About Saving Strokes

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In Chicago to help KPMG kick off the Women's PGA Championship, Randall Mell reports that Phil Mickelson had a fun time promoting junior golf and took time to answer a few questions from Golf Central's Todd Lewis.

Regarding this 13th hole meltdown at Shinnecock Hills:

“I certainly wasn’t thinking of that at the time, but I have pretty thick skin,” Mickelson said. “I will probably hear about this for some time.

“Fortunately, I can take it and hopefully at some point we will be able to laugh about it.”

Mickelson intimated his intentionally hitting a moving ball wasn’t really about saving strokes.

“At the time, I didn’t really care about the stroke difference,” he said.

The full interview:

Couples: "I think my time's running out."

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Golf World's John Strege talks at length with Fred Couples, who considers his made cut and T38 at the Masters a victory given the poor state of his back.

Couples gives it a go at this week's U.S. Senior Open and at the Senior Open at St. Andrews but beyond that he's not sure he'll play much more competitive golf.

The trials of bending are evident in the makeup of his golf clubs. The longest iron in his bag is a 5-iron, for now. “I no longer have a 4-iron,” he said. “I have five woods in my bag [three of them hybrids] and the next one to go out will probably be my 5-iron, because [hybrids] are just a little longer and they’re easier to hit and I don’t have to bend down.”

To test his back, “to see if I could play,” in advance of the senior event last week, Couples played in the member-guest at his home club, Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Calif. “I played a practice round and three days, and I didn’t move very well Sunday or Monday.

“To be honest with you, the last couple years my back has been not so good."