Gambling & Golf

"Wagering is part of our sport, part of our culture," Woods said, then turned and looked at McIlroy. "We don't know how to play golf without it."

- via AP Press

Honda Classic Update

Like we mentioned on Wednesday, the Honda isn't the event it used to be. So, if you're not a golf junkie you may not recognize too many names on the leaderboard. We will break it down for ya'll anyway.

Big Dogs: Sunjae Im, Billy Horschel, and Shane Lowry (18th, 19th, 20th in Official World Golf Rankings) are your favorites. via Bet MGM

• Sunjae Im +550

• Billy Horschel +650

• Shane Lowry +1000

Underdogs: The two dudes who are making this weekend interesting are Piercesson Coody and Justin Suh, two young rookies who played damn good golf on a really difficult course yesterday. And yeah, I threw $50 on Coody while I was having coffee this morning like a total degenerate.

• Piercesson Coody: +4000

• Justin Suh +2800

Don't Try This At Home

On one hand, Billy Horschel is in the lead at -5. On the other hand, this is what his current putting routine looks like. It doesn't exactly scream "take me at +650". Do with this information what you will.

Youtube: Shell's Wonderful World of Golf

Shells Wonderful World of Golf was a beautiful thing and they should bring it back.

Originally, it ran from the 60s to 1970. Then, they picked it back up again and it ran from 1994 to 2003.

The format was 1 vs. 1 stoke play. The best in the world competing head to head.

From the Wiki Page: "It began as a pre-recorded one-hour program on Sunday afternoons, and was notable for also including information about the host country for that week's show.

It also included some of the conversations between the contestants between the shots. As such, it allowed the audience to feel they were part of a foursome traveling with the competitors and host, as opposed to being just a spectator in the gallery."

With COVID leading to a massive surge in golf popularity, the industry has tried to meet that demand with new content, like LIVs team golf and Tiger / Rory's new indoor golf league.

There's also been a bunch of attention on The Match.

The PGA has been testing new, on-course, mid-round, interviews with players so fans get an understanding of how they think and approach the game.

Shell's Wonderful World of Golf would check a lot of boxes for what Golf is trying to do. Nostalgia opens pocketbooks everywhere else, why not golf?

These are the types of considerations I will make when I take my rightful place as tour CEO.

Til then, you can watch old episodes on Youtube.

Golf Fact To Make You Seem Smart

Golf is a large game. There's a lot to learn between terminology, technique, current events, courses, and history. We're here to help without being condescending assholes.

Fact: PGA National, where they are currently playing the Honda Classic, is one of the hardest courses in golf. What it's really known for, is the Bear Trap (holes 15,16, and 17). The Bear Trap is one of the toughest three hole stretches in professional golf.

As you walk off 14, you see this plaque with the words of course architect Jack Nicklaus:

Extra Credit: Two other brutal three-hole stretches in golf are:

Pebble Beach - 8,9,10

Qual Hollow - 16, 17, 18

Armed with new knowledge, here's something you could say to a golf buddy this weekend: "Hey man, what do you think you'd shoot at the Bear Trap? Haha that's awesome watch me slice this drive OB"

Chip Shot: WTF is LIV Golf?

It’s Friday bitches!

That means the LIV tour Season 2 kicks off today and ends the 26th at El Camaleón Mayakoba Golf Course in Mexico. Wouldn’t it be great to know how the hell a LIV tourney works? Like, I understand the controversy, but what about THE GOLF PART?? We did the research, so you don’t have to!

• 48 players. 12 teams. So, if you’re a math whiz that 4 people per team.

• 3 rounds. 54 holes. No cuts.

• Shotgun start (all groups of players tee off simultaneously from different holes).

• During every tournament, there is simultaneously a team competition and an individual competition.

Lowest individual score wins the individual event. Lowest cumulative team score wins the team event.

The lowest cumulative scoring player at the end of the regular season earns the championship bonus of $18,000,000. At the end of the season there’s a “Team Series Championship” where 1st place team earns $16 million, 2nd place team earns $10 million, and 3rd place team earns $8,000,000.

You can catch the LIV tour starting today on the CW network or by downloading the LIV golf app for your smartphone.

Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

Listen, if you bought this bag for $19,500, you would look like an absolute jackass on the course, but rich people don't often care about looking like jackasses. Have you seen how those morons dress at award shows?

With that being said, there is a small part of me that would love to see the look on my golf buddies faces when I stroll up 2 mins before our tee time with this bag over my shoulder.

That's all folks! Make a birdie this weekend, or win a bet, or get drunk. Or all three if you're feeling ambitious.