Welcome back to SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction, where we just downloaded the 2025 Masters app. The countdown continues ...

Once again, we’re here to debate a series of statements for writers and editors to declare as “Fact” or “Fiction” along with a brief explanation. Responses may also (occasionally) be “Neutral” since there's a lot of gray area in golf.

Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X account.

Cameras caught plenty of player anger at the Valspar including a Patton Kizzire putter kick, Sahith Theegala club chuck and Adam Hadwin sprinkler assault. They will all likely be quietly fined but the PGA Tour should make such discipline public. 

Bob Harig: FACT. The lack of disclosure of player discipline is a bigger issue than the actual amount of the fines, which is not likely to be as much of a deterrent as the public knowledge. Many poor acts got unnoticed and might be less likely to occur if those committing them knew it was going to be out there. These guys are human and make mistakes, too. It’s O.K. to let us in on that.

Jeff Ritter: FACT. Publicizing player-conduct violations is long overdue. Also, gotta say that the Hadwin fine should have some bite to it, as it was a Looney Tunes moment that was not a great look at all.

John Pluym: FACT. Player-conduct violations are disclosed in almost every professional sport. Just ask NFL players about how public their fines have become, especially during the Friday and Saturday news dumps. Transparency is a good thing.

John Schwarb: FACT. The Tour always sides on protecting players’ images (still not believing they’ll share the names of slow-play culprits ’til I see it), but transparency is never a bad idea. And couldn’t the Tour use a villain or two?  

Viktor Hovland surprised himself in winning the Valspar Championship after a year and a half of searching for his game, including five coaching changes. Yet Justin Thomas, who finished second at Innisbrook and remains in the midst of a three-year win drought, will win his third major before Hovland wins his first.

Bob Harig: FACT. But not with a lot of conviction. Viktor is closer to recent success—even before his Valspar win—than Thomas. But JT seems to be bullish on his game and he played very nicely over the weekend, save for two late bogeys. You’ve also got to like him at Quail Hollow for the PGA Championship.

Jeff Ritter: FICTION. I’m buying streaky Viktor—he can win anywhere when it clicks, and I have a feeling his exit from the BPWAM list is imminent.

John Pluym: FACT. I love the way Thomas is playing right now. He has four top-10 finishes and played really well during the final two rounds of the Valspar. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins at the Masters, where he has top-25 finishes in six of his nine starts, including fourth in 2020 and T8 in ’22.

John Schwarb: FACT. Hovland’s win showed once again golf’s forever-fickle nature and a major win by the Norwegian wouldn’t be a complete stunner now, but JT has stacked up three months of solid results and knows he’s close to a breakthrough. Maybe that times up perfectly with a major this summer.

TGL’s inaugural season wrapped up with a two-night finale and the Atlanta Drive taking the title. The simulator league will undoubtedly return in 2026 and it should keep the same schedule, starting in early January and ending two weeks before the Masters. 

Bob Harig: FICTION. They probably need to start in December and end in February. We’re seeing now how crammed the schedule is getting, with these guys going back and forth to TGL while trying to play some big events such as the Arnold Palmer and then right after the Players Championship.

Jeff Ritter: FICTION. If they’re serious about growth, why not toss a series of Tuesday night matches on the slate this fall? Yes, it’s football season, but midweek programming is still light. A full 10 months is a long time to wait for next season. 

John Pluym: FICTION. I wouldn’t mind seeing a November start and January finish with the season wrapping up between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. Honestly, there just isn’t a perfect time. TGL is going head to head with the NFL playoffs and March Madness. I think the earlier start, the better.

John Schwarb: FICTION. Tighten up the schedule a bit and end it before the Players—and before March Madness for that matter. 

Our Max Schreiber wrote a story on how the majority of PGA Tour Champions broadcasts are called from the Tour’s studios in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., with the play-by-play and color man there and not at the events. Something is lost when the “18th-hole Tower” is a remote location far away. 

Bob Harig: FACT. The story pointed out some very technical and important reasons for why remote broadcasts help them, especially the continuity as golf is a traveling circus. But nothing beats boots on the ground and eyes on the subjects. Talking to players on the range, after their rounds, casually, informally ... all of that is lost without the broadcasters being there.

Jeff Ritter: FACT. I’m a traditional journalist in this regard, and I’ll always say that shoe-leather reporting will surpass anything that can be done remotely.

John Pluym: FACT. It feels fake to be broadcasting from a remote location far away. It also feels like the event is being diminished when you’re broadcasting it remotely. If you’re not going to invest the money to cover the tournament on location, then do it at all.  

John Schwarb: FACT. The bigger question is whether fans would voice displeasure by not watching and the answer is likely no, but that doesn’t mean something isn’t missing. Ask Jim Nantz if he’d like to do any more remote broadcasts than the one he does during the weekend of the AFC Championship. 


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fact or Fiction: PGA Tour Punishment Around Player Outbursts Should Be Made Public.