17th May Tour News
It was not all celebrations for Si Woo Kim after winning the Players Championship on Sunday, sitting in the back of his mind was the thought of national service potentially ruining his career. The Korean national is legally obliged to undertake two years of national service between the age of 18 and 35, due to the fact that they are still technically at war with North Korea.
Kim’s fellow countryman and two-time PGA tour winner Sang Moon Bae is currently doing his national service. In 2005 he launched an appeal for this to be overturned, but was rejected. Currently the only way that Si Woo Kim can be exempt from doing the required national service is by winning a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. It is believed that Kim has already decided that he is going to do the national service sooner rather than later.
Ian Poulter
It has been a busy week for Ian Poulter, both on and off the course. After finishing second place at the player’s championship on Sunday, golf channel analyst Brandel Chamblee was quick to accuse Poulter of not trying to win the championship. He believed that Poulter hit the worst shot of the week, laying up on 17 and trying to protect the world ranking points and prize money that came with second place. Poulter was quick to reply with a tweet saying “I can only dream of being as good as Brandel Chamblee, it is clearly very easy sitting on you’re a***”. Chamblee was quick to block Poulter after the reply, think we all know the reason why!
This week he was invited to play in the PGA championship at Wentworth next week, returning to the course for the first time in almost three years. Poulter was also quoted saying that he might not play in the US Open qualifier on the Monday after the tournament, His reason for this was that during the summer, his wife and kids will be back home in England and prefers to play a solid European schedule rather than heading back and forth to the states.
This week on tour
This week the PGA Tour returns to Texas for the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship at TPC four seasons, you can expect to witness some exciting golf and low scores as it is one of the shortest courses on the tour this season. Last year masters champion Sergio Garcia was the champion, but won’t be competing this week. A player expected to do this well this week is Tony Finau, who has had finishes of 10th and 12th in his first two starts at the tournament. He also has a stroke average of 67 around the course, so is expected to finish well.
Below is the TV schedule for the tournament, with all four days appearing on Sky Sports 4 in High Definition:
Thursday 18th May – Sky Sports 4 (21:00)
Friday 19th May – Sky Sports 4 (21:00)
Saturday 20th May – Sky Sports 4 (18:00)
Sunday 21st May – Sky Sports 4 (18:00)
The European tour heads to Italy this week for the Rocco-Forte Open; a new tournament on the tour and will include 25 Italian players in the field. This may be a new event on the tour but it is not the first time the venue has played host to a European Tour event, with the Sicilian Open being held there in 2012. The field includes several big names such as Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn, Matteo Manassero, Trevor Immelman and Mike Weir. You will be able to watch this event on all four days on Sky Sports 4 in High Definition also. Below is the schedule for the week:
Thursday 18th May – Sky Sports 4 (10:30 & 14:30)
Friday 19th May – Sky Sports 4 910:30 and 14:30)
Saturday 20th May – Sky Sports 4 (13:00)
Sunday 21st May – Sky Sports 4 (10:00)
Mizuno Pro S18 Wedges
New Mizuno wedges have appeared on the USGA conforming clubs list. Available in a variety of loft and bounce options, it can also be noted that the wedges use the familiar Mizuno grain-flow forging and the boron-infused carbon steel which is stronger than the standard carbon steel used to make other wedges on the market. A release date has not yet been announced but it is likely that these wedges will replace the current S5 Wedges.
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