The one major that has eluded Phil Mickelson has beaten him for what looks a final time, but he deserves his status as one of the greatestPhil Mickelson may have come to terms with the fact he will never win a US Open long ago. The final confirmation delivered to the rest of us was just more striking than we were entitled to expect.Mickelson cut a shell-shocked figure when heading towards the Winged Foot scoring tent on Thursday, where the 79 at the foot of the card marked the left-hander’s highest 18-hole tally in his national open. Related: US Open golf 2020: second round – as it happened Related: Reed and DeChambeau set US Open pace while big names depart...
Millions of dollars are on offer each week but how sustainable are current funds with the pandemic affecting finances?The PGA Tour can claim to have enjoyed the last laugh. Cynicism about the viability of a new normal in golf’s big time was plentiful even after the Charles Schwab Challenge got under way in mid-June. A plan to welcome spectators back within a month swiftly fell by the wayside and there were some coronavirus-related player decisions to raise eyebrows but, generally, the PGA Tour’s travelling circus has reached this weekend’s season-ending juncture unscathed. There is, in fact, cause to praise golf’s professional return on both sides of the Atlantic as a sporting success story. Related: Sophia Popov snub is as extraordinary...
With Covid-19 cases surging in Georgia, 16 weeks does not feel long enough for things to change sufficientlyAugusta National is one venue where silence can never be mistaken for inaction. As the United States remains in the grip of Covid-19 – and its sporting calendar impacted accordingly – it would be an error to suppose those who preside over the Masters blithely believe their event is unaffected.In his last bulletin, in early April, Augusta National’s chairman, Fred Ridley, sought to “emphasise that our future plans are incumbent upon favourable counsel and direction from health officials”. This will be the most intense of watching briefs. Related: PGA Tour happy playing a high-risk game to reboot sport in the US | Ewan...
Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka are among those to distance themselves from the new tour, but too much time and money has been invested for PGL to turn back nowCoronavirus and its associated troubles is not the only matter to have caused Jay Monahan recent strain. As golf, like all other sports, now seeks to navigate a path towards resumption there will inevitably be a sense that additional challenges may disappear. They may actually multiply. Monahan, in his role as the PGA Tour’s commissioner, encountered 2020 turmoil even before the pandemic afforded the world a new normal.The Premier Golf League dominated discussion in the early part of this year, even though sceptics insist this is a scheme based in dreamland....
Game is in unique position to lay down a marker in a sporting world which will be reshaped after fighting Covid-19The release of a revised majors schedule arrived like a beacon of light. One isn’t scraping barrels of insensitivity to point out that thoughts of the return of sport, not just exclusively at its elite level, get many people smiling during these grim and uncertain times. Disappointment that there will be no Open Championship in 2020 was offset by the thought of a US PGA Championship in August, a September US Open, the Ryder Cup going ahead as scheduled and an utterly novel November Masters. Related: Golf's hiatus offers reminder of what the Open was before money talked | Ewan...