Golf Monthly January 2025

neil.tappin@futurenet.com As soon as I prised open the door of my car, I was attacked by the rain. My target was the golf club pro shop, some 30 yards away, but this was the sort of weather that hits you from all angles and really gets you wet. The sort you remember. As I ran for the door, I looked towards my left and saw the back of the 9th green. To my surprise, I could see two golfers – one preparing to putt, the other attentively holding the flag. Nothing quite says ‘for the love of the game’ like golfers ploughing on in truly biblical weather. On this occasion, I was heading for the sanctity of the club’s new simulator room, but I, like you no doubt, know what…

Preserving tradition and standards I must disagree with reader Allen O’Connor [December issue, Your View] in approving Portmarnock as a potential Open venue. It is a fine course but it is situated in Ireland, which is a different country. If that were to be approved, what is stopping The R&A taking it in the future to, say, Dubai or China on money-making grounds? Never underestimate the ability of sports administrators to betray the heritage of the sport. On another topic, I simply do not understand the furore about dress codes. Most sports do have a dress code – for example, cricketers wearing all white [Ed: not so much these days]. All that is being asked of people is to dress smartly. Golf has managed to preserve its etiquette and good…

Rory, congratulations on winning your sixth Race to Dubai and record third DP World Tour Championship. What does it mean to you? It means a lot. I’ve been through a lot this year professionally and personally. It feels like a fitting end to 2024. I’ve persevered a lot this year. I had close calls where I wasn’t able to get it done. So I’m pleased to be able to get over the line. I thought saving par on 15 was huge. I made four great swings coming in – the wedge on 16, the shot on 17 and two shots on the last. I’m really pleased with the way I finished and thankfully I hung on on a tough day and got it done. You’ve equalled Seve Ballesteros’ record with…

MONTH IN STATS 18 Patrick Reed hit 18 greens in regulation in his third-round 59 in Hong Kong 14 He hit all 14 fairways too, and made 11 birdies with just 25 putts (1.38 per GIR) BEST STREAKS ON THE PGA TOUR ____ NATIONALITIES OF 2024 DPWT Q-SCHOOL AND CHALLENGE TOUR GRADUATES ____ 134 Number of attempts it took Bryson DeChambeau to make a hole-in-one over his house after 16 days of trying AVERAGE DRIVING DISTANCES, 2024 PGA TOUR (YARDS) ________ 139 Yardage of putt David Micheluzzi holed at Yas Links to set a new world record 2 Number of starts Ryggs Johnston of the USA took to claim his first DP World Tour title 26 Number of countries the DP World Tour will visit in the 2025 season (three…

Tiger Woods has weighed into the Ryder Cup pay debate and believes American players should receive as much money as possible for competing in the biennial match. However, he doesn’t feel members of Team USA should pocket the funds and insists the money should be donated to charitable causes to help grow the game and benefit local communities. It’s an opinion Woods has held for a considerable amount of time, as he told Golf Monthly’s editor-at-large Bill Elliott in the late 1990s (read more on page 114). Woods’ comments were in response to reports that the PGA of America is considering paying its players $400,000 for competing at Bethpage Black. “We had the same conversation back in 1999 and it was we didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to…

“GOLF IS JUST A GAME. AS FRUSTRATING AS IT CAN BE, THERE IS MORE TO LIFE”Lexi Thompson was philosophical after bringing the curtain down on her full-time LPGA Tour career “WE DO NEED THE PROFESSIONAL GAME TO SORT ITSELF OUT”Outgoing R&A chief Martin Slumbers calls for the current division in the men’s game to be resolved “THAT TOURNAMENT IS SO MUCH MORE THAN GETTING PAID. WE DON’T NEED MONEY TO DRIVE US TO GO PLAY”Patrick Reed responds to reports that American players will receive $400,000 to play at Bethpage Black “HOLY S***. WE GET TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN NEXT YEAR”An emotional Joel Dahmen embraced his wife after securing his PGA Tour card for the 2025 season…