Written by Iona Stephen on Monday 16 December 2024
Golf presenter and TG columnist Iona Stephen reflects on some magical moments from what she calls “the most emotional year ever on the DP World Tour”. The 2024 DP World Tour season will be remembered as one of the most remarkable in recent history, not just for the exceptional level of play but for the deeply personal, inspiring stories that defined...
Written by Andrew (Beef) Johnston on Monday 16 December 2024
Tour pro and TG columnist Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston talks about golfers being caught swearing on the course. Potty-mouthed tour golfers have made plenty of headlines recently, with Tyrrell Hatton and Bob MacIntyre drawing ire for their repeated profanities at the Dunhill Links Championship. The presence of hot mics at every tour event means most golfers have been captured cursing on the course...
Written by Andrew (Beef) Johnston on Wednesday 16 October 2024
Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston is anxiously awaiting a scan on the injury that ended his DP World Tour season prematurely and has called on golf’s powers to create a more balanced schedule. The Englishman was forced to withdraw from the French Open in Paris after feeling soreness in the same thumb that ruled him out of golf for much of the last...
Written by Iona Stephen on Wednesday 25 September 2024
As The Presidents Cup gets underway in Montreal, one of golf’s leading broadcasters wants to see a huge change to the biennial contest. For most golf fans the biennial clash between 12 of America’s top men and a dozen International male stars sits far behind both the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup in terms of interest. And with Team USA winning...
Written by Andrew (Beef) Johnston on Wednesday 28 August 2024
In a revealing column, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston delves into the highs, lows and anxiety a professional golfer can face across four rounds at a tournament when your battling for your future. I set the course record, had my best finish since coming back from injury and there were so many positives. Yet when I walked off the 72nd hole at the...
Written by Iona Stephen on Thursday 22 August 2024
In the landscape of professional golf, where prize money and sponsorship deals often dominate the conversation, it’s easy to forget the essence and soul of the game we’ve all become so obsessed with, says TG Columnist Iona Stephen. Every once in a while, a tournament takes place that reminds us of this essence. Notably, the events that resonate most deeply with...
Written by Iona Stephen on Wednesday 26 June 2024
What did I learn while working at the R&A’s Amateur Championship? Professional golf needs more matchplay events… And those events need to be Majors. I had the pleasure of covering the prestigious Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Club’s spectacular Glashedy Links a few weeks ago. It got me thinking – why doesn’t professional golf have more matchplay events? They’re so captivating...
Thursday 30 May 2024
After spending a day with Butch Harmon, Iona Stephen shares the five lessons she learned from the greatest golf coach on the planet… and they’re not all about her swing. Butch Harmon is a legend in the world of golf. The greatest coach in the history of the game and one of the sport’s most recognizable voices, a lesson with Butch...
Thursday 30 May 2024
Perspective. It’s something golf has desperately needed over the last couple of years. It’s heartbreaking that it’s taken the death of one of our own to highlight that truly. Grayson Murray’s passing is a tragedy. Not because he was a golfer, but because he was a human being. A young man who was trying to fight his demons. The fact taking...
Thursday 2 May 2024
As TV audiences continue to dwindle, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston blames golf’s obsession with making the ‘rich richer’ and questions whether a divided sport can ever provide the drama fans once craved. I’m starting to wonder how the PGA Tour differs from LIV Golf. I remember when LIV arrived on the scene and Jay Monahan said his Tour prided itself on being...
Tuesday 30 April 2024
All the ingredients are there for Nelly Korda to set the same trailblazing path as basketball superstar Caitlin Clark, and take women’s golf to the next level says Iona Stephen. Some champions come into their sport and capture the imagination. Charisma and character charming fans around the world on and off the field. Partner charisma with the ability to win and...
Thursday 4 April 2024
Iona Stephen believes her life would be very different were it not for a public golf course in Edinburgh – and wants potential golfers to have an easy and affordable route into the game. Accessibility is, by definition, the practice of making environments (and other things) useable for as many people as possible. In golf, this ultimately relates to...
Wednesday 13 March 2024
Speaking ahead of the 50th Players Championship, agent Chubby Chandler questions Rory’s love for the game and says the PGA Tour is “devoid of superstars.” Not known for holding back, Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler lived up to his reputation in a frank interview with BetIdeas in which he gave his two cents worth on McIlroy’s struggles, the personality-lacking PGA Tour, and the...
Tuesday 27 February 2024
Greg Norman targets nostalgia in his quest to win over golf’s middle-ground and here’s why it’s a strategic masterclass. To the ocean’s King carnivore, the opportunity to dine on a delicacy once dubbed ‘the next Tiger Woods’, was not going to be left to the competition. The Great White took the bait again – and this time without guarantee of feeling...
Tuesday 6 February 2024
Iona Stephen explains why she’s excited about the DP World Tour’s future despite Chief Executive Keith Pelley’s resignation and players departing for LIV and the PGA Tour. Understandably there is some concern about the future of the DP World Tour after a tough couple of months. Big names Jon Rahm, Adrian Meronk, Lucas Herbert, and Tyrrell Hatton have all gone...
Tuesday 6 February 2024
As we count down to the year’s first golf Major, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston predicts who will lift the year’s biggest trophies, whether Tiger will win again, and who will be the breakout star. Two of the things I get asked the most are “Who’s going to win the Majors this year?” and “Who’s the next breakthrough star?”. So, to save me...
Wednesday 3 January 2024
Forget New Year’s resolutions, for golf fans January marks the countdown to the Majors and as you read this, it’s less than three months until the opening tee shots at the Masters! You’ll all have opinions on who will win the biggest events in 2024, and I’d love to hear them, but for now, I’ve looked into my crystal ball to...
Thursday 21 December 2023
In his latest column for Today’s Golfer, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston argues why golf needs more honesty from those in charge for the sake of the most important thing of all…the fans. I love golf, but the men’s professional game is in a f*cking mess. No one knows what’s going on and no one is being honest. I’m not blaming everything on LIV...
Wednesday 6 December 2023
Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston weighs in on the golf ball rollback debate and wants to see more strategy and control back in the game with greater risk-reward for pulling out the driver. Any professional complaining about the golf ball rollback should’ve played my comeback event in South Africa. My caddie and I barely had to speak on the tees… the course was...
Wednesday 6 December 2023
When the AIG Women’s Open arrives at St Andrews in 2024, Iona Stephen is hoping to have swapped her microphone for her golf clubs and be teeing it up alongside the world’s best. As the new year hurtles towards us, we’ll all be setting golf goals for 2024. Mine? I want to play in the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews! I...