The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: What it’s like to run out of balls in the middle of a professional tournament appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: What it’s like to run out of balls in the middle of a professional tournament appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, three-time winner Nick Dougherty explains how he managed to run out of balls during a round.

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The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: Nick Dougherty talks the hardest part about transitioning from player to analyst appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: Nick Dougherty talks the hardest part about transitioning from player to analyst appeared first on Golf.

Three-time European Tour winner Nick Dougherty explains the hardest part of transitioning from player to analyst on this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon.

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The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: A three-time Tour winner discusses the importance of mental health in golf appeared first on Golf.

The post Off Course with Claude Harmon: A three-time Tour winner discusses the importance of mental health in golf appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, Nick Dougherty reveals the depth of his mental-health struggles after his mother’s death.

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The post Rory McIlroy crumbles on 72nd hole, Viktor Hovland wins in Dubai playoff appeared first on Golf.

The post Rory McIlroy crumbles on 72nd hole, Viktor Hovland wins in Dubai playoff appeared first on Golf.

It was all over for Viktor Hovland at the Dubai Desert Classic, and then suddenly, it wasn’t.

The 24-year-old pro stood on the 16th tee with what could charitably be described as a snowball’s chance in hell at the title. He was a mile from the lead — some four strokes back — and fresh off a disappointing bogey that further deflated his chances on the 15th.

“At the start I thought, okay, we can keep pushing and maybe have a chance at it,” Hovland said afterward. “But after not making birdie on 10, and making a bogey on — the three-putt on 15, I thought I was pretty much out of it.”

But then, the golf gods struck.

Hovland made a birdie on the par-4 16th, then an eagle on the par-4 17th, then another birdie on the par-5 18th. Three holes after trailing by a near-insurmountable margin, he held the clubhouse lead.

It all amounted to a miraculous, three-hole turnaround for Hovland, and as time would tell, he’d need every stroke he earned coming back.

“I knew that was going to tie the lead but I knew they still had 13 and some easier holes to make birdie on,” Hovland said. “I knew I probably had to birdie the last as well to get them thinking a little bit.”

By the time the dust settled after Hovland’s round, not one but two players were threatening to tie his lead and send the tournament into a playoff. The first was Richard Bland, the 48-year-old everyman who captured the hearts of the golf world when he won his first-ever tournament at the British Masters last year. The second was Rory McIlroy, who was looking for his first victory of 2022 in Dubai.

Shortly after Hovland’s birdie rolled in on the 18th, McIlroy faced the decision of the tournament on the same hole. Should he try to reach the par-5 in two — attempting a challenging wood over the water — he’d all-but-secure the victory. Should he lay up short, he’d risk a tricky birdie putt that could send the tournament careening toward a three-way playoff with Hovland and Bland.

McIlroy elected the aggressive approach, pulling out a fairway wood. But as soon as he struck the shot, he lurched over. He’d heeled it directly into the lakebed. A shot and two putts later, he’d cost himself the tournament.

Back on the 18th for the first playoff hole, Hovland and Bland both nuked 3-woods over the lake and onto the green. A short-game contest ensued, and Hovland won out, draining a tournament-winning birdie on the 73rd hole — his fourth consecutive hole under-par — to win the tournament.

With the victory, Hovland moves to No. 3 in the world — his highest-ever ranking.

“Yeah, it’s pretty wild. I was asked, was it earlier this week, I was up to 5th and I was getting questions about how that felt. More of the same, I guess,” Hovland said with a laugh. “Being No. 3 is pretty crazy, but you know, that stuff can vary week-to-week and I’m not going to let that stuff dictate my mood or how I do things.”

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The post ‘Blow it up to oblivion’: Tyrrell Hatton goes nuclear on Abu Dhabi hole design appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Blow it up to oblivion’: Tyrrell Hatton goes nuclear on Abu Dhabi hole design appeared first on Golf.

It’s hard to know for certain, but Tyrrell Hatton might not love the 18th hole at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi.

And why do we say that? Oh, well only because he’s dedicated consecutive post-round sessions with gathered reporters at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to the subject of the 646-yard par-5, and his critiques have been … not sterling.

“That must be one of the worst par-5s I’ve ever seen in my life,” Hatton said Saturday. “And over the last two days, I’ve clearly played it about as well as it was designed.”

As for the offending issue, Hatton had … a few thoughts.

“What’s wrong with it? Where do you start? It shouldn’t have a bunker in the middle of the fairway, and it shouldn’t be over 600 yards from a forward tee,” he said Saturday. “If you hit a good drive as a pro, you should have at least a chance to go for the green in two, otherwise the hole becomes a par-3, and that’s if you play it well. Hardly anyone will get there in two with the wind even slightly against you.”

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Now, it is noteworthy that these quotes came mere minutes after Hatton’s tournament hopes were dashed with a quadruple-bogey nine on the hole. And it is also noteworthy that particularly brutal winds affected play for the majority of the week. Still, Hatton’s disdain for the 18th was decidedly pointed.

“I honestly can’t remember the last time I got a nine,” he said. “I certainly haven’t had one that I can recall as a pro. I was probably about 14 the last time it happened.” 

Hatton’s criticisms also weren’t restricted to only Saturday. After a final-round 67 on Sunday left him with a respectable T6 in Abu Dhabi, Hatton once again took aim at the 18th.

“I definitely still think it is an awful hole. Today we were off the very back tees, and you wonder why when you want to encourage aggressive golf and make it exciting for the spectators,” he said. “I’m obviously not a fan. If we’re coming back here next year, it would be nice if they redesigned it.”

Should the membership at Yas Links consider Hatton’s rather pointed criticism, the 30-year-old pro also has a suggested recourse.

“I would love for a bomb to drop on it and blow it up to oblivion, to be honest,” he said.

After his week, Tyrrell Hatton suggested he might take a more reasoned approach to the hole, should the tournament return to Yas Links in future years.

“Perhaps I may not be back.”

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The post Thomas Pieters survives brutal conditions, wins Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post Thomas Pieters survives brutal conditions, wins Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship appeared first on Golf.

Each year, a select few events on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) draw the entry of some of the best players in the world. The first of those events comes in Abu Dhabi, where the HSBC Championship’s $8 million purse earns the tournament the distinction of being the first significant event on the DP World Tour calendar.

This week, Rory McIlroy joined the likes of Ian Poulter, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Adam Scott — among many others — in Abu Dhabi. When the dust settled, Hovland ranked first among the group of aforementioned pros, but still fell to the eventual winner, Thomas Pieters.

Who won: Thomas Pieters (even-par 72; 10-under 278)

How it happened: Sometimes, tournaments are won on Sunday. Sometimes, they’re simply clinched. Such was the case in Abu Dhabi, where a perfectly even-keeled, even-par 72 was enough to nab Thomas Pieters the HSBC Championship. Pieters won on Sunday with just one birdie and one bogey, gliding on 16 pars and the weight of his early rounds to victory. Perhaps the decisive moments of the week came before the weekend. On Thursday, an opening-round the 64 shot the 29-year-old Belgian out of a cannon to the top of the leaderboard, while on Friday, Pieters managed to survive vicious conditions at only two-over, giving him a stranglehold on the lead he wouldn’t surrender.

As the rest of the field struggled throughout the weekend, Pieters kept his cool, entering Sunday with a two-stroke lead. Rafa Cabrera Bello and Shubhankar Sharma applied ample pressure — Bello pulled even for all of one hole — but in the end, pars on each of his last seven holes were enough to clinch a one-stroke victory.

Blown away: Wind gusts of up to 30 mph whirled the field into a frenzy on Friday, sending scores skyrocketing, carnage-lovers snickering, and leaving Rory McIlroy to posit “I’ve never been so glad to get off a golf course.”

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Lee Westwood, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Thomas Pieters all shot second-round 74s, with Yas Links in Abu Dhabi doing its finest impression of linksland golf along Scotland’s North Sea. The blustery conditions were a source of frustration for everyone on Friday, but perhaps no one more than Tyrrell Hatton, who was heard releasing an only slightly hilarious profanity-laced tirade into the gusts.

Bombs Away: Speaking tirades, Hatton had one for the ages after his final round ended Sunday. The target of his vitriol: the par-5 18th at Yas Links.

“That I would love for a bomb to drop on it and blow it up to oblivion to be honest,” Hatton told reporters. “It’s just such a terrible finishing hole. And the fact that they moved the tee back today is ridiculous. I hit a really good tee shot and still got 290 front. I could peg-up driver up and still not get there. It would be a much better finishing hole if you’re actually rewarded for hitting the fairway, which as it stands, you’re not.”

Why it matters: The victory is the 7th of Thomas Pieters’ European Tour career and 8th overall, and will likely vault him to his highest-ever Official World Golf Ranking position. Pieters, 29, could find himself in the top 20 in the world next week, depending upon how the final round of play from the American Express shakes out.

Notables: Viktor Hovland finished T4 at -8. Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter finished T6 at -7. Adam Scott finished T10 at -6. Rory McIlroy finished T12 at -5. Collin Morikawa finished T62 at +5.

Up next: The DP World Tour stays in the U.A.E., heading to Dubai for the Desert Classic. Morikawa, Hovland and McIlroy will all travel from the HSBC to Dubai for the event.

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The post How this Tour player competes with AND coaches his opponents at the same time appeared first on Golf.

The post How this Tour player competes with AND coaches his opponents at the same time appeared first on Golf.

After more than two decades as a professional, Robert Rock is one of the game’s most experienced Tour pros. That’s why his peers on the European Tour have long sought out his expertise — so much so that Rock now has other instructors on his team to help manage his client load, which now exceeds 20 players.

The thing is, at 44 years old, in addition to his instruction workload, Rock is still competing on the European Tour. The Englishman teed it up in 17 events in 2021. And that puts Rock in a unique category: he’s playing against the some of the same people he’s coaching.

On this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, Rock explained how he makes the seemingly odd dynamic work for him.

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“I get ready for my tournaments the days before,” Rock said. “When I turn up on a Monday, I’m not turning up on a Monday really for me, unless it’s a brand-new venue. Most of the time, I’m turning up for them, knowing that I’ve done my work at home, and all I really need to do is either play the pro-am or just do nine holes and feel like I’m ready.

“I think I got used to sort of separating the two when I was an assistant pro, doing lessons, and then you go out and play,” Rock continued. “And I made the mistake many times then, just — ‘Oh, I’ve just come up with a great idea in that lesson, I’m going to give that a whirl on the course.’ And that never works. I think I learned to separate the lessons from my golf. And because I’ve pretty much always been my own coach of my own game, I could quite quickly go, that was for him, but what was my last swing thought from a week ago when I was on the range? And I’ve always wrote them down, thankfully, so that helped.”

For more from Rock, including what it’s like to play in the final group with Tiger Woods and come out on top, check out the full interview below.

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The post Why the DP World Tour’s opening event in South Africa was called after 36 holes appeared first on Golf.

The post Why the DP World Tour’s opening event in South Africa was called after 36 holes appeared first on Golf.

After playing only 36 holes, Thriston Lawrence became the first-ever winner on the newly rebranded DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour.

Like the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour has short turnaround time between seasons. Just last week, Collin Morikawa claimed the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai in the season’s culminating event. And this week, the new season began with the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club’s Firethorn Course in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A decision had already been made to shorten the tournament to 54 holes, given the World Health Organization declaration of the new “Omicron” Covid variant to be “of concern.” The U.S., EU, UK and Canada have since imposed travel restrictions on flights to and from South Africa and other countries in the region, prompting the Tour to cut the event down to allow players, caddies and personnel to return to their home countries.

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Weather delays at the Joburg Open pushed the second round into Saturday, and when a poor forecast made the completion of a third round look unlikely, the tournament was called after 36 holes, granting Lawrence, the leader by four shots at 12 under par, his maiden victory.

With the win, Lawrence earns status on the DP World Tour through 2023, as well as an exemption into next summer’s Open Championship.

“It’s so surreal,” he said in the aftermath of his victory. “I don’t think anyone thought it would turn out this way, to finish on a Saturday afternoon but I’m just really thankful. It’s a life-changing moment for me.

“It’s been a goal, you want to see yourself up there but the last year and a half of Covid it’s been tough so you sort of see your dreams fade. For it to change this week is unbelievable.”

The DP World Tour now goes into an extended break through the holidays, picking back up with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January.

The post Why the DP World Tour’s opening event in South Africa was called after 36 holes appeared first on Golf.

The post Rory McIlroy in position to achieve historic feat appeared first on Golf.

The post Rory McIlroy in position to achieve historic feat appeared first on Golf.

After trailing by one shot heading into the DP World Tour Championship’s third round, Rory McIlroy is back on top with one round remaining in Dubai.

After firing a five-under 67 that featured seven birdies and two bogeys on Saturday, McIlroy now leads the field by one shot at 14 under par overall — putting himself in position to achieve something that’s never been done before on the European Tour: winning the Race to Dubai season finale a record three times.

McIlroy first won the event back in 2012 and claimed victory a second time in 2015.

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If McIlroy were to raise the trophy on Sunday in Dubai, it would mark his first European Tour victory since the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions, though he’s won twice on the PGA Tour since then: the 2020 Wells Fargo Championship and, more recently, October’s CJ Cup.

“I’m right where I want to be,” he said after his round. “I want to be contending on Sundays in golf tournaments and feel like I’m back to playing the way I should and the way that will get me back contending.”

Despite McIlroy’s recent resurgence, he has been stalled at his tally of four major championships since winning the PGA Championship in 2014. He needs a Masters win to complete the career grand slam.

Though McIlroy has had plenty of success in Dubai over the course of his career, winning on Sunday won’t be easy. His chasers include Shane Lowry and Collin Morikawa, both three shots back.

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The post GOLF’s Subpar: Why Lucas Herbert ended up on the European Tour appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Why Lucas Herbert ended up on the European Tour appeared first on Golf.

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 2-time European Tour winner Lucas Glover who explains why he went from growing up in Australia to playing on the European Tour.

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This week’s episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you’ve never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you.

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The post GOLF’s Subpar: Why Lucas Herbert ended up on the European Tour appeared first on Golf.