Golf combination situation, Korn Ferry grams

Check in every week for the unfiltered views of our writers and editors as they analyze the hottest topics in sports, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @igalofu_com. This week, we discuss the state of pro golf integration, the latest Korn Ferry Tour grads, a player who turned down a Masters invitation and more.

There were some curious pairings at last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, as PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Rory McIlroy all saw time playing together in the first three rounds. We're going to take a guess and say that pairings like this don't happen by chance. What do you do with them? And does it give you clues about the state of the current golf meet?

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): It was a continuation of a unifying theory I first learned as a local club caddy nearly a decade ago: Golf is a powerful social emollient. It would benefit these guys to share common turf every few weeks for the sake of golf, and a pro-am is one (high-level) way to do that. It doesn't matter – nothing – at the speed of integration. But that's okay.

Josh Sens, senior author, (@joshsens): Optics. Nothing more, nothing less. Zero impact on self-assembly. On the other hand, imagine what it would look like if they all came from the pro-am and had the same profile he didn't do you spend time together in the study? There was really no other choice.

Dylan Dethier, senior author (@dylan_dethier): Those pictures don't lie: these are men who know that being in business together can be very rewarding. Again, this look represents the success of Al-Rumayyan, who seems to have achieved full parity with one of golf's top clubs just a few years after his first LIV tore a hole in the middle of elite golf. Something is coming. Little by little.

Who plays the most important role in such interactions? Rory McIlroy as a middle man? Al-Rumayyan as a strong man? Or Monahan as the commissioner under pressure to put the game together?

Colgan: He is by no means Rory, who is, it must be remembered, a golfer and not an M&A expert. The pressure on Monahan to keep his tour on the golf course is immense, but privately, so is the pressure on Al-Rumayyan, whose prospects for Saudi golf's legitimacy remain in serious question.

Senses: Ultimately, it's about money, so in that sense, Al-Rumayyan is the best. But Rory has an interesting role as a former Tour hardliner now standing as a global player of the game, prone to striking tones of reconciliation. You can throw all the money you want into the production, but ultimately, you need interesting actors to make the show work. And Rory is the strongest player in this still competitive sport.

Dethier: Jay and Yasir need each other for their organizations' long-term success, but there are also short-term incentives for them to be at war. Rory is very important as a high level peacemaker who can fill that gap ASAP. But that doesn't mean everyone on both sides will like it.:.

Wenyi Ding, 19, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur on Sunday, which also gave her a place in the 2025 Masters and Open Championship. The problem? He won't go. Ding said he plans to become a champion through the DP World Tour's Global Amateur Pathway, meaning he will no longer have the novice status he needs to retain his major tournament invitations. While Augusta National and the R&A can still invite players at their discretion, would you like to see golf's governing bodies (including the USGA and the US Open, for example) waive this bylaw and allow qualified novices to compete even after becoming a champion?

Colgan: Changing the eligibility rules is probably the most logical outcome, but I honestly don't think it matters. The novice competitor still has a say in the game of golf, and I love the spirit of the novice-only release. The problem is that no golfer should hesitate to turn pro because of an invitation to a major tournament. There seems to be enough room for cool heads to prevail here, and I think they will.

Senses: Maintain bylaws. If he needs/wants that money badly, he should go with it but the rules should not be bent on him to allow him to pursue major studies. Surely goal can still win over profit in some corners of the game, right? Is it possible? Or anyone? Bueller?

Dethier: It's cool to say but I have no problem with Augusta being reserved for beginners only. If you're going to be a professional, qualify as a professional. Let's keep our newbie release for the newbies. Maybe give the runner-up a spot, if the winner becomes the champion? But I hope Ding will make it to the Masters soon in another way.

In an effort to “update the coverage,” the PGA Tour screened interviews from players in attendance at last week's Sanderson Farms Championship (71-year-old Reed Hughes spoke briefly with Golf Channel's Todd Lewis on Thursday) and plans to test more. new non-traditional Friday rounds. While we all aim to spice up the stream, if the Tour really wanted to make waves in this space, what would you suggest they put together in 2025?

Colgan: I think the problem with golf TV is nothing new — it's funding. The networks responsible for broadcasting golf television do not always have the financial incentive to provide quality to viewers. If the financial calculations of putting golf on TV require more ads, distractions and sponsor readings per hour than the average fan wants to spend, you end up where we are. If you would like to change golf TV, you should change that. Then add the tracers.

Sens: James is our golf media expert, and he's pretty much hit the nail on the head. Besides, where I sit, the next most effective new method would be to eliminate as many notho-burger events as possible so you don't try to force feed social events that are almost impossible for you to enjoy. about. I realize it's not that simple, though. So in the meantime, anything the Tour can do to help fans get to know the players and show us that not all carbon copies are made up of a shirt and a cap. On-course interview. Up close and personal aspects. This is the age of the culture of shallow influence. If you don't show the top players, you have to somehow show their personal 'brands'.

Dethier: I have to laugh at the framing here; nothing beats golf like introducing the “new modern system” through a conversation with a 71-year-old competitor. But Hughes' story is cool and trying new things is good. Get on with it! I don't think many people will be watching until the spring – unless we see Tiger in December – so there are a few months of low risk for the Tour beta mode.

Thirty PGA Tour cards for the 2025 season were issued at the conclusion of Sunday's Korn Ferry Tour tournament. Give us one name to watch next year.

Colgan: How about the perfect complement to everything? Braden Thornberry was a highly decorated athlete, winning the Haskins Award and the NCAA Individual Championships in the late 2010s. He turned down invitations to the US and British Opens in 2018 to turn pro … then fell off the map. He played the last five years in KFT, and finally won on Sunday to earn his Tour card in '25.

Senses: Past performance is not a guarantee in golf, but if you like your young professionals to come with a high pedigree, look at Karl Vilips, the Cardinal of Stanford in the way of western Australia, just 23 years old, who no longer looks as young as he used to. to. There is a mature head on those small shoulders. Let's see where it takes him

Dethier: In-form player Matt McCarty, who has been on the rise since becoming champion, has won three times in six matches to earn promotion to the battlegrounds on the Big Tour and enters as the top dog. But I admit I'm in awe of Tim Widing. He will join a growing group of players fighting for the title of the Swedish runner-up (Ludvig's lead is safe for now), he lives in San Luis Obispo, which is cool and different, and (not too dependent on Swedish views. ) I can't see his name and I think he can be a world-renowned DJ who drops a killer floor EDM set in a full club in Vegas or, like Ibiza. But the Tour isn't bad either.