Sponsor exemptions rejected and 59 calm

Check every week for the uninviltered thoughts of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest themes in this sport and join in the conversation by tweeting us to @golf_com. This week, we discuss 59 Jake KNAPP, the predominance of Scottie Scheffler in Orlando and surprising sponsor exceptions.

Scottie Scheffler defends his title at Arnold Palmer Invitational this week, where he has won two of the last three tours there. Makes what makes Scheffler so good in Bay Hill, and are you getting Scheffler or field this week?

Sean Zak, elderly writer (@sean_zak) :: Scottie wins this tour because he makes a bunch of diligent money on the weekend. Orlando has promised cold weather and strong conditions over the years, and with a long approximate it puts such a blow in the ball hit. Both with a driver and different. And no one has greens and good roads like Scheffler. Do enough and some bird shocks will fall. Feels inevitable. So yes, Scottie does it again.

Jack Harsh, editor of associate equipment (@Jr_bresany) :: Makes what makes Scottie Scheffler so good in Bay Hill? The same thing that makes it so good everywhere else: he is the best ball striker on the planet. Of course there are horses for courses, but I think Scottie Scheffler is a favorite in almost any difficult golf course. Sawgrass, Bay Hill, Murfiled Village, Harbor Town. These are the type of courses with the cream always gets up on top and Scheffler is just the best player on the planet. Tiger once won in batches in some of these places as well. I’m with Zak, Scheffler gets his first season victory this week. If you remember, he did not win his first victory of last season until this week.

Dylan Dothier, old writer (@dylan_Dethier) :: Last year Scottie made birds at the highest degree in tour and Bogeys at the second lower rate. This is Kinda why he won all. But yes – these people covered it. He hits him best, he plays awake, he has a lot of dogs in it and Bay Hill is a required test. I am excited about this week’s test.

First Reported by GolfweekJordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler won’t get Sponsor’s exceptions to Arnold Palmer Invitational, a single -field signing event with 72 men. While it is easy to agree with “At the end of the day, to play Fowler better, is it more complicated than that? Despite the current form, Spieth and Fowler are two big draws. With the still separate pro and the best players who are not on the same tournament, is there any argument to load the Star Power tours?

ZAK: It’s extremely complicated! Webb Simpson received a bunch of these invitations last year and was criticized by his benefits for him. Adam Scott took a bunch of those invitations, too, and played quite well to finish inside the top 50s of the heralded FedEx Cup. You want to invite player fans will cheer for it, the benefits that will give some peppers to sponsors, and you also want to appear delightful in evaluating all your options. It is lazy to choose only the biggest names. It is commendable to take Rafa Campos’s letter in the heart and hand over him a ticket to the biggest event of his season.

Hirah: I too am with Zak here. If you are going to argue that Liv has a diluted product because it gives spots to boys who were supposed to be displaced (seeing you, bubba) just to keep a draw, then you should not argue the same for Spieth and Fowler. It is interesting because Spieth seems to be finding his game again and Fowler had a good week in connoisseurs, but no doubt these decisions are made before that. I also want a heartfelt letter still having a weight and I will withdraw to Rafa Campos, whom I interviewed again at college to be the only PGA Tour player from Puerto Rico.

Dethier: There is definitely an argument to load the Star Power tours! And there is also an argument that PGA Tour must rely on meritocracy and give up these sponsors invites. If you have and keep anyone from going crazy, well, that’s impossible. But this can be the most intended way to do it, even if you are leaving some big names.

Florida State Junior Luke Clanton made the cut At Classic Classic – his ninth made at 12 Start PGA Tour begins – to win his 20th point in the accelerated program of PGA Tour, providing his PGA Tour card at the end of this season. As an amateur of the highest rank in the game and a future tournament player, which one should the average fan know for one of the most promising talents of the game?

ZAK: He is not just by making a flock of cuts to win his way on this tour card. The child has claimed! Many times. It already adapts among the names known in the tournaments, wise by statistics. Entering the tournament, Datagolf gave Clanton the same reception to make the cut, finishing Top 10 and winning as Cameron Young. You know, the guy who everyone thinks would be a good fortune Ryder Cup. This is who is Clanton too.

Hirah: People need to understand how fast its raising in Stardom was. He did not win his first point in the accelerated PGA U -Open program last year when he made the cut and fought Neal Shipley down the stretch for low amateur (Shipley beat him in the last hole after Clarton lost a pleasant stroke). But by the end of November, he had 17 points, the fastest accumulation of points in the three-year history of the program. When the tournament announced PGA Tour was accelerated, he said that since 2010, only the three players would have won their tour card through it. Clanton is now second after Gordon Sargent won 20 points and was postponed for this season. Just another example of how the best, younger players are.

Dethier: Shouldd what people should know about Clanton? At high school he won the state title in Florida three times … and finished second next year. He can also make Ryder Cup team.

After Jake KNAPP fired 59 in unusual softened conditions in the PGA National Champion Course, Some goodies were asking Happened what happened with the beast’s bear trap. Is it unfair for the 15th sub-60 score in PGA Tour’s history? Or 59 do they no longer bear the same historical weight as it used to be?

ZAK: They just don’t mean the same thing that once used to. And that’s okay! We have traveled down this road for a long time. The course was supervised, got some rain, smelled zero and one of the best leaders on the tournament led it extremely well. Someone was forced to go low. It just becomes a little inevitable.

Hirah: No sean, 59 is still 59. PGA National is easier than it used to be, but it is still an estimate of over 75 from the back. This is a difficult golf course. Is it as difficult as it used to be? No, and this is unfortunate after the last renovation. But just because a 59 comes to a lighter configuration, it doesn’t make it less impressive. I don’t think I would be able to swing a club if I were 11 years old with a hole to play.

alacrity: We are asking these tours to walk a very, very good line. Very hard? They rip for sluggishness and slow game. Very easy? Your 59 does not mean anything! But yes, it means less. Yes, it’s still good. Yes, it is a pleasure to see when this tour is a celebration of suffering. But it’s hard to do it all.

Lydia Won the HSBC Women’s World Championship Sunday in Singapore to capture her 23rd victory of the LPGA career. Nelly Korda did not play, but she has two 10 best in two starts this season already. Who wins more in 2025: Cord or KO?

ZAK: Do. It is already one up! After spending some time with Lydia recently, she looks so focused. She talks a lot like Rory Mcilroy and Scottie Scheffler these days, which is a great, smart company. We were treated in a Korda-Ko battle at the beginning of 2024, and even in Open on St. Andrews. Honestly, it is time for the cord to come back again.

Hirah: There was also one in the cord at the beginning of last season, too. It is a amazing kind for me that KO is actually the third after Jeno Thiticul in the Rolex ranking. That being said, I think Korda has little more to try after last season, which sounds strange after she won seven times. She will want to catch more degrees this season after looking at KO to win Open last season.

Dethier: Cord wins more. But it is a great sign that we are asking the question. This Age of KO has been a welcome addition to the golf landscape – and the tale continues.

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The third season of Netflix’s Full Swing debuted last week. What has been your favorite moment from what you’ve seen so far?

ZAK: I didn’t look too much, but I will say that – it’s worth looking at, for no reason other than PGA Tour’s story in 2024 that we THINK We know, well, there are other camera angles you have never seen yet. This is the treasure of these doctrines for the big fans of the sport. Just because you know what’s coming doesn’t mean you know it as well as you can I know it. It may not be the answer you are looking for, but there are all kinds of new angles we have not seen before.

Hirah: As soon as I started looking too, but seeing the sean hiding behind a tree while Bryson hit his approach at 72 in Pinhurst was cute. The episode in Mcilroy and Lowry’s victory in Zurich was some kind of entertainment. Nice to see their friendship really shown in the spotlight. But I have a fear, for a new fan, they will leave that episode thinking that Zurich is the fifth great.

Dethier: I wrote more about all things Full swing here But make sure you stay around for Episode 6, where Gary Woodland’s journey again from a terrible battle with a brain tumor is to show at its best: real life, significant approach, moving connections between life and golf, and a cordial dose of simple inspiration.