Latest news with #BrysonDechambeau
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Can Rory McIlroy rediscover his form at The Open Championship? He is NOW 6/1 to win the prestigious major on home soil this month
After a stellar start to the calendar year - in which he won both The Players Championship and his maiden Masters title - Rory McIlroy has experienced a dip in form of late. He shot 7-over to finish 19th at the US Open before not making the cut at the US Senior Open most recently. Despite his lacklustre performances in recent times - McIlroy remains a red-hot contender to win The Open Championship this month when looking at the betting lines. At the time of writing - McIlroy is a BOOSTED 6/1 second-favourite to claim his sixth career major and second Open Championship title. There will be a little extra pressure on McIlroy this time around - as the tournament will take place in his home country of Northern Ireland. Can McIlroy rise to the occasion and rediscover his form? Or, will his drought at The Open extend to 11 years? We will have to wait to find out. When looking at the betting lines - McIlroy is behind that of multiple-time major winner and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler - who is currently the shortest-priced player in the market at 7/2. Sky Bet favourites to win The Open Championship: Scottie Scheffler 7/2 Rory McIlroy WAS 11/2 NOW 6/1 Bryson Dechambeau 14/1 Jon Rahm 14/1 Xander Schauffele 14/1
Forbes
13-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Tax Benefit Of Winning The U.S. Open At Oakmont Country Club
Last year's U.S. Open Champion, Bryson Dechambeau, had many reasons to smile. In addition to lifting the trophy, he also took home $4.3 million. The U.S. Open continues to represent one of golf's biggest prizes. While any golfer would give whatever it takes to take home this year's trophy (first place prize again expected to be $4.3 million), there is an extra layer of incentive this year that makes it even more beneficial relative to future years: taxes. Like Dechambeau's win last year in North Carolina, this year's winner can also expect to face relatively low state income taxes levied on their prize in comparison to upcoming years. In this article, I discuss the tax implications of winning at Oakmont and why it differs so much for the next three U.S. Open golf tournaments. Like other professions, when athletes earn money, they are subject to income taxes under Section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code. At the federal level, this rate maxes out at 37% for income over $626,350 ($751,600), meaning that most major professional athletes pay 37 cents for every incremental dollar earned. This tax applies to the athlete's money from contracts, endorsements, and winnings, among other sources. Furthermore, by being in the top tax bracket, the athlete's long-term investments will be subject to a higher (albeit preferential) tax rate of 20%. However, an extra layer of taxation that is less considered by many is state income taxes. Often referred to as the jock tax, athletes must pay state and local income taxes in the jurisdictions where they earn the money. According to Kiplinger, the jock tax has had made news in the past, starting with Michael Jordan being subject to it during the 1991 NBA Finals, subsequently leading to Illinois issuing tax bills to the L.A. Lakers players for the games they played in Chicago. The article also estimates that high-earning basketball players like Nikola Jokic and Steph Curry pay over a million per year for the jock tax due to taxable income earned in other states. Importantly, the jock tax primarily relates to income earned while physically in that jurisdiction, meaning that athletes' endorsement income is not subject to other state and local income taxes. This notion leads many professional athletes to live in states that do not levy an income tax. Professional golfers have also taken notice. GolfDigest reports an unusually high concentration of PGA golfers who reside in Florida, Texas, and Nevada to take advantage of the no-state income tax. This means that if the golfer wins a tournament in another state, they will need to pay that state's income tax on those winnings, but the golfer would not be subject to any additional layers of taxation since their home state does not require the golfer to pay income taxes. Oakmont Country Club is nestled in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As discussed by Forbes, it is widely considered to be among golf's greatest challenges, and it has hosted the U.S. Open a record 10 times. It is also scheduled to host the U.S. Open again in 2033 and 2042. While the USGA almost certainly selected Oakmont to host this year's U.S. Open based on it being the golf standard for championship golf, Oakmont also has a significant financial advantage for golfers relative to the upcoming sites. Pennsylvania boasts one of the lowest state income tax rates levied on income in the entire country, with a 2025 rate of 3.07%. This means that absent any other deductions, the winner of the $4.3 million prize will only pay approximately $132,010 in state income taxes on the winnings. In contrast, the three upcoming U.S. Open sites are Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (New York), Pebble Beach Golf Links (California), and Winged Foot Golf Club (New York). New York's top state income tax rate is 10.9%, whereas California's is 13.3%. This means that the $4.3 million champions prize winner will pay $468,700 (New York) and $571,900 (California) in the upcoming years. As reported by each state also has different withholding tax rules that the golfer needs to adhere to, and this rate can differ by state and by country. Importantly, when considering the total prize pool of $21.5 million, the collective group of golfers will pay millions more in taxes when the tournament is played in New York and California, relative to recent U.S. Open tournaments in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The tax liability would be even less if the U.S. Open would be held at a golf course in a no-state income tax rate state like Florida, Texas, Nevada, Tennessee, or Washington, begging the question of whether the USGA and PGA should attempt to locate more of the significant golf tournaments in those states to better the golfers' wallets. Despite these challenges, it is important to point out that winning the U.S. Open has countless benefits associated with it and is clearly worth the additional tax headache, regardless of where the tournament takes place that year. Also, H&R Block highlights the numerous tax deductions that are afforded to professional golfers to help lower those tax burdens. Professional golfers should become well versed in the taxes they might owe as well as the ways they can minimize those tax liabilities.
National Post
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- National Post
Rory McIlroy snubs golf legend after skipping Memorial tournament
Rory McIlroy has been a busy man since winning the Masters earlier this year. Too busy, it seems, to make a phone call to a golf legend who is also his friend. Article content The Northern Irish star apparently has given the same feeling to pal Jack Nicklaus that he did to Masters rival Bryson Dechambeau: The silent treatment. Article content McIlroy is skipping this week's Memorial golf tournament, yet he did not reach out to Nicklaus — the host and founder of the event – to let him know that he wouldn't be competing. Article content Article content During a press conference on Tuesday, Nicklaus said that he was surprised that McIlroy wouldn't be in this year's field and that he hadn't even spoken to him since the Masters in April, when McIlroy won the Green Jacket to complete his career grand slam. Article content 'I really don't know why Rory didn't talk to me,' said Nicklaus, himself a career grand slam winner. 'I can't answer that question. There's nothing I can answer. I know he has to make a schedule that works for him and what he has to do. And I understand, because I had to do the same thing. Article content 'We just weren't included this year.' Article content Traditionally, when legends of the sport host a tournament, players often will call or meet them ahead of time to let them know if they are skipping the event. While McIlroy didn't reach out to Nicklaus, the 85-year-old said he won't hold it against him. Article content 'I haven't talked to him for him to tell me why or why not. It's just his call,' Nicklaus said. 'I made a lot of calls that I had to make — when I played — to play or not play, and sometimes it wasn't as popular as people thought it was. But sometimes you have to make those calls. I don't hold anything against Rory for that.' Article content After Jack Nicklaus giving Rory McIlroy time pre Masters to help guide him on how best to play Augusta National, Rory is not only skipping his event, but also didn't give him the courtesy of a phone call to let him know… — Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 27, 2025 Article content McIlroy's apparent cold shoulder is surprising considering his relationship with the Golden Bear. McIlroy is a member at Nicklaus' home course, The Bear's Club in Jupiter, Fla., and the 36-year-old even sought out advice from Nicklaus ahead of the Masters in April. Article content Article content 'I am not throwing Rory under the bus,' Nicklaus added. 'I like Rory too much. He's a good kid. He's played some great golf. He's had a lot of things that have happened to him. He's got to make his own call on things. Could he have done them differently? Probably. But that's alright. I could probably have done some of mine differently, too. Article content
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
LIV Golf is on the ropes
The numbers are in for LIV Golf's major broadcast TV debut and they aren't good. Sunday's final round, aired on FOX and featuring some of LIV's biggest names in the hunt — Sergio Garcia, Bryson Dechambeau and Phil Mickelson — garnered an audience of just 484,000 viewers. In comparison, the PGA Tour's Valero Open — which didn't feature any of the Tour's big names in the hunt — drew an audience of 1.746 million. This is troubling news for the breakaway tour. To this point, LIV could blame anemic ratings (sometimes in the tens of thousands) on low visibility (airing on the CW) or inconvenient air times. Who's staying up to watch a tournament live from Singapore? LIV had no such excuse this weekend. The tournament was held in Miami, aired on Fox and played opposite a Tour event most of that tour's best players skipped in preparation for this week's Masters. To be sure, LIV has a broader geographic focus than the PGA Tour does. Eight of its 14 events are played outside the United States. So yeah, garnering a large American audience isn't the end-all-be-all that it is for the PGA Tour. But still ... 484,000 for a Sunday afternoon event hosted by the President of the United States? If, indeed, this was a make-or-break weekend for LIV, as many billed it, then LIV busted. And it matters a lot. Two years ago, when LIV and the PGA Tour announced a partnership agreement, the belief was the Saudi-backed tour had the American tour on the ropes. It had deeper pockets — much deeper — and was still in the process of poaching the Tour's best players. It already had Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, and would soon add Jon Rahm — the world's No. 3 player at the time — and Bryson Dechambeau — the sport's No. 1 attraction, outside Tiger Woods. To stay afloat, the PGA Tour needed to capitulate and end the war with LIV, or so the thinking went. Week after week, month after month, and now year after year, the question came: When would the two tours reach a settlement? Week after week, month after month, and now year after year, there was no news. There were meetings, empty platitudes about progress and not much else. Still, it was always when would a settlement be reached. Meanwhile, the Tour went out and got billions in private backing. It also sat back and waited for LIV to show signs of life. Now here we are in 2025, five events into its fourth season, still waiting for LIV to show signs of life. Just a week ago, it was reported that the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV, approached the PGA Tour with an offer for a $1.5 billion investment in return for a guarantee that LIV would continue on and the installation PIF overseer Yasir Al-Rumayyan on the Tour's Policy Board. The PGA Tour rejected the offer outright. Now, as the best from both tours ascend on Augusta National for one of unified events, talk of reunification has gone from "when" to a hardly audible "if." "As I can tell and you guys can tell, it's not happening anytime soon," Rahm said Tuesday at Augusta National. And with the clock ticking on those giant contracts LIV used to lure those big names, such as Rahm, why would the PGA Tour act now? So far, LIV's strategy to buy eyeballs hasn't panned out. Turns out it takes more than a few big names to make people care about something. If that wasn't profoundly evident before this weekend, it is now. And now, LIV Golf is the one on the ropes.
