As Woods prepares to host the Genesis Invitational, his response to Premier League Golf’s plans faces intense scrutinyThis week’s dreamy narrative is perfectly understandable. Should Tiger Woods, back in his native southern California, secure PGA Tour win No 83 the golf world may run out of Kleenex. Woods has a strangely patchy record at what is now the Genesis Invitational but that doesn’t matter for now; this was the first PGA Tour event he played in, as a 16-year-old in 1992. Earlier, he would visit Riviera Country Club to watch professionals he was merely hoping to emulate.This week provides a wonderful paradox where Woods is concerned. Media duties included tales of a bygone age. There was one encounter between Tiger...
Revamped biennial event offering upwards of $10m in prize money would make a significant impact on female players looking to close the pay gapFemale golfers could be the biggest beneficiaries from an ambitious scheme to revolutionise the sport’s World Cup, with plans afoot to boost prize money and introduce mixed gender teams. Detailed talks about the World Cup, a biennial event which does not resonate deeply within the sport, have been ongoing for a number of months. The plan would see the competition’s purse boosted from $7m to upwards of $10m, with women golfers entering the fold seen as commercially beneficial.A bigger prize fund would, of course, be welcomed by male participants, but it would make a more significant impact...
Premier Golf League wants to draw 48 top players away from existing tours with $25m per year inducement but PGA will line up its artillery in responseWe should know better than to expect proper analysis of a hideous cash grab by some of the world’s most high-profile golfers – Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, et al – as the European Tour shuffles into Saudi Arabia this week.We should also be clear that every available strand of evidence suggests these sportsmen could barely care less what others think of the acceptance of appearance fees from a regime where human rights violations render “abhorrent” an understatement. Related: Tiger Woods defends Phil Mickelson’s decision to play in Saudi Arabia Related: Saudi Arabia,...
While the more deserving await the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award verdict on Sunday night, here is our list of sporting anti-heroes from 2019The Military World Games may have received little publicity in Britain, which is not one of the 140 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe who participate but it was one of the year’s greatest festivals of sport, attracting nearly 10,000 participants to the Chinese city of Wuhan in October. Related: Ben Stokes on pole to take BBC sports personality of the year award Continue reading...
Five years after admitting female members a decision has been made to let them get changed on the premises a the Old CourseNever let it be said that the pace of change at the Royal & Ancient is anything but glacial. As the institution hurtles towards its 150th birthday, as falls in 2021, relative revolution is in the pipeline. Related: Muirfield golf club invites women to join for first time in 275-year history Related: Tiger Woods targets Tokyo Olympics next year as he heads for Japan Related: Lee Ann Walker, unaware of rule, adds 58 penalty strokes at Senior LPGA event Continue reading...