{"id":1109,"date":"2020-03-26T22:47:41","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T22:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prod-oct-27-golf-com.pantheonsite.io\/?page_id=1109"},"modified":"2022-10-14T15:44:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T19:44:53","slug":"features","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/","title":{"rendered":"Features"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"g-block featured-subcategory\">\n  <h2 class=\"featured-subcategory__title\">Features<\/h2>\n\n  <div class=\"featured-subcategory__list\">\n            <div class='featured-subcategory__article'>\n          \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag features news\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\">\n        Features      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/cbs-reporter-subpar-cohost-colt-knost-living-dream\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Colt-Knost-portraits-cover.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Working for CBS and hosting GOLF&#039;s Subpar, Colt Knost is constantly in the mix with the biggest stars in the game: &#039;I pinch myself all the time.&#039;\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Colt-Knost-portraits-cover.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Colt-Knost-portraits-cover.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Colt-Knost-portraits-cover.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Colt-Knost-portraits-cover.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        fetchpriority=\"high\"\n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/cbs-reporter-subpar-cohost-colt-knost-living-dream\/\">CBS course reporter and Subpar cohost Colt Knost is living his dream \u2014 and he still can&#8217;t believe it<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/dylan-dethier\/\">\n                Dylan Dethier            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class='featured-subcategory__article'>\n          \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag features news\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\">\n        Features      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/how-self-handicapping-can-help-your-game\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/golfers-laughing-and-talking.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Multi-ethnic group of young men talking on a golf field\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/golfers-laughing-and-talking.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/golfers-laughing-and-talking.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/golfers-laughing-and-talking.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/golfers-laughing-and-talking.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/how-self-handicapping-can-help-your-game\/\">Are you a self-handicapper? Here&#8217;s how it can help \u2014 and hurt \u2014 your game<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/julie-elion\/\">\n                Julie Elion            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class='featured-subcategory__article'>\n          \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag features news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\">\n          Features        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/u-s-national-development-program-strides\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/USGAdevteam1.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"u.s. junior development team members\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/USGAdevteam1.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/USGAdevteam1.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/USGAdevteam1.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/USGAdevteam1.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/u-s-national-development-program-strides\/\">U.S. golf&#8217;s national development program making strides \u2014\u00a0and just getting started<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/adam-woodard\/\">\n                Adam Woodard            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>        <\/div>\n            <div class='featured-subcategory__article'>\n          \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag features news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\">\n          Features        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/death-golf-course-inexplicable-inspiration\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/filip_fatherFT-1.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Christian Kr\u00fceger, father of Fllip, at Melrose GC\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/filip_fatherFT-1.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/filip_fatherFT-1.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/filip_fatherFT-1.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/filip_fatherFT-1.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/death-golf-course-inexplicable-inspiration\/\">His death on a golf course is inexplicable. His 25 years of life are an inspiration<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/michael-bamberger\/\">\n                Michael Bamberger             <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>        <\/div>\n            <div class='featured-subcategory__article'>\n          \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag features news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\">\n          Features        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/memorable-golf-photos-2024-staff-phones\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestphotos.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"best photos from our phones\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestphotos.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestphotos.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestphotos.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bestphotos.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/memorable-golf-photos-2024-staff-phones\/\">13 golf photos we loved from 2024 \u2014\u00a0from our staff&#8217;s phones!<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/alan-bastable\/\">\n                Alan Bastable             <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>        <\/div>\n            <div class='featured-subcategory__article'>\n          \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag features news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\">\n          Features        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/tiger-woods-ex-caddie-revisits-biggest-gaffe\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_steve-scaled.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Tiger Woods from the United States with caddie Steve Williams on the tee during the 100th United States Open golf tournament on 17th June 2000 at the Pebble Beach\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_steve-scaled.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_steve-scaled.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_steve-scaled.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_steve-scaled.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/tiger-woods-ex-caddie-revisits-biggest-gaffe\/\">\u2018Never been that nervous\u2019: Tiger Woods\u2019 ex-caddie revisits his biggest gaffe<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/kevin-cook\/\">\n                Kevin Cook            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n    \n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"g-block sponsored-by-tag\">\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__header\">\n    <h2 class=\"sponsored-by-tag__title\">\n      Tour Confidential     <\/h2>\n\n      <\/div>\n\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__list\">\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag news \">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n        News      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-tgl-season-preview\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/RoryTGLSoFiCenter.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Rory McIlroy at the TGL&#039;s SoFi Center.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/RoryTGLSoFiCenter.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/RoryTGLSoFiCenter.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/RoryTGLSoFiCenter.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/RoryTGLSoFiCenter.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-tgl-season-preview\/\">Tour Confidential: TGL season preview, lingering questions and more<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/golf-editors\/\">\n                GOLF Editors            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag news \">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n        News      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-bold-predictions-2025\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-xander-nelly-bryson.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Nelly Korda.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-xander-nelly-bryson.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-xander-nelly-bryson.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-xander-nelly-bryson.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-xander-nelly-bryson.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-bold-predictions-2025\/\">Tour Confidential: Who won 2024, bold predictions for 2025 and more<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/golf-editors\/\">\n                GOLF Editors            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-tiger-pnc-ryder-cup-pay\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerCharlieWoodsPNCHug.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Tiger Woods of the United States hugs his son Charlie Woods after their round on 18th green during a sudden-death playoff during the second round of the PNC Championship at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on December 22, 2024 in Orlando, Florida.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerCharlieWoodsPNCHug.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerCharlieWoodsPNCHug.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerCharlieWoodsPNCHug.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerCharlieWoodsPNCHug.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-tiger-pnc-ryder-cup-pay\/\">Tour Confidential: Tiger impressions, Ryder Cup pay, 2024&#8217;s best moments<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/golf-editors\/\">\n                GOLF Editors            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-showdown-scottie-tiger\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ShowdownBrooksRory.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ShowdownBrooksRory.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ShowdownBrooksRory.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ShowdownBrooksRory.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ShowdownBrooksRory.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-showdown-scottie-tiger\/\">Tour Confidential: Will The Showdown work? Plus Tiger, Scottie, more<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/golf-editors\/\">\n                GOLF Editors            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tigers-health-liv-golf-tour-confidential\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger-woods-tour-confidential.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"tiger woods wears sunglasses during the hero world challenge\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger-woods-tour-confidential.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger-woods-tour-confidential.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger-woods-tour-confidential.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger-woods-tour-confidential.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tigers-health-liv-golf-tour-confidential\/\">Tour Confidential: Tiger&#8217;s health, LIV Golf shakeups and more<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/golf-editors\/\">\n                GOLF Editors            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-player-year-tiger-returns\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-scheffler-looks.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"scottie scheffler looks on at the presidents cup\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-scheffler-looks.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-scheffler-looks.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-scheffler-looks.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/scottie-scheffler-looks.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tour-confidential-player-year-tiger-returns\/\">Tour Confidential: Player of the Year, Tiger returns (kind of) and more<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/golf-editors\/\">\n                GOLF Editors            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__show-more\">\n    <a class=\"btn\" href=\"\/tag\/tourconfidential?catfilter=37\">View All<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"g-block sponsored-by-tag\">\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__header\">\n    <h2 class=\"sponsored-by-tag__title\">\n      Monday Finish    <\/h2>\n\n      <\/div>\n\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__list\">\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag news \">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n        News      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/25-changes-pga-tour-sentry-monday-finish\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sentry25.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Collin Morikawa, Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa (clockwise from top left).\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sentry25.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sentry25.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sentry25.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sentry25.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/25-changes-pga-tour-sentry-monday-finish\/\">25 revelations from the PGA Tour&#8217;s first week  | Monday Finish<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/dylan-dethier\/\">\n                Dylan Dethier            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag news \">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n        News      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/hovland-mayo-coach-scheffler-hand-golf-makeover\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Sentrf_Monday_Finish_Hovland.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Kapalua, Viktor Hovland&#039;s toe, Scottie Scheffler&#039;s hands, Joe Mayo and Hovland (clockwise from top left).\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Sentrf_Monday_Finish_Hovland.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Sentrf_Monday_Finish_Hovland.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Sentrf_Monday_Finish_Hovland.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Sentrf_Monday_Finish_Hovland.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/hovland-mayo-coach-scheffler-hand-golf-makeover\/\">Hovland&#8217;s coaching change, Scheffler&#8217;s setback, golf&#8217;s surprising makeover | Monday Finish<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/dylan-dethier\/\">\n                Dylan Dethier            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tiger-woods-outlook-fred-couples-takes-monday-finish\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_charlie_mondayfinish.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Tiger and Charlie Woods at the PNC Championship.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_charlie_mondayfinish.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_charlie_mondayfinish.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_charlie_mondayfinish.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/tiger_charlie_mondayfinish.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tiger-woods-outlook-fred-couples-takes-monday-finish\/\">Tiger&#8217;s outlook, Freddie&#8217;s takes, the OTHER hole-in-one | Monday Finish<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/dylan-dethier\/\">\n                Dylan Dethier            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/padraig-harrington-advice-bryson-dagger-monday-finish\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bryson_Brooks_Showdown-1.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau on hand for Showdown warmups at Shadow Creek on Monday.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bryson_Brooks_Showdown-1.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bryson_Brooks_Showdown-1.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bryson_Brooks_Showdown-1.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bryson_Brooks_Showdown-1.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/padraig-harrington-advice-bryson-dagger-monday-finish\/\">Paddy&#8217;s parenting, Bryson&#8217;s dagger, Ryder Cup money | Monday Finish<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/dylan-dethier\/\">\n                Dylan Dethier            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/scottie-scheffler-bob-macintyre-hero-liv-rumors\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerScottie.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler each know what it&#039;s like to have a decent PGA Tour season.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerScottie.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerScottie.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerScottie.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TigerScottie.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/scottie-scheffler-bob-macintyre-hero-liv-rumors\/\">Scottie&#8217;s common sense, Bob Mac&#8217;s sunset beer, LIV rumors | Monday Finish<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/dylan-dethier\/\">\n                Dylan Dethier            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/liv-deals-tiger-woods-presser-ryder-cup-details\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DJ_Norman.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Greg Norman and Dustin Johnson are among those involved in LIV&#039;s offseason news.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DJ_Norman.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DJ_Norman.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DJ_Norman.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DJ_Norman.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/liv-deals-tiger-woods-presser-ryder-cup-details\/\">LIV moves, Tiger&#8217;s presser, Ryder Cup difference | Monday Finish<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/dylan-dethier\/\">\n                Dylan Dethier            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__show-more\">\n    <a class=\"btn\" href=\"\/tag\/mondayfinish?catfilter=37\">View All<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"g-block sponsored-by-tag\">\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__header\">\n    <h2 class=\"sponsored-by-tag__title\">\n      Rogers Report    <\/h2>\n\n      <\/div>\n\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__list\">\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag news \">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n        News      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tgl-ludvigmania-rogers-report\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/rrrrr.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Tony Finau&#039;s kindness and Ludvig Averg-mania were highlights of the week.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/rrrrr.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/rrrrr.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/rrrrr.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/rrrrr.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tgl-ludvigmania-rogers-report\/\">Rogers Report: On-site at TGL, the (early) breakout star and more<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/claire-rogers\/\">\n                Claire Rogers            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__category-flag news \">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n        News      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/woods-leonard-fan-dalys-warm-up-tempo-rogers-report\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pnc2rr.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Tiger Woods at the PNC Championship.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pnc2rr.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pnc2rr.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pnc2rr.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pnc2rr.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n        <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/woods-leonard-fan-dalys-warm-up-tempo-rogers-report\/\">Woods-Leonard fan club, Daly&#8217;s warm-up and the tempo Olympics | Rogers Report<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n    <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n          <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/claire-rogers\/\">\n                Claire Rogers            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tigers-jokes-masters-easter-eggs-pnc-rogers-report\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pncrr.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Tiger Woods at the PNC Championship\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pncrr.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pncrr.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pncrr.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/pncrr.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tigers-jokes-masters-easter-eggs-pnc-rogers-report\/\">Tiger&#8217;s jokes, Masters Easter eggs and PNC excitement | Rogers Report<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/claire-rogers\/\">\n                Claire Rogers            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/nelly-korda-grant-thornton-rogers-report\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/rogersreportgranthornton.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Jeeno Thitikul, Tom Kim, Nelly Korda and Daniel Berger at the Grant Thornton Invitational\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/rogersreportgranthornton.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/rogersreportgranthornton.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/rogersreportgranthornton.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/rogersreportgranthornton.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/nelly-korda-grant-thornton-rogers-report\/\">Nelly Korda&#8217;s funny compliment, Tom Kim&#8217;s Tiger comparison | Rogers Report<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/claire-rogers\/\">\n                Claire Rogers            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/rickie-fowler-birthday-surprise-theegala-secret-weapon\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr2.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Rickie Fowler and Sahith Theegala at Grant Thornton Invitational\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr2.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr2.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr2.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr2.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/rickie-fowler-birthday-surprise-theegala-secret-weapon\/\">Rickie Fowler&#8217;s birthday surprise, Sahith Theegala&#8217;s secret weapon | Rogers Report<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/claire-rogers\/\">\n                Claire Rogers            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n                <div class='sponsored-by-tag__article'>\n              \n<figure class=\"g-article-prev g-article-prev--subcategory g-article-prev--is-article\">\n  <div class=\"g-article-prev__img-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"g-article-prev__subcategory-flag news\">\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/\">\n          News        <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n    <a class=\"g-article-prev__img\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/kuchar-epically-fails-quiz-most-underrated-weeks-in-golf-rogers-report\/\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"Matt Kuchar and Jason Day at the Grant Thornton Invitational.\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gtrr.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n  <figcaption class=\"g-article-prev__text\">\n    \n    <h3 class=\"g-article-prev__title\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/kuchar-epically-fails-quiz-most-underrated-weeks-in-golf-rogers-report\/\">Kuchar epically fails quiz, golf&#8217;s most underrated weeks | Rogers Report<\/a>\n    <\/h3>\n\n          <span class=\"g-article-prev__by-line\">\n            <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/claire-rogers\/\">\n                Claire Rogers            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n      <\/span>\n          \n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>            <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n  <div class=\"sponsored-by-tag__show-more\">\n    <a class=\"btn\" href=\"\/tag\/rogersreport?catfilter=37\">View All<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"parent":628,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-category.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1109","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"page_category":{"term_id":42,"name":"Features","slug":"features","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":42,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":37,"count":532,"filter":"raw"},"hero_type":"standard","hero_main_article":[],"hero_secondary_articles":[],"category_sponsored_logo":false,"category_sponsored_title":"Sanderson Farms Championship","ad_meta":false,"tee_time_button_status":false,"wsum-gated-content":false,"wsotp_enable_one_time_payment":false,"boe_title":"From the Archive ","boe_main_article":[{"ID":15475718,"post_author":"38","post_date":"2022-03-24 06:37:41","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-24 10:37:41","post_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 I played with a legendary amateur here the other day, on a legendary course. You may not have heard of either, but golf has a private side, and this is not a golfer, or a course, that seeks attention.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The golfer, Joel Hirsch, has played in 38 <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/usga\/\">USGA<\/a> events, but that doesn\u2019t mean he got much TV time. The course we played, at the Palm Beach Country Club, is a behind-the-hedge <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/travel\/donald-ross-philadelphia-muni-jeffersonville\/\">Donald Ross<\/a> classic, a compact one on 80 gently heaving acres beside the Atlantic Ocean. Its sweeping third green, at the top of a modest hill, is so gorgeous you can get a little emotional, walking across it. (Would it be&nbsp;<em>so&nbsp;<\/em>hard to build a green like that today?) You don\u2019t see PBCC on top-100 lists, and the members don\u2019t seem to care. Or Joel doesn\u2019t. The Palm Beach Country Club \u2014 the course and the driving range \u2014 is his winter home, almost literally. The rest of the year, he lives and plays in Chicago.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll play one step ahead of the back of each tee box,\u201d Joel said on the first tee. That gets the course, a par 70, to 6,001 yards. Something like that. Not that it matters.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hirsch \u2014 a retired insurance man with a head for numbers \u2014 did the first-tee math and gave me five a side. We played for $5. He\u2019s played for more. He\u2019s played for less. He\u2019s played better golfers. He\u2019s likely played worse. I had one thing going for me: no pace-of-play issues. We didn\u2019t have to use the phrase \u201cready golf.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\"id\":\"block_623b9706424d3\",\"name\":\"acf\/article-embed\",\"data\":{\"article_id\":14930528,\"_article_id\":\"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\"article_alignment\":\"right\",\"_article_alignment\":\"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hirsch is 80, trim and flexible, and he walks with purpose. Walking 18 is nothing for him. He works out daily. So does his wife, Cynthia. They have had a condo in Palm Beach for decades.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When I met Joel Hirsch, he was 56. That was in 1998 and Hirsch was on top of his game, in every way. <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tim-rosaforte-death-emotional-response-golf-community\/\">The late Tim Rosaforte<\/a>, once my&nbsp;<em>Sports Illustrated&nbsp;<\/em>colleague, got us together, at the Palm Beach Country Club. Last month, at a memorial service for Tim at a mega church in South Florida, Joel was there, sitting in the back row. Hirsch knew, or knew of, some of the other golfers there, <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/jack-nicklaus\/\">Jack Nicklaus<\/a>, Tom Watson, Andy North and Mike Donald among them, but Hirsch didn\u2019t go around saying hello. That\u2019s just not him. He was there for Tim\u2019s family.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In general, Hirsch is not somebody who needs a lot of people around.&nbsp;That makes him like a lot of good golfers. <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/arnold-palmer\/\">Arnold Palmer<\/a> liked to have a crowd around him, but <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/how-good-would-ben-hogan-have-been-today\/\">Ben Hogan<\/a> didn\u2019t. Nicklaus, Mickey Wright, Lee Trevino, Curtis Strange, Annika Sorenstam, Tiger Woods, the same. Hirsch has played thousands of rounds by himself. Of course, he\u2019s played many more rounds in twosomes and threesomes and foursomes. Plus, the occasional fivesome.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Once, at a U.S. Senior Open, Hirsch played a practice round with Nicklaus and Palmer. The amateur golfer O. Gordon Brewer, a former <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/pine-valley\/\">Pine Valley Golf Club<\/a> president whose son is the president of Callaway, was also in the group. As amateur golfers, Brewer is to Philadelphia what Hirsch is to Chicago. That is, at the peak of their powers there were few in their cities who could beat them.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>That\u2019s a whole thing. Golf has leagues on top of leagues on top of leagues. The club champ at your club has a certain level of golfing status, of course. Hirsch was not one to play in club championships. He didn\u2019t think it was fair, as he played so much national competitive golf and spent so much time working on his game. He wasn\u2019t, of course, a pro. But he wasn\u2019t just another good weekend club golfer, either. He had plenty of events to play in. Give other people a chance.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\"id\":\"block_623b95cc424d1\",\"name\":\"acf\/quotes\",\"data\":{\"quote_type\":\"diptych\",\"_quote_type\":\"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\"enable_quote_mark\":\"0\",\"_enable_quote_mark\":\"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\"quote_text\":\"Hirsch was not one to play in club championships. He didn\u2019t think it was fair.\",\"_quote_text\":\"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\"quote_author\":\"\",\"_quote_author\":\"field_5e220da4ceed4\",\"image_quote_align\":\"left\",\"_image_quote_align\":\"field_5e708e3f99473\",\"diptych_image\":15475723,\"_diptych_image\":\"field_5e708efe99474\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cPros against the ams,\u201d Palmer said on the first tee, on that practice round at the 1998 U.S. Senior Open at Riviera, Nicklaus and Brewer and Hirsch within earshot. At the end of the round, Hirsch was never happier to part with $100. He\u2019s played for more money. He has not played a more accomplished better-ball team. You may know that Nicklaus and Palmer won the 1967 World Cup by 13 shots. No shame, for Hirsch and Brewer, to lose to those two.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cPalmer was a great guy and a friend,\u201d Hirsch said. \u201cMaybe not a friend. But more than an acquaintance.\u201d He likes precision. \u201cYou could play $100 seven-ways with Arnold, automatic two-downs and all the rest, and he could keep it all in his head. If, at the end of the day, he said, \u2018You owe me six,\u2019 you owed him six.\u201d Six hundred. If you know something about Arnold, you know he didn\u2019t play for crazy sums. He worked too hard for his money and liked it too much.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>If you know something about golf in Chicago, you know about Hirsch. (Luke Donald, a former Northwestern golfer, and <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/michael-jordan\/\">Michael Jordan<\/a>, former Chicago Bulls basketball player, can both tell you all about Hirsch\u2019s game.) He has lived in and around Chicago since he was 11. He played as a freshman under Dave Williams at the University of Houston, realized after one year he was not going to make a living as a professional golfer and took his golf talent, and his math gene, to the University of Illinois. A writer at the\u00a0<em>The Trib\u00a0<\/em>once wrote of him, \u201cHe majored in finance and minored in golf.\u201d\u00a0<em>The Chicago Tribune\u00a0<\/em>knew how to cover golf, and it needed to. Along with Philadelphia and New York, Chicago is one of the three great golfing meccas in the United States.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\"id\":\"block_623b97ab424d4\",\"name\":\"acf\/article-embed\",\"data\":{\"article_id\":15421959,\"_article_id\":\"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\"article_alignment\":\"right\",\"_article_alignment\":\"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>Discuss amongst yourselves.<\/em>&nbsp;My sources are Ben Crenshaw, the original Robert Trent Jones and the inimitable Herbert Warren Wind.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hirsch was the Chicago District Golf Association\u2019s Golfer of the Year in 1993 and \u201994. In other words, in his 50s, he was very, very good. He won one British Senior Amateur in 1996 and another in 2000. In 1999 \u2014 at age 58! \u2014 he qualified for the Western Open in a Monday four-spotter. Yep, the real deal.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cHey, Joel,\u201d Tiger Woods said to Hirsch at that \u201999 Western Open, then held at Cog Hill. They were passing each other in the press tent. Previously, they had played practice rounds together at U.S. Ams. During that week, the week of the \u201999 Western Open, Hirsch and Woods and Jordan played Medinah, where the PGA Championship would be held in six weeks. Woods won that \u201999 Western at Cog Hill. Six weeks later, he won the \u201899 PGA at Medinah, too. Now Woods is trying to fix-up two public courses in Chicago, Jackson Park and South Shore.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Until the other day, it had been 24 years since I had seen Mr. Hirsch. Fifty-six to 80, of course, changes a man. I arrived on the practice tee at the Palm Beach Country Club (not be confused with the super-fun and public Palm Beach Par-3 course or the excellent Jack Nicklaus public course in North Palm Beach) and there he was, on the far end of the range, which doubles as the 10th fairway. He looked leaner and tougher than he did the last time I had seen him. Hungrier. Now he resembles the actor Christopher Walken. It\u2019s Hirsch\u2019s hair, lean face, knowing eyes. Kind of his manner, too. In conversation, Hirsch gets things down to their essence.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\"id\":\"block_623b980b424d5\",\"name\":\"acf\/quotes\",\"data\":{\"quote_type\":\"hero\",\"_quote_type\":\"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\"enable_quote_mark\":\"0\",\"_enable_quote_mark\":\"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\"quote_text\":\" In conversation, Hirsch gets things down to their essence.\",\"_quote_text\":\"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\"quote_author\":\"\",\"_quote_author\":\"field_5e220da4ceed4\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He was wearing white shoes, khaki tech-fabric shorts with no belt, a long-sleeved white shirt, a white bucket hat. He seldom takes a practice swing. I exaggerate nothing when I say Joel hit his tee shot off the first, with a driver, 260 yards. Yes, it was downwind on a firm fairway, but the shot was also up in the air, caught on the face, and it had about three yards of draw. His swing is long, limber and rhythmic. His left arm does not straighten, a function of a mild case of childhood polio.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hirsch has a wide stance. (He is mostly self-taught, but one of his teachers, Ed Oldfield Sr., preached wide stances. See: King, Betsy.) Hirsch seems to always know how he wants to play the shot, pausing briefly now and again to consider the wind or the lie. His golf was a clinic and his longtime PBCC caddie, Zak Haas, showed not even a hint of surprise at the quality of his shots. Zak has seen Hirsch hit a million of \u2018em.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I\u2019m not saying that Hirsch is at the Trevino level. I mean, that would be crazy talk. But his golf is excellent.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He putts with a normal-length putter and uses a self-taught claw grip. He shot 34 going out. He wanted to know how I found my way to golf. (We talked, except when we didn\u2019t.) Hirsch came to golf by way of the caddie yard. Chicago and caddies. It\u2019s a real thing. (See: the Murray brothers.) I made a 4-for-3 on the short par-4 home hole, to Joel\u2019s par, and we headed into the locker room, our most excellent round done, all square. Five a side. He knew.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Joel hasn\u2019t played competitive golf in years, but he\u2019s thinking about getting back into it. He\u2019s already played in a couple Florida State Golf Association events this year, at Donald Ross&nbsp;public courses in north Florida, in the 75-and-older division, courses so sound, Joel said, \u201cyou could play them every day for the rest of your life and never get tired of them.\u201d (One in Ocala, another in Palatka. He is not, at all, a golf snob.) Hirsch said his golf was OK, but not where he wants it to be, and he didn\u2019t contend in either event. It was all sort of last-minute.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When the Hampton Inn in Palatka had no rooms, he and Cynthia found an old-timey bed-and-breakfast in a converted mansion. The proprietor, also 80, helped Joel bring his bags, not light, up the steps and to their room. There was no grunting.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Joel took inspiration from the gent.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>We know how that goes.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com\">Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/inline-video {\"id\":\"block_623b96f3424d2\",\"name\":\"acf\/inline-video\",\"data\":{\"video_type\":\"inline\",\"_video_type\":\"field_5e8f847fdbf59\",\"brightcove_video\":[\"15475514\"],\"_brightcove_video\":\"field_5e8d5dc7c525b\",\"show_caption\":\"1\",\"_show_caption\":\"field_5e8ed4c2b3fb8\",\"video_player_position\":\"bottom\",\"_video_player_position\":\"field_5fce7b644281d\",\"video_player\":\"m46gb0EB2\",\"_video_player\":\"field_5f18a48ee79c9\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->","post_title":"You don\u2019t know this secret golf legend. But Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus do.","post_excerpt":"Joel Hirsch was once a king of the Chicago golf scene, earning him tee times with some heavy hitters. Today, at 80, he's still going strong. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"joel-hirsch-secret-golf-legend","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-30 10:50:15","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-30 14:50:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=15475718","menu_order":0,"post_type":"article","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"boe_secondary_articles":[{"ID":15473774,"post_author":"656","post_date":"2022-03-04 09:16:19","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-04 14:16:19","post_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Ukraine is not known for its golf scene, even in peaceful times. The nation of 44 million, now under siege by the Russian military, has less than 3,000 registered golfers and only four regulation courses, just two of which would be considered suitable for tournament play. But it does have a crop of talented young players, fostered by an active national golf federation that in recent years has through various grass-roots efforts made big strides in growing participation.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Among the up-and-comers is 15-year-old Mykhailo Golod, a four-time Ukranian Junior champion who now holds the top spot on the national team and who last summer become the first Ukrainian to play in a United States Golf Association event when he competed in the U.S. Junior Amateur, at the Country Club of North Carolina. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\"id\":\"block_622196db4f046\",\"name\":\"acf\/images\",\"data\":{\"image_type\":\"inline\",\"_image_type\":\"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\"image_file\":15473780,\"_image_file\":\"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\"image_caption\":\"Misha flying his country's colors at a junior event in Florida in December. \",\"_image_caption\":\"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\"image_credits\":\"Instagram: @mishagolod228\",\"_image_credits\":\"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Mykhailo, who goes by Misha, is accustomed to darting around the globe to play high-level junior golf. Earlier this year, he tied for sixth at the Junior Orange Bowl, in Coral Gables, Fla., which draws serious sticks from all over the world. Just last month, Misha picked up a pair of titles on a Turkey visit. But the U.S. Junior \u2014&nbsp;which has a glittering list of past champions that includes Johnny Miller, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth \u2014&nbsp;is another level. For elite junior golfers, it\u2019s the mountaintop. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cBest experience of my life,\u201d Misha told me. \u201cFrom tee to green, it was absolutely perfect. It was like playing a Tour event.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Misha didn\u2019t play his best, failing to advance through the stroke-play portion of the competition, but that hasn\u2019t quelled his desire to try and qualify again this year when the Junior Am moves to the spectacular seaside resort of <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/travel\/bandon-dunes\/\">Bandon Dunes<\/a>, in southern Oregon.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cI really hope I can get there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Whether Misha <em>can<\/em> get there, of course, now depends on a lot more than just the state of his game. When we spoke by Zoom earlier this week, Misha was holed up with his parents in a dwelling \u2014&nbsp;not his family\u2019s \u2014&nbsp;on the outskirts of Kyiv, where he spends much of his time bunkered in the basement. Just two days earlier, Russian missiles had taken out a TV tower in Kyiv, and, according to satellite images, a 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and armored vehicles was ominously rumbling toward the city. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt feels very scary, because before the Russian troops weren\u2019t close to the house, and today we just received news that they\u2019re getting closer,\u201d Misha said. \u201cThe last explosion we heard was around 3 miles from here.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\"id\":\"block_62219a054f048\",\"name\":\"acf\/quotes\",\"data\":{\"quote_type\":\"hero\",\"_quote_type\":\"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\"enable_quote_mark\":\"1\",\"_enable_quote_mark\":\"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\"quote_text\":\"The last explosion we heard was around 3 miles from here.\",\"_quote_text\":\"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\"quote_author\":\"\",\"_quote_author\":\"field_5e220da4ceed4\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The last but certainly not the only. Misha said he is regularly woken by thunderous booms or the eerie whine of air-raid sirens.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When we spoke, he was seated in a dimly lighted space and propped up against a wall covered with floral wallpaper. He was in a gray hoodie. He has stylishly cut blond hair, and his English is nearly flawless. His maturity is also striking\u00a0\u2014\u00a015 going on 35. Misha said he felt fortunate to still have Wi-Fi so he could correspond with friends and log in to his classes. (Assignments have been light, given many of the teachers at his international high school have fled the country.)<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The war has been raging for 10 days. Misha has not been outside in a week. His parents \u2014\u00a0father, Oleg, a logistics manager, and mother, Vita, who works in the medical industry \u2014\u00a0are homebound with him. Mostly, anyway. \u201cMy dad is the risky one in our family, because he gets groceries every three or four days,\u201d Misha said. On Thursday, Vita had to leave their shelter for a pressing work duty. \u201cVery risky,\u201d Misha said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>During our call, I asked Misha if I might speak with one of his parents. Moments later his father appeared; understandably, he wasn\u2019t much in the mood for talking. \"Every morning I wake up, I feel like I\u2019m still sleeping,\u201d he said. \u201cI cannot believe this is happening to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>And then he was gone. Misha explained that his father gets emotional talking about the war, largely because he feels responsible for and is so deeply worried about his family\u2019s welfare.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When Misha first started hearing explosions a few days ago, he moved all his valuables \u2014&nbsp;namely his many golf trophies, plaques and medals \u2014&nbsp;to a small room in the basement. He sleeps on the floor in that space next to a 12-foot putting mat that is now his lone golf outlet. He spends about an hour a day rolling putts, doing his best to block out the terrifying reality outside his front door.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\"id\":\"block_622199054f047\",\"name\":\"acf\/images\",\"data\":{\"image_type\":\"inline\",\"_image_type\":\"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\"image_file\":15473781,\"_image_file\":\"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\"image_caption\":\"Misah keeps two mats in his basement quarters (one for sleeping, the other for putting), plus his trophies. \",\"_image_caption\":\"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\"image_credits\":\"Misha Golod\",\"_image_credits\":\"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>More than a million Ukrainians have left the country, seeking refuge beyond its borders. I asked Misha why his family has stayed put.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe had a lot of chances to evacuate, but we didn\u2019t think that was a wise decision to make because we really didn\u2019t have anywhere to go,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we did evacuate, we would probably be stuck in another country for no one knows how long.\u201d Also, Misha said, his father has no choice but to sit tight under the martial law enacted by Ukraine President\u00a0Volodymyr Zelenskyy that prohibits men aged 18 and 60 from leaving the country. \u201cSo, we decided to stay. As long we have electricity, water, food, we\u2019re going to be in here.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>On Friday morning Eastern Standard Time, just before this story was published, Misha sent me a message via WhatsApp. He and his parents were on the move again. \"This morning we heard explosions super close to our house,\" he wrote. \"We are on our way to a safer [location] right now.\"   <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\"id\":\"block_62221a3c5d2cb\",\"name\":\"acf\/images\",\"data\":{\"image_type\":\"inline\",\"_image_type\":\"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\"image_file\":15473797,\"_image_file\":\"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\"image_caption\":\"The grim reality of life in Kyiv.\",\"_image_caption\":\"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\"image_credits\":\"getty images \",\"_image_credits\":\"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Misha was first drawn to golf when he was 6 years old. His father had been out playing and when he returned home showed Misha a video of his swing. \u201cI was instantly interested,\u201d Misha said. He has a slender build but there is athleticism in his blood. His sister, Vitalina, attends Sacred Heart University, in Fairfield, Conn., where she plays on the tennis team. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Misha\u2019s home club is Golfstream GC, about an hour\u2019s drive west of downtown Kyiv. In the summer, he is there seven days a week, 10 hours a day, playing, practicing, absorbing the game in every possible way. \u201cIt\u2019s my meditation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He has been hearing troubling reports about the club. \u201cThe last thing I heard about it was that tanks were arriving on the property, on the golf course, and that Russian soldiers were inside the clubhouse,\u201d he said. \u201cThey had a little camp there from what I heard, which is very scary.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\"id\":\"block_62219b0b4f049\",\"name\":\"acf\/images\",\"data\":{\"image_type\":\"inline\",\"_image_type\":\"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\"image_file\":15473782,\"_image_file\":\"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\"image_caption\":\"Golfstream is about an hour west of Kyiv.\",\"_image_caption\":\"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\"image_credits\":\"Ukrainian Golf Federation\",\"_image_credits\":\"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"},\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"edit\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Misha said that \u201ceven if the war ended today,\u201d it would be a long time before he\u2019d be back on the range smoothing 7-irons. It\u2019s a 20-mile drive from his house to the club, he said, and 10 miles of that road has been decimated.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s other most prominent golf course, at the Superior Golf &amp; Spa Resort, is in Khariv, Ukraine\u2019s second-biggest city, about 300 miles east of Kyiv. Khariv has been one of Russia\u2019s primary targets. \u201cI have a couple of friends living there and it\u2019s just horrible; they\u2019re spending every single day in basements,\u201d Misha said. \u201cI have no idea about the golf course there, but I would think it\u2019s in danger of being destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>If the courses are shelled, Misha can\u2019t envision a scenario in which they'd be rebuilt quickly. \u201cGolf in Ukraine won\u2019t have anything for at least 10 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It may seem trivial to think and talk about golf in such desperate times. But in some ways, Misha could use the game \u2014\u00a0his meditation \u2014\u00a0today more than ever, just as other Ukrainians may long to kick a ball or drop a rod or walk in the park. Anything to escape the madness. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been really tough not being on the range, not being able to hit golf balls, even for two weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cThen I start thinking this may continue for the next month, two months, three months...\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Misha is not yet in the U.S. Junior Amateur field at Bandon, and the tournament is a long way from the top of his mind, if it\u2019s in there at all. But should the opportunity avail itself, he will do everything in his power to try and return to the junior game's grandest stage. All that's required is one thing that he can control: continuing his fine play. And another that he cannot: for Putin to stand down.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re just here praying for this to end anytime soon,\u201d Misha said, \u201cand for us to be able to live a normal life.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/magazine-subscription {\"id\":\"block_622194564f045\",\"name\":\"acf\/magazine-subscription\",\"align\":\"\",\"mode\":\"preview\"} \/-->","post_title":"Ukraine\u2019s top amateur golfer is sheltering in a Kyiv basement, praying for peace","post_excerpt":"Last summer, rising Ukraine golf star Mykhailo Golod played in the U.S. Junior Amateur. Today, he\u2019s trapped in a hellish war zone. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"ukraine-top-amateur-golfer-kyiv-basement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-04 09:16:27","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-04 14:16:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=15473774","menu_order":0,"post_type":"article","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":15473442,"post_author":"656","post_date":"2022-03-02 06:32:44","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-02 11:32:44","post_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The internet is a wealth of information, but it can\u2019t answer the questions that really matter.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>Is there a God?<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>What\u2019s the meaning of life?<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>How good would Ben Hogan be today?<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>That last one is a topic my friend, Hayes, and I have debated off and on for decades.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hayes is a member of the Church of Hogan, a true believer, convinced that the man walked on water hazards, never missed a green in regulation and would dominate the modern game.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I am a Hogan skeptic. Though I\u2019m sure that he\u2019d have a fine career today, I don\u2019t buy the notion that he\u2019d reign supreme. A top 20 guy is how I see him, with a handful of wins and probably a major \u2014 something of a sepia-toned <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/corey-pavin\/\">Corey Pavin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>That our argument is unresolvable is what makes it entertaining.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hayes trots out his \u201devidence,\u201d while branding me as a benighted upstart. And I fire back with mine, while casting him as a blue-blazered Archie Bunker, a tweedy dinosaur, romanticizing the past.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>It has dragged on in this way for roughly three decades, each of us biased, neither budging. Like a pair of academics in a heated dispute, we care so much because the stakes are so small.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>But at least we laugh about it, which is more than I can say about some partisans in this unwinnable fight.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d47d33acbb\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"hero\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15473455,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"The mystique of Hogan, pictured in 1941, endures to this day.\",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"getty images \",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I had my first encounter with one of their kind at a backyard cookout in the summer of 2000. Only weeks before, <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/tiger-woods\/\">Tiger Woods<\/a> had made a blood bath out <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/travel\/pebble-beach\/\">Pebble Beach<\/a>, bludgeoning the field in the U.S. Open for a record-smashing 15-shot win. Around the grill that afternoon, a bunch of us got talking golf and Tiger, everyone gushing in agreement that the game had never seen his likes before and probably never would again. Everyone, that is, but a graybeard in the group. He looked in his early 70s, and he stood at the outskirts of our circle, saying nothing but shaking his head as we spilled superlatives over Woods.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Finally, he spoke.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>No disrespect to Tiger, he said, but he\u2019d been watching golf since the <em>Howdy Doody<\/em> era. Allow him to serve up some perspective.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>There was a hint of condescension in his voice, and a tinge of pity on his face, the patronizing look that older people often wear when informing younger people of the many wondrous things they missed.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Woods was great no doubt, Ol\u2019 Hickory Sticks went on. But stop kidding yourself, kids. Ben Hogan would have wiped the floor with him.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I can\u2019t remember if I chuckled, but I might as well have.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>What I said was something in this spirit: \u201cHogan? Shrimpy fella with the putting problems who played in an era when four guys had a chance of winning? Yeah, right.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Harmless cheekiness, I figured. Standard sports-fan swordplay. I figured wrong. Hickory Sticks grew visibly upset, face reddening, eyes widening. He took a half-step toward me. How dare you, he huffed. It wasn\u2019t a question.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The depth of his umbrage was unsettling. I worried for a moment that we were on the brink of a Bob Barker vs. Happy Gilmore brawl.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>An extreme example? Sure. And yet instructive. Touchy subject, Hogan. Little had I realized that Hayes and I were treading on such fraught terrain.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Generational debates about athletic greatness are as old as the ancients. <em>The Iliad<\/em> is peppered with comparisons of warriors past and present, and you can bet that when Homer sang of \u201cswift-footed\u201d Achilles, he heard it from the pro-Hercules crowd.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>People get worked up over their heroes. That has always been the case. But I maintain that no band of sports-world loyalists has ever been more rabid \u2014 or defensive or prone to exaggeration \u2014 than the hardest of hardcore Hogan devotees.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Just more than a half-century has passed since their idol played in his last professional event, limping off the course at a tournament now known as the Houston Open, legs aching, short game shot. His most notable achievements are beyond dispute: the up-from-nothing rise; the nine major titles and 64 Tour wins in a career interrupted by a world war and a car wreck; the magical 1953 season, when he claimed three quarters of the modern Grand Slam.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d6d5a3acbd\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/quotes\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"quote_type\": \"hero\",\n        \"_quote_type\": \"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\n        \"enable_quote_mark\": \"0\",\n        \"_enable_quote_mark\": \"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\n        \"quote_text\": \"No band of sports-world loyalists has ever been more rabid than hardcore Hogan devotees.\",\n        \"_quote_text\": \"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\n        \"quote_author\": \"\",\n        \"_quote_author\": \"field_5e220da4ceed4\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Any Hoganist can regale you with those facts. Some go farther, though, bubbling forth with tales of exploits that verge on folklore. These people don\u2019t do banter. They brook no disagreement. They are easy \u2014 and tempting \u2014 to provoke.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>A reminder of this came a few weeks back, when I asked Google for its thoughts about Hogan\u2019s contemporary prospects, a search that led me through a labyrinth of golf-related chat rooms.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWho else agrees with me that Ben Hogan would be irrelevant on today\u2019s PGA Tour?\u201d a commenter posting as Vijay4Life had written.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The Hogan faithful were there to take the bait.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIrrelevant? C\u2019mon man, you cannot be serious with that drivel.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t uncommon for Hogan to hit 18\/18 GIR, the guy was that good.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIf he had today\u2019s technology, he wouldn\u2019t miss a green in regulation for like 6 months.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cDude, why all the Hogan hate?\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Vijay4Life seemed gleeful at the outrage.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIf you want to believe in fairy tales about golfers of olden times, go right ahead. You\u2019re welcome to believe in things like God, tooth fairies, and that Ben Hogan could knock it stiff from 175 every time.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cHe just wants to incite,\u201d a Hoganist warned.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Someone else posted a \u201cbutt hurt\u201d meme.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Probably my buddy, Hayes.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Anyway, you get the gist.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d6d9c3acbe\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/quotes\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"quote_type\": \"diptych\",\n        \"_quote_type\": \"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\n        \"enable_quote_mark\": \"1\",\n        \"_enable_quote_mark\": \"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\n        \"quote_text\": \"If Hogan had today\u2019s technology, he wouldn\u2019t miss a green in regulation for like 6 months.\",\n        \"_quote_text\": \"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\n        \"quote_author\": \"Chat-room commenter  \",\n        \"_quote_author\": \"field_5e220da4ceed4\",\n        \"image_quote_align\": \"left\",\n        \"_image_quote_align\": \"field_5e708e3f99473\",\n        \"diptych_image\": 14984231,\n        \"_diptych_image\": \"field_5e708efe99474\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>It was a juvenile thread that I also found depressingly familiar. Clicking through it, I heard echoes of my own adolescent sniping over Hogan, and I recognized my kinship to an internet troll, spouting loosely formed opinions but mostly just trying get a rise.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Never mind that certain Hoganists were borderline deluded. Who was I to mock them? I was no better. It was time for me grow up and ditch the wisecracks, or at least make a stab at more substantive remarks. I was long past due to take up the discussion with mature and measured sources, established voices who, unlike me and Hayes and Vijay4Life, weren\u2019t speaking sideways out of their hurt butts.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">\u201cHe\u2019d be just as good or better today than he was back then, and just as Tiger made his peers look like also-rans in his prime, he\u2019d make Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson etc look inept.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>That was the reply I received from NBC\/Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee when I first put the question to him over text.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Chamblee, a native Texan, is a Hoganist of the highest order, but he\u2019s too clear-eyed to be lumped in with the cultists. True to reputation, he\u2019d assembled a scaffolding of yellow notepads to support his claims.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hogan would make them look . . . <em>inept? <\/em>I asked, in a follow-up Zoom call.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Now, now, Chamblee explained. He wasn\u2019t trying to denigrate today\u2019s Tour stars. He was simply out to underscore the rarity of Hogan\u2019s gifts, a marriage of intellect, intensity, and athleticism whose only modern analog he saw in Tiger Woods.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d742e3acc4\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/article-embed\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"article_id\": 15405465,\n        \"_article_id\": \"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\n        \"article_alignment\": \"right\",\n        \"_article_alignment\": \"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Where I\u2019d always pictured Hogan as a pipsqueak who\u2019d be physically outmatched in the modern era, Chamblee presented a different image. He likened Hogan\u2019s build to Rory McIlroy\u2019s, and cited estimates suggesting that his clubhead speed today would be right there with McIlroy\u2019s as well, upward of 122 miles per hour.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Distance would not be a deterrent for him.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In fact, Chamblee said, because Hogan swung without resisting \u2014 no hanging on, no holding off \u2014 he would likely blast it farther than a guy like DJ.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In Chamblee\u2019s view, modern equipment would augment Hogan, further separating him from his competition. So would modern information.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cGuys these days play a round with Bryson and walk down the fairway like they\u2019re talking to Einstein,\u201d he said. \u201cI give credit to Bryson for being curious but. . . \u201c<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hogan was a brainiac of a different order. As backup, Chamblee told the story of the Hogan acolyte, Gardner Dickinson, surreptitiously slipping Hogan IQ questions over the course of many rounds together, yielding a guesstimated score that marked Hogan as a genius. Maybe he really was. Maybe he wasn\u2019t. Either way, the takeaway was this: imagine what a man who found answers in the dirt could do with a Trackman in his hands.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Now, as then, Chamblee said, Hogan\u2019s \u201cferal mind\u201d would make him a pioneering tinkerer and thinker. His smarts would also help him see through the \u201cchicanery\u201d that often masquerades these days as sound instruction. Unlike Tiger, Chamblee added, Hogan would not have turned his swing over to others. It was not in his makeup to \u201csubjugate his talents to someone else\u2019s ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Oh, and about that glitchy flatstick: the heebie-jeebies, Chamblee said, only struck Hogan late in his career (some have suggested they were brought on by depth-perception issues caused by the car crash). Before that, he was a boss of the moss, praised by no less than the short-game wizard Bobby Locke as the finest putter in the game.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d444d3acba\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/quotes\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"quote_type\": \"hero_image\",\n        \"_quote_type\": \"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\n        \"enable_quote_mark\": \"1\",\n        \"_enable_quote_mark\": \"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\n        \"quote_text\": \"Hogan would lay waste to fields today.\",\n        \"_quote_text\": \"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\n        \"quote_author\": \"Brandel Chamblee\",\n        \"_quote_author\": \"field_5e220da4ceed4\",\n        \"quote_image\": 15473454,\n        \"_quote_image\": \"field_5e27182ec3ba8\",\n        \"quote_theme\": \"dark\",\n        \"_quote_theme\": \"field_5e272b44bd6d6\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In conclusion, Chamblee said, \u201cHogan would lay waste to fields today.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Got it? \u2028Good.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Now, brace for a rebuttal.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Mark Rolfing did a stint on Tour in the early 1970s, shortly after Hogan hung up his spikes, before shifting to a different role inside the ropes. As an on-course reporter and analyst for NBC\/Golf Channel for more than three decades, he has had a closer view than most of a game in evolution. The changes have been massive, and several, Rolfing told me, would not favor Hogan. They\u2019d neutralize advantages he once enjoyed.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Take driving accuracy, one of his legendary strengths.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIts relevance in today\u2019s game is not a major factor,\u201d Rolfing told me. Check out the stats. The most accurate drivers \u201crarely end at the top of the FedEx Cup rankings.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Course management, too. Hogan was a master. It matters much less now than it did then.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s players basically come up with a plan for a round of golf and that\u2019s it,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce they get into it, there\u2019s not a lot of variances. They hit it far, find it, and then grab the next club.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Ball-striking has become \u201cso condensed,\u201d he added, \u201cthat hot putting weeks are what win tournaments now.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d745a3acc5\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/article-embed\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"article_id\": 15438026,\n        \"_article_id\": \"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\n        \"article_alignment\": \"left\",\n        \"_article_alignment\": \"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Rolfing said he didn\u2019t doubt that Hogan would still be a star today. He just wouldn\u2019t be the alpha. That\u2019s not how it works in the post-Tiger era. The days of solo rule in golf are done. \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ll even have a Big Three again,\u201d Rolfing said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The talent pool is too deep and level. For proof, look no farther than the betting lines.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Most any week on Tour, you can find a wager that pits the field against the top nine players. The odds are usually close to even. If this were Hogan\u2019s era, that wouldn\u2019t be the case. \u201cYou would take the top nine players every time and win,\u201d Rolfing said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>This brings up a point that\u2019s pretty much impossible for Hoganists to counter. In Hogan\u2019s prime, golf was a parochial pursuit compared to the global game it is today. There are many ways to measure this. Here is one. At the 1953 U.S. Open, where he won the second-to-last of his major titles, Hogan beat a field composed entirely of players representing the United States. Last year, at Torrey Pines, competitors from 23 different countries came up short against the Spaniard Jon Rahm. As Team USA has learned in basketball, globalization makes winning harder. It swells the population of legitimate contenders. I don\u2019t believe it\u2019s trolling to tell a Hoganist: Your man had it easier that way.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>You might even get an interesting response. When I offered this perspective to the World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins, a friend and frequent playing partner of Hogan\u2019s, he didn\u2019t just refute it. He turned it on its head.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Tougher nowadays? Wadkins scoffed. The contemporary Tour may have players from all over, but it is also a comparative cakewalk, the purses extravagantly fatter, the equipment comically more forgiving.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cTell you what, let\u2019s take (today\u2019s pros) back and play with the wooden drivers and spinny balls we used and see how they do,\u201d Wadkins said. \u201cWe had to hit all kinds of shots. We played with much more imagination.\"\u2028<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>More desperation, too, Wadkins said. Miss the cut, and you might not make the rent. The stingy climate produced a rough-edged breed.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cGuys like me and Hale Irwin and Raymond Floyd, we were mean, we were junkyard dogs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hogan even more so. The Ice Mon moniker was not for nothing. Transported to the present, you would not find him posting selfies or spring-breaking with Jordan Spieth.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Sharp and focused, he would cut through contemporary fields like butter.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s different now,\u201d Wadkins said. \u201cGuys are soft.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I might have argued, but I was scared that he might throttle me over the phone.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d6e883acbf\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/quotes\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"quote_type\": \"diptych\",\n        \"_quote_type\": \"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\n        \"enable_quote_mark\": \"1\",\n        \"_enable_quote_mark\": \"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\n        \"quote_text\": \"It\u2019s different now. Guys are soft.\",\n        \"_quote_text\": \"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\n        \"quote_author\": \"Lanny Wadkins \",\n        \"_quote_author\": \"field_5e220da4ceed4\",\n        \"image_quote_align\": \"left\",\n        \"_image_quote_align\": \"field_5e708e3f99473\",\n        \"diptych_image\": 15473456,\n        \"_diptych_image\": \"field_5e708efe99474\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">There is, of course, no metric for tabulating \u201csoftness.\u201d Nor is there enough data of any kind to bring credible closure to the GOAT debate. If he knew of any, the golf-stats guru Mark Broadie would be happy to share.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cEven with something like the 100-meter dash in the Olympics, where you\u2019re competing at the same distance over time, it\u2019s difficult enough to make comparisons,\u201d Broadie said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Good luck, then, with golf, which brings a universe of variables into play. Different training and equipment. Different courses and conditions. Different levels of competition.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe just don\u2019t have a way of measuring those things across generations,\u201d Broadie said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Not that people haven\u2019t tried.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In \u201cThe Hole Truth: Determining the Greatest Players in Golf Using Sabermetrics\u201d, the journalist Bill Felber aims to make good on the promise of his book\u2019s subtitle. Central to his calculations is a stat known as a z-score, which measures, in numbers of standard deviations, how a player's score in an event compares to that of the field average. It is, in essence, a cousin of strokes gained. To arrive at his rankings, Felber tallies z-scores into career totals. Along the way, he tries to minimize margins of error by eliminating outlier scores.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>What he doesn\u2019t do is fill a gaping hole in his analysis. At no point does he grapple with the fact that you can\u2019t rank z-scores across generations without also quantifying differences in strength of field from one era to the next. And you can\u2019t quantify those differences in strength of field because, well, you can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>You can only make assumptions.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Did Rahm face far stiffer competition at the 2021 U.S. Open than what Hogan faced at the national championship in 1953? \u2028I think he did. But I can\u2019t prove it.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Neither could Felber if he wanted to, but he glosses over that.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">If you\u2019re an ardent Hoganist, you may be glad to hear of the flaw in Felber\u2019s system since Hogan doesn\u2019t fare so well in Felber\u2019s rankings. He comes in 10th on the all-time career roster, behind Jack Nicklaus, Walter Hagen, Patty Berg, Tiger Woods, Sam Snead, Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Annika Sorenstam and Gene Sazaren.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Of course, even if those rankings were airtight, I doubt that they\u2019d do much to sway opinions. In this debate, it\u2019s not the numbers but the narrative that carries weight.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Hogan\u2019s resonates uniquely. Of multiple biographies, my favorite is Jim Dodson\u2019s \u201cBen Hogan: An American Life.\u201d It was certainly that. The organizing themes of Hogan\u2019s story \u2014 the hardscrabble beginnings and unlikely ascent; the resilience, self-reliance and resourcefulness, grinding past calamity to conquest \u2014 are the underlying themes of the \u201cAmerican story.\u201d The gritty underdog. The cowboy going it alone. People love that yarn. They're protective of it. They\u2019ll defend every thread of it, whether fact or fable. Adulation for Hogan the golfer is tied up with worship for Hogan the archetype, and longing for the era that produced him \u2014 the good old days when the game required more artistry and players weren\u2019t so soft and needy. It\u2019s an outlook rooted in both truth and fiction. Nostalgia might not be a river in Egypt, but it\u2019s still a form of denial.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d70113acc1\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"hero\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15473479,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"Hogan, at Augusta National, won a pair of green jackets. \",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"getty images \",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The beauty of Dodson\u2019s book is the way it humanizes Hogan, giving him dimension, fleshing him out in all his strengths and flaws. It\u2019s the same portrait the author sketched when I asked him how he thought his subject would stack up today. Dodson said he thought that Hogan would more than hold his own. But, he added, his greatest asset wouldn\u2019t be his driver or his irons. It would be his insecurity. \u201cNothing motivated him more than his fear of being seen as a loser,\u201d Dodson said.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The man Dodson depicts sounds relatable and likable. It\u2019s fair game to admire him. It\u2019s also fair game to poke holes in the myth.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Over the years, I\u2019ve stopped counting the tales I\u2019ve heard of Hogan on the range, hitting ball after ball, hour after hour, with such precision that his caddie never once had to move more than a half-step to collect them. The laws of physics work heavily against this. Some accounts have even had Hogan one-hopping dozens of consecutive drives into a small basket more than 250 yards away. While I have no doubt his practice sessions were stripe shows, I retain my right to note that these are things that Iron Byron couldn\u2019t do. I feel the same about such stories as I do toward reports of Sasquatch sightings. Incredible! Amazing! Where can I see the footage?<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I\u2019m not trying to be flippant, at least not as I was at that cookout years ago when I nearly got a beat-down from a crotchety golf fan twice my age. The Hogan debate is not a hill I\u2019m prepared to die on or even take a punch on. What\u2019s more, I don\u2019t think I have much to add to it. I\u2019ve come to realize that when most of us weigh in on Hogan, we reveal less about the man than we do about ourselves.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>On that note, I should also say I that I have indeed matured. Once a snarky Hogan skeptic, I\u2019m drifting toward the status of contented agnostic. I\u2019m comfortable not knowing. If I\u2019d really cared about a resolution, I would have poured my energies into the only project that could ever provide it. I would have got with Hayes and built a time machine.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Zipping through the decades, we could have settled matters once and for all, and then started bickering over Louise Suggs.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>Josh Sens welcomes your feedback at josh.sens@golf.com<\/em>.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/inline-video {\n    \"id\": \"block_621d3733afa5f\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/inline-video\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"video_type\": \"inline\",\n        \"_video_type\": \"field_5e8f847fdbf59\",\n        \"brightcove_video\": [\n            \"14984183\"\n        ],\n        \"_brightcove_video\": \"field_5e8d5dc7c525b\",\n        \"show_caption\": \"1\",\n        \"_show_caption\": \"field_5e8ed4c2b3fb8\",\n        \"video_player_position\": \"bottom\",\n        \"_video_player_position\": \"field_5fce7b644281d\",\n        \"video_player\": \"m46gb0EB2\",\n        \"_video_player\": \"field_5f18a48ee79c9\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->","post_title":"Would Ben Hogan have been as good today? Everyone seems to have an opinion.","post_excerpt":"Many Hogan devotees maintain their guy could have contended in the modern game against today's long-bombing superstars. Could he?","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-good-would-ben-hogan-have-been-today","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-03 07:11:50","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-03 12:11:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=15473442","menu_order":0,"post_type":"article","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":15469987,"post_author":"42","post_date":"2022-01-27 07:15:59","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-27 12:15:59","post_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Ray Stansberry didn\u2019t even have to turn around. He knew when Miguel \u00c1ngel Jim\u00e9nez was lurking behind him. The thick smell of cigar smoke always gave him away.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>As the PGA Tour\u2019s longtime scoreboard calligrapher, Stansberry was, for many years, among the most popular figures on Tour \u2014&nbsp;the man with the pens who posted the scores that every player and tournament patron needed to see. In an era predating electronic scoreboards and ShotLink, hanging out around \u201cthe board\u201d \u2014&nbsp;as those in the business affectionately called it \u2014&nbsp;was the place to be. After all, it was often the only spot on the course where leaderboard data, in one tidy and surprisingly lavish form, was to be found.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Jim\u00e9nez was one of Stansberry\u2019s most frequent visitors. Back in the day, the amiable Spaniard would finish his round, pour a heavy glass of red wine, light up a Cohiba and head out to the board, greeting Stansberry with an enthusiastic \u201c<em>Mi amigo!<\/em>\u201d Then he\u2019d study the wall of elegant letters and digits to see where he stood.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef1c43bb3b8\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"inline\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15470005,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"Ray Stansberry leans into it at the 2009 Travelers at TPC River Highlands.\",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"John Woike\\\/Hartford Courant\",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Stansberry, known to many players as \u201cRayzor Ray,\u201d is one of several scoreboard calligraphers who once made a living with his flawless penmanship, meticulous eye and gift for quick math. Much like persimmon woods and balata balls, scoreboard calligraphy has been rendered nearly obsolete by advances in technology \u2014&nbsp;specifically, by the megapixel digital screens now scattered across tournament venues and the countless leaderboard options available via smartphone.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>But two things can be true at the same time: Is scoreboard calligraphy a dying art, especially on golf\u2019s professional circuits? Indisputably. Do we miss its quirky grandeur? Unquestionably. The very sight of it conjures tournament golf\u2019s freewheeling, low-tech days and evokes the game\u2019s centuries-old roots.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Besides, who wouldn\u2019t want to be able to write like this?<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Calligraphy in golf scorekeeping is believed to date back to at least the 1950s. PGA professionals were even schooled in the art in order to bring upscale flourish to scoreboards for local events. Typically, there\u2019d be a board positioned on the course and another in the press area, with a calligrapher and, usually, a couple of assistants for each.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef21e76f5cc\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/article-embed\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"article_id\": 15469980,\n        \"_article_id\": \"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\n        \"article_alignment\": \"right\",\n        \"_article_alignment\": \"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Most scoreboard calligraphers use four or five pens (red, black, blue and green are the go-tos), but there\u2019s no one way to ply the trade. Refillable-ink markers are an option. So are Sharpies, in bulk \u2014&nbsp;six of each color might be used in a single event. Whatever the writing tool, ink-stained hands were and still are inescapable battle scars of the work.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always said I\u2019m just an adult who never gave up my crayons,\u201d jokes Stansberry.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>But kid\u2019s play it is not. Tournament weeks, especially pro events, were a remarkable grind. Just prepping a board with the players\u2019 names and (sometimes) hometowns \u2014&nbsp;neither of which you dared misspell \u2014&nbsp;took hours of focused effort. Then, on the morning of the first round, the frantic penmanship would begin. Scores came in furiously, even more so when a second course was needed to accommodate a large field of players.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef1cddbb3bc\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"hero\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15470003,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"A commemorative scorecard for Johnny Miller\u2019s legendary 63 at Oakmont, inked by Casey Jones, who offers similar custom work at caseyjonesgolf.com.\",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"Courtesy Oakmont CC\",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Take the U.S. Amateur. Calligrapher Mark Passey manned the boards for every U.S. Am from 1990 to 2016 and several U.S. Opens. At the amateur events, from 9 a.m. until sunset, Passey would be handed nine-hole scorecards for 12 different players every 10 minutes. If play was spread across more than one course, those courses needed to be color-coded on the board. In addition to the main scoreboard, there were round-by-round boards, summary boards, even signage for stats like eagles or holes in one. Passey estimates that he inked, on average, 40,000 letters and numbers for every U.S. Am.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt was a sprint,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a lot of fun. But oh my gosh!\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The effort was worth it. Calligraphy boards are not only tours de force of a fading art, they have also long been a natural gathering place, the nucleus of a golf tournament, a place buzzing with camaraderie. And, of course, a key source of information.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWhether they appreciated the artistry of it or not, they appreciated knowing the scores,\u201d Stansberry says. \u201cGolf is a sport of tradition, and it\u2019s a shame that tradition of [players and fans] gathering in one spot went by the wayside.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef1c62bb3b9\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"inline_diptych\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15470006,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"Casey Jones pens a headline for this story.\",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"\",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\",\n        \"second_image_second_image_file\": 15470007,\n        \"_second_image_second_image_file\": \"field_5e2f347e5b9c1\",\n        \"second_image_second_image_caption\": \"\",\n        \"_second_image_second_image_caption\": \"field_5e2f36525b9c4\",\n        \"second_image_second_image_credits\": \"Courtesy Casey Jones\",\n        \"_second_image_second_image_credits\": \"field_5e2f36565b9c5\",\n        \"second_image\": \"\",\n        \"_second_image\": \"field_5e2f34685b9bf\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Stansberry got his start in golf calligraphy as a club pro in Oklahoma. He made boards for local events, earning a reputation for fine work along the way. In 1994, he landed a part-time job with the PGA Tour and became its full-time scoreboard calligrapher in 1996.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>About the same time, Casey Jones, another master of the form, first fell in love with it. He still remembers the day \u2014&nbsp;a Friday in March 1995. The Nestl\u00e9 Invitational was being held at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Jones, then a 26-year-old graphic designer, had moved to Orlando two years earlier looking for work, but on this day he decided to take in some golf. That was the plan, at least \u2014&nbsp;until he stumbled upon the board Tour calligrapher Irv Batten was working on.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cI was fascinated by it,\u201d Jones recalls. \u201cIt just appealed to everything I liked. I love golf, and I love the scoring side of golf, and I also had the artistic ability to appreciate his work. I just stood there and thought, <em>This could be a thing. This could be a thing I could do.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Batten, the Tour\u2019s staff calligrapher prior to Stansberry, taught Jones about the business and encouraged him to reach out to other tours and tournaments to market his services. So Jones got to work, mocking up calligraphy boards, taking photos, slapping them on flyers and sending them off to any tournament director he could find. In the summer of 1996 he started to get responses; in 1997 he had about 30 events on his calendar as he traversed the country honing his craft.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef1c87bb3ba\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"indented\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15470001,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_alignment\": \"right\",\n        \"_image_alignment\": \"field_5e2a8817d2eff\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"Casey Jones in front of his summary board at Jack\u2019s house, the 1999 Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Note the winner: Tiger!\",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"Courtesy Casey Jones\",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Life was good. Then tech began to transform golf\u2019s now elaborately wired fields of play. The glory days of those exquisitely rendered numbers, stylized names and mesmerizing colors? Almost completely gone.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s on life support,\u201d Jones laments. \u201cIt\u2019s a thing that is still awesome to have at a tournament, but I think after a while people are going to forget scoreboard calligraphy even existed.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">For Stansberry, the turning point came in 2010. That\u2019s when the PGA Tour stopped subsidizing boards and eliminated his staff position. Tournament directors still had the option of paying contractors out of their own pocket to continue the tradition. And some did. But that work eventually dwindled too.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Boards had become nearly extinct at Tour stops by about 2015, says one Tour official. Same goes today for the LPGA, Korn Ferry and Champions tours. The USGA still uses them for some of its events but, notably, not the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The LPGA\u2019s stop at Kingsmill Resort was one of the last holdouts, and it was the only work remaining in the pro ranks for longtime calligrapher Paul Pope. There was a time when Pope tackled 20 to 30 events a year, traveling with the LPGA, the Champions Tour, the PGA Tour and more. He\u2019s worked his magic markers at NCAA championships, Solheim Cups and Walker Cups too. But the tournament at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., which was in limbo with an uncertain sponsorship, was left off the 2022 LPGA schedule. Pope, 60, is of the same vintage as Stansberry (61), Passey (74) and Jones (52).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe all love the work,\u201d Pope says. \u201cOtherwise, we wouldn\u2019t have stayed in it for as long as we did.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef1cacbb3bb\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"inline\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15470004,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"Paul Pope penning a showpiece at the 2017 LPGA Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va.\",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"Mark Gormus\\\/Richmond Times-Dispatch\",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"dropCap\":true} -->\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Seeking financial security \u2014&nbsp;and, maybe, seeing the writing on the wall \u2014 Jones, in 2003, took a job with the PGA Tour as a scoring official, which he now does part-time. His last board for the Tour was at the 2016 RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, where he worked up the scores in the media center for the press. He\u2019s 99 percent certain it was the last press-tent calligraphy board created on the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>These days, Jones picks up the random tournament gig \u2014&nbsp;mostly at the club level, where boards still provide a throw-back thrill \u2014&nbsp;but he\u2019s focused most intently on his side hustle: creating personalized golf awards at <a href=\"https:\/\/caseyjonesgolf.com\/\">caseyjonesgolf.com<\/a>. He recently inked commemorative hole-in-one plaques for Justin Thomas and Tony Finau.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Jones\u2019 slice of Tour life may be a bit on the wane, but the memories live on. He penned John Daly\u2019s infamous 18 at Bay Hill in 1998. In \u201999, he was on-site for Tiger Woods\u2019 first Memorial victory and stood just a few feet away as Woods and the Golden Bear bantered off the green. In 2000 \u2014&nbsp;back when he would sometimes write the champions\u2019 names on those giant winner\u2019s checks \u2014&nbsp;he got into an argument with a tournament staffer who accused him of misspelling Phil Mickelson\u2019s name. (He hadn\u2019t.) Eight years later, at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, Jones encountered some of the loudest roars he\u2019d ever heard on a golf course as Woods and Rocco Mediate battled down the stretch.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cI kind of feel like I was born to be a scoreboard guy,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the perfect marriage of my passion for golf and my artistic ability and kind of a fluky thing. If you were to ask me in college what I\u2019d be doing for a living, I would <em>never<\/em> have guessed I\u2019d have a career in penmanship.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/magazine-subscription {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef17c4bb3b7\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/magazine-subscription\",\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"preview\"\n} \/-->","post_title":"Paging Mr. Write: An appreciation of scoreboard calligraphy, which brought flair and old-school class to tournament golf","post_excerpt":"Is scoreboard calligraphy a dying art, especially on golf's pro circuits? Indisputably. Do we miss its quirky grandeur? Unquestionably.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"dwindling-art-scoreboard-calligraphy-flair-class","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-27 07:16:07","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-27 12:16:07","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=15469987","menu_order":0,"post_type":"article","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":15470055,"post_author":"38","post_date":"2022-01-26 06:46:53","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-26 11:46:53","post_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In this wacky world, it\u2019s hard to know where each of us will be in six months, let alone 18. But ask newly retired hoopster J.J. Redick and he knows exactly where he\u2019ll be in 18 months: walking up and down the Pacific coast with spikes on his feet, hitting golf shots at <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/travel\/bandon-dunes\/\">Bandon Dunes<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cBandon\u2019s crazy right now, man,\u201d he said in a phone interview the other day. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Redick had just explained a months-long timeline of phone calls he made to secure the most precious of golf reservations. The earliest he could book a buddies trip for eight was summer 2023, so he snatched it up. It may conflict directly with his other new retirement gig \u2014 commenting on the NBA for ESPN \u2014 but so be it. The man is addicted to golf. Everything else will have to take a back seat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\n    \"id\": \"block_61f0956c707ee\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/article-embed\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"article_id\": 15411572,\n        \"_article_id\": \"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\n        \"article_alignment\": \"right\",\n        \"_article_alignment\": \"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>This storyline here \u2014 ultra-competitive ex-athlete enters retirement and dives head-first into golf, the unconquerable game \u2014 is not a unique one. But what\u2019s been so fun about Redick\u2019s path into the sport is how gleefully he has forced it into his life.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Redick spent the latter part of his career outright avoiding golf, agreeing to play just one round from 2015 to 2020. It came at the ultra-exclusive Friar\u2019s Head, one of <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/travel\/courses\/top-100-courses-world-ranking-2021-2022\/\">the best courses in the world<\/a>, out on Long Island. He\u2019s a bit embarrassed to discuss the details these days, because, well, he wouldn\u2019t have broken 120. But <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/lifestyle\/celebrities\/nba-bubble-golf-hobby-ritual\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">like many NBA players during the July 2020 bubble<\/a> in Orlando, Redick's recreational options were limited. Golf was more appealing than fishing a stocked lake in a pontoon in 95-degree heat.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>His New Orleans Pelicans may have been bounced quickly from the bubble, but they stayed around long enough for Redick to play a handful of times and become fully infected by the golf bug. \u201cI still suck, but I <em>really<\/em> sucked in the bubble,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I still was like \u2018Oh, this is awesome.\u2019 And those Disney courses are fine. But then once I got back, I played Sebonack and I played The Bridge and I was like \u2018Oh man.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>We cannot fault the man for enjoying the perks of elite private golf on Long Island, but something about the sport flipped a switch in him. Golf was more than just the score he shot or the people he was pegging it with. It could be the thing he needed to fill the impending void of basketball.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/images {\n    \"id\": \"block_61ef80d7481b0\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/images\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"image_type\": \"inline\",\n        \"_image_type\": \"field_5e2a86aad2efb\",\n        \"image_file\": 15470060,\n        \"_image_file\": \"field_5e2a8740d2efc\",\n        \"image_caption\": \"Redick, far right, during his fall buddies trip with, from left, Hadi Fakhoury, David Redick and fellow former-NBAer Spencer Hawes.\",\n        \"_image_caption\": \"field_5e2a8795d2efd\",\n        \"image_credits\": \"Courtesy\",\n        \"_image_credits\": \"field_5e2a8801d2efe\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt kind of dawned on me,\u201d he said. \u201cI need something in retirement that is going to scratch some of these personality flaws that I had \u2014&nbsp;i.e., obsession, OCD, you know, some some form of addiction. I was addicted to basketball. I was addicted to the routine of going to the gym and getting my shots up and working out. I played cards in the NBA. Who am I going to play cards with, and have my $20 bet with? I need some of that. I need some action. And golf fulfills all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Eighteen months after the bubble and four months into retirement, you can see it <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-old-man-and-the-three-with-jj-redick-and-tommy-alter\/id1525281746\">in the podcasts Redick hosts<\/a>, whether he's giddy at the chance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MOvT8Mk7X2M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to interview Collin Morikawa<\/a>, helping <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CNS_GjkhhAT\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launch Adam Scott\u2019s podcast<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/d5JSGjg7Q2c?t=32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">forcing golf into the conversation<\/a> with some of the most famous basketball players in the world. Redick started with lessons in Harlem, grooved his game at a Five Iron simulator, established a membership on Long Island and said yes to every invite in the tri-state area. It didn\u2019t take long for him to figure out that, more than any other sport, golf is an entity. It can be acquired, or collected.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a nerd,\u201d he says. \u201cA total nerd. I was like this with watches when I collected them. I'm like this way with wine. Like, I knew <em>nothing<\/em> about golf-course architecture. That's a whole other rabbit hole.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>That line came about nine minutes into our conversation, and that\u2019s when I knew golf had him by the throat. Because there are a handful of particular ways in which golf addicts out themselves. Consuming endless instruction content is one way. Memorizing the elite courses sprinkled across America is another. But golf-course architecture \u2014 the study of why this bunker is placed here, why that green is shaped that way \u2014 is the graduate-level class of a golf addiction. Only your most ardent golf buddies know what C.B. MacDonald\u2019s template holes look like. Redick is now one of those guys.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:html -->\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZLPcVLl3TP\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZLPcVLl3TP\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\"> <div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\"> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;\"><svg width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewBox=\"0 0 60 60\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\"><g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><g transform=\"translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)\" fill=\"#000000\"><g><path d=\"M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div><div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\"> <div style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZLPcVLl3TP\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\">A post shared by George Gankas (@georgegankasgolf)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote> <script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\n<!-- \/wp:html -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The top course on his bucket list is not Augusta National or Pine Valley or St. Andrews. It\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/course\/sand-hills\/\">Sand Hills<\/a>, the dreamy, minimalist layout in central Nebraska. He\u2019s already received the tantalizing \"I know a guy who knows a member\" offer, so it\u2019s only a matter of time. In the meantime, he\u2019s picking off everything out east. As it turns out, a Duke-grad who works at ESPN, <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-old-man-and-the-three-with-jj-redick-and-tommy-alter\/id1525281746\">hosts an incredibly popular podcast<\/a> and played 15 years in the NBA will never be short on golf invites. Just this summer he amassed a week\u2019s worth of courses that, frankly, it takes years for normal folks to pick off: Winged Foot on Monday, Garden City on Tuesday, The Bridge on Wednesday, Maidstone Thursday, The Bridge on Friday and Piping Rock on Saturday.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cI legitimately expected my wife to serve me divorce papers that following Monday,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cBut they didn't come. So I was excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When it comes to talking golf, Redick is clearly a scratch. But as a player he\u2019s still working through the same cruel sport we all are. He plays to a 15 handicap at the moment after a five-stroke improvement this summer, but struggles with early extension in the downswing. His best rounds \u2014 tallying 86 \u2014 have come at his home course, The Bridge, and just like you and me, he remembers all the missed opportunities that kept him from 85.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>As endearing as it was to listen to this happy-go-lucky golf connoisseur discuss his impromptu trips to Merion, or how hole-by-hole flyovers became his quarantine infatuation, the collector\u2019s itch only explains part of why Redick has declared golf \"the greatest sport ever invented.\" During a series of discussions with this therapist this summer, when he waffled between another season in the NBA or calling it a career, Redick was hit with sudden clarity about what basketball meant for him and what he thought he would be missing when he retired.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He realized that whatever he would take on next, he would need three things: performance, competition and collaboration. A foursome has all of that, every day of the week, every state in the union. Also, 30 years of being a gym rat made him really want to just be outside, with this phone out of sight. We were in minute 37 of a 49-minute conversation when Redick began to admit those vulnerabilities that only something like retirement asks you to address. How lucky is he to have addressed them in golf, this quickly?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cThis is why I think golf is the greatest sport,\u201d he said. \u201cYou are competing no matter what you set up. Whether you're playing a solo round, you're playing a member-member, a member-guest, you're playing a match on a Saturday with three buddies \u2014&nbsp;you're competing against something or someone, you're competing against the course. And with golf, because you're keeping score and because there's a handicap system, you're always competing against yourself. You're always doing that.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cAnd that performance anxiety \u2014 you know, 7:23 in the morning. We\u2019re the second non-accompanied group to go off at Cypress. You can't use the driving range. The sun is barely up. It's 43 degrees. There's this breeze coming in off the ocean on the 1st hole. And you're stepping up to the tee box having not hit a ball yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He paused on that vivid memory for a second. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cAnd \u2014 <em>gahhh<\/em>. That feeling you get? There's nothing like it.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/inline-video {\n    \"id\": \"block_61f0954f707ed\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/inline-video\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"video_type\": \"inline\",\n        \"_video_type\": \"field_5e8f847fdbf59\",\n        \"brightcove_video\": [\n            \"15470073\"\n        ],\n        \"_brightcove_video\": \"field_5e8d5dc7c525b\",\n        \"show_caption\": \"1\",\n        \"_show_caption\": \"field_5e8ed4c2b3fb8\",\n        \"video_player_position\": \"bottom\",\n        \"_video_player_position\": \"field_5fce7b644281d\",\n        \"video_player\": \"m46gb0EB2\",\n        \"_video_player\": \"field_5f18a48ee79c9\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->","post_title":"There are golf addicts, and then there's former NBA player J.J. Redick","post_excerpt":"Newly retired NBA player J.J. Redick has scratched his competitive itch by diving head-first into golf. His obsession runs deep.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"jj-redick-proof-addicting-golf-can-be","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-01-26 06:47:00","post_modified_gmt":"2022-01-26 11:47:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=15470055","menu_order":0,"post_type":"article","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":15468060,"post_author":"39","post_date":"2021-12-29 07:28:48","post_date_gmt":"2021-12-29 12:28:48","post_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Jack Nicklaus didn\u2019t play in the <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/pnc-championship\/\">PNC Championship<\/a>, the old Father-Son event, this year, but if he was watching, Nicklaus no doubt enjoyed seeing <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/tiger-woods-charlie-pnc-two-moments\/\">Tiger Woods out there with his son<\/a>, and his old pals Tom Watson and <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/why-lee-trevinos-talk-charlie-woods-meaningful\/\">Lee Trevino<\/a> playing with their sons. Gary Player was in the field, too, with his grandson, Jordan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Another Nicklaus also likely would have been fond of the cross-generational event: Charlie Nicklaus, Jack\u2019s father. Charlie would have loved not only watching the PNC but also playing in it, alongside the son he helped to fall in love with the game.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\n    \"id\": \"block_61cb95b23d8a8\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/article-embed\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"article_id\": 15453759,\n        \"_article_id\": \"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\n        \"article_alignment\": \"right\",\n        \"_article_alignment\": \"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie liked competing in anything growing up in Columbus, Ohio, and he liked just about every sport. He was the city tennis champion a couple of times, and he taught Jack just enough tennis to make him dangerous. Charlie played every sport with a ball, including recreational volleyball as a young man.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>One night, Charlie broke his ankle playing volleyball and that led to Jack\u2019s own start in golf. At first, Charlie thought it was just a sprain but later he learned it was broken. He had three fusion operations. His doctor said something along the lines of, \u201cYou better take up something that will make you walk or you\u2019ll be in a wheelchair.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie had played golf as a kid but hadn\u2019t played for 15 years. He was a young father himself at this point. He took up golf again. Jack was 10.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie couldn\u2019t get a game then, because his walking was so labored. Jack would go out there with him and carry the bag. He\u2019d play a hole and then sit for a while. Young Jack would chip and putt. That was his first exposure to golf. Jack's father said to him, \u201cDo you want to learn this game?\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Scioto Country Club had a new pro that summer,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/jack-nicklaus-explains-revisit-swing-fundamentals\/\">Jack&nbsp;Grout<\/a>, who had come to Columbus by way of Hershey (Pa.) Country Club. Jack joined a junior clinic, one with about 60 kids in it.&nbsp;Grout became like a second father to Jack. He and Charlie were close. Jack was always&nbsp;<em>Jackieboy<\/em>&nbsp;to Mr. Grout, though Jack often called him&nbsp;<em>J. Grout<\/em>.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\n    \"id\": \"block_61cb95c53d8a9\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/article-embed\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"article_id\": 15458824,\n        \"_article_id\": \"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\n        \"article_alignment\": \"left\",\n        \"_article_alignment\": \"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Playing sports growing up, Jack followed his father\u2019s example. He played everything. Charlie had lettered in football, basketball and baseball at South High School in Columbus. He started the golf team there.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>At Ohio State, where Charlie was enrolled in the College of Pharmacy, he continued to play football, basketball and baseball. This was in the 1930s. Different times.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>On weekends, Charlie played professional football under an assumed name for a team in Portsmouth, Ohio, the Portsmouth Spartans. He might have made $30 or $40 a game \u2014 a lot of money. Pro football was a new thing. In 1934, the Spartans became the Detroit Lions.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie encouraged Jack to play every sport in its season, and he introduced his son to every sport he had played.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In high school, Jack was a quarterback in football who struggled to handle a wet ball, a slow guard with a good shot in basketball and a catcher in baseball. Golf was his summer game. He actually got recruited to play basketball by Ohio State. The school had some good teams in those years, with a rising star named John Havlicek. Jack\u2019s best sport was probably baseball. But golf was the one he liked the best, in part because it meant time with his father.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/quotes {\n    \"id\": \"block_61cb96993d8ab\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/quotes\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"quote_type\": \"hero\",\n        \"_quote_type\": \"field_5e220d0cceed2\",\n        \"enable_quote_mark\": \"0\",\n        \"_enable_quote_mark\": \"field_5e713b34e5a18\",\n        \"quote_text\": \"Charlie encouraged Jack to play every sport in its season, and he introduced his son to every sport he had played.\",\n        \"_quote_text\": \"field_5e220d9cceed3\",\n        \"quote_author\": \"\",\n        \"_quote_author\": \"field_5e220da4ceed4\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie and Jack spent a lot of time together. Jack helped out in the pharmacy, stocking the shelves, straightening the magazines, sweeping the floors. Juniors could play at Scioto C.C. before 8 a.m. and after 4 p.m. Some afternoons, Charlie and Jack would slip out for nine holes before dinner.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>One day, they were on the 15th hole at Scioto. Jack hit an 8-iron into a greenside bunker. The next thing in the air was his 8-iron, which went nearly as far as his ball.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>His father said, \u201cPick up your club. Pick your ball.\u201d They walked in from there. Charlie said, \u201cIf that happens again, you\u2019ll never see another golf course.\u201d Jack learned his lesson.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:acf\/article-embed {\n    \"id\": \"block_61cb96553d8aa\",\n    \"name\": \"acf\\\/article-embed\",\n    \"data\": {\n        \"article_id\": 15432256,\n        \"_article_id\": \"field_5e3c4b1474358\",\n        \"article_alignment\": \"right\",\n        \"_article_alignment\": \"field_5e3c4b51064ae\"\n    },\n    \"align\": \"\",\n    \"mode\": \"edit\"\n} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Some years later, Jack was at Spyglass, playing with his eldest son,&nbsp;Jackie. This was in 1972, when the <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/u-s-open-2\/\">U.S. Open<\/a> was at <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/pebble-beach\/\">Pebble Beach<\/a>.&nbsp;Jackie was 10. He was banging clubs and hitting trees. That day, Jack said pretty much to&nbsp;Jackie what his father had said to him. Jack never had to say anything like that to&nbsp;Jackie a second time. Jackie became a good amateur golfer, and always carried himself like a true sportsman.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie\u2019s hero, growing up, was <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/instruction\/bobby-jones\/\">Bobby Jones<\/a>, the great amateur golf who won his first U.S. Open in 1923. He won his second U.S. Open in 1926, at Scioto. Charlie was hanging on his every shot. Jones parted his hair in a distinctive way, so Charlie did the same. Jones wore plus-four knickers, so Charlie did the same. Charlie was about 11 years younger than Jones. Jones was born in 1902 and Charlie was born in 1913.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Jack got to know Jones quite well, through amateur golf and by playing the <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/tag\/the-masters\/\">Masters<\/a>. Jones had a temper himself as a teenager and as a young hot-shot amateur. In time, he became known for his grace under pressure and for his keen sense of sportsmanship, when he won and when he lost. That made a big impression on Charlie.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie taught Jack how to be a good sport. He truly believed in the old saying, It\u2019s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. Charlie would say, \u201cI don\u2019t care what your feeling is inside. If the other guy wins, make him believe you\u2019re happy for him. Look him in the eye, give him a firm handshake and say, 'Well done.\u2019 Now if you want to go in the locker room and beat your head against the wall? That\u2019s your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Charlie died too young, at 56, from pancreatic cancer. That was in 1970. Jack was 30. But father and son made the most of their years together.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In 1970, Jack and his wife, Barbara, moved into the house where they live now, in South Florida. Their kids were young, and Jack bought a couple of other lots nearby, where the youngsters could play with their friends. There were about 35 kids in the neighborhood. They would have these decathlons, every sport you could imagine. Basketball, tennis, running races, punting competitions, you name it. Jack relished being out there with them, trying to keep up.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><em>This article is the latest installment of the&nbsp;<\/em>Golden Rules<em>&nbsp;series, produced by Jack Nicklaus in association with&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.generational.com%2F%3Futm_source%3Dgolf.com%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_campaign%3Dgolf.comAug21%26utm_content%3Darticlefooter&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cbrendan.mohler%40golf.com%7C42a6ed0188f645e3f74408d958f1f1b9%7Cb29cdba090eb48339b7dcc39c33b4a05%7C0%7C0%7C637638618446411210%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=qfchql0TLYVFNEDsOpddem87LSN88Xrm1kVhTX6BUp0%3D&amp;reserved=0\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Generational Group<\/a>. Read more about the partnership&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.genequityco.com\/jack-nicklaus\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","post_title":"Jack Nicklaus had many guiding lights in his life. Near the top of the list: his father, Charlie","post_excerpt":"Charlie taught Jack how to be a good sport. He believed in the old saying, It\u2019s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"jack-nicklaus-guiding-lights-father-charlie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-12-29 07:28:54","post_modified_gmt":"2021-12-29 12:28:54","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=15468060","menu_order":0,"post_type":"article","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.9 (Yoast SEO v23.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Features - Golf<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read our best thoroughly-reported golf news stories and interviews from our best GOLF writers covering all corners of the golf worlds.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Features\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read our best thoroughly-reported golf news stories and interviews from our best GOLF writers covering all corners of the golf worlds.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/features\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Golf\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/golf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-14T19:44:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@golf_com\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Features - 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