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'You're Actually Stupid:' Senior Golfers Baffled By PGA Tour Canada Cheating Scandal

• Author: Alex Miceli

PORTHCAWL, Wales – In case you missed it, this week there was a cheating scandal that came to light on the PGA Tour Canada . Here at the Senior Open, players can’t quite comprehend it.

“I honestly don't know, was it a cry for help, I have no idea,” Harrington said before this week’s major at Royal Porthcawal. “It just seems bizarre that somebody would do that in a – what event was it? So, like a fully-fledged organized tour event. And he thought he would get away with it?”

Bernhard Langer also wondered in disbelief how a pro golfer could get away with cheating.

“Golf is very unique where we penalize ourselves, I've done it to myself, I had a 3-foot putt, I lined it up, I put my putter behind it, looked at the hole, I put it back, the ball moved marginally.,” Langer said. “Nobody saw it, not even a TV camera could pick it up, but I knew the line wasn't where I had put it. I called for a ruling, and well, the rule is, you address it, you get a one-shot penalty, and that cost me $330,000, and I called it on myself. You don't see that in any other sport.”

The incident involved a journeyman pro named Justin Doeden, who missed cuts in his first two events of the Canadian season, and was recently close to missing a third cut in his second round in Ottawa.

When Doeden double-bogeyed the par-5 18 th , a hole he had birdied the day before, he was clearly doomed to miss another cut, but instead of reporting the seven he erased the number and wrote a five, putting him safely above the cut line.

According to the website MondayQ , two players were having lunch and noticed the 3-under on the leaderboard for Doeden.

One had played with Doeden and knew he took a seven at the last and finished 1-under. He thought it was a scoring glitch and reported it to the rules official as exactly that—a glitch— but the official pulled the card and saw the erasure of a five written on the card.

As an investigation was on-going between officials, the scorer, and players, Doeden withdrew from the event.

The PGA Tour Canada issued a statement: “A violation of the Rules of Golf is handled in accordance with the PGA TOUR Canada Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations. Per TOUR policy, the matter – and any related disciplinary action – will be handled internally.”

Doeden did not respond to Sports Illustrated’s request for comment. A PGA Tour spokesman later said that Doeden is not currently doing interviews.

Doeden confessed his actions Monday on Twitter.

“I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date. I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9."

At the Senior British Open on Wednesday, Langer went on to discuss the tremendous stress and pressure that exists on all tours.

“Some of these people, they have family, they have young kids, and they live from this paycheck to the next one, so it can be very tempting,” Langer said of cheating. “But to me it's foolish, especially changing a scorecard is ridiculous, really. I mean, how can you think you're going to get way with changing a scorecard? You're not just breaking a rule. You're actually stupid.”

Harrington said players cheat on tour regularly and how difficult it is to stop, since you must be 100% sure and have all the evidence needed to prove it or potentially face legal ramifications.

“Is this a serial offender? And is that wrong, I suppose that's why we have in real life, why we have a court system and a judge because you know, I'm sitting here thinking, it makes no sense,” Harrington said while trying to resolve in his head how to approach the incident. “There must be a reason why this has happened. Is this poor person under some outside pressure or something, or why would they do this?”

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Golfer Justin Doeden admits to cheating at Canada event: 'I pray for your forgiveness'

Doeden has participated in the pga tour canada series since 2018.

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PGA Canada Tour golfer Justin Doeden came clean on Monday and admitted he cheated on his scorecard while competing at the Ottawa Open over the weekend.

Canadian Stuart McDonald defeated Americans Devon Bling and Luke Schniederjans in a playoff. Doeden withdrew from the event as tournament officials launched an investigation into his score.

"I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date. I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9," he wrote on Twitter.

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Justin Doeden plays his shot from the eighth tee during the second round of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament Final Stage at Landings Club-Marshwood Course on Nov. 5, 2021 in Savannah, Georgia. (Andrew Wevers/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

The issue with Doeden’s scorecard was first noticed by Monday Q Info . The report said Doeden was 3-under par on the leaderboard, but his card was signed as having shot a seven on the 18th hole. It would have put Doeden at 1-under par, and he would have missed the cut with that score.

Doeden hit his second shot on the 18th hole into the water. He was hit with a penalty stroke and started on his fourth shot. He completed the hole in seven strokes, but his scorecard reportedly showed a five instead of a seven.

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Justin Doeden tees off on the first hole during the second round of the Mackenzie Tour - Mackenzie Investments Open on Sept. 6, 2019 at Elm Ridge Country Club in Montreal. (David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

According to Monday Q Info, Doeden’s playing partners saw the final score and alerted tournament officials. They reportedly looked at the card and noticed the seven had been erased and replaced with a five.

PGA Tour Canada told Golf.com the alleged cheating was under investigation, but officials did not expect to make a formal announcement.

Justin Doeden current official PGA TOUR headshot. (Jennifer Perez/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

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The former Minnesota Golden Gophers standout has been a mainstay on the PGA Tour Canada circuit. He has played in 44 tournaments and made 22 cuts. He has been in the top three twice and the top five three times since he joined the series in 2018.

Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

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PGA Tour cheating scandal has Padraig Harrington in disbelief, Bernhard Langer divulges $330,000 penalty

Harrington and Langer, two stalwarts of the PGA Tour Champions, weighed in on the cheating scandal that occurred in a PGA Tour Canada event.

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Justin Doeden’s cheating scandal from last week’s PGA Tour Canada event has caught the attention of both Padraig Harrington and Bernhard Langer , two stalwarts of the PGA Tour Champions.

Both Harrington and Langer discussed the matter ahead of The Senior Open, as Royal Porthcawl in Wales hosts the tournament this week.

“It’s hard to believe that in the modern era, somebody could still think that they could [cheat],” Harrington said Wednesday. “I honestly don’t know [if it is] a cry for help. I have no idea. It just seems bizarre that somebody would do that in a fully-fledged organized tour event. And he thought he would get away with it?”

Doeden made a double-bogey seven on the 18th hole, a par-5, at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open. His double put him one shot below the cut line.

He then erased the seven and replaced it with a five on his scorecard, temporarily putting him at 3-under for the tournament and one shot above the cut, per Monday Q’s Ryan French.

“Is this a serial offender?” Harrington pressed. “I suppose that’s why we have in real life, why we have a court system and a judge because, you know, I’m sitting here thinking, it makes no sense. There must be a reason why this has happened, is this poor person under some outside pressure or something, or why would they do this?”

Doeden then admitted to his mistake and asked for forgiveness, citing scripture in a tweet.

PGA Tour Canada has not yet announced repercussions for Doeden, but a year-long suspension is possible.

Doeden eventually called the penalty on himself, as he withdrew from the tournament immediately after officials launched an investigation into this incident.

“It’s obviously very disappointing when anybody cheats because the game of golf was built and founded on honesty and integrity, and that’s what we try to teach our younger generations, and that’s what we all try to be, role models for that and uphold the rules,” Langer said in his pre-tournament press conference Wednesday.

“Golf is very unique where we penalize ourselves,” Langer continued.

“I once had a 3-foot putt; I lined it up, put my putter behind it, looked at the hole, and put it back. The ball moved marginally. Nobody saw it; not even a TV camera could pick it up, but I knew the line wasn’t where I had put it. I called for a ruling, and well, the rule is, you address it, you get a one-shot penalty, and that cost me $330,000, and I called it on myself.”

“You don’t see that in any other sport.”

Langer is one of the most accomplished European players in history, as he won The Masters twice and holds the record for most majors won on the PGA Tour Champions circuit.

He was also crucial to Team Europe’s Ryder Cup success throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

And yet, Langer knew when to call a penalty on himself, even as one of the most recognizable and successful golfers on the planet.

That is a story all golfers should be aware of: always police yourself, even if it costs money, because one’s integrity stands above all else.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.

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After being accused of cheating, one professional golfer has responded: He did cheat, and he’s sorry.

The player in this case is Justin Doeden, a 28-year-old from Burnsville, Minnesota, who played his college golf at Minnesota before turning pro in 2018. Doeden currently is a member on both PGA Tour Latinoamerica, where he recently lost in a playoff at that tour’s season finale and ended up No. 16 in points, and PGA Tour Canada, where he’s played three of the five events so far this summer.

According to Monday Q Info’s Ryan French , Doeden erased his score on his 36 th hole of last week’s Commissionaires Ottawa Open in Dunrobin, Ontario, and wrote down a score two strokes lower so that he could make the cut on the number. However, Doeden’s playing competitors noticed that Doeden’s score on the par-5 18 th hole at Eagle Creek Golf Club was showing as a ‘5,’ a par, when Doeden had actually hit his second shot in the water and missed a 7-foot bogey putt to make ‘7.’

When asked about the discrepancy by rules official, Doeden initially told them he had parred the hole. He later called in to withdraw from the event, a decision that allowed the cut line to move down to 2 under and allow 16 players to play the weekend.

“He could have affected my career,” one player who finished 36 holes at 2 under told French.

( Click here for a more detailed account of what happened.)

Initially, Doeden did not respond to French’s request for comment. But he eventually took to Twitter to apologize for his actions.

“I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date,” Doeden said. “I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9.”

Doeden meant 1 John 1:9, which states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

It’s unclear what punishment Doeden will receive from PGA Tour Canada. The tour provided this in a statement to GolfChannel.com: “A violation of the Rules of Golf is handled in accordance with the PGA Tour Canada Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations. Per Tour policy, the matter – and any related disciplinary action – will be handled internally.”

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According to a report from Monday Q Info, there was a cheating incident at this week's PGA Tour Canada event in Ottawa.

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The PGA Tour Canada is investigating an alleged cheating incident that took place at the Ottawa Open this week.

According to a report from Ryan French of Monday Q Info, the incident involved a 28-year-old pro named Justin Doeden and his score on the par-5 18th hole during the second round at Eagle Creek Golf Club. As French was told by witnesses, Doeden hit his second shot into the water on the finishing hole. He took a penalty stroke and dropped for his fourth shot before his next swing landed in a greenside bunker. From there, Doeden failed to get up-and-down, finishing with a double-bogey 7.

But when scores were posted later that afternoon, French reported, Doeden’s card showed he’d made a 5 on the hole. With a par instead of double bogey, Doeden’s posted 36-hole total of three under would’ve been one shot inside the cut line.

As soon as his playing partners saw the incorrect score, French reported, they alerted tournament officials to the error.

According to French, the player who’d kept Doeden’s score confirmed his total and signed the card. But after signing, Doeden asked for the card back to double check the numbers.

When officials were alerted to the incorrect score, French reported, they examined Doeden’s scorecard to find that the 7 from the 18th hole had been erased and replaced with a 5.

As the investigation into the matter was in progress, Doeden reportedly contacted tournament officials and withdrew from the tournament.

When reached for comment by GOLF.com, the PGA Tour Canada communications department said the incident is under review and the tour does not expect to make a formal statement.

If Doeden’s incorrect score had not been caught, it would have had major cut-line implications. Only the top 60 and ties make the cut on the Canadian Tour, and with Doeden’s three-under total, 13 players would have tied for 61st at two under.

Doeden, a fifth-year pro, attended the University of Minnesota where he played on the golf team for his junior and senior seasons. Since turning pro in 2018, he has spent most of his time on the Canadian Tour, playing 43 events. This season, he’s made 12 starts on the Canadian Tour, making eight cuts with five top 25s and one runner-up finish.

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Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Bernhard langer calls recent pro golfer cheating scandal 'foolish' and 'stupid', share this article.

During last week’s Ottawa Open on the PGA Tour Canada, Justin Doeden cheated .

Doeden, after his playing partner signed the scorecard, changed his score on the last hole of his second round from a seven to a five. This put him one stroke above the 36-hole cut number and would have sent 13 other players home early.

Players noticed the discrepancy during lunch and reported it. Tournament officials discovered Doeden used an eraser to change the score, but he withdrew from the tournament during the investigation. He didn’t respond to a request for comment but did confess in a social media post Monday.

I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date. I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9 @acaseofthegolf1 — Justin Doeden (@jdoeden11) July 24, 2023

On Wednesday, Bernhard Langer was asked about the scandal during his pre-tournament press conference at the Senior Open being held this week at Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend, Wales.

“It’s obviously very disappointing when anybody cheats because the game of golf was built and founded on honesty and integrity and that’s what we try to teach our younger generations, and that’s what we all try to be, role models for that and uphold the rules,” he said.

“Let’s face it, golf is very unique in that way. What other sport penalizes yourself? If you’re a soccer player, and you kick the other guy, you go, I didn’t touch him, I didn’t do anything, would you ever say, I tripped this guy, you need to give a penalty. You’ll never see that, ever. Any other sport, tell me any sport, tennis, you always think it’s in.

“You never say, it’s out.

“What I’m trying to say is golf is very unique where we penalize ourselves. I’ve done it to me. I had a 3-foot putt, I lined it up, I put my putter behind it, looked at the hole, I put it back. The ball moved marginally. Nobody saw it, not even a TV camera could pick it up, but I knew the line wasn’t where I had put it. I called for a ruling, and well, the rule is, you address it, you get a one-shot penalty, and that cost me $330,000, and I called it on myself. You don’t see that in any other sport.

“But to me it’s foolish, especially changing a scorecard is ridiculous, really. I mean, how can you think you’re going to get away with changing a scorecard? You’re not just breaking a rule. You’re actually stupid.”

Langer was 2 over through the first 12 holes of his opening round at Royal Porthcawl, seven back of Miguel Ángel Jiménez who posted a first-round 5-under 66.

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No Mercy Shown After Tour Pro Cheats and Almost Affects the Lives of 13 Other Golfers, Leaving Fans Fuming at His Apology 

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Golf – The 151st Open Championship – Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, Britain – July 19, 2023 The silhouette of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy on the 17th green is pictured during a practice round REUTERS/Phil Noble

Last week, a PGA Tour Canada event in Ottawa became the center of controversy after a competing golfer was caught trying to cheat. First reported by Ryan French on MondayQ , the incident has now gained significant traction in the golf community.

With the Tour currently reviewing the scandalous act to determine the appropriate punishment, the accused player took to social media on Monday to share his side of the story, inciting irate reactions from fans. Let’s jump in to find out more!

Golf pro admits to his mistakes following cheating accusations

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On Friday, the second round of the Commissionaires Ottawa Open was underway when two players noticed a discrepancy in the score of 28-year-old Justin Doeden, who was listed at 3-under on the leaderboard. One of the two golfers had played with Doeden and had witnessed him make a double bogey 7 on No. 18 to finish 1-under and outside the cutline.

At scoring, the player who kept Doeden’s card confirmed his score and signed it. Doeden then asked for it under the disguise of wanting to ascertain certain things. When the player handed over the card, the 18th hole reflected a 7. However, after officials looked into Doeden’s scorecard, they realized that the 7 had actually been replaced with a 5.

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When asked about it, Doeden said that he had made a 5, while the waking scorer and his playing partners stressed that it was a 7. Days after the incident, Doeden has now changed his side of the story and has confessed to cheating at the tournament.

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“ I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my lif e to date,” he wrote in a tweet. “ I cheated in golf. ” He further issued an apology to his competitors and sponsors for letting them down. “ I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9 ,” wrote Doeden.

I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date. I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9 @acaseofthegolf1 — Justin Doeden (@jdoeden11) July 24, 2023

Earlier, the golfer had withdrawn from the Ottawa event following the scrutiny surrounding his score. While the jury is still out on the kind of punishment he will be receiving for his actions, fans on Twitter took a more firm approach to the matter.

Confession or admission once outed? Debate rages on

After Justin Doeden referred to his actions as the “ biggest mistake ” of his career, fans were split on how to react to the apology. It seems like many of them aren’t too keen on forgiving the ex-University of Minnesota player.

Did he confess or just got caught? — Ritchie Boyd (@RBoyd1306) July 25, 2023

Confession? Or admission once outed? There is a difference. — Rory Breaker (@RoryBreaker8) July 24, 2023

On PGA Tour Canada, the top 60 players and ties make the cut. Had Doeden’s erroneous ways not been caught, he would have made the cut. Meanwhile, 13 other players would have been T-61 and missed the last two rounds of the event. “ He could have affected my career ,” one golfer who finished at 2-under had said regarding the entire fiasco.

Not sure how one comes back from this. — magnolia lane (@jandtstevnsn) July 24, 2023

This dude erased a score after his playing partner signed the card, and he’s trying to invoke God in his pseudo apology. Pretty amazing lack of humility here. Dude should be banned for a couple years. Go sell cars for a bit and come back when you’ve grown up. https://t.co/WHW1axGPiY — R Kay (@UnCommonSense00) July 25, 2023

Some golf enthusiasts have heaped praise on Doeden for coming clean, with one saying that “ apologising and owning up is the first step .”

It’s going to be a very very long road back from here but apologising and owning up is the first step. — Darren Timms (@darrentimmsgolf) July 24, 2023

Big props for owning it, that’s not easy. Hope you come out better for it on the other side of this whole thing. Cheers. — Martin McSports (@MartinMcSports) July 24, 2023

It will be now interesting to see how PGA Tour Canada deals with the issue, especially with Doeden’s apology thrown in the mix.

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What are your thoughts on the incident? Do you think Justin Doeden should be allowed to walk away with little repercussions on his golfing career? Let us know in the comments!

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Bernhard Langer explains why it’s ‘tempting’ for some pros to consider cheating on Tour

Last week, PGA Tour Canada player Justin Doeden confessed to cheating at an event. Ryan French (Monday Q Info) was the first to report that Doeden changed the score on the final hole of his second round at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open from a 7 to a 5 after he had already signed it, saying that he needed to check it over one more time.

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At this week’s Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl, Bernhard Langer spoke about the incident.

“It’s obviously very disappointing when anybody cheats because the game of golf was built and founded on honesty and integrity and that’s what we try to teach our younger generations, and that’s what we all try to be, role models for that and uphold the rules.”

Langer also made an interesting point. In other sports, referees call fouls on players, and those players often argue the calls. In golf, players must call infractions on themselves.

“Let’s face it, golf is very unique in that way. What other sport penalizes yourself? If you’re a soccer player, and you kick the other guy, you go, ‘I didn’t touch him, I didn’t do anything’. Would you ever say, ‘I tripped this guy, you need to give a penalty.’

“You’ll never see that, ever. Any other sport, tell me any sport, tennis, you always think it’s in. You never say, ‘It’s out.'”

The 65-year-old then pondered on whether Doeden’s personal circumstances led to him being unable to resist cheating.

“I don’t know what circumstances this player is living under and what’s going on and whether that one stroke would improve his life dramatically, I have no idea. I can’t imagine it.

“But there’s tremendous stress out there, a lot of pressure. Some of these people, they have family, they have young kids, and they live from this paycheck to the next one, so it can be very tempting.”

Why he cheated is unknown, but most people agree that the manner in which Doeden cheated was nonsensical.

“To me it’s foolish, especially changing a scorecard is ridiculous, really. I mean, how can you think you’re going to get way with changing a scorecard? You’re not just breaking a rule. You’re actually stupid.”

I am here to confess of the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date. I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9 @acaseofthegolf1 — Justin Doeden (@jdoeden11) July 24, 2023

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One of the more outspoken analysts throughout the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga has been Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

This week, Chamblee reversed course, saying he believes the PGA Tour should strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF).

Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain." He says: "The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8 — JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024

“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone who’s not going to go away, who can outspend you”.

“Every move they make that makes their tour better deletes your tour and causes more division within the tour. So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”

Chamblee’s new stance seems to be in line with that of Rory McIlroy, who reportedly wanted to rejoin the PGA Tour board with hopes of pushing a deal with the PIF closer to the finish line.

Chamblee will be in the booth for next week’s PGA Championship which has 16 LIV players in the field.

• Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
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Xander Schauffele explains free drop ruling during round one of Wells Fargo Championship

During Thursday’s opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele blasted his tee shot in the woods to the right of the fairway on the par-4 8th hole.

The ball was almost not found, but Xander’s group managed to track it down just before the three-minute time limit was reached.

When the ball was found, it was just beyond the penalty area close to a fence. In the moment, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Schauffele would be able to hit the ball through the trees towards the green.

However, through the woods and above the fairway, there was a hanging wire from a ShotLink tower that Xander claimed was in his way. He was then granted relief, and two club lengths from the spot positioned him all the way out of trouble. He played his ball onto the front of the green and two-putted for par.

Here is the full video of the interaction between Schauffele and the rules official.

??? #WATCH — The full video of the Xander Schauffele #DropGate situation ? pic.twitter.com/nsUvXS2fK6 — NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 9, 2024

After the round, Xander said he “got really lucky.”

“Got really lucky multiple times, on 1 with Wyndham finding it, 2, being able to move the rocks, and 3, the ShotLink tower being in like my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no breeze 4 with what I thought was almost out was a really good break.”

“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I — ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction.

“If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I’ll just kind of hit my next one out. But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you’ve got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit.”

“So Austin [Kaiser] and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”

Schauffele finished the round at seven under, which gives him a three-shot lead going into Friday’s second round.

Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis

According to a report from The Telegraph , the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has soured.

Last week, reports surfaced that McIlroy, who was a member of the PGA Tour policy board during most of the past few years, was looking to rejoin the board, presumably taking Webb Simpson’s seat.

However, on Wednesday, McIlroy revealed that he will not be rejoining the policy board, due to people on the board being “uncomfortable” with that “for some reason.”

Here's Rory McIlroy talking about the PGA Tour policy board and the "subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason." pic.twitter.com/0skNOwtWxz — Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) May 8, 2024

The Telegraph has reported that Tiger Woods was among the players who voted against McIlroy returning to the policy board.

The divide is apparently due to McIlroy pushing for the game of golf to unify, whereas Woods, reportedly, believes the PGA Tour is in a fine position where it currently stands.

The Associated Press added another wrinkle to the situation, reporting that Woods is the only player who will be negotiating directly with the Saudis.

The other members of the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, who was a former PGA Tour player.

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25) Buy here. Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Buy here. Shaft:...

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A game of integrity? Golf has a long tradition of cheating and sandbagging

One of golf's most recent cheating controversies involved a golfer at a pga tour canada tournament admitting that he lied on his scorecard..

Apply the lens of cheating to golf, and it becomes a paradoxical sport. The game roots itself in integrity and class. Yet even with a rule book more than 200 pages thick, few activities lend themselves to fudging it more than golf.  

And in golf, cheating often goes unpunished. It’s understandable in some cases, from the PGA Tour to matches among friends at the local municipal course. Most players – well, maybe not those on the PGA Tour – participating in a competition walk (or drive) to their shots by their lonesome. That isolation can be tempting. 

A hand wedge – moving the ball to a better placement. A step with an exaggerated kick that knocks the ball from the rough into the fairway. Can’t find the ball? No one will see you drop the Titleist 4 – “weren’t you playing a 2 before?” – on the back side of the green. That 6 on hole 7? It was actually a 5, we’re not counting the swing that topped a ball 27 yards. Sandbag that sucker by lying about a handicap. 

Maybe cheating is golf’s most time-honored tradition after all. 

Justin Doeden : 'Biggest mistake I have made in my life'

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us.” - John 1:9  

At the PGA Tour Canada’s Ottawa Open in July, officials opened an investigation into a scorecard controversy. 

That same weekend, Justin Doeden, then 28, with one PGA Tour start and one appearance on the Korn Ferry Tour, admitted to the transgression. 

“I am here to confess of (sic) the biggest mistake I have made in my life to date,” he wrote on social media. “I cheated in golf. This is not who I am. I let my sponsors down. I let my competitors down. I let my family down. I let myself down. I pray for your forgiveness. John 1:9.” 

According to developmental golf website Monday Q Info, which covers the qualifier circuit, the saga began with other players noticing that Doeden was listed at 3-under. These players also knew Doeden made a double-bogey 7 on the par 5 18th hole. From the report:

“The walking scorer and the two players in the group confirmed that Doeden went for the green in two but hit it in the water fronting the green. After taking a drop, he hit his fourth into the front bunker and missed from about 7 feet for bogey. He tapped in for 7."

The concerned players approached officials, who pulled the scorecard to discover a 5 etched into the box beneath hole 18.  

Doeden played collegiately at the University of Minnesota and had 43 showings on the PGA Tour Canada. In this instance, he violated the integrity of a professional tournament, which is a more serious violation compared to someone lying about strokes at the company scramble.  

That doesn’t make the average scramble shaver any purer. 

“It's obviously very disappointing when anybody cheats because the game of golf was built and founded on honesty and integrity and that's what we try to teach our younger generations, and that's what we all try to be, role models for that and uphold the rules,” World Golf Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer said ahead of the Senior Open in July, not long after Doeden’s mea culpa went online. 

Specifically in Doeden’s case, Langer said, there are external pressures of trying to make sufficient money and earn tour cards. 

“I don't know what circumstances this player is living under and what's going on and whether that one stroke would improve his life dramatically,” Langer said. “I have no idea. I can't imagine it.

“But there's tremendous stress out there, a lot of pressure. Some of these people, they have family, they have young kids and they live from this paycheck to the next one, so it can be very tempting.”

Asking a field of competitors to police themselves requires faith. Still, changing a scorecard appeared unfathomable to the two-time Masters champion.

“You're not just breaking a rule,” Langer, 66, said. “You're actually stupid.”

Bending (the many) rules part of game, from legends to amateurs

The stigma that comes with being a founded cheater follows a professional player forever. Just ask Vijay Singh, who committed a similar faux paus to Doeden as a 22-year-old at the 1985 Indonesian Open.

Cheating accusations have followed Patrick Reed throughout his professional career, from his time in college at the University of Georgia to being penalized for moving sand in a bunker in 2019 to earlier this year, when he was accused by a fellow pro of cheating at the Dubai Classic ; Reed took a drop after he said his tee shot became lodged in a palm tree. However, video showed that the ball had flown through a different tree closer to the hole.

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee came out with such vigor against Reed's potential cheating that the 2018 Masters champion sued the television personality, seeking more than $800 million in damages. A federal judge dismissed the suit in November.

Lawsuits about cheating on tour have been happening for five decades. In 1972, after 27 LPGA Tour members signed an affidavit calling for punishment against Jane Blalock, she filed an antitrust lawsuit. The following year, a judge ruled that LGPA players could not police their own (at the time, LPGA players ran the organization themselves).

According to a New York Times story from 1987 , the year before she retired, Blalock denied she ever cheated and said she was the victim of older, jealous players as she began to leave her mark on the tour.

Of course, anti-altruist golfers at that level need not just worry about their fellow peers catching them. There are scores of fans watching on television from their homes across the world ready to pounce on any opportunity they may see that rises to the level of a rules violation — even if the golfers are not intentionally cheating.

Then there are the conscientious swindlers. Colloquially known as "sandbagging," a player deceives his or her competition about their handicap by a number of strokes to gain an advantage.

Professional golf has not been immune from a performance-enhancing drug scandal, either. In 2014, Bhavik Patel became the second player suspended by the PGA Tour for PED use, which he admitted to using in an effort to recover from an injury faster. Patel, who was 24 and only held conditional Web.com Tour status at the time, went on to make 101 starts on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour (four since 2020).

Arnold Palmer doesn't escape cheating spotlight

Even the sport's most heroic figures are not immune from a connection to cheating. In his 2004 book, longtime CBS Sports golf analyst Ken Venturi wrote that Arnold Palmer took advantage of the rules to the extent of cheating at the 1958 Masters, the legend's first of four victories at Augusta.

The controversy boiled down: Palmer plugged a 4-iron shot near a bunker and ended up double-bogeying when a rules official did not grant him the relief he believed he was entitled to. Venturi, Palmer's playing partner that day, said Palmer did not declare he would take a drop anyway and play the hole, which he parred. A group of judges later overruled the first judge and counted Palmer's three, and he went on to win by a stroke.

“Nobody, not even Palmer, is bigger than the game,” Venturi wrote.

“I firmly believe that he did wrong and that he knows that I know he did wrong.”

As the golf world rushed to defend Palmer, Venturi released a statement through his publisher saying specifically he did not view Palmer as a "cheat."

Was it cheating? Or was an all-time great simply flexing knowledge?

The USGA promotes a "Rules of Golf" hub on its website. Even with those helpful links, tutorials, guides, seminars, camps and officials (for the more competitive and professional matches) sometimes the rules still aren't clear enough.

Just make sure you shake hands after the round. It's the right thing to do.

Follow Chris Bumbaca on social media @BOOMbaca

Wells Fargo Championship

Quail Hollow Club

Golf Digest Logo Best of Golf Digest

Cheaters on tour: ‘We know who they are’

From the archive (August 1996)

Editor’s note: In celebration of Golf Digest's 70th anniversary, we’re revisiting the best literature and journalism we’ve ever published. Catch up on earlier installments.

Among golfers, the worst thing you can say about a person is that he’s a cheater. We don’t mean unknowingly violating the Rules of Golf; we’re talking full-on, premeditated, reprehensible, first-degree cheating. Fortunately, it is rare.

The highest honor bestowed upon a golfer is not a green coat or a claret jug, it’s the Bob Jones Award for sportsmanship—the subtext for winning the award is a life of scrupulously playing by the rules. The most famous parable about Jones has nothing to do with his Grand Slam of championships won in 1930; it was in the 1925 U.S. Open he lost after calling a penalty on himself for causing his ball to inadvertently move when no one else saw it. Hailed for his honesty, Jones shook it off and said: “You might as well praise me for not robbing a bank.”

Tom Watson won the Bob Jones Award in 1987. Ben Crenshaw won it in 1991. Nick Price won it in 2005. Remember those names.

Rich or poor, low- or high-handicapper, the often-repeated consensus is that people who cheat in life don’t necessarily cheat at golf, but people who cheat at golf invariably cheat in life. The longtime Golf Digest columnist Tom Callahan considers this subject with the delicate touch of a surgeon. His scalpel’s cut is precise but leaves no blood on the table. —Jerry Tarde

Nothing has been said this year in golf or in sports that rings with a sharper truth than the five words: “We know who they are.”

To a leading question in a dinner setting, Tom Watson acknowledged in late winter that there were cheaters on the PGA Tour. “The game is a game of integrity,” he told an Australian interviewer in Melbourne, “but you are talking about money and you’re talking about livelihoods.”

Invited to name names, Watson said icily, “We know who they are.”

RELATED: In Search of Tiger Phong

As if candor were calumny, Tom was slammed in the U.S. for once again sticking his blue nose where it wasn’t wanted. But the slammers lost momentum when Nick Price told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, “There are two [players] I know of for sure on tour who cheat and many others who I have come across in my travels. But once you do it, the guys all know who you are. Forever.”

While PGA patriots were extolling Jeff Sluman’s honesty at Bay Hill, Ben Crenshaw, of all gentle people, was saying, “Cheating is the absolute worst thing on tour, period. It’s like the people who play golf are one big family, and once you get cast out of the family, there’s no way to get back in.”

If that were literally so, Watson and Gary Player, Greg Norman and Mark McCumber, Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle, Seve Ballesteros and Paul Azinger—and all the other jousters who have tilted bloodily over honor—would never know peace in each other’s company. (A few never will.) But time is a funny thing.

Many U.S. Opens ago, a large Californian named Lon Hinkle seemed to hang over young Ballesteros like a gargoyle at every green. Asked about it afterward, Hinkle said in a measured tone: “He is a great young player, but he is going to have to learn to mark his ball like a professional.” Evidently, he did.

There’s an American star on tour who, long ago, in the crucible of the Q school, left a birdie putt on the lip and angrily whiffed the tap-in. With a face whiter than Gold Medal flour, he proceeded to the next tee and drove off as if it were still his honor.

His two playing partners were so stunned that they said nothing. He won his card by more than a shot; all three qualified. But, late that night, the other two got to talking, and drinking, and one went to the telephone. “I just want you to know,” he said in the alcoholic mist, “that I saw what happened out there today, and you’ll have to live with it the rest of your life.” Only one word came back in rebuttal, softly: “OK.”

Maybe a higher sense of obligation, some extra quality of effort, comes out of such a lonely start. Because, through the years, the player in question has gained the respect of the industry. But there are still whispers. Perhaps that’s what Watson, Price and Crenshaw mean.

On the amateur level, the club level, the muny level, “We know who they are” is the truest fact of golf, and maybe the only conforming law.

An old Kentucky newsman, Mike Barry, used to announce on the first tee, “You fellows go ahead and play whatever game you want. I’ll be playing golf.” In other words, he wouldn’t be hitting a mulligan at No. 1, bumping his ball in the fairway or moving his coin to avoid an abrasion (“teeing it up on the green,” as Jim Colbert calls that popular practice).

By the average hacker’s code, none of these qualify as cheating, but they set a tone. Barry, who almost never broke 100, had a theory about amateur cheaters that is passed along here not for moralizing purposes but as a practical advice.

Mike was convinced the cheaters weren’t after his $2; they just wanted to shoot 88 instead of 93. But their machinations actually cost them strokes, and not just because teeing up a ball to miss a 3-wood is a ridiculous alternative to an honest 8-iron.

Besides defaulting on their own confidence, they were throwing away golf’s most mysterious benefit, the springboard disguised as setback.

Jack Nicklaus will testify that he might never have won the 1986 Masters without a spike mark that popped up in his path at 12. That bogey meant more than any par to his round. It was what propelled him on.

Barry lived a rich life and died well, surrounded by family. In a bonus of timing, he narrowly outlived his archrival, the well-known governor, baseball commissioner and scoundrel, Happy Chandler.

When someone at Barry’s bedside recalled Ol’ Hap had “lied in state” at the Capitol, Mike came to for just an instant to say, “He lied in every state he ever went into.” Then he settled back to sleep the blissful sleep of those who always played the ball down.

RELATED: Arnold Palmer: The King for Eternity

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Home » Cheats » EA Sports PGA Tour Cheats

EA Sports PGA Tour Cheats

Looking for EA Sports PGA Tour cheats on PS5, Xbox Series X & PC? Here we’ll list EA Sports PGA Tour cheat codes and unlockables with tips for EA Tiburon’s new golf sports sim game that plays like the good Tiger Woods games of last decade.

Here we will show you how to unlock all EA Sports PGA Tour codes with a cheats list that’s valid for the PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X versions (where available).

Take a look at the cheats below for EA Sports PGA Tour: Road to the Masters…

Table of contents

Ea sports pga tour unlockable dlc items, ea sports pga tour tips and tricks, ea sports pga tour cheats list, ea sports pga tour pre-order bonus.

Pre-order Bonus Free Items for All Editions:

• The Players Gear: Make a splash with official Players Championship gear.
• The Grand Slam Gear Bundle: Gear items celebrating The Majors: The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open & The Open.
• Scotty Cameron Putter: Including Headcover.

EA Sports PGA Tour Special Edition Differences & Extras

Deluxe Edition Bonus Items:

• The Masters Gear: Featuring The Masters Bag & Headcover Set.
• PGA Tour XP Bundle: Jump start your PGA Tour Career.
• 1,500 Premium PGA Tour Points: Choose unique pro shop items with this in-game currency.
• Early Access to Augusta National: Featuring limited-time online tournament & Augusta National Amen Corner Gear.
• 3-day Early Access: Get in the game early!

EA Play April 2023 Bonus Items:

• EA-logo Golf Hat

What impacts your shot?

There’s a reason players and caddies talk before their shot to best achieve success on the course so you’ll experience this in the pre-shot decisions you’ll have to make for a great shot. The challenge of your shot appears in a split between pre-shot decisions like club and shot types, with swing execution and placement based on course dynamics. This way you’ll be thinking more “golf” and less “golf swing” only.

A variety of factors like club and shot type all impact your shot but most of all, course dynamics and ball behavior like wind, altitude, terrain reactions, ball dribbling, and more will impact your shot. The full list of aspects that impact your shot are listed below

• Slope of the terrain*
• Velocity & spin reduction from adverse terrain (like rough)
• Golfer, club, and ball attributes
• Power boost
• Swing execution
• In-flight Spin Control
• Ball Reactions depending on terrain type and course Conditions
• Ball dribbling

* Is there weather available in-game?

There are a variety of factors that impact gameplay on the course including altitude and wind. Courses in traditionally cloudy areas like The Old Course at St. Andrews will appear cloudy while sunny courses like The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island will appear bright. Other weather conditions will not affect gameplay or appear in-game.

Will there be a 3-click swing option in-game?

EA have said that they know that the 3-click swing is important to the community and as a result of early community feedback they are planning to include this swing in an early title update after launch.

How can I customize gameplay to my personal preferences?

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR features a variety of gameplay styles from arcade settings that assist you with a putting grid, power boost, and spin control to simulation settings that remove all assistance for a true-to-life gameplay experience.

What golf courses are in the game?

EA SPORTS PGA TOUR will have 28 real-life and 2 fantasy courses for a total of 30 beautiful golf courses at launch. And on each of these courses comes a variety of gameplay and visual features that result in 30 unique experiences to play. Check out the Course Deep Dive below and read on to learn more.

State-of-the-art Technology Supports Course Mapping for Accurate Course Visuals

Each course is designed in stunning quality with Frostbite, so you can immerse yourself in golf’s finer details more than ever before. And to achieve the most true to life course visuals we meticulously mapped Augusta National, the home of the Masters, and other courses, with state-of-the-art technologies like photogrammetry scanning, drone technology, and survey-grade GPS. 

We also led custom LiDAR helicopter flights over each course in the game, scanning at lower altitude with slower speeds to achieve more data-point-density and a higher level of realism than scans from publicly available sources. Using these technologies, which are actually designed to discover underground gold mines and oil reserves, we achieved pin-point accuracy down to the blade of grass for many courses in-game. Each course’s scan has been transferred into EA SPORTS PGA TOUR to be developed and tuned for the most accurate depiction of them possible.

And we didn’t just scan the greens, the terrain map also created precise renderings of clubhouses, vegetation, bridges, tee markers, rock formations, water, and more on-course elements.

To achieve the highest granularity possible, we also took the time to visit these prestigious courses ourselves to fully understand how the course plays in real life. From walking the holes to surveying course superintendents, the unique conditions at each golf course were mapped and recorded in these in-person visits over the years. 

We were able to even record the distinct cuts of grass and how the ball behaves on them along with upcoming changes they’re making for future seasons to capture a full picture of these courses and how each of them play now and in the future.

So whether it’s The Old Course at St. Andrews Links or The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, you’ll be able to see and feel the distinct differences of playing on these courses just like you would if you were there in real life.

Course Visuals Enhanced by Time of Day Features

Inspired by classic American landscape artists, we set out to create the most beautiful courses in-game with lighting that changes the look of a course based on the time of day. The goal was to create discreet times of day that showed off each course or hole in its absolute best light.

 In game, we represent those as 3 different “tee” times, morning, mid day and late afternoon, across 4 unique “Biomes”. Each of the 4 biomes , Humid subtropical, Mediterranean, Oceanic and Desert, have varying lighting conditions, levels of contrast, clouds and atmospheric haze etc, to give each course a unique look based on its location and the time of day that you are playing.

Course Dynamics Support True-To-Life Ball Dribbling and Behavior

But stunning visuals are only one part of making a course feel like it does in real life. To make each course not only appear but feel accurate to real life, Pure Strike gameplay’s Course Dynamics impact the way the ball behaves on every green in the game.

Each course is tuned to behave just the way it does in real life which impacts the height of a ball’s bounce, the speed of its roll, the impact on ball spin, and the launch of the ball which vary from course to course.

Each course has its own subtleties including everything from the speed and firmness of the fairway to the firmness and length of the first cut. The ball reacts to these subtleties to result in a variety of ball behaviors that change on each course. So you’ll see the ball roll differently on the firm and fast fairways at The Old Course at St Andrews Links in comparison to those of Harbour Town. 

The ball will behave differently across different terrains like pine straw, firm fairway, soft fairways and more. So you can expect to see the ball bounce differently on softer terrains in comparison to hard ones, just like you’d see in real life.

But you’ll also be able to feel how your ball behaves differently in the air as well since ball behavior and course dynamics are also impacted by altitude so courses above sea-level will see balls go further than those on the coast.

The Tee is Yours on 30 Prestigious Courses

From ball behavior on each course to life-like visuals, the Tee is Yours at these 30 prestigious courses listed below.

• Augusta National
• The Old Course at St Andrews Links
• Pebble Beach
• The Country Club
• Southern Hills
• TPC Sawgrass
• Wilmington Country Club
• TPC Southwind
• TPC Scottsdale
• Whistling Straits
• Quail Hollow
• Torrey Pines
• The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort
• Chambers Bay
• Banff Springs
• Liberty National
• Harbour Town
• The Riviera Country Club
• Top of the Rock
• Bandon Dunes
• Evian Resort
• Teeth of the Dog
• Wetlands (fantasy course)
• Lighthouse Pointe (fantasy course)

And there are more courses waiting for you after launch with the 2023 major courses including Oak Hill, The Los Angeles Country Club, Royal Liverpool as well as Olympia Fields as a part of the FedExCup series and Marco Simone for the Ryder Cup releasing in the future.

What pro golfers will be available to play against or as in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

• Scottie Scheffler 
• Cameron Champ 
• Xander Schauffele 
• Im Sung-jae
• Nelly Korda 
• Lexi Thompson 
• Jordan Spieth 
• Hideki Matsuyama

For more, check back through the spring for additional content releases.

What courses will be available to play in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR?

When EA SPORTS PGA TOUR launches, fans will have the opportunity to play at 30 courses including 28 of the world’s most prestigious tracks, and two fantasy courses.

• Kiawah Island Ocean Course
• Riviera Country Club

Get some official Tips & Tricks:

Learn more about the most iconic golf course in the world. Use Xander Schauffele’s tips to take on The Masters only in EA SPORTS PGA TOUR. Play with Xander in-game now!

[Work-In-Progress]

Disclaimer: These are all EA Sports PGA Tour cheats on Xbox Series X, PS5 & PC found so far. Sadly in modern games cheat codes are often replaced with DLC codes, in which case the best we can do is provide secret unlockables, as well as the handy EA Sports PGA Tour guides listed above to help you with tips and tricks for the game!

Credits: EA

Do you know of any EA Sports PGA Tour cheats or unlockables? Let us know in the comments, you’ll get credit for finding out. – Thanks for visiting!

Canada's Taylor Pendrith wins Byron Nelson for 1st PGA Tour victory

Richmond hill, ont., native, 32, secures top spot in 74th career pga tour start.

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Taylor Pendrith tried his best to ignore Ben Kohles' final-hole meltdown, focusing on the eagle putt that the Canadian thought he might have to make even to force a playoff as he walked toward the 18th green.

Several stunning minutes later, a 3-footer for birdie gave Pendrith his first PGA Tour victory.

Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a one-shot lead, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. Already in shock following two chips from the rough — the second with his feet in a bunker — Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.

"Wasn't really trying to pay attention to what they were doing, although it really mattered, obviously," Pendrith said. "I feel for Ben. He played really, really good today, especially down the stretch. I've been on the other side of it a couple times, and it sucks. But it's golf. It's a hard game."

Pendrith shot 4-under 67 for a 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old won in his 74th career PGA Tour start.

Canada's Taylor Pendrith wins 1st PGA Tour title in shocking 72nd hole plot twist at Byron Nelson

Playing just north of his birthplace of Dallas, Kohles shot 66 to finish a stroke back. The 34-year-old who plays out of North Carolina is winless in 68 starts.

"Honestly, hadn't seen any rough like that all week," said Kohles, who moved to North Carolina when he was 10. "Just needed a little bit more umph on it. Did so many good things this week, and I'm just going to keep reminding myself of that and try to get myself back in this position."

Alex Noren, a Swedish player also seeking a first PGA Tour victory, was another stroke back. He wowed the crowd on the stadium hole at the par-3 17th with a tee shot to 2 1/2 feet, but followed that birdie with a par knowing he probably needed an eagle on 18. Noren shot 65 and was alone in third at 21 under.

• Canada's Taylor Pendrith leading Byron Nelson, 1 round away from 1st PGA Tour title
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Pendrith, the third-round leader, and Kohles were separated by just one shot or tied most of the day. After Kohles made a 20-footer to take the lead on 17, Pendrith's par putt rolled all the way around the cup and went in.

"It just curled in, that putt on the last second there, which was unreal just to give me a chance," said Pendrith, who set it up with a chip from an awkward stance with his heels hanging over the lip of a bunker, after saving par with another testy putt at the par-4 16th.

The victory qualified Pendrith for the PGA Championship in two weeks and next year's Masters. He's also in the next three $20 million US signature events, starting next week with the Wells Fargo championship. Kohles and Noren also played their way into Wells Fargo with their Nelson showings.

With Wells Fargo and the PGA coming in the next two weeks, just three of the top 30 in the world ranking were in the field.

Jordan Spieth, the highest at No. 20, missed the cut for just the second time in 12 appearances at his hometown event. Defending champion Jason Day (22nd) and Tom Kim (23rd) didn't contend, with Day finishing one shot behind Kim at 9 under.

Jake Knapp, the second-round leader who three years ago was working as a security guard in his home state of California, shot 70 to finish at 19 under. Knapp and Wallace were the only players in the top eight with a previous PGA Tour win.

The start of the final round was pushed back 2 1/2 hours because of overnight rain, and pairings turned into threesomes going off both tees with the players allowed to lift, clean and place shots in the fairway.

Wallace appeared to start a charge by chipping in for birdie at 12, the toughest hole of the week, and getting another birdie at the par-4 13th. A three-putt bogey on the par-3 15th stalled him out.

Journeyman tale

Rafael Campos, a 13-year journeyman from Puerto Rico who has spent most of his career on satellite tours, birdied five of the first six holes starting on the back nine to make the turn at 29.

The 36-year-old cooled off on his second nine before making a 48-foot putt from off the green for eagle on the par-5 ninth for a 63 that put him at 18 under.

Taiga Semikawa, a 23-year-old from Japan playing on a sponsor exemption, also finished at 18 after a 64.

Kris Kim, a 16-year old amateur making his PGA Tour debut, had a rough finish as the youngest to play a final round on tour in 10 years.

Playing his final nine on the front, the son of South Korean-born former LPGA Tour player Ji-Hyun Suh had four bogeys and shot 73 to finish 6 under.

Kim, who is from England, played on a sponsor exemption from the South Korean company and tournament title sponsor CJ Group.

Related Stories

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Architect of PGA-LIV framework agreement resigns in frustration: 'No meaningful progress' toward a deal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jimmy Dunne, the man at the center of last summer's surprise framework agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, has resigned from the PGA Tour's policy board, according to Sports Illustrated .

According to a letter obtained by SI, Dunne wrote that "no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF" and that players who have seized control of the board mean that "my vote and my role is utterly superfluous."

Last June, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who oversees the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) that backs LIV Golf, stunned the entire golf world — players included — when they announced a framework agreement was in the works to bring the two competing tours back together. Dunne was one of the few people on the PGA Tour side in the middle of those negotiations.

Dunne, the managing principal at Piper Sandler who has emerged as a major player in the golf world, recognized early on the threat LIV Golf posed to the PGA Tour. LIV had the financial backing (via the PIF) to continue poaching players away from the Tour, particularly with the Tour engaged in lawsuits that were, in Dunne's words, "burdensome litigation that was expensive, unwelcome, and uncertain."

When he joined the Tour's policy board at the end of 2022, he sought to end the litigation and bring unity to the game. But progress has been non-existent, which apparently was too much for Dunne.

"Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game," he wrote in his resignation letter. "I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction.”

Dunne indicated that the newly empowered players, who include Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth, have shifted the balance of power within the PGA Tour. The players had sought more power after the surprise news of the framework agreement broke, and now that they have it, negotiations appear to be in neutral.

Dunne's declaration throws even more uncertainty into the state of golf today. At the moment, the four majors are the only tournaments where players from both the PGA Tour and LIV come together in competition. Any hope of an agreement between the two organizations seems far in the future, if it happens at all.

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Jon Rahm hopes for The Players return, disappointed to not defend PGA Tour titles

It hasn’t been easy for Jon Rahm. He’s one of the three best players in the world, but above all, he’s one of the biggest golf nerds and obsessives around. So since his massive move to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league in December, he’s had to watch the PGA Tour events he carries such reverence for on TV. And that also meant not having a chance to defend his titles at the Sentry, the American Express, and the Genesis Invitational.

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“I’m not going to lie,” Rahm said Tuesday, during a video conference with reporters. “For everybody who said this would be easy, some things have been, but not being able to defend some titles that mean a lot to me hasn’t.”

But the one event he will be able to defend is the most important, and The Masters is coming next month. Rahm, 29, won the tournament at Augusta National last year for his second career major and to jump back to No. 1 in the world. After four wins in three months, Rahm didn’t win again in 2023 and left for LIV at the end of the year.

This year’s Masters will be his first event back against many of the top players in golf. It is an opportunity to remind the sport where he stands in the pecking order as current world No. 1 (since May 2023) Scottie Scheffler has gone on a dominant run to hold the top spot with back-to-back wins the last two weeks in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

Rahm, the type to wake up early before his kids and rewatch old tournaments on YouTube, was watching Scheffler’s comeback win at the Players . And he of course nerded out discussing it, talking about how impressive Scheffler’s 20-under-par score was and why TPC Sawgrass is such a good test because the course requires complete balance and leaves players with no way to hide.

“I hope I get to tee it up at The Players again,” Rahm said. “It would be a bit of a sour taste if my last ever start at the Players was (a withdrawal) because I was sick.”

The Champions Dinner, served in honor of Mr. @JonRahmOfficial . #themasters pic.twitter.com/r9oalTrFtf — The Masters (@TheMasters) March 19, 2024

Missing PGA Tour events and playing against the best fields was a consistent theme in Rahm’s comments, although he steadily said he’s enjoyed LIV events, the team format and going to locations like Hong Kong. He joked that he knows Scheffler’s form and doesn’t need to tee up with him to inform his opinion. But he acknowledged the added relevance to majors over either tour’s events.

“I think that’s what’s making this Masters and many other majors going to be so much fun, not only for me and for players but for spectators, is for all of us to be able to play together again and showcase what we’re capable of,” he said.

Much like his European Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy, Rahm advocated for a union between the leagues. And like McIlroy, he used the parallel of the European soccer model with different national leagues but then the Champions League and Europa Leagues standing above all others and bringing the best clubs together.

“I think there’s a way of coexisting,” Rahm said, “and if there’s some type of union, I don’t know what that looks like, but again, I just want to be able to see the best in the world compete against the best in the world, whatever that looks like. I think there’s room for all of us, and there’s room for the game of golf to get to the next level and have more viewership options.”

Rahm led off his news conference by going into great detail on his menu for the Masters champions dinner, leaning on famous Spanish chef and friend José Andrés to co-create the menu an honoring Rahm’s Basque culture including tapas, spicy Basque chorizo and chuletón, “which is basically a ribeye that is seared on basically a regular grill with a bit of coal.” All of which can be served with some Txakoli wine.

In the lead-up to the Masters, Rahm said his game is in a really good place but not quite where it was last year. His preparation will be slightly different, since he didn’t play the week before last year’s Masters but will be playing in LIV’s Miami event from April 5-7.

“I think I counted, last year I had eight starts before the Masters,” he continued. “This year is going to be five. Last year I didn’t play the week before the Masters. This year I am. But I’ve done it in the past and done well. It’s hard to say what’s better or not. It’s a little different.”

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(Top photo of Jon Rahm: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images)

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Brody Miller covers golf and the LSU Tigers for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A South Jersey native, Miller graduated from Indiana University before going on to stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Clarion Ledger and NOLA.com. Follow Brody on Twitter @ BrodyAMiller

PGA Tour sponsor makes demands as LIV Golf crisis continues with Rory McIlroy talks

T he PGA Tour is under increasing pressure to settle its dispute with LIV Golf as a major sponsor insists on action to "stabilize professional golf".

Mary DePaoli, Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) chief marketing officer and title sponsor for the RBC Heritage and RBC Canadian Open, has acknowledged the need for "patience" with the tour amid ongoing merger talks with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), backers of LIV Golf.

An initial agreement for a merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF was announced 11 months ago, aiming to reunite the sport following the emergence of the rival LIV Golf series in 2022, which attracted several leading PGA Tour players.

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Despite passing deadlines, little progress has been made on finalising the details of the agreement. Rory McIlroy , world number two, has re-entered negotiations to aid in reaching a deal, teaming up with Tiger Woods and Adam Scott on a transaction committee that seeks to secure an investment agreement with PIF.

DePaoli echoes the sentiments of disgruntled fans who are tired of the political and financial disputes overshadowing professional golf for the last couple of years, demanding a swift resolution, reports the Mirror .

DePaoli shared his thoughts at a media day ahead of the Canadian Open, saying: "I think we're probably all feeling the same. We're all experiencing this, whether it's as a sponsor or a fan or the players. We are all watching the PGA Tour, right now, try to sort through a business model that has been under some significant strain, and has still not fully resolved itself. And that's still to be determined. So, it's requiring a lot of patience."

She added: "It's going to be really important for us to see the Tour stabilise professional men's golf. I've used the analogy, it's like they're flying the plane and building it at the same time. It's probably not too far off. But I think if some of these outstanding questions can resolve themselves in the short or the medium term and we can start to put some of the static and you know kind of changes that a lot of people were not too pleased with behind us, hopefully they can get professional men's golf back on track and growing in a very positive direction again."

McIlroy, currently in second place at the Wells Fargo Championship and heading into the third round on Saturday, disclosed that he was part of an extensive Zoom call with Woods, Scott, and tour bosses last weekend, discussing the PIF negotiations.

The Northern Irish golfer's appointment to the committee follows his unsuccessful attempt to rejoin the PGA Tour Policy Board this week. McIlroy had previously resigned from the policy board in November to concentrate on his game and personal life, but was open to returning at the request of Webb Simpson last month, who offered to give up his seat so that McIlroy could lead discussions with PIF.

However, according to Golf Digest, player directors Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Woods were not enthusiastic about McIlroy's return given his recent resignation.

RBC, however, appears to be growing tired of the situation and wants a resolution to the PIF talks as soon as possible, regardless of who is involved.

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DePaoli commented on the situation, saying: "With partners, sometimes they go through things," and "And you've gotta weather it for as long as you can to see them hopefully get through whatever it is they're going through. Now I think golf might be as this moment in time, where, unlike a lot of other professional sports, it's going through change. It's going through transformation. A lot of other leagues and teams have gone through a lot of that over the course of their history."

She added: "So, we're hoping that this rectifies itself soon. We're hoping that they can bring the sport together in a very healthy way that, again, benefits the players, the sponsors and the fans. If the fans are happy, we're happy. If the players are happy, we're happy. But right now, we're still seeing a little bit of flux there."

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