I'll Have an Arnold Palmer

“When people ask what’s driven me all these years, I always give the same answer. It’s you.” - Arnold Palmer

News Slice

• 💰 Purse: $20M

• 🏆 Kurt Kitayama 🇺🇸 | $3.6M

• 📍 Location: The Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, FL

⛱ Arnold Palmer Invitational

Kurt Kitayama had a wild ride to victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with a triple-bogey on the ninth hole and a five-way tie for the lead in the final holes. But the Californian delivered a clutch birdie 🐦 on the 17th and a steady par on the 18th to claim his first PGA Tour win 🥇.

He beat out a star-studded field that included Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, proving that even a guy who's played on 11 tours around the world can come out on top!

"I think just a little bit of luck finally went my way." Kitayama said. Lucky or not, he's got a red cardigan and $3.6 million 🤑 to show for it.

The Arnold Palmer Drink

We’ve all had an Arnie Palmer on a hot day. Here’s some quick hits about the drink

📖 As the story goes, Palmer conceived the idea of mixing these two refreshing drinks together one day long ago to his first wife, Winnie. - “My wife made a lot of iced tea for lunch, and I said, ‘Hey, babe, I’ve got an idea. You make the iced tea and make a big pitcher, and we’ll just put a little lemonade in it and see how that works.’ We mixed it up, and I got the solution about where I wanted it and I put the lemonade in it,” he recalled in an “ESPN 30 for 30” short.

🥤Chris Byrd, the co-founder of Innovative Beverages Inc, was the one who came up with the idea to actually brand and license out the drink and partnered with Arnold Palmer

🤝 Their biggest license deal with AriZona Iced Tea

💰 As of last year it was reported that retail sales have topped $300M

📈 It sells more than all other branded half-and-half beverages combined

🔁 The drink has inspired variations, such as the "John Daly" (which adds vodka to the mix) and the "Shirley Palmer" (which replaces the tea with ginger ale).

Swing for the Fences

Do you even lag bro?

When you hear the term “lag”, I am sure some of the things that come to mind are your internet, frustrated online gamers 🎮, or perhaps Susie in the cubicle next you complaining about not getting her TPS reports finished 📝. We all hate it and want nothing to do with it, especially when you have 8 different bosses coming by to tell you about it (Office Space 🗒️ references if you are still lost). However, there is one situation in which we want lag and that is during the golf swing 🏌️‍♂️.

Say what now?? Yes, lag is a good thing to have (at least the right amount of it) if you want to be a good ball striker. What is lag you ask? It is essentially the trailing of the golf club as you progress through your downswing, while maintaining the angle between the left forearm and the club (for right-handed golfers). For left-handed golfers, this would be the angle 📐 between the right forearm and the club.

In the golf swing, you want to create and maintain this angle for as long as you can before “releasing” it at impact. Common issues golfers face is releasing it too early (sometimes called “casting” 🎣) and not maintaining the appropriate amount of lag.

Enough of me trying to explain lag. Check out these great videos from the people who actually teach this stuff for a living:

1. Chris Ryan - How to Hold Lag in the Golf Swing

2. Me and My Golf - The Best Way to Create Lag in the Golf Swing

Course of the Day

Looking for a golf course that's more than just a place to hit some balls? Look no further than Crans-sur-Sierre. This stunning course in the Swiss Alps will take your breath away (in more ways than one), with its challenging holes and jaw-dropping views. And with the high altitude helping you hit those long drives, you might just surprise yourself with how well you play.

• Golf was first played here in 1905, but the course was abandoned during WWI and later resurrected in 1924

• It has hosted over 40 European Tour events since 1972, more than any other course on the Tour

• The European Masters was first hosted here in 1939, interrupted by WWII, and returned in 1948

• The course is closed and covered in snow for half the year but offers perfect playing conditions in the summer

• The high altitude and clear air make for long drives, and the scenery is considered among the best in Europe

19th Hole

“You Need To Cut It!” ✂

If you haven’t heard already, the PGA is making some BIG changes to their 2024 schedule that includes the size of its fields in designated events, purse sizes, and even getting rid of the cut line. Wait, no cut line?? Yup, there is a lot to unpack here. You could do a lot of Googling to figure out all of the changes (including what in the hell is a designated event), but no worries because we got you covered here at the Mulligan Report 😉.

Here are some of the major changes that PGA commissioner Jay Monahan detailed out in a memo sent to the members last week:

📝 Memo Introduction – First off, the memo describes that the decisions made “will transform and set the future direction of your PGA TOUR”. He goes on to say that they have spent a lot of time over the past year trying to deliver a better product, further showcase the TOUR’s top performers, yada yada yada. It’s a good sales pitch with some big words. And why wouldn’t it be? There are some new kids on the block to compete with 👀

🏌️‍♂️ ✂ Field Sizes and Cut Line – Selected “designated” events will be between 70 to 80 players (from 120 to 160), with no cut after 36 holes. It also gives opportunities for players from “full-field” events to qualify and compete. Golfers who perform well in “non-designated” full-field events like the Honda Classic can find themselves eventually playing in the events such as the Waste Management Open and Wells Fargo Championship.

⛳ Designated Events – A designated event simply put, is a specific tournament throughout the year that will have all of the best players. The new “model” described in the memo will have a total of 16 of these events, which include THE PLAYERS, the Majors (4), The FedEx Cup Playoffs (3) and an additional 8 designated events. As of now, those 8 additional tournaments have not been named. Currently there are 17 designated events.

🥇 Top players choosing their tournaments – Another change in relation to the designated events is that it allows the top players the flexibility to participate in both designated and full-field events. It will allow upcoming stars to rise to the top quicker and give them a chance to play in the designated events. Essentially, if you are a top player and you are not playing well, you are not going to play in the top tournaments.

So who is eligible to play in a designated event?

• The top 50 players from the previous year’s FedEx Cup points list

• The top 10 players not otherwise eligible using the current FedEx Cup standings

• The top 5 players not otherwise eligible earning the most FedEx Cup points between designated events

• Current year PGA Tour winners not otherwise eligible

• PGA Tour members in the top 30 Official World Golf Ranking

• Four sponsor exemptions restricted to PGA TOUR members

💰 Purse sizes – Purse sizes will be larger for the designated events. This year they have a minimum of $20M and if you haven’t noticed already, is a large increase from 2022. The increase is not yet determined, but they are expected to be bigger.

💸 PIP Money Allocation - The FedEx Cup points model will be adjusted with increased points for The PLAYERS, the 4 major championships and the 8 designated events. The Player Impact Program will be reduced to $50 million (from $100M) to the top 10 players; the bonus program will pay $100 million to the top 20 this year. The remaining $50 million will be reallocated to the FedEx Cup bonus program and the Comcast Business Tour Top 10.

What is the Player Impact Program you ask? It’s a program that essentially rewards players for boosting engagement and publicity of the PGA Tour. The criteria is based on things such internet searches 🔍 and unique news articles 📰 about certain players, duration that a player’s sponsor logo appears on screen during televised Saturdays and Sundays, and even a player’s general awareness score among a broad U.S. population. In short, if you are a poster boy for the PGA Tour, you are handsomely rewarded 💵 .

📅 When will these changes go into effect? – The changes will go into place January 2024.

See you next week at the players ball … also known as The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass