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Morning 9: LIV opener underwhelms? | Feherty roasted | LIV promotion/relegation plans

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3 years ago

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]
February 28, 2023

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for what is one of the best fields we will see all year at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

1. Lavner: LIV season debut underwhelms

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”The actual tournament competition? That remains the least compelling aspect, and apparently millions of sports fans agree – the ratings for the first CW broadcast were abysmal, even when strategically put up against what was easily the weakest PGA Tour event of the year. The product now has to stand on its own merits, and this was an unsteady start.”

  • “LIV’s drawbacks can’t immediately be remedied, because they’re part of the upstart league’s DNA. There are no stakes, no consequences, no substantive storylines. There is no upward mobility, no context to a player’s performance, no career milestones to achieve. It’s a closed shop: the same 48 players in 13 stroke-play tournaments, all of equal importance, competing for nothing but pride and a boatload of cash, devoid of any meaning or significance.”
  • “League officials eagerly flaunt how much they’re playing for, and yet that doesn’t really resonate with the audience when these guys have already signed up for massive signing bonuses. It creates the perception that all they want is more, more, more. It’s like rooting for Leonardo DiCaprio to finally find true love.”
Full piece.

2. An “unbelievable” week

PGATour.com’s Kevin Prise on the Monday qualifiers incredible week…”Gerard, 23, earns a spot in next week’s Puerto Rico Open via a top-10 finish, an appreciative addition to his winter schedule as the Korn Ferry Tour is in the midst of a five-week break.”

  • “The North Carolina native was bogey-free in Sunday’s final round before his second shot at the par-5 18th found the water en route to bogey. Gerard remained upbeat, though, realizing the magnitude of his accomplishment. He was greeted off the 18th green by fellow UNC-Chapel Hill alum Ben Griffin, who finished T21 at the Honda, as well as fellow pro and friend Austin Hitt – who will compete in Monday’s open qualifier for the Puerto Rico Open.”
  • “Gerard had a tee time in the Monday qualifier, but he won’t need it.”
  • “It was unbelievable,” Gerard said of his week at the Honda. “It’s everything you could dream of. When you’re a kid practicing at night on a putting green, you’re like, ‘I have this putt to win a PGA TOUR event.’ It’s funny to say because I was just there four or five years ago in high school thinking about it, and now – I never had a putt to win, but I kind of felt like I had a chance coming down the stretch if I put some stuff together.
Full piece.

3. No more LIV signings in 2023?

James Corrigan for the Telegraph…”LIV Golf has slammed down the shutters and revealed that no new signings will be competing in the 2023 season.”

  • “Insiders in LIV are adamant that even in the highly implausible scenario of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy suddenly wanting to jump ship to join Greg Norman’s enterprise, they would have to bide their time until next year to tee it up.”
  • “The field is the field for this year,” a spokesperson said. “And the 12 teams are the 12 teams.
Full piece.

4. On LIV’s promotion/relegation plans

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”When it comes to the league format, those plans are more European than American, especially with its new promotion and relegation system. LIV views open competition not only as a cornerstone of its evolving product, but also as a way to legitimize its place in the professional golf landscape.”

  • “Starting later this year, the LIV Golf Promotions Event will help to ensure there are open player pathways for golfers to join the LIV Golf League in 2024.”
  • “Who automatically qualifies for the 2024 season and is safe from relegation?…The season-long points list that ultimately decides the individual champion – Dustin Johnson in 2022 – will also double as a way for players to earn their spot for the next season. Players who finish Nos. 1-24 at each event during the regular season earn a massive payday as well as points: 40 points for the winner all the way down to just one for the 24th-place finisher. After the 13 regular-season tournaments, those who finish inside the top 24 for the year will keep their status for the following season. Simple enough.”
Full Piece.

5. Jack expecting a stronger “Honda” field ahead

AP report…”This year, the tour had two elevated events before the Honda, with two more to immediately follow at Bay Hill and The Players Championship.”

  • “Honda is ending its title sponsorship of the tournament at PGA National, but Nicklaus said the event will remain the start of the Florida swing in 2024.”
  • “Next year’s schedule are Pebble and LA are their elevated tournaments,” Nicklaus said. “Phoenix is not. Then they go to Mexico, then they come here. So, we will have players next year. And then they’ve got Bay Hill and Players. The tournament’s going to be just fine.”
Full piece.

6. Feherty roasted

7. Heck out indefinitely with shoulder injury

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“If Stanford is to repeat as NCAA champion, it may have to do so without one of its best players….Junior Rachel Heck, the 2021 NCAA individual champion and player of the year, missed the Cardinal’s first two events of the spring because of thoracic outlet syndrome, a shoulder condition in the area between the first rib and the collarbone.”

  • “Stanford head coach Anne Walker told GolfChannel.com that Heck’s return is “up in the air” as she continues to be evaluated by doctors.”
  • “Heck last played for the Cardinal at their fall finale in October, the Pac-12 Preview, where she tied for 22nd. She was also T-3 at the Stephens Cup earlier that month, and she began the spring on the watch list for the Annika Award, which she won as a freshman.”
Full Piece.

8. Two LIV pros climb rankings

Mike Hall for Golf Monthly…”Because of the inability of LIV Golf to offer its players world ranking points, attention has regularly turned to the plight of players who have tumbled down the rankings since opting to play on the big-money circuit.”

  • “Bizarrely, though, it wasn’t all bad news for LIV Golf players in the world rankings following the tournament at El Camaleon Golf Club. Harold Varner III began last week’s tournament as World No.51, but even though his appearance meant he didn’t accumulate so much as a single world ranking point in Mexico, he rose two places to sneak back inside the world’s top 50 at World No.49.”
  • “He wasn’t the only LIV player to experience an unexpected boost either. New recruit Mito Pereira climbed two places as well, from World No.50 to World No.48. In both cases, though, the rise is highly likely to be the exception rather than the norm over the weeks to come.”
Full Piece.

9. Best driver

  • Another shameless plug for our 2023 Best Driver piece! Find out what driver is best for YOUR game.
Full Piece.

Related Topics:

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Jeff Witzeman

    Mar 1, 2023 at 12:50 pm

    When no comments are allowed on Ryan’s golf channel article or they are stopped on Yahoo, you always know the article is propaganda. It does not represent a balanced approach. Fact of the matter is golf is compelling whether it is Liv or PGA. Fascists are being exposed in every area of life right now gratefully. Golf channel will have to grow up and put their big boy pants on like everybody else.

    Reply Report comment

  2. Bob

    Mar 1, 2023 at 7:25 am

    Ryan Lavner along with the rest of the golf journalists (propagandists) seem to be anti LIV.

    Reply Report comment

  3. Mike

    Feb 28, 2023 at 9:22 pm

    Sorry David, Larry Bird and magic Johnson were the two most recognizable athletes in the world from the early ’80s onwards. But, we in America sometimes forget that there is a world outside of America. Greg Norman, though he never won a Major on U.S. soil, was winning golf tournaments all over the world for over a decade (basically until Tiger came on the scene).

    So let me ask you this, so I’d converted magic, in the 1980s. Who was the most recognizable athlete in the world? Don’t show how dumb you are & say Michael Jordan, he didn’t win a damn thing until the 90s.

    Reply Report comment

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 Memorial Tournament

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3 weeks ago

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Jun 1, 2026

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GolfWRX is on site this week at the Memorial Tournament, with both Alistair Cameron and Tour Photographer Greg Moore on the ground in Dublin, Ohio, where a strong field is assembled to pay homage to the Golden Bear.

In addition to WITB galleries, we’ve already been treated to an in-hand look at Tommy Fleetwood’s new TaylorMade Spider putters.

Check out links to all our photos below.

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Tour Tech Rundown: Heroic Henley

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4 weeks ago

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Jun 1, 2026

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Around the world, the golf wheel spun this final week in May of 2026. From New Jersey to Austria, with stops in Korea, Texas, and North Carolina (don’t let me route your next trip) the world’s finest put their golf games on display. There were three playoffs, some known commodities and some new talent. It was the sort of week that we hope to have at this point in the seasons. June and July afford double-digit major events, and perhaps, one of this week’s champions will use this success as a springboard to new heights. Time to run it all down, tech style, in this week’s Tour Tech Rundown.

Thanks to WITBHub, Today’s Golfer, GolfWRX, and Inside Tour Golf for initial research into equipment.

PGA Tour @ Charles Schwab Challenge: Heroic Henley denies Cole

Eric Cole did nearly everything that a fellow can do, to secure a first PGA Tour title. He stayed one shot clear of Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin. He kept US Open champion Gary Woodland and wunderkind Michael Brennan two shots distant. He posted 70 on day four to reach twelve under par. And then, Russell Henley revealed his Dr. Strange cloak. Henley made 47 feet of birdie putts on holes 16, 17, and 18, to jump from minus-nine to twelve-deep, and secured a spot in a playoff with Cole. The duo returned to the final tee, and put on a stripe show.

Both golfers found the fairway off the tee, and Henley improved on his regulation play with an approach to four feet. Cole did himself proud, tucking an iron to a dozen feet, but he was unable to convert the putt for three. Henley is one of the best putters on tour, and he proved it once more by draining a putt for a fourth consecutive birdie, and a sixth PGA Tour title. For Eric Cole, that first victory should come, and soon. He has done everything necessary to earn the chalice lift.

Henley’s Suitcase

  • Driver: Titleist TSi3 at 10 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70g 6.5 TX
  • Metal: Titleist TS3 at 16.5 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
  • Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 at 21 degrees. Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT hybrid 100 TX
  • Iron: Titleist T250 4-iron. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
  • Irons: Titleist T100 5-6 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
  • Irons: Titleist T100 7-9 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
  • Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 48 and 50 degrees. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue X100
  • Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 54 and 60 degrees. Shaft: rue Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400
  • Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron T5 Tour Prototype

LPGA @ Shoprite LPGA: Welcome back, Celine!

Soo Bin Joo had her eyes on a maiden LPGA title. She held the lead after two rounds, then hit a red light at the intersection of can-I and how-To. Joo posted plus-two on day three in New Jersey, and dropped to a T4 finish, which was still a career-best for the young Korean golfer. Instead of a new face, a familiar face returned to the top of the podium.

Celine Boutier was the It Girl in 2023. She collected four victories, including a major title at Evian. Boutier reached world number one status, then simply faded into the background. No wins came her way over the next 30 months. On Sunday, she collected LPGA victory number seven, at the same trace as LPGA victory number two.

Day three saw Boutier manage the windswept Seaview Bay course with six birdies and a bogey. She was challenged in the end by Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, who signed for a 66 of her own. Yubol came up one shot shy of the top ladder rung. Finishing in third place at -7, two back of the winner, was Ireland’s Lauren Walsh.

Celine’s Suitcase

  • Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 at 9 degrees. Shaft: Graphite Design AD IZ-5
  • Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops at 19 and 22 degrees. Shaft: KBS Hybrid Prototype
  • Hybrid: PXG 0311 Gen5.
  • Iron: PXG 0311 P Gen 4 5-9 irons
  • Wedge: PXG 0311 T Gen 4 PW
  • Wedges: PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy II at 50, 54, 58 degrees
  • Putter: Bettinardi Studio Stock 3 DASS

DP World Tour @ Austrian Alpine: KK? KK!

Kota Kaneko has a rhythmic name. It has strong vowels and a run of voiceless stops in its crunchy K sounds. On Sunday in Austria, Kaneko put a stop to a challenge from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and everyone else, and claimed a first-ever title on the DP World Tour. Gouveia did well to reach 16-under par over four days, but Kaneko held firm, two shots in the clear.

Davis Bryant of the USA also forged a strong challenge for the win. He ended in a tie with Gouveia for second place. Kaneko began and finished his final round in a bit of a malaise, but he caught fire midway through. Birdies at 10, 12, and 13 provided the necessary cushion to cruise to the finish line without breaking a serious sweat.

Kaneko’s Suitcase

  • Driver: Ping Max G440
  • Metals: TaylorMade Qi4D at 15, 16.5, 21, and 24 degrees
  • Irons: TaylorMade P760 5 and 6 irons
  • Irons: TaylorMade P7TW 7-9 irons
  • Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design at 46, 52, 56, and 60 degrees
  • Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Arm Lock #7

Korn Ferry Tour @ UNC Health Championship: Improbably Alvaro

Alvaro Ortiz may have had a bit of scare on the outward nine on Sunday, but he came through in clutch fashion in the end. Ortiz began the day bogey-double, and added another double bogey at the 11th hole. He was mired in a downward trend, spiraling away from the top of the leader’s board. Ortiz found hope at the 14th, where his first birdie of the day tumbled home. Inspired, he closed with birdies and 17 and 18 to catch Ross Steelman at 10-under par, and the duo returned to the 18th deck for overtime.

The extra session concluded in brief time. Ortiz, buoyed by his newly-retrieved confidence, hit the fairway with driver, then approached to six feet and drained the putt. Gobsmacked, Steelman could do little more than smile and applaud, as his run at the top came to a close. The victory was the first for Ortiz on the KFT, and will implant him squarely in the chase for a PGA Tour promotion.

Alvaro’s Suitcase

  • Driver: Ping G430 MAX driver at 9 degrees loft
  • Metal: Ping G430 MAX 3W
  • Iron: Ping iDi Driving Iron
  • Irons: Ping Blueprint S irons
  • Wedges
  • Putter: Scottsdale TR Piper C

LIV @ Korea: Me llamo Joaquin

Chile’s Joaquin Niemann had been away from the LIV winner’s circle throughout all of 2026. This week in Korea, he reminded us that he is still a force to consider. Niemann chased down Taylor Gooch over the closing holes at Asiad Country Club, then claimed victory with a hole-one birdie in extra time. Bryson DeChambeau claimed solo third, one shot in arrears at minus-eleven. Dustin Johnson finished on fourth, one putt farther back.

Niemann’s Suitcase

  • Driver: Ping 440 LST
  • Metal: Ping G440 Max at 15 degrees
  • Metal: Ping G425 Max at 21 degrees
  • Hybrid: Ping G430 at 25 degrees
  • Irons: Ping Blueprint S 5 through PW
  • Wedges: Ping S159 at 52, 56, and 60 degrees
  • Putter: Ping PLD Anser

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Russell Henley’s winning WITB: 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge

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4 weeks ago

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May 31, 2026

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Driver: Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70 6.5 TX

3-wood: Titleist TS3 (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Project X Denali Black 80 TX

Irons: Titleist T250 (4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (7-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F @47, 50-08F @51, 54-10S @55, 60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48), S400 (47)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X5 Tour Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

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