Sam Torrance: History and form point to Rory McIlroy as US PGA Championship returns to demanding but exciting Kiawah Island May 18, 2021 The US PGA Championship doesn’t need any extra spice but the return to form of Rory McIlroy has provided it anyway. McIlroy won this tournament by eight shots the last time it was held at this week’s venue, Kiawah Island, in 2012. So, having ended an 18-month drought with victory at the Wells Fargo Championship [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Succession at Matchroom; PGA Tour’s $40m fame fund; taking knee banned at Tokyo 2020; India warms to The Hundred; NFL’s paint job April 23, 2021 It’s been a busy week for shifts in power at the top of sports organisations, splitting with old partners and signing megabucks new deals. Away from European football’s attempt to eat itself, Matchroom announced that founder Barry Hearn would be stepping down after 40 years at the helm. Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn is succeeding [...]
Sam Torrance Masters review 2021: Why Matsuyama’s win is the best result for golf, heartache for Schauffele and a brilliant debut from Zalatoris April 13, 2021 You couldn’t pick a better Masters winner for world golf than Hideki Matsuyama. Japan has long had a huge involvement in the sport. They have a fantastic tour and have produced players like Jumbo Ozaki and Tommy Nakajima. They have also had women’s major champions, in Hisako Higuchi and Hinako Shibuno, but not men’s – [...]
Keith Pelley interview: European Tour chief on PGA Tour alliance, why 2021 is even tougher than 2020, and when fans can return to golf April 9, 2021 Since 14 April 2020, Keith Pelley has been getting used to a new way of starting each day. At 7:45am the chief executive of golf’s European Tour dials into a conference call with 14 colleagues to discuss which tournaments are on, which are off and need replacing at short notice, and which hang in the [...]
The Masters 2021: How much prize money players can at this week’s iconic golf tournament April 7, 2021 Winning the Masters is more about Green Jackets than greenbacks, but the prize money isn’t to be sniffed at either. This article details how payouts at men’s golf’s most iconic tournament compare with those at the other three majors. It will also illustrate how the Masters prize money has increased over time, and reveal who [...]
Sam Torrance Masters 2021 preview: The five players I expect to challenge at Augusta – and why I’d love to see Rory McIlroy or Lee Westwood triumph April 6, 2021 Whether it’s in November or April, the Masters is special. I enjoyed the last one as much as any other, despite it taking place in autumn rather than the traditional spring conditions. But I’m very excited for this week’s 85th outing at Augusta, which I expect to play harder than it did five months ago. [...]
Sam Torrance: Justin Thomas underlines Masters credentials with sublime showing at Sawgrass March 16, 2021 One moment in the final round on Sunday summed up the whole weekend for Justin Thomas at the Players Championship. Leading by one as he stood over the final tee, Thomas launched a perfect shot that sailed dangerously close to the water before skipping to safety after a kind bounce. There is no way he [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Formula 1 takes the pain; Budweiser buys NBA rights; watch every PGA Tour shot; World Rugby’s bad timing; squash, the great survivor March 4, 2021 “Our goal was to try and take the pain in 2020,” Greg Maffei, president of Formula 1 owners Liberty Media, told investors this week. Maffei can consider that mission accomplished after Liberty laid bare the devastating effect of the pandemic on F1’s finances last year. F1 slipped from a $17m profit in 2019 to a [...]
Doing good is now part of doing business: Why every sports brand and athlete needs to help society in order to find commercial success March 2, 2021 The influence and social media reach of sports women and men is incredible – and growing. But who is using it to greatest effect, both for their own benefit and that of society? Cristiano Ronaldo has 263m followers on Instagram and Lionel Messi has over 100m on Facebook. Manchester United, widely regarded as the biggest [...]
Sam Torrance: Megastar Collin Morikawa sharpening his game with saw grip; plus Viktor Hovland, Branden Grace and Tiger Woods March 2, 2021 I remember one of the first times I saw Collin Morikawa play, he was going head to head down the stretch with Matthew Wolff. Both were fresh out of college – this was Morikawa’s fourth start on the PGA Tour and Wolff’s third – so it was fairytale stuff. And although Wolff won the 3M [...]