Latest news with #MikeWhan
USA Today
17-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Mike Whan on golf ball rollback, Odyssey Giraffe Beam putters, Superstroke grips and more
Mike Whan on golf ball rollback, Odyssey Giraffe Beam putters, Superstroke grips and more J.J. Spaun became the first golfer to win a men's major using a zero-torque putter. Plus, golf ball rollback news and Odyssey Giraffe Beam putters. The longest putt made last week at Oakmont was holed on the 18th green by J.J. Spaun, a 64-footer that won him the 2025 U.S. Open and earned him immortality in the world of golf. It was a life-changing shot, and it was struck using a L.A.B. DF3 putter, a club that until recently, most pros would never even consider putting in their bag. The L.A.B. DF3 is designed to be lie angle balanced, which means until the player does something to manipulate it, the club's weighting and balance encourage the face to stay square to a player's stroke path, and that translates to enhanced consistency and starting your putts on your intended target line more often. L.A.B. Golf has been making putters like this for years, but over the last 12 to 18 months, other manufacturers have taken notice and started to offer their own "zero torque" putters that are also designed to greatly reduce or eliminate face rotation during the stroke. I have written extensively about this trend and putters like the Evnroll Zero Series, Odyssey Ai-One Square-2-Square putters, the PXG Allan and TaylorMade Spider ZT putters. Spaun's win marks the first time a men's professional major has been won using a zero-torque putter, so while the trend in these types of clubs has been building for a while, his victory at Oakmont might be a tipping point and create a bigger surge in demand for putters like the DF3. Time will tell, but we've now officially got three categories in the putter world: blades, mallets and zero-torque.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
U.S. Open Prize Money Stays Flat at $21.5M, With $4.3M for Winner
Golfers at this year's U.S. Open will compete for $21.5 million in prize money, USGA CEO Mike Whan announced Wednesday. The tally is the same as the 2024 event, which remains the highest ever for a major championship. The 125th Open will be at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, Pa., as 156 golfers compete for the title and a first-place check worth $4.3 million, the same as Bryson DeChambeau earned in 2024 when he captured his second U.S. Open win at Pinehurst. Second and third this year are worth $2.32 million and $1.45 million. Advertisement More from Prize money for tournament winners has nearly doubled since 2021 when Jon Rahm earned $2.25 million. It previously took 17 years for it to double—Retief Goosen pocketed $1.125 million in 2004. Jack Nicklaus made $55,000 for his fourth and final U.S. Open in 1980 ($213,000 in today's dollars). The U.S. Open has often paused on bumping prize money, with eight different instances since 2008 where there was no increase for the winner's portion. Last year, the U.S. Open had the highest total prize money and winner's share among the four majors. It almost certainly will again in 2025, with only the British Open left to play. In April, The Masters doled out $21 million, including $4.2 million for Rory McIlroy's winner's share—a $600,000 year-over-year bump from the previous top prize. Last month, Scottie Scheffler made $3.42 million for his PGA Championship title—the total payout was $19 million. Xander Schauffele won the 2024 British Open and $3.1 million of its $17 million purse. Advertisement This will be the 10th U.S. Open held at Oakmont, the most of any club. Scheffler is the heavy favorite at +275, according to BetMGM. It is the shortest odds at the Open since Tiger Woods was +175 in 2009. Scheffler has been ranked No. 1 in the world for 108 straight weeks, the longest stretch ever by a golfer not named Tiger. But he and other golfers are sounding the alarm on how challenging Oakmont will be this week. 'This is probably the hardest golf course that we'll play,' Scheffler told the media Tuesday. 'Maybe ever.' Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
National Post
14-06-2025
- Climate
- National Post
Will rain sink Oakmont's ability to punish players at U.S. Open on weekend?
OAKMONT, Pa. — The story of this U.S. Open isn't simply how hard Oakmont is playing, it's how hard it's playing considering the course has been fighting Mother Nature all spring. Article content At any other major championship venue, there would be worry from organizers, media, and club members that a wet golf course would be caught with its pants down and get humiliated by the world's best players. Article content Article content Article content Yet, here at Oakmont, it's the golf course humbling the players despite Mother Nature apparently being paid off by the golfers. After 36 holes, just three of the 156 players in the field were under par. Article content 'We're all playing the same course, and it's going to be hard,' Xander Schauffele said. 'You may think something's unfair, but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Whoever can sort of deal with it the best is going to play well. That's the attitude I've had: Look at it as a fun challenge versus feeling like you're living in a nightmare.' Article content It's rained heavily all month. Before the tournament week even arrived, USGA boss Mike Whan was warning media heading to the Pennsylvania golf course to bring rubber boots. Article content Thanks to the hundreds of media folks that will travel to @usopengolf this week. Bring boots! 13' of rain in past 10 weeks! — Michael Whan (@USGAMike) June 8, 2025 Article content 'Bring boots! 13 (inches) of rain in past 10 weeks.' Article content A sunny Wednesday, and a calm, rain-free Thursday likely had the Jaws theme song going through players' heads, but conditions never got anywhere near the limit over the first 36 holes on Oakmont's notoriously insane greens. Article content 'It was starting to look like another day of hot, dry weather and the weekend would be very difficult out here,' Adam Scott said on Friday. 'There were certain greens that had a slickness about them and a firmness too. Fairways even getting a little bit like that. So the rain might keep it under control, hopefully, and spare us some frustrations.' Article content Another serious downpour arrived Friday night into Saturday and, before play began, the USGA made the unusual decision to proactively offer refunds for any fans deciding not to show up to watch the third round of the U.S. Open. Quite a fan-friendly gesture, and as TSN's Bob Weeks pointed out on social media, a clear sign that if you are coming you might not want to wear your white golf pants. Article content Early Saturday, a wonderful camera angle showed Rory McIlroy hitting a fairway wood in Round 3 following another night of downpours at the famously difficult golf course. After impact there is an explosion of grass and mud and water as his club tears easily through the waterlogged turf. Article content Welcome to Soakmont 💧🏌️♂️ — NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) June 14, 2025
USA Today
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
At Oakmont, Mike Whan doubles down on golf ball rollback: 'We're full-speed ahead'
At Oakmont, Mike Whan doubles down on golf ball rollback: 'We're full-speed ahead' Mike Whan made it clear that despite resistance from the PGA Tour and equipment manufacturers, the governing body is moving forward. With the U.S. Open returning to Oakmont Country Club this week, USGA CEO Mike Whan made it clear that despite resistance from the PGA Tour and equipment manufacturers, the governing body is moving forward with its plans to roll back golf ball performance beginning in 2028. Speaking Wednesday during a pre-tournament press conference, Whan acknowledged the anxiety and controversy surrounding the USGA and R&A's distance-reducing protocols — but he also emphasized the industry needs to take a long-term view. 'We're full-speed ahead on what we've announced,' Whan said. 'Those decisions have been made.' The goal, Whan reiterated, is not to take anything away from the game now but to slow the pace of distance gains that have steadily reshaped men's professional and elite amateur golf over the past decades. 'I get this isn't easy, and everybody has got their own constituents.' What said. 'As an industry, we have to be able to make small adjustments that are in the best interest of the game long-term, that we all know would be better 40 years from now if we were smart enough to make them today.' What's actually changing — and why it matters Starting in January 2028, golf ball manufacturers will have to design their balls to comply with new testing parameters under the Overall Distance Standard (ODS). Instead of testing at a clubhead speed of 120 mph, with a launch angle of 10 degrees and spin rate around 2,520 rpm, the new protocol, the test robot will swing a titanium test club at 125 mph, create an 11-degree launch angle and 2,200 rpm of spin. Under the 2028 testing guidelines, nearly all of today's premium golf balls would be non-conforming, so manufacturers will need to create new balls before 2028 that are slower or produce less distance in order to be deemed conforming and legal for play. To ease the transition, amateur golfers won't be held to the new rules until January 2030, allowing manufacturers and retailers time to adjust stock. Pushback from the pros Since the plan was announced in December, 2023, the idea of changing how golf balls are tested and mandating the use of reduced-distance golf balls has drawn criticism from several corners of the golf world. The PGA Tour, which initially supported a previous version of the rollback under a Model Local Rule, has seemed to reverse course and has not publicly endorsed the finalized rule. Golfweek's Adam Schupak spoke in March with PGA Tour player Brian Harman, who is a member of the tour's Player Advisory Board, and he said, 'I think it's a bad idea. I can't get on board. There are so many more steps we can take to mitigate distance with golf course setup, driver set up before you force companies to R&D a bunch of things.' Whan, who previously served as commissioner of the LPGA Tour and who was an executive vice president with TaylorMade, didn't downplay the tensions involved. But he said discussions between governing bodies and stakeholders have been productive. 'I'm encouraged by the collaborative nature of the discussions,' he said. 'Not everybody will like it. It'll be high anxiety until we get there. But nobody is going to die. The game is going to be great.' A move for the future Whan was asked directly whether the USGA would move ahead with the rollback even if professional tours and ball manufacturers don't support it. His answer left little room for ambiguity. 'This is our job as governance,' Whan said. 'We don't have the same conflicts and contracts and biases. And it's not a fun one.' Whan referenced conversations he's had with Jack Nicklaus, a longtime proponent of rolling back distance in golf. While Nicklaus recently said he'd be willing to 'freeze' current performance levels rather than roll them back, Whan suggested the USGA's plan essentially accomplishes that — just over a longer time frame. 'If you want to keep the distance where it is today, this action that we're talking about is essentially that,' Whan said. 'Maybe in 10 or 15 years, it will feel like the growth of that curve is pretty slow as opposed to the pace we're dealing with today.' Holding the line At its core, Whan said, the USGA's motivation isn't about nostalgia or pleasing any one constituency. It's about taking the long view, even if the benefits won't be obvious for a decade or more. 'We'll be handing [future generations] something we could have made small adjustments on,' Whan said. 'And we will.' The first U.S. Open where the rollback would take effect is expected to be in 2028 — at Pebble Beach, one of the shortest courses on the current major championship rotation. For Whan, the message is clear: The rollback is coming, and the USGA isn't waiting for everyone to agree.
CNBC
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNBC
USGA CEO Mike Whan on the 2025 U.S. Open: One of the toughest golf courses in the world
USGA CEO Mike Whan joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the 2025 U.S. Open Golf Championship, what's special about this year's tournament, and more.
