The inaugural Saudi-backed golf Super League is scheduled to start on June 9, in the week immediately prior to the start of the US Open with further events to take place in Portland and New Jersey in July, Boston and Chicago in September, and Bangkok and Jeddah the following month

The league has announced its eight-tournament schedule, called the LIV Golf Invitational, which boasts a total prize fund of USD250million (£191m), and which will also stage events in the US, Bangkok and Jeddah.

The league’s commissioner, Greg Norman, says he has sent invitations to over 250 players, and has insisted they will be able to continue to fulfil their existing commitments.

Norman said: “Our events are truly additive to the world of golf. We have done our best to create a schedule that allows players to play elsewhere, while still participating in our events.

“I believe players will increasingly make progress in achieving their right to play where they want. We will help in any way possible and will provide golfers with opportunities to achieve their full potential.”

The PGA Tour has threatened to ban players who sign up for the new Saudi league from its events, while a number of other leading names have distanced themselves from the prospect.

They include Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, while Rory McIlroy has already declared the league “dead in the water”.

The inaugural event is scheduled to start on June 9, in the week immediately prior to the start of the US Open. Further events will take place in Portland and New Jersey in July, Boston and Chicago in September, and Bangkok and Jeddah the following month.

Henrik Stenson is Europe’s choice to be the Ryder Cup captain for the 2023 matches in Italy, with an announcement Tuesday indicating he has decided not to join a Saudi-funded rival league.

Stenson was a logical choice for Europe. A former champion at The Open who has won top honors on the European Tour and PGA Tour, he has played on five Ryder Cup teams and served as vice captain last September at Whistling Straits.

“The Ryder Cup is golf, and sport, at its very best,” Stenson said.

Luke Donald and Robert Karlsson also were considered.

Stenson is the first Swedish player to be captain and faces a big order. Europe suffered its worst loss ever (19-9) at Whistling Straits to an American team loaded with youth, hunger and attitude.

Zach Johnson was announced as the U.S. captain for the 2023 matches at Marco Simone outside Rome. It will be Italy’s first time hosting the Ryder Cup.

“It is a huge honor and I was humbled to get the call confirming the news,” Stenson said. “I would like to thank the selection panel for believing in me and will say to them, and every European golf fan, that I will do everything in my power and leave no stone unturned in the quest to get the Ryder Cup back in European hands.”

Europe typically announces its captain at the start of the year. Six of the past seven captains have been introduced before the end of January.

Stenson, however, was among those mentioned as being tempted by a Super Golf League that Greg Norman is trying to put together backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Given the challenge to the European tour and the PGA Tour, players who signed up for a rival league would lose out on the Ryder Cup.

Stenson, 45, is popular on both sides of the Atlantic, known for his dry wit, occasional pranks and top performance. Along with becoming the first Swedish man to win a major, he won the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and the Race to Dubai on the European tour.

Stenson played his first Ryder Cup at The K Club in Ireland in 2006 and holed the cup-clinching putt in a European rout. He has missed only the 2010 and 2012 matches since then.

“He comes with all the credibility of what he has achieved, and as we all know a dry a sense of humor and a fantastic warm personality,“ said Guy Kinnings, the European Ryder Cup director. “But he is also a ferocious competitor. He is hugely respected by the players and admired by everyone involved with the game and the Ryder Cup.”

LAHORE: The 20-member Lahore Team comprising of 10 leading professional golf players and 10 leading amateur golfers achieved victory over skillful Rawalpindi/Islamabad Team in the 2022 Netracon Challenge Cup Golf 2022 played here at the par 72 Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course.

In the individual matches, Lahore Team accumulated a total of 15 winning points as against 5 by Rawalpindi/Islamabad Team and in the four ball matches, Lahore Team collected 7 points as against 3 by the opponents. Overall, Lahore Team emerged as the vanquisher with a splendid tally of 22 points while Rawalpindi/Islamabad could just manage 8 points.

Radiance of this memorable clash was owed to the presence of big names like Shabbir Iqbal, Hamza Amin, Minhaj Maqsood and Taimur Hassan for Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Ahmed Baig, M Alam, M Shahzad, Shahid Javed, Salman Jehangir and Hussain Hamid for Lahore. However team members from each side were 20 and victory was only possible if majority played to ability and capacity. And for Lahore those, who displayed commanding form, were golf professionals including M Afzal, Shahid Javed, Aasher Hanif, M Shahzad, Aadil Jehangir and M Alam. Out of amateur team members, Hussain Hamid played formidably as did Qasim Ali Khan, Salman Jehangir, M Arsalan, Danish Javed, Mohsen Zafar, Nouman Ilyas, Ahsan Khawaja and Ahmed Jabran.

For the Rawalpindi/Islamabad Team captained by Amir Farooq, Shabbir Iqbal was dominant in his own match of skills and also self assured was Hamza Amin, Bilal Shah and Minhaj Maqsood. The amateur, who looked classy, was Ralfey Raja. It was great victory for Lahore and their team members played with avidity and vigor that was exemplary. At the conclusion of the event, Asghar Shirazi, MD of Netracon Technologies, awarded prizes to the winning team individually and the winning trophy that was distinguished.

A tournament notable for disruption has produced a moment for the ages. Shane Lowry leapt in celebration and with good reason, his tee shot having spun back and into the hole at the iconic 17th at Sawgrass.

Crowd roars reverberated around the venue. Having reached the green, Lowry threw his ball into adoring galleries. The moment was poetic, given intense discussion in recent days over whether the 17th is wonderful, grossly unfair or pretty much everything in between.

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Lowry’s pitching wedge from 123 yards was just the 10th hole-in-one at the penultimate hole in the history of the Players Championship at this venue. Lowry’s demeanour was akin to a footballer who had scored the winner in a cup final. Ian Poulter and Hayden Buckley, Lowry’s playing partners, were firmly in on the euphoric act.

“You play this game and special things happen sometimes,” Lowry said. “It’s pretty cool to do it there. It was a special thing to happen and I’m looking forward to turning on my phone and seeing the messages I’ve got. Not only that, it put me back in the tournament somewhat. So it was amazing.”

Lowry can lay claim to a pretty impressive double, having also notched an ace at Augusta National’s 16th. That he birdied the 17th on Sunday morning, in round two, was also striking. Two attempts, three shots.

By the time play was halted because of darkness, Lowry’s five under par put him just four adrift of the leaderboard’s summit. Anirban Lahiri, seeking to make history as the first Indian winner of the PGA Tour’s premier event, was alongside Harold Varner and Tom Hoge at minus eight before producing a birdie at the 11th immediately before golf was suspended. Paul Casey is among a trio of players at seven under.

The topic of suspensions and fines has always been a tricky one for the PGA Tour and its members. Is Phil Mickelson currently suspended? Was Dustin Johnson suspended back in 2014?

You would never know the truth by listening directly to the PGA Tour, mainly because the PGA Tour doesn’t publicize those types of decisions. The decisions are made, rest assured. They’re referred to constantly as “disciplinary decisions.” They just are not made publicly. When a Tour player cusses on a broadcast, rest assured they’ll be fined. They’ll know it. Their agents will know it. Other players on Tour likely will hear about it. But likely none of it will leak out. That’s the operation, and Rory McIlroy would like to change it.

Speaking with media Tuesday morning before this week’s Players Championship, McIlroy was asked to give Tour commissioner a letter grade for his performance in the leadership role. He was quick to compliment the commish but did offer up one area where the Tour has room for improvement:

“I think the one thing that the Tour in general could do a better job at is transparency,” McIlroy said. “Whether that be with — yeah, just with everything. I think transparency and maybe it not being as closed a shop. I’ve always felt that a few of the bans or suspensions, I think that should all be announced. I think that should be more transparent. I’ve always said that.”

McIlroy is one of the most famous golfers in the world, one of the most-respected voices on Tour, and a preeminent player for making changes to the Tour now that he has risen into a position on the Player Policy Board. That followed a stint as the chairman of the PGA Tour Advisory Council where McIlroy was baptized into the inner-workings of the sports league. All the while he has developed a strong and important relationship with Monahan. Which means one thing: his words land with a bit more of a thud, and in this case, it landed right on Monahan’s desk during his press conference.

Within an hour of Rory’s thoughts, Monahan took the stage on his own. When asked about McIlroy’s comments, he seemed a bit surprised.

“He just said that?” Monahan asked Rex Hoggard of the Golf Channel.

“I would say — effective immediately — Rory McIlroy is suspended. [laughs]”

It was the lightest moment of an otherwise intense press conference wherein Monahan was asked constantly about the state of the Tour, and in particular if Mickelson has been suspended. “He stepped away on his own accord, and he’s asked for time,” Monahan said. “He’s been given that time. We don’t comment on disciplinary matters, potential matters or actual matters. But every player is accountable for their actions out here.”

If you’re looking for clarity beyond that, you won’t be getting it. The reporter who asked the question literally started it with “it doesn’t seem very clear.” But that’s the Tour’s protocol. Could it change, though? McIlroy hopes so.

“That’s something I’m sure they’re working on and have constant dialogue in,” he said. The fact that McIlroy brought it up is grounds enough, according to Monahan, for a further discussion, too.

“That’s something that has been raised in the past,” Monahan said. “And if that’s something that a member of our board feels strongly about, rest assured it’s a conversation we’ll have with our Player Advisory Council and ultimately our board. That’s the way the system works.

“It’s a criticism that has been lobbied against the PGA Tour through the years, and I think we always have to be open to evolving. That’s something that we are open to.”

McIlroy was fined at least once in the past, and we know about it because he talked about it. Back in 2015, when McIlroy infamously whipped a 3-iron into the lake at Doral, he received a fine of just $5,000. We say just $5,000 because it could have been $25,000 if McIlroy didn’t apologize for the act in a post-round interview. Until he gets his way on publicizing this info for every player, we’ll all just have to hope those receiving the discipline are as open with it as McIlroy was.

Last Monday, Webb Simpson walked onto the range at his home club in Charlotte, North Carolina, to hit golf balls for the first time since January. The seven-time PGA Tour winner had been sidelined since the Sony Open with a bulging disc in his neck and his surgeon had finally given him a green light to start hitting again.

“I was so nervous,” Simpson laughed Monday at TPC Sawgrass. “My first session on the range I was like, man, this feels great.”

It also felt great to be preparing for a tournament in March and not April or even May. That was the original diagnosis.

“The news was hard to hear because at first they said eight weeks but then they said maybe four to six [weeks], and then they realized the access I have to my trainer, who is doing my rehab for me, they said The Players is a possible option,” he said.

Simpson said the rehabilitation process has been slow and that he’s still very much on a “pitch count.” He hit balls three days last week but was limited to just 40 shots per session. On Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, he upped that number to 50 shots, and on Monday, he finally ventured onto the course for a nine-hole practice round with Bubba Watson and Cameron Young.

“I felt like we’ve had a game plan built in, now that we’re going to manage it and the surgeon said it can fully regress and I can play pain free,” said Simpson, who was diagnosed with a herniated disc in his neck.

Simpson said the rehabilitation process included traction therapy three times a day for 30 minutes to create space between discs and strengthening exercises.

“It was stuff that if we were in the gym and you saw me, you’d think that guy’s not even working out,” he said. “It was just tedious stuff and you had to be careful.”

The desire to compete in The Players, which he won in 2018, made the mundane meaningful.

“It gave me a goal to set my eyes to and work toward. I love this place, let’s do everything we can between now and then to be ready,” Simpson said. “If he would have said Augusta [for a targeted return], that would have been almost too long. I felt like a month was doable.”

Not quite four months after Southern Oaks Golf Club opened, Tyler Krager acknowledges he’s still getting accustomed to the rhythms of The Villages’ southernmost golf offering. “That’s something we’ve been talking about around here a little bit,” said Krager, Southern Oaks’ head PGA professional. “On a day like today (Friday), we were packed. But then you get some lighter days. It’s a little confusing in a sense — hey, where did everybody go?” That should dispel any notion that tee times at Southern Oaks are in short supply. If anything, now may be the time to take advantage and get that first impression while the Sawgrass Grove complex steams toward completion. Meantime, it remains full steam ahead on the south’s five executive courses. “I’m looking forward to see more courses to open up,” Bob Youngbauer, of the Village of Bradford, said while waiting to tee off at the Red Fox/Gray Fox starter shack.

It’s coming, in various forms. Coming years will see additions in the south that will bring the overall count in The Villages to more than 800 holes of golf. The only factor is time.

“It definitely takes time,” said Mike Morba, whose lanai in the Village of Citrus Grove overlooks Southern Oaks’ first fairway. “Homes are going up so fast. You don’t build a golf course in four months.”

Southern Oaks raised its curtain in November, the first championship addition to The Villages since Belle Glade Country Club in 2014. For golfers who were among the first to migrate south of State Road 44, it gave them a club near home.

“We have a lot of players that have become regulars,” Krager said. “Those individuals are living down in the area and had to drive across 44 for the past year or two. Now they have a home course.”

When the Ladies Village Cup began planning for this spring’s event, for example, slots filled quickly to stock the new Southern Oaks roster.

Even so, there are windows where tee times can be had. Krager noted when temperatures broke above 80 degrees for the first time last Monday, “we were packed from sunup to sundown. Then Tuesday had the same weather and it was a little slower.”

Krager anticipates a second surge is coming once Sawgrass Grove opens its doors. Central to the complex is McGrady’s Restaurant & Pub and an outdoor entertainment stage, with Southern Oaks’ golf shop also to be located there.

“We know The Villages is more than just golf,” Krager said. “It’s the lifestyle. What we’re accustomed to is as we come off the 18th green, we can go to the ‘19th hole’ and have a drink or a bite to eat.”

It’s a sentiment shared by Dave Sarinsky, another new resident in the Village of Citrus Grove.

“I’m anxious for any of those (amenities) to open,” he said. “There’s no place to have a drink with friends when you’re done. That’s part of the beauty of golf.”

Southern Oaks, though, doesn’t seem to have made much of a dent on demand for executive play down south.

“A lot of people play the executives, for various reasons,” said Steve Shepard, of the Village of St. Catherine.

Though plenty of executive golfers have begun to tee it up at Southern Oaks, Krager noted, others have simply become accustomed to playing the shorter layouts.

“I think it’s a geographic thing — ‘I live here, I work here, so I’m just going to play around here,’” Krager said. “You’ve got Red Fox, Gray Fox, Lowlands. Now we’re opening their eyes to other options.”

At the rate new homes are going up in the south, though, any void from golfers taking play to Southern Oaks is filled quickly.

“Houses are going up fast,” said Krager. “Any loss from the executives is being replenished by new Villagers.”

In the coming years, the south is set to add three more championship courses, six executive layouts, three pitch-and-putts, another putting course and a southern branch of The Villages Golf Academy.

For 2022, though, the focus will be on the short game. The Richmond Pitch & Putt, located at the foot of the Water Lily Bridge, is targeted for a summer opening. That will be followed by the Mickylee Pitch & Putt and Jubilee Putting Course, slated for early November as The Villages pushes farther southeast.

Once those ribbons are cut, said course architect Kenny Ezell, “we’re going to cross the bridge (to the other side of Florida’s Turnpike) and start working our way as quickly as we can to build all these golf courses.”

The Laurel Oak executive course will be first in that line, just south of the coming Southern Oaks Bridge. That layout will be complemented by another pitch-and-putt named Live Oak.

Just south of Live Oak Pitch & Putt is the planned Woodlands Golf Club, an 18-hole layout that will meander among several stands of old-growth oak trees.

“We’ve been able to preserve those,” said Ezell. “In fact, we moved a few holes around to be able to put a little park in for the residents to be able to enjoy. It’s a little bit different than anything we’ve done.”

Dubai-based golfer launches new course at Rumanza

Over the last 72 hours I have been involved in the opening of Pakistan’s first signature golf course, the Rumanza Golf & Country Club.

I captained one of the teams in an exhibition held on Sunday and my teammates included 17-year-old amateur Humna Amjed — one of Pakistan’s most promising female golfers — and Pakistan No. 2 Ahmed Baig.

We had a tough time as we were up against three-time Ladies European Tour winner and five-time Solheim Cup player Charley Hull, European Ryder Cup vice-captain Graeme McDowell and one of Pakistan’s leading professionals Humza Amin.

We unfortunately lost the match, with Team Hull shooting an impressive 14-under par to take the win.

A large crowd of fans followed us all in the match, along with Nick Faldo who designed the 7,533-yard, par-72 Rumanza course.

This is Faldo’s first venture in South Asia and the most ambitious course construction project in Pakistan’s history.

It’s a great course and everyone was very impressed. It’s fairly forgiving off the tee, but makes you think a lot on the second shot. The greens have lots of movement. Some really deep links-style bunkers around the greens protect some hidden pins. Nick has always been a fantastic strategist and the beauty of this course is that he makes you think about every single shot you hit.

I was hugely impressed with the vision to develop and nurture local talent, especially with the double ended driving range and a short-game practice area with putting greens, chipping greens, and eco bunkers. These state-of-the-art facilities are a first for golf in Pakistan.

The Rumanza Inaugural weekend was full of action.

When we arrived on Friday, there was a gala dinner and Q&A for us players, a live musical performance from world-famous Pakistani singer, Atif Aslam, while fireworks lit up the course.

On Saturday, we all witnessed a ceremonial opening tee shot by Faldo. This was followed by a field of 60 players, split across 15 teams, for the pro-am competition. Nick’s wife Lindsay took the win with her team of Pakistani professionals Khalid Khan and Shahid Javed Khan, and amateur player Usman Akram, carding a score of 51 points.

We also took part in golf clinics, open to spectators, with the weekend wrapping up on Sunday with the challenge match.

I am now of to Puerto Rico to play on this week’s PGA Tour event the $3.7 million Puerto Rico Open at Rio Grande. Non-stop stuff

The 28-year-old produced a final round of 66 to finish 10 under; Shane Lowry ended up just a shot behind after his final round (67); Daniel Berger held a five-shot lead going into the final day, however, a disappointing display on Sunday (74) saw him end up in fourth

Sepp Straka has become the first Austrian to win on the PGA Tour after victory at the Honda Classic.

He came from five shots back going into the final day and produced a final round of 66 to finish 10 under, which was enough to hold off the advances of Shane Lowry.

Lowry’s efforts on Sunday – a round of 67 – saw him finish just a shot behind Straka and the Irishman was not helped by a sudden downpour of rain during the closing stages of his round.

Daniel Berger, who held a five-shot lead going into the final day, struggled early on and was not able to recover. He finished fourth behind Kurt Kitayama, following a disappointing 74 on Sunday.

Straka tapped in for birdie in the rain on the final hole, while Lowry needed to make a 45-footer for birdie on the 18th to force a playoff. It missed, and with that, Straka’s victory was secured, having come into the week ranked 176 in the world.

The Austrian had started his campaign with a 71 before really turning things up with rounds of 64 and 69. As a result, he was one of four players tied for second at 6 under on Saturday night.

“I did [believe it was possible],” Straka said to Sky Sports about winning on the final day. “I had a good feeling, my brother text me right before the round and he said that he had a good feeling about this one.

“So, we both had a good feelings and I just knew that I needed to keep my head down and keep going.”

The victory ensures Straka, who played his college golf in Georgia, will play at The Masters in April.

Straka’s victory matches the best come-from-behind win of the season; Luke List was also down by five entering the final round at San Diego last month.

In the end, Berger needed a miracle to try and get the title, which had looked like it was his to lose on Saturday.

He went through the first six holes four over, before producing an inspired two out of the bunker on the seventh to help restore his confidence somewhat.

However, further issues landed on the back nine, including a bogey at the 12th and when his second shot on the 18th went into the water, his hopes of victory were also washed away.

Alongside Straka, Lowry also trailed Berger by five shots entering the day and he erased that deficit after just five holes.

The Irishman made birdies on the first and fourth, then when Berger missed a 15-footer for par at the sixth, Lowry was went up by one.

Straka also methodically approached his work on the final day, despite a bogey on the first hole. A birdie on the par-four ninth got him to seven under, followed by another birdie on the 14th.

A 20-footer on the 16th pulled him into a tie and then the heavens opened, meaning the final groups would finish their work in the bucketing rain.

From the staggering reported Super Golf League offers to the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program and increased tournament purses—most notably, the whopping $20 million up for grabs at next month’s Players Championship—there’s been a lot of money talk in pro golf recently. But it turns out that Tiger Woods, arguably the game’s all-time greatest player, never concerned himself with prize money during the heat of battle.

Which probably helps explain why he used to win so darn much.

Woods’ longtime caddie Steve Williams is involved in a podcast series, “Chasing Majors,” with Australian Golf Digest writer Evin Priest titled. And in episode 3, Williams revealed something that Tiger never did at the end of a tournament—and why that set him apart from his peers.

You should check out the entire episode—and the entire series, for that matter—but here are the candid comments from Williams, who was on Woods’ bag for 13 of his 15 major titles, that caught our attention.

“One of the things I admire most about Tiger—I admired a lot of things about him—but one thing I absolutely admired about Tiger is that at the completion of a tournament you’d into the scorer’s hut and you sign your scorecard and you hand it in,” Williams said. “And they always have a sheet with the prize money allocation for everybody so you can look up on the screen to see how you finished and look down and see how much you won. Tiger never, ever once took a look at that. . . . He played to win trophies and create records, not for prize money.”

Added Williams moments later:

“He’s the only player I’ve ever caddied for, the only player I’ve ever seen who never, ever looked at that sheet. OK, you could argue he didn’t need to look at that sheet, but every player looks at that sheet, and he never did.”

Yes, you certainly could argue that. Woods’ arrival helped increase prize money exponentially, making himself and many of his fellow tour pros richer than they probably could have ever imagined. And with endorsements, Tiger became a fixture at the top of Forbes’ annual list of highest-paid athletes for more than a decade with career earnings approaching $2 BILLION. So, yeah, he didn’t need to worry about what he was going to make for a T-9 finish in a given week.

Still, it’s a cool little nugget into the mind of one of the fiercest competitors in sports history. And it’s nice to know that pro golf isn’t always about the money.