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DUBLIN, Ohio — At least three spectators were ejected from the Memorial Tournament for taunting Bryson DeChambeau during Friday’s second round, specifically for yelling “Brooks Koepka!” at DeChambeau. It was the latest fuel added to the fire of a rivalry between DeChambeau and Koepka, two of the game’s biggest stars.

The first instance happened on the 2nd hole at Muirfield Village, when a 30s-something wearing a blue polo, shorts and square-rimmed sunglasses screamed “Brooksy!” as DeChambeau hit his approach shot into the green.

The spectator and his two companions, however, told police officers that they actually thought it was Koepka, who isn’t in the field this week.

“What?!” the fan’s friend yelled incredulously toward the officers. “He thought that was Brooks Koepka. You’re kicking him out because he thought that was Brooks Koepka? That’s insane.”

In a little less than an hour, two additional fans taunted DeChambeau by yelling Koepka’s name, and both were immediately ejected. In all three scenarios (on holes No. 2, 4 and 5), a Dublin police officer or tournament security official darted under the ropes and into the crowd to apprehend the suspected squawker. On each ejection, a Dublin police officer informed the offending fans that their removal was constituted by their yell. (All of the observed ejections Friday came after DeChambeau had struck his ball.)

Friday’s incident comes two weeks after the PGA Championship, in which a video surfaced of a fan calling DeChambeau “Brooksy” at the Ocean Course. Koepka later responded with that same video in a Twitter spat with DeChambeau last week.

After the round, DeChambeau told reporters the taunts left him chuffed, and that he did not order anyone’s removal.

“Oh, they weren’t taunts at all, it was flattering. I think it’s absolutely flattering what they’re doing,” DeChambeau said, after his second-round 72. He’s seven behind the co-leaders. “They can keep calling me that all day if they want to, I’ve got no issue with it. When you look at it, there’s obviously a distraction — to most people they think it’s a distraction — but I grew up learning how to deal with that stuff and I honestly thought it was flattering. The officers take care of that. I don’t really care.”

The rivalry between Koepka and DeChambeau dates back to mid-2019 but has heated up considerably after a video of Koepka’s visible displeasure with DeChambeau leaked to social media last week. The clip exploded on the internet and spawned a series of aforementioned potshots between the two golfers. After his round Friday, DeChambeau insisted he has no ill-will toward the four-time major champ.

“I’ve got nothing against him, I’ve got no issues at all,” he said. “If he wants to play that game, that’s great. I’m going to keep trying to play my best game and when it comes down to it, when somebody’s that bothered by someone else it is flattering.

“He’s had stuff with other people too,” DeChambeau continued. “Like Rory and numerous others. So this isn’t a one-off thing. So, you know, it’s just the way he deals with stuff and I’m totally fine with it.”

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Jordan Spieth, who was in DeChambeau’s grouping, said the taunting was difficult to ignore.

“[I heard it] a lot. Yeah, quite a bit,” he said. “Any bad hole, someone was yelling [Brooksy], and then any good hole people were yelling, ‘Go Bryson!’ almost louder. It was like a pseudo-rivalry and he’s not even here.”

Spieth’s advice? Stay out of it.

“He mentioned it to me at one point and I said, ‘All anyone wants is a reaction and you give it to them, then it’s going to get worse,'” Spieth said. “So it didn’t seem to bother him.”

For the most part, DeChambeau heeded that counsel Friday. He smiled, waved toward fans and flipped a ball to a child on his walk to the 1st tee box. His only complaint, he said, was not with what the fans were saying, but when they were saying it.

“No, I’m proud of the way that I’ve handled the situation. I think that people think that it bothers me, it really doesn’t,” he said. “I mean, that one video clip that came out the other day, it was more of the person saying it in my backswing than anything that bothered me. It wasn’t the fact that he said ‘Brooksy’ or whatever. It was just, he said something at an inappropriate time. If he said peanut butter and jelly at the wrong time I would have probably said the same thing. They can say whatever they want, I’ve got no issue.”

Koepka, despite playing this week, had the final comment on the day. He posted a 30-second video on Twitter.

“What’s up, guys?” he said, before discussing a giveaway for anyone whose time was “cut short” at Muirfield Village on Friday. “It’s Brooksy.”

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The post 2020 Memorial Tournament purse: Payout breakdown and winner’s share appeared first on Golf.

The post 2020 Memorial Tournament purse: Payout breakdown and winner’s share appeared first on Golf.

It’s Sunday at the Memorial Tournament and nobody forgot to tell the grounds crew. Muirfield Village director of grounds operations Chad Mark and his crew have worked tirelessly over the last two weeks to host eight PGA Tour rounds, and they’ve saved the best for last.

A downright sadistic pin sheet greets players who managed to trudge through the first 54 holes at Muirfield. But if the course setup has taught us anything this weekend, maintaining a score around par is likely to serve those in contention well.

Speaking of the leaderboard, Jon Rahm has been locked in all weekend at Muirfield Village, posting three rounds in the 60s en route to a four-stroke lead heading into the final round of play. Tony Finau and Ryan Palmer are tied for second at 8 under, while Jason Day and Patrick Cantlay (last year’s Memorial winner) round out the top 10.

But even if the grounds crew is looking to send off the Tour in style (read: leave a few players struggling to break 80), the final round at Muirfield Village is sure to deliver the sort of entertainment deserving of a tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

Below is the winner’s share and payout information for the Memorial’s massive $9.3 million purse; you can watch all the action beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on Golf Channel and continuing at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Memorial Tournament payout breakdown, winner’s share

1. $1,674,000

2. $1,013,700

3. $641,700

4. $455,700

5. $381,300

6. $337,125

7. $313,875

8. $290,625

9. $272,025

10. $253,425

11. $234,825

12. $216,225

13. $197,625

14. $179,025

15. $169,725

16. $160,425

17. $151,125

18. $141,825

19. $132,525

20. $123,225

21. $113,925

22. $104,625

23. $97,185

24. $89,745

25. $82,305

26. $74,865

27. $72,075

28. $69,285

29. $66,495

30. $63,705

31. $60,915

32. $58,125

33. $55,335

34. $53,010

35. $50,685

36. $48,360

37. $46,035

38. $44,175

39. $42,315

40. $40,455

41. $38,595

42. $36,735

43. $34,875

44. $33,015

45. $31,155

46. $29,295

47. $27,435

48. $25,947

49. $24,645

50. $23,901

51. $23,343

52. $22,785

53. $22,413

54. $22,041

55. $21,855

56. $21,669

57. $21,483

58. $21,297

59. $21,111

60. $20,925

61. $20,739

62. $20,553

63. $20,367

64. $20,181

65. $19,995

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The post Memorial Tournament live coverage: How to watch round 4 on Sunday appeared first on Golf.

The post Memorial Tournament live coverage: How to watch round 4 on Sunday appeared first on Golf.

We’re headed into the final round of play at the Memorial Tournament. Here’s everything you need to know for Sunday at Muirfield Village.

Previewing Memorial Tournament Round 4

Jon Rahm sits on the cusp of the biggest win of his professional career heading into the final round at Muirfield, but carnage awaits on Sunday. Rahm (12-under) holds a four-stroke lead heading into the final round of play at the Memorial, fresh off a trio of consecutive rounds in the 60s.

In the “Live Under Par” era of the PGA Tour, Rahm’s 69-67-68 to open the weekend would typically be hardly worth noting, but the second consecutive weekend of PGA Tour play at Muirfield has proven itself anything but a traditional Tour setup. The 25-year-old Spaniard was one of only two players at Muirfield to break 70 on Saturday — an accomplishment he admitted was hard-earned.

“Today could be one of the best rounds of golf I’ve played in my life,” Rahm said after the round. “It’s unbelievable, and it’s hard to believe how passively it came compared to how I play usually. It’s a great learning curve for me, as well.”

Tony Finau and Ryan Palmer head into the final round of play tied for second at 8 under, four strokes behind the lead. And while Rahm’s victory might seem all-but-secured, the Sunday pin positions at MVGC could make breaking par in the final round of play even more treacherous than Saturday.

How to watch the Memorial Tournament round 4 on TV

The final round of play at the Memorial Tournament will be split between a pair of broadcast networks. Golf Channel will kick things off on the air from 1-3:30 p.m. ET, while CBS will take over from 3:30 p.m. ET through to the conclusion of the tournament.

How to stream the final round of the Memorial Tournament

Those with a cable subscription can stream all the action through NBC Sports Gold and GolfChannel.com. For the late window, coverage will also be available through CBSSports.com. Fans can also view live action all day long through PGA Tour Live, though you will need an account to access the stream.

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2020 Memorial Tournament final round tee times (ET)

8:25 a.m. – Sepp Straka, Joel Dahmen

8:35 a.m. – Kevin Streelman, Sung Kang

8:45 a.m. – Carl Pettersson, Jimmy Walker

8:55 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Vijay Singh

9:05 a.m. – Denny McCarthy, Scott Piercy

9:15 a.m. – Cameron Smith, Mark Hubbard

9:25 a.m. – Lanto Griffin, Bo Hoag

9:35 a.m. – C.T. Pan, Zach Johnson

9:45 a.m. – Ryan Moore, Stewart Cink

9:55 a.m. – Jim Furyk, Brooks Koepka

10:05 a.m. – Scott Harrington, Christiaan Bezuidenhout

10:15 a.m. – Bud Cauley, Matt Kuchar

10:25 a.m. – Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson

10:35 a.m. – Corey Conners, Charles Howell III

10:45 a.m. – Abraham Ancer, Xander Schauffele

10:55 a.m. – Jason Dufner, Erik van Rooyen

11:05 a.m. – Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia

11:15 a.m. – William McGirt, Keith Mitchell

11:25 a.m. – Tiger Woods, Marc Leishman

11:35 a.m. – Steve Stricker, Luke List

11:45 a.m. – Harris English

11:55 a.m. – Sebastián Muñoz, Viktor Hovland

12:05 p.m. – Billy Horschel, Tyler Duncan

12:15 p.m. – Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed

12:25 p.m. – Adam Hadwin, Si Woo Kim

12:35 p.m. – Bubba Watson, Carlos Ortiz

12:45 p.m. – Matthew Fitzpatrick, Lucas Glover

12:55 p.m. – Dylan Frittelli

1:05 p.m. – Matthew Wolff, Xinjun Zhang

1:15 p.m. – Gary Woodland, Brendon Todd

1:25 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth

1:35 p.m. – Brendan Steele, Kevin Na

1:45 p.m. – Mackenzie Hughes, Scottie Scheffler

1:55 p.m. – Patrick Rodgers, Patrick Cantlay

2:05 p.m. – Matt Wallace, Chez Reavie

2:15 p.m. – Henrik Norlander, Jason Day

2:25 p.m. – Tony Finau, Danny Willett

2:35 p.m. – Jon Rahm, Ryan Palmer

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The post PHOTOS: Tour Muirfield Village Golf Club, home of the Memorial Tournament appeared first on Golf.

The post PHOTOS: Tour Muirfield Village Golf Club, home of the Memorial Tournament appeared first on Golf.

Muirfield Village Golf Club is as resourceful as it is renowned.

Last week, the course in Dublin, Ohio, hosted the Workday Charity Open, the PGA Tour’s replacement tournament for the John Deere Classic after it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. This week, it grew out its rough, sped up its greens and hosted the Memorial Tournament, the event it’s hosted annually since 1976. Over the next year, it will undergo a redesign, one of several it has undergone since opening in 1974, and be ready for next year’s Memorial. 

In a year’s time, three tournaments at Muirfield Village. Three different feels. All while still staying true to its roots, which has earned it accolades as No. 85 in GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World. 

“I think all golf courses are in continual evolution. I do,” Jack Nicklaus told PGA Tour.com. “Muirfield Village has been that way. You see something that can make it better and you go do it. But Muirfield Village is intrinsically the same golf course. You could go through the golf course and compare what it was when it opened and where it is today and you’d think the difference was night and day. But done over time, you don’t notice it.”

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The post Memorable Moments: Tiger’s Memorial three-peat appeared first on Golf.

The post Memorable Moments: Tiger’s Memorial three-peat appeared first on Golf.

A look back on Tiger’s third consecutive victory at the Memorial in 2001

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The post Muirfield Village GC’s Trophy Room appeared first on Golf.

The post Muirfield Village GC’s Trophy Room appeared first on Golf.

A look into the history of the trophy room at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

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The post Clubhouse Eats: A look at Muirfield’s famous milkshakes appeared first on Golf.

The post Clubhouse Eats: A look at Muirfield’s famous milkshakes appeared first on Golf.

Muirfield Village is said to have the greatest shake in the midwest. Here’s a look behind the scenes to show you how they are made.

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The post WATCH: Bryson DeChambeau mashes multiple 400+ yard drives during first round appeared first on Golf.

The post WATCH: Bryson DeChambeau mashes multiple 400+ yard drives during first round appeared first on Golf.

How well would Bryson DeChambeau’s Power Tour play at the Memorial Tournament and a fast, tough Muirfield Village? It’s a question we’ve had two weeks to think about since his win in Detroit.

Well, DeChambeau set a new ridiculous threshold at Muirfield, hitting two 400-yard drives in the span of three holes during his first round. 

On the 17th hole, DeChambeau uncorked a tee shot, easily clearing the bunker on the left with 348 yards of carry, rolling down the hill toward the green to finish 407 yards away. That’s right, four-zero-seven. From there, he had just 66 yards left, and a very average approach left him with 20 feet for birdie. It was an easy two-putt par. If only that was his best drive of the day.

Two holes later, on the 1st hole at Muirfield, with the wind in his favor, DeChambeau took a hyper aggressive line off the tee, up and over the corner. Needing about 335 yards of carry, DeChambeau got 345, bounding through the edge of the rough and down the hill toward the green. When his ball came to rest, it was 423 yards away from the man who hit it, and just 46 yards from the hole.

“Those are usually numbers you see after an errant drive,” was immediately mentioned on the broadcast.

“Yeah, when you had to chip out,” Christina Kim replied. 

DeChambeau’s brilliance with the driver was obviously on display but it was never more apparent than with the next player to hit. Patrick Cantlay, who won the Memorial last year, took the same, bold line as DeChambeau. Only Cantlay got 305 yards of carry and his ball got caught up in the rough. It kept him 79 yards behind DeChambeau, with a much more difficult approach shot. Cantlay would scramble for a par. DeChambeau pitched on to six feet and made his birdie. Enough said. 

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The post How the absence of fans helped Collin Morikawa take down Justin Thomas appeared first on Golf.

The post How the absence of fans helped Collin Morikawa take down Justin Thomas appeared first on Golf.

When Justin Thomas rolled in a 50-foot bomb on the first playoff hole Sunday at the Workday Charity Open, there was something missing — the roar of the crowd.

Under normal conditions, holing a pivotal putt with the tournament on the line would induce pandemonium outside the ropes. Instead, all that was heard were some muted cheers from the few who got to witness it, and an emphatic “Come on!” from Thomas.

Thomas had one hand on the trophy after the make, needing to dodge one last bullet with Collin Morikawa facing a testy downhill putt to extend the tournament. Unlike his heart-breaking playoff defeat a month earlier, this time Morikawa’s putter kept him alive. The 23-year-old drained the putt to extend the playoff and won the tournament two holes later.

Morikawa has been praised for his maturity on the course during his young career but answering back after such a momentum-swinging putt takes some serious guts. Far more seasoned players than him have buckled when in similar situations. Morikawa did not.

Many have speculated what a fan-less PGA Tour would mean in those crucial moments, when the energy from the crowd is palpable and can turn the tournament on its head. Sunday was our first test case. Although it’s not scientifically quantifiable, the lack of fans no doubt aided Morikawa as he prepared his counter punch.

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“It flipped the switch,” Morikawa said in a call with GOLF’s Senior Equipment Editor Andrew Tursky. “I’ve got to make it. If I don’t make, we’re going home again with another second-place playoff loss … We want the fans to be back, but I think having no fans almost helped me in my favor with just not hearing a bunch of fans cheering for minutes on end.”

Tiger Woods is familiar with raucous crowds. No one in the sport draws fans like he does, and he’s been responsible for some of the biggest roars in golf’s history, so you could call him a bit of an expert on the role crowds play in a tournament. During his pre-tournament availability, he was asked how much harder Morikawa’s putt would’ve been under normal conditions.

“A lot more difficult,” he said. “It’s so different not having the energy of the crowd, and for me watching at home as a spectator and one that has played this golf course and have heard the energy that the fans bring to these holes and these situations, not to have that is very different, very stark really.”

The energy of crowds won’t be back anytime soon, either. The PGA Tour announced earlier this week that no fans would be permitted on site for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, which concludes with the Tour Championship on Sept. 7.

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The post Why Bryson DeChambeau and Tiger Woods play practice rounds together appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Bryson DeChambeau and Tiger Woods play practice rounds together appeared first on Golf.

How do you get a practice round with Tiger Woods?

And what do you talk about once you’re out there?

After Tiger Woods finished the front nine at Muirfield Village, which he played Wednesday morning alongside Bryson DeChambeau, he was mum about their on-course chats — and denied he’d spent much time asking DeChambeau about his newly famous physique.

“I never asked and we didn’t really talk about it,” Woods said during brief post-round remarks. “We talked about a lot of other different things and just had a normal practice round.”

But what Woods and DeChambeau would consider a “normal practice round” is, of course, plenty interesting to golf fans eager to see the 15-time major champ back in action — particularly given he was tuning up alongside DeChambeau, who gets plenty of his own attention these days.

Luckily DeChambeau, who called it “an honor” to play with Woods again, was a little more forthcoming in his press conference a short time later. He even sort of answered the question about how he gets to spend certain Tuesdays and Wednesdays on Tour in Woods’ group. DeChambeau said that while he didn’t want to get into too much detail about the process, he’s usually the one who does the asking.

“Whenever we play, I usually ask kindly. That’s the way it kind of goes about,” he said. Woods is undoubtedly impressed by DeChambeau’s distance gains and run of consistent play (“What Bryson has done is no easy task,” he marveled on Tuesday), but it was still DeChambeau who made the effort to learn from Woods on Wednesday, rather than the other way around.

“It was more of me wanting to see what he was doing, to be honest with you,” DeChambeau said. “I’m always interested to see what new things he’s doing. And I think it was mutual. Obviously he likes playing with me. We’ve had a great relationship. We have great conversations. So it was just mutually beneficial, I think, and we had a lot of fun.”

In other words, you can get on Tiger’s tee sheet if you ask nicely, as long as you’re Bryson DeChambeau.

DeChambeau has become one of Woods’ most frequent playing partners. The two played together during the lead-up to last year’s U.S. Open, Memorial, and Players Championships, among other events. Justin Thomas, who played the back nine with Woods on Tuesday, is perhaps his next most frequent practice-round companion. While Memorial Wednesdays are typically reserved for a pro-am (often with Woods and Peyton Manning grouped together) there are no in-person pro-ams at the moment, leaving Woods with an open schedule.

On the first hole Wednesday, DeChambeau said, he piped his tee shot over the right bunker and into the fairway, leaving Woods to smile.

“He’s like, I didn’t get that number for that bunker,” DeChambeau said.

A couple reporters walking with the pair noted the pair’s respective length off the tee. Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner noted that DeChambeau was 50 yards past Woods on No. 6. But for the most part, DeChambeau said that Woods stayed focused on his own preparation.

“He’s worried about winning the tournament this week just like I am, and he’s pretty good at protecting himself from anything that could be potentially — I don’t know. He’s really, really good at keeping to himself.”

On a basic level, DeChambeau is still giddy to be playing with Woods, who was a big part of his his childhood golf inspiration.

“Back in the day, he was it. He was the golden star. He was the one everybody looked up to. I can tell you that the junior golfers that I played with were all inspired by Tiger and how far he hit it and how he dominated tournaments,” DeChambeau said. “I was aware of it every single week he played because I watched in just complete awe, going, man, how is he doing this?”

Now that the two are peers, there are aspects of the relationship DeChambeau would like to keep secret.

“He played a couple jokes on me today, just messing with me. I’ll keep it personal, though,” he said. Still, DeChambeau may have gotten the last laugh with one backhanded compliment.

“Even now, he’s hitting it pretty long. There was a couple holes he hit 320, 325. I’m like, that’s pretty good — for his age. It’s amazing for his age.”

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