Phil Mickelson Rips PGA over Decision to Limit Length of Drivers to 46 Inches
Aug 27, 2021
OWINGS MILLS, MARYLAND - AUGUST 26: Phil Mickelson of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club on August 26, 2021 in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Phil Mickelson is unhappy with the United States Golf Association over its proposed rule change that would limit the size of a driver to 46 inches.
Lefty wrote on Twitter that the proposal is "PATHETIC" and believes it could lead to an increase in injuries, as well as a decrease in player performance:
Word is USGA is soon rolling back driver length to 46inches.This is PATHETIC.1st it promotes a shorter more violent swing (injury prone,) doesn’t allow for length of arc to create speed,and during our 1st golf boom in 40 years,our amateur gov body keeps trying to make it less fun
The USGA and R&A, golf's two governing bodies, issued a joint release in February that included three proposed changes to playing equipment and testing methods for golf balls and clubs.
In the proposal, the USGA and R&A brought forth a change to "limit the maximum length of clubs, other than putters, to 46 inches."
Players are currently permitted to use clubs in tournaments up to 48 inches in length.
Per ESPN's Kevin Van Valkenburg, the USGA said it would not issue any formal response to Mickelson's tweet.
Mickelson hasn't been shy about publicly criticizing the USGA in the past on numerous topics.
"That’s terrible, 274 yards," the 51-year-old told reporters about the third hole at the 2013 U.S. Open from Merion Golf Club. "We can't even reach it."
Mickelson has primarily used a 47-inch driver, but he did experiment with a 47.5-inch club at The Masters in November because of the length of the course at Augusta.
Patrick Reed Released from Hospital, 'Doing Well' in Bilateral Pneumonia Recovery
Aug 26, 2021
MEMPHIS, TN - AUGUST 08: Patrick Reed at the ninth green does a ball wave during the final round of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind on August 8, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Patrick Reed is home and recovering after a bout with bilateral pneumonia landed him in the hospital.
“I’m doing well,” Reed told Golfweek's Steve DiMeglio. “I’m at home recovering and looking forward to getting back out there real soon.”
It's still unclear when the golfer will return to competition and he did not provide a timeline. Reed withdrew from both the Wyndham Championship and Northern Trust as he spent time in a Houston hospital.
The 2018 Masters champion is still in contention for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and remains 10th in the points race ahead of the BMW Championship conclusion. While the top-six points leaders are automatically selected for the Ryder Cup, team captain Steve Stricker will have six more picks at his disposal following this weekend's tournament.
That doesn't seem to be weighing on Reed much at all these days. He's focused on getting his strength back.
“It’s great to be back home with the family, kids and Justine,” Reed said. “It makes the recovery process so much better. I’ve been focusing on my health and my family and Justine. You don’t realize how special you have it until something like this happens and I’m so happy just to be back recovering with them. I wish everyone a safe and healthy week and can’t wait to be back at it.”
Reed last competed at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational on August 8, tying for 31st before his illness forced a hiatus. The 31-year-old has played in 22 events this season, winning the Farmers Insurance Open in January as part of six Top 10 finishes and 17 made cuts.
He's 26th in the FedEx Cup standings and will need to remain inside the top 30 to advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta next week.
Even then, it's unclear if he'll be healthy enough to play.
FedEx Cup Standings 2021: Points Leaderboard Before BMW Championship
Aug 26, 2021
Tony Finau tees off on the 13th hole during the ProAm at the BMW Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021, at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. The BMW Championship tournament begins Thursday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The BMW Championship has had plenty of big-name winners in its short history.
Jon Rahm is the reigning champion of the second event on the FedEx Cup schedule. Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day are among the winners since the event began in 2007.
A victory at Caves Valley Golf Club puts any player in the best possible situation going into the Tour Championship. That amplifies the motivation to win and should bring out the best in the top golfers in the world.
Each of the first two events on the FedEx Cup playoffs schedule awards 2,000 points to the winner, so a 20-spot jump in the standings is possible, as we saw with Tony Finau after his triumph at the Northern Trust.
The field of 69 golfers playing in Owings Mills, Maryland have plenty of motivation to get to the top. The Tour Championship begins with a staggered scoring format that hands an advantage to the top-ranked players.
Finau, Rahm and Cameron Smith sit on top of the standings after their strong performances at the Northern Trust, but the order at the top could change with one terrific weekend from someone further down the chart.
All eyes will also be on the cut line. The top 30 players in the standings qualify for the Tour Championship. Patrick Reed is the only name in the top 70 not participating at the BMW Championship. He came down with an illness that put him in the hospital last week.
Finau's win at Liberty National Golf Club put him into the Tour Championship. He is more than 2,000 points ahead of the some of the players on the bubble.
The 31-year-old can use the BMW Championship as a chance to hone his skills ahead of the trip to East Lake Golf Club next week.
Rahm and Smith sit in comfortable positions as well since they have a 400-point gap over Patrick Cantlay in fourth place.
The top places in the FedEx Cup standings come with great rewards. The No. 1 player heading into the Tour Championship starts that event at 10 under. The No. 2 player begins at eight under and the third-ranked golfer starts at seven under in the staggered-start format.
Each of the 69 golfers in BMW Championship field will have four rounds to improve their respective positions to clinch spots in next week's season finale.
A BMW Championship victory is more valuable to the likes of Harry Higgs, Phil Mickelson and Mackenzie Hughes. The final 15 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings have to make up anywhere from 350 to 400 points just to get close to the Tour Championship cutoff.
At least one spot in the top 30 should be up for grabs with Reed out of the tournament. The 31-year-old is currently 26th and holds a 181-point lead over 31st-place Kevin Kisner.
At the Northern Trust, 10 players made a jump of 10 or more places in the FedEx Cup standings. Erik van Rooyen, Alex Noren and Tom Hoge all jumped into the top 50 by finishing on the first page of the leaderboard.
A significant points jump could be more difficult to achieve this week because of the trimmed field. There is not a situation in play for some of the golfers to leap over others that missed the cut.
The other dynamic in play is the unfamiliarity with Caves Valley. The Maryland course has not been used much on the PGA Tour circuit, so it may take a round for players to adjust to it.
The 69-player field has more margin for error on Thursday with no cut line. Anyone who cards a bad first-round score still has a chance to surge up the leaderboard on Saturday and Sunday.
Northern Trust 2021: Tony Finau Defeats Cameron Smith in Playoff for 2nd PGA Tour Win
Aug 23, 2021
Tony Finau tees off on the third hole in the final round at The Northern Trust golf tournament at Liberty National Golf Course Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A dramatic finish to the 2021 Northern Trust saw Tony Finau defeat Cameron Smith in a playoff to win the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Finau and Smith finished with matching scores of 20-under par at the end of 72 holes. Finau won on the first playoff hole after Smith's tee shot landed out of bounds. The 31-year-old made par to secure his second career PGA Tour win and first since 2016.
Jon Rahm fell off the pace late after leading or co-leading at the end of each of the first three rounds. His bogey on No. 15 was just his third of the entire tournament. He hit another one on 18 that dropped him down to third place.
Finau's six-under 65 on Mondaywas the lowest score of the final round. Smith wasn't really a factor until the back nine when he made four birdies to move into a tie for the lead.
Smith's chances of winning seemed to really take a hit on the par-four fifth hole. He took a double-bogey six that moved him from one shot ahead of Rahm to one shot behind.
The road less traveled.
Cameron Smith's adventures on the 5th via TOURCast.
Meanwhile, Rahm looked to be in control coming off the sixth hole. He made his first birdie of the day on the par five, despite having to take a drop after his tee shot landed in a puddle in the fairway.
Rahm would make his second birdie of the round on the par-five eighth hole.
While Rahm remained at 18-under par for his next three holes, Finau made a furious charge up the leaderboard. He had a three-hole run from 12-14 in which he went four under par, highlighted by an eagle on the par-five 13th hole.
That run helped Finau move one shot ahead of Rahm for the top spot, but that lead wouldn't last long.
Rahm made back-to-back birdies on No. 12 and 13 that dropped his overall score to 20-under par. Finau got back on equal footing with Rahm thanks to another birdie on the 16th hole.
The first big mistake of the day for Rahm turned out to be a costly one. His tee shot on No. 15 landed in the bunker on the left side of the fairway. He got on the green in three with an opportunity to save par, but his putt from five feet away just missed the hole, forcing him to settle for bogey.
Smith made a late push to get even with Finau with back-to-back birdies on No. 16 and 17 that moved him into a tie for the lead going into the final hole.
Finau was in trouble on the 18th hole when his second shot landed in a bunker on the right side of the green. He saved it with a fantastic chip shot out of the dirt that stopped six feet from the hole.
The Northern Trust marked a dramatic reversal of fortune for Finau. He has been struggling of late with seven straight finishes outside of the top 10, including back-to-back missed cuts at the U.S. Open and Travelers Championship in June.
Finau has already ensured a spot at the BMW Championship. The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will continue playing.
If Finau can carry his positive momentum into next week's tournament, he could end up in prime position for the Tour Championship.
FedEx Cup Standings 2021: Points, Playoff Standings After Northern Trust
Aug 23, 2021
JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY - AUGUST 23: Tony Finau of the United States reacts after making his putt on the 18th green during the final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs, at Liberty National Golf Club on August 23, 2021 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Tony Finau is on top of the FedEx Cup standings after winning a playoff over Cameron Smith at the Northern Trust on Monday.
Finau's first-place finish earned him 2,000 points in the three-event postseason circuit. He is in the best position possible to qualify for the Tour Championship in two weeks.
Smith missed a chance to win the tournament outright on the 18th hole, as his birdie putt came up just short. The Australian gave himself no chance to win the playoff when his tee shot on the first playoff hole went out of bounds.
Although Smith will leave the Northern Trust with a sense of disappointment, he is in a good spot to contend for the FedEx Cup title.
Finau, Smith and Jon Rahm lead the postseason standings going into the BMW Championship.
Finau's victory was far from the only meaningful placing at the Northern Trust, as a handful of golfers used high finishes to qualify for the BMW Championship.
The FedEx Cup field was trimmed from 125 to 70. Joel Dahmen, Ian Poulter and Gary Woodland are among the notable players that missed out on the 70-man cut.
Finau bagged 2,000 FedEx Cup points with his victory to create clear separation between himself and the other golfers.
That is a significant boost since the No. 1 player going into the Tour Championship opens that competition with a two-stroke lead. The rest of the Tour Championship field will have a staggered start on the leaderboard based on their spots in the FedEx Cup standings.
Smith and Jon Rahm put themselves in comfortable positions to reach East Lake Golf Club in two weeks.
Most of the drama during the BMW Championship will focus around the players around the bubble to get to 30th place.
The fight to reach the top 70 went down to the final holes of Monday's round. Keith Mitchell used birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to move into 63rd place and knock Matthew Wolff out of the postseason.
Seamus Power felt the exact opposite set of emotions, as he bogeyed his final hole of the round to drop out of the top 70.
Power carded a bogey on the ninth hole to drop out of the top 30 at the Northern Trust. That placing lost Power the required points to remain above the playoff bubble.
Wolff, Power and Matt Fitzpatrick sunk beneath the top 70 because of the terrific rounds from a handful of golfers that produced surges into the field for next week.
Alex Noren produced one of the most drastic rises from 91st to 40th with his fourth-place finish. Noren used a second-round 64 and a final-round 66 to confirm his place at the BMW Championship.
Tom Hoge finished directly beneath Noren. He jumped 63 places to book his spot in the 70-man field. Hoge shot four rounds in the 60s to leap up to 45th.
Erik van Rooyen recovered from some mid-round hiccups to join Noren and Hoge in the small collection of golfers who went from outside the cut to inside the top 70.
Van Rooyen put himself in Monday's final threesome with a third-round 62. He battled back from a quadruple bogey at the 11th hole to finish inside the top 10. The comeback was bolstered by an eagle at the par-five 13th.
All of the top 70 players face a quick turnaround to prepare for Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland. That course is new to the BMW Championship rotation. Three of the last four BMW Championships were held in Illinois.
Rahm enters Maryland as the reigning champion of the middle playoff event. He is the top player in the Official World Golf Ranking as well.
Although Rahm did not win the Northern Trust, he could be viewed as the favorite to win the BMW Championship because of the season he has had, which includes the U.S. Open title.
Patrick Reed Hospitalized with Bilateral Pneumonia, Won't Play in BMW Championship
Aug 23, 2021
MEMPHIS, TN - AUGUST 08: Patrick Reed at the ninth green does a ball wave during the final round of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind on August 8, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Patrick Reed announced he was hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia and will miss the BMW Championship.
"I'm on the road to recovery, once I'm cleared from the doctors—I look forward to returning," he said in a statement Monday.
.@PReedGolf has been in a Houston area hospital since Friday morning after being diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. Reed is improving and hopes to be released soon. He will not play the @BMWchamps this week. Below is a statement from Patrick Reed. More details on @GolfCentral. pic.twitter.com/AXXdH5har2
Justine Reed told the Golf Channel's Todd Lewis her husband's situation "got really bad very quickly" prior to him being admitted to the hospital.
Reed last competed in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, which wrapped up Aug. 8. He withdrew from the Wyndham Championship, and an ankle injury prevented him from entering the Northern Trust.
GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard noted prolonged absence from the PGA Tour could carry stiff consequences. His door to the United States' Ryder Cup squad is closing fast since he won't automatically qualify for the team.
Steve Stricker could still name him as one of his captain's picks.
"That's a bitter pill to swallow for Patrick Reed"
— SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (@SiriusXMPGATOUR) August 20, 2021
Reed's position in the FedExCup standings (22nd) is tenuous as well and leaves him vulnerable to missing the Tour Championship. East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta is the last stop after the BMW Championship, so Reed's PGA Tour season may be over.
The 2018 Masters winner has six top-10 finishes and one win in 22 events this year.
Northern Trust 2021: Cam Smith Shoots Course-Record 60, Tied for Lead with Rahm
Aug 21, 2021
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 07: Cam Smith of Australia acknowledges the crowd on the 16th hole during the third round of the World Golf Championship-FedEx St Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind on August 07, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Cameron Smith rode a history-making performance to the top of the leaderboard with three rounds of the Northern Trust in the books.
Smith shot an 11-under 60 on Saturday at Liberty National Golf Club, setting a course record in the process.
The 28-year-old Australian got off to a blistering start, moving to five under through his first six holes. He closed out the front nine with a birdie on No. 9 and birdied No. 10 after making the turn.
With four more birdies between Nos. 13 and 17, a sub-60 round—a feat only done 12 times before—was on the table as Smith approached the 18th tee. Scottie Scheffler was responsible for one of the 12 in last year's Northern Trust, and Dustin Johnson was one stroke away from matching him in the same round.
Smith got onto the green in two and needed to sink a 12-foot birdie putt to enter into rarefied air. Unfortunately, he had to settle for a par after his putt rolled past the cup.
After finishing his round, Smith didn't focus on the final hole and instead rued his missed birdie putt on the 15th hole.
"It was a really good look," he said. "It was kind of straight up the hill, [and] I hit a good putt. It just kind of wobbled a little bit up the hill. Probably didn’t give it enough speed."
Because he teed off at 11:05 a.m. ET, Smith had to watch the other top contenders from the clubhouse and hope his overall score would hold up.
Rahm led Tony Finau by one shot through 36 holes. He was four under for the round heading into the back nine and looked poised to retain sole possession of first when the day concluded.
The U.S. Open champion then birdied No. 11 before encountering a big setback on No. 13. His second shot landed in the water, short of the green. After taking the one-shot penalty, he hooked his approach badly into the thick stuff. He eventually double-bogeyed the hole, which dropped him into second.
Jon Rahm was bogey-free through 48 holes.
The streak comes to an end with a double at No. 13.
Rahm rebounded with a birdie on the 15th hole before giving the stroke right back with a bogey on No. 16. He still had an opportunity to supplant Smith atop the leaderboard after he got to 16 under with one hole to play.
Rahm's par on the 18th hole could have implications that extend beyond Saturday.
The PGA Tour preemptively postponed the final round of the tournament with Hurricane Henri heading toward the Northeast. As a result, action will resume no earlier than 7:30 a.m. ET on Monday.
The inclement weather that could hit Jersey City, New Jersey, raises obvious questions about whether the Northern Trust will be completed.
Rather than potentially being declared a victor after 54 holes, Rahm might be looking at a playoff with Smith in the event the storm rules out a full final round.
The Northern Trust Final Round Moved to Monday Due to Hurricane Henri
Aug 21, 2021
Jon Rahm, of Spain, putts on the 18th green as the Manhattan skyline looms in the distance in the second round at the Northern Trust golf tournament, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The final round of the 2021 Northern Trust has been moved from Sunday to Monday because of Hurricane Henri's path across the Atlantic coast.
The PGA Tour said in a statement that the fourth round will begin "no earlier" than 7:30 a.m. ET Monday morning in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Per Zack Green of CBS Boston, Henri has been upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane and will likely remain at that level "through Sunday morning."
"As it approaches Long Island and New England Sunday afternoon, its forward speed will slow and it will start to encounter ocean waters that are cooler than what a typical hurricane needs to survive and thrive," Green wrote. "Hence, the official forecast is for some weakening before and as it is making landfall, likely back below hurricane status."
The PGA Tour had been planning for the possibility that weather would force a change in the schedule for this weekend's tournament.
In a statement released during the second round, the PGA Tour said it was evaluating Henri's path and would issue a plan for the final round "by late afternoon Saturday."
According to the National Hurricane Center, Henri has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and "is expected to make landfall on Long Island or in southern New England on Sunday."
Per Jason Hanna and Aya Elamroussi of CNN.com, 42 million people throughout the Northeast are either under a hurricane or tropical storm warning.
The 2021 Northern Trust is being held at Liberty National golf course, and New Jersey is among the places under a tropical storm warning.
Jon Rahm on FedEx Cup Playoff Scoring: 'I Don't Think It's Fair'
Aug 20, 2021
Jon Rahm, of Spain, watches his shot off the 13th tee in the second round at the Northern Trust golf tournament, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Jon Rahm isn't a fan of the FedEx Cup playoff format.
Speaking to reporters after his second round at the Northern Trust on Friday, Rahm said he doesn't think the system rewards golfers for playing well.
"I don't think it's fair," he said. "... I think you have the playoffs itself, and if you win the first two and if you don't play good in the last one ... you can end up with a really bad finish."
Rahm also said he voiced his frustration to a PGA Tour official, who attempted to explain it to him:
... [if] I'm a Patriots fans and the Patriots win everything to get to the Super Bowl and they don't win the Super Bowl, you don't win the Lombardi Trophy, right? My answer was, they still finished second. They have to understand that golf is different.
The FedEx Cup playoffs consist of the Northern Trust, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, the last three PGA Tour events of the season.
The top 125 players at the end of the regular season standings advance to the Northern Trust. The field gets cut down to the top 70 for the BMW Championship and top 30 for the Tour Championship.
The winners of the first two playoff events are awarded 2,000 points, while the Tour Championship uses a strokes-based system with the leader starting at 10-under par, No. 2 player opening at eight-under par, No. 3 player at seven-under par, No. 4 player at six-under par and No. 5 player at five-under par.
Rahm is off to a great start in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He currently leads the Northern Trust with a score of 12-under par through 36 holes. The 26-year-old finished the regular season ranked fifth in the playoff standings, with 2,003 points in 19 tournaments.
He was the only player in the top five who played fewer than 20 tournaments during the regular season.
The PGA Tour adopted the FedEx Cup in 2007 to add a playoff wrinkle to the schedule. The winner of the playoff receives a $15 million payout, with a total bonus pool of $60 million divided between the top 30 players.
Northern Trust 2021: Jon Rahm Cards 2nd-Round 67, Takes 1-Shot Lead into Saturday
Aug 20, 2021
Jon Rahm, of Spain, watches his shot off the 13th tee in the second round at the Northern Trust golf tournament, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Jon Rahm remains in the driver seat through two rounds at the 2021 Northern Trust.
After opening with a 63 on Thursday, Rahm posted a four-under 67 in the second round. His 36-hole score of 12-under par is one shot clear of Tony Finau for the top spot.
Finau moved up two spots on the leaderboard today. His 64 tied six other players for the second-lowest score of round two. Keith Mitchell, who also carded a 64, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas are all tied for third place at 10-under overall.
The best performances of the second round belonged to Schauffele and Jordan Spieth. They both catapulted themselves into contention with matching scores of 62.
Having not played in a tournament since finishing third at the Open Championship five weeks ago, Rahm isn't showing any rust. The Arizona State alum hit 12 of 14 fairways off the tee, with an average drive of 311.3 yards.
It's hard to argue anyone else is playing better golf than Rahm right now. In addition to his success so far at Liberty National, the 26-year-old won the U.S. Open and finished third at the Open Championship in his previous two tournaments.
Rahm was also leading the Memorial Tournament after three rounds by six shots but was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.
So far this week, Rahm has kept up his high level of play. However, Justin Ray of Twenty-First Group did note being in the lead after 36 holes hasn't been a good position for most players this season:
Long way to go at Liberty National: only 17% of PGA Tour events this season have been won by players who held the 36-hole lead or co-lead.
That is the lowest percentage in a PGA Tour season since 1987 (13.6%).
This is good news for the many players within striking distance of Rahm, especially for Finau, who is in second place. He had a chance to end the day tied for the lead, but a bogey on No. 18 moved him down a spot.
Despite the bitter ending on the final hole, Finau can take some comfort in knowing that he matched the best 36-hole start to a tournament in his career.
Meanwhile, Thomas had one of the most unusual rounds of the entire tournament to this point. He looked to be in real trouble through his first nine holes with a three-over 38.
After making four consecutive pars to start his second nine holes of the day, Thomas found his rhythm down the final stretch. The Kentucky native made three straight birdies and an eagle before making par on his final hole.
The big mover of the day was Spieth, who bounced back in a big way with a 62. He began the second round tied for 72nd place after a disappointing one-over 72 on Thursday.
Spieth did open the round with a bogey on No. 1, but that was quickly erased with a birdie on No. 3 and back-to-back eagles on holes five and six.
Spieth has been playing well of late, with five straight top-20 finishes coming into the Northern Trust. He still has more work to do to get to the top of the leaderboard, but this is an excellent step in his quest to get back in the winner's circle for the first time since the Texas Open in April.
While there were several low scores on Friday, things could get more complicated over the weekend due to the potential impact of Tropical Storm Henri in New Jersey.
The PGA Tour announced that the third round will continue as scheduled since there is no indication at this point that the weather will affect playing conditions, but a plan for the final round is expected to be issued "by late afternoon Saturday."
