Tom Watson: A Never-Ending Passion for Golf
There was room for criticism, if you studied the numbers. In 1973, for instance, Tom Watson had finished 35th on the PGA Tour money list. Thirty-fifth. Pretty stout. Then, over the first three months of the ’74 season, Watson made the cut in each of his 12 tournaments and was 16th in money earned as […]
Geoff Shackelford: Why We Don’t Need Professional Golfers
The more pro golfers squabble over obscene amounts of money, the less the public will care. And that’s just fine. The verdict is in. A sport played in some form by 70 or so million around the globe does not hinge on the popularity of the few hundred or so professionals who believe they are […]
Scottie Scheffler: Uncommonly Consistent, Unflappably Good
Before yet another atmospheric river interrupted the proceedings at early February’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am—not rudely, mind you, but devastatingly—there was a crossing of paths with Scott and Diane Scheffler. Having been to Pebble Beach for glorious U.S. Open weather in June 2019, this was their first sojourn to the famed “Crosby Clambake” and they […]
George Peper: The PGA Tour’s Big Bet is No Sure Thing
Gambling on the pros may now be legal, but the biggest bet in golf is on the future of the PGA Tour We recently published a feature article on the explosive growth of gambling on professional golf, a practice that’s now legal in all but about 10 states. The author of the piece is Jason […]
Inside the 2024 Winter Issue of LINKS – LINKS Golf Podcast Ep. 164
LINKS Editor George Peper is back to break down our latest issue in this episode of the LINKS Golf Podcast. Topics discussed include changes in the magazine in 2024, George’s column on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the next group of course architects to step up to the A-List, and more. You can subscribe […]
Greatest Risk/Reward Holes on the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing
For nearly a century, the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing has reliably delivered drama in massive doses, thanks in part to venues that brim with exciting risk/reward holes. From history-soaked layouts such as Riviera and Pebble Beach to modern-day TPC spreads, what each has in common is at least one superb example of a risk-laden […]
Adam Scott: New Challenges for the Consummate Professional
Global locales of great splendor that are deep in family ties (Australia’s Gold Coast) and owed to travel convenience (Crans-sur-Sierre in the Swiss Alps) have afforded Adam Scott the chance to live where he can protect what is at the heart of his persona. Reserved, but hardly shy, and a deep thinker who doesn’t act […]
PGA Tour Q&A: One Golf Rule You’d Love to Change
The rules of golf are generally clear, straightforward, and—most importantly—agreeable. Every once in a while, however, golfers will come across a rule that seems antiquated or flat out unnecessary. Amateurs aren’t taking their rulebooks out for most casual rounds of golf, but the pros are well-versed in the statutes of the game. With that in […]
Billy Horschel is “Figuring it Out”
Against a backdrop of obscene gobs of cash for an inferior product (we’re looking at you, LIV), overtures from boorish lads who suggest their patriotic pride is for sale (ungrateful Ryder Cuppers), and a PGA Tour hierarchy that thinks the way forward is to separate the elite from the riffraff (Signature Events, for shame), there […]
PGA Tour Q&A: The Sweetest Moment of Your Career
Most golfers have a favorite course or, at the very least, a favorite hole—someplace where they tend to always play well or a spot that holds a special place in their hearts for a notable round, shot, or achievement. We assumed that the same must be true for the best players in the world, so […]