For comments: [email protected]

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we turn our attention to the PNC Championship.

1. “Rank-and-file” Tour players ask for answers

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”A handful of former and current PGA Tour players are so fed up with leadership they’ve hired a law firm to try and get some answers.”

• “Susman Godfrey, the firm representing 21 players, recently sent a letter to the PGA Tour Policy Board demanding “full disclosure of the details and analyses of any proposals by prospective capital partners, which should be shared promptly with all Tour players.”

• “The players, who are all rank-and-file members at best, also demand a meeting with the independent directors on the Policy Board to discuss the process of selecting outside investors and what conflicts of interest may be present.”

2. Q-Schoolers to watch

A couple of the 10 Kevin Prise picked out…

• “Keita Nakajima…The Japan native, 23, is widely accomplished at various levels of golf. He was ranked the world’s No. 1 amateur for 87 weeks, and he has notched six titles on the Japan Golf Tour, including three wins in the last six months. Now he eyes a PGA TOUR card. Nakajima earned direct access to Final Stage as the No. 1 player on the Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit, and he’ll head to northeast Florida with a laser focus on securing one of the top five spots. He has made 11 career TOUR starts, including six this season – highlighted by a T12 at the 2022 ZOZO Championship – and he stands No. 94 on the Official World Golf Ranking. “My main goal is to successfully play on the PGA TOUR,” he said in 2022, foreshadowing this week’s Q-School foray.”

• “Sam Bennett…Most golf fans might remember Bennett from this year’s Masters Tournament, when he played in the final group during the third round at Augusta National, en route to a T16 finish. Then a senior at Texas A&M, Bennett impressed with poise and confidence that he belonged on that stage despite his lack of professional experience. Now he’ll look to channel those teachings into the pressure cooker of Final Stage, into which he gained direct access via the top five on the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking (he finished fifth). Bennett, 23, made 10 TOUR starts this year after turning pro, highlighted by a T20 at the RBC Canadian Open. He has ample experience against the game’s top players, which he’ll aim to use to his advantage as he battles many of them in northeast Florida.”

3. Åberg switches caddies

Paul Hodowanic for PGATour.com…”Ludvig Åberg will begin his first full season on the PGA TOUR with some added experience on the bag.”

• “The ascending superstar has parted ways with caddie Jack Clarke and tabbed veteran looper Joe Skovron as his replacement, sources confirmed to PGATOUR.com. GolfChannel.com first reported the news.”

• “Skovron was the longtime caddie of Rickie Fowler and most recently worked with Tom Kim.”

4. McIlroy shortlisted for BBC Sports Personality of the Year

Golf Business News report…”Rory McIlroy has been revealed as one of six sportspeople to have been shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023.”

• “In a year where he won two tournaments, both of them on the DP World Tour, the current world second highest ranked golfer is up against a list that also includes England cricketer Stuart Broad and Italian-born jockey Frankie Dettori, two titans of their respective sports that bowed out this year after registering some of the best performances of their careers.”

5. Dusek on rollback takeaways

Golfweek’s David Dusek…Heading: The USGA and R&A boxed themselves into a no-win situation…”On several occasions since the Distance Insights Report was released in 2020, officials from the USGA and the R&A said that distance is a problem in the game and that the trend of longer-hitting players pushing golf courses to get bigger was unsustainable. Mike Whan, the current CEO of the USGA, his predecessor, Mike Davis, and the CEO of the R&A, Martin Slumbers, have all said that doing nothing is not an option.”

• “But in the same breathe, all three have said that they don’t want to make a change that could negatively impact the growth of the game at the recreational level, where, according to the USGA and R&A’s own data, the average male player hits the ball 216 yards off the tee, and the average female player hits it 148 yards.”

• “The number one piece of feedback we’ve heard, from virtually all aspects of the game is, ‘Please don’t negatively impact the recreational golf,’” Whan said in a press conference last March announcing the proposed Model Local Rule that could mandate players to use reduced-distance golf balls. It was seen as a solution to shorten the pro game without doing anything to weekend players, but that plan was met with resistance.

6. Couples to LIV defectors

Our Matt Vincenzi…”While appearing on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio, Fred Couples ripped into golfers who have joined LIV.”

• “Couples shared the sentiment that the players only left the PGA Tour for money and the rest of the reasons they cite are untruthful.”

• “I want them to go for free,” he said.

• “Then go on CNN and every TV show and say why they’re going because it’s that good, $100m doesn’t get it, $200m doesn’t get it, $300m doesn’t get it. But for $400m it’s a great product and it’s a great show…my ass.

• “Tell me the next guy, if it’s Tony Finau, ‘I’m going for free, I love this tour, I don’t like the PGA Tour anymore.’

• “No-one is going to do that. What does that tell me? It tells me it’s all about money which is fine. But don’t sit there and then go on and say they’re changing the game. What are they changing? For 50 years golf has been changed.

• “Arnold Palmer changed it. Jack Nicklaus changed it. Tiger Woods changed it. The LIV Tour ain’t changing a thing.”

7. Chubby Chandler: This is when the USGA should have banned

Our Matt Vincenzi…”With the USGA and R&A announcing the universal golf ball rollback, many in the golf world have been debating whether or not the rule change will be positive or negative.”

• “While speaking with GolfWRX, Chubby Chandler, former Tour pro and renowned golf agent, said he believes they should have banned a club a long time ago.”

• “In 1984 there was a thing called the Pittsburgh (Persimmon) Pine. They should have banned that. They should have stopped metal clubs then.

• “And they didn’t, and they’ve let everything get away from everything and, and it’s crazy this, it shouldn’t be like this. We should have equipment that doesn’t hit it as far as that. That’s all it needed.”

• “Chubby added that he believes implementing the rule change in 2028 isn’t quick enough.”

8. Cam Smith confirms fellow Aussie’s LIV exit

Mike Hall for Golf Monthly…”Heading into the weekend’s LIV Golf Promotions event, Jediah Morgan had one last chance to save his career on the circuit after finishing the 2023 season in the Drop Zone of the individual standings.”

• “However, needing a top-three finish to retain a spot on the big-money League, where he had played for Ripper GC, the Australian could only manage 19th, bringing his two-year stint to an end.”

• “Following the event in Abu Dhabi, Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith has confirmed Morgan’s exit with a message via the the team’s Instagram account, thanking him for his contribution.”

• “It read: “Thanks for everything Jed! Your energy & character is unrivalled and we’ll always have you to thank for that epic final round in Bedminster. You’re a legend mate and a Ripper for life. Good luck with everything next season!”

9. Photos from PGA Tour Q-School

• Check out all of our galleries here!