19th Hole

Barstool Sports founder shot a 66 (of sorts) at Shinnecock, our Swing Analysis

Published

8 years ago

May 22, 2018

Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports’ founder, just brought upcoming U.S. Open venue Shinnecock to its knees…kind of.

How did El Pres wind up teeing it up in Southampton? Portnoy wrote about the genesis of the challenge in a characteristic blog post.

“So Riggs and I got in a huge debate a couple weeks ago on Barstool Radio. The question at hand was whether I could win the US Open with unlimited mulligans. For me the answer was a no brainer. Of course I would. That’s not even me bragging. That’s just me knowing what I’m capable of and knowing what unlimited mulligans actually means. I’d 100% birdie every par 3 and then par everything else. That’s -4 a day. Riggs projects the winner at Shinnecock this year will shoot -4 for the entire tournament. The ENTIRE TOURNAMENT. That means I’ll win by roughly 12 strokes. Easy peasy”

“Well apparently the good folks at the USGA caught wind of our argument and have generously offered to let me play Shinnecock on Monday with unlimited mulligans…When I said I’d win with unlimited mulligans I assumed that for the first 2 rounds I’d play from dawn to dusk to achieve my perfect score of -4 per day.”

Was this an insane expectation or something easily achievable? First of all, what do you think Portnoy’s handicap is? 20-25?

Here’s his action

Hole 1: 24 mulligans, 15 minutes, par @stoolpresidente #GoPresGo pic.twitter.com/p4ucOKuRyE

— Viva La Stool (@VivaLaStool) May 21, 2018

Our Tom Stickney had these remarks after watching the video.

“His shoulders open and tail needs to be stuck out more. Portnoy gets the club rotated a touch too much to the inside and it gets laid off on the way back. An over-the-top transition and a faulty pivot causes the fire-and-fall-back finish.”

Having seen his swing, knowing he had a wheelbarrow’s worth of golf balls and a crew of mulligan retrievers, how do you think El Pres did?

Surely, Barstool will produce video of the round beyond the few cell phone videos on Twitter and Instagram. And if you’d like to see those fragments, check out Portnoy’s Twitter, the Barstool Instagram, and well, the myriad of Barstool-related accounts.

But here’s the bottom line: With an innumerable amount of mulligans, the Barstool founder managed to shoot 66.

Today was a great victory for #TeamPortnoy. 4 under 66. EXACTLY what I said. From the Tips. Finished with a birdie on 270 par 3. I didn’t do it for me. I did it for my legacy.

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 21, 2018

Even say he averaged 10 mulligans per shot, shooting four under with, what we’ll label as an “extremely average” swing is impressive. .

Maybe it’s a feat of endurance, determination, and strategy more than it is a great golfing performance, but Portnoy’s performance in Southampton was more than a mere publicity stunt.

And even though we might stereotype the Stoolies as members of the “mashed potatoes” crowd, it’s tough to say the exposure and interaction is bad for the USGA and the U.S. Open.

What do you think, GolfWRX members? Interested? Impressed? Don’t care.

19th Hole

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

2 months ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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

Published

2 months ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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

Published

2 months ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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.”