Tiger Woods underwent a procedure on his right foot and released a statement saying the surgery was successful, but it now casts serious doubt on his status for 2023. Will we see Woods make any more competitive starts this year?
Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): From everything I’ve read, it seems unlikely he’ll be able to play any majors, and I don’t think he planned to play much beyond that anyway. Here’s hoping he can jump in a cart and play the PNC Championship with Charlie in December. Then, after that, maybe Riviera and the Masters. Baby steps.
Jack Hirsh, assistant editor (@JR_HIRSHey): Does the silly season count? Maybe, but that’s a big, all caps, italics and stars *MAYBE*. Who knows what he’ll be able to do with the golf swing after this surgery, which involves fusing together a joint in the ankle. I’ve heard that if it was his left foot, the surgery would be career ending. If the issue remains walking, and his recovery goes as scheduled, it sounds like we could see him at the PNC and then maybe for the start of his virtual league with Rory McIlroy, the TGL. But I don’t think we’ll hear from him at all again until the Hero World Challenge.
Josh Sens, senior writer (@JoshSens): He’ll absolutely be back for the PNC. Unless he isn’t. That old line about people planning and god laughing applies to any of us trying to forecast Tiger’s health. Raise your hand if you saw plantar fasciitis coming? Neck. Back. Knee. Foot. Ankle. The only thing I think we can say for sure is that it wouldn’t be a shocker if some other body part gave out next.
Looking beyond this season, as Woods’ injuries and surgeries continue to stack up, at what point does he decide enough is enough? Are we approaching that?
Berhow: Based on his schedule prior to this setback — the majors, maybe one or two more events — he’s really already in that second (or whatever number) stage of his career. I think he’s still several years away from officially “retiring,” since in a sport like golf — and with his lifetime exemption — he would be able to take advantage of a healthy stretch and enter an upcoming event or major to try and catch lightning in a bottle. I don’t think he’s anywhere close to giving up on those potential healthy starts yet.
Hirsh: I’m with Berhow on this. Obviously, just being able to walk pain-free is first and foremost, but if there’s any chance he can continue to play at a high level, he’s going to try. Whether that’s the right thing to do or not isn’t up to us to decide.
Sens: Agreed. Let’s just hope it doesn’t become like the knight in Monty Python (It’s just a flesh wound!), where everyone knows it’s over except the guy who wants to keep on fighting. This being Woods, and this being golf, which allows for more lives than any sport, I’m sure we’ll be on Tiger-watch for a large handful of majors to come.
Lilia Vu beat Angel Yin in a playoff to win the Chevron Championship and claim the LPGA’s first major of the season, which took place at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, the first time since it began in 1972 it wasn’t held at Mission Hills following Chevron’s new title sponsorship. What are your thoughts on Year 1 of the new host venue?
Berhow: As someone who is not always big on change, I liked a lot of what I saw. Sure, the leap into Poppie’s Pond is no more and the alternative they cooked up on Sunday was fine, and word is the spectator shuttles took a little longer than desired, but it’s hard to find negatives about a sponsor that wants to invest in the women’s game. If I’m Chevron, it makes sense to move this event to their backyard. That’s their right. I also saw on Twitter there was a HBCU Career Panel taking place on site, and this was also the first time in this tournament’s history players who missed the cut received a $5,000 stipend. We’ll get used to the course in time, but seems like there’s lots of good to build on here.
Hirsh: While I’d love to see more events played at more interesting golf courses, I’m kind of indifferent on the venue change. I agree with Josh about it being great Chevron wanting to inject money into the LPGA, but it does suck it requires moving the event from where it’s developed a history at. I also hope the alligator netting actually works!
Sens: This was a tough, long course, with small greens and all sorts of trouble, and I loved Vu’s composure on it during what was a pretty packed race for a while. As for breaking with tradition, as my colleagues note, a small price in exchange for a solid sponsorship. I’m sure every player would take that guarantee over a jump into a pond.
John Daly, 56, and David Duval, 51, received sponsor’s exemptions into the Zurich Classic and missed the cut at 14 over, which was 12 behind the next-worst score. While it’s an event’s right to use its exemptions how it pleases, do you have an issue with this one in particular, given both players are well past their primes and rarely play competitively anymore?
Berhow: It really was a tough look when those guys struggled so much in alternate shot, but the truth is the majority of these pros make that format look so easily when it’s in fact so incredibly hard. In a way inviting them did exactly what it was supposed to by drawing attention to an event that lacked star power, but it’s unfortunate they didn’t play better.
Hirsh: Yes, this was a joke. It was likely born out of a necessity to help fill the field given the Zurich’s place in the schedule, but there were guys on the alternate list — while not the biggest names — who could have used the opportunity. The tournament typically requires one member of each team to be exempt and then the second can be a sponsor’s exemption. This was the case when 66-year-old Jay Haas made the cut while playing with son Bill last year. But Jay Haas is a PGA Tour Champions stud with 18 wins, albeit the last coming in 2016. Daly and Duval have combined for just one victory on the over-50 circuit.
Sens: I’m on the fence about this. I understand the obvious objections and the unlikelihood that Duval and Daly were going to be in the mix. But, as in Dumb and Dumber, even if the odds were a million to one, there was still a chance. It’s easy to knock the move in retrospect. But what if Duval and Daly had played out of their minds in the opening round and posted a decent score? Then the event would have had the best of both worlds: a crowd-pleasing pairing with an entertaining underdog story. And in the end, this is entertainment.
Speaking of the Zurich Classic, Davis Riley and Nick Hardy won, closing with a seven-under 65 in alternate shot on Sunday to best Canadians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor by two. But you’re in charge next year. What tweaks are you making to the event, either with how teams are picked, the formats played or both?
Berhow: Since it’s a team event that’s not the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup — and honestly if we are inviting aging sponsor’s exemptions — we might as well embrace the weirdness and go all out. Fourballs is boring. Let’s go four days, four formats. Make one day a scramble, but if you go three holes without a birdie you are eliminated. Make the next day a worst-ball scramble. Round 3 you get only four clubs. Then, for the final round, alternate shot. Wait a few years and this is the formula for a fifth major.
Hirsh: For starters, I’d move it to a different part of the schedule. Maybe toward the end of January or February so it doesn’t get swallowed by the Masters. I could also see an argument for the new Fall series, but I kinda like the idea of this event counting for the FedEx Cup. It really is great to see the unique format and I’d love to see it get some more big names regularly. Next I’d drop fourball. Make the whole thing alternate shot, the true team format that doesn’t allow you to hide a poorly performing partner. That would really make things interesting with the added bonus of speeding up play.
Sens: I’m with Jack: make it all alternate shot. On a more outlandish note, I’m still waiting for the team event where each team gets one opportunity during a round to pick a fan from the crowd to hit a shot for the opposition. I suppose you’d have to institute a Really Silly Season for that to happen. But I would watch.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans became the lone team event on the PGA Tour schedule in 2017, with 80 duos competing in a unique scoring format. Thursday and Saturday will feature best-ball scoring at the 2023 Zurich Classic, while Friday and Sunday will be alternate shot. Presidents Cup teammates and defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele headline the 2023 Zurich Classic field. They are 4-1 favorites in the latest 2023 Zurich Classic odds, followed by Collin Morikawa and Max Homa (17-2).
No other team is priced inside of 10-1, so there are plenty of longshots available on the PGA odds board. Which teams should you include in your 2023 Zurich Classic bets?
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, the model is up over $7,300 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure's model predicted Jon Rahm would finish on top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express. And at the 2023 Masters, the model was all over Rahm's second career major victory heading into the weekend. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the third round, but the model still projected him as the winner.
In addition, the model included J.T. Poston in its best bets to win the 2022 John Deere Classic. That bet hit at +5500, and for the entire tournament, McClure's best bets returned almost $1,100. McClure's best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright at the 2021 Open Championship, even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 longshot.
This same model has also nailed a whopping nine majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2023 Zurich Classic field is locked, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising.
Top 2023 Zurich Classic predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the Zurich Classic 2023: Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, the defending champions and the heavy favorites on the PGA odds board, fail to defend their title. The duo shot an event-record 29-under par across four rounds last year, but there are several 2023 Zurich Classic contenders ready to get revenge this year.
Billy Horschel and Sam Burns, who finished in second place in 2022, are back in the field this week. Homa and Morikawa are teaming up for the first time, creating a serious threat for the defending champions. There are also two teams that have been together for every edition of the Zurich Classic (Charley Hoffman/Nick Watney and Kevin Tway/Kelly Kraft). In addition, since the Zurich Classic switched to a team format, no team has successfully defended their title at TPC Louisiana.
Another surprise: Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, 28-1 longshots, make a strong run at the title. They have a much better chance to win it all than their odds imply, so they are a target for anyone looking for a big payday. Taylor has been a contender in several individual events over the last few months, which includes a second-place finish at the WM Phoenix Open.
He added a pair of top-15 finishes at the Valspar Championship and the Valero Texas Open, so he is in strong form heading into this tournament. Hadwin has only missed the cut three times in 14 tournaments this season, carding a top-15 at the Players Championship. Taylor and Hadwin are a dangerous pairing who have value as longshots on the PGA odds board
How to make 2023 Zurich Classic picks
The model is also targeting several other longshot pairing at the Zurich Classic 2023. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big.
So who will win the Zurich Classic 2023? And which longshots stun the golfing world? Check out the 2023 Zurich Classic odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2023 Zurich Classic leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed nine golf majors.
2023 Zurich Classic odds, field
Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay +400 Collin Morikawa/Max Homa +850 Sungjae Im/Keith Mitchell +1400 Si Woo Kim/Tom Kim +1600 Sam Burns/Billy Horschel +1800 Taylor Montgomery/Kurt Kitayama +2200 Justin Suh/Sahith Theegala +2200 Matt Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick +2200 Beau Hossler/Wyndham Clark +2500 Victor Perez/Thomas Detry +2800 Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin +2800 Thorbjorn Olesen/Nicolai Hojgaard +3000 Harris English/Tom Hoge +3000 Byeong Hun An/S.H. Kim +3000 J.J. Spaun/Hayden Buckley +3500 Denny McCarthy/Joel Dahmen +3500 Will Gordon/Davis Thompson +3500 Matthew NeSmith/Taylor Moore +4000 Davis Riley/Nick Hardy +4000 Callum Shinkwin/Matt Wallace +4000 Robby Shelton/Lee Hodges +4500 Brendon Todd/Patton Kizire +4500 Ben Griffin/Ryan Gerard +4500 Scott Stallings/Trey Mullinax +4500 Ben Martin/Chesson Hadley +5000 Doc Redman/Sam Ryder +5000 Brandon Wu/Joseph Bramlett +5500 Akshay Bhatia/Harry Hall +5500 Erik van Rooyen/MJ Daffue +6000 Luke List/Henrik Norlander +6500 Aaron Rai/David Lipsky +6500 Scott Piercy/Ryan Palmer +7000 Michael Kim/S.Y. Noh +7000 Ben Taylor/Callum Tarren +7000 Justin Lower/Dylan Wu +7500 Sam Saunders/Eric Cole +8000 Hank Lebioda/Tyler Duncan +8000 Doug Ghim/Kramer Hickok +8000 Vincent Norman/Matthias Schwab +9000
Jon Rahm has a little less than a year to figure out his menu for next year’s Champions Dinner ahead of the 88th Masters, but it’s never too early to start working on the menu. Good thing that Golfweek asked him in Hawaii in January for this year’s
Here’s how Rahm answered our question:
“I have an idea, yes,” he said. “It would be Spanish cuisine. I’m lucky to be friends with chef Jose Andres (owner of restaurants in several cities around the United States and winner of a number of awards for his cooking) and I would seek out his help a little bit.”
As it turned out, Andres participated in the 2023 Masters Par 3 Contest, caddying for Sergio Garcia. Andres also got a chance to take aim at the ninth green during the event. Spanish cuisine has been a popular pick for past Spanish winners of the Masters. In 2018, Garcia served up a menu full of Spanish-inspired dishes, including a dish called Arroz Caldoso de Bogavante, which is described as a traditional Spanish lobster rice dish. In 1995, Jose Maria Olazabal went with paella and hake, plus tapas.
This year, Scottie Scheffler’s menu had a Texas flavor to it and was a big hit with his Scottie Style sliders, although his tortilla soup was declared way too spicy. So, Rahm is now on the clock. Here’s hoping it’s paella for everyone.
2023 Masters: From Tiger to Phil to sleeper picks, here's everything you need to know
The first major of the year is here, and the anticipation for this year's Masters could not be higher.
Between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson being back, the first meeting of LIV Golf and PGA Tour players at Augusta National Country Club, as well as Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy continuing to play hot potato with the No. 1 world ranking, there are plenty of compelling storylines as the golf world descends on the sport's most famous venue.
Here's what to watch for in Georgia this week:
What can we expect from Tiger this week?
Mark Schlabach: Last year, Tiger hadn't played competitively in 508 days and showed up at the Masters and made his 23rd consecutive cut. He played well over the first 36 holes, but the cold weather caught up with his surgically repaired right leg and back, making one of the most difficult walks in all of golf even tougher. He carded a 6-over 78 in each of the last two rounds, his worst score at the Masters. He looked better physically at the Genesis and said his right leg is stronger than it was a year ago, but he's still being bothered by his right ankle. I think he'll make the cut again because he knows the course better than anyone else in the field. I think a top-25 finish isn't completely out of the question for Tiger, but I'd find it difficult to believe he can do better than that.
Paolo Uggetti: Given what we saw at Riviera, where Tiger looked a bit more comfortable walking while his game showed plenty of promising flashes, I think making the cut will be the low bar that he should be able to clear. In an ideal world, the five-time champion would have had at least one more appearance before arriving at the Masters, but health is more paramount than ensuring his game is sharp. If Tiger can succeed at any place with just one competitive tournament under his belt, it's Augusta. Even if the walk is tougher than most courses, the warm weather should help him, and I'd venture to guess he is going to get an early start Thursday and a long break before his second round Friday. I won't go as far as to say he will contend, but it should be another promising step in this new stage of his career.
What can we expect from Phil this week?
Schlabach: Given the way Mickelson played in the majors last year and what he did in LIV Golf's first three tournaments this season, finishing 27th in Mexico, 32nd in Tucson, Arizona, and 41st in Orlando, Florida, I wouldn't expect much of anything. He isn't playing well and hasn't in a while, and it's going to be a circus around him in Augusta. Mickelson won't address the media in a formal news conference before the Masters starts Thursday, so there's going to be a microscope on him during practice and the early rounds, after he skipped this event, which he has won three times, in 2022. There will still be some patrons cheering for him.
Uggetti: I honestly have no idea. Mickelson has looked like a shell of himself -- figuratively and literally -- since bolting for LIV, and his performance at last year's U.S. Open (the last major he participated in) was particularly poor. Since thumbs-upping his way out of that tournament, Mickelson has shown absolutely no signs of life in any of LIV's events, consistently finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard. He has finished 27th or worse in eight of his 10 appearances. Then again, Mickelson is a past winner here, and it would be some kind of dark twist to the whole PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga if he somehow turned back the clock and competed this week.
Speaking of the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, how much of the feud is going to be on display?
Schlabach: I don't think it's going to be as much of a storyline as expected because everyone is going to be on their best behavior at Augusta National. The LIV Golf players are probably going to be sporting their team logos on shirts and hats, so the elephant in the room isn't going to be completely invisible. I just don't know how many of LIV Golf's 18 participants are going to be real contenders. Australia's Cameron Smith, who tied for second in 2020 and tied for third last year, has played well here. He hasn't played much this season, though, and his form hasn't been great lately, finishing 26th in Tucson and 29th in Orlando. Past champions Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed haven't played much, either. Brooks Koepka won the Orlando event and is suddenly playing better. With the LIV Golf League placing such an emphasis on the team competition -- go RangeGoats! -- can they simply flip the switch and get back to playing as individuals? And finish 72 holes? Chances are one or two of them will be on the leaderboard Sunday, though.
Uggetti: I honestly have no idea. Mickelson has looked like a shell of himself -- figuratively and literally -- since bolting for LIV, and his performance at last year's U.S. Open (the last major he participated in) was particularly poor. Since thumbs-upping his way out of that tournament, Mickelson has shown absolutely no signs of life in any of LIV's events, consistently finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard. He has finished 27th or worse in eight of his 10 appearances. Then again, Mickelson is a past winner here, and it would be some kind of dark twist to the whole PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga if he somehow turned back the clock and competed this week.
Speaking of the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, how much of the feud is going to be on display?
Schlabach: I don't think it's going to be as much of a storyline as expected because everyone is going to be on their best behavior at Augusta National. The LIV Golf players are probably going to be sporting their team logos on shirts and hats, so the elephant in the room isn't going to be completely invisible. I just don't know how many of LIV Golf's 18 participants are going to be real contenders. Australia's Cameron Smith, who tied for second in 2020 and tied for third last year, has played well here. He hasn't played much this season, though, and his form hasn't been great lately, finishing 26th in Tucson and 29th in Orlando. Past champions Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed haven't played much, either. Brooks Koepka won the Orlando event and is suddenly playing better. With the LIV Golf League placing such an emphasis on the team competition -- go RangeGoats! -- can they simply flip the switch and get back to playing as individuals? And finish 72 holes? Chances are one or two of them will be on the leaderboard Sunday, though.
Who's your dark horse pick for the week?
Schlabach: It's probably not too much of a stretch to say that a guy who finished runner-up in his first Masters appearance and tied for eighth in his third would be a dark horse, but I'm not sure there are too many people picking Sungjae Im to win a green jacket this week. In 2020, the South Korean became the first Asian player to finish runner-up, and he held the first-round lead two years later. Im has won two times on tour and loves playing at Augusta National. Im doesn't hit the ball especially far off the tee, but he keeps it in the fairway and has a solid all-around game.
Uggetti: It feels like every big tournament these days is going to be won by either Scheffler, McIlroy or Rahm, which makes it difficult to look beyond them to find an unexpected winner. I'll take Jason Day. He's obviously been trending in the right direction -- five top-10s in the past six tournaments and 11 top-20 finishes this season -- and it appears the swing changes he has made have paid dividends. Day has missed the cut in the past two Masters he has played in, but he finished top-5 in 2019. A win at Augusta would be a fitting, storybook-like way to cap what has been a long, up-and-down road back to the top of the game.
Who are you definitely not picking this week?
Schlabach: Patrick Cantlay is one of the best players in the world, especially with a driver in his hand. But his performance in major championships is perplexing, to say the least. He has only one top-5 finish in a major -- a tie for third at the 2019 PGA Championship -- and one top-10 at the Masters, a tie for ninth in 2019. The light switch is going to go off for Cantlay at some point and he's going to contend for a major championship. I just don't think it's going to be this week.
Uggetti: Will Zalatoris. This could look like a poor choice in retrospect, given that Zalatoris has proved to be a supremely better player when playing in majors, but be it injury or putting woes, Zalatoris has struggled this season. After finishing tied for 11th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Zalatoris finished tied for 36th and missed the cut before finishing fourth at Riviera. In the past three tournaments, however, Zalatoris has finished tied for 53rd, 73rd and tied for 59th. Even more damning, Zalatoris is ranked 137th in strokes gained putting one year after finishing 103rd in the same stat last season.
5th Annual Mixed Couples Tournament August 12th & 13th 2023
Saturday 12pm Shotgun Sunday 9am Shotgun
$300 Per Couple $280 Per Couple (w/ own cart) Mulligans will be available at registration for $20 per couple (four total and only two can be used per round).
Please send registration forms to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
