Love named U.S. captain for Presidents Cup
Davis Love III is going back to where he was born for a job he knows as well as anyone.
The PGA Tour has selected Love to be U.S. captain for the Presidents Cup in 2022 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Trevor Immelman of South Africa previously was selected to be the International team captain.
It will be the third time Love has been captain of a U.S. team in the last 10 years. He was captain when Europe rallied from a 10-6 deficit to beat the Americans in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, and he was Ryder Cup captain for a rare U.S. victory four years later at Hazeltine.
He also was an assistant captain in the Ryder Cup under Corey Pavin in 2010 and Jim Furyk in 2018 and is on the staff of Steve Stricker this year. In the Presidents Cup, he has been an assistant under Fred Couples in 2013, Jay Haas in 2015 and Stricker in 2017. He does not lack for experience.
“My history with this event dating back to 1994 conjures up indelible memories of competition, camaraderie and sportsmanship, and I’m thrilled to be leading the top American players into Quail Hollow Club next September,” Love said.
The Presidents Cup was supposed to be played this year until the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Ryder Cup being postponed one year to this September.
Southern Hills to replace Trump National for ’22 PGA
The PGA Championship is headed back to Southern Hills next year, the Oklahoma course that gets its eighth major championship earlier than expected after the PGA of America cut ties with former President Donald Trump.
The 2022 PGA Championship originally was to be played at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey. The PGA voted to terminate that contract, signed in 2014, after the Trump-fueled riot at he U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress was certifying the election victory of President Joe Biden.
Southern Hills was not scheduled to host the PGA Championship until 2030.
The club was announced
Monday as the 2022 host, which means it will get backto-back big events starting with the Senior PGA Championship this May. That was one of the reasons it was appealing to move up Southern Hills in the PGA Championship rotation. The PGA of America already has a staff on site in Tulsa, Oklahoma, along with an operations blueprint that won’t need much work.
The PGA Championship this year will be at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, which last hosted the major in 2012 when Rory McIlroy won by eight shots. After Southern Hills, it goes to Oak Hill in Rochester, New York.
Thomas keeps Citi sponsorship; money to go to LGBTQ causes
Investment bank Citi decided Monday to keep its sponsorship of Justin Thomas, condemning the anti-gay slur he muttered and requiring him to donate a “meaningful portion” of his deal as part of an active role in LGBTQ causes.
Carla Hassan, the chief marketing officer of New York-based Citi, announced the decision in a company blog post titled, “When an apology isn’t enough.”
“We considered terminating our relationship with him,” she wrote. “It would send a clear and important message, but we decided to use this moment to work with Justin to try to create change.”
Thomas, the No. 3 player in the world whose 13 victories at age 27 include a major championship, missed a 4-foot par putt in the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Jan. 9 when television audio caught him muttering the slur under his breath. Thomas apologized after the third and final rounds.
Ralph Lauren Corp. ended its sponsorship of him a week later.
Hassan said some of her colleagues felt anything less than cutting ties to Thomas would undermine Citi’s commitment to the LGBTQ community and that was considered.
“We want to more than make it clear that it is wrong to use this word,” she wrote. “Instead, we hope our efforts can lead more people to make an affirmative choice not to use this word or others like it — and speak up when others do — because they understand the impact it can have, including on a friend, colleague or teammates who may be struggling with the decision to disclose their sexual orientation.”