Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this the Weekend 9. Think of it as a spot to warm you up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have thoughts. We’ll have tips. We’ll have tweets. But just nine in all, though sometimes maybe more and sometimes maybe less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell some of the story. I can be reached atnick.piastowski@golf.com.
I couldn’t tank in golf.
It’s not that I wouldn’t want to, and I’ll go no further with that thought. But I physically couldn’t. I already struggle with hitting and chipping and putting legitimately, so any nefarious actions wouldn’t be too hard to catch. With my swing, there’s a likely chance that an intentional-hook thought might somehow discover a flushed iron shot.
But then there are the pros.
Who miss fairways and greens during a round — and who can also hit targets mostly on demand.
A friend and I were thinking about all that last weekend, when we were talking about the betting scandal that’s rocked the NBA. To quickly sum that up, the Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier has been accused of providing nonpublic information about his plans to leave a March 2023 game early to a friend, who then sold it to bettors for about $100,000. The story made us wonder, then, about whether something similar could happen in pro golf.
If you’re thinking it wouldn’t, there’s hope for you, The PGA Tour has previously promoted safeguards for suspicious bets, and, in the NBA’s case, the amount of bets that came in on Rozier triggered alarms. And there’s also the idea that golfers hold themselves to a high standard. The game, the thought goes, is bigger than any bet.
Or is that naivete?
And think about the lower levels of pro golf, where breaking even financially is aspirational.
I also wonder about the simplicity in which a fan can influence a golf outcome. The game is (mostly) quiet. One well-timed shout, and a tee shot goes left — and a hole bet is cashed. Sure, the fan would likely get booted, but that’s nothing a couple thousand bucks couldn’t soothe. A couple of years ago, Rory McIlroy talked a bit about that, after a fan shouted during a Max Homa putt.
“It is a bit of a slippery slope,” McIlroy said, “because I don’t think there’s any other sport — maybe basketball and you can sit courtside, but it’s a different environment — where people can really affect the play out here.
“As long as it’s policed the right way and as long as there’s measures put in place for things like what happened to Max Homa not to happen. Because we’re all for people out here having a good time and being able to put something on an outcome, as long as they don’t feel like they can come here and influence that outcome. That’s important.”
McIlroy’s right there. You should be able to bet on him, either at a tournament or away from it. And trust that things will be honest.
Of course, the NBA thought that, too.
Let’s see if we can find eight more items for the Weekend 9.
One takeaway from the week that was
2. This week, PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady made a couple of media appearances following the release of the 50-and-over circuit’s 2026 schedule, and he said his tour is ready for a player who will be age eligible on Dec. 30.
Tiger Woods.
“We’re well prepared,” Brady said on Golf Channel. “We’ve done some white boarding over the past year in preparation for Tiger turning 50, and if and when he plays, our tournaments will be prepared.”
If he plays, it’ll be fascinating to watch the amount of interest.
Question is, does he play anywhere ever again?
Another takeaway from the week that was
3.Also this week, the Grant Thornton Invitational announced its field for the mixed team event, which again gives me the chance in this space to ask that we get a Ryder Cup/Presidents Cup/Solheim Cup-style mixed team event.
Americans vs. Euros. Americans vs. Internationals. Americans vs. the World. Scottie-Nelly vs. Rory-Jeeno. Sounds good.
One more takeaway from the week that was
4. You’ll find no better breakdown of the changes coming to St. Andrews than the one on the video below, from GOLF’s Sean Zak.
The last takeaway from the week that was
5. I’m hooked on the clips I’ve seen of Barstool’s Internet Invitational. I’m thinking about taking the time to watch it all. And my 17-year-old nephew has.
It succeeds at character development. That’s something for pro golf to think about.
One takeaway for the weekend
6. With the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund involved with pro golf through LIV Golf and a still-being-negotiated deal with the PGA Tour, news about the PIF is notable, and various outlets this week reported on its future strategy. In a story written by the Business Times, I thought this was interesting:
The fund is still working out how exactly it will approach international investments, the people said. After the review is complete, allocations to global deals may increase slightly as portfolio companies are expected to become more active as they look to expand overseas, they added.
Since its inception, the PIF has established about 100 companies in sectors ranging from tourism to AI. The goal is to focus on growing firms in six key areas outlined this week by governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, in what he called a “sneak peek” of the investment strategy.
The plan will lean on consolidation to create more companies that are able to raise their own financing and draw in foreign investment, people familiar with the matter said.
You can read the entire story here.
A golf story that interests me
7. The Instagram account @timtagolfs interests me. (And a hat tip to My Golf Spy’s Daniel Polce for first writing about it.)
In short, it documents how Tim Ta has quit his job as an Esports gamer to play golf. The latest post can be found below.
A Halloween costume that interests me
8. The Halloween costume below is great.
A dog toy that interests me
9. Here, Dai Poole of pethelpful.com writes about a golf club set — for your dog.
What golf is on TV this weekend?
10. Let’s do 10 items! Here’s a rundown of golf on TV this weekend:
– Saturday
9:30 p.m. (Friday) – 2:30 a.m. ET: Maybank Championship third round, Golf Channel
7 a.m.-noon ET: Rolex HotelPlanner Tour Series Grand Final third round, Golf Channel
Noon-4 p.m. ET: Hong Kong Open third round, Golf Channel
– Sunday
9:30 p.m. (Saturday) – 1:30 a.m. ET: Maybank Championship final round, Golf Channel
5:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. ET: Rolex HotelPlanner Tour Series Grand Final final round, Golf Channel
10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET: Hong Kong Open final round, Golf Channel
What you’re emailing me
11. Let’s do 11 items! This thought was recently emailed to me. It was in response to the story about golf in a Washington prison, which you can read here.
I recently saw the video on YouTube about the club and it sort of hit home. I’ve never been to jail or prison, but I get what the sport can do. I lost both of my legs in June of 2020 due to a bacterial infection that almost took my life. As my health improved and after a year, I was able to get fitted for prosthetics and begin the tough process of getting back on my feet, as they would say.
During the strenuous journey of physical therapy, golf was suggested for balance. I was never a real golfer before — I maybe went 3-4 times a year with some friends — so I was starting off with a limited skill set. I began with just the driving range 1-2 times a week, which turned into 5-6 times a week. I “stood” there for hours working on my balance that first summer. By the next summer, I was standing still in one spot without moving around. It was huge in terms of balance as a bilateral transtibial amputee. This isn’t a note to boast about myself; this is to say how golf was the thing to help me. I actually related to the inmates in the sense of focus and drive to want to be better not just at golf but in life. I don’t have any tattoos, but people see my legs first before they see me. I now shoot mid-40s for nine holes and I keep working on it.
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