PGA Set to Return After Very Silly "Match"

Finally, after months with nothing golf is set to return with the Schawb event at the Colonial tour stop next week. Sure, there were the made-for-TV, faux events like “The Match” which attempted to give us a short-term fix, but there is no substitute for the real thing.

The one positive to come out of the The Match was watching Tom Brady struggle. After watching him play a few holes it seemed clear to us that something is amiss with his claimed handicap (8.1.). Our guess is his REAL handicap is closer to a 16, and maybe higher than that. Had Brady had the good sense to swap out his TB12 hat for our incredibly calming “Birddha” cap, there is no question he would have settled down earlier in his round. Alternatively, he could have donned our Back9 hat at the turn. You can’t help people unless they are willing to help themselves.

Other observations about the event: It appeared Tiger Woods was really just going through the motions. Phil Mickelson DID seem engaged, but talks an awful lot. Peyton Manning is a decent golfer and his handicap seems legit.

Regardless, with these silly events behind us we can now look forward to seeing competitive golf once again.

2020 Golf Season Starts...Then Stops

The 2020 golf season had already delivered surprising finishes, before COVID 19 ground it to a halt. The tournaments conducted during the first two months seemed to represent a changing of the guard, with players such as Nick Taylor and Sungjae Im winning some of the biggest prizes with wins at Pebble Beach and the Honda Classic.

Taylor, at 32, had missed cuts and then, knocked around various tours, and, out of nowhere, inexplicably wins Pebble Beach. As crazy as Taylor’s win was, someone we have never heard of - Maverick McNealy - managed to claw his way into the Top 5.

While Im’s a rising star, finishing behind him at the Honda Classic was Mackenzie Hughes, who somehow managed to sneak into the field, potentially with a falsified “player pass” and post a series of scores that landed him in 2nd, enabling him to cash a $763k check.

We want to be clear that while we do not condone whatever “tactics” Taylor and Hughes have employed to gain access to PGA tournaments, we applaud them for their fine play. Simply put, they kept it together.

End of the Golf Season & Attention Turns to the Web.com Tour

Rory won the tour championship in a dominant fashion. Good for him, but as we have pointed out many times, it doesn’t mean that much to a top guy like McIlroy, or his legacy. The $payoff is nice but Rory’s already farting through silk. Professional golfers are judged by how many majors they win throughout their career. By that standard, McIlroy came up short in 2019.

While everyone was focused on East Lake, the more interesting action was on the web.com tour, as players jockeyed for positioning in the Top 25, and the PGA tour status at stake. Here are some of the names of the players that managed to earn their card for 2020:

Sebastian Cappelen
Rhein Gibson
Nelson Ledesma
Vince Covello
Andrew Novak
Kristoffer Ventura
Ryan Brehm
Xinjun Zham
Bo Hoag
Ryan Shelton
Vincent Whaley
Lanto Griffin

These are the underdogs going into the next season and the players we are going to pay close attention to. The talent is there. The game is almost all mental. Keep…it…Toegether.

Go get ‘em, fellas.

Hinako Shibuno, Doug Barron, and Justin Thomas

Last week, Hinako Shibuno, a 20 year old rookie from Japan, won the British Women’s Open by 1 stroke over Lizette Salas, when Salas missed a 5 foot putt on 18. It’s a cruel game. Shibuno kept it together and Salas didn’t. A shout out to Morgan Pressel for finishing 4th - her first top 4 major finish since 2010.

For many reasons, including a failed drug test, Doug Barron had been consigned to the golf wilderness for the past 7 years. Playing in mini-tour events until he turned 50, he managed to Monday qualify at this week’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Champions Tour event. A few days later, he was victorious, finishing 2 strokes ahead of Fred Couples. A lot of very good amateur golfers practice, stay fit, and bide their time until they turn 50 and can try and qualify for the Champions (senior) tour and feast on a bunch of 60 year olds. But actually making it happen is no small feat. The Champions Tour only allows a single Monday qualifier into its tournaments. Barron was good enough to seize the opportunity and make it count.

It reminds us of a round of golf played at a Poolesville, MD muni course 4-5 years ago. We happened to be paired with a coal miner from Pennsylvania named, Phil. In his mid-fifties, Phil’s game was so impressive that we asked him on the 4th or 5th hole what his low score was. “61, and I’ve done it 9 times.” He explained that he had once tried to qualify for the Champions Tour and shot a 65 at Nemacolin during a Monday qualifier, only to miss out by 1 stroke. This seems like a missed opportunity for the Champions Tour. Turning 50 really begins to level the playing field. The tour should celebrate, and provide more opportunities for underdogs like Phil to challenge the golf establishment. It would be good for business.

Lastly, we finish up with Justin Thomas and his record setting performance at Medinah this week. One of the top dogs for the past few years, a wrist injury set him back for much of this year. He didn’t allow a poor warm up session on the range on Thursday, which he deemed the “worst of my professional career” to affect him. Went out and shot 65-69-61-68 to win and put him in position to begin next week’s BMW Championship at East Lake with a two stroke advantage.

Hat tip to Patrick Cantlay. Went out and dropped 9 birdies to challenge Thomas and put himself into a position to win in Atlanta.

148th British Open - the Ashton Turner show

Shane Lowry winning this year’s Open Championship by 6 strokes was certainly noteworthy. He’d missed the cut at this event each of the past four years. This year he basically wired the field and had to contend with very challenging weather conditions during the last day. Additionally, a British Open had not been played in Northern Ireland for 68 years so to have an Irishman win it made it special. But Lowry is no underdog. He’s the 17th ranked player in the world so posting Top 10 finishes and winning tournaments is rather expected.

While we do celebrate remarkable achievements of the game’s top players, we have a particular fondness for those players who are scratching and clawing for table scraps each week. When these types of players manage to break through and announce themselves, as Ashton Turner did on the tournament’s opening day, we take notice, particularly if they are players we’ve never heard of.

Coming into the week, Turner was officially the world’s 2,079 best golfer, which makes sense when you consider that he had recently missed the cut at an (alleged) golf tournament called the Motocaddy Masters (which raises a very good question: how is it that one can qualify for the world’s oldest and most prestigious golf tournament following a missed cut at a horseshit tour event?). Still, Turner’s -2 on his opening round is quite amazing, as was his 68 on the final day (which included an eagle). Going from failure at the Motocaddy Masters to the leaderboard at the British Open illustrates how fickle golf can be. You can also look at JB Holmes’ card for his final round and draw the same conclusion. It looks remarkably like a recent round of golf I played at the West Seattle muni course. Double bogeys every other hole. Or, compare Rory McIlroy’s first and second rounds (79 on day 1 and 65 on day 2). The game is inexplicable and defies reason.

Matthew Wolff & Ho-sung Choi

There were all kinds of eccentric golf swings on the tour prior to the modern golf swing getting introduced, There was Trevino, Gary Player, Arnie, Jim Thorpe, Moe Norman, Ray Floyd., and a host of others. Since then, not so much.

Then, almost overnight, the golfing world is reminded that it doesn’t matter how you start the swing, or how you finish, as long as you execute. Matthew Wolff and his odd, unorthodox swing, wins the 3M tour stop in just his 3rd PGA tournament. We were aware of Wolff because he is an obvious talent, and he did manage to win the NCAA individual title within two years of committing to Oklahoma State.

Still, we couldn’t wrap our mind around how someone with a routine and swing more bizarre than Furyk’s could have success. Wolff’s win is something the larger golfing community should celebrate. One, because with his swing he is always going to be an underdog, and two, because his win means we all need to question whether there might not be a different path to success on the course. We spend so much time and effort (and $$) trying to conform to what swing gurus and instructors tell us we need to do in order to be successful. Maybe the answer is to move in the other direction? Away from the status quo? Maybe we would all benefit by introducing a bit of a dance move, instead of a forward press, to jump start our swing?

Or at least, whatever feels comfortable to each of us.

After Wolff’s win, it’s natural to see if there are other professional golfers who ignore conventional wisdom and carve their own path. Five minutes into our search we stumble upon another diamond in the rough: Ho-sung Choi. Check out a compilation of his unique swing style here.

We are now BIG fans of Wolff and Choi and hope they are able to keep it together for years to come.

And, thanks to Wolff’s win and a sponsor exemption, we have Wolff and Choi, side-by-side warming up before this week’s John Deere Classic.

Ho-sung

Nate Lashley

A tragic personal history, a period where he quit the game, and an uncertain future. Could easily be talking about me, but we’re actually referring to one of the great human interest stories of the year: Nate Lashley. At this point, everyone knows about Lashley’s ups and downs (more downs than ups going into this week’s tour stop).

This is the kind of pro we can get behind. Comes into the week ranked #446 in the world, makes the field as an alternate, after failing to qualify on Monday, and four days later he’s hoisting a jug and being handed a check for $1.4 million.

Though he had begun to show flashes this year in a few events, including Pebble Beach, he was still an unknown and a non-entity to 99.8% of golf fans. His ESPN page only indicates that he is a right handed golfer - there is no photo of him on his profile - just a gray silhouette of a golfer. In contrast, Chad Collins, ranked #226 on the PGA tour and with winnings of $30,000 this year, actually has a full profile on ESPN, including his picture, along with interesting factoids about his life. That’s how out of left field Lashley’s win was.

I’m still waiting for this kind of redemption and turnaround to happen for me. I can visualize it: I pull my 1999 Saab 9-3 into the parking lot of Laurel Hill golf course in Lorton, VA. I warm up with a few balls on the range. Tempo is good, my mind is clear…everything is free and easy. I birdie three of the first four holes and never look back, on the way to posting a -2 under 69.

While my game will never be good enough to break 70, over even 75, breaking 80 again is definitely still in the cards. If Lashley can overcome the odds, there’s no reason we can’t realize our own goals.

Also notable: the Rocket Mortgage tournament included Martin Piller. He’s hanging by a thread trying to keep his tournament card. He’s 32 years old and has never come close to winning on the PGA tour. It would be great if Martin can find a way to break through on the next tour stop, just as Lashley did this week.

Doc Redman finished 2nd. We’re not sure whether Redman can be considered a true underdog given that he did win the U.S. Amateur last year and starred on Clemson’s golf team. One person in the field who we can be sure is no underdog is Wyndham Clark. If your first name is “Wyndham” chances are you come from a privileged background. You were born rich and you’re going to die rich, so none of this really matters, but we could be wrong.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that Gary Woodland failed to make the cut, which underscores, yet again, just how hard the game can be.

Hannah Green, Chez Reavie & Zac Suchar keep it together

11 years ago Chez Reavie was considered a rising star. Then he disappeared. In the past year he had showed signs of regaining his form, and definitely served notice with his tie for 2nd at the PGA championship one week ago.

Seven days later he wins the Travelers.

"It means everything," Reavie said. "I went through some injuries, had some long years there in the middle. But it was great, because it gave good perseverance and good perspective of what life is and what golf is."

Hannah Green, who also battled injury problems over the past year, also shocked the golfing world with her 1st win on the LPGA — a major championship.

Perhaps the biggest shocker was the tie for 2nd place at the Travelers by Zach Sucher, who cashed a check for $633,000 exactly one week after missing the cut at a Web.com tour stop.

Brooke Henderson, Gary Woodland, and the wild Sunday finish

Woodland will get all the headlines, and we have to tip our hat. Gary has been a grinder for years. We celebrate guys like Gary finally breaking through. He took down Brooks Koepka. Not an easy task.

Brooke Henderson had her hands full, as well. Holding on for a 1 stroke victory over the likes of Lexi Thompson, she set a record for most tour wins by a Canadian, with 9. It’s worth pausing here to reflect on her record run. Canada, for much of the year, is VERY COLD. There is a lot of snow and mud between October - May. It’s hard to practice. Jupiter, Florida, it isn’t. Henderson had 9 birdies on Saturday to create the bit of breathing room she would need on Sunday. It is worth noting that it would take us months of regular play to record 9 birdies.

Last point about Woodland, he really kept it together and hit some quality shots over the closing holes. He’s basically a clone of Koepka. The same weight and size; the same swagger; the same length off the tee. These guys could be the face of American golf for the next century, with the occasional nip-at-the heal by Chez Reavie, Ricky Fowler, and Jordan Speith.

We root for the underdogs

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.

Early observations from this year's Memorial

Right out of the, “Where have they been?” file, we have a Martin Kaymer sighting. I repeat, we have a Martin Kaymer sighting. Carded a -5 on day #1. Well done, Martin.

Danny Willett (-3) also rising from the dead. Danny — we backed you at 45-1 at the Masters in 2016 so we will forever be grateful to your inspired play (it is not lost on us that if Jordan Spieth does not COLLAPSE, we get bupkus).

We owe a nod to Steve Stricker, also at -3. Somehow Stricker, no matter his age, keeps competing with the top players in the world. You watch Stricker take the club back on a practice swing, and it looks like he’s dealing with a torn rotator cuff, and an acute case of bursitis, and if he really dials it up, it seems like the best he can do is hit his tee shot about 220, tops. Somehow Stricker stripes it down the middle and is on in two. Steve, keep doing what you are doing.

Lastly, for what it is worth, Norman Xiong, an American ranked #446 on tour, posted an even par 72. Norman, if you are an actual professional golfer - and not a bot - we’re pulling for you.

Keep It Together

Mitchell and Harvey win U.S. Amateur 4 Ball

Todd Mitchell and Scott Harvey won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship on Wednesday, beating Logan Shuping and Blake Taylor 2 and 1 on Bandon Dunes Golf Resort's Old Macdonald Course.

Mitchell, from Bloomington, Illinois, and Harvey, from Kernersville, North Carolina, are both 40. This means their backs are really, really, beginning to hurt. It also suggests that they will have a hard time making a full turn on tee shots, will struggle getting in and out of cars, and will shortly become forgetful and short-tempered.

Still, at least for this week, they were able to keep it together.

"There's not enough team golf events, in my opinion," Harvey said. "This is the best event going currently, and it's just more fun. Everything you're doing is with someone. You're sharing every part of it with someone, and it just feels that much better."

Scott - we couldn’t agree more. 4 ball is a fun game and it serves to keep everyone focused, and fully invested in each shot. Much in the same way you tend to lock in when you are involved in 1-down auto press bets for $5.

Higa cards a 65 in the lowest debut in a U.S. Womens Open

Lots of surprises during the opening round of the U.S. Women’s Open.

Japan's Mamiko Higa shot the lowest round in an open debut with a bogey-free 6-under 65. Pretty impressive considering she had played the course only once, a few days before teeing off this morning.

To put things in perspective, I’ve played RTJ in Gainesville, VA once, but the notion that I could return tomorrow morning and post an 81 is hard to fathom (even if I am successful at keeping it together — even more unlikely if it’s an early morning tee time)

Higa was a shot ahead of another first-timer in 20-year-old Esther Henseleit of Germany and 19-year-old American amateur, Gina Kim.

Hat tip to all three who now have the jump of the world’s top ranked players. We’ll be rooting for them on the weekend.

Brooks Koepka, Jazz Janewattananond, Matt Wallace, and the 2019 PGA Championship

Going into the weekend, Brooks Koepka’s robotic takedown of Bethpage Black was on full display and another trophy seemed a foregone conclusion. There was speculation he could break Jason Day’s -20 under posted at the 2016 PGA Championship. Even though he merely held serve on Saturday, by the time he teed off on Sunday, he led by seven shots and everyone else was competing for 2nd place.

For most of his Sunday round, things appeared to be going according to script. Koepka moved through the front nine trouble-free with no outward sign that he was feeling any stress. No rapid eye blinking or involuntary winking; no bulging eyes or flaring of the nostrils; no clearing of the throat. There was nothing from Koepka. Just marched cool, calm and collected, from hole to hole, until he walked onto the 11th tee box, when his tournament began to turn from a coronation to a possible train wreck.

He bogeyed #11, #12, and was facing another bogey on #13, when we saw the first sign of serious trouble afoot. If you watch the video carefully, you can see Koepka aggressively rubbing his left eye while surveying his putt (a telling physical manifestation of the pressure he was now under; his left finger simultaneously digging and pushing his eyeball uncomfortably into its socket). He would bogey that hole, as well as #14.

After 4 straight bogeys, and with Dustin Johnson charging up from behind him, it looked as if Koepka was in serious jeopardy. Thankfully for Koepka, Dustin Johnson couldn’t maintain his momentum and was the first to crack, splaying shots all over #16 and #17. In the end, and much to Koepka’s credit, he made a beautiful chip shot, under enormous pressure, to ten feet of the pin on 18 and would make the par putt to close things out.

While the 2019 PGA Championship is now in the brooks, there was another story line worth mentioning.

Ever heard of Jazz Janewattananond? Most of the golf world had not. Well, it turns out a “Jazz Janewattananond” is a 23 year old, 5’9” 150 lb force of nature from Thailand, who attacked Bethpage with abandon. Where did he come from, and how is it that he was in 2nd place after three rounds of a golf major? It is an interesting story, to say the least.

Janewattananond turned pro in 2010 and for the next 6 years struggled to find his footing playing on both the Asian and European tours. Perhaps feeling frustrated with how he was playing and lack of results, he decided to walk away from golf after the 2016 season and, get this - join the monkhood!

Janewattananond credits the two weeks he spent as a disciple of Phra Maha Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi, as restoring his mindset and approach to golf. And shortly after this experience and his re-emergence Janewattananond began to win. ““I learned from him that happiness is the greatest thing in life,” Janewattanananond told Thai media in 2017. “Before that, golf was everything to me, and it gave me so much pressure during competition. I have been competing with less pressure ever since and starting getting better results.” A lesson all of us can take to heart.

Given his recent “conversion” and embrace of Buddhism, we plan to send Janewattananond a “Birddha” hat in celebration of his recent success. We may send Dustin Johnson one, as well.

Lastly, we would be remiss if we didn’t tip our cap to Matt Wallace, a member of the European Tour, who has managed to make a outrageous amount of money in 2019 in just two tournaments - his performance at Bayhill and thIs tournament. As a result, his world golf ranking has sky rocketed.

Ghim and Lindheim cash big checks at the Byron Nelson tour stop

Doug Ghim (ranked #446) and Nicholas Lindheim (#208), both fighting to take advantage of the few opportunities they have to make a living on the PGA, scored big paydays at the Byron Nelson tournament at Trinity Forest in Dallas, Texas.

Ghim and Lindheim tied for 12th, earning $154,000 for their efforts. Ghim carded a 63 on his opening round, and followed that up with steady play over the last three rounds. Lindheim closed with three birdies on the final six holes of the final round on Sunday.

Nowhere will you find anyone extolling the play of guys like Ghim and Lindheim, but these are the kind of players that fascinate us. Do you think it matters to Brooks Koepka whether he finished 4th (which he did) or 40th in this tournament? We can assure you it does not. But for Ghim and Lindheim, 12th place finishes give them momentum and the financial resources to carry on.

Max Homa wins the Wells Fargo Championship (not a misprint)

As recently as 2017, Homa was ranked outside of the top 1,000 golfers in the world and he began this year ranked #836, which makes his 3 shot victory at Quail Hollow so shocking. He finished Saturday’s round tied for the lead with Rory Mcilroy and Justin Rose not far behind him. Going into the final round it must be hard knowing the world’s #1 ranked player (Rose) is right behind you. Rather than hoping for Rose to fall down a stairwell and withdraw from the tournament, Homa kept it together and credits his attitude as one of the reasons he was able to finish strong on Sunday and win the tournament.

"I've grown up a lot. My attitude is awesome nowadays. I don't really get too down on myself. I have an awesome, awesome caddie [Joe Greiner] who doesn't let me. If I'm quiet, he yells at me and tells me quiet golfers are usually very mean to themselves. So, we have a good thing going.''

This is the kind of underdog we like to root for when we watch tour events, and it reminds us of the importance of playing golf with the right mindset.

After 229 attempts Jorge Campillo holds on to win Hassan II Golf Trophy on Sunday.

After entering 229 professional golf tournaments on the European Tour, Jorge Campillo is finally a winner.

Campillo, who held a 1 shot lead going into Sunday, nearly shot himself out of contention when he bogied a couple holes early on. However, he fought back with birdies on #16 & #17, and made a difficult par save on #18, in order to win by one shot.

"It was tough, I had to have my A-game. I was missing shots off the tee, but I managed to recover. I'm proud of the way I finished, I finished like a champion I guess.

"It has taken me a while [to win a trophy], but it is all worth it now."

As Tony Montana famously said, “First you get the money, then you get the women, and then you get the power.”

Well, Jorge, you have accomplished step #1.

Cejka and Prugh are only 3 shots off the lead at the Zurich Classic

Ranked #532 and #211 respectively, Alex Prugh and Alex Cejka are two underdogs who are keeping it together at this week’s tour stop. If they can continue their strong play and go on to win, they would become the biggest surprise winner at this tournament since Mike Standly took the Classic in 1993.

Speaking of Standly, what made his Zurich Classic win all the more remarkable was the fact that he was later diagnosed (in 1996) with an acute case of attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Malnati with a Top 20 finish at the RBC Heritage Classic

Peter Malnati, a recent WEB.com graduate and one-time member of the PGA Tour, and currently ranked #277 in the world, moved into the Top 125 on this season’s PGA money list with a Top 20 finish in the just completed RBC Heritage Classic.

Spectators who followed him reported that Malnati seemed focused and relaxed throughout the final round. An avid bird watcher, Malnati frequently paused as he made his way around the course to observe several bird species, once noting to those around him that, while similar in appearance, the Wood Stork and Swallow-Tailed Kite are quite different, with quite different migratory paths.

Monday Qualifier Corey Conners wins Valero Texas Open!

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.

Talk about keeping it together. Conners did just that. From a Monday qualifier, to winning the Valero Open in Texas, to making the cut at the Masters a week later. As a result, Corey improved his world ranking from 196th to #85 in the span of a little over one week. Also notable: Conners was the first Monday qualifier to win an event on the PGA tour in nine (9) years.

https://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/corey-conners-wins-valero-texas-open-qualifies-masters