19th Hole
Hank Haney is getting flack for his assessment of Tiger’s short game; he shouldn’t be
As Hank Haney tweeted at me, he gets paid to talk about golf. So, when asked for his opinion or brought into a conversation about an element of the game, he’s going to give it.
Tiger Woods indeed had an “awful day” around the greens at Albany yesterday, stubbing two pitches and blasting a bunker shot like a 15-handicapper. He admitted much. It was abundantly clear to everyone watching.
Should we not mention this fact in the course of our otherwise glowing reviews of Woods’ play? Should Hank Haney not?
Memories of Tiger’s chunk-and-blade show at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he signed for 82, are never far off. For a player who was routinely one of the best in a statistical category to play like one of the worst, well, that’s a big problem.
Would anyone argue with that? And yet, Hank Haney is catching flack for a pair of tweets acknowledging the reality of Woods work with his wedges around the green.
Before getting to those Twitterings, however, let’s keep in mind that this was Haney’s ultimate takeaway from Tiger’s opening-round 69.
Good start by Tiger, swing looked good to me, 69 despite playing the Par 5’s one over is good scoring, 1 Penalty Shot, 1 Three Putt, 2 Two Chips and he shoulda, woulda, coulda been leading.
— Hank Haney (@HankHaney) November 30, 2017
Thus, it’s not like Woods’ former coach is popping off on social media just to throw cold water on his former player’s positive performance. Rather, he replied to a remark regarding Woods stub show.
It’s all ready a red flag, awful day around the greens https://t.co/Gldz0yPmjq
— Hank Haney (@HankHaney) November 30, 2017
Then, Haney responded to a Twitter user criticizing him, stating the obvious.
100 positive comments and 1 clear observation and I’m your least favorite person? I think Tiger wins this year but anyone that doesn’t think his short game is a red flag has his head in the sand https://t.co/9UW6mN43qY
— Hank Haney (@HankHaney) November 30, 2017
Let’s avoid the “Hank Haney bashes Tiger Woods” clickbait. Let’s look at comments in context. Let’s acknowledge that we can both give Woods As or Bs in every other facet of his game while giving him a D or F in his round one short game.
None of these are things that should have to be said, and yet, we plead for the lowest bar of common sense in this (and all) golf-related analysis (and analysis of the analysts).
19th Hole
How much each player won at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.
With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.
For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.
- 1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
- 2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
- T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
- T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
- T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
- T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
- T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
- T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
- T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
- T9: Max Homa, $630,00
- 11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
- T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
- T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
- T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
- T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
- T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
- T12: Jason Day, $427,500
- T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
- T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
- T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
- T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
- T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
- T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
- T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
- T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
- T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
- T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
- T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
- T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
- T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
- T30: Harris English, $146,250
- T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
- T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
- T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
- T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
- T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
- T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
- T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
- T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
- T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
- T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
- T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
- T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
- T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
- T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
- 46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
- 47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
- 48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
- T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
- T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
- 51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
- 52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
- 53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
- 54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300
19th Hole
CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans
While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.
There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.
Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:



This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V
— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026
It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.
19th Hole
The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances
Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.
Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.
Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:
“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”
The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:
“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”
That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:
“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”

Tommy Fleetwood WITB 2026
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