With all the recent controversy regarding the 'new rules' of golf, particularly due to some very publicized incidents on the PGA TOUR, Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press wrote a piece that puts the onus where it really should be, on the players, to learn, know, understand and play by the rules. He makes some excellent points here illustrating clearly why it should not be that difficult to accept and embrace the effort and intent of the new rules of golf. - ed

By Doug Ferguson/Associated Press

ORLANDO, Florida — The memo PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan sent to players on the new Rules of Golf can be interpreted different ways based as much on the timing as the message.

One theme was to be patient. “We are committed to playing under these rules as we analyze their effectiveness... and it’s important to acknowledge that we are not at the finish line yet,” Monahan said in a memo.

Another was to look at the USGA as a partner instead of a villain.

“This is a collaborative process, one the PGA TOUR has been a part of from the beginning, along with all organizations in the world of golf,” he wrote.

The hope is that it will lead players to stop complaining about the rules and simply follow them.

Click HERE to read full story. 

See how Canadians fared in professional events around the world this past week.

The PGA TOUR and its affiliated Tours boasts a large roster of players from Canada as members. Here is the recap from this past week’s action and their performances.

See how Canadians fared in professional events around the world this past week.

2019 Freedom 55 Financial Open Champion Jordan Niebrugge (R) Heads Up The Iconic 18th Hole At Point Grey G&CC With HomeTown Lad Nigel Colclough On The Bag - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

The 2019 Mackenzie Tour - PGA Tour Canada season is not far away and the first event on their schedule kicking off the season will be at Vancouver's venerable Point Grey Golf & Country Club.

The Freedom 55 Financial Open takes place May 20 - 26th and leading up to the tournament the organizers are looking for volunteers for a number of roles.

They also need caddies. As it happens, last year's champion Jordan Niebrugge had his bag toted by longtime Pitt Meadows Golf Club member Nigel Colclough, so it could be your turn this time.

Along with the opportunity to be up close with many future PGA TOUR stars (both Abbotsford's Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor played on the Mackenzie Tour and have gone on to record victories on the PGA TOUR), there is a great volunteer package that includes tickets for a Vancouver Canucks game.

The PGA TOUR and its affiliated Tours boasts a large roster of players from Canada as members. Here is the recap from this past week’s action and their performances.

By THE R&A

A new report exploring golf’s global reach through course supply has revealed the continued expansion of the sport.

2011 Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers (L) Of The Green Bay Packers And Playing Partner Ho Sung 'The Fisherman' Choi Pose For Photos At The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am - All Images Credit Alfie Lau

By Alfie Lau

The movers and shakers and the superstars of the PGA TOUR were all at Monterey Peninsula Country Club Thursday morning.

There’s Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, playing with their normal amateurs Wayne Gretzky and Jake Owen. Johnson and Spieth would each shoot (-5) and just two strokes back, both are definite contenders to win again at Pebble.

You’ve got Miss America 2015 Kira Kazantsev, comedians Bill Murray, Larry the Cable Guy and Ray Romano, and a pretty saucy U.S. Ryder Cup team of Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson, with Reed shooting (-3) and Mickelson (-6).

Mickelson made history when he discovered that he hit every fairway and to his knowledge, that’s the first time in 27 years that he has accomplished this feat. The PGA TOUR would later correct that and say it was the first time since 1998 – 21 years – that Mickelson had hit every fairway during his round.

Surrey, BC's Adam Svensson Holds Up His PGA TOUR Card Last Fall After Graduating From The Web.com Circuit. Top Left: Adam Holds The B.C. Junior Boys Trophy He Won In Trail In 2011 

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Adam Svensson is now a PGA TOUR regular and that’s a surprise to, well, just about no one.

After all, that’s always been the plan for Svensson, a 25-year-old Surrey native who is off to a solid start in his rookie campaign on golf’s biggest stage.

“To tell you the honest truth, we anticipated that Adam would do very well in his career at a very young age,” says Svensson’s dad, Frank. “I just knew he had the talent. We did go abroad and tested his talent at a very young age and he did well there. He was just destined to end up on the PGA TOUR, so it’s not really not that much of a surprise to us.”

The PGA TOUR and its affiliated Tours boasts a large roster of players from Canada as members. Here is the recap from this past week’s action and their performances.

See how Canadians fared in professional events around the world this past week.

Rickie Fowler Hung On To Finally Win The Waste Management Open, But Not Without Some Very Anxious Moments - File Photo Courtesy Flickr.com

By Alfie Lau

Rickie Fowler finally has the tournament win he craves.

The Murrieta, CA native had come so achingly close to winning the 2016 Waste Management Open but after going into the water at 17 with a two-stroke lead, he lost in a four-hole playoff to Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. Fowler cried anguished tears in the press conference afterwards because he had wanted to win so badly in front of his grandfather.

Disappointment the following two years were best summarized by a conversation he had with a local police officer upon leaving last year’s tournament.

As the officer consoled him and bid him goodbye until next year, Fowler said: “I just want to win this so bad.”

Rickie Fowler Is Your 3rd Round Leader At The Waste Management Phoenix Open - Keith Allison File Image Reused With Permission

By Alfie Lau

Three years after he should have won the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Rickie Fowler seems to be on the precipice of making his dream come true. A remarkable round of (-7) 64, which featured eight birdies and just one lone bogey has Fowler four strokes clear of Matt Kuchar and five clear of roommate Justin Thomas.

In 2016, Fowler was leading by two with just holes to play, but after driving it into the water behind the 17th hole, he was forced into a four-hole playoff, which he eventually lost to Hideki Matsuyama.

This year, on a sun-splashed Saturday where the usual thousands of Phoenix golf fans come out in droves, it was Fowler who set the torrid pace, with birdies on four of his first six holes to open up a five-shot margin. The lead would yo-yo back to as little as three, but Fowler really put his stamp on the round by making his final birdie on the par-4 17th.

Abbotsford's Adam Hadwin Produced A Fine Comeback To Make It To The Weekend At The 2019 Waste Management Open - File Photo

By Alfie Lau

Rickie Fowler closed out the second round of the 2019 Waste Management Open with four consecutive birdies to take a one-stroke lead over roommate Justin Thomas heading into one of the greatest weekends in golf.

Fowler followed up his opening round 64 with a 65, and he made the closing holes look effortless. Reaching the par-5 15th in two, he made a routine two-putt birdie before hitting his approach to the rowdy par-3 16th to just under 11 feet. He made that putt as fans cheered lustily for him and then at 17, he drove the green and another routine two-putt birdie pulled him into a tie for the lead with Thomas.

By DAVID LI, Golf Canada

After announcing her retirement from competitive golf in the summer of 2016, Rebecca Lee-Bentham has spent the last two years teaching the game she loves to others.

By THE PGA OF CANADA

The PGA of Canada is proud to announce The Lincoln Motor Company has renewed its partnership with the PGA of Canada as presenting sponsor of the RBC PGA Scramble.

See how Canadians fared in professional events around the world this past week.

Abbotsford, BC's Adam Hadwin Is Rested And Ready To Tee It Up In A 'Home Game' Of Sorts At The Waste Management Phoenix Open - File Image

By Alfie Lau

When we last saw Adam Hadwin, he was signing autographs in Palm Springs with a smile on his face, even though deep inside, he had to be hurting after coming T2 to unheralded Adam Long at the 60th Anniversary Desert Classic.

Hadwin has spent the last week in his Scottsdale home, finishing his break and now he’s ready to tackle his “home game” of a golf tournament, the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Hadwin was part of Wednesday’s Annexus Pro-Am, which utilizes the innovative and effective two-pro tag-team format. For Hadwin, that meant playing the back 9 at TPC Scottsdale (Stadium) course at 9:40 a.m. with amateurs Donn Lux, Chris Lane, Wayne Cheplin and Rick Tigner, and getting to experience the craziness of the 16th hole, which was already in full throat Wednesday morning.

By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf

"Even though a new set of guidelines have now been put into play for the game of golf, the rulebook still doesn’t address one major component found in every weekend warrior’s game — the mullligan or breakfast ball.

Despite that oversight, the new rules, the first in over six decades, will make the game’s regulations a bit easier for one and all to comprehend and abide by. At least that’s the word coming from Adam Helmer, the Director of Rules and Competitions for Golf Canada.

Canada's Mackenzie Hughes Got The Better Of Tiger Woods For At Least One Day At The Farmers Insurance Open At Torrey Pines - Image Credit Claus Anderson/Golf Canada

By Alfie Lau

“It’s never a bad day playing with Tiger.” 

How many people get to say this, not just once, but twice in the past year?

Ontario’s Mackenzie Hughes got to say this Saturday afternoon at Torrey Pines, after his third consecutive round of (-2) has him in the middle of the pack, T36 at (-6) in the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open.

But that’s the smallest part of the story, as Hughes fired the low round in his group, one shot better than Scott Stallings and Tiger Woods.