The famed Pro-Member at Seminole Golf Club was conducted on Monday without any LIV golfers.
The decision was made by the president at Seminole Golf Club Jimmy Dunne who spoke clearly about why he was deciding to not let LIV Golfers into the historic event.
“LIV, I think it’s an exhibition tour,” Dunne told Sports Illustrated in June. “Charl Schwartzel, he’s a delightful, elegant guy. The last time he won was in 2016. He goes out and wins the first thing? I mean, come on.”
“Candidly, I have a pretty good relationship with most people,” Dunne added. “These guys had a choice to make, but they’ve made it. That’s it. I’m not going to say something nasty about guys who participated in the past.”
The tournament featured 12 of the top 20 golfers in the current Official World Golf Rankings and a stronger field than LIV Mayakoba and the Honda Classic last week.
Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and LPGA star Lexi Thompson teed it up at Seminole. Tom Brady was the marquee name of the non-pro golfers to play. Brady played with Finau.
Monday’s Seminole Pro-Member features 12 of the top-20 players in OWGR, a better field than both Honda and LIV Mayakoba. Marquee group includes World No. 1 Jon Rahm, Netflix star Tony Finau, and Tom Brady.
Full tee sheet: pic.twitter.com/ZMJJkmpHg4
— The Fried Egg (@the_fried_egg) February 25, 2023
Many of the pros who played at Seminole on Monday are in the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. Honda Classic winner Chris Kirk teed off at 7:25 am on Monday so it was a quick turnaround for him.
Seminole Golf Club most recently was listed No. 21 on GOLF.com’s top 100 courses in the U.S.
The event is a two-person best ball with net and gross divisions.
Justin Thomas and Mike Walrath, chairman and CEO of the software company Yext, won the gross championship with a score of 9-under 63.
Brendon Todd and Jim Davis won the net championship with a score of 12-under 60. Brady and Finau finished in the top 20 in the gross championship and tied for ninth in the new championship. Last year’s champions Patrick Cantlay and Mark Flaherty finished tied for 18th with a score of 3-under 69.
The pro-member at Seminole has an incredibly rich history, with Davis Love III once calling it “the first major of the year” and Ben Hogan visiting it every year to prepare for the masters.
“It’s the only course I could be perfectly happy playing every single day. If you can play well at Seminole, you can play well anywhere.” Hogan said.
