Séamus Power gets back into the swing of things after the winter beak in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui this week, a $15 million tournament (€14.07 million) confined to winners on the PGA Tour last year and those who finished inside the top-30 on the FedEx Cup.
Power is the lone Irishman in the field of 39 players aiming to claim the top prize of $2.7 million. Rory McIlroy has declined to take his place and instead will kick-start the 2023 campaign in the Middle East on the DP World Tour in the coming weeks.
Currently number one on the FedEx Cup standings, Power, a winner of the Bermuda Championship in October in the early phase of the wraparound 2022-23 season, made his debut in the tournament last year and finished tied-15th.
McIlroy’s decision not to include the Tournament of Champions in his schedule means he has used up his one-time option to miss one of the 13 designated events on the PGA Tour without an excuse. Players, in accordance with the Tour’s Players Impact Programme regulations, are allowed to miss one such tournament.
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This week’s tournament features 17 of the top 20 in the world rankings – the exceptions being McIlroy, Cameron Smith (who is suspended from the PGA Tour following his move to LIV) and Shane Lowry (who didn’t qualify) – and is also notable for the return to competition of Will Zalatoris, who has been out of action since suffering a back injury in August.
LET’s getting busy
The Ladies’ European Tour (LET) isn’t due to get under way until the Kenya Open in the first week of February but the new schedule will offer a record €35 million in prize money, comprising 30 tournaments that feature two back-to-back in Ireland: the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle and the KPMG Irish Open at Dromoland Castle.
“The LET has grown rapidly over the last three years and we have been oversubscribed for our recent Q-School, demonstrating the record level of interest. The LET now presents a platform for women to build a successful career and achieve their dreams in professional golf. We will continue to work hard to elevate the sport in Europe and around the world,” said LET CEO Alexandra Armas of the expanded calendar.
While LIV’s arrival on the professional scene has fractured the make-up of the men’s professional scene, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has moved rather seamlessly into supporting the women’s game with the Aramco Saudi Ladies International set to provided the biggest purse of the LET calendar outside of the Majors with $5 million in prize money.
By the Numbers: 2,640,000
That’s the number of rounds of golf posted on the World Handicap System (WHS) in Ireland by club members in 2022. This doesn’t account for other rounds that were played by golfers of all ages and abilities enjoying a casual outing. Of the 2.64 million rounds on the WHS, 89 per cent were submitted by players in competitions while 11 per cent were from general play (*source: Golf Ireland).
Word of mouth
“As long as you go and don’t come back, I don’t have an issue. Go take the money, go play where you want, I could not care less. Just don’t come back and then take spots from other guys that want to play” – Matt Fitzpatrick, speaking to Sky Sports, on those players who moved to LIV but still want to play on the DP World Tour.
On this day: January 3rd, 1916
Fred Haas was born Portland, Arkansas ... He would win five tournaments on the PGA Tour, the first of which – as an amateur – was the most notable of all.
Haas was in college in 1945 when he accepted an invitation to play in the Memphis Invitational, an event which was on everyone’s radar at the time as Byron Nelson headed into the tournament on the back of a record 11 wins in a row on tour.
That streak ended in Memphis, and Haas was the unlikeliest of players to put a halt to Nelson’s run. Haas shot rounds of 69-69-64-68 for a total of 270 that gave him a five strokes winning margin over George Low Jnr and Bob Cochran.
Haas would turn professional in 1946 and claimed four further wins, in the 1948 Portland Open, the 1949 Miami Open, the 1950 Long Beach Open and his last win came in the 1954 Thunderbird Invitational. He died in 2004.
Twitter Twaddle
1998 @IrishOpen_ at Druids Glen, Barry had the greatest round I’ve ever seen. 62 around a beast of a course. What a true gentleman. RIP BAZ – former European Tour player Keith Nolan pays tribute to Barry Lane, a former Ryder Cup player and five-time winner on the European Tour, who died on Saturday.
Sad news to lose such a nice guy. Played my first ever pro event with Barry at the K Club 1995 European Open, He lapped the field the first two days and was only just pipped by that long putt by Bernhard Langer on the last. A beautiful ball striker, strong clubface fade. RIP – Pádraig Harrington paying tribute to Lane.
Playing with Barry Lane was like playing with your best friend except he’d beat you ….. that didn’t seem to matter, you were pleased to see him do well. Barry loved golf! PS Hope St Peter has a good supply of Titleist up there ... RIP – former tour player-turned-TV pundit Ken Brown.
Know the Rules
Q In match play, a player’s ball is found in a penalty area in some shallow water but he decides to play it as it lies. He deliberately touches the water in the penalty area on his back swing. What is the ruling?
A There is no penalty. There are no special rules limiting how a ball may be played from a penalty area, meaning there is no restriction on a player touching water in a penalty area with his backswing (Rule 17.1b).
