Did you know that Florida has more golf courses than any other state in the country? Lots of them are pretty dull, but they’re there! Today’s Fun Fact Friday is brought to you by the second Tiger-Phil match, which now has an official date and venue. Details below.

News and updates

  • The long-rumored match between Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning is officially on. Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity will take place on Sunday, May 24, at Medalist Golf Club as part of a fundraising partnership with the All In Challenge. Tiger and Peyton will square off against Phil and Tom. The format will be nine holes of best ball followed by nine holes of modified alternate shot. Each player will ride in his own cart, and no fans will be on site. It will be televised on TNT and TBS at 3 p.m. EDT. Full Story from Bob Harig
  • Symetra Tour player Sarah Hoffman is using her nursing background to help fight the pandemic. She spoke with Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols about how she is coming to the aid of those in need. Read the full piece HERE.

Newsletter Notes

2011 All-PGA Tour Team 

Today’s All-PGA Tour Team takes us back just nine years, which was a bizarre time in professional golf. The 2011 golf season was a complete sweepstakes, and you could legitimately argue for about 20 players to make the cut.

Jason Day (no wins, 10 top 10s) – “Uh, oh. Happy learned how to putt.” After a below-Tour-average season on the greens in 2010, Jason Day jumped to 10th in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2011. He contended in both the Masters and U.S. Open, finishing T-2 and 2nd, respectively. At Augusta, the 23-year-old Aussie birdied the 71st and 72nd holes to tie the clubhouse lead, but Charl Schwartzel’s swarm of birdies squashed Day’s hopes. While his performance at Congressional was good enough to beat 3rd place by two shots, no one remembers it because of how badly Rory McIlroy boat raced the field.

Matt Kuchar (no wins, nine top 10s) – The 2011 season epitomizes Matt Kuchar’s career. Tons of consistency and top 10s, not a lot of wins. He and Gary Woodland did manage a victory at the World Cup, an event that featured three pairs of brothers. Francesco and Edoardo Molinari were the two-time defending champs, and they were joined by Colombia’s Camilo and Manuel Villegas and Portugal’s Ricardo and Hugo Santos. How ’bout that, huh?

Nick Watney (two wins, 10 top 10s) – Unless you’re related to Nick Watney or had him on your bet slip, you probably don’t know that he held a three-shot lead through 54 holes at the 2010 PGA Championship. Watney stumbled to a final-round 81 at Whistling Straits and finished T-18. That proved to be a real gut check for him, who came out with something to prove in 2011. He collected the only multi-win season of his career—including the WGC-Cadillac Championship, where he came from behind to beat Dustin Johnson—and reached No. 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Yes, Nick Watney did that!

Webb Simpson (two wins, 12 top 10s) – The 2011 season was so good to Webb Simpson that he would end up naming his daughter after the Wyndham Championship, where he collected his first career win in August. Three seasons into his PGA Tour career, Webb (full name: James Frederick Webb Simpson) won twice and lost in a playoff at the Zurich Classic. He finished first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and second in SG: Total. Thankfully for his daughter, the Deutsche Bank Championship was Webb’s second win, not his first.

Luke Donald, MVP (two wins, 14 top 10s) – Tiger Woods’s run as the world’s most dominant player came to a halt in 2010, when he lost his spot atop the OWGR for the first time since 2004. Lee Westwood took his place before the BMW PGA Championship, but at that tournament, Westy lost in a playoff to Luke Donald. By winning the playoff, Donald not only notched his second worldwide win of the season but also knocked Westwood off his perch and claimed world No. 1. He held that spot on and off until the 2012 PGA Championship, when Rory McIlroy conclusively asserted himself as the best player in the world.

The Latest from The Fried Egg

Credit Hours: Georgia State University Men’s Golf – Georgia State was set to lose four seniors and grad students this summer. But since the NCAA has granted golfers an extra year of eligibility, the veteran Panthers now have to weigh their options for next season.

Stripe Show from the Short Grass – Using recent data from Lou Stanger, Andy Johnson argues that wide fairways help identify the best iron players on the PGA Tour.

Shotgun Start will be released midday on Friday. Brendan was poring over the Browns schedule into the wee hours of Thursday night and completely forgot to record. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Pro Shop

You have one more day to snag one of our Bandon Dunes prints from our pro shop! Profits from the sales will go toward the Bandon Dunes Caddie Relief Fund, which supports out-of-work Bandon caddies during the pandemic. Included are shots of Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, and the Sheep Ranch. Shop today!