We didn't like 2024…

Rory McIlroy and his scuttling at the US Open, the calamity of slow play in professional Golf, the erosion of both tournaments born of the war of Tours and their television audiences, the general disinterest in the Presidents Cup, the umpteenth true-false return of Tiger Woods to business… The editorial staff of Golf Planet comes back for you on the facts to forget about this year 2024… …

By GB, NC, DC, DM, FS, ES and LV

Rory and his old demons…

“Rory… Not this, not now, not after everything you've done.” This time it was the right one, that was for sure, after so many failures, after the 150th The Open à St Andrews which had slipped through your fingers during the last holes, after 10 years without a Major, the curse had to end at Pinehurst. And then there is this tiny missed putt at 16. This nervous finish. This new little missed putt at 18. And it's Bryson DeChambeau who takes the cake. A player from LIFE Golf in addition. Rory, you almost broke my heart. Without wanting to be Manichean, for me McIlroy is a bit like the last defender of the beautiful values ​​of golf against those who only swear by the lure of profit. But my favorite player lost again. He even broke down, it must be said. Even if it makes him even more human, it was hard to write lines to tell about this new failure, this disaster…”

Slow game, stop the killing please!

“The length of games has reached new heights this year, pushing certain pros like Lucas Gloverwho says he saw the pace of play gradually deteriorate, or Charley Hull (photo below), who proposed a penalty of two strokes for each overtime and removing the card after three penalties. More than the changes recently adopted by the PGA Tour, supposed to remedy this, it is time for the professional circuits to take inspiration from LIV Golf, which is exemplary on this point since it penalizes these infractions more frequently and more severely. What if we simply started by applying the rules? »

Presidents Cup, more stop than ever…

” The Presidents Cupcet erzatz en decrépitude de la Ryder Cup for the rest of the world, continues with this 2024 edition to dig its grave even deeper than the divots on the fairways of Montreal Golf Club. No sporting interest this year again (uncontested victory for the United States, the 13th in fifteen editions), almost non-existent atmosphere in Canada (difficult to create antagonism from a rivalry which does not exist) and abysmal gap . When will the change towards a mixed competition to reshuffle the cards of a biennial doomed to fall into disinterest, humiliation after humiliation? »

Pro golf plays with fire

“The departure of Jon Rahm on the LIV Golf at the end of 2023 dealt a certainly fatal blow to the fragile balance of professional golf battered by the emergence of the circuit financed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) from Saudi Arabia. Winner of the Masters a few months earlier and main rival of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the world rankings, no one expected to see him leave the ship and also give in to the sirens of petrodollars. After the shock of this announcement, it is clear that the earthquake caused by the exodus of some of the best players in the world in recent years has led to the inexorable dislocation of professional golf and chaos with terrible consequences. The erosion of sporting interest in tournaments results in the erosion of television audiences. Only the Grand Slam tournaments still escape general disaffection and manage to keep the most fanatics among us in front of their small screen. Until when? It would be time to signal the end of recess. »

Jay and Yassir, the fool's game

“You really had to be the last partridge of the year to believe in this pants offered without the slightest scruple during the last Dunhill Links Championship par Jay Monahanthe commissioner of PGA Touret Yassir Al-Rumayyangovernor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, XXL financial support of LIV Golf. These two have in fact multiplied the “gestures of appeasement” as big as a mooring rope. Hugs, bursts of laughter, knowing looks… They even found themselves in the same game – as if by chance! – during the first round, one teaming up with Billy Horschel (Monahan), the other with one of his rich residents (the South African Dean Burmester). Seeing these images, we were almost sure that the long-awaited rapprochement between the two entities – we have been discussing it for more than a year and a half – was finally going to be achieved. For the good of world golf. At the end of December, nothing had changed. Rumors of an agreement circulate every week, the best players in the world are hoping for a favorable outcome… But we still don't see anything coming… Despairing! »

The tragedy of Grayson Murray…

“The war of circuits, the good or bad results of each side… All of this becomes insignificant in the face of the tragedy that is the death of a player. Despite a victory at the start of the year (at Sony Open in Hawaii), Grayson Murray was unable to overcome the uneasiness that was gnawing at him. While the life of a professional player, punctuated by golf and travel, may seem enviable, it is far from idyllic for some of them, torn by constant pressure and distance from loved ones. The Americans Bubba Watson or Matthew Wolff reported a few years ago, Mike Lorenzo-Vera put his season on hold and talked about his problems. In this dark picture, however, a glimmer of hope remains: the mental health of golfers, and more broadly of athletes, is now a subject more widely discussed. This might encourage speaking out and hopefully prevent further drama. »

The umpteenth true-false return of Tiger Woods in 2024

“Difficult to criticize Tiger Woodsone of the best golfers of all time. But we would have liked to be able to celebrate with dignity the end of the career of this sacred golf monster. In 2024, the Tiger only played the four Major tournaments (he retired after a round and a half in Genesis Invitational in February), for three missed cuts and a 60th place in the Masters. Since the Covid break at the start of 2020, the man with fifteen Grand Slam victories has only achieved one top 20 (18th), Hero World Challenge which he organizes… with twenty players at the start. So it’s a bit of the dreaded “season too many” news. The fifth! We are always delighted to see him at the start of a tournament, but the excitement quickly gives way to disappointment. For the first time in his career, he even admitted this year that he was no longer able to compete with the best. His recent performance at the PNC Championship with his son Charlie was rather reassuring about his state of health since he swung and walked without visible constraints. But the fight in this family tournament mainly took place against Bernhard Langer (67 years old) and Vijay Singh (61 years old). To see him perform against his contemporaries, we will certainly have to wait until PGA Tour Champions…in 2026. After a sixth season too many in 2025? »

Photos : Warren Little, Jared C. Tilton, Angel Martinez, Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP, James Nix/USGA