At this precise moment 25 years ago—early May 2000—the greatest golf of all time was being primed for liftoff. A then-24-year-old Tiger Woods, who had always played a wound golf ball with a balata cover, was preparing to put a new multilayer, solid-core ball in play. He believed it gave him an edge—less spin and Read more…
Brad Faxon always seemed to be two different players, each on parallel but dramatically divergent paths that never seemed to intersect. One was easy, capable of wondrous eye-hand artistry. The other had a dogged, fitful struggle whose triumphs put him in the conversation for best bad ball-striker in golf history. With short shots, and especially Read more…
“We act with all the authority not vested in us.” So said David Fay back in 1989, when he was the USGA’s executive director and Karsten Solheim was filing a $100 million lawsuit against the ruling body’s ban of the Ping Eye 2’s so-called U-grooves. Fay’s pithy switcheroo, which has somehow never been included in Read more…
Editor’s note: In celebration of Golf Digest’s 75th Anniversary, each month Writer-At-Large Jaime Diaz will interview key figures in the game to explore what happened when they were at the height of their powers. In June 1985, instructor David Leadbetter teamed with Nick Faldo. Faldo willingly suffered through a difficult transition period that threatened to Read more…
The news of George Foreman’s death at the age of 76 came as a shock. The two-time heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist was a force of nature, not only in his awesome physical abilities but also verbally, as a product pitchman and HBO boxing analyst, and especially in deep recall of an inspirational life Read more…
John Feinstein, one of the most prolific sportswriters in the history of American journalism and a longtime contributor to Golf Digest, passed away on Thursday. No cause of death was given. He was 69. In a journalism career that began at the Washington Post in 1977, Feinstein wrote more than 40 books, of which nearly Read more…
It’s funny. Even though Tiger Woods failed to win 296 of the 378 events he played on the PGA Tour, I’ve never thought of him being tortured by a tough loss. He was fine after a Sunday collapse that caused him to get boat-raced by Ed Fiori in his third pro tournament, 1996 Quad Cities Read more…
Editor’s note: In celebration of Golf Digest’s 75th Anniversary, each month Writer-At-Large Jaime Diaz will interview key figures in the game to explore what happened when they were at the height of their powers. In a period of 20 days in 1971, Lee Trevino won the national opens of the United States, Canada and Great Read more…
Well before I was a senior, I was captured early on by the senior tour for its cavalcade of living golf history and for the artful swings and the shots. That affinity has grown deeper with the years.
At the moment, it seems negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s PIF and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, are enmeshed in anti-trust regulation hell, forcing a harrowing holding pattern in which all of golf’s lawyers and all the kingdom’s men can’t seem to put what’s left of the tour back together again.
There’s really no one in the history of golf like Lydia Ko. First, there’s a pretty air-tight argument that Ko is the greatest very young player in golf history. Yes, including Tiger Woods, who from the ages of 15 through 20 won three straight U.S. Juniors followed by three straight U.S. Amateurs. But in the Read more…
For those who aspire to lead, it’s always helpful to own an authentic personal story. Especially one that matches the moment. To golf’s great benefit, that’s precisely the case with Fred Perpall. For the past 18 months, the 49-year-old CEO of a Dallas architecture firm has been USGA president. As the first Black man among Read more…
What kind of golf is best for major championships? There are more elements at play in golf’s current ecosystem, and perhaps a reconsideration is in order.
While the CBS’ final-round ratings followed the trend in 2024 of being down from the previous year, some interactions and observations from being at this year’s Masters eased this writer’s mind.
For the three-time Masters champion, it’s been a gradual, circuitous and finally sudden journey, as big a reversal in public image as golf has ever seen.
Arnold Palmer epitomized achievement and philanthropy in golf. “When you’ve reached the top, send the elevator back down for the others”—that’s the essence of the Arnie Award, given annually by Golf Digest in recognition of golfers who give back. This is the 12th-consecutive year we’ve celebrated the game’s benevolent spirit, partnering with the Arnold & Read more…
Australian Golf Digest
