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Good Good to ‘step away’ from sponsoring PGA Tour fall event
Good Good to ‘step away’ from sponsoring PGA Tour fall event
Just a few hours after Callaway discontinued its relationship with Good Good the YouTube influencers announced they would not sponsor a PGA Tour event this fall in Texas.
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It's Friday afternoon, and Jacob Bridgeman just hit his ball into a pizza tent.

Folks, we don't mean to shock you out of your senses before the weekend, but a player on the PGA Tour just sprayed the hell out of his tee shot, it ended up in a pizza tent and—I hope you're sitting down—it was not Jordan Spieth. The player was Jacob Bridgeman, it happened on the 18th hole, and you can tell it wasn't Spieth because instead of playing the ball from under the counter and making a miracle par, Bridgeman took the drop and made bogey. He finished at 5 under, and sits at T-14 after 36 holes in Atlanta. You can watch the result in the tweet below, but first, I am contractually obligated to say the following: Now that's what I call a slice!

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Cameron Young pulled a hilarious move after playing as a single at East Lake.

Apparently, the reigning Players champ doesn't mind playing without other players. Young's opening 70 combined with J.J. Spaun's WD on Thursday left 29 golfers in the Tour Championship and caused the 29-year-old American to play as a single in the second round. Young responded by firing an eight-under-par 62, including a closing eagle. And after plucking his golf ball from the hole on No. 18, he took off his cap and pretended to shake his non-existent playing partner's hand:

All class from Cam right there. 

U.S. Solheim Cup captain Angela Stanford and LPGA player Angel Yin have a tough decision to make about the golfer’s prospects for the Netherlands in two weeks.

Yin played her first tournament in two months at the FM Championship this week, coming off an undisclosed illness, and her play was understandably rough. She opened with an 81 and then bounced back a bit with a 76 on Friday, but was still last in the field through 36 holes. After a 35-pound weight loss due to her ailment, Yin, 27, has no more chances to prove her golf fitness before the Solheim, and a call has to be made on a player who automatically made the team at No. 2. Yin is a no-brainer for the squad when healthy, but seems like a problematic work around if she’s on the team trying to win in Europe for the first time since 2015. Meantime, European captain Anna Nordqvist shot 68 on Friday to make the cut and should get a proper farewell on Sunday in what the 39-year-old says will be her final competitive tournament.

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LPGA

 Aiden Shertzer
Even at the highest level of professional golf, traditional muscleback long irons are a rarity.

In the early 2000s, pros were still using one iron model through the bag, which meant the long irons were unforgiving blades in many cases. The philosophy began to change around 2010, as blended sets (using more than one model) surged in popularity. In most cases, that meant replacing a blade 3- or 4-iron with a slightly more forgiving cavity-back or hollow-body model. Today, more than 60 percent of tour pros have a blended set—and it's even more commonplace at the recreational level.

This brings us to Chris Gotterup, who was one of the few remaining holdouts still wielding a blade 4-iron (Bridgestone 220 MB) on tour. That recently changed at the BMW Championship when he inserted a prototype Bridgestone B-Forged 100CB 4-iron. The cavity-back model gives Gotterup a bit more heel-toe forgiveness, which is a nice-to-have on Sundays when the pressure cranks up. The B-Forged is already available for pre-order in Asia, so there's a chance Gotterup's newest addition will make its way to the States.

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Annika Sorenstam, a longtime Callaway endorser, weighed in on social media,

backing the company she’s represented for three decades after Good Good released a video promoting a Callaway driver where a man shoved a woman to the ground. She referenced her partnership and shed light on Callaway supporting her Annika Foundation for more than 20 years. Here’s more from the 10-time major champ. “The recent ad was terrible. They have acknowledged that, apologized, and taken significant action to address it. I can say unequivocally that the ad does not reflect the values of Callaway or their CEO, Chip Brewer. Callaway is and has always been one of the strongest supporters of women’s golf on the LPGA and amateur level. Being a part of their family has been critical to my success and the success of countless other girls with big dreams.”

First Callaway, then the PGA Tour, now Golf Channel.

It was a trifecta of announcements Thursday that kept Good Good in the news. The Youtube influencers released a video earlier this week promoting a new Callaway driver that showed a man pushing a woman to the ground. There was immediate backlash. Multiple apologies followed from both Good Good and Callaway but on Thursday Callaway announced it was ending its partnership with the brand. Several hours later Good Good announced it would “step away” from hosting a fall PGA Tour event in Texas. Finally, Golf Channel said it will not air its “Big Break x Good Good” series at all. The premier of the reboot of the series was postponed on Tuesday, but now none of it will air. Full statement below.

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Viktor Hovland was locked in at East Lake on Thursday.

The Norwegian briefly had to back away from a putt on the final hole due to a bug crawing on his putter. But then he stepped back in and buried the birdie for an opening round of 64 at the Tour Championship. Have a look:

Hovland, the 2023 Tour Championship winner, is off to a great start as he tries to claim a second FedEx Cup. However, he trails Min Woo Lee, who fired an opening 62 at East Lake. 

Another company is suing LIV Golf.

The latest vendor to join in a string of lawsuits against the formerly-backed Saudi circuit is Fantasy Interactive, which built and maintained LIV’s mobile app and website. Fantasy Interactive said it is owed over $990,000 for unpaid services and almost another $100,000 when factoring in interest. This is the third vendor to have filed a lawsuit against LIV, and the Premier Golf League is suing LIV in the United Kingdom for essentially lifting its framework and concept. On Wednesday LIV informed most of its staff their jobs will be terminated next week after the league wrapped up its season in Indianapolis last weekend.

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J.J. Spaun withdrew from the Tour Championship

on Thursday after five holes, citing a shoulder injury. He was four over par at East Lake Golf Club at the time he retired. The field in the $40 million event is reduced to 29 players. Spaun will receive last-place earnings of $355,000. The injury could scuttle the 2025 U.S. Open champion's hopes of receiving a captain's pick for the U.S. Presidents Cup team. Spaun is 10th in the points standings. U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker will make his six picks to fill out his 12-man roster at the conclusion of the event.