Give me Ko and Korda over Brooks vs. Bryson in ‘The Match’, and more bits and bites from the golf world - Toronto Star

Bits, Bites and Barbs from around the world of golf:

Bits

And with one social media post, Tiger Woods gave golf fans with visions of the 15-time major champion returning to action in 2022 an early Christmas present. Is the Masters doable? Would you put it past him? ... By the way, can’t believe Nike missed a branding opportunity on that leg wrap Woods has been sporting ... A nice way to conclude 2021 for Mackenzie Hughes, who finished solo-second at the RSM Classic in Georgia, the tournament he won five years ago. Hughes moved to 39th from 50th on the Official World Golf Ranking, joining his good pal Corey Conners (37) inside the top 40. That’s an important climb for the Dundas, Ont., native as being in the top 50 by year’s end comes with an invitation into the Masters ... Congrats to Conners and his wife Malory on the birth of their first child, a daughter named Reis. Conners and Michael Gligic, Ontarians who now live in the Jupiter, Fla., area, became dads just a few days apart ... Hughes wasn’t the only Canadian with an impressive runner-up over the weekend. Chesterville, Ont.’s Kurtis Barkley finished second in the European Disabled Golfer’s Association’s Dubai Final. That tournament was played in concert with the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship, where Barkley, who won the inaugural Canadian All-Abilities Championship in September, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and eventual Race to Dubai winner Collin Morikawa. More on Barkley later this week.

Bites

Yes, the new Canadian law closing the border to unvaccinated professional and amateur athletes will affect the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open. A Golf Canada official stated: “We will follow all government health directives in place and are not intending on applying for exemptions.” But don’t expect the fields to be hampered that much. The PGA and LPGA tours have a high vaccination rate, such that both circuits stopped weekly COVID testing because they surpassed the 80 per cent vaccination threshold. There may be some stars missing — Bryson DeChambeau said he was unvaccinated in August — but the men’s event never gets every big name anyway. Not to mention that the tournaments are still six and eight months away respectively ... On the surface, Gligic’s T29 at the RSM represents a solid finish. But there was some importance to it. The PGA Tour’s first priority reshuffle among the 50 players coming off the Korn Ferry Tour, including those regaining their PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, took place after the tournament. That pecking order determines how fields are filled out. Gligic’s top-30 finish moved him up two spots to 32nd on that list. A missed cut would have sent him the other way. B.C.’s Adam Svensson, with just three of seven cuts made, dropped 23 positions, although he was fifth to start the season. Taylor Pendrith is in fifth spot, having begun in 13th ... What’s your ideal temperature in which to play golf? I’m lower than most on this, I think. I say 15 C. Even 12 C without wind is great. Can we get another 15 C day?

Barbs

This week will see the Bryson DeChambeau/Brooks Koepka made-for-TV showdown in Las Vegas. I’m not all that interested in watching whatever edition of “The Match” this is. That the analysts — Charles Barkley and Phil Mickelson — are more appealing than the players isn’t a huge selling point. But it got me thinking which two players I’d most want to see play heads up right now the most and the answer is easy: Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda. Ko and Korda finished first and second on the LPGA Tour’s points list, with Ko winning the Tour Championship Sunday to snatch player of the year honours away from Korda. They won nine tournaments combined this year and have separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the women’s game in a way no two contemporaries have since Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb some 20 years ago. The LPGA Tour has often had one dominant player. After Sorenstam it was Lorena Ochoa and then Yani Tseng, Lydia Ko and Inbee Park. But two that are a clear cut above the rest? It’s been a while, and if any two golfers are worthy of the spotlight these exhibition matches bring, it’s Ko and Korda. There is a built-in storyline too. The top player from the country that has dominated women’s golf for the last two decades against the first American to ascend to World No. 1 in seven years. Not that there is animosity between the two — the basis for Brooks vs. Bryson, although there’s been some phoniness to that friction during the long buildup to Friday’s tilt — but the international aspect would add intrigue, if the fact they are the two most consistent superstars in golf isn’t intriguing enough.

Obscure thought of the week: A great example of learning from past mistakes is setting an alert in your phone for that first Elf on the Shelf night.

Jason Logan is the editor of SCOREGolf Magazine and is based in Toronto. He is a contributor to the Star's Sports section. Follow him on Twitter: @jasonSCOREGolf

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Give me Ko and Korda over Brooks vs. Bryson in ‘The Match’, and more bits and bites from the golf world - Toronto Star
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