THE 2023 U.S. SENIOR OPEN at Sentry World in Stevens Point Wisconsin. Coming June 29-July 2. So for tickets see USGA.org Defending Champion Padraig Harrington is defending his title. Wisconsin players Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly will be in the field.

THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy and on Instagram-LinkedIn and Facebook.

THE LONGEST DAY IS HERE.

ONE that becomes memorable for the players who survive a 36-hole play day to earn a spot in the U.S. Open field.

But this past week was the Memorial Tournament at Jack’s place in Dublin Ohio-Muirfield Village.

In some rankings Muirfield Village gets the highest ratings of the Jack Nicklaus golf course design group.

But having played the course, and finding it the least enjoyable round of a 24 courses in 19 day trip, MV doesn’t excite me when the PGA Tour shows up every year.

DON’T GTET ME WRONG Nicklaus will always be the best player to play the game. So don’t even start me with this crappy #GOAT stuff. Goats are losers and those who didn’t win, not champions of sport. So while Nicklaus was a star on the course, what about his presence in building them

NICKLAUS has done some great work in building courses. I have played my share of Nicklaus designs, both public and private. But I have 10 Nicklaus Signature designs I would play any day, over another round at Muirfield Village. The course has been renovated since I played last played it, but from what I saw this past weekend not much has changed. So perhaps another renovation is needed.

The holes I didn’t like, received negative comments from the players this weekend. I saw the leaders almost falling backwards from the sides of slopes and trying to hit greens that didn’t hold. The day I played, I could only wear those brutal plastic spikes that had the ice cream cone swirls on them. Combine that with a course that was still wet and spongy from a rain 3 days earlier, and it quickly becomes a forgettable round.

MY FAVORITE NICKLAUS COURSES include the public Club at Porto Cima in Lake in the Ozarks. The Ocean Course at Hammock Dunes in Florida (public). Valhalla site of the 2024 PGA Championship (private), Pinehurst No.9 (private), Wynstone (private) The Bull at Pinehurst Farms (public), Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee (public) in Georgia. I’m still hoping to play the Bears Club in Florida someday. Nicklaus for the most part does really good golf design-just maybe not at Muirfield Village.

ILLINI COACH MIKE SMALL qualified to play in the U.S. Senior Open at Sentry World. Small’s 1 under par 71, earned him one of two spots at the Flossmoor Golf Club. Congrats Coach.

PPV-the dreaded word that sports fans hate. Pay-Per-View, could the LIV Golf be bringing that to golf fans that follow it’s tour. We will see. Because ratings are up on the current platforms that LIV is using, why head for a PPV set-back.

PURSES AT MAJORS CHAMPIONSHIPS-seem to be not keeping up with other purses on tour. Which has lead to questions about players not playing in those tournaments. Rory McIlroy said he will continue play in-them, but that other players might not. Time will tell what the PGA, Masters, USGA and R&A do moving forward. Today in golf it seems that tournaments must pay-up, or suffer with a less than stellar field.

GREAT STORY BY ALEX MICELI in SI.Com about how LIV Golf is still building it’s 20 year business plan, is still moving forward. So in just days LIV will celebrate being in business for 1 year. One LIV executive said clearly, we are not going anywhere, and things are moving forward, but slowly. But apparently that was expected by LIV. So what’s the plan going forward, Miceli’s story has part of the plan on display.

JOIE CHITWOOD-has been named the Executive Director of the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah-the PGA Tour announced. Chitwood build the Chicagoland Motor Speedway before heading back to Indy. So, why an automotive background person running a golf event at Medinah. When someone figures that out let me know.

36-holes and your in. Good luck today to those who are trying to make it to LACC. RS