Local Knowledge

When Roberto De Vicenzo signed an incorrect scorecard to lose the 1968 Masters, it represented not just his failure, but the failure of several individuals and institutions, including Augusta National itself. This is the story of what really happened that day on the course, and why De Vicenzo is only partly to blame for the greatest blunder in the history of major championship golf.

What happens when two men who are each forces of nature, in their own way, clash at the most prestigious championship in American golf? When one is rich and handsome and headstrong, but the other is the lord of Augusta National? When Cliff Roberts, the chairman of Augusta, and Frank Stranahan, the playboy son of a millionaire, collided at the Masters in 1948, it was inevitable that something wild would happen. And something did—a controversy that shed a light on two of the strangest American lives in golf history, and gave a glimpse at the paranoia and exclusivity that dominated old Augusta.

The Official World Golf Ranking has never enjoyed the prominence it has today, but it's not the good kind of prominence. With some of the world's best players no longer receiving points since they're with LIV, the OWGR is under fire, and even LIV-neutral observers think it might be dying. But what is the OWGR? How does it work? How did it come about historically? This week on Local Knowledge, we go deep on the system that is reeling, and might need a eulogy before long.  

If you only knew the late Pete Dye as a funny and somewhat crotchety old man, and if you only know a little about his life's work, from Sawgrass to Whistling Straits, you might not have the sense of his hard edge—how he pursued his creative visions with zealous focus, and how we would say what he needed to say and do what he needed to do to see that vision to fulfillment. With his wife Alice, he forged one of the greatest design careers ever, and his sheer genius led the way at every turn.

If there's a Jackie Robinson of golf, the title goes to Charlie Sifford, the first black man to be a full member of the PGA Tour. Every part of his journey was difficult, from the obstacles that kept him from competing with the best players in the world until he was almost 40, to the virulent racial hatred he faced once he got there. But unlike some of his fellow athletic pioneers, Sifford never softened, even in his later years as the world tried to make it right by showering him with awards. As he told one reporter, "If you'd been through what I've been through, you wouldn't be smiling either." This is his story.

It has been almost 12 full years since Anthony Kim last hit a shot on the PGA Tour, and in that time, he managed to almost disappear completely. But the legend around him has grown in his absence, and now, as he's on the precipice of possibly playing once again, we look at the life and career of one of the most intriguing golfers since Tiger Woods. Who was he, where did he come from, and what happened when it was all over? Is the mystery something that can ever be explained, and can our fascination with him survive his return?

The idea that is currently splitting professional golf in half was born around 2010, scribbled in a feverish bout of inspiration on yellow legal pads. The author was Andy Gardiner, a corporate finance lawyer, and ideas weren't his only strong suit. Over the next decade and more, Gardiner used his connections high in the worlds of golf and business to forget a relentless and occasionally brilliant campaign to bring his idea to reality. It was called the Premier Golf League, and depending on who you believe, it may have come to the very precipice of success. In the end, even with big investors like the PIF, the PGA Tour outmaneuvered Gardiner and the PGL, and consolidated its power over the game. When the PIF came back with the full war chest at its disposal, it carried key components of Gardiner's idea, and even some of his top lieutenants, but not Gardiner himself. But when you tell the saga of LIV Golf and its war against the PGA Tour, Gardiner remains one of the most fascinating figures; one who got so close, and whose idea is even still rocking the sport. This is his story.

In May of 1981, in the parking lot of Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a man named Johnny Martorano killed his 19th victim. His target was the millionaire businessman Roger Wheeler, owner of a company called Telex that employed 5,000 people in Tulsa alone. Wheeler had been successful his whole life, but when he delved into a mob-connected business, he didn't realize in time that the men he became involved with were more dangerous than the average business rival. A network of corrupt FBI agents and the infamous Winter Hill Gang, including their leader Whitey Bulger, got nervous when Wheeler asked too many questions, and set in motion a crime whose effects are still felt today—and it all happened on one of the most renowned golf courses in America.

The saga of John Montague is one that simultaneously feels like pure fantasy but is also purely American. In 1932, Montague appeared in Beverly Hills seemingly out of nowhere, and through his jaw-dropping golf game, became friends with the biggest stars in the world. Word of his exploits spread far and wide, and when Grantland Rice wrote about him in a national column, the mystery deepened. Why, if he was so good, wouldn't he play in any tournaments? As that mystery unraveled, so too did the life of Montague, who was in fact an escaped criminal from New York named LaVerne Moore. The saga of Montague remains one of the most perplexing, fascinating side stories in the history of amateur golf.

The word "cheat" is golf's one-syllable powder keg, and whenever it appears, fireworks follow. That was the case at the first-ever Skins Game, in Arizona in 1983, when Tom Watson pulled Gary Player aside along with a rules official to privately accuse him of breaking the rules at a critical moment in the event. A reporter was close enough to listen in, and when the story ran, two of the sport's foremost figures were embroiled in controversy. This is the story of two strong personalities, impressive and difficult in their own unique ways, butting heads on a controversial day that lives on in both men's legacies.

It's time for the first-ever session of Golf Court! The honorable Shane P. Ryan is presiding as Barrister Luke Kerr-Dineen and Joel Beall, attorney-at-law, argue about whether Luke Donald should get a second try at Ryder Cup captain, and whether the DP World Tour should lose its right to choose Ryder Cup venues. Plus, golf course bathrooms: Do we need them? Golf Court is now in session.

After a long week in Rome, a happy Luke consoles a sleepy Joel and a sad Shane for an instant take episode following Europe’s 16.5 to 11.5 victory to win the 2023 Ryder up the early-week proceedings at Marco Simone. The Ryder Cup Radicals break down the European Team’s heroics, the Home Team Dominance problem, and all the drama around ‘Hat Gate’.Subscribe to Local Knowledge and the Golf Digest channels wherever you listen to your podcasts!

The time has come, ladies and gentlemen, to put our hearts on our sleeves and shout our final thoughts into the Roman ether. Today, Luke, Joel, and Shane recap the juiciest news from the week in Rome, give the dish on how to live in the eternal city and make our final predictions for the Ryder Cup. The time has almost come, tensions are at a peak, and as the band Europe once said, this is the final countdown.

We've been talking about it so long that we almost can't believe it's happening: The Ryder Cup is imminent. Before we pack our bags and head to Rome, though, there are a couple last orders of business. All 12 Europeans teed it up at their flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, and two Americans—most notably Justin Thomas—played at the Fortinet Championship on the PGA Tour. Together, the Radicals analyze how those tournaments went, and what it might say about the team and the captain's picks. Then we delve into the realm of pairings, particularly what we might glean from what we saw at Wentworth. One of the great critical questions for Luke Donald revolves around Rory McIlroy; who should he play with? Should it be a star, an up-and-comer like Ludvig Aberg, or someone we're not yet considering? Does pairing two prominent personalities present too tempting a target for the other team, a la Tiger and Phil in '04? And finally, considering the recent home blowouts, does home course edge need to be mitigated in some way? All this and more as the Radicals count you down to Marco Simone.

Jamie Kennedy joins the Sambuca Boys this week to talk all things European Ryder Cup. Jamie talks about his experience working with the DP World Tour and the European Ryder Cup team, what some of the European players are saying following a trip to Rome, and if Europe’s Ryder Cup chemistry is as strong as it's been portrayed. The group also touches on the discussion of course set-up following the release of photos and videos of Marco Simone’s rough, ending with a talk on the merit of the “underdog mentality” both squads will use in Rome.

The Sambuca Boys discuss the European Ryder Cup team’s six captain’s picks, highlighted by Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard. Shane Ryan issues a mea culpa on Aberg after the fledgling superstar (Aberg, not Ryan) wins the Omega European Masters to earn a spot on the European team. The boys talk about snubs, which pick could come back to haunt European captain Luke Donald, and how the team sizes up to the Americans. Subscribe to the Ryder Cup Radicals on the Golf Digest Local Knowledge feed.

In a sea of speculation and analysis, we are pleased to report today that something actually happened: Zach Johnson made his captain's picks, and Team USA is now fully formed. Here at Radicals Headquarters, we are not necessarily surprised at the six picks who round out the squad, but we have some thoughts. Incendiary, revolutionary thoughts. Plus, Luke and Shane engage in partisan squabbles as we discuss the value of a rah-rah captain, and Joel tries to survive a Phoenix hotel room with dire curtains. All this, plus a tortured Hoosiers reference—what's not to love?

The Tour Championship is over, Zach Johnson makes his picks Tuesday, and Shane and Luke are on the scene to take their last crack at handicapping the U.S. team. Is it all coming down to Burns vs. Young? Did Keegan and Glover lose their mojo at the last moment? And what of JT? Plus, we Czech in on Europe, and a seemingly convoluted captain's pick situation that might have just become simpler than we think. Get it while it's hotter than Hotlanta.

The boys are back, and their important job of handicapping the Ryder Cup bubble is now more critical than ever as we approach D-Day. The U.S. automatic picks are set, but there’s so much drama in the race for captain’s picks that only the brightest minds can sort the data, and over in Europe, the situation is even more tenuous as the last four picks remain very much for grabs. On a good week for both Zach Johnson and Luke Donald, and a wild one for their picks, we’re here to set you up for the homestretch. Plus, dramatic eulogies for the players who came into the week with a chance to dance, but left with diddily re: Italy.

The job facing Tony Jacklin, the unlikely captain who took the reins of the European team as Ryder Cup captain in 1983, was a massive one: He had to bring an end to decades of American dominance. The situation on the ground was dire, and to put it plainly, he was inheriting a mess. Since the Cup began in 1927, Americans had won 20 times, lost three, and tied once. Even the addition of Team Europe in 1979, designed to level the playing field, hadn't stopped the U.S. from delivering two straight humiliations. Facing a talent gap, and playing on American soil, he had to stop history in its tracks. The remarkable transformation Jacklin engineered starting that year in Florida was as much psychological as it was tactical, and he had at his side the ideal playing lieutenant in Seve Ballesteros, a man who would become a Ryder Cup colossus. Together, they led the Europeans on a mission to win for the first time ever on American soil, and to redefine the entire event. What they accomplished over those three days was the start of one of the great turnaround stories in the history of sport.