Golf merger deadline extended, new goal revealed as PGA boss’ memo to players leaked

The PGA Tour has worked to extend a deadline into 2024 for finalizing a merger agreement with Saudi Arabian investors, tour commissioner Jay Monahan calling talks “active and productive.”

The update to players in a memo from Monahan came hours ahead of the year-end deadline to approve a framework agreement merging the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) that finances the upstart LIV Golf League.

An update on the PGA Tour website regarding talks said the memo, which reportedly was obtained by The Golf Channel and ESPN, addressed efforts to extend the deadline into 2024.

Monahan said in his memo, according to the Golf Channel, that the PGA Tour will “continue our active and productive conversations with PIF and the DP World Tour.

“While we had initially set a deadline of December 31, 2023, to reach an agreement, we are working to extend our negotiations into next year based on the progress we have made to date.”

Monahan also said the PGA Tour had made “meaningful progress” in separate negotiations to have Strategic Sports Group (SSG) become a tour minority investor.

Monahan’s memo said the goal remains to have PIF, the DP World Tour and SSG become minority co-investors in PGA Tour Enterprises in 2024.

“These partnerships will allow us to unify, innovate and invest in the game for the benefit of the players, fans and sponsors,” Monahan said.

ESPN reported the SSG would invest $3 billion into the new entity, which would be financed to more than $7 billion if the PIF investment were also included in any deal.

The PGA Tour has been negotiating with PIF since June with a stated December 31 deadline on final details of a merger agreement, the announcement of which stunned PGA Tour players and led to players demanding and getting greater input in final approval of the deal.

Spain’s Jon Rahm, the reigning Masters champion, jumped from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf in early December, serving notice that the Saudi-backed series and its plans for a 2024 campaign could pull even more talent from the PGA Tour as it did in 2022 for its inaugural season.

The hope is now that the two sides can come to an agreement before the Masters in April, according to The Telegraph, which broke the news just three days shy of the deadline.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan were scheduled to meet before Christmas, but no details have come out about the sitdown.

“There’s no chance a deal can be announced by the end of this week,” a source told The Telegraph. “But, maybe by the end of March.”

Skepticism started to bubble as the deadline neared, even as Tiger Woods — a member of the PGA Tour’s policy board — told reporters earlier this month the two sides still aimed to meet the Dec. 31 date.

“I am confident a deal will get done in some way,” Tiger Woods said at the Hero World Challenge, per CBS Sports. “Whether that comes Dec. 31 or is pushed back, we’re all — all sides understand we’re working together. There are no lawsuits. Everyone’s understanding what that looks like, and we’re all progressing going forward. Everyone’s working right now with no animosity. We’re trying to work to try and get a deal done for the Tour and for all parties involved.”

The European tour hasn’t written eligibility criteria yet for the 2025 Ryder Cup but Rory McIlroy is on record saying he wants the Spaniard on the team.

The PGA Tour moved swiftly to denounce Jon Rahm and disallowed him as a member this week.

The DP World Tour didn’t follow suit.

According to DP World Tour representatives, Rahm is a member of the European-based tour for 2024 since he filed his membership forms last month before the deadline. That would make him eligible for the European Ryder Cup team under the rules in place for the 2023 Ryder Cup.

When LIV Golf members Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood resigned their memberships in May, they lost their opportunity to play on the European Ryder Cup team in Italy since they were no longer members of the Tour.

In an interview with Sky Sports earlier this month, Rory McIlroy announced that not only did he have no ill-will towards Rahm joining LIV but that he wanted him on the European team at Bethpage Black in 2025.

“Jon is going to be in Bethpage in 2025 so, because of this decision, the European Tour (DP World Tour) are going to have to rewrite the rules for the Ryder Cup eligibility,” McIlroy told Sky. “There’s absolutely no question about that—I certainly want Jon Rahm on the next Ryder Cup team.

According to a spokesman at the DP World Tour, there are no rules that need to be rewritten regarding eligibility criteria for the 2025 European Ryder Cup team since they have not yet been written and won’t be until sometime in 2024.

And with the qualification period for the 2025 Ryder Cup not due to begin for at least another nine months, much can happen between now and then.

European captain Luke Donald has always been steadfast about LIV golfers that are eligible to play on the Ryder Cup being part of the discussion.

Considering Rahm is currently ranked third in the world and was a major part of the European victory in Italy, it would seem Donald would not ignore bringing the Spaniard on if he is playing well.

“And let’s not forget there’s still LIV players that can still play on my team,” Donald said at Oak Hill before the 2023 PGA Championship. “They’re still eligible if they’re members of the Tour and were born in Europe. That is still a possibility for some guys.”

The Saudi-backed circuit has only announced one event so far for next year and one team captain appeared to be getting restless.

Brooks Koepka appears to be trolling the very golf league of which he is a member with a pair of sarcastic Instagram comments. The LIV golfer is frustrated that the team-format circuit has again delayed the release of its 2024 schedule.

LIV’s Adelaide event is the only tournament that has been made official thus far.

Koepka, a five-time major champion and the captain of LIV’s Smash GC, left two public comments on two separate Instagram posts on LIV’s official account. Both comments alluded to the uncertainty of LIV’s 2024 schedule, and the first has since been deleted by Koepka.

Koepka’s initial comment was shared via screenshot by Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch on Saturday. In the post, LIV’s social media page photoshopped a Instagram direct message board asking fans which “DM” they’d most like to receive from its star players.

In response, Koepka wrote, “The Dm with the schedule for next year would be nice.” The comment no longer appears on the post.

On Sunday, Koepka again took to LIV’s Instagram comment section, this time responding to a photo carousel of some of the flashiest pairs of shoes that league members sported this season.

The caption read: “The swag is unmatched. Which ones are you rocking on the course?”

Single figure golfer Carly Frost says the World Handicap System has caused a sensational and unpopular shake-up of handicaps

I’m not usually an outspoken person, but one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that I had far more fun playing competitive golf three years ago before the new World Handicap System (WHS) came into force.

Back then, things simply seemed fairer. Our handicaps were a truer reflection of our level of play, realistic and on the whole very accurate. I seldom spoke to a woman who felt her handicap was totally wrong. There was the odd club bandit but they were few and far between. Competitions were won with excellent, as opposed to extraordinary, scores.

I’m a low single figure handicapper who plays in two qualifiers a week, pretty much all year-round, course conditions and weather permitting. I’ve been in the prizes once this year – on the only day of the year the lowest two gross scores counted – our club championships. Yet look at the consistency of my week-in, week-out scores and a few years ago I would have won many more prizes.

My handicap has remained at 2, exactly where I started the year. On many occasions I scored 35 or 36 points in a stableford, that’s shooting just two-over-par, and was outside the top 10 and way off the prizes. A winning score has become virtually unachievable for me off my low handicap, up against women who have 20 or 30 shots more, but are perfectly capable of playing 10 under that handicap on their day and scoring 45 points or more.

Players who formerly had handicaps in the teens and are now in the mid-to-high twenties. Yet I’ve continued to pay my competition entry money each week and take part in every club competition because I have my own personal goals and aspirations. I want to continue to improve and stay competitive as in five years time, when I turn 50, I hope to compete on the England seniors circuit, and who knows, maybe even get a cap for my country.

Despite winning the south-west intermediate championship as a 20-year-old I was never quite good enough to contend in the national events against big-hitting juniors. My best finish was a top-10 in the English Amateur Championship at Stoneham Golf Club in Hampshire, a course that suited my skilful short game, rather than rewarding the big bombers. The seniors is my chance to shine.

Yet I look at the handicaps required to get into the national events now and I’m staggered. Somebody suggested that I enter the English Amateur Championship this past summer as it was being played on my doorstep at Broadstone and Ferndown golf clubs in Dorset. My handicap was nowhere near low enough, unless you were a plus handicapper you didn’t get a spot.

How many of these supposed plus handicappers have come down three shots or more since the WHS came into effect I wonder? It would be interesting to do a poll of club players, analysing what their former handicaps were versus now. I tee up against these women in county matches and I think, “How did they get as low as that?” It’s actually very easy. Just go and play a short course, put in an extra day card and shoot in the sixties a few times and hey presto! But where’s the pleasure in that?

With the WHS it is definitely easy to manipulate your handicap. There’s no judge or jury looking at the scores submitted, so how can they really be trusted? Golf is a self-regulating game after all. On the flip side of the coin, it’s exciting to think that I could, in a matter of only a few good rounds (8 out of the last 20 in fact), now find myself playing off the lowest handicap of my life.

In my 30 years of playing this game it has always been my ambition to achieve that elusive scratch handicap. I’m very competitive and relish every opportunity to play, both stroke play and match play. It used to feel like I was only chipping away at my handicap to get down low (as a category one player in the old CONGU handicap model I used to only come down 0.1 for every shot under my handicap) – now I can come down a whole shot in a matter of weeks by playing consistently well. That’s certainly an exciting prospect!

The majority of women I play golf with don’t share this sentiment. They don’t have the same consistency or ability to go low and, as a result, have found that their handicaps have soared up. A run of poor golf will see your handicap index rocket very easily and quickly with the way the new WHS is designed. Many women are embarrassed by their new high handicaps. Often sad or ashamed that they have gone from the steady silver division to the higher bronze section.

Such is the quantity of players now sitting in our club bronze team we can barely field a team for scratch matches anymore, and we have over 100 active women playing golf at my home club Parkstone in Dorset. The silver section (for handicaps 21 and under) used to be thriving. Instead it’s the bronze section that’s burgeoning now. As a result they’ve had to re-think the divisions at my club, with so many women competing for bronze prizes and so few for silver. It’s not just our club, it’s a problem I hear discussed among county delegates country-wide.

You may remember my rant last summer about playing in Opens. Things haven’t settled down. The scoring I’ve witnessed this year has remained spectacular. So I’ve stopped entering away days as too many women have realised that it pays to play off a higher handicap. They are playing the system by only putting in cards as and when they choose. That’s not how it was designed. You are supposed to put your scorecard in every time you play in order to get a true reflection of your ability.

I signed up to our summer club knock-out this year because I love match play, hoping to get through at least a few rounds. I got knocked out in the first stage by a woman who used to play off 17 and now has 25 shots. I had to give her 22 shots and was one-over-par gross when I lost on the 17th. I had played immaculate golf.

Our county inter-club competition has become a mockery. I used to play in these club matches with pride. I look back at the decades of pictures of me sporting my fuchsia pink club colours and feel sad that those days are gone. How many matches did I play in this summer? None. The simple reason is that clubs now field all their high handicappers so that they get given loads of shots. There’s no point in single figure players taking part.

As for grassroots girls golf, never before has it experienced a shock to the system quite like the jolt the World Handicap System has sent surging through it. I’m the regional press officer for the PGA and I speak to county and national coaches regularly. They are disgusted by the number of falsely handicapped juniors there are now. I hate to point the finger of blame but I think that parents have actively assisted their children to achieve the necessary low handicap on paper to get into the big events. These kids then turn up and shoot two scores in the eighties. It’s a joke.

The other stupidity of the new system is that after a summer of consistent golf, which let’s face it was played in pretty perfect conditions, many of us are stuck on a low handicap for the whole winter because we’re now in what I call the silly season, playing mainly fun format competitions rather than qualifiers. Just put in extra day cards I hear you say. Indeed that is an option, however our course, like many, has a winter programme of works with holes shut making it impossible.

Our Lady Captain and England referee Sheila Waltham have been very proactive in asking me my opinion on what could be done to make competitions fairer for the handful of single figure players at the club, so that we don’t feel like outsiders.

I suggested that we could introduce a new Gold division for players off a handicap of 12 or better, so that we are competing against our low handicap peers. Another solution is to introduce more scratch competitions. We had an open mic meeting about this at prize-giving after our club championship. The unanimous feeling in the room was that this would be a waste of time as no-one would enter. Our club has an ageing demographic of women whose handicaps are really only getting higher.

In the meantime, the handful of low handicappers like me who feel that competitions are no longer fair, are starting to consider why they belong to a club. If things carry on like this we will lose the members we want the most, the younger players whose handicaps are coming down. This to me is a sad situation and one that certainly needs addressing.

Women who have been around the game for 20+ years are questioning why we can’t just go back to the way things were? The old CONGU handicap system worked well. What you have to realize is that the new WHS is the result of a partnership between the USGA and the R&A – the game’s two big governing bodies. They have invested too much in the concept to make golf a global game to go back. The new system has been adopted by more than 100 federations across the globe. So the reality is, as much as those like me are opposed to the new WHS, we are simply not going back. We have to find solutions now using the new system to make things fair for all who play. For the future of the game we love.

Carly Frost authored and published this article on Golf Monthly.

Rory McIlroy has resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board. The move was first reported by the New York Times.

“Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory—and all of his fellow player directors—have invested in the tour during this unprecedented, transformational period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down in order to focus on his game and his family,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Edward D. Herlihy, the board’s chairman, said in the statement to the New York Times.

McIlroy, 34, served as the de facto face of the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, standing up for his tour in the absence of leadership and doing so because he believed it was the right thing to do. Along with Tiger Woods, he spearheaded a player-led initiative in the summer of 2022 that restructured and saved the tour from further player exodus. McIlroy admitted that putting himself out there in the game’s civil war took an emotional and physical toll, a toll McIroy said he was still reckoning with this year.

So when the tour announced in June a surprising partnership with the LIV Golf’s backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—a negotiation that McIlroy was not a part of—McIlroy conceded a sense of betrayal. “It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens.” McIlroy said at the RBC Canadian Open a day after the framework agreement announcement.

Nevertheless, McIlroy continued in his position on the tour’s policy board throughout the summer and spoke positively this week of the direction a now unified professional game could be going. “If you were in the middle of it, you would see that there’s a path forward,” McIlroy said. “It’s just that no one on the outside has any details. Loose lips sink ships, so we are trying to keep it tight and within walls. I’m sure when there’s news to tell, it will be told.”

The news comes on the same day Monahan addressed his membership in a memo, asserting the tour’s discussions with PIF remain ongoing despite rumors that they may be falling apart. “Progress has been deliberate given the complex nature of the potential agreement, and we will keep you apprised of the progress, with continued input and direction from your player directors and player advisor Colin Neville,” Monahan wrote. However, there was no mention of McIlroy’s departure. On Tuesday evening, Monahan wrote another memo addressing McIlroy’s resignation.

“Rory’s resignation letter, which he sent to the board late this afternoon, clearly stated that the difficult decision was made due to professional and personal commitments,” Monahan wrote.

McIlroy is playing this week in Dubai in the DP World Tour’s season finale.

Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel and Lucas Glover join Justin Thomas on Atlanta Drive GC in the first season of TGL, the new Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy-backed simulator golf league; watch the DP World Tour Championship live on Sky Sports Golf, Thursday from 7am

The Drive are the second of six teams to unveil their complete four-man roster for 2024. Boston Common consist of TGL co-founder McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Tyrrell Hatton and Adam Scott.

The Atlanta team is owned by Arthur Blank, who also owns NFL franchise the Atlanta Falcons. The other four teams will represent Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Jupiter, Florida, who Woods will represent as well as co-own.

Thomas was the first player to be assigned to a TGL team, joining Atlanta last month. And though Cantlay, the No 5 player in the world, is from California, the other three Drive members have connections to the Southern US. Thomas is from Kentucky, Horschel hails from Florida and Glover is a South Carolina native.

The Drive feature a two-time major champion in Thomas and the 2021 FedEx Cup champion in Cantlay. Horschel has won seven times on the PGA Tour and Glover has won on six occasions, including in back-to-back weeks late in the 2022-23 regular season.

Cantlay and Thomas were both part of the defeated USA Ryder Cup team at the Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome last month, with the former reported to be at the centre of a rift in the team.

Cantlay denied the reports and went on to score two points out of a possible four for the US, including winning a fiery clash against Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick on the Saturday evening which spilled over into the car park as McIlroy raged over the behaviour of Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava on the 18th green.

Woods has taken a swipe at LIV Golf after being announced as player and co-owner for the final team in the upcoming TGL golf league.

Woods has now been confirmed as not only the first of four players for the Jupiter Links Golf Club but also as owner, alongside David Blitzer, the co-managing partner of NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

The 47-old believes the new venture will be easier to follow than the Saudi-backed LIV, saying: “Some of the stuff I’ve seen in LIV… I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on. Here it’s very simple.”

Woods, who lives in Jupiter, Florida, said in a statement: “Through its use of technology, TGL is a modern twist of traditional golf and ultimately will make the sport I love more accessible.

“Having the opportunity to not only compete, but also own a team to represent Jupiter is an exciting next chapter for me. I expect Jupiter Links GC to showcase the golf culture of my hometown as we compete against the best players in the world.”

He added: “Generally, golf takes about five or six hours to play. In today’s world, with all of our smartphones, it is hard for anybody to go five to six hours without looking at their phones. So the shorter the time, the better it is.”

TGL combines an oversized simulator with actual shots to a tech-infused green that can change contours depending on the shot, with the league designed to take golf to a new audience.

The six squads will play each other once in league play with the top four teams advancing to the semi-finals, while the season will culminate with a best-of-three final.

Woods’ Jupiter team-mates have not yet been confirmed but Boston and Atlanta have already announced their full roster, while Collin Morikawa will represents Los Angeles.

Jon Rahm was set to play in the inaugural tournament but has since withdrawn.

Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point is an exceptional golf course that beautifully combines stunning natural landscapes with a challenging and well-designed layout. Located in the Bronx, New York, this golf course offers a unique and unforgettable golfing experience.

The first thing that strikes you when you arrive at Ferry Point is the picturesque setting. Situated along the shores of the East River, the course boasts breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, making it one of the most scenic golf courses in the entire New York City area. The combination of modern cityscape and pristine nature is truly awe-inspiring.

The golf course itself is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design, which means it has been expertly crafted to provide golfers with a challenging yet enjoyable round. Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point spans over 7,400 yards, offering a variety of tee options to accommodate golfers of all skill levels. The fairways are meticulously manicured, and the greens are fast and true, providing a fantastic playing surface.

The layout of the course is both strategic and demanding. The fairways are relatively tight, but strategically placed bunkers and water hazards come into play on many holes, making shot placement crucial. Nicklaus’s design philosophy becomes evident as you navigate the course, with each hole presenting a unique blend of strategy and demand. The par-3s are particularly impressive, with stunning views and challenging distances, while the par-4s and par-5s offer a mix of shot-making opportunities and risk-reward scenarios.

Service at Ferry Point is top-notch, with a friendly and accommodating staff that goes out of their way to make your golfing experience enjoyable. The clubhouse is elegant and offers excellent dining options, making it a perfect place to unwind after a round of golf.

One potential drawback of Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point is the price. It’s a premium golf course, even though it is designated as a public course yet the green fees can be on the higher side. However, for the quality of the course, the service, and the unique setting, many golfers find it well worth the investment. I was in New York for a short visit and got the Tee off time booking for in early afternoon. But the starters at Ferry point were kind enough to adjust me for an earlier T off time.

Tight fairways and definite penalty (once you miss the fairway) due to thick bushes make it a tough course to score. As for an average golfer missing the fairway, which will happen a lot, means either losing the ball or getting an unplayable lie, for sure adding a couple of strokes to your score card.

And then, there’s the renowned 18th hole, a masterpiece that brilliantly encapsulates the essence of Ferry Point. This par-4 demands a strategic yet daring approach, with water hazards and bunkers strategically placed to test your mettle. The risk-reward scenario adds an extra layer of excitement to this concluding hole, ensuring that your round concludes on a memorable and exhilarating note.

In conclusion, Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point is a must play golf course for golf enthusiasts.. Its combination of a challenging layout, stunning views, and impeccable service make it a standout golf course. While it may not be the most budget-friendly option, the experience it provides is truly unforgettable. Whether you’re a local resident or a visitor to the city, playing a round at Ferry Point is an opportunity you won’t want to miss.

Author: Shoaeb Shams

He was weakened by injury and broken by heartache, whatever resolve remained subdued by the knowledge that time and fate were not on his side. Camilo Villegas could have gone away and no one would have blamed him, because how do you make sense—how do you keep going?—after the loss of something so dear. But that’s what Villegas did, refusing to believe the wilderness he found himself in was his new reality. There were stumbles and detours and no guarantee that his direction was true. Yet he kept going, attempting to rediscover the play that made a career and fuse it with the man he had become.

There were flashes it was working, although that is a verdict aided by the benefit of hindsight, for in the moment those flashes can also be false hopes. Until a week ago those sparks were mostly done in the deep recesses of the sport and thus went mostly unseen. But what we saw in Bermuda showed what we saw in Cabo was no aberration: Villegas has made his way out of the darkness. With a final-round 65, the 41-year-old captured the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, his first win in over nine years to complete a return that underlined the will of the human spirit.

“Tough to put in words, what a ride man,” Villegas said after a two-shot victory. “I love this game, it’s given me so many great things. But in the process it kicks your butt.”

Adversity is a word overused in sports and especially in golf. It’s employed for things as frivolous as a bad shot or self-imposed controversy, and occasionally as a nod to poor play and injury. Villegas is the exception that no one wants. In 2020, the Columbian revealed through tears at a Korn Ferry Tour event that his 22-month-old daughter Mia was battling tumors on her brain and spine. “We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen,” an emotional Villegas said that June. “She started her second round of chemo; the doctor doesn’t want to do a very detailed scan until after a third round. It’s some anxious times.” A month later, the PGA Tour announced that Mia had passed.

Villegas returned to play not long after Mia’s death at the urging of his wife, believing the best way forward was to reconnect with a game he had begun to separate from. He had once been the next big thing on tour, his aggressive play paired with good looks and bold fashion and childlike flamboyance standing out from the sport’s sea of vanilla. He won two playoff events in 2008, including the Tour Championship, and snagged his third victory 18 months later at the Honda Classic. His bark lived up to the bite.

At least it did for a five-year span. In 2012 his game started to go south. His win at the 2014 Wyndham Championship was one of just two top-three finishes over a 10-year stretch. Villegas lost his short game, followed soon by his confidence. A shoulder injury added to his woes. He missed the playoffs in six of seven seasons, and just months ago it seemed retirement might be on the horizon when Villegas served as a color analyst for Golf Channel’s broadcast of the Wyndham Championship. “The reality is that I am getting older,” he explained in August. “I’m 41, you don’t see too many 40-somethings winning on the PGA Tour. I have been struggling first with an injury and then trying to get back into top form. And your reaction is—because you know, they are seeing your career wind down a little bit—but your heart doesn’t want it that way; you want to keep competing.”

Turns out Villegas could not silence the calls from within. He had been working with a new instructor, Jose Campra, and while the results were not there Villegas felt they would come. Just as importantly, the game had given him a renewed purpose, believing he was playing for more than himself. “Golf,” his wife Maria Ochoa told Camilo, “is what you’ve done over all these years and golf has given you so many great things,’ and little Mia has been inspiring these last few months to keep doing what we’re doing.”

It appeared Villegas was on the precipice of putting a capstone on a feelgood comeback last week at the World Wide Technology Championship, around the lead for the entire tournament only to ultimately come in second after Erik van Rooyen’s 72nd hole eagle. Given Villegas’ track record, it was a wonderful story, but one that felt confined to the week. But Villegas proved his play was no fluke with a 67-63 start in Bermuda and backed it up with a Saturday 65 to enter the final round at Port Royal G.C. one behind Alex Noren. Still, whatever conviction Villegas’ play conveyed was not what he felt inside.

“Let me be honest, let’s tell the viewer out there, people think that we just kind of chill out here and we’re very comfortable doing what we’re doing,” Villegas said Friday evening. “There’s a lot of demons out here and when you’ve been doing it for a long time, golf is hard.”

Only Villegas continued to make this ridiculously hard game look easy on Sunday morning, birdieing four of his first seven holes to grab the lead from Noren at the turn. The wind decided to show up for the finishing stretch and Noren and others had to ditch their ambitions of aggressive play for a defensive mindset and Villegas followed suit, playing to the fat part of the greens and taking the big number out of play. It wasn’t the most exciting finish, but it’s what the moment called for, and Villegas delivered. But this is Villegas we’re talking about, who even in his 40s still pops his collar. He showed he still has a penchant for the dramatic, sticking his approach at the 235-yard par-3 16th to 15 feet, and a mean up-and-down from the greenside bunker at the par-5 17th—while Noren failed to do the same—bestowed a two-shot lead going into the final hole. A birdie lag putt sealed the comeback of the year.

“Life is interesting, it goes up and down both on the personal side and on the professional side,” Villegas said. “Just got to keep a path and you’ve got to keep your mind where it needs to be. Like I said, I’m a hard worker, I love working, I love having a purpose every morning and that’s kind of what I did.”

The win gives Villegas all the usual goodies. A spot in the Masters field, a two-year exemption on tour, a chance to put that broadcasting career on the backburner for some time. That is all well and good. But to understand what Villegas did is to understand where he came from and what he endured, and that is something that’s hard to encapsulate in dollar signs and trophies.

“I just want to thank everyone who supported me on this journey,” Villegas said on the 18th green. “The support has been unbelievable. It kept building up. Everyone on the island was great.

“I got my little one watching, smiling. She’s where she needs to be.”

In one sense, what we saw in Bermuda was nothing more than a game, a performance, a distraction from the pangs of life. Villegas knows this more than most of us ever will. Yet after he tapped in on the 18th Sunday, Villegas looked upward, fighting like hell to keep back the tears he knew were coming. To see what Camilo Villegas did, through the hurt and the doubt, showed a game can still mean a hell of a lot.