At the 50th PLAYERS Championship, while Scottie Scheffler hopes to make history at the TPC Sawgrass by winning the fifth major two times in a row, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman are chasing a 23-year-old record set by Tiger Woods. Both one-time major winners may soon be in the same category as the 15-time major winner, given that they win at the Stadium Course.

In 2001, Woods won the PLAYERS Championship and became the only reigning U.S. Open and The Open Championship winner to do so. The 82-time PGA Tour winner had achieved the ‘Tiger Slam’ the same year after winning the 2001 Masters in Augusta National. If any of the two go on to win the 50th PLAYERS Championship, they’ll tie Woods, Justin Ray of The Athletic reported the same on X (formerly Twitter).

On the 50th PLAYERS Championship’s leaderboard, Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark are chasing to tie the leader, Xander Schauffele for a playoff at the TPC Sawgrass. The 2023 U.S. Open winner is the second solo with 16 under 200, whereas the 2023 British Open winner is the third with 15 under 201 after the conclusion of round three. Clark is one stroke away from the lead, while Harman trails behind by two strokes.

Achieving the record will not be a piece of cake for the two, as Xander Schauffele has consistently taken the top position after each round’s conclusion. However, Clark’s performance at the PLAYERS Championship has given him an upper hand over Harman and a better chance of winning the event.

Wyndham Clark’s historical rounds at TPC Sawgrass

Wyndham Clark started his opening round on the Stadium Course with a 7 under 65 as he shot four birdies in the front nine and ended the round with three consecutive birdies on the back nines. Moreover, on the second day, Clark scored the same finish of 7 under 65 with eight birdies on his scorecard. Although on the third day he carded a 2 under 70, the first two rounds had already made him a record holder at THE PLAYERS Championship.

Interestingly, Clark was only the fourth golfer to have back-to-back 7 under or better rounds at TPC Sawgrass. Which makes him ranked the same as Greg Norman, Jason Day, and Webb Simpson. All these golfers went on to win the PLAYERS Championship after shooting a round of 65 or better; luckily, Clark’s may win the 50th PLAYERS Championship too. With the speed at which the one-time major winner is moving, the probable victory at the 50th PLAYERS Championship does not look far-fetched!

It has been nearly eight months since the PGA Tour and PIF announced their plans to merge the two enterprises. However, the $3 billion merger has only gotten delayed over time. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour partnered up with SSG to create a for-profit entity, the PGA Tour Enterprise. The deal with PIF was left hanging as the PGA Tour formed its new board members.

One crucial member of the board is Tiger Woods, who was promoted to vice chairman. Though not playing much for his career at the moment, Woods holds an important place on the board. Despite this, Rory McIlroy’s former agent, Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler, believes that Woods no more has the authority to bring the merger to the front page.

In an Essentially Sports Exclusive, the former manager of the four-time major champion sat for an interview with Aravind S Menon and shared his honest thoughts on TGL while also shedding light on the PGA Tour betraying Rory McIlroy. During the chat, he also highlighted how the PGA Tour and PIF merging may not be in the hands of Tiger Woods.

When Menon asked Chandler if Woods was the only player to bring bifurcated parts of the golf world together, he bluntly said, “No. He’s too anti-LIV [Golf] to do it.” During the ES Exclusive interview, the ex-agent of McIlroy continued to explain why Woods would be unsuitable. “I think it needs somebody more, more neutral than that, but I don’t know who the person is,” said Chubby.

In the ES Exclusive interview, organized in collaboration with Betideas’s host, Duncan Wright, Chandler shared more of his perspective on Woods’s diminishing influence. He explained, “Tiger can only do so much if he’s not playing. He’s not affecting viewing figures or anything now.” “I’m not sure you’ll be able to persuade 48 LIV players that they should pay back off the fee [penalty fee to return on the PGA Tour] or I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” he continued.

Chandler was certain that not all LIV Golf pros would want to return to the PGA Tour if the PGA Tour-PIF does happen in the future and the Tour enforced a penalty charge. The future of PIF with the PGA Tour looks bleak as of late, but a recent move by Yasir Al-Rumayyan sparks a ray of hope that the merger may be finalized soon.

The PGA Tour currently plays at the TPC Sawgrass – Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach for the 50th PLAYERS Championship. Per sources of Golf Week and The Golf Channel, player directors like Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson and more have been encouraged to meet Yasir Al-Rumayyan to further merger talks.

It seems like all six PAC directors may be meeting with the PIF’s head in a bid to finalize the merger. The news was confirmed by Spieth as he revealed at the post-match press conference, “We’re being encouraged, obviously, which I think is probably a good thing that the entire board should if there’s going to be any potential for a negotiation.”

Whether the meeting will end up with the two parties getting together or not will remain a mystery for a while. However, it is certainly a huge step in the direction of churning out a final agreement, even if it results in the PGA Tour and PIF going on different paths.

Wyndham Clark achieved a Sawgrass milestone that even Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus were unable to earn. Only yesterday, Clark chased down Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele to take his share at the top of the leaderboard. The reigning US Open champion showed no signs of slowing down on Friday, shooting 7-under-65 once again. And, with that, Clark has a unique record at THE PLAYERS Championship all by himself.

Wyndham Clark is the first player to shoot 65 or lower in each of the first two rounds, stats guru Justin Ray tweeted. Ray further revealed that Clark had hit “23 of his last 26 greens in regulation entering the weekend at TPC Sawgrass.” At THE PLAYERS Championship, the three-time PGA Tour winner is leading the field in greens in regulation, hitting 31 of 36 greens. In addition, the 30-year-old is also the leader at SG: Total and SG: Putting.

Comparably, Tiger Woods’s best first-round score was 10-under-134 in 2013, at the time of his second victory at TPC Sawgrass. Surprisingly, that was also the only time the 15-time Major champion broke 70 in his first round. Tiger Woods is one of the only six players to have won more than one THE PLAYERS Championship title.

Jack Nicklaus, with three, still tops the chart. But even the Golden Bear could not score two consecutive rounds under 65. Nicklaus’s lowest first-round score was 66 at the 1974 and 1976 THE PLAYERS Championships. However, none of that came at the TPC Sawgrass. In his first outing at Pete Dye Layout, the 18-time major winner missed the cut.

In fact, Greg Norman, in his history-shattering 1994 victory, shot 9-under 63 and 5-under 67 in the first two rounds. The Great White Shark still has the lowest score at 24-under through four rounds. Whereas, Jason Day shot 63 and 66 to card 15 under in 2016, the lowest first-two-round score at THE PLAYERS Championship. Webb Simpson in 2018 shot 66 and 63 to post 15 under as well.

Moreover, Sergio Garcia, the highest earner at THE PLAYERS Championship, having made 21 cuts, has a best opening round of 65 in 2021. But he followed that up with a 72. Evidently, Clark has edged past a number of big names at the 50th edition of THE PLAYERS Championship.

The first question shot off in his way was about the historic round at TPC Sawgrass. How does he feel? “I mean, that’s pretty cool. I guess I’ve been breaking some records recently, which is pretty neat. More than anything, I’m just super excited that kind of had a ho-hum front nine and then turned and really just got into a nice zone and felt really good on the greens and shot an awesome number,” Wyndham Clark said in the second-round press conference.

Clark set the course record at Pebble Beach last month. The reigning US Open champion shot 12-under-60 in the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The final round was canceled due to inclement weather. As a result, Clark was crowned the eventual winner at the $20 million purse signing event.

However, the competition will be tougher at Ponte Vedra, with Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele all chasing him on the cut day. Stay tuned to find out how the final round of the fifth major turns out!

THE PLAYERS Championship has indubitably led to turning many heads in the community owing to the level of golf being displayed. However, now it appears the event being held at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is garnering attention for a different purpose altogether: the PGA Tour’s Player Directors, including the likes of Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, are being “strongly urged” to meet Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

The Jay Monahan-led circuit had recently entered into a $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group. This, of course, led to speculations about LIV and the PGA Tour merging to mellow down. However, now, almost a month later, it seems like the flames have been fanned once more, with the Tour making active efforts to broker an agreement with the Rumayyan-headed fund via a meeting in Florida.

A report was made hours ago stating that a meeting between the PIF chairman and the group of players was on the cards as early as Monday in a private residence at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, soon after the conclusion of THE PLAYERS Championship (on Monday). More details about this, however, are yet to come to light and seem to be closely guarded, with even little clarity on whether the Saudi Fund’s chairman will actually attend or not.

Interestingly, five of the six athletes in the PAC are on the field this week at the ongoing PGA Tour event. What’s more, all of these members including Woods are now serving on the board for PGA TOUR Enterprises, which was recently launched. Even Joe Ogilvie, the liaison to the Player Directors on both boards, is also reportedly planning to arrive in Florida on Sunday for a board meeting scheduled for Tuesday at Tour headquarters to discuss Enterprise business.

Meanwhile, Monahan was also very optimistic about the whole merger, even after the SSG deal, as he said, “Our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together.” Moreover, the Tour commissioner revealed last Tuesday how he met with the fund’s chairman along with representatives of the SSG group, all the while painting a hopeful picture for the whole deal.

Interestingly, the framework agreement that is reportedly being worked on would also lead to the PIF becoming a minority investor in the for-profit entity. While some, like Rory McIlroy, were all for this move, not all the players were in agreement. Leading that charge against it was none other than PGA Tour director Jordan Spieth, who recently appeared rather nonchalant about the merger.

“I just think it’s something that is almost not even worth talking about right this second given how timely everything would be to try to get it figured out,” said the American golf pro when asked about the deal with the PIF Fund. Furthermore, alluding to the SSG, he added, “The idea is that we have a strategic partner that allows the PGA Tour to go forward the way that it’s operating right now without anything else with the option of other investors,” while alluding to the SSG.

Tiger Woods holds first press conference since car accident originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Tiger Woods fielded questions ranging from what he remembers about his rollover car accident in February 2021 to his future on the PGA Tour during a 38-minute press conference on Tuesday morning at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Woods addressed the media for the first time since suffering severe injuries in the crash earlier this year that almost cost the 15-time Major winner his right leg.

“I don’t foresee this leg ever being what it used to be,” Woods admitted. “The clock is ticking. I’m getting older, I’m not getting any younger. All that combined means a full schedule and a full practice schedule — and the recovery it would take to do that — no, I don’t have any desire to do that. But to ramp for a few events a year as I alluded to yesterday like Mr. Hogan did and he did a pretty good job at it … there’s no reason I can’t do that.”

Woods said he has come off long layoffs before and won, which makes him feel like he “knows the recipe” to recover and compete at a high level on the PGA Tour — even in a limited fashion.

“I just have to get to a point where I feel comfortable enough where I can do that again,” he told reporters.

Woods was asked if he could ever see himself winning another major event or any tournament on tour.

“I have to prove it to myself at practice first,” he said.

The five-time Masters champion did admit that he still had a long way to go in his recovery and would not commit to playing the Par-3 course at Augusta in the spring.

However, he remained committed to the PGA Tour going forward when asked about other leagues and competition.

“I have decided that I’m supporting the PGA Tour. That’s where my legacy is,” he said.

Woods said that amputation was on the table back in February after he lost control of his SUV on a winding road in the Los Angeles coastal suburbs, striking a raised median and flipping several times.

“I’m lucky to be alive and still have the limb,” Woods said of his right leg that was shattered in the crash.

“I am very grateful that someone upstairs was taking of me.”

Toward the end of the press conference, Woods was asked whether he would ever speak about the day of the crash and what he remembers leading up to the accident. He deflected that question, opting to discuss the aftermath of the accident and what his mindset was like laying in a hospital bed.

“Friends and family kept me insulated from what was being said,” Woods said. “I had access to a TV in the hospital, but I was just watching sports. I refused to turn on the local channels. I didn’t want to go down that road … My mind wasn’t ready.”

Woods concluded that he expects the media to “poke and prod” and that he understands that there will be more questions about the day of the accident. But, he asked the press to keep the story focused on him.

“They can poke and prod at me all they want, just stay away from my family,” he said.

Woods is the host of the Hero World Challenge, which starts Thursday for 20 elite players in an unofficial holiday event he has held for two decades. The tournament raises money for the Tiger Woods Foundation.

The Tiger Woods-Nike split has been doing its rounds on social media. The 48-year-old golfer had spent the longest time wearing and playing with Nike on the greens. It was Nike who stood by his side as he dominated at the beginning of this millennium, dominating championships in the early 2000s and 2010s. This all began to change as Nike got out of the golf equipment game in 2016, focusing only on apparel.

The news of their split officially broke on the morning of January 8, 2024. This came as a shock to many fans, some of whom had seen Nike stand by the golfer during his infamous cheating scandal of 2009 when most of his other partner brands like Gatorade and Gillette slashed their deals with him. It’s hard to grasp that the partnership that once won so many titles, including the legendary 4-peat at the Bay Hill Invitational, will no longer be seen together. Nowadays, the pro can be seen around wearing Sun Day Red on his sleeve and carrying equipment by Taylor Made.

Although the news broke a while ago, there seems to be little known about the actual compromise in effect. The news had been relatively hush-hush until now, but some facts about the Tiger Woods and Nike split are slowly trickling in. In a recent post on X by Dan Rapaport on X, we see that Nike has removed the TW logo from the back stripe of their iconic Tiger ‘13s.

It’s not hard to see that the fans were not pleased. One fan seems to think that Nike will be fine, and it’s Tiger Woods who would actually lose out on a great partner, one that got him to success.

There were few who reminisced about the old days, thinking about the time when their collaboration produced some of the greatest athletic products in the world. One fan thinks that these very shoes were some of the best ever made for golfing.

There are some who do not agree with this opinion and dislike some products made under this collaboration. One fan thinks of the shoes as some of the worst ever made.

Some are of the opinion that this is the most pragmatic decision for both parties. Tiger Woods and Nike are no longer working together, and so should not represent each other, thinks one fan.

The fans do not miss a chance to take out their disappointment out on social media. Some fans, like this one, are not pleased with how the shoe now looks, without its iconic logo.

While others, like this one, think that the shoe now looks better!

Finally, one fan just thinks that Nike is just being petty.

It is honestly an end of an era. The fans may be disappointed right now, but there is a lot in store for the future. Nike still has endorsements with Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, and now that Anthony Kim is back, he might be an option too. Woods too, has a lot more left in the store. We can only wait and see where the story develops further.

Tiger Woods’s latest comeback has been plunged into doubt after it emerged the 48-year-old will not, as had been expected, feature in next week’s Players Championship. Woods, who had set a 2024 goal of competing once a month, is now unlikely to be seen until the Masters in April.

Woods’s appearance at the Hero World Challenge in November was his eighth since being involved in a car accident in early 2021 and his first since last year’s Masters. He finished 18th in a 20-man field with a level-par aggregate. “Once a month seems reasonable,” he said of his playing prospects for this year. His body has been seriously affected by multiple leg and back surgeries.

It is no secret that, as one of the most popular athletes, Tiger Woods has been surrounded by controversies, a little more than desired. Whether it was about his publicized divorce from his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, or about an unfortunate near-fatal accident in 2021, Woods’s life has been partially in the public eye. His restaurant, The Woods-Jupiter, too had been a part of a couple of undesired controversies.

The aforementioned restaurant is the one where he met his ex-girlfriend Erica Herman, who later filed a case against Woods, which made him a defendant in a fatal accident case for one of his employees. Did these instances push the golfer away from the restaurant?

Two legal disputes became part of The Woods’s history. The first one was when Erica Herman filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the golfer. Herman was his employee, and the two developed a relationship together. As a result, she signed an NDA, which later became the cause of the dispute, as US Today reported. And second, one of his employees died accidentally after a DUI, and he was a defendant, per the Palm Beach Post. However, both cases ended in Woods’s favor.

So, after the fuss at the restaurant, did Woods decide to distance himself from it? The answer is no. The restaurant is still very much his and operates as it used to on 129 Soundings Ave., Jupiter, Florida. It’s one of the TGR projects listed on his official website. Moreover, he opened another branch in 2023 in San Lucas, Cabo.

The restaurant was started because the 82-time PGA Tour winner wanted an elevated sports bar “where friends and family could come together to relax and refuel,” the website says. It has now become a regular outing station for many from the elite class of Jupiter, Woods being one himself.

However, except for the name itself, Woods didn’t want anything else to be associated with him or the restaurant to be visited because of him. He wanted it to stand out on its own merit. But before opening one of his food ventures, the 48-year-old was met with a hurdle because of his then-partnership with Nike.

The restaurant was supposed to be called: The Tiger Woods-Jupiter

Nike and Tiger Woods were going 19 years strong when The Woods-Jupiter was started. The restaurant, as reported by the Eater, started on an $8 million fund by Woods, and was designed by developer Nicholas Mastroianni II. The designer claimed that the restaurant would have been called The Tiger Woods—Jupiter; however, could not because Nike owned the patent, and the idea had to be omitted.

Mastroianni II said Nike “has the rights to the name Tiger Woods,” and whenever he had to use the name anywhere in the developing process, he “needs permission from Woods’s business people.”

Woods and Nike have separated now, but he still cannot use his name or the symbols because Nike holds the patent. Hence, the 15x major champion started his new partnership with TaylorMade under the name of ‘Sun Day Red’, paying homage to the tradition he started because of his mother.

Golf fans were in for a rude shock when the PGA Tour announced the 144-man field for the Players Championship. After the Arnold Palmer Invitational snub, most fans and analysts expected Tiger Woods to tee up at the Players Championship. And yet, the former World No. 1’s name was missing.

Woods has graced the Bermuda greens at TPC Sawgrass 19 times in the past, winning twice. In his last outing in 2019, the Hall of Famer tied for the 30th spot. Will we see him at Sawgrass next year? The chances are highly unlikely. Unless, of course, the former World No. 1 shocks the world by conjuring magic on the greens this year.

The Players Championship has multiple exemption categories, but none look easy for Tiger Woods. The veteran golfer was exempt this year thanks to his 2019 Masters triumph. However, that was only for five years. Next year, Woods has to rely on a victory at any of this year’s majors or hunt for silverware next season prior to the Players Championship.

Another way is to win a PGA Tour event this year as well. Either that, or Woods has to qualify via the FedEx Cup route. The Players offers a spot to the top 70 golfers on the FedEx Cup through the playoffs and the top 125 on last season’s points list through the FedEx Cup fall. Tiger Woods has yet to find a place as he hasn’t completed the full four rounds yet. The other way is a tougher climb.

The 48-year-old has to float above the top 50 in the world ranking. Currently, the former World No. 1 ranks at 916. While the veteran golfer did make a massive jump after the Hero World Challenge, it’d take consecutive top spots at his next outings to come within the top 50. Does that also jeopardize his major hopes?

Tiger Woods’s 2019 Masters triumph has put him in an envious position. Woods is qualified for the PGA Championship and the Open Championship, but not for the U.S. Open. The latter, even Woods wasn’t well aware of. As first pointed out by Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig, this is the first time since 1996 that the 48-year-old is not automatically qualified for all the majors. That, however, can soon change.

It appears that a special invite from the USGA is not far away. Most recently, the US Open host announced Tiger Woods as the recipient of this year’s Bob Jones Award. Woods is a nine-time USGA champion with three U.S. Junior Amateur victories, three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles, and three U.S. Open triumphs.

The Hall of Famer will receive the award at Pinehurst No. 2 during the U.S. Open. It looks extremely unlikely that Tiger Woods won’t be granted an exemption despite being invited to receive the award. In 2021, the USGA extended a special invitation to Phil Mickelson. Earlier, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, and Arnold Palmer received such special invites.

The Genesis Invitational was the first official start for Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour after he last played the Masters in 2023. It was the anticipated return of the golfing great. However, Woods started having spasms in his back, which made him shank the opening and only round he played. Moreover, before the second round started, Woods withdrew from the event, citing influenza.

The return of the 48-year-old has been looking bleak, as no updates from his side have been made public. But now, a veteran pro has made a staggering claim regarding Woods’s next start on the PGA Tour. The 57-year-old gave a subtle hint that Woods might play in the PLAYERS Championship.

The last time Steve Stricker and Woods were paired together was probably in one of the Ryder or President Cups. In the past decade or so, the two have not played together as much. Woods has been on and off the golf course, and Stricker started on the PGA Tour Champions. However, the 12-time PGA Tour winner expressed opined his desire to play with Woods again.

On the Golf Digest podcast, Stricker shared that he wanted to ask the 5x Masters Champion to play the Zurich Classic, but he did not. But hie did express his wish to play with him next in the PLAYERS event. He said, “You know, I’ll see him next week at the Players, hopefully, he’ll be there and I’ll be there, hopefully, play a practice round with him. Yeah, I’ll ask him.” 

The statement somewhat confirms that Woods might compete at the TPC Sawgrass after a month of rest. Furthermore, while making his return at the 2023 Hero World Challenge, Woods shared his plans to play an event per month. He said he “would have to start maybe at Genesis [which he did] and something in March, near the Players.”

If the two statements are to be believed, then the 82-time PGA Tour winner may surely tee it up at the Players Championship. But nothing can be confirmed, as of now. Although he did play at the Seminole GC a  few days ago, and shockingly, impressed everyone with form.

Regardless, the golf world will be patiently waiting for when and how the GOAT makes his awaited return. Until then, the golf world might wonder if the golfer is planning to retire, since he has been made Vice Chairman.

Tiger Woods becomes the vice chairman of PGAT Enterprise, starting retirement rumors

Recently, the PGA Tour announced a new board of members for the PGA Tour Enterprise, a for-profit entity, after getting the $3 billion investment from SSG. Tiger Woods, being a long-time member of the Tour and a player director on the Players Advisory Council, was given a berth on the enterprise committee as well.

While Jay Monahan will remain the Chief Executive Officer, Woods will be vice chairman, with many other pros joining the committee. Woods’s responsibilities sure has increased with the upcoming merger with PIF and TGL starting in 2025, and his other ventures. He may not have time to play professionally, but only time will tell if the GOAT will retire from the sport that he has been playing for so long!