PGA TOUR has announced an expansive media rights deal that brings in ESPN with its streaming services alongside incumbent broadcasters CBS and NBC. The deal aims to increase the reach with more video content reaching a broader audience.
The Golf Channel has decided to up sticks and move its base from Orlando, Florida to Stamford, Connecticut, home of its parent company Comcast. The irony will not be missed by many that the news started to leak out during the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Palmer was one of the founders of the Golf Channel some 25 years ago.
Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player will receive the highest honour a civilian can receive from President Trump at a ceremony on 23rd March. Sorenstam learned of the honour last year after a game of golf where she and Senator Lindsey Graham took on Gary Player and President Trump.
We've all been there. One day we play great golf, nailing the drives and holing putts from everywhere, and the next – well complete rubbish. This phenomenon, however, is not purely an affliction of the amateur golfer as demonstrated by Matt Every who shot the lights out in round one of the Arnold Palmer invitational with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 only to go out on Friday and shoot 83 and miss the cut!
Prostate cancer claims the life of one man every 45 minutes! That is one very scary statistic and one that made the GolfPunk team sit up and listen. We looked it up and found that prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males in the UK, accounting for 26% of all new cancer cases. So, we are supporting the How Do We Beat It event if for no other reason than to support the charity Prostate Cancer UK.
What did Scott Piercy think when he chose to share social media posts which at best one could describe as controversial? Surely he realised in this day and age that such views might not sit well with the public? Clearly not and it will hurt him in the pocket as sponsors start to distance themselves from the player.
The European Tour has announced the postponement of the Magical Kenya Open Presented by Absa which was due to take place between 12th and 15th of March. This followed the decision by the Government of Kenya to postpone all meetings and conferences in the country of an international nature.
Trial by television was with us again at the Bay Hill Classic on Thursday. No Patrick Reed this time but rather the squeaky-clean Justin Rose. Rose had a tricky chip from the back of the 11th which he ran some 10 feet past the pin but did he move the ball at address?
GolfPunk favourite Paige Spiranac has spoken out about the horrendous experience of having an explicit private photograph leaked to the world. The 26-year-old who has a social media following of two million-odd people sent the picture to a man she was dating, but he decided to do the dirty when they broke up.
A careless error on his card has dumped England's Eddie Pepperell out of the Qatar Masters at the Education City Golf Club in Doha. The 2018 champion had hoped to find that form of two years ago and force his way into the world's top 50 in time to qualify for The Masters.
Poor old Francesco Laporta, he flew into Doha to play in the Qatar Masters only to be shown the red card and had to turn about and fly straight back to Italy. The Qatari authorities have decided that any passenger arriving on a direct flight from Italy, or having been in the country in the last two weeks have a choice of going into quarantine for 14 days or flying back to Italy.
As previously reported, the Golf Hall of Fame recently amended the qualification criteria moving the minimum age for both male and females to 45 from 50. So, it was hardly a ‘dropped my bacon sandwich’ moment when we learned that Tiger was on the list of finalists.
