THERE'S MORE GOLF TO PLAY™
Golf, 2023 masters leaderboard, Golf hats, Golf Majors, Golf swag, The Masters
Sam Bennett, an amateur, is, as of this moment, sitting at -8 with a few holes to play, good enough for 2nd place at The Masters behind Brooks Koepka.
Where did this come from? Who is Sam Bennett? Is it possible he finishes in the Top 3? Is it possible he finishes in the Top 3 without the benefit of wearing one of our golf hats on his head? Sadly for Sam Bennett the answer is a resounding, “NO!” but good luck, Sam.
Golf, The Masters, 2023 masters leaderboard, golf hats
Jon Rahm would not typically be considered an underdog, but when you four (4) putt the first fole and spot the field two (2) strokes, you become an underdog, if only temporarily. What he did next is pretty remarkable.
Seven (7) birdies and an eagle over the final 17 holes is a hell of a turnaround. It’s sick, really.
Well done, Jon. To acknowledge the great turnaround, we’re sending you a dozen of our award-winning golf hats. Maybe you pop one on tomorrow and shoot a 63?
Hat tip to Viktor Hovland, as well, how scrambled to par 18 and hold on to a share of the lead.
How many PGA players come out of Northwestern University?
ZERO!
We’re willing to guess there has never been a PGA professional from Evanston, IL. It’s TOO COLD! You can’t practice year round. It’s hard to concentrate when you are shivering. Yet, here we are. David Lipsky almost wins the Sony Open.
Well done, David, but you’ve still got a ways to go before you can seize the mantle of the best golfer to come out of Illinois because that belongs to Bill Mehlhorn, a person few people remember, but one of the better golfers you’ve never heard of. He still holds the distinction of having won the 3rd most tournaments without a major - right up there with Steve Stricker and Lee Westwood. Also wore a cowboy hat!
Si Woo Kim was a 14-1 shot going into Sunday so hat tip to him for winning. Of course he would have won by 12 shots had he worn one of our hats, but he seems to be satisfied with sqeeking out wins by the slimmest of margins. Odd but perfectly within his rights to do so.
European Tour, Golf, golf caps, Golf hats, Golf Majors, Golf swag, PGA, U.S. Open
Most golf fans do not organize their personal lives around PGA events such as the Greensboro Open, the John Deere Classic, Sanderson Farms. the Shriners, or the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. All minor and largely inconsequential tour stops that most of the golf community could care less about.
However, when it comes to golf “majors” everybody tunes in. But the advent of the LIV tour has upset the apple cart. It’s splintered the professional golfer community, forcing everyone to pick sides and prohibiting LIV-aligned golfers from participating in PGA and Euro-tour events.
Not satisfied with driving up gas prices, you’ve also ruined golf. Thanks Saudi Arabia!
Golf, Golf hats, Golf Majors, Golf Underdogs, British Open
Cam Smith and his mullett do not feel pressure like the rest of us. He just put on an impressive display on the back 9 at St. Andrews to win the British Open and set a bunch of records in the process.
1st person to post two (2) rounds of 64 in a major
Lowest final 9 in a closing round (30)
Lowest final round to win a (64) major
Lowest score relative to par after two rounds
12 putts the final 9 holes and 6 one putts. Just a totally unbelievable performance by Cam Smith. We’re going to ship you a bunch of our hats. You won’t need them, of course, but the pressure clearly got to lots of players. You might pass one on to Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy,
Golf, PGA, U.S. Open, Golf Underdogs
We could use this space to celebrate Justin Thomas, the winner of the PGA Championship, or Matthew Fitzpatrick, the winner of the US Open, but instead we want to call attention to Denny McCarthy. Yes, that’s right: Denny McCarthy.
Denny McCarthy is 29 years old and has been around for a few years and while he hasn’t won yet, he’s knocking VERY LOUDLY on the door, with three recent top 10 finishes at the Memorial, The US Open, and the Deere Classic.
He was born and grew up in Tacoma Park, MD. While there’s a chance he was born into privilege, it’s unlikely. Tacoma Park is bordered by Flower Ave and Piney Branch Road. The entire area is encapsulated by check-cashing outfits, car washes, and discount furniture stores.
The nearest golf course is a short, cheap 9 hole course - Sligo Creek. Five (5) mins down 16th Street is Rock Creek Park Golf. There’s also Northwest Park, Needwood, and Falls Road, all muni courses he no doubt he cut his teeth on.
We don’t know McCarthy, nor do we know anyone who does. We have no idea what his character is like. He could be a homicidal maniac, for all we know. But we do know he played a lot of muni golf growing up so that’s good enough for us.
Denny - if you are looking for a golf hat that will put you over the top, you can find a nice selection here.
Before we talk about the PGA Championship, which is about to enter its final round, we must pay tribute the Lydia Ko, a former #1, who has gone 44 tournaments without winning. Normally, we pull for the underdogs and as a former #1, Ko would not qualify as such, but with her multi-year slide into the abyss, she’s become someone we can root for.
At Harding Park, DJ has a 1 shot lead going into the final round, but there are 10+ players who are within striking distance of winning. While we are looking forward to a great final round, with lots of drama, we have to pull for Matthew Wolff for nothing more than his unique "forward press,” if that’s what you call it, and Joel Dahmen. When you look at Dahmen’s background and what he has had to overcome, it’s easy to root for him.
As an aside, it is noteworthy that Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, who have traded places as respective #1’s the last few weeks, have struggled to keep it together at Harding Park. It shows you how even the best players in the world could do themselves a favor and don a KIT hat to brace themselves against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
The Hero World Challenge, underway in the Bahamas, features a select and limited field that typically features the Top 20 golfers in the world. This year’s event is headlined by Collin Morikawa, Koepka, McIlroy, and Justin Thomas. Given such a small and limited field of elite golfers it’s hard to find a true underdog.
Everyone competing has won this year at least once. They’re on top of the world and awash in cash. Everyday more money rains down on them. There are no bills, car payments, or mortgages that ever come due. Most of their time is spent inside country clubs. They walk through life in a bubble. Their only concern, if they have any, is how to maintain control of their adulterous tendencies, or how to cover up any current dalliances they may be engaged in.
Given this, it’s hard to identify a true “underdog” in this field. However, upon closer inspection we do see one candidate: Henrik Stenson. Stenson is 45 years old and is not too far away from his first colonoscopy. His teeth are starting to bother him, and it’s likely he has trouble ordering off a menu without reading glasses. He’s even got his own line of eyewear: https://henrikstensoneyewear.com/ He has not been playing well of late and is ranked well outside of the Top 20 in the world so we’re not even clear how he managed to get into this event.
So even though we like to find a more worthy Underdog to root for, this week it has to be Stenson, who going into Saturday finds himself squarely in last place.
Golf hats, golf caps, Golf, Golf Majors, PGA
Why are we rooting for Mackenzie Hughes to win the U.S. Open? Because he’s Canadian and Canadians are nice people. Plus, they rarely ever win on the PGA tour. In addition, Hughes has overcome adversity - once losing his tour card before regaining it five years ago. Outside of his own friends and family, nobody is cheering for Mac. While the last two months have not been kind to Hughes (missed cuts in five straight events) he’s played well this week and is on the verge of winning The Open.
That makes him a solid underdog and a golfer we are pulling for today.
Russell Henley is another rootable player. While he had some early success in his first year on tour - winning the Sony Open by a record margin - he has not won as often as many had predicted when he graduated from the University of Georgia ten years ago. Now a 100-1 shot to win any tournament he enters, Henley is also a guy we can get behind.
While technically not an underdog, Matthew Wolff is easy to root for because of his entertaining and unconventional golf swing. He’s also talked about his struggles with depression and anxiety.
We are definitely not rooting for Bryson DeChambeau because he is a weasel. A VERY LARGE weasel, but a weasel nonetheless.
Remember: we are all underdogs when we step on the golf course. Our golf hats instill golfers with the calm resilience they need to play well.
Epilogue: Unfortunately, Hughes, Henley, and Wolff struggled during the final round and fell out of contention. It is hard to ignore the fact that they did so while wearing PING, Titleist, and Taylor Made hats. One cannot help but wonder how they would have faired wearing our Go-Lo, On in Regulation, or Birddha hats.
Golf, golf caps, Golf hats, Golf swag, PGA
Chesson Hadley, who has not won on tour in seven years, was on the verge of winning the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, but he couldn’t keep it together during the latter half of his final round and let an opportunity he may not get for another seven years, slip through his fingers.
Sometimes golfers in Hadley’s position catch an unlucky break during the finishing stretch, such as finding their ball in a divot or a buried lie, or knocked down by a sudden gust of wind. If that was the case with Hadley we wouldn’t be writing about him. It wasn’t an epic and sudden collapse at a golf major like Jean Van de Velde at the British Open. Rather, it was a slow, steady folding of the tent.
After opening with a -6 round, Hadley began backsliding. Still, he entered the final round with a 4 stroke lead on the field. Watching his play during the closing holes one could see it was a clear case of his nerves simply unravelling. You can easily identify with what golfers are going through in these situations. Desperate and feeling cornered you look for any way to stop the bleeding. The mind races and you start seeing things, and in Hadley’s case, he saw fire ants. Lots and lots of fire ants. So many, in fact, that he claimed he ought to get relief (from a rather dicey lie). The rule official disagreed, “I don’t see any.” And with that, Hadley’s fate was sealed. Bryson DeChambeau, another guy who’s always trying to bend the rules in his favor, has also played the “fire ant” card, to no avail.
Our recommendation to Hadley - and any other golfer who happens to be leading entering the final round is this: Ditch the Titleist, Callaway, Nike, and Taylor Made golf hats before you tee off and replace them with our Back 9 golf hat. Chances are you won’t have to go looking for fire ants.
Lastly, congrats to underdog and Monday qualifier, Broc Everett, who kept it together and cashed a nice check for $33,000.
Golf Majors, Golf, PGA, Golf swag, Mickelson, Golf hats, golf caps
Phil Mickelson kept it together and nailed down an improbable win at the PGA Championship played on the Ocean course at Kiawah Island, SC. he was a 600-1 underdog at the start of the tournament and rightly so. He hadn’t won a major in 8 years and had only won twice on the PGA tour in the past 7 years. It was a historic win and Mickelson now becomes the oldest major winner - at close to 51 years old - easily surpassing the previous standard bearer, Julius Boros, who won the PGA championship in 1968 at the age of 48.
But as remarkable as Phil’s win was - and it was - we are really mainly interested in the gum he chewed throughout the entire championship. It’s been long-rumored that CBD gum has become quite popular among some of the older Tour players. CBD provides an array of amazing benefits, pertaining to stress reduction, sleep, inflammation, digestion, pain management, and more. But to feel these benefits to the fullest, your body needs to be able to absorb as much CBD as possible into the bloodstream.
We know that Mickelson was chewing SOMETHING the entire tournament and assuming it was CBD gum and he popped his first piece on during a practice round leading up to the tournament start and continued chewing almost non-stop through Sunday, he likely was feeling pretty good by the time he began the back 9 on Sunday. It seemed there were several holes where Mickelson’s caddie - his brother, Tim - had to re-direct a seemingly out-of-it-Phil to the next tee box. At least, that is how it appeared to the viewing audience.
Chances are - given Phil’s age - in addition to CBD, there were some Metamucil chewables mixed in, along with a tincture or two of NUGENIX, though this is just speculation on our part and we have no basis for believing this to be the case.
Rather than exotic cocktails and supplements, golfers of any age can spend less than $40 and get a golf hat that will almost assuredly lower their scores. Check out these unique, play-enhancing, and score-lowering hats here.
Six months ago Will Zalatoris was teeing off in the WinCo Foods Open, a Korn Ferry tour event in Portland. Today he is 1 shot off the lead at the Masters, with a very real chance to win in his first attempt - something that has only happened once in the past 90 years.
Zalatoris has five Top 10 finishes so in his last 15 events so it’s getting hard to think of him as an underdog for much longer. He’s top 20 on tour in driving distance and greens-in-regulation, so he’s destined to win, and win frequently.
Justin Rose is no stranger to the Masters, nor to golf majors. At 42 years old he’s played in over 50 golf major events. But at his age winning gets harder and harder. Throw in a balky back and Rose now qualifies as an official golf underdog.
We’ll be rooting for both of these guys this weekend. They’d likely be in an even stronger position if they were wearing our golf hats, but that’s their choice.
We did enjoy watching Billy Horschel fall on his ass while playing the 13th hole with Phil Mickelson. There’s nothing quite as enjoyable as watching someone who struggles to control their temper, slip and fall, mainly because you never know what they will do in response. Unfortunately for the viewing audience we were not treated with a classic Horschel meltdown.
There are a few tour stops every year the top players just decide to pass on. Usually they include the events like the Greenbrier Classic, the tour stop in New Orleans, and the Puerto Rico Open. The Honda Classic (PGA National in Palm Gardens, FL) is one such event. As a result, we get a full field of underdogs - players clinging to tour status, returning from injuries, as well as those who are just running out of time. Players like William McGirt, Erik Compton, Bronson Burgoon, Brandon Hagy, as well as former household names Hunter Mahan, and Camillo Villegas.
Aaron Wise, on the other hand, is in a very different position. At 24, a past winner, and currently in the Top 50 on the money list, he likely has a bright future.
However, there was a moment for Wise when he no doubt felt like a journeyman and that moment came during a very bad encounter with the 10th green during the final round. Wise, who enjoyed a 6 shot lead going into the weekend, before flopping on Saturday, had managed to play his way back into contention on Sunday.
After landing in a bunker, Wise blasted out to within 27 feet of the pin. His par putt slid 3 feet past the hole, and his tap in for bogey didn’t “tap-in.” Instead it scooted past the hole and he finally four (4) putted for a brutal triple bogey that sealed his fate.
Some advice for Aaron: before you make the turn, replace whatever hat you’ve got with this one, designed specifically for the Back 9.
PGA, Golf Majors, Golf hats, Golf
Justin Thomas played a great couple of closing rounds to win The Players, setting a record in the process for strokes below par for the final rounds. But Thomas is no golf underdog so we’re not going to focus on him.
Instead, we’re going to use this space to applaud Lee Westwood, who has spent most of his career as a favorite, but at 47 years of age, is now squarely in the “Underdog” camp. After nearly winning at Bay Hill the week prior, Westwood went toe-to-toe with Thomas and the 240 lb cyborg, DeChambeau, and almost pulled off a stunner. Had Thomas’ tee shot on 18 found the water, Westwood may well have won the tournament.
What makes his near win all the more remarkable is not just the 20 year age difference, but what it means in terms of preparation for the final round. We have a feeling Thomas pops out of bed, pops a dip between his tongue and lip, to go along with a black coffee, while DeChambeau has a 12 egg omelet and six protein shakes. Westwood’s day, however, likely began - before getting out of his oxygen-rich hyperbaric chamber - with a series of neck and ankle rolls, followed by tea, fresh fruit, and bran flakes.
Let’s see how long Westwood can keep his re-birth going.
Tony Finau is a very good golfer (currently #8 on the 2021 money list). While he’s often in the hunt on the weekend, there’s no denying he has struggled to finish higher then 2nd.
The fact remains Tony Finau chooses to compete week-after-week wearing Nike golf hats. Sure, he gets paid a lot of money to do so but he hasn’t won since the Puerto Rico Open in 2016.
Tony: Our offer to you is this: we will ship you a collection of our hats at no cost to you.
The Go-Lo hat
The On In Regulation hat
The Birddha hat
We cannot pay you millions as Nike does, but we can save your career.
Two people we have highlighted on these pages in the past: Daniel Berger and Max Homa kept it together and won a couple of the notable tournaments on the 2021 schedule.
Homa’s win at Riviera Country Club was particularly instructive, as he missed a 3 foot putt on 18 that would have won the event, only to make an incredible recovery on the first playoff hole after his tee shot came to rest next to a tree trunk. Most people watching assumed Homa had effectively lost the tournament but he managed to hit a great 2nd shot and then two-putted to extend the match with Tony Finau, who had things in his hands before spotty putting sunk him.
Berger had an easier go of it and he was terrific when it mattered most, hitting a beautiful 2nd shot onto 18 during the final round, which he would go on to lock up with an eagle and a 2 shot margin of victory.
Golf, Golf hats, Golf swag, Golf Majors
There are lots of story lines we could write about the 2020 Masters. Abraham Ancer contending in his first appearance, former Buddist monk, Jazz Janewattananond, nearly posting the the same score as the current PGA Championship and U.S. Open winners, or Jason Day and Matthew Wolff being outplayed by Larry Mize, who is close to qualifying for Medicare. However, the most interesting development has to be 63 year-old Bernhard Langer making the cut. A remarkable achievement for a player who continues to have a remarkable career.
Also remarkable is Bryson DeChambeau’s penchant for challenging official rulings that go against him. Yesterday, when he could not find his ball after a wayward tee shot, he wanted us to believe he should get a free drop, rather than take a penalty. At the St. Jude invitational, he debated with rules officials for three minutes that he ought to get a free drop because the grass was “swarming” with fire ants (it was not). And at the Memorial, DeChambeau famously protested when not one, but two, rules officials sided against him and his claim that his wayward shot over a fence should be considered in play and qualify for a free drop (he went on to card a 10 on that hole). It’s hard to imagine Bernhard Langer, Mize, Ancer, or most tour players whining like this with such regularity. He could, of course, stop this act and instead wear one of our signature hats, which many people say delivers an immediate, calming effect on their psyche. Keep it together, Bryson.
He chips in at 14 and hits the “one for the ages” approach to 16, His opponents do the opposite. They do not get the breaks and their putts burn the edge and will not drop. Approach shots careen into greenside bunkers.
What is the difference? Why did Morikawa succeed where others failed?
We will never know but rest assured that Morikawa told himself more than once as he closed things out to “Keep it Together.”
Nice job, Collin! Now take down the Masters!.
Only 2% of golfers will ever break 80, which means we are all underdogs when we step on the course. Each week we will highlight exceptional achievements by golfers who largely go unnoticed, or who are trying to maintain their playing status.
We’ve played four tournaments following the Covid shutdown: the Colonial, the Heritage, The TPC in Connecticut, and the Rocket Mortgage in Detroit.
A few observations:
1) Bryson DeChambeau cannot be considered an “Underdog.” He’s added 30 lbs (in the space of 4-8 weeks) and is now averaging 350+ yards off the tee. We’re sure he’s a nice guy but he’s making a mockery of the game. Golf is a game of fast followers so it would not surprise us to see half the tour turn to “protein” wink…wink…shakes in order to add 30lbs to 50 lbs (because why stop at 30?). Our prediction: a 240 lb Kevin Na will win at East Lake later this year.
2) Unlike DeChambeau, Brendan Todd is a legitimate “Underdog.” Todd - who is half DeChambeau’s weight - has somehow won twice this year (once after missing 13 consecutive cuts!) after considering quitting the game, having developed the yips with his driver (cue Ed McMahon’s “Hiy-yyyo!!”). If you can’t get off the tee (just ask Ian Baker-Finch), you cannot break 90, let alone win events on the PGA. But Todd has done the impossible and overcome his demons. Well done!
3) Webb Simpson won the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town. Not a surprise because Webb Simpson grew up on a Country Club - not unlike most PGA pros. He has been programmed from a very young age, and with all the resources available to him, is going to win golf tournaments. Not an Underdog. But a couple of the players he competed against at the Heritage are legit. Hat tip to Corey Conners and Sepp Straka. Conners because he was almost done with golf were it not for his PGA win last year (out of nowhere) and Sepp Straka for no other reason because how do you not root for a guy named Sepp Straka?
Also notable: the return of golf means the return of Matthew Wolff, which is a cause for celebration.