Morning 9: Jack on Tiger’s health | RIP Lance Broeck | Kuchar, Jr. advances at US Open qualifier

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Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as another great field has assembled at the latest designated event on Tour – the Wells Fargo Championship.

1. Jack on Tiger’s health, surgery

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…”Nicklaus recounted how he sat next to Woods at the Champions Dinner at the Masters, as he does most years.”

• “We talk quite a bit,” Nicklaus said. “He said, ‘I’m really playing well. I’m hitting the ball great. My short game’s great. My putting’s good.’ He said, ‘I just can’t walk.’ And he says, ‘If it helps where I can walk, I’m willing to do it.’ ”

• “That’s about as good an explanation for why Woods agreed to go under the knife yet again as we’ve heard to date.”

• “He wouldn’t be having the operations if he wasn’t interested in wanting to continue to play,” Nicklaus said. “He’s a very motivated and dedicated young man to continue to play the game of golf.”

2. R.I.P. Lance Broeck

Schupak again…“Last Call” Lance Ten Broeck, who famously played and caddied in the same PGA Tour event, has died. He was 67.”

• “Ten Broeck grew up in Chicago, part of a family of golfers, and played collegiately at Texas. He qualified for the U.S. Open seven times and held the 36-hole lead in the 2012 U.S. Senior Open, but was the quintessential journeyman golfer, playing at least 14 tournaments in 12 seasons, making 355 career starts on the Tour, recording 11 top-10 finishes without ever claiming an official win.”

3. Rough stuff for England

Beth Nichols for Golfweek…”Team England suffered a devastating loss at the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown before a shot was struck.”

• “Both Georgia Hall and Charley Hull withdrew Saturday, leaving officials scrambling to replace them. Ladies European Tour players Alice Hewson and Liz Young were en route from England on Sunday to round out the four-player squad.”

• “Hall, ranked No. 10 in the world, is currently one of the hottest players on the LPGA and Hull, ranked 17th, isn’t far behind. Both players competed in this week’s JM Eagle LA Championship, with Hull taking a share of T-17 and Hall finishing T-44.”

4. Mike Sweeney’s saga

Ryan Young for Yahoo…“Sweeney has been trying to make it as a professional golfer for years. He first moved in with his dad in Florida in 2018, but he had to promise that he’d move out when he turned 25. So for years now, Sweeney has been living out of his car, sometimes in Walmart parking lots, or couch surfing between friends. He’ll still sneak into his dad’s apartment complex gym to workout and shower, and he works at a golf course that lets him practice.”

• “I either have to pay to play golf, or pay for a place to live,” he said. “I couldn’t really afford to do both.”

• “So last Monday, Sweeney paid $500 — most of his savings — and joined the Monday qualifier event for the HomeTown Lenders Championship. In what was his 12th qualifier, Sweeney holed out on the 18th to sneak his way into a playoff before finally earning a spot in the tournament.”

• “He finished the opening round with a 1-under 69. Friday, however, Sweeney carded a 3-over 73 and missed the cut. Ben Kohles won in a playoff over Ben Silverman on Sunday afternoon.”

• “While he didn’t make the cut, Sweeney is getting ready to join the PGA Tour Canada later this summer. At the rate he’s going, he’ll have plenty of more opportunities on a Tour, and to find a more permanent address, in the near future.”

5. “The worst thing to ever happen to a high handicapper”

Lee Trevino wasn’t complementary of the club when talking to Michael Breed…

• “Breed continued, “You are well known for your wedge play. How valuable, how important is the 60-degree in today’s game for this modern player versus when you were out playing with that big, Wilson, thick sole, R-90 wedge that was easy to get out of a bunker but very difficult to hit high-lofted shots around the greens with?”

• “One of the best clubs that I ever had, believe it or not, was the ‘Sandy Andy’,” Trevino remembered. “It had about 22 degrees of bounce on it. But you know, I played my hands forward and the ball back, so actually the bounce on the club was only like 13 by the time I hit the ball. And that’s just the way that it was.”

• “What about the current 60 degree as an asset over the 56?”

• “The 60-degree wedge is the worst thing that ever happened to a high-handicapper, because he can’t use the 56 yet,” exclaimed Trevino. “I mean, he’s got to learn to use the 56 before he goes to a 60. I don’t know why they’re carrying a 60. They can’t use the damn thing. They’re always short with it.”

• “The reason they’re short with it is, if you play with an amateur that has an eight or over, if he pulls a 60 out, he’s generally short; he’s always short,” said the guest forcefully.

• “And the reason for it is because they don’t realize how much loft is on this thing and they tend to swing at it the same speed they do the 56,” Trevino explained. “And it’s not going to go anywhere. I mean, it won’t go anyplace. Tight lies, now all of a sudden, now they’re getting these little — built the way that the architecture is with the greens dropping off and everything, that’s the worst club you want to use around there is the 60 because the grain’s against you. And that club is sharper; it doesn’t have as much bounce on it. The secret is to open the 56 wide open to get a little more bounce and then rotate it; close the toe a little bit.”

6. Gooch rues the taxman

Our Matt Vincenzi…”Gooch appeared on the ‘Fore The People’ Podcast and revealed that $1.9 million of his winnings never even made it to his bank account.”

• “It was a little bit disheartening seeing 47 and a half percent because Australian taxes [do] not enter the account.”

• “It comes, you know, almost it sometimes it’s like 48 hours, but it’s usually 24 hours after it direct deposit hits. It was a big one this last week, but yeah, it sucked that 47 and a half percent was withheld for Australian taxes, unfortunately.”

• “I am by no means complaining, but the four [million dollars], once you cut it all up, let’s just say that it’s lot less than four.”

• “The win the following week at LIV Golf Singapore won Gooch another $4 million and won’t be taxed quite as heavily, not to mention his Range Goats GC won the team event as well.”

7. Linn Grant to compete once again on U.S. soil

Brentley Romine for Golf Channel…”Linn Grant’s path to LPGA starts in the U.S. will soon be cleared.”

• “The U.S. government announced Monday that come May 12, it will no longer ban international air travelers who aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from entering the country. “Today, we are announcing that the Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees, federal contractors and international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends,” a White House press release reads.”

• “Grant, who is unvaccinated, hasn’t competed in the U.S. since earning her LPGA card at Q-Series in late 2021. Instead, the former NCAA All-American at Arizona State has played on the Ladies European Tour and international LPGA events. She’s won four times on the LET in the past two years while rising to No. 24 in the world rankings.”

8. Two Kuchars at U.S. Open?

Brentley Romine for Golf Channel…”This summer’s U.S. Open field could include two Kuchars.”

• “While Matt Kuchar, as of now, still must go through final qualifying, his 15-year-old son, Cameron, will also be teeing it up on Golf’s Longest Day after advancing through his 18-hole local qualifier Monday in Wellington, Florida.”

• “The young Kuchar, a Class of 2026 recruit who has teamed up with his dad at each of the past three PNC Championships, shot 3-under 69 with a bogey on his last hole to finish second and earn one of five final-qualifying tickets out of the Wellington National Golf Club site. The course played at 7,052 yards.”

9. Wells Fargo photos

• Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!