Articles by Brian Wacker

May 24th, 2021

PGA Championship 2021: Brooks Koepka unhappy with gallery frenzy, says injured knee ‘got dinged a few times’

One man’s pleasure is another man’s pain. That was certainly true for Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka as they were swallowed by the masses on the 18th hole Sunday at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course

May 13th, 2021

Brooks Koepka’s right knee isn’t 100 percent but he sounds 100 times better than at the Masters

A month removed from his Masters disappointment, the 31-year-old four-time Major champion is in much better spirits – and health – as he makes his return to competition at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson.

May 12th, 2021

After soaking up praise for his Masters win, Hideki Matsuyama goes back to work

This week’s AT&T Byron Nelson marks Matsuyama’s first start since his victory at Augusta National, where the 29-year-old became the first player from Japan to win a men’s Major championship.

May 5th, 2021

Ian Poulter’s inclusion on PGA Tour’s slow-play list elicits a very Ian Poulter-like response

Ian Poulter would like to apologise in advance to his playing partners at this week’s Wells Fargo Championship.

May 3rd, 2021

Sam Burns gets his breakthrough win, Keegan Bradley’s costly mistake and Viktor Hovland is heating up again

Here are our takeaways from the final round of the Valspar Championship:

April 29th, 2021

Justin Thomas has an interesting story about learning from Phil Mickelson in a 2014 practice round that helped jump-start his career

A close-up look at Mickelson’s highly vaunted wedge game gave Thomas an insight into where his own game had room to improve.

April 27th, 2021

An alternate approach for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Yesterday’s exciting finish begs the question: why not make the Zurich Classic 72 holes of foursomes?

April 22nd, 2021

Inside the team strategies this week at the Zurich Classic

The first and third rounds will feature four-ball play, with the second and final rounds foursomes. For many in the field, it’s a proposition that perhaps takes a little adapting to, given the scarcity of which it is experienced.

April 21st, 2021

Seamus Power withdraws from Zurich Classic after positive COVID-19 test

Zack Sucher will replace Power in the field at TPC Louisiana and as the teammate of David Hearn, who was originally scheduled to play with the 34-year-old Irishman.

April 9th, 2021

Masters 2021: Abraham Ancer hit with two-stroke penalty after signing card

The tournament announced the decision after the rules committee reviewed video evidence, and after Ancer signed his scorecard and exited the scoring area.

April 9th, 2021

Masters 2021: Swing changes are Rory McIlroy’s rationale for another ugly start

McIlroy finds himself this year on the verge of missing the cut for just the second time at Augusta National and for the first time since 2010, his second time playing the tournament.

April 7th, 2021

Masters 2021: Phil Mickelson dishes on a hilarious story from Adam Scott’s Champions Dinner

Leave it to the three-time Masters winner to use the occasion of this year’s tournament to regale the press room with a favourite memory from Adam Scott’s champions dinner in 2014.

March 31st, 2021

PGA Tour to hold new tournament at Congaree Golf Club, filling open date left by Canadian Open

An official announcement on the name and sponsor of the tournament is expected in the coming days.

March 30th, 2021

Masters 2021: Charley Hoffman loves Augusta, but he won’t be there if he doesn’t win this week

In 14 career starts at the Valero Texas Open, Hoffman has never missed the cut while racking up more than $US3.7 million in the event.

March 30th, 2021

Most people want to retire to play golf; Andy Murray wants to retire to caddie

Murray already counts Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Danny Willett, among others, as his friends on tour.

March 22nd, 2021

REPORT: Brooks Koepka confirms knee surgery and playing in Masters is in doubt

Brooks Koepka cast further doubt on his status for the upcoming Masters after he posted images to his Twitter and Instagram accounts on Monday that show the four-time Major champion on crutches and with a bandage on his right knee.

March 8th, 2021

Players 2021: Remembering the greatest round ever at TPC Sawgrass that history will likely forget

It was arguably the greatest round in history that no one remembers. Or at least the best one that didn’t count.

February 27th, 2021

Red-hot Hovland finds palmetto bushes – twice! – during disastrous final hole

Ouch. No wonder the nickname for the place is The Concussion.

February 26th, 2021

RBC Canadian Open likely to be cancelled for second straight year due to COVID-19

An official announcement on the fate of the tournament, scheduled for June 10-13 at St George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto, is expected within weeks.

February 24th, 2021

PGA Tour makes changes to playoff format

No longer will the order of play in a playoff be determined by blind draw. Instead, it will be based on a “first-to-finish, first-to-play” method.

February 24th, 2021

PGA Championship will have 10,000 fans a day at Kiawah Island

And all spectators, staff and volunteers, including those who have already received a COVID-19 vaccine, will be required to wear face coverings.

February 21st, 2021

HUGE BLOW: Here’s why they needed to stop play at Genesis Invitational

It was the first such stoppage on the PGA Tour since the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews and first in the US for the tour since the third round of the 2014 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.