LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ludwig Aberg and caddy Joe Skovron are just part of Rhule’s history. They were the first to take advantage of the 2026 rules update that allows damaged clubs to be replaced on the spot.
In this case, it was the 18th tee of the third round at Pebble Beach.
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Aberg hit his drive out of bounds to the right on the ninth hole, the par-5 18th, and noticed the face of his driver was cracked.
Model Local Rule G-9 was updated in early 2025 to include visible cracks on the face (Matt Fitzpatrick had been denied the opportunity to change drivers at the BMW Championship at Castle Pines the year before). However, they still had to keep a spare driver or part in the locker room.
This year, the PGA Tour called for an update that would allow players to keep a spare driver head in their bag and swap it out on the course if a club is deemed damaged.
“They notified us of rule changes at the beginning of the year, and one of them was that we no longer had to keep (replacement players) in lockers,” Skovron said. “Before, someone had to get it. Now you can carry it in your bag, and if you think the screwdriver is damaged, you can put it in. I had a backup in the belly of my bag.”
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Skovron said it makes sense for power players with high speed and faces that are getting thinner and thinner.
Aberg called officials, found a crack, and Skovron installed a replacement. Otherwise, Aberg would have to use a 3-wood on his next tee shot and could not change drivers until he turned near the clubhouse. Aberg almost salvaged par and hit the green in two, but just missed the 18-foot putt.
Steve Rintoul, the PGA Tour’s director of rules, said what happened to Aberg was “a perfect example of why we pushed for local rule changes.”
“If a player finds a crack on the 10th tee, the caddy can go to the locker room. If it’s the 14th tee, it might take two holes to find it,” Rintoul said. “I like that if a club cracks or breaks, I can replace it on the spot. The old replacement methods were very antiquated.”
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Rory’s Quest
Rory McIlroy finally won the Masters Green Jacket and career Grand Slam last April, but he was constantly asked what he should pursue for the rest of the year.
His answer may be that the venue is just as important as the trophy.
“There are places we haven’t won yet and we’d like to win, and St. Andrews is one of them,” McIlroy said. “The Riviera would be another place.”
McIlroy lumps Riviera and Muirfield Village (Memorial, which he missed last year) together because of who the hosts are — Tiger Woods at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera this week and Jack Nicklaus at the Memorial. McIlroy already has a win at Bay Hill, hosted by the late Arnold Palmer.
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But it’s mostly about history, which is why last year’s win at Pebble Beach was so special. He finished runner-up at the 2024 Irish Open held at Royal County Down in his home country of Northern Ireland, but lost.
He can take down Riviera this week, the course Woods has played the most without winning (13 times as a pro). Nicklaus also couldn’t win on the Riviera.
But the biggest stage for McIlroy will be next year’s British Open at St. Andrews. McIlroy split the lead after 54 holes at the Old Course in 2022, until his putter got colder than the North Sea and he was passed by Cameron Smith.
The British Open will return to St Andrews in 2027. McIlroy has also played Dunhill Links (hosted by St. Andrews) 10 times, without winning. He has been runner-up three times.
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Lorup and Nantz
Brian Rolup has been CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises since last summer, but is still relatively new to golf after playing in the NFL for nearly 20 years. But speaking at the CBS annual reception in Pebble Beach, he said he had known CBS announcer Jim Nantz longer than anyone else in the room.
It wasn’t even an NFL connection.
One summer in the early 1990s, Rolup was waiting tables at Washington’s JW Steakhouse on his way home from college when his customer that night was Nantz, who was in town to cover the Kemper Open.
“I think I might end up in the sports business someday,” Lolap introduced himself.
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“And he couldn’t have used his time more graciously,” Rolup said. “I was nobody, and he was somebody. That’s how I met Jim Nantz.”
“So, how was the tip?” Nantz said when Rolup finished speaking.
Lorup never stepped outside.
“No one is perfect,” he said.
the club that disappeared
Augusta National asks Masters winners to donate clubs that helped them win, including the 7-iron that Rory McIlroy used to hit the sublime shot to 6 feet on the par-5 15th hole of the final round.
He just didn’t realize he actually donated it.
“I flew back the next day and it was like after the playoffs and I basically didn’t look at my golf club,” McIlroy said last week. “Then I realized my 7-iron was gone, which is a pretty important club.”
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It turns out his manager had already given it to Augusta National but forgot to tell McIlroy. It was easily replaced, and moreover, McIlroy agreed with the choice.
“If there was anything I was going to give the club, it would probably be that,” he said.
win and cry
Chris Gotterup is big and powerful until he wins. And he melts. He has four wins on the PGA Tour and is 0-4 in getting through interviews without crying.
He doesn’t know why it happens.
“My girlfriend said, ‘In the two years we’ve been together, the only time I’ve never cried is when we win,'” Gottapp said. “I don’t know what causes it to happen, but it happens. It’s just a crazy feeling. It’s like all week you’ve been trying to contain everything and there’s so much going through your head, and then the putt falls and all of a sudden your brain throws it all back together.
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“It’s an overwhelming amount of events hitting you all at once, and you realize what you just did.”
divot
Jeff Yang will replace Jim Hyler as chairman of the Masters Rules and Competition Committee. Heiler had held the role since the 2018 Masters. Yang, who previously served on the USGA Executive Committee, has served on the Masters Rules Committee since 2007 and the Competition Committee since 2018…Colin Morikawa posted the second-lowest weekend score (129) at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The worst record was Tiger Woods (63 wins, 64 losses) in 1997, second only to Mark O’Meara. … Chris Gotterup was ranked 28th in the world when he won the Sony Open. This remains the worst world ranking of PGA Tour winners this year. … Saheeth Segala is the first Presidents Cup player to earn the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption from the Genesis Invitational, given to demonstrate progress in diversity in golf.
This week’s statistics
Scottie Scheffler has never come closer than seven strokes to the winner in five games at Riviera.
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last word
“‘Improve 1% every day’ is something I’m going to hold on to until the day I die. I don’t see why I can’t get back to the top again.” — Anthony Kim after winning his first LIV Golf Adelaide in almost 16 years.
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
