50 Things That Changed Golf

The Tour Championship is over, Zach Johnson makes his picks Tuesday, and Shane and Luke are on the scene to take their last crack at handicapping the U.S. team. Is it all coming down to Burns vs. Young? Did Keegan and Glover lose their mojo at the last moment? And what of JT? Plus, we Czech in on Europe, and a seemingly convoluted captain's pick situation that might have just become simpler than we think. Get it while it's hotter than Hotlanta. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The boys are back, and their important job of handicapping the Ryder Cup bubble is now more critical than ever as we approach D-Day. The U.S. automatic picks are set, but there’s so much drama in the race for captain’s picks that only the brightest minds can sort the data, and over in Europe, the situation is even more tenuous as the last four picks remain very much for grabs. On a good week for both Zach Johnson and Luke Donald, and a wild one for their picks, we’re here to set you up for the homestretch. Plus, dramatic eulogies for the players who came into the week with a chance to dance, but left with diddily re: Italy. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The job facing Tony Jacklin, the unlikely captain who took the reins of the European team as Ryder Cup captain in 1983, was a massive one: He had to bring an end to decades of American dominance. The situation on the ground was dire, and to put it plainly, he was inheriting a mess. Since the Cup began in 1927, Americans had won 20 times, lost three, and tied once. Even the addition of Team Europe in 1979, designed to level the playing field, hadn't stopped the U.S. from delivering two straight humiliations. Facing a talent gap, and playing on American soil, he had to stop history in its tracks. The remarkable transformation Jacklin engineered starting that year in Florida was as much psychological as it was tactical, and he had at his side the ideal playing lieutenant in Seve Ballesteros, a man who would become a Ryder Cup colossus. Together, they led the Europeans on a mission to win for the first time ever on American soil, and to redefine the entire event. What they accomplished over those three days was the start of one of the great turnaround stories in the history of sport. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you wanted a worse title pun than last week, in the words of Memphis Music Hall of Famer Roy Orbison, "baby, you got it." The PGA Tour playoffs are officially underway, and Digest's three foremost Ryder Cup obsessives are back to talk about what went down in Bluff City. Is Lucas Glover bludgeoning his way onto the team one win at a time? Has JT's stock gone down as he watches from the sidelines? Did the Euros have as bad a week as it looked from the outside, and is there any clarity on the bubble for either team? We're dishing out the barbecue-grade takes today as the Cup train rolls on. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're on the verge of the playoffs, but even with the DP World Tour in a two-week break, we had some red-hot action at the Wyndham, where the Tour regular-season finale saw at least seven hopefuls from both teams teeing it up. We're here to talk JT's surge, Bryson's 58, and where they (and everyone else) sit as the bubble watch heats up. Plus, let's gild the lily: Each of the lads chimes in on what they'd change about the Ryder Cup if they had absolute power. (And they should!) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On paper, it might look like nothing special—another European win on home soil in the Ryder Cup. But drill down, and you'll see something revelatory in Gleneagles. This was the Ryder Cup that took decades of American strategic weakness and decades of European guile and blew them out to epic proportions. It's no coincidence that the end of this Ryder Cup saw Phil Mickelson publicly challenge Tom Watson; this was the week that forced the U.S. to face all its own shortcomings, and that process wasn't pretty. Dive deep with us in this examination of everything Paul McGinley did right, and how the web he wove ensnared the Americans ... but perhaps woke them up, too.Thanks to Ivan Ross for producing the introduction. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Sambuca Boys are back after conducting some on-site field reporting at Royal Liverpool. Harman's in, the Euros are rising (Shane's risk of becoming Luke-Pilled is currently "very serious"), and we're here to see where each team stands after the last major of the year. As July changes to August, Ryder Cup momentum becomes real, and the lads are here to guide you through the start of the endgame. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Less than a year after the death of his best friend Young Tom Morris, Davie Strath came to St Andrews hoping to win his first-ever Open Championship. He'd come close before, but while Strath was considered one of the three best golfers of his generation, and had been a sort of pioneer in giving up everything for a career in the very new field of professional golf, there was also something dogging his reputation: A tendency to choke in the big moment. That tendency would rise again, but that's far from the only thing marking the 1876 Open as the single strangest major championship ever contended. Played over one day in late September, it's a forgotten oddity in the tournament's storied history, and remains as vibrantly bizarre today as it must have seemed to those who watched it play out almost 150 years ago. In this week's Local Knowledge, we examine the singular career of Strath, the tragedy of his life's end, and that wild day when he had his best, and last, chance to etch his name in the history books. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The fate that has befallen Young Tom Morris, the greatest golfing talent of the 20th century, is to be known, but only in outline. His singular talent is measured today by lines on a Wikipedia entry, or the ancient scrawling of a name on the claret jug, and if anything, his star has dimmed with the passing years. But when he died on Christmas Day in 1875, just 24 years old, he left the world of golf utterly transformed by a career that ranks with the most spectacular of all time. Young Tom Morris didn't just win with absurd regularity; he transformed his sport, ushering in the era of the celebrated professional, and paved the way for the economic structure of the modern game. To study him in-depth, 150 years later, is to bring color to the massive talent and heartbreaking end of the sport's first superstar. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the first-ever Ryder Cup Radicals, Shane, Joel, and Luke jump into the deep end with a discussion of the LIV Golf imbalance—the US can have LIVers in the Ryder Cup, Europe cannot—and whether Zach Johnson has an obligation to level the playing field by leaving them out. Then it's on to discussions of the new closed circuit US Captaincy Conglomerate, LLC, Europe's key revival of the Hero Cup, and important Italian-centric concepts like Sambuca, Burratta, and the beauty of the word "Madon!" Brief attempts are also made to solve the mystery of the identity of Yannik Paul; no conclusions are drawn. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The concepts of honor and integrity in golf are inseparable from the inevitability of cheating. The former are prominent because the latter is so easy—when self-policing is the best hope for fair play, you better have a code of honor to work as a secondary enforcement. In 1955, at Deepdale Country Club on Long Island, that code seemed to fail when two unknown sandbaggers won a tournament and took home thousands of dollars thanks to an associated Calcutta auction. In fact, the code had not failed: A crisis of conscience led to a confession, the scandal became national news, and the USGA took action. For the two men at the heart of it, the fallout was swift and severe, and lasted a lifetime. On this episode, we look at golf's most notorious amateur scandal and the aftershocks that transformed the amateur game. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Johnny Miller shot his famous 63 in the final round at Oakmont in 1973, it instantly became one of the most staggering achievements in the history of major championship golf. For the USGA, it was also something else: an insult. Oakmont was supposed to be one of the toughest courses in the world, and the U.S. Open was supposed to be the toughest test in professional golf. What Miller did undermined that identity, and when the Open came to Winged Foot one year later, the one certainty was that it wouldn't happen again. From the tournament committee to the club members, the mission was to return the U.S. Open to its place of prominence by all means necessary. The course the players encountered that summer was a monster, and they were its victims. What happened next can only be described as carnage; this week on Local Knowledge, we look at why it happened, and what it tells us about America's national open and the people who run it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This May marks the 20th anniversary of Annika Sorenstam playing the Bank of America Colonial at Colonial Country Club, where she became the first woman in more than 50 years to play with the men on the PGA Tour. That week was highly anticipated, stressful, and loaded with controversy as more than 300 reporters, hundreds of photographers, and thousands of fans flocked to Texas to see her play. The reactions to her inclusion ranged from supportive to hostile, and though she handled herself admirably both on and off the course, it's no surprise that she never did it again. In a way, Sorenstam was playing for the entire LPGA Tour and women's golf in general that week. She wasn't the first. Two women before her, and three after, also took their turn playing with the men, and the story of those women is one of courage, triumph, failure, and a no small amount of sexism. This is the story of the six women in history who teed it up with the men on the PGA Tour. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A key component of Jon Rahm's identity, and one that's not often discussed in English-speaking media, is his Basque heritage. The Basque people represent the oldest surviving ethnic group in all of Europe; they pre-date the Indo-Europeans who swept through the rest of the continent, and whose descendants live there today. Euskal Herria, the Basque homeland, is a region the size of New Hampshire in southern France and northern Spain, and the people have their own language and culture that have survived repeated attempts to snuff it out, right up to the present day. But for such a tight-knit and insular community, they've had an outsized impact on world history. As Rahm himself has said, there's a difference between the Basques and the Spanish, and while he represents both on the global stage, it's his Basque background that defines his cultural heritage and his strength as an elite competitor. To understand Rahm, you have to understand the Basques. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1990, the PGA Championship was set to be played at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club near Birmingham, Alabama. The course had hosted the tournament six years earlier, but this time, thanks to an incendiary comment from the club's founder, the golf world couldn't ignore an inconvenient fact: Shoal Creek wouldn't admit any black members. Nor could the PGA paint it as an isolated problem, or even a southern problem—all across America, private golf clubs were excluding minorities, and many of those clubs hosted major events. That summer in Alabama, the PGA of America and Shoal Creek engaged in a tense standoff, and the outcome would reverberate across golf and change the landscape of the professional and amateur game. The racial problem that had long remained in the shadows, even as the 21st century approached, was now out in the open, and nothing would ever be the same again. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There was never a moment when Seve Ballesteros wasn't scrambling, when he wasn't recovering, when he wasn't looking for the outrageous miracle. That's how he lived, and that was always going to be how he played golf. We look at the mysteries of the Spanish golf legend, and his entire unbelievable story. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's one of the most infamous moments in golf: Greg Norman taking a six-shot lead into the final round at Augusta National, only to live out every golfer's nightmare as he shot 78 and lost to Nick Faldo. Today, 27 years later, as Norman has emerged as the face of LIV Golf's threat to the game's world order, that memory feels as fresh as ever. On this episode of Local Knowledge, we dive deep to explore why it happened, what might have prevented it, and what we can learn from Norman's fate on that timeless Augusta Sunday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On an October day in 1983, Charlie Harris drove his blue Dodge pickup through gate three at Augusta National. His goal? To talk to Ronald Reagan, who at that moment was playing the 16th hole on his first-ever trip to the storied course. What happened over the next two hours is one of the strangest chapters in Augusta history ... and despite the high stakes, it disappeared almost immediately from the news. This is the story of a desperate man, a hostage crisis, and a president trying to defuse a dangerous situation just two years after an assassin had almost killed him in Washington D.C. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1983, under the leadership of Deane Beman, the PGA Tour faced the first great challenge to its existence. The leading players of the time, from Jack Nicklaus to Arnold Palmer to Tom Watson, weren't happy with the direction of the Tour, and felt that the new marketing arm was adding money to its own coffers while depleting theirs. Rebellion was in the air, and when they came after the man they called the "czar," Beman would not go lightly. He mobilized his nascent power structure to save his own job and the Tour itself, and the fight was waged through the spring and summer of '83. At stake was the direction of American professional golf itself, and the echoes of that conflict resonate even today. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After recapping and analyzing every episode of the new Netflix golf series, Full Swing, it was time to bring our questions to the man who put it all together. In this bonus episode, Chad Mumm, the show’s executive producer, discusses who he envisioned as a target audience, how he locked in on different subjects, and why the show opted against a traditional chronological format. Mumm also reveals his favorite moments, and at least one gem of a scene that ended up on the cutting room floor. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The final episode of Netflix’s new golf series, Full Swing, and of our limited-run podcast recapping the show, is all about the star power of Rory McIlroy. As hosts Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman, and Alex Myers discuss, the producers were right to focus the entire last episode on the four-time major champion given the prominent role he played in golf in 2022, as well as his willingness to share parts of himself audiences had never seen before. We discuss some of the bright spots of an eventful final episode, as well as where we felt this show missed the mark. We also took time to assess the series as a whole, and even brought in our special guest novice golf fan to help us determine whether the show worked for audiences who maybe didn’t have the same foundation of knowledge.Check out Shane's recap of the episode here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As the Netflix series on golf, Full Swing, approaches the end, our podcast recapping the show can’t help but judge the seventh episode through the prism of missed opportunities. Were rookies Sahith Theegala and Mito Pereira compelling enough to carry an entire show? Was either one of the biggest storylines of 2022? Although there were elements of the seventh episode—Theegala’s father being one, Pereira’s all-time collapse at the PGA being another—hosts Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman, and Alex Myers agree this episode was similar to the first episode in its overreliance on a contrived storyline.Check out Shane's recap of the episode here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After a triumphant run of episodes in the new Netflix golf series, Full Swing, our podcast recapping the show was more critical of a sixth installment focusing on Tony Finau and Collin Morikawa. As hosts Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman, and Alex Myers say, there is much to like about the Tony Finau portion, which captures Finau’s compelling and unique backstory, and provides new insight into the balance he strikes between his career and his large family. Where we struggled was with the depiction of Morikawa, who appears to be shoehorned into the role of a soulless, humorless tour pro. Was this a byproduct of Morikawa giving less access? Did the storyline of two pros of diverse backgrounds who were inspired by Tiger Woods work, or was it too forced? We break it all down in our analysis.Check out Shane's recap of the episode here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The fifth installment of our limited-run podcast series recapping Full Swing, the new Netflix show, tackles the Matt Fitzpatrick and Dustin Johnson episode. Hosts Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman, and Alex Myers note that just like with Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler in Episode 2, the show’s producers opted to emphasize a contrast. Here it was between the overachieving Fitzpatrick and the naturally gifted Johnson, with a little bit of LIV Golf tension mixed in as well. While neither personality was as engaging as Joel Dahmen or Ian Poulter, we agreed this was still a well-crafted episode, and had the added benefit of following Fitzpatrick through the closing stages of his triumph at the U.S. Open at the Country Club.Check out Shane's recap of the episode here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hosts Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman, and Alex Myers haven’t agreed on everything about Netflix’s new golf show, Full Swing, but they agree that the show’s fourth episode on journeyman Joel Dahmen was the best yet. In our limited-run podcast series recapping every episode, we explain why Dahmen’s incredible journey through professional golf and his relatable demeanor made for compelling television. Among the favorite parts discussed in detail: Dahmen relaying the crushing loss of his mother to cancer, his own cancer scare, his bond with his caddie Geno Bonnalie, and his unlikely run to a career-best finish in the U.S. Open. This was our favorite episode, and as such, we loved diving into every part of it.Check out Shane's recap of the episode here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The next installment of our limited-run podcast series recapping Netflix’s Full Swing reflects on the value of personality, and how the show’s third episode featuring Ian Poulter stood apart from the previous two for that reason. Whereas earlier episodes had bigger names in Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, hosts Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman, and Alex Myers argue that devoting an entire episode to the charismatic Poulter was a smart decision. We break down Poulter’s struggle to remain relevant, and why his decision to join LIV Golf was at least given the necessary context. We also discuss the show’s unique structure, one in which producers opted against a straight chronology in favor of jumping around to different points of the season.Check out Shane's recap of the episode here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the second installment of our limited-run podcast series on Netflix’s Full Swing, hosts Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman, and Alex Myers discuss a much-improved second episode that focuses on Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler. We discuss the portrayal of Koepka as a one-time dominant force now in the throes of a prolonged slump; how it contrasts to Scheffler, an amiable up-and-coming star who catapulted up the world ranking last year and won his first major at the Masters; and how the filmmakers appeared to have righted the ship after a sluggish start.Check out Shane's recap of the episode here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome one and all to the world premiere of the new Golf Digest podcast "Full Swing Thoughts." As you might gather from the title, we're here to talk about all things 'Full Swing,' the new Netflix documentary looking at the year 2022 in professional golf. We start today with the JT and Jordan episode, and Golf Digest stalwarts Sam, Alex, and Shane go deep on what they loved, what they didn't love, and what made them laugh as the series kicks off. Was this a successful start? Could 'Full Swing' rival 'Drive to Survive,' the blockbuster F1 documentary? Can Justin Thomas learn to use a credit card machine? All this and more as we analyze and over-analyze episode one.Make sure to check out Shane's recap of the first episode as well. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shane Ryan, Sam Weinman and Alex Myers will be your guides through the upcoming Netflix show "Full Swing." The trio will discuss what the show gets right, what feels a bit off and everything in between. With each episode, we'll have a podcast to break down everything you just saw, and there may be a special guest to wrap it all up. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For the first time in the sport’s history, the defining moments of the professional golf season took place somewhere other than on a golf course. The ongoing battle between the PGA Tour and the fledgling LIV Golf circuit instead took place in private backchannels, on social media, and even in the legal sphere. But as much oxygen as it took up in 2022, it was hardly the only event that mattered to golfers and golf fans. In this year-end episode of Local Knowledge, Keely Levins, Alex Myers, Shane Ryan, and Sam Weinman discuss what resonated with them most in a wild 2022, from the high-profile dramatic episodes to moments of personal poignance. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An 18-hole experiment with our 11-handicap editor and PGA Tour veteran Joel Dahmen began with a simple question: How much easier would golf be if a tour player hit all your drives for you? In this week's Local Knowledge, Sam Weinman takes you behind the scenes of a memorable round in which he and Dahmen teed off for one another and then played their own balls from there.You can also read the story and watch the video on the round here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What are NFTs? And what could they possibly have to do with golf? Our Shane Ryan didn’t really understand them at first, and he certainly didn’t know what they had to do with a game played on grass. But as Ryan discovered, NFTs are making inroads into the golf world, some quite modest, others rather dramatic. In this episode, he explains NFTs basics for novices, and what it all might mean for golf. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Even as golf has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, a number of golf courses are undone by challenging economics and mismanagement. Many of those courses close outright, while others fight to stay alive in the face of considerable headwinds. In this episode, Alex Myers talks with Golf Digest's Keely Levins and Joel Beall and others about a handful of golf courses that got creative in their efforts to remain afloat, those that still met their unfortunate demise, and why so many golf courses to their communities represent much more than mere real estate. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every time elite professional golfers are asked to come together in a team format, it comes with the awkward adjustment of needing to think about more than themselves. What’s often overlooked is how much golf requires an inordinate amount of self-interest. From how golfers practice, to the time they spend away from home, to even their choice to pursue an individual over a team sport, Shane Ryan explains why even the best-intentioned golfers need to be selfish to succeed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There is no worse tag in golf than that of a cheater. In a game that prides itself on honor and self-policing, the players who betray that trust even once struggle to restore their reputation. In the aftermath of an incident in a qualifier tournament, Alex Myers looks at the particulars of the case, but also the wider world of cheating in golf—how often it happens, why it happens, and why it's so counter to golf's core principles. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For most golfers out there, the scores we shoot have little tangible significance. We maintain a handicap, maybe play for a few bucks, but otherwise, no one really cares but us. And yet for many golfers, the difference between 80 and 79 is a landmark milestone. On this week’s episode, Sam Weinman and Shane Ryan discuss their respective quests to break 80. They consult with pros, sports psychologists, and some of the golfers they play with, to understand what’s been holding them back, what they need to make it happen, and what it will signify to them if it does. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the 1930’s and 1940’s, when women’s amateur golf was the premiere women’s golf circuit, some players became stars. One was Marion Miley, who won just about every major amateur event available to her. But her career came to a tragic end in the middle of the night in the Lexington Country Club apartments where she lived with her mother. In the decades that followed, Marion’s story has been forgotten. Keely Levins dives into Marion’s story and how author Beverly Bell set out to ensure Marion’s story would be remembered forever. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The golf world has been awash with news about the threat LIV Golf poses to the traditional framework of the professional game. In far shorter supply is clarity about where this all might be headed. In this episode, Dan Rapaport explores the origins of the PGA Tour-LIV rivalry as well as the turbulent present to help understand how the situation could resolve, and why it might not anytime soon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can a 40-year-old golfer really overhaul his golf game in just 12 weeks? That's what we set out to learn. This spring, Golf Digest's Alex Myers embarked on an intense program overseen by experts to address every element of his sagging game—from his swing, to his body, to his mind—to see what type of change was possible. In this episode of Local Knowledge, Myers describes the process, the staggering results, and even how this sort of program could lead to a breakthrough of your own. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

To understand why St. Andrews' Old Course is not just the "Home of Golf," but also the most significant golf ​course in the world, it's important to understand just how much of the game's history has run through this unique seaside layout. From the course's deceptive complexity to its seminal moments, Dan Rapaport outlines everything that makes the Old Course so vital to the game's identity, and why the Open Championship there this week comes at a fractious but opportune moment. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Golf's major championships are when the stakes are highest, and how the best players in the game are measured. But the downside of putting so much emphasis on four weeks a year is it risks undermining the rest of the golf calendar. In this episode, Alex Myers examines how the men's major championships evolved to become the mega-events they are today, and the unexpected challenges that dynamic presents. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

No tournament in golf appeals to the dreamer more than the U.S. Open, where a qualifying process puts journeymen, club pros and even schoolteachers just three rounds away from a spot in the field next to the game’s elite. On the eve of the U.S. Open at The Country Club outside Boston, Dan Rapaport examines the U.S. Open qualifying process, explains why it remains one of golf’s most intriguing opportunities, and dives into some of the incredible tales that arise out of it every year. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Title IX was enacted in 1972, it was hard to imagine its influence could still be felt in golf a half-century later. But the landmark legislation not only ushered in a new wave of women golfers, those golfers went on to raise golfers of their own. On the eve of the U.S. Women's Open, Keely Levins examines what the golf landscape was like for women before Title IX, and the myriad ways it's been reshaped in the decades since. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Golf is technically an individual sport, but increasingly, top-level players rely on a broad assortment of supporting characters to achieve optimal performance. From caddies and coaches to trainers, chefs, mind coaches and data analysts, Dan Rapaport takes an inside look at the various figures in a tour pro’s orbit to understand what they do, how they help, and how they all coexist on the same team. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Tiger Woods won the Masters by 12 shots in 1997, then decided to rebuild his swing, it paved the way for the most dominant stretch of golf in history. It was also evidence of what sports psychologists call a “mastery mindset,” when an individual is driven more by a goal of constant improvement than external rewards. As Sam Weinman explores, this way of thinking is on display with many of the game’s top players. In conversations with Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, and experts, we explore how a simple shift in thinking might be more important than any single swing change.Related: Why some top junior golfers make it and others don’t Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Big Money Classic marketed itself as a rare opportunity for struggling mini-tour players to cash in on a big payday. It instead left players waiting for their payouts and asking for refunds on entry fees. Keely Levins tells the story of a tournament that sold players on big things but instead left them angered, embarrassed and in search of answers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Masters win brings with it many well-known traditions: an interview in Butler Cabin, the presentation of the coveted green jacket, the ascendance to the vaunted Champion’s Locker Room. But most fans don’t have a full appreciation for the whirlwind of activity that ensues once a golfer has secured a win at Augusta National. In this episode of Local Knowledge. Golf Digest’s Dan Rapaport goes behind the scenes with the men who’ve been there to understand what really happens in the minutes, hours, and days following a Masters win, and why for them, it was both a blur and an indelible memory. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Phil Mickelson found himself immersed in controversy recently thanks to comments related to the new Saudi golf tour, it was yet another moment that elicited comparisons to Tiger Woods. Whether making headlines, winning majors, or courting sponsors, Mickelson and Woods haven’t been able to escape each other’s shadows over the last quarter-century. In this episode of Local Knowledge, Alex Myers provides a history of Tiger and Phil’s relationship, and speaks to the author of a new book on the two, to explain how the two are markedly different, and how they’re more alike than either might want to admit. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Not until Netflix released “Drive to Survive”, its multi-season behind-the-scenes look at Formula One racing, did the sport really take hold in the U.S. It explains why top PGA Tour players have agreed to let Netflix cameras shadow them like never before in 2022. If golf enjoys a similar surge in popularity, the pie will get bigger for everyone. In this episode of Local Knowledge, Dan Rapaport talks to the show’s creators to understand what they hope to achieve with the new show, and how they hope to tell the story of golf to a whole new segment of fans. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Driving distances at the elite level have been creeping up for decades, and not far behind have been cries for golf’s governing bodies to intervene. But not everyone believes distance is really a problem, and even among those who do, there remains the complicated matter of what to do about it. Do you roll back the ball? The driver? Should they consider different rules for pros than for amateurs? In this episode, Keely Levins tackles golf’s most complicated issue, explaining how we got here, and what might be on the horizon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.