Articles by Tod Leonard

January 16th, 2025

This teenager is making his pro debut. But there’s something different about Blades Brown

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Blades Brown was standing near the podium of The American Express golf tournament’s media center on Tuesday, happily chatting after pulling off a bright and engaging press conference ahead of his first PGA Tour start as a professional on Thursday. At 17 years old, the Nashville, Tenn., native announced in December Read more…

January 15th, 2025

Young golf pro Blades Brown regularly faces a daunting athletic test—beating Mom in pickleball

LA QUINTA, Calif. — At 17 years old, Blades Brown will embark on his professional golf career this week by playing on a sponsor’s exemption in The American Express Championship. He’ll face some of the fiercest competitors in the game. And, still, he’s not going to contend with the steely looks he gets from his Read more…

January 14th, 2025

Genesis Invitational creates ‘LA Strong’ shirts for fire relief support as dangerous weather still threatens region

While no updates have been provided by the PGA Tour on the status of next month’s Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles as wildfires in the region continue to burn, the tournament has created a way for the public to donate to relief efforts. In an email announcement on Monday, the event unveiled a black “LA Read more…

January 12th, 2025

Jordan Spieth talks swing changes since surgery and plans for return

Spieth is looking to smooth out some swing issues that contributed to frequent wrist issues over the past several years.

January 11th, 2025

Spurned young pro says LIV Golf didn’t deliver much for him besides money

With no opportunity to play for one year on the PGA Tour after his last LIV event, Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra is a man without a home tour at the moment.

January 8th, 2025

Foresight breaks new high-tech ground with swing monitor that links with rangefinder

SAN DIEGO — Two days before Christmas, Foresight Sports co-presidents Jon Watters and Scott Werbelow were at their desks at their headquarters in the San Diego surburbs, their large office warmly lit by bright sunshine. It hardly felt like the winter holidays, and while some businesses hit the snooze button this time of year, Foresight Read more…

January 5th, 2025

Hideki Matsuyama arrived in Maui this week with 4 putters. He might leave with a record-setting victory

[PHOTO: Tracy Wilcox] Let’s get the caveats and asterisks out of the way first. When the trade winds don’t pick up on the island of Maui in early January, the Kapalua Plantation course is as ripe for deep red numbers as any setup on the PGA Tour. To wit, nine of the past 10 editions Read more…

January 5th, 2025

California desert course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and once led by NHL Hall of Famer, has shut down

Not all golf courses have experienced a boom in business during the COVID-19 era. Some face the same challenges they did before the pandemic brought thousands of new golfers to the game: water availability and costs; maintenance and staff costs, and competition in saturated markets. Those were the issues facing the first Robert Trent Jones Read more…

January 4th, 2025

Sahith Theegala is so afraid of one common club that he erased the number from his bag

Every golfer has a favorite club in their bag. Same for PGA Tour players, of course, but how about their least favorite? There’s one stick that virtually every player has that Sahith Theegala refuses to carry. A 7-iron. There’s a story behind that, of course. While guesting on Friday with Golf Channel’s Smylie Kaufman during Read more…

January 2nd, 2025

Bethpage Ryder Cup, Masters course comeback and new women’s major sites highlight 2025’s must-see golf

2025 shapes up to be a fantastic golf season on so many levels.

December 29th, 2024

You will be shocked by how much money these popular public courses rake in

Still, for all of its visibility and inclusive nature, golf fans probably don’t realise just how much money Torrey Pines rakes in for a place where senior golfers can still walk a round for $US48 ($A77) on a weekday. The numbers are staggering.

December 29th, 2024

Scottie Scheffler out of The Sentry with hand injury suffered at Christmas

Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Tour brethren could hardly stop him in 2024, but the start of his 2025 campaign is going to be delayed by an off-course accident that involved preparing Christmas dinner.

December 22nd, 2024

With son, Tiger Woods has shot at lifting first trophy in 5 years

It’s nothing like Tiger Woods getting his 83rd PGA Tour win to become the sport’s all-time victory leader, but to capture a first title with his son Charlie in any golf arena would easily be among his lifetime highlights, and the Woodses have a chance to make that happen on Sunday.

December 21st, 2024

PGA of America names past president Derek Sprague as new CEO

The PGA of America turned to a very familiar face for its next Chief Executive Officer, naming past president Derek Sprague to the position on Friday. He will be the first to have served as both president and CEO. In succeeding Seth Waugh, who was the PGA’s CEO from 2018 to June of this year, Read more…

December 18th, 2024

How do your scores and habits compare to other golfers? USGA has new answers

It’s easy to sit around with some beers at the 19th hole and hypothesize about who plays golf in America, how they score and how much they play. The National Golf Foundation has provided much of that data through the years, and now, for the first time, the USGA is sharing some of its most Read more…

December 15th, 2024

‘Tiger’ Thitukul’s play with Tom Kim has them contending for Grant Thornton title

Jeeno Thitikul wasn’t taking any of this “we” stuff. When Tom Kim said after their team round on Saturday in the Grant Thornton Invitational that “we made a bad decision with the ball flight we chose to put her there” in hitting the tee shot into a greenside bunker on the par-3 16th hole during Read more…

December 15th, 2024

Chinese Taipei player earns lone LIV Golf promotion for 2025 while two Australians snare International Series exemptions

Australians Brett Coletta and Jack Buchanan are among 10 players to gain exemptions into 2025 International Series events after the LIV Golf Promotions tournament in Saudi Arabia.

December 12th, 2024

Tony Finau has to WD from another event due to knee issues

Finau, who cited the need to continue to rehab his knee, was supposed to play with women’s World No.1 Nelly Korda, who will now be partnered with Daniel Berger.

December 12th, 2024

APGA Tour’s Stills Award winner went from architecture job to pro golf winner and mentor

It’s tough being the “old guy” sometimes. During tournament weeks on the APGA Tour, 35-year-old Michael Bradham stays in rental houses with peers who are a decade younger. The costs are cheaper that way, and the camaraderie is priceless. Sitting around in the evenings, golf is often the topic of conversation, but the youngsters can Read more…

December 8th, 2024

Driving bombs and making bombs, Justin Thomas on track to win first Hero

The chatter around Justin Thomas heading into Hero World Challenge week was that he was putting into play a 46-inch driver—the longest allowed by the rules. But it was mostly the putter on Saturday that put him in position to lift a trophy for the first time since his second major victory in the 2022 Read more…

December 5th, 2024

LPGA, USGA announce gender policies that bar some transgender athletes from competition

Athletes who experienced male puberty will no longer be able to compete on the LPGA or in USGA events designated for women starting in 2025, according to updated transgender policies announced by those organisations on Wednesday. The LPGA and USGA issued their statements on the new rules at the same time. “The new policy ensures Read more…

December 3rd, 2024

Amid success and stumbles, LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan is leaving post early

The tour announced overnight, Australian time, that Marcoux Samaan is stepping down, effective January 9, 2025. Hired in May 2021 to replace Mike Whan, the former Princeton University athletic director had a contract that was supposed to run until mid-2026.