Golf

4/22/2024 |  Scottie Scheffler finishes off another win at Hilton Head to extend dominant run (Associated Press (AP)) HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Masters champion Scottie Scheffler winning the RBC Heritage on Monday morning was inevitable. It felt that way at the start of the week, too.
Scheffler had a five-shot lead and three holes to play in the rain-delayed tournament. He made a meaningless bogey on the final hole for a 3-under 68 and a three-shot victory over Sahith Theegala at Harbour Town.

4/21/2024 |  Nelly Korda ties LPGA Tour record with 5th straight victory, wins Chevron Championship for 2nd major (Associated Press (AP)) THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Nelly Korda couldn’t have imagined the incredible run she’s put together this season while at home recovering from a blood clot that required surgery in 2022.
“Because obviously then I was just more scared for my health,” she said. “Competing was kind of on the back seat. I was not thinking about competing at all. But I think all of the sad times and the health scares that I have gone through have made me who I am today.”

4/18/2024 |  Topgolf Opens New Three-Story Venue East of Los Angeles (SGB UPDATE) Topgolf will open a new venue in Montebello, CA on May 3, marking the company’s 100th global outdoor Topgolf venue. Located about 10 minutes east of downtown LA, the three-story Topgolf venue anchors the redesigned Montebello Golf Course that the City of Montebello recently transformed into two courses.

4/18/2024 |  Kiawah Island to Host 2031 PGA Championship (SportsTravel) The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, will host the 2031 PGA Championship while the Ocean Course plus Turtle Point Golf Course will also host the 2029 Girls and Boys Junior PGA Championships.
The 113th PGA Championship, scheduled for May 2031, marks the third time the Wanamaker Trophy will be awarded along South Carolina’s coast with the previous two PGAs at the course well known. Phil Mickelson became the oldest major champion at age 50 in 2021 when he won his sixth major overall and Rory McIlroy set a PGA Championship record with an eight-shot victory in 2012.

4/17/2024 |  Chevron further invests in LPGA through expanded Chevron Championship prize purse (Gist Sports, The)

The GIST: The LPGA announced an extended partnership with energy corporation Chevron yesterday, which includes continued title sponsorship of the Chevron Championship through 2029 and a $7.9M prize purse this year. More greens, please.

The prize money: Along with the considerable prize money increase, up from its $3.1M value in 2021 before Chevron became the major championship’s title sponsor, the energy company doubled the compensation for athletes who miss the cut to $10K, making it the highest missed-cut stipend on the tour.

• Plus, the purse increase brings the LPGA Tour’s total combined prize money for the season to $123.25M, up 78.6% since 2019. The bump among the five major championships has been even more significant, growing 97% to $45.4M in just three years.

The company: Chevron has transformed the 52-year-old championship by airing it on NBC rather than the Golf Channel, which resulted in historic viewership for the 2023 event. It also works closelywith the LPGA Foundation on programs encouraging STEM education and diversity and inclusion, like spending $2M on community initiatives supporting women and girls in 2022.

• But the oil company has also fielded criticism for “greenwashing,” the environmental equivalent of sportswashing, something women’s soccer players have called out FIFA sponsors for in the past.

Zooming out: Golf wants pay parity as much as any sport, but in this particular game, brands are the key driver of prize purse growth. Chevron has changed the game for the LPGA’s first major, while the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the AIG Women’s British Open extended deals with their respective partners for record purses. Getting by with a little help from our friends.