Articles by Stephen Hennessey

‘I choked so many times over the years’: Johnny Miller, golf’s most honest voice, calls himself out

If you’re like us, you miss Johnny Miller. The two-time major champion became golf’s most respected TV analyst for decades until he retired in 2019. His candid style might not have been for everybody—and he pissed off tour pros in the process—but he continually ranked as fans’ favorite voice in golf in our reader polls. Read more…

You won’t believe how much this legendary golf figure is bidding to buy Scottie Scheffler’s old car (with 200,000 miles)

If you’re a big golf fan, you’ve likely heard about Scottie Scheffler’s car. Despite amassing over $71 million in on-course earnings in his young PGA Tour career, not to mention all the endorsement money, Scheffler was driving a 2012 GMC Yukon up with 200,000 miles on it up until recently. It’s really quite incredible when Read more…

The best golf courses in Europe

As soon as you take up golf in the United States, somebody will sell you on taking a trip to Europe. They’re right of course. It’s the birthplace of golf, you’ve heard. St. Andrews is a baptismal experience. Royal County Down might be the best course anywhere. The best links courses that we watch every Read more…

We lost our most prolific golfer

It’s an interesting life being a Golf Digest course-ranking panelist. The rules and ethos you must uphold resemble those of the military or a fraternity. Break any of them and a dishonorable discharge awaits. The panel, and really the Golf Digest brand, is much bigger than any individual. In fact, we don’t like our panelists’ Read more…

Are course ratings biased toward private clubs?

Some things in golf puzzle even the most avid, seasoned golfers. How course ratings and slopes—aka the difficulty of a course—are calculated would be up there. We’re not talking about the course rankings, such as Augusta National being the second-highest course in the country. Instead, the course rating—which helps us figure out what our expected Read more…

3M Open picks 2024: Why we love Akshay Bhatia

We’re officially 250-plus days until Masters Week. It’s a sad realization that major season is over, but we have the finishing stretch of the PGA Tour season upon us—which means more opportunities to cash some tickets. Will players experience an Open Championship hangover after a grind last week? Consider Tony Finau won at the 3M Read more…

9 things we learned talking golf with NBA legend Jerry West

US PGA TOUR (Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2015. Jerry West died on Wednesday at age 86. West was one of the biggest icons in NBA history, earning a spot on the All-Star team 14 times, the all-NBA team 12 times and being a transformative executive for decades after retirement, as well Read more…

15 things you might not know about Xander Schauffele

We often hear snippets about Schauffele – like Jordan Spieth calling him the funniest player in the Ryder Cup locker room – but it’s likely fans don’t know the full backstory on one of golf’s biggest stars. Here are 15 of the most important things to know about the 2024 PGA champion.

PGA Championship 2024: Viktor Hovland admits he considerered withdrawing from Valhalla field, now has a chance to win

It’s shocking to hear that one of the contenders during the final round of the 2024 PGA Championship considered withdrawing from this major, but if you’re aware of Viktor Hovland’s struggles this year, it might not be a complete surprise. The talented Norwegian withdrew from last month’s RBC Heritage after a missed cut at the Read more…

Justin Thomas becomes first athlete to sign with Fanatics Sportsbook

This is an enormous week for Justin Thomas—returning to his home state of Kentucky for the PGA Championship, a major he has won twice before. This week turned into a special one for him for another reason with a big-time deal being announced on Tuesday. PGA Championship 2024 power rankings: Our deep dive into every player Read more…

Terrifying videos of a tornado surprising golfers at Big Cedar Lodge are going viral

A terrifying video of a tornado tearing through Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Miss., made the rounds on social media Monday. Big Cedar Lodge has become one of golf’s biggest destinations with three courses ranked inside Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses—Ozarks National, a Coore/Crenshaw total redesign of an existing course, ranked 33rd, Payne’s Read more…

The 15 best TPC golf courses, ranked

You likely know that TPC Sawgrass started the Tournament Players Club movement in the 1980s as the first PGA Tour-owned and operated club. But do you know the origin of the concept of stadium golf, and how the TPC golf courses network grew since Sawgrass’ debut 42 years ago? Much credit is due to Deane Read more…