Tiger loses a caddy and Phil loses his temper (kinda)

Good morning afternoon. This is Easy Pars. The golf newsletter that knows “cart path only” only applies to the holes visible to the clubhouse.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• Talor is one of the highest paid golfers of the year…and he may miss the Open

• Caddy-swapping

• Phils soft side just went away…at least temporarily

• Wells Fargo Championship off to a great start!

It’s not easy being a LIV golfer

Sure, you received a big big big paycheck to signup for the league.

You’re getting paid multiple times what you were getting paid at your old gig.

You’re playing a lot less, so you get to focus more on each event and you know, do other things that aren’t golf.

But the one thing that also comes with being part of team LIV is massive amounts of uncertainty.

Since LIV’s no-cut structure doesn’t fit in with the Official Golf World Ranking, you never really know if you’ll be able to qualify for the Majors.

This is a big deal. Because if you’re Talor Gooch, who’s clearly on top of his game, you really want to take part in the Majors.

Currently, Gooch is signed up and ready to go for the PGA Championship, the next major on the calendar.

But his participation in the US Open is still up in the air.

Talor’s only option is to keep his hot streak going and finish strong in the PGA Championship to secure a spot in the US Open.

“How you doin? 😉”

Tiger Woods is golf, and for a long time, golf was Tiger Woods.

Needless to say, he did a lot to promote the sport and is without a doubt a legend.

But as we’ve long feared, it’s becoming clear that the end of Tiger era is nigh.

Long-time caddy (for Woods) Joe LaCava has announced that he’ll be working with Patrick Cantlay next season.

Which is probably a sign that the 47 year old will not be so active this season.

In our opinion, Tiger’s not done yet — if he manages to heal up.

He should still have another good run in him. Just look at 52 year-old Phil Mickelson’s 2nd place at the Masters. But as LaCava moves over to greener pastures, that means that Tiger’s caddy spot is up for grabs.

In reality, caddie moves are entirely unexpected. Take a look at this breakdown from Dan Rappaport:

Geno Bonnalie, Joel Dahmen’s current caddy, sent a clever “How you doin? ;)” tweet to Tiger.

Would Geno take the gig? Probably not. As he’s reported to have a great relationship with Dahmen.

But we just got to applaud the caddy’s quick wit and perfectly timed Joey quote.

“The OWGR should just do their job”.

It’s back to our regular Phil Mickelson incendiary tweet report.

We all know Phil has been highly critical of the OWGR.

TLDR; Phil thinks they’re evil and are only serving the financial interests of the PGA Tour without regard for the greater world of golf, aka LIV.

And he does have a point, since the OWGR doesn’t rank hundreds of players from other leagues that aren’t LIV.

The OWGR’s ranking criteria is anything but straightforward.

So in typical Phil fashion, he got into a heated Twitter debate of sorts with golf reporter Colt Knost.

Knost’s position: You knew what you were getting into so now live with it.

Mickelson’s position: It’s called OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING for a reason. And the golf world is wider than the PGA Tour.

In a nutshell:

There really wasn’t any resolution on the topic, as both weren’t really willing to budge. So as it often happens in the world of Twitter, everyone just eventually tuned out and kept on with their lives.

PGA Tour action is back for the Wells Fargo Championship

The newly appointed designated event has now received the expected $20 million purse treatment.

So this means it will draw in all the biggest names on the PGA Tour roster.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, two-time winner Max Homa, and Justin Thomas are all there. So far, there is some great golf being played!

Notable absences are Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler who have been on a tear this season. But apparently they need a break—so they’re sitting this one out.

We can’t wait to see the action.

Meme of the Day

Happy Star Wars Day! (aka “May the 4th be with you!)

That’s it for today. Check in Monday, when we cover the highlights of the Wells Fargo Championship — and any other golf shenanigans.

Later gator,

E.