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Congrats to PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy for winning the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship last weekend at East Lake Golf Club in Georgia.
The win earned McIlroy an impressive $18 million payday, but what really impressed me was McIlroy's ability to stay focused and compete at the highest level in the midst of being the most outspoken critic of the new LIV Golf Tour.
For the past year, McIlroy has been extremely vocal in pledging his allegiance to the PGA Tour and has worked closely with fellow golfing great Tiger Woods to enact changes to make the tour more competitive against LIV Golf's aggressive recruitment of PGA stars.
Shortly after his win on Sunday, McIlroy didn't take long to double down on his criticism of LIV Golf and emphasized the fact that the new group is hurting the sport.
"I hate what it's done to the game of golf. I hate it, I really do," McIlroy said. "I think that when you believe what you're saying are the right things, you're happy to stick your neck out on the line."
Along with Woods, McIlroy has been steadfast in supporting all aspects of the PGA Tour against the threat that LIV Golf poses to the tour's very existence.
Kudos to McIlroy for "sticking to his guns" while also playing some of the best golf we've seen all year.
Local champions
Most of the club championships in our area are now completed.
That's the case with all five clubs involved in the upcoming Greater Altoona Tournament, and here is a quick summary of the winners:
MEN: Todd Homan (Park Hills), Artie Fink Jr. (Summit), Greg Ferguson (Sinking Valley), Spencer Hinish (Iron Masters) and Mike Macionsky (Scotch Valley).
WOMEN: Jess Burlingame (Park Hills), Chrissy Sears (Summit), Cassidy Miksich (Sinking Valley), Gwen Paden (Iron Masters) and Michelle Day (Scotch Valley).
Golf simulator
There aren't a lot of golf stories that catch me totally off-guard, but a recent occurrence on the European Tour absolutely floored me.
Most professional tournaments hold a spot or two open in their fields for pre-tournament qualifiers. The spots are coveted, and the qualifiers are typically highly competitive events.
Last week's Omega European Masters held in Switzerland had a qualifier of their own, but theirs played out in an extremely unusual manner.
Prior to this prestigious event, the Omega European Masters' held a qualifier that was actually played out on golf simulators.
More than 500 golfers from around the world competed over four rounds of golf on Foresight Golf simulators in order to win the one open wildcard spot.
In the end, Montenegro's Aleksandar Radoicic posted the lowest score and by doing so earned entry into an actual European Tour event.
Just when you thought you'd heard of everything ...
55 years ago
During the first week of September, 1967, Saint Francis University (then St. Francis College) opened its newly renovated golf course, Immergrun, to their alumni for the inaugural "Duffer's Tournament."
Ron Muffie was the event's low scorer with a total of 78.
Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at GLTR777@atlanticbb.net.