Latest news with #DavidPuig
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Jose Luis Ballester, who stunned fans with disgusting act at the Masters, makes shock career move
Jose Luis Ballester has signed a major career contract just two months after going viral at Augusta National. The reigning US Amateur has signed a multi-year deal with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, forfeiting his shot at making it on the PGA Tour. The 21-year-old will join fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia's Fireballs team, joining Abraham Ancer and David Puig. He is set to make his professional debut this week at LIV Golf's Virginia event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club outside Washington, D.C. 'We are very excited about Josele joining the team,' Garcia said in a statement. 'Personally, I have known him since he could pick up a golf club and he has worked with my father as his coach throughout his golf career.' Ballester just wrapped up his senior season at Arizona State - the alma mater of LIV Golf stars Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm. He finished third in the PGA Tour University standings, which earned him full status on the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour's top developmental circuit. However, according to Golf Channel, Ballester declined the offer, instead opting to snub the Tour in favor of its rival breakaway. LIV Golf players have been banned from the PGA Tour for their defections as the truce negotiations between the two circuits drag on. The PGA Tour rejected a $1.5 billion reunification offer from the Saudi Public Investment Fund - which bankrolls the LIV breakaway - in April. Despite missing the cut, Ballester made headlines at The Masters in April when he left the patrons of the hallowed Augusta National stunned. He stirred controversy during the first round when, playing alongside world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, he sported a cap with 'Sun Devils' written upside down on the front. An apparent fashion faux pas among golf's traditionalists. He truly horrified Augusta's most orthodox patrons when he took relief of a very different kind at one of the course's most famous landmarks. Ballester urinated into Rae's Creek at the 13th at the risk of facing punishment from the powers that be at the church of golf. Fans flocked to his girlfriend's Instagram her boyfriend shot to fame at The Masters 'I completely forgot that we had those restrooms to the left of the tee box,' an unrepentant Ballester explained after he was caught in the act. 'I really needed to pee. I didn't really know where to go…I'm like, I'm just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much, and then they clapped for me.' However, he appeared to have avoided the wrath of the Augusta officials over his unscheduled pit stop when he was permitted to return to tee it up for the second round alongside Scheffler and Justin Thomas. Ballester defeated Noah Kent 2 up in the 36-hole U.S. Amateur final at Hazeltine last August. Although he is turning professional, he keeps his spot in next week's U.S. Open at Oakmont as the reigning champion of the USGA's top amateur event. Ballester is the son of two Spanish Olympians with his mother Sonia Barrio winning a gold medal in field hockey at the 1992 Barcelona games. Meanwhile, his father, Jose Luis Ballester Sr., was an Olympic swimmer, who also competed at the University of Florida. Ballester, who hails from Castellón, Spain, has one sister, Julia, who is also a collegiate golfer as a sophomore at Kansas State.
Fox News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
LIV Golf at 2025 PGA Championship: Highlights from Jon Rahm, David Puig, more
The 2025 PGA Championship, the second major of the year, is in full swing at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, and this year's field features 16 LIV Golf players — Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Tom McKibbin, Patrick Reed, Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland, Dean Burmester, John Catlin and David Puig. Some made the field based on current world rankings, while others qualified with recent major wins or by finishing in the top 15 at the 2024 PGA Championship. There are some special cases too, as past PGA champions earn a lifetime exemption for the tournament, and a handful of LIV golfers received invitations to play in this year's tournament. Here are the highlights after Round 1. Despite a back injury that cropped up late in his final round during LIV Golf's most recent tournament in Korea, Puig produced a gutsy even-par 71 that leaves him in good position to make the cut. Even though his round ended with a double bogey, the 23-year-old from Spain was pleased, given the circumstances he faced. "If I'm telling the truth, I think it was a great day overall," Puig said. "Especially without practicing and with having some sort of back pain. I think I competed very well." Puig said his back cramped up on him the last five or six holes in Korea, although he managed to overcome it by finishing eagle-birdie-birdie on his final three holes to slip inside the top 20 of the leaderboard. Starting his round off the 10th tee, Rahm played his opening nine holes in a bogey-free 2 under, including three consecutive pars through the dangerous Green Mile. Things went awry from there, with Rahm making bogey-birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie-bogey on his next six holes that undid all the good scoring on his first nine. Fortunately, a birdie at the short par-4 eighth left him with a 1-under 70 and in a good spot to make an impact going into Friday's second round. "It's funny because I made bogeys but didn't necessarily make horrible swings," the Legion XIII captain said about this six-hole adventure. "It was just missed it on the wrong places." Rahm is used to starting with a 70 in the PGA Championship – it's the fifth time in nine career starts that he's opened with that number. That includes his first PGA start in 2017 at Quail Hollow. His opening 70 left him tied for 15th but a second-round 75 dropped him out of contention entering the weekend. Eight years later, he'll have a chance to make a more positive move. There were plenty of non-LIV golfers who had strong outings on Thursday as well. Smalley was on the putting green at Quail Hollow, going through his drills and looking like any of the other 156 players at the PGA Championship. But he wasn't. On the eve of the major, Smalley wasn't sure he would have a tee time. And then, in a span of about 20 hours, the North Carolina native went from first alternate to a 4-under 67 that kept his name around the top of the leaderboard on Thursday. "I really prepared just like any other week," Smalley said. "Obviously, it's interesting being first alternate. I was losing hope after every passing hour. And you know, you hear about everybody's ailments being first alternate." In this case, it was Sahith Theegala, who had to withdraw during the Truist Championship last week at Philadelphia Cricket Club. And his neck injury never got better for the Californian to play the PGA Championship, a major he finished in the top 15 a year ago. So he was out. Smalley was in. He had three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine (after starting on No. 10), dropped a pair of shots on tough par 4s on the front nine and then shot his way back into the mix by holing a 70-foot putt across the green on the par-5 seventh for eagle. Smalley made a short birdie putt on the short par-4 eighth, managed par on the brutal par-4 ninth hole and had his lowest score in his third appearance at the PGA Championship. Donald and Bradley turned the opening round of the PGA Championship into their own little Ryder Cup competition Thursday. Shortly after Donald carded a surprising 4-under-par 67 — his best opening round at a major in 21 years — Bradley checked in with a 68, leaving both Ryder Cup captains in contention at Quail Hollow with 54 holes remaining. "If it's tied 14-14, are you talking a playoff? I'll grab the trophy and go back to Europe," joked Donald, whose European team bested the Americans 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, meaning they will retain the trophy if they tie or beat the Americans this September at Bethpage Black. Bradley got a chuckle out of Donald's comments and said he planned to text his counterpart and let him know he was "pumped" for him. "It's unique," Bradley said of having both Ryder Cup captains in the top 10. "You know, one of the interesting things about becoming captain, only other captains can understand what you're going through, and the day-to-day process and the pressure and everything that comes with that. Parts of this piece are courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
David Puig odds to win the 2025 PGA Championship
David Puig odds to win the 2025 PGA Championship PGA Championship details and info Date: May 15-18, 2025 May 15-18, 2025 Course: Quail Hollow Club Quail Hollow Club Location: Charlotte, NC Charlotte, NC Previous Winner: Xander Schauffele How to watch the PGA Championship Thursday: ESPN, The Golf Channel ESPN, The Golf Channel Friday: ESPN, The Golf Channel ESPN, The Golf Channel Saturday: CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY) CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY) Sunday: CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY), NBC (WBIR- Knoxville, TN) Watch golf on Fubo! Puig odds to win the PGA Championship PGA odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Wednesday at 3:01 AM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub. Puig odds to finish in the top 5 at the PGA Championship Puig odds to finish in the top 10 at the PGA Championship Other betting markets for Puig at the PGA Championship Puig recent performances Puig participated in three tournaments over the last 12 months, with zero top-10 finishes. Puig has not finished inside the top 20 in his past four tournaments, with an average finish of 47th.
Irish Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Tom McKibbin to make PGA Championship debut in LIVed-up field
The late invitations from the PGA of America to two 20-somethings, Tom McKibbin and David Puig, brought the number of LIV Golf players in the field at this week's US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow to 16, four more players from that Saudi PIF-funded circuit than competed at the Masters last month. McKibbin, the 22-year-old Belfast man, will be making his debut appearance in the PGA Championship having dipped his toes into Majors at last year's US Open in Pinehurst (tied 41st) and The Open at Royal Troon (tied 66th). The decision by McKibbin not to take up his new PGA Tour card and instead switch his main tour to LIV – where he joined Jon Rahm's Legion XIII team – earlier this season appeared to have damaged his chances of competing in the Majors (he is, however, qualified for The Open at Royal Portrush on the back of his finish on the DP World Tour rankings last season) but the PGA of America's invitation opened up a window of opportunity. McKibbin was inside the world's top-100 following the Dubai Desert Classic in February, after which he confirmed his move to LIV, where there are no world ranking points. He has since dropped to 124th in the official world rankings. READ MORE Incidentally, McKibbin had committed to playing in next week's DP World Tour stop, the Soudal Open in Belgium, before getting the late invitation to Charlotte. OFX Irish Legends to have a home-grown winner at last? Gary Murphy will hope that home support in his native Kilkenny will provide the magic ingredient in his quest to claim the OFX Irish Legends title, which takes place at Mount Juliet in Thomastown. No home-grown Irish player has yet managed to claim the title – with Irish-American Joe McDermott's success at Woodbrook back in 1998 the sole Ireland win. Murphy is part of a trio of Irish players in the field, along with David Higgins and Peter Lawrie, for this year's event, which moves from Seapoint to the Jack Nicklaus-signature course. Brazilian Adilson da Silva is the defending champion while Major champions Paul Lawrie and Michael Campbell are also competing. A celebrity pro-am kick-starts the event on Wednesday, with footballers Niall Quinn , Liam Brady and Robbie Fowler and singers Keith Duffy and Daniel O'Donnell among the line-up. Tickets for the tournament – which finishes on Saturday – are available on (with free admittance for under-16s). Word of Mouth 'Shane's an awesome guy. He's one of my favourite people to play with. He's a fiery competitor but a really good friend as well. It was really fun battling with him. Just grateful for him' – Sepp Straka (and Ryder Cup partner to Shane Lowry) on playing with the Irishman in the final round of the Truist. Straka's win moved him to ninth in the updated world rankings and to fifth on Europe's Ryder Cup qualifying list. By the numbers: 10 Shane Lowry didn't manage to add the Truist Championship to his list of career wins, but his tied-second placed finish behind Straka alongside Justin Thomas did move him up to a best ever world ranking of 10th. Henrik Stenson lines up a putt on his way to winning the Benson & Hedges International open held at the Belfry, England in 2001. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/Allsport On this day: May 13th, 2001 Henrik Stenson was a tour rookie, having graduated from the previous season's Challenge Tour rankings, when the 25-year-old Swede fended off experienced campaigners at The Belfry to lift his first European Tour win at the Benson & Hedges International. Stenson's performance – narrowly getting the job done before unmerciful thunderstorms hit – provided a glimpse into his star appeal in what would be an honour-laden career. Rounds of 66-68-71-70 for a total of 13-under-par 275 gave Stenson a two-strokes winning margin over Paul McGinley, who birdied the final hole to share the runners-up position with Angel Cabrera. 'I just feel relieved, it's been a tough day,' remarked Stenson of managing to stay clear of his pursuers. The win earned Stenson a cheque for €267,917 ... more than 10 times the size of his previous biggest pay-day as a professional. Social Swing 'Victory looks good on #TeamSrixon. @seppstraka locks up his second win of the season and takes home the Truist Championship trophy!' – Srixon 's social media post after their man Seppa Straka's win in the Truist . . . . . was then followed by: 'This Sunday belongs to #TeamSrixon @ryanfoxgolfer breaks through with his first PGA Tour win at Myrtle Beach' – after another Srixon man, Ryan Fox, won a playoff at the Myrtle Beach Classic, giving the New Zealander his first win on the US circuit and earning him him a place in the field at the US PGA at Quail Hollow this week. 'Health update. After consulting with doctors and my team, I have decided to have right hip surgery next week out in Colorado. It's an unfortunate situation with so many great events left on the calendar but this is a preventative measure. I'm already itching to start rehab, get back to practicing and I look forward to returning to the course sometime around late summer/early fall' – Billy Horschel on his decision to miss the PGA at Quail Hollow to undergo surgery. Know the Rules Q: In stroke play, a player plays a left-handed stroke with the back of the head of a right-handed club. What is the ruling? A: There is no penalty as, under Rule 10.1a, which deals with fairly striking the ball, it states: 'In making a stroke: The player must fairly strike at the ball with any part of the head of the club such that there is only momentary contact between the club and the ball and must not push, scrape or scoop the ball.' In the Bag: Sepp Straka (Truist Championship) Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max (9 degrees) 3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees) 7-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (20 degrees) Irons: Srixon ZXi5 (4, 5), Srixon ZXi7 (6-9) Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (46, 52, 56 and 60 degrees) Putter: Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV
Irish Times
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
US PGA Championship: Tom McKibbin comes in out of the cold on a rainy day in Quail Hollow
On the driving range, Tom McKibbin and his entourage were sharing two umbrellas between six of them, huddling for cover and soaked all the same. The rain fell so hard in Charlotte that fans who had paid $76 to watch the first day of official practice for the US PGA Championship were not allowed inside the gates of Quail Hollow. By teatime, the downpours would have tested Noah's nerve. Until a week ago, nobody expected to see McKibbin here. When he defected to LIV Golf in January, signing a deal reportedly worth $5 million over three years, it seemed that opportunities like these had been torched in the trade-off. The Open in Portrush was the only Major this season in which his spot was nailed down. But at the beginning of last week McKibbin and David Puig, another young LIV player, were beckoned from behind enemy lines by the PGA of America and invited to play. Was he as surprised as the rest of us? 'I knew I was sort of very, very close,' he said. 'I was sort of on the edge of it all year.' Does that sound like it was out of the blue? Being in the top 100 in the world rankings is not declared as a qualifying criterion for the US PGA Championship, but it is the PGA's desire to have as many of those players in the field as possible. This year, only the injured Billy Horschel is missing from that list. READ MORE McKibbin climbed to 97th in the world rankings at one stage last year, but there are still no world ranking points awarded for LIV events. He produced a couple of good performances in a handful of appearances on the DP World Tour earlier this season, but that couldn't halt his descent to 124th in the world rankings. What kind of form does he bring in to this week? Coming from LIV it is always hard to tell. McKibbin had a couple of top 10s early in the year, but in his last four events he has finished down the field. On any other tour, that kind of form would be expensive. On the LIV Tour, he has amassed over $2 million in prize money already this season from just seven events. 'I feel very sort of solid,' he says. 'I've been very, very lucky to play with a lot of very good players so far this year. I've definitely seen my golf game improve playing tough courses like Doral. So, I think it has definitely prepared me [for a week like this].' Tom McKibbin with his caddie and putting coach on the practice putting before Thursday's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Photograph:It is just McKibbin's third appearance in a Major. He made the cut in the US Open at Pinehurst last summer, and at the Open in Troon, but neither of them was a comfortable experience. At Pinehurst, he said later, he felt nervous over every shot. 'Pinehurst was obviously a very difficult test of golf. I hadn't experienced that kind of difficulty before. And then Troon obviously with the weather and the wind. This is going to be something different again. I think these tournaments are about not making mistakes and I think I probably made too many double-bogeys or stupid mistakes last year. [ Rory McIlroy fears Tom McKibbin signing up to LIV 'will not be worth the sacrifice' Opens in new window ] 'Knowing how hard the courses were made it a little bit more nerve-racking. You don't really want to force anything too much, so I think that's probably something that was a little bit trickier for me. Normally, you're just trying to get off the fast start and make a few birdies. Whereas, the way these [Major] courses are, if you just try a little bit too hard you could really, really mess it up quickly.' McKibbin has never played Quail Hollow before, but it is a course that rewards length off the tee, and with significant amounts of rainfall forecast for this week, it is bound to play longer than the 7,626 yards declared on the card. The stats on LIV Golf are not nearly as detailed as they are on the PGA Tour, but according to their data McKibbin has averaged 322 yards off the tee this season. If those numbers can be trusted, it would put him second on the PGA Tour's driving stats, and make him, on average, four yards longer than Rory McIlroy. Maybe that part is not credible. His length, though, is not an illusion. When LIV approached McKibbin, he sought McIlroy's advice and ultimately ignored it. At the end of last year, he secured his playing rights on the PGA Tour but elected not to accept that opportunity, which makes his invitation to this event all the more curious. He said he exchanged some text messages with McIlroy after the Masters, but he hasn't spoken to him yet about his beloved Quail Hollow. Anyway, what difference could that make? What McKibbin needs now is the wisdom of experience.
