The USGA backed Langer and Scott McCarron’s responses to drumbeats that Champions Tour players anchor their putters despite golf’s governing bodies banning the practice more than two years ago.

Brandel Chamblee has been on something of a crusade of late to get the USGA to crack down on anchored-putter scofflaws, most specifically Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron.

“I cannot believe what I am seeing on PGA Tour Champions, with regard to the putting strokes of Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron," Chamblee wrote on GolfChannel.com on July 5.

The GC analyst was following up on previous comments he made during the recent U.S. Senior Open that essentially accused Langer, the winner of the first two Champions Tour majors of 2017 who holds his sternum putter very close to his chest, with not abiding by the rules.

"Anybody who sees what Langer and Scott McCarron and Ian Woosnam are doing knows it's questionable," Chamblee told GC colleague Tim Rosaforte following the Senior Open at Salem Country Club. "The whispers are out there. All of the players look askance whether they say it openly or not. I've talked to enough of them to know — and many have contacted me — they all look askance at what's going on out there.”

Friday evening, in quintessential timing for news revelations the announcers would prefer you not notice, Langer and McCarron, with the blessing of the USGA, denied Chamblee’s assertions. So in case you were on the course, at the beach, or otherwise enjoying a glorious summer weekend and not giving anchored putting a second thought, you may have missed the curious rebuttal to Chamblee’s accusation.

“During my 45-year career as a professional golfer, I have called penalties on myself. I believe in honesty and integrity, and I could not live with myself if I broke a rule and did not incur the penalty,” Langer said in a joint statement with McCarron and the rules overlords. “I’m certain that I am not anchoring the putter and that my putting stroke is not violating the Rules of Golf.”

McCarron “emphatically” denied anchoring his hand, arm, or club against his body while navigating his putter. Both senior players said USGA and Champions Tour officials had exonerated them on several occasions.

“I will remain open and honest with rules officials and the governing bodies,” Langer concluded, “and I will continue to play with the same integrity that I’ve displayed throughout my career.”

The USGA, in the same statement in which the organization backed the two, proclaimed itself “confident” that players on all professional tours abide by Rule 14-1b, which bans anchored putting and which sparked much controversy before its adoption in 2016. The association also said that players whose clubs brush their shirts are not breaking the rule.

“We … have seen no evidence of a player breaching the Rule, which does not prohibit a hand or club to touch a player’s clothing in making a stroke,” said the USGA.

In addition to calling out competitors for what he considered playing fast and loose with the regulation, Chamblee called on the USGA to close the loophole that provides golfers and rules officials with a “get-out-of-jail card” by exonerating would-be rules-breakers if there were no “intent” to clutch the clubs against their bodies.

Chamblee won’t be holding his breath for such a clarification.

“I’ll assume none of that will happen, and that the rule will stand as written, which does provide a loophole for those — and there is no way to gild this lily — that have the lack of character to take advantage of it,” Chamblee wrote.

Brittany Lincicome takes a Twitter break after John Daly ripped her for her Trump comments.

Let the circus begin!

Brittany Lincicome's Twitter account became the first casualty of what promises to be a Donald Trump-inspired sideshow to the actual competition at this week's U.S. Women's Open. The two-time major winner said she hoped Trump would stay away from the event at his Trump National course in Bedminster, N.J. After POTUS-supporter John Daly tweeted an attack on her, she responded by saying she would take a break from social media during the major championship.

Lincicome, who recently suggested to the Chicago Tribune that Trump’s appearance at the women’s third major of the season could distract from play on the course, said on Sunday she would maintain Twitter silence during the week of the event.

“Hopefully, maybe, he doesn’t show up, and it won’t be a big debacle, and it will be about us and not him,” Lincicome said after the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “I don’t know him. I have met him probably once. I think it will be fine. We’re going to play an amazing golf course and let our clubs do the talking.”

Cue Daly, who tweeted a defense of his “great friend” while recommending that critics of The Donald keep their mouths shut.

UltraViolet, a group whose mission it is to fight sexism, has been protesting the USGA’s decision to hold the Women’s Open at a Trump track and will likely redouble its efforts this week. It seems, though, that Daly’s post was the spark that fueled Lincicome’s temporary withdrawal from social media.

Lincicome, who proclaimed herself apolitical, “with nothing against the president,” also accused her critics of misinterpreting her comments.

Buckle up, golf fans. POTUS promises to make the U.S. Women’s Open a rocky ride.

The USGA backed Langer and Scott McCarron’s responses to drumbeats that Champions Tour players anchor their putters despite golf’s governing bodies banning the practice more than two years ago.

Brandel Chamblee has been on something of a crusade of late to get the USGA to crack down on anchored-putter scofflaws, most specifically Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron.

“I cannot believe what I am seeing on PGA Tour Champions, with regard to the putting strokes of Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron," Chamblee wrote on GolfChannel.com on July 5.

The GC analyst was following up on previous comments he made during the recent U.S. Senior Open that essentially accused Langer, the winner of the first two Champions Tour majors of 2017 who holds his sternum putter very close to his chest, with cheating.

"Anybody who sees what Langer and Scott McCarron and Ian Woosnam are doing knows it's questionable," Chamblee told GC colleague Tim Rosaforte following the Senior Open at Salem Country Club. "The whispers are out there. All of the players look askance whether they say it openly or not. I've talked to enough of them to know — and many have contacted me — they all look askance at what's going on out there.”

Friday evening, in quintessential timing for news revelations the announcers would prefer you not notice, Langer and McCarron, with the blessing of the USGA, denied Chamblee’s assertions. So in case you were on the course, at the beach, or otherwise enjoying a glorious summer weekend and not giving anchored putting a second thought, you may have missed the curious rebuttal to Chamblee’s accusation.

“During my 45-year career as a professional golfer, I have called penalties on myself. I believe in honesty and integrity, and I could not live with myself if I broke a rule and did not incur the penalty,” Langer said in a joint statement with McCarron and the rules overlords. “I’m certain that I am not anchoring the putter and that my putting stroke is not violating the Rules of Golf.”

McCarron “emphatically” denied anchoring his hand, arm, or club against his body while navigating his putter. Both senior players said USGA and Champions Tour officials had exonerated them on several occasions.

“I will remain open and honest with rules officials and the governing bodies,” Langer concluded, “and I will continue to play with the same integrity that I’ve displayed throughout my career.”

The USGA, in the same statement in which the organization backed the two, proclaimed itself “confident” that players on all professional tours abide by Rule 14-1b, which bans anchored putting and which sparked much controversy before its adoption in 2016. The association also said that players whose clubs brush their shirts are not breaking the rule.

“We … have seen no evidence of a player breaching the Rule, which does not prohibit a hand or club to touch a player’s clothing in making a stroke,” said the USGA.

In addition to calling out competitors for what he considered playing fast and loose with the regulation, Chamblee called on the USGA to close the loophole that provides golfers and rules officials with a “get-out-of-jail card” by exonerating would-be rules-breakers if there were no “intent” to clutch the clubs against their bodies.

Chamblee won’t be holding his breath for such a clarification.

“I’ll assume none of that will happen, and that the rule will stand as written, which does provide a loophole for those — and there is no way to gild this lily — that have the lack of character to take advantage of it,” Chamblee wrote.

Brandel Chamblee thinks the “integrity” of the Irish Open was diminished because of a rules controversy.

Jon Rahm would likely have won the Irish Open on Sunday in a walk anyway, but the Spaniard escaped at least a one-stroke penalty when he replaced his ball on the sixth green in the wrong place and got away with it.

Certainly, that’s the way Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee saw it, when he pointed a finger at Rahm for the poor placement and longtime rules official Andy McFee for botching the call in a scenario reminiscent of, but with an outcome vastly different from, Lexi Thompson’s four-stroke miscue at the ANA Inspiration.

To allow Daniel Im an unimpeded line to the cup on No. 6 at Portstewart in Northern Ireland, Rahm marked his ball to the side and moved it. After his playing partner putted, Rahm put his mark down correctly and then set his ball in front of it, a placement that seemed to get it closer to the hole. McFee spoke with Rahm and decided the golfer may have given himself a more favorable lie by “millimeters,” but that he had not intended to breach the rule:

“The integrity of the competition was certainly at risk, and the dynamic of the competition completely changed from what it should have been to one person’s interpretation, and in my opinion, a wrong interpretation of it,” Chamblee said later on Golf Channel:

“Andy McFee certainly has a great reputation administering the rules in a fair manner, but I believe he got this one wrong,”

Chamblee added. “It wasn’t millimeters. It was inches; probably two to three inches this ball was misplaced.”

Because Rahm violated the rule, in Chamblee’s view, he should have incurred a one-shot penalty and instead of playing from the sixth hole with a five-shot lead, his advantage would have been just three strokes.

“And all of a sudden, what looks to be something easy and a walk in the park becomes very stressful,” Chamblee opined. “The dynamic certainly changed there, and I don’t believe it changed for the right reason.”

Rahm, for his part, was chagrined by the situation but believes it was a big to-do about not much at all.

"It really makes me feel bad that my first win on the European Tour is always going to have that little mark on it," he told BBC.com. "I thought I put it back exactly where it was, but they came to me and told me it was such a slight difference.”

While the rules do not make allowances for such things, Rahm said the kerfuffle was “silly” because he was putting from such a short distance.

“I mean, when we're talking about putts that are a foot from the hole, it just seems so silly, because it's a putt that's going to go in a hundred times out of a hundred,” he told reporters following his victory. “I mean, Lexi was leading that major championship and I was playing the way that I was playing. It's not like it's a putt from six feet to win the tournament and you're moving it three feet in front of you, right. It's such a small difference.”

Though he came out unscathed, Rahm essentially shrugged his shoulders and chose to move on.

“I do believe that the Rules of Golf should leave a little bit to the interpretation, because it can't be exact every single time,” he said. “Every situation is different and every moment is different, and the camera angle can always be something that might fool the eye. In my case today, I was aware of what I did, and I thought I put it back in the same spot.

“It's just golf,” Rahm concluded.

The Greenbrier Classic boasts a strong $7.1 million purse this year.

The Greenbrier Classic is back in 2017 and it comes with a hefty $7.1 million purse. It’s an impressive feat for the Greenbrier just to be hosting an event on the top golf tour in the world just a year after devastating floods wrecked the course. There were, of course, much more important and consequential damages from the historic floods that hit West Virginia just over a year ago. The entire state was affected by the disaster, and the Greenbrier served a key role in the relief efforts and then as a rallying impetus for the recovery.

Jim Justice, the absurdly wealthy coal magnate and governor of West Virginia, is the driving force behind the re-emergence of this resort and for bringing the PGA Tour to the hills of West Virginia. The Greenbrier has drawn some big names in its short time back on the schedule, some of which are “ambassadors” of the facility with homes on the property, such as Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson. It was a resort that was once in a bit of trouble and waning, but is now pretty mint with a completely renovated and pure Old White TPC course.

Those renovations, of course, were forced by the flooding, which “rolled up” entire greens and shredded the course last summer. This is the first big reveal of the updated track and it has looked beautiful and held up all week. This may not have the best spot on the PGA Tour schedule, and its field can be a little meh outside some of those ambassadors, but its purse can compete with just about any on the PGA Tour. Anything in the $7 million-plus club is on the richer side for PGA Tour purses, which continue to grow each year. This year’s winner will take home almost $1.3 million in prize money, while second place can bank more than $750k.

Here’s the full payout table — these totals will obviously be affected by ties and we’ll update when results go final:

A year after devastating floods, the Greenbrier Classic is back to crown a champion in West Virginia.

You will hear it throughout the broadcast on Sunday — that this final round of the Greenbrier Classic is even happening is an accomplishment. A year ago, the entire area was under water, the event canceled due to historic flooding that devastated West Virginia and resulted in far more consequential damage than the cancellation of a golf tournament. The Greenbrier served as a place of refuge for many displaced and then helped rally some of the clean-up and recovery efforts.

Now, a year later, the course has been completely re-done, compelled to renovate really instead out out of choice or vanity. There will be a winner and a purse doled out and FedExCup points awarded, but the week is more a celebration of what the people of West Virginia and the Greenbrier have been able to accomplish in the recovery of last year’s flood.

Sebastian Munoz and Robert Streb will be the final pairing, going at 2 p.m. ET off the first tee. It’s not the strongest field and the leaderboard probably doesn’t have the sex appeal CBS would prefer. But the course has been the star this week, with so much of the original C.B. Macdonald work prevalent throughout — there’s a thumbprint 18th green, a Biarritz, a Redan, and an immaculately conditioned course with brand new greens. It’s a cool test and a nice change-up with a more historic architectural feel.

Coming right off the heels of a Euro Tour conclusion at the Irish Open, Golf Channel will have the early-round coverage, which should feature the end of Phil Mickelson’s round in his first event in 25 years without longtime looper Bones Mackay. CBS will take over for their usual late-afternoon coverage and a targeted conclusion just before 6 p.m. ET. Here’s your media schedule for Sunday at the Greenbrier:

Sunday’s final-round coverage

Television:

1 to 2:30 p.m. ET — Golf Channel

3 to 6 p.m. — CBS

Online streams:

1 to 2:30 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

2:30 to 6:30 p.m. — PGA Tour Live/CBS simulcast stream

Radio:

1 to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 92/208 and streamed here)

TEE TIMES

Here’s the full tee sheet for the final round in West Virginia:

• 8:20 a.m.: Tyrone Van Aswegen, Zac Blair
• 8:29 a.m.: Bubba Watson, Jonathan Byrd
• 8:38 a.m.: Joaquin Niemann, Matt Jones
• 8:47 a.m.: Brian Gay, Tommy Gainey
• 8:56 a.m.: John Huh, Trey Mullinax
• 9:05 a.m.: Gary Woodland, David Lingmerth
• 9:14 a.m.: Daniel Obremski, Phil Mickelson
• 9:23 a.m.: Robert Garrigus, Smylie Kaufman
• 9:32 a.m.: Julian Etulain, Geoff Ogilvy
• 9:41 a.m.: Martin Flores, Patrick Rodgers
• 9:50 a.m.: Ted Potter Jr., C.T. Pan
• 9:59 a.m.: Camilo Villegas, J.J. Henry
• 10:08 a.m.: Harold Varner III, J.J. Spaun
• 10:17 a.m: Mark Hubbard, Jimmy Walker
• 10:26 a.m.: Ryan Brehm, Shawn Stefani
• 10:35 a.m.: Michael Kim, Brett Stegmaier
• 10:44 a.m.: Patrick Reed, Charles Howell III
• 10:53 a.m.: Scott Stallings, Mackenzie Hughes
• 11:02 a.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Mark Anderson
• 11:11 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Alex Cejka
• 11:20 a.m.: Stewart Cink, Hunter Mahan
• 11:30 a.m.: Ben Martin, Bill Haas
• 11:40 a.m.: Brian Campbell, Nick Watney
• 11:50 a.m. Kevin Streelman, Ryan Blaum
• Noon: Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson
• 12:10 p.m.: Roberto Castro, Curtis Luck
• 12:20 p.m.: Brandon Hagy, Harris English
• 12:30 p.m.: Graham DeLaet, Seamus Power
• 12:40 p.m.: Rory Sabbatini, Jonathan Randolph
• 12:50 p.m.: David Hearn, Chris Stroud
• 1 p.m.: Chad Campbell, James Hahn
• 1:10 p.m.: J.B. Holmes, Hudson Swafford
• 1:20 p.m.: Nick Taylor, Danny Lee
• 1:30 p.m.: Davis Love III, Tony Finau
• 1:40 p.m.: Kelly Kraft, Russell Henley
• 1:50 p.m.: Xander Schauffele, Jamie Lovemark
• 2 p.m.: Sebastian Munoz, Robert Streb

Rory McIlroy ditches Twitter after acknowledging that he regrets responding to disrespectful tweets from a former PGA Champion.

Rory McIlroy has joined the ranks of Dottie Pepper, Lee Westwood, Pat Perez, Stacy Lewis, Morgan Pressel, and other notables of the golf world who have threatened to or have actually left Twitter for a period of time.

Pepper and Perez blasted “trolls” for forcing them off the social media platform, and Lewis and Pressel returned to Twitter after taking leaves of absence for other reasons.

In McIlroy’s case, his Twitter tiff with 1995 PGA Champion winner Steve Elkington caused the Ulsterman to tune out the noise, at least for a bit. McIlroy said on Wednesday that his heated response to Elkington’s assertion that he was “bored” while missing the cut at last month’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills convinced him he needed a break from the Twitter-verse.

“I must have wrote that tweet and deleted it about five times before I actually sent it,” McIlroy said from the Irish Open, where he hopes this week to defend his 2016 title. “It’s one of those things.”

Somewhere, Brandel Chamblee is smiling. The Golf Channel analyst wrote earlier this year that “golf should ban Twitter, not because it is interfering with the practice of the game, but because it is interfering with the civility of it.

“Twitter may have originally been a burst of inconsequential information, but it has turned into 140 characters of kindling, burning civility to a fine crisp,” Chamblee said on GolfChannel.com. “I can understand the discord involving politics, religion and war, but what is there to argue about in golf, I mean, besides the fact I am still paid to talk about it for a living?”

We’re guessing McIlroy would agree with that sentiment.

“I sort of regret sending it at the end but I actually gave my wife, Erica, my phone and my Twitter and told her, ‘change my password to something else and don’t tell me what it is,’” he said, according to multiple reports. “I’m off social media just because of that reason. I don’t need to read it. It’s stuff that shouldn’t get to you and sometimes it does.”

McIlroy added that he was especially irritated by the source of the “bored” comment since Elkington understood the stress that comes with playing major championship golf. Perhaps he did at one time, back before Y2K, which is when he last won on the PGA Tour, but the author of that particular hot take is now known far more for his terrible tweets — like this bigoted post about Michael Sam at the NFL Combine that earned him a suspension from the PGA Tour — than his skills on the golf course.

Still, he did win a major, which is what really ticked off McIlroy.

"It's not what was said, it was who said it,” said McIlroy. “Anyone that has been in that environment should realize how golf is at times and I think that's the thing that got to me more than anything else.”

McIlroy noted he “could let it slide” if a media member had dissed him because “they don't know how it is and what you have to deal with. But a former player that has won a major and been successful, that's why it got to me and why I retaliated."

Woods said in June he was receiving professional help to manage his medications.

Tiger Woods says he’s completed a “private intensive program” as part of his treatment following an arrest for driving under the influence in late May. He released a statement on Monday through his Twitter account giving an update as he works to get his life back in order.

“I recently completed an out of state private intensive program. I will continue to tackle this going forward with my doctors, family, and friends. I am so very thankful for all of the support I’ve received.”

Woods was arrested and charged with DUI in Jupiter, Fla., near his home on May 29 after what he described as an “unexpected reaction” to the mix of prescription drugs he was taking.

The golfer has undergone countless surgeries over the years to try to continue his playing career, including a recent spinal fusion surgery. The 41-year-old has not golfed competitively since February. He’s undergone four back surgeries over the years.

In mid-June, Woods announced that he was “currently receiving professional help” for how to manage his medications and deal with pain.

I’m currently receiving professional help to manage my medications and the ways that I deal with back pain and a sleep disorder. I want to thank everyone for the amazing outpouring of support and understanding especially the fans and players on tour.

Now it appears he’s completed the program that he was going through, and will continue to the next phase of his treatment and recovery.

Ko, No. 1 in the world for 85 straight weeks and with four victories last year, has lost her top ranking and is 0-for-2017 after making major changes to her entourage.

It was not that long ago when we were noting that even a natural disaster like the earthquake that rattled parts of New Zealand early last year could not shake Lydia Ko’s nearly flawless play as the then-teen phenom continued to compile win after win and secure her stranglehold on the world No. 1 ranking.

Then, during and after a 2016 season that featured four LPGA Tour wins, including her second major at the ANA Inspiration, and three runner-up and seven additional top-10 finishes, Ko took it upon herself (with some help from her parents) to shake things up.

In October, with three tourneys yet to play, she fired caddie Jason Hamilton, who had been lugging Ko’s bag for two years. In the offseason, she ditched Callaway gear in favor of PXG equipment and split from longtime coaches David Leadbetter and Sean Hogan, who helped her win eight events that included her first major, as well as 2014 Rookie of the Year and 2015 Player of the Year honors, and hired on with Gary Gilchrist.

She did struggle somewhat after her Marathon Classic win a year ago, with three top-10s but also a T51 and two T43s in nine events, and hoped that wholesale changes in her entourage would fuel a new competitive drive heading into 2017. In April of this year, following a T2 finish at the Lotte Championship and three other top 10s before that, Ko gave looper Gary Matthews the pink slip after just nine events together.

Pete Godfrey, Ko’s 10th bagman since she turned pro three years ago, is now looping for the 20-year-old Kiwi by way of South Korea. Though she praised Godfrey last week for his “positive attitude,” one can’t help but wonder how long he will be handing her clubs after she blamed “a club selection error” for her first of nine bogies in Saturday’s third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on her way to a horrific 5-over 76. Hey, we hear her No. 1 PGA Tour golfer’s ex-bagman may be looking for a new boss.

But wait. There’s more.

Earlier this month, the world No. 3 added another new face to her inner circle, putting coach Gareth Raflewski, who also instructs Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn and Jane Park, who is married to Godfrey.

“They say when it’s working why change?” Ko said in a December email to LPGA.com. “Even though I have made quite a few changes the past few months, I guess I didn’t realize until people started pointing it out to me. But I don’t regret making them.”

We wonder if Ko would make such a statement today, after foundering mightily over the weekend at the second major of the women’s season, where she followed that nightmarish third round with a 75 to finish in a tie for 59th at 5-over for the week — 18 shots behind winner Danielle Kang.

This, after climbing into contention earlier in the week with a 68 in Friday’s second round.

Ko is certainly not the first successful champion to swap out swing coaches (see: Tiger Woods/Butch Harmon, Hank Haney, Sean Foley, Chris Como, Notah Begay III), switch equipment suppliers (ask Rory McIlroy about his 2013 season after dumping Titleist for Nike), or hop on the caddie-go-round (Cristie Kerr knows something about that), and she likely won’t be the last.

But so many changes in such a short period of time after such huge successes at the start of her professional career certainly do not seem to be doing Ko much good. For now though, she was speaking about the cold-weather attire she wore on what turned out to be a steamy Friday, Ko could have been summing up her season when she told reporters, “Now it’s all gone wrong … it’s all gone wrong.”

Of course, Ko can’t hoist a trophy in every tournament she starts. But here’s hoping the youngest player to achieve so much (tour winner, Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year, among other accomplishments) can find a way to rekindle the spark that had her at the top of the game, or she may retire before she reaches 30.

The field may be thin at the Quicken Loans National, but the purse is still deep.

The Quicken Loans National is definitely missing some firepower this year, but its purse is up there and competitive with any on the PGA Tour. While almost every single purse is over $6 million on the PGA Tour schedule, and all the winners usually get $1 million-plus, the over-$7 million club is still a bit more exclusive. That’s where the Quicken Loans National resides right now with a $7.1 million purse this year at TPC Potomac.

This is an invitational, so we start with a smaller field right from the beginning Thursday. Last week, the field at the Travelers came in around the larger 150 mark. The U.S. Open had 156 players. This week’s field was limited to 120 players, giving everyone a better chance to make some cash this week. The cut is still made at the same top 70 mark but it’s on you if you cannot get to the weekend to make it worth your while and pocket some money for the week in DC.

The winner this year will bank $1,278,000 from the total $7.1 million purse, which is a hefty sum that’s largely due to this week’s host, Tiger Woods, making this entire Tour a big money game. The contenders late on Sunday come from varied levels of accomplishment in the game. There’s Curtis Luck, making just his sixth start as a pro, holding a one-shot lead as he approaches the turn at TPC Potomac. Luck has just $68,211 in career earnings, although as a top-ranked amateur coming into this year, he’s presumably not hurting for cash and was taken care of once he turned pro.

Then there’s Rickie Fowler, the unofficial host of sorts with his Quicken endorsement deal and Tiger’s absence. Fowler makes a boatload of cash from all those off-course deals he’s got — it’s hard to go a commercial break during a golf event without seeing the Ricktator. Aside from whatever astronomical sum he’s bringing in off the course, he’s also got $30,273,032 in career earnings, which is slightly more than Luck’s $68,000.

Neither Luck nor Fowler may win, but it still looks like they’d be in line for nice six-figure payouts if they don’t get first place. Here’s your full payout table -- these totals will obviously be affected by ties and we’ll update once results go final from TPC Potomac:

Stephen Curry’s playing in the Ellie Mae Classic on the Web.com Tour. Is that bad? I don’t know, pick your own place on the chart.

Earlier today, the PGA Tour announced that Stephen Curry will tee it up in the Ellie Mae Classic, a second-tier Web.com Tour event just outside the Bay Area in early August. It’s totally fine and normal for professional athletes and celebrities outside golf to take part in professional golf events — the Bob Hope Classic and Pebble Beach events heave been built on such for years.

But this is different. Rather than competing in some exhibition pro-am, Curry will actually be in the actual field. With professional golfers. He’s playing to actually playing to win as an actual member of the field, playing on sponsor’s exemption. Steph is a good player and big golf fan — he was a solid-to-good player as a junior and is now known to spend weekend mornings watching the European Tour. On a quick eval of his credentials, he was probably good enough to play in college somewhere.

But this is the Web.com Tour, the gateway to the PGA Tour, a place that can make or break lives.

Sponsors exemptions in pro tournaments are a thing golf people have, well, opinions on even for golf’s legitimate stars. We’re already debating whether Tiger Woods is worthy of entry to certain big events when his exemptions run out. Sure, much of that is golf’s holier-than-thou nature at times. But it’s a whole different type of situation when some dude’s coming to tee it up from some other sport for show. Any beef, whilst still possibly dumb, becomes much more legitimate.

Is it bad that Curry’s playing in a Web.com Tour even? I don’t know! Rather than let me tell you how to feel, choose your own adventure! To help you decide how mad you should be about Curry, not a pro golfer, playing in a pro golf event, here is Whether Steph Curry Playing in a Web.Com Tour Event is Good or Bad, As Explained by various levels of Glowing Brain Meme.

NORMAL BRAIN: This is totally fine and cool. Seems neat!

Steph’s gonna play a Web tour event! Cool!

Listen, golf needs fans and allies outside the traditional realms in which they exist. Golf’s demo is aging and turbo-white — and anything that can be done to change that should be welcomed! Curry is an uber-popular NBA MVP, current champion, and perhaps one of the most visible athletes on the planet currently — and he loves golf. He spent his weekend watching the danged Travelers! He’s friends with Jordan Spieth! He’s even admitted to having dreams of playing on the PGA Tour after basketball’s over!

This isn’t some guy who doesn’t understand what the Web Tour is — or what it means for the regular players. Steph is a true golf fan, and was probably good enough to play at college at some level. He gets it. This is good.

Curry being involved with second-tier tours is just fine, and this should draw some new eyeballs to the game. It’s cool he’s gonna give this a shot.

BIGGER BRAIN: Steph Curry playing in a Web.com Tour event takes a possible life-changing opportunity away from a struggling mini-tour golfer.

Hold on there, champ! Steph Curry’s a fine golfer — you don’t play at a 0.6 handicap index at your local club without being able to stripe it. But for context, at that rate he’s probably comparable at best to a replacement-level, low-major or lower-division men’s college player. Those guys don’t play professionally. They have office jobs. Or they write golf blogs. No, please, stop don’t look at me like that.

Even if he’s a scratch, there are thousands of players in America more deserving of a possibly life-changing Web.com tour exemption than Stephen Curry. Presumably the spot taken by Steph in the Ella Mae Classic field is one that could’ve been populated by some Monday qualifier living out of his car. That’s bad! Sure, sure — sponsors exemptions aren’t zero sum, and the chances of the one player left out of the field because of Steph winning this given week would be slim. But still, this is bad! Any time someone’s appropriating the means of putting food on the table of another to create a sideshow, well, yeah, people are gonna get mad.

Making it through Q-School to even the Web.com Tour is extremely, extremely hard. Take Lee McCoy for example. Thanks to the NCAA’s rules, the former Georgia star had to turn down $300,000 when he only had $350 after finishing in the top five as an amateur at last year’s Valspar Championship. Now, even after proving himself on the sport’s biggest stage, he’s toiling on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada — a step or two below the Web.com Tour’s offerings. He’d be someone that loses out from Steph’s inclusion in the field. His reaction is predictable — and understandable.

A heavy percentage of Golf Twitter, especially lower-level players, will be miffed about Steph’s inclusion in the field. It’s understandable.

GLOWING BRAIN: Steph Curry’s one-time appearance is worth more to Web.com tour players as a whole than one Monday qualifier’s spot.

Perhaps let’s be a little callous and blunt: Curry’s possible hackshow is worth more than a shot at a Lee McCoy win to Web.com Tour players as a whole, probably.

Consider most of lower tour’s events generally toil in almost complete anonymity, occasionally one peeking the head out into consciousness of golf nerds only when something really interesting happens. Even we don’t pay much attention. Perhaps we should, but that’s another topic for another time.

The fact that I’m writing about a Web.com Tour event on a random Wednesday in June is a deviation from normal. Standard media fare for the PGA Tour’s developmental events are the occasional late weekend window on the Golf Channel on tape delay. They’re hyper-regional events (Evansville! Wichita! Springfield! Knoxville!) and come with relatively low exposure. What does that mean for sponsors? Little return on investment outside the immediate market where the tournament exists.

But today, more people have googled ELLIE MAE CLASSIC probably than the last decade combined. This isn’t perfect logic, but increased exposure here and happier sponsors should lead to more tournaments, bigger purses, et cetera. Some economist will probably come up with some half-baked calculation on what Curry playing in this one event is worth for the Web.com Tour. That added interest coming in the form of dollars, in the long run, a net gain for most players.

Don’t ask me exactly how, but it will. I think. Something something opportunity cost, or whatever.

COSMIC BRAIN: THE NBA IS PAYING THE PGA TOUR MILLIONS TO LET STEPH CURRY INTO THIS EVENT TO HELP THE LEAGUE GENERATE OFFSEASON HEADLINES AND MITIGATE THE GROWING TV RATINGS THREAT FROM MINOR LEAGUE GOLF.

I’VE SEEN THE DATA. THE APPROXIMATE 3,000 VIEWERS THAT TOOK IN THE REX HOSPITAL OPEN TOOK A CHUNK OUT OF THE NBA FINALS’ NUMBERS. BIG BASKETBALL WON’T TELL YOU THEY’RE OUT TO STICK IT TO GOLF AND ENSURE THAT CAPTIVATING STARS LIKE BRYSON DECHAMBEAU DON’T USURP THE BRAND POWER OF LEBRON JAMES.

Lefty beats Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko, and Stacy Lewis in a chipping contest

If Phil Mickelson wins a golf game with no money on the line, does it count? Well, not for anything more than bragging rights, but that’s exactly what the newly “Bones”-less southpaw did on Monday, when he defeated three of the best women golfers in the world in a short-game skills competition ahead of this week’s second major on the women’s schedule, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

“Unlikely, unlikely,” Mickelson told the Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein about whether the event featuring defending champion Brooke Henderson and former world No. 1s Lydia Ko and Stacy Lewis — broadcast live on Facebook — would feature money changing hands as it does when he plays practice rounds with fellow PGA Tour players. “I’m a little nervous about playing them.

“Brooke just won two weeks ago [at the Meijer LPGA Classic], Stacy Lewis has an incredible short game, Lydia Ko’s been the No. 1 golfer [now No. 3] on the LPGA Tour the last couple of years, so I’m a little intimidated,” Mickelson said about his opponents in just one one of the activities he is participating in to drum up interest in the tournament. “I’m a little nervous, so I don’t know how much I’m willing to put at risk. But I am excited about the opportunity to see them in person, to see their games, and to take them on.”

Turns out Mickelson had nothing to worry about, as the scoreboard at the end of the video indicates.

Kudos to Lefty for going all in — as a booster, if not a financier — on helping the women break the glass ceiling in the chipping contest in which all four players hit flop shots over an eight-foot wall and attempted to smash panes of glass suspended 20 feet in the air.

In addition to participating in the clash of champions, Mickelson was all over Chicago, handing out tickets to the tourney ...

... and illustrating how easy it is for fans to hop the commuter rail and head out to the game at a course that has staged two U.S. Opens and a host of other major professional and amateur championships.

“This is a premier event on the LPGA Tour. Its one of the largest purses, the best fields,” Mickelson told Greenstein. “The LPGA product right now is really a strong product. They've got a great number of good, young, talented athletes and players, and this is a great opportunity to come see them play on a world-class championship course in Olympia Fields.”

Good, young, talented athletes, indeed. Henderson begins the defense of her 2016 title at 9:40 a.m. ET Thursday on the first tee in the company of Ariya Jutanugarn, who lost her world No. 1 spot after two weeks at the top to last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship winner So Yeon Ryu, and Alison Lee. Lewis goes off 10 minutes later with Sandra Gal and Michelle Wie, who hopes to celebrate the third anniversary of her 2014 U.S. Women’s Open with her second major victory.

Ko, who, after earning four Ws last year, has not won a tour event since July’s Marathon Classic, has a 2:50 p.m. date with another formerly top-ranked player, Inbee Park, and eight-time tour winner Lexi Thompson. Thompson is enjoying a strong season, with one win, at last month’s Kingsmill Championship, and four top-two finishes.