Latest news with #HunterMahan
Newsweek
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Quail Hollow President Drops Mic on Hunter Mahan, Kardashian Comp
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Quail Hollow has been in the news lately, and not just for hosting the PGA Championship. As of a few days ago, the debate over its suitability for hosting major championships has been raging, with more than a few fans and pundits saying that the course is too "easy" for such events. Adding fuel to the fire was 6-time PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan, who famously compared the course to a controversial celebrity: "I guess I would say Quail Hollow is like a Kardashian," Mahan said, according to the New York Post. "It's very modern, beautiful and well-kept. But it lacks a soul or character." Naturally, such an unflattering opinion did not take long to elicit a response, which came directly from the president of the Quail Hollow Club, Johnny Harris. The son of the club's founder, Jimmy Harris, didn't hold back in his response to Mahan. "Tell me who that is? I don't know the last time he was there,"Harris said. " "He might have to play with me. But that's okay. He'll play with a member." Hunter Mahan tees off on the 13th hole during round two at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club on May 15, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hunter Mahan tees off on the 13th hole during round two at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club on May 15, 2015 in Charlotte, North answer is 2021, when Mahan played the Wells Fargo Championship there and tied for 54th at 4-over. Prior to that, he had played Quail Hollow 13 times, also competing in the Wells Fargo Championship (previously the Wachovia Championship) with three missed cuts, one disqualification and a 12th place (2008) as his best finish. His records at Quail Hollow include an 18-hole low of 67 (third round in 2011) and a 72-hole low of 9-under (also in 2011). At one time, Mahan was one of the more talented players on Tour. He was named to both a Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team with Team USA. But after the 2020-2021 PGA Tour season, Mahan retired from professional golf, citing burnout, according to Golfweek. Quail Hollow was founded in 1959 and its course bears the signature of George Cobb, the same man who designed the nine-hole course at Augusta National Golf Club where the famous Par 3 Contest is played. In addition to these two works, Cobb's catalog includes more than 100 golf courses designed in the United States. The Quail Hollow course currently measures 7,600 yards and is par 71. Its course rating is 77.2 and its slope rating is 148. (The course rating reflects the score a scratch golfer is expected to achieve on average at that course, while the slope rating is also a method of measuring the difficulty of the course, although it is much more complicated to explain). For comparison, the infamous Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament, has a course rating of 78.1 and a slope rating of 137. Quail Hollow has hosted numerous high-profile tournaments, including two editions of the PGA Championship and one of the Presidents Cup. It also hosted the World Series Invitational from 1983 to 1989, the Kemper Open from 1969 to 1979 and the Truist Championship since 2003. More Golf: PGA Tour fan favorite takes a shot at LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau
The Irish Sun
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘That felt personal' – PGA Championship venue brutally compared to the Kardashians because of its ‘lack of soul'
EX-RYDER CUP star Hunter Mahan has taken a brutal swipe at this year's PGA venue by comparing it to a Kardashian. Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, has come in for its fair share of criticism from golf nuts ahead of the major. 2 Quail Hollow has been slammed for lacking soul by golf stars Credit: Getty 2 Former Ryder Cup star Hunter Mahan compared it to the Kardashians Credit: Alamy However, six-time PGA Tour event winner Mahan has given it perhaps the most brutal assessment of all by comparing it to the Kardashians. Speaking to "It's very modern, beautiful and well-kept. "But it lacks a soul or character." READ MORE IN GOLF Reacting to the stunning swipe on social media, one user said: "That felt personal between Hunter and Quail." A second said: "That might be the nastiest thing I've heard anyone say about a golf course." A third added: "Get him in the announcers booth ASAP." The criticism comes down to some believing that many holes on the course are too similar. Most read in Golf BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK Mahan is not the only star to criticise the course. On Wednesday, Masters champion Rory McIlroy reacts to Bryson DeChambeau's post-Masters comments ahead of PGA Championship Meanwhile, Justin Thomas said: "That's the one thing about this place. "I feel like you kind of always know relatively what you're going to get. "It's just figuring out how the golf course is playing and then going from there type thing. "By the looks of it, it's pristine as always." The first round of tee offs have already begun, including McIlroy at 1.22pm UK time. In the UK, the PGA Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Golf. Sky Sports customers can live stream all the action via the Sky Sports app.
The Sun
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
‘That felt personal' – Kardashians catch random strays from Ryder Cup star in brutal swipe at USPGA Championship course
EX-RYDER CUP star Hunter Mahan has taken a brutal swipe at this year's PGA venue. Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, has come in for its fair share of criticism from golf nuts ahead of the major. 2 2 However, six-time PGA Tour event winner Mahan has given it perhaps the most brutal assessment of all by comparing it to the Kardashians. Speaking to The Athletic about the course, the 42-year-old said: "I guess I would say Quail Hollow is like a Kardashian. "It's very modern, beautiful and well-kept. "But it lacks a soul or character." Reacting to the stunning swipe on social media, one user said: "That felt personal between Hunter and Quail." A second said: "That might be the nastiest thing I've heard anyone say about a golf course." A third added: "Get him in the announcers booth ASAP." The criticism comes down to many believing that many holes on the course are very similar and without despite being a wonderful area to play. Mahan is not the only star to criticise the course. On Wednesday, Masters champion Rory McIlroy said: "I thought it was going to feel different just because it was a major championship and I got out on the golf course yesterday, and it felt no different than last year at the Wells Fargo. Meanwhile, Justin Thomas said: "That's the one thing about this place. "I feel like you kind of always know relatively what you're going to get. "It's just figuring out how the golf course is playing and then going from there type thing. "By the looks of it, it's pristine as always." The first round of tee offs have already begun, including McIlroy at 1.22pm UK time. In the UK, the PGA Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Golf.
The Irish Sun
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘That felt personal' – Kardashians catch random strays from Ryder Cup star in brutal swipe at USPGA Championship course
EX-RYDER CUP star Hunter Mahan has taken a brutal swipe at this year's PGA venue. Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, has come in for its fair share of criticism from golf nuts ahead of the major. 2 Quail Hollow has been slammed for lacking soul by golf stars Credit: Getty 2 Former Ryder Cup star Hunter Mahan compared it to the Kardashians Credit: Alamy However, six-time PGA Tour event winner Mahan has given it perhaps the most brutal assessment of all by comparing it to the Kardashians. Speaking to "It's very modern, beautiful and well-kept. "But it lacks a soul or character." READ MORE IN GOLF Reacting to the stunning swipe on social media, one user said: "That felt personal between Hunter and Quail." A second said: "That might be the nastiest thing I've heard anyone say about a golf course." A third added: "Get him in the announcers booth ASAP." The criticism comes down to many believing that many holes on the course are very similar and without despite being a wonderful area to play. Most read in Golf BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK Mahan is not the only star to criticise the course. On Wednesday, Masters champion Rory McIlroy reacts to Bryson DeChambeau's post-Masters comments ahead of PGA Championship Meanwhile, Justin Thomas said: "That's the one thing about this place. "I feel like you kind of always know relatively what you're going to get. "It's just figuring out how the golf course is playing and then going from there type thing. "By the looks of it, it's pristine as always." The first round of tee offs have already begun, including McIlroy at 1.22pm UK time. In the UK, the PGA Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Golf. Sky Sports customers can live stream all the action via the Sky Sports app.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
PGA Championship: Why all the hate for Quail Hollow — the ‘Kardashian' of golf courses?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — At almost every golf tournament, there's an undercurrent that runs parallel to the actual event: the grousing and griping about the course at hand. Yes, even though they play the finest courses on earth, pros grumble about the setup, the greens, the rough … you name an element of a tournament golf course, and somebody has a problem with it. (You can probably guess the one course that nobody dares to criticize.) The carping — reinforced by the echo chamber that is Golf Twitter — has hit a new high this week at Quail Hollow, site of this week's PGA Championship, and since this is a major, the cuts slice a little deeper. 'I guess I would say Quail Hollow is like a Kardashian,' Hunter Mahan told The Athletic. 'It's very modern, beautiful and well-kept. But it lacks a soul or character.' Ouch. That's going to leave a mark. Quail Hollow does have its defenders, starting with Max Homa. 'I've always loved this place,' Homa, standing a few steps outside the T-Mobile 'Club Magenta' tent near the 10th green, told Yahoo Sports Wednesday. 'I think it's a good version of new-age golf. … A lot of golf courses aren't necessarily creative. They're just making them longer. I think this place still has some cool nuance to it. The greens are still intricate. The bunkering is pretty decent. The views are cool.' 'I don't see how anyone could not like it,' Wyndham Clark, like Homa clad in searing T-Mobile pink, told Yahoo Sports. 'A great golf course to me, in every three-hole stretch, you either have an exciting par 5; a short, really beautiful par 3; or a dogleg. And what I think this golf course has is, every three holes, you have one of those, and so it excites people.' Now, bear in mind that Homa and Clark are both past winners at Quail Hollow; they claimed the Wells Fargo (now Truist) Championship here in 2022 and 2023, respectively. So they're going to have a much more charitable view of the course than most, given their fond memories. But then again, others who have had a bit of success here too aren't exactly gushing over Quail Hollow. Their verdict is more like a Google review of a local Applebee's — it's fine, you know exactly what to expect, it's fine. 'I thought it was going to feel different just because it was a major championship, and I got out on the golf course [Monday], and it felt no different than last year at the Wells Fargo,' four-time Quail Hollow winner Rory McIlroy said early Wednesday morning. 'The rough is maybe a little juicier. But fairways are still the same cut lines and same visuals. It doesn't feel that much different.' 'The Wells Fargo in the past has always been the week prior to this, so it will be very, very similar,' said Justin Thomas, who won his first PGA Championship here in 2017. 'That's the one thing about this place. I feel like you kind of always know relatively what you're going to get. It's just figuring out how the golf course is playing and then going-from-there-type thing.' Developed in 1959, Quail Hollow has hosted that regular Tour stop — the Wachovia/Wells Fargo/Truist, depending on who's sponsoring — since 2003. The course hosted its first major in 2017, and three years ago hosted the Presidents Cup. So it's not like Quail Hollow is going to sneak up on anybody … and that might be part of the problem. 'A familiar golf course is nice,' Jordan Spieth said earlier this week. 'I don't feel like I have to learn where all the pins are and where all the misses are and stuff. You can ask me the hole location on any green around this place right now, and I can tell you how I'm going to play the hole and where I'm going to try to hit it.' The same can be said of Augusta National every year, but no one is bagging on it Masters week. So why all the hatred? Perhaps because Quail Hollow is geared more toward television viewers and outside-the-ropes hospitality tents than to the actual players on the course. What works well for the players doesn't necessarily make for the best TV … and vice versa. Towering drives look great on TV, but when every player in the field is aiming at — and finding — the same spots, hole after hole, well … the strategic aspect of the tournament becomes a bit less significant. 'Because we all know this golf course so well, it's not as if you're going to glean anything new [this week] from a strategy perspective,' McIlroy said. 'It's just a matter of stepping up and hitting the golf shots when the gun goes on Thursday.' For certain players, there's an upside to Quail Hollow's familiarity. Players who have had success here, and particularly players who have won here, can potentially draw on those good memories as the weekend winds down and the leaderboard tightens up. 'I will always be able to say, if I'm coming down the stretch and trying to win the tournament, I can tell myself I've literally done this before here,' Thomas said earlier this week. 'I've hit the shots. I've made the putts. I've handled all of that mentally on this exact golf course in this exact tournament.' Visually, Quail Hollow is magnificent — lush and green, with towering trees and a regal white clubhouse. But if that description is sounding a bit familiar, well, that too might be part of the problem. Quail Hollow echoes Augusta National without the history or on-course drama of the home of the Masters, and unlike clubhouses or courses, you can't simply buy your way into legendary status. That takes time … and major success. Every course hosted its first major once; the truly great ones just keep on hosting. Unlike the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship hasn't scheduled out its venues into the second half of the 21st century. The first available PGA Championship date is 2033, and Quail Hollow doesn't yet have a third date in the rotation. A compelling tournament free of off-course drama (sorry, Valhalla) with a popular winner might just be enough to convince the PGA that there's merit in bringing a major back to Gleneagles Road in south Charlotte … regardless of what the critics say. After all, as the Kardashians proved, it doesn't matter what they're saying about you as long as they're still talking about you.
