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Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as the day one of the Mexico Open gets underway.

1. Charlie Woods to compete in Cognizant (formerly Honda) Classic pre-qualifier

PGATour.com staff report…”Charlie Woods is looking to earn a spot in his hometown PGA TOUR event.”

• “Woods, son of 82-time TOUR winner Tiger Woods, will compete in Thursday’s pre-qualifier for the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. The younger Woods will play at Lost Lake Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, one of four pre-qualifying sites. Approximately 25 players and ties will advance to the event’s Monday qualifier, from which four players will earn spots in the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.”

• “Woods will tee off at 7:39 a.m. ET Thursday alongside Olin Browne Jr., and Ruaidhri Mcgee. Browne is the son of three-time TOUR winner Olin Browne.”

2. Niemann, 2 other earn Masters special invites

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”Joaquin Niemann is among three players who have accepted a special invitation to play in the Masters.”

• “Ranked 81st in the Official World Golf Ranking, Niemann’s appearance this year was in doubt after defecting in summer 2022 to LIV Golf, which doesn’t currently award world-ranking points. But Niemann, a former winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, which is run by Augusta National, remains arguably the best player from the region and recently won the Australian Open (earning a spot in this year’s Open Championship) and LIV’s season-opening event in Mexico. He posted two other top-5s on the DP World Tour…”

• “Others receiving a special exemption to the year’s first major were Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune of Japan.”

3. LIV-OWGR stalemate

Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski…”One can make an argument that the OWGR board of directors has an obligation to devise a mathematical formula that awards points for LIV Golf’s 54-hole format as it does for other minor tours. One can also make a counter argument that LIV’s largely closed-shop roster, small fields and concurrent team competition skew its results to a degree that compels the OWGR to deny certification.”

• “With officials from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour recusing themselves from the decision, the remaining members of the OWGR board denied LIV Golf’s request for inclusion in October. Those remaining members are the representatives of the four major championships.”

• “Presumably this will all be corrected whenever the PGA Tour finalizes its negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the financial muscle behind LIV Golf. Until that happens, however, we’ll continue to monitor the degrees of consternation or schadenfreude certain factions exhibit as they observe LIV golfers slipping down the board and, thus, losing access to the majors via top-50 standing.”

4. Ferguson: Gap between majors and “other tournaments” grows

The AP’s Doug Ferguson…”All of which leads to the common refrain that all anyone wants is for the best players in golf to be on the same stage.”

• “The only place for that is the majors, which always mattered more than all the other tournaments. Now the gap is getting larger.”

• “The PGA Tour already has held three of its “signature events” with a $20 million purse, cold plunges and wild-caught seafood served in player dining. Nothing felt extraordinary about them. LIV Golf had a 59 and a playoff in the dark the first week, and a six-way tie for the lead late on the back nine the second week. The only noise sounded forced.”

5. Fitzpatrick’s interesting, under-the-radar gear changes

Our Andrew Tursky…”At the end of 2023, Matt Fitzpatrick was still using Ping S55 irons, which were first released to the public back in 2013.”

• “I was starting to wonder if he’d ever change them out.”

• “Well, last week at the 2024 Genesis Invitational, we noticed that Fitz is now using a set of new Ping Blueprint S irons (5-PW), to go along with a Ping i210 4-iron.”

• “Pour one out for the S55’s.”

• “That wasn’t the only noteworthy gear news in Fitzpatrick’s bag, though. We also noticed he had a unique prototype 3-wood in the bag, which appears to have no branding or identifying logos.”

• “After further review, however, the sole weight designs and placement seemingly verify that he’s using a Cobra Darkspeed X prototype.”

6. Nadal wins mid-am event

Our Matt Vincenzi…”Twenty-two-time champion Rafael Nadal is known for being one of the best ever tennis players, but recently Nadal also became a champion on the golf course.”

• “While Balearic Mid-Amateur Golf Championship, Nadal not only won the event, but was able to win by a comfortable seven strokes.”

• “Next, Nadal will focus on training for the Indian Wells tournament after missing some time from tennis due to injury.”

7. Price hits out at LIV

John Turnbull for Bunkered…”Open champion Nick Price has hit out at former rival Greg Norman’s startup circuit.”

• “The 67-year-old, who also won the PGA Championship twice, has argued LIV Golf isn’t a very good product, while taking aim at players who defected.”

• “Speaking on the bunkered podcast, Price admitted that ‘nobody likes’ the fragmented nature of golf as a result of LIV’s emergence.”

• “Like everyone else, I don’t know what the end game is. The way the game is fragmented, nobody likes it,” he said.

• “I’ve tried to watch LIV, but I don’t think the product they have is very good. I don’t know why they tried to re-invent the wheel.

• “I think the IPL [Indian Premier League] in cricket had a lot to do with the decision making and the way they tried to set it up with the franchises – which I don’t think is a bad idea.

• “But right now, I don’t think the product they’ve got is something people will rush to their TV to watch and it’s sad because they have so many great players.”

8. Jin Young Ko’s return to action

Beth Ann Nichols for Golfweek…”Former World No. 1 Jin Young Ko returns to competition at the Honda LPGA Thailand. The last time the South Korean star teed it up on the LPGA at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, she was wearing a brace on her left knee. Ko eventually withdrew from the event prior to the third round.”

• “Ko insists that’s now behind her and said doctors checked her entire body – knees, shoulders, wrists, spine – and reported that she’s healthy for 2024. She flew to Vietnam during the extended offseason to train with her coach and feels confident going into her 10th season as a professional, including time spent on the KLPGA.”

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Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as the PGA Tour heads to Mexico this week.

1. Niemann, 21 LIV players set for Asian Tour event

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”In total, 21 LIV members are teeing it up beginning Thursday at Al Mouj Golf in Muscat, Oman, including three still ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking – No. 80 Lucas Herbert, No. 81 Joaquin Niemann and No. 95 Dean Burmester.”

• “With LIV still not able to award world-ranking points, playing in the International Series remains one of few avenues for LIV players to boost their world ranks and potentially earn spots in major championships…”

• “No. 137 Louis Oosthuizen, No. 141 David Puig (last week’s Asian Tour winner), No. 154 Mito Pereira and No. 165 Abraham Ancer are also entered in the Oman field, which also includes these LIV members all ranked outside the top 300 in the OWGR: Charles Schwartzel, Kieran Vincent, Jinichiro Kozuma, Matt Jones, Eugenio Chacarra, Scott Vincent, Anirban Lahiri, Matthew Wolff, Branden Grace, Carlos Ortiz, Sebastian Munoz, Peter Uihlein, Hudson Swafford and Danny Lee.”

2. Cabrera returns to Champions Tour action

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romain…”Angel Cabrera has already been cleared to play in PGA Tour-sanctioned events. He returned to competitive golf late last year in his native Argentina, and he will make his PGA Tour Champions return this week in Morocco.”

• “But that’s not all: The 54-year-old Argentine and two-time major champion also is set to compete again in his first world-ranked event in nearly five years.”

• “Cabrera, who was released from an Argentina prison last August after serving 30 months for gender violence against two former partners, has been extended a sponsor exemption into the Korn Ferry Tour’s 117 Visa Argentina Open, according to multiple reports and confirmed by GolfChannel.com. Cabrera’s invite was allotted by the Argentina Golf Association, and he will have a chance to compete for an Open Championship exemption, which is awarded to the winner.”

3. Beall: Is the PGA Tour in a slump?

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”Conversely, the bigger, overarching worry from the past seven weeks is what fans didn’t see. Rory McIlroy was a tour de force in the Middle East but has been so-so in his two tour starts. Reigning FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland has struggled. Max Homa usually feasts on the West Coast but hasn’t posted a top 10 in five appearances. Collin Morikawa hasn’t done much and an expected Sunday battle between Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay at Riv turned out to be a dud. Then there is Scottie Scheffler. The two-time PGA Tour Player of the Year is posting the best ball-striking numbers since in-his-prime Tiger … but that performance has been weighed down by his continued putting woes, which have prolonged to the point they can no longer be classified as a funk. Scheffler knows it too; this weekend alone featured images of Scheffler tossing his putter like a baton after missing a putt and dropping to his knees after another, the normally stoic Texan unable to hide his indignation at his flatstick’s betrayal. The putter has single-handedly kept him from a generationally-great 18-month stretch, and as golf has sadistically proved over and over the present (in this case, Scheffler’s tee-to-green game) is no guarantee of the future.|”

• “Seven weeks is a small sample size. In that same breath, the tour is nearing the quarter mark of the season, and the very stars tasked with keeping the lights on have been dimmed. Which brings us to LIV Golf. For the first two years of LIV’s existence there has been a general belief from tour headquarters that the tour’s depth was its hydra: When one star leaves he would be replaced by another. Generally, that held true. But Jon Rahm’s defection seemed to be a tipping point of sorts. LIV has now taken both a significant portion of the tour’s frontline firepower (Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith) along with a sizable bite out of the second and third-tier rank. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that five of the tour’s seven winners in 2024 were outside the top 50 in world ranking … but maybe it’s not. That Rahm won three times during this stretch last season only exaggerates the perceived power void.”

4. Nantz to amateur rules sleuths…

Golf Digest’s Christopher Powers…“A number of rogue videos of the supposed incident have already been removed from social media. But they had been spreading like wildfire, as all potential rules controversies do. The CBS Sports crew must have known this was the case, because Jim Nantz quickly brought in rules and review analyst Mark Dusbabek explained that there was no foul play from Matsuyama.”

• “Here was the incredible exchange between Nantz and Dusbabek:”

• “Nantz: They’re playing a game of ‘gotcha,’ they think, with Matsuyama behind the 17th a moment ago and saying ‘hey that ball moved! This isn’t right!’ Let’s bring in, with some reasoning here, Duse (Dusbabek).”

• “Dusbabek: Yes Jim, the ball did not move. The ball just shifted a little bit, but it stayed in its same position. The ball has to move to a different position, up, down, to the side, it doesn’t matter. It just didn’t move its position.”

• “Nantz: Go find somebody else to pick on.”

5. Cannizzaro: Woods should have been at Genesis trophy presentation

The NY Post’s long-time golf writer…Speaking of the champion, Matsuyama and the thousands of spectators ringing the natural amphitheater of the 18th green were deprived Sunday of seeing Woods, whose foundation hosts the event, present the winner’s trophy.

• Tiger Woods’ withdrawal from own event is golf great’s latest bizarre episode. Woods was nowhere to be found, presumably back home in Florida recuperating from the flu.

• “I never question an athlete’s injury or illness because only the person who’s injured or ill knows how bad he or she is feeling. But for Woods, two days removed from the flu diagnosis, not to be at Riviera on Sunday to present the trophy wasn’t a great look. The sponsors who pump millions into the event to benefit Woods’ foundation could not have been happy about his absence.”

• “I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to take a picture with Tiger today,’’ Matsuyama said after he won.

• “It’s difficult to imagine Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer not powering through the flu to make sure they were on hand to present the trophy to the winner of the Memorial or Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of the tournament.”

6. Finau feeling ready

Field Level Media report…”Finau, 34, hasn’t missed a cut in five starts this season. He finished T6 at the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 24-27 and T19 at the Genesis Invitational last week…”

• “Yeah, I feel prepared. I’ve done some good work in the offseason with my body just to be strong,” Finau said Tuesday. “This golf course yields some birdies and I can really swing the driver with some freedom out here as there’s a few holes that are pretty lenient as far as hitting areas, so I love that, being able to hit it hard and play this type of golf course. I do feel like I’m prime to go on a run starting this week.”

• “Finau expects to be a busy man, however. He told reporters Tuesday that he will be playing competitive golf during the day and with his family on the par-3 course at night.”

• “I think we reserved a tee time there about 8:00 every night and we’ll be there with my boys playing pretty much every evening,” Finau said. “That’s definitely at the top of our list of things we enjoy here at Vidanta.”

7. 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup assistants revealed

Beth Ann Nichols for Golfweek…”Paula Creamer returns to the Solheim Cup for the first time in seven years in a new role as assistant captain. She’ll be joined by Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel and Angela Stanford. It’s up to the host captain to determine the number of assistant captains, and for the first time in Solheim history, Stacy Lewis has appointed four women to the job.

• “This year’s Solheim Cup will be contested Sept. 13-15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.”

8. LIV Golf chief to play PGA Tour pro-am

Ben Parsons for Bunkered…”LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan will tee it up in a pro-am at a tournament sanctioned by the PGA Tour as negotiations to unify golf continue.

• “Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) bankrolling LIV, has been attempting to broker a deal with the PGA Tour ever since the announcement of a shock framework agreement between the warring factions last June.”

• “PIF’s involvement in golf’s new landscape has come into question in recent weeks after a group of US billionaires known as the Strategic Sports Group (SSG) invested $3billion into the PGA Tour’s new for-profit company named PGA Tour Enterprises.”

• “Al-Rumayyan has been listed to play in the Trophy Hassan II pro-am at Royal Golf Dar es Salam in Morocco alongside Indian veteran Arjun Atwal.”

9. Inbee has no plans to play in 2024

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…”As the LPGA returns to action this week in Thailand, one past champion is notably absent. Inbee Park, who last teed it up on the LPGA in August of 2022 at the AIG Women’s British Open, has no plans to compete this year either, according to her manager.”

• “Park, 35, gave birth to her first child, daughter Inseo, in April 2023.”

• “The 21-time winner was announced as one of 32 candidates for the IOC’s Athlete’s Commission. Park, of course, won gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She plans to focus on promoting herself for the upcoming elections in the coming months.”