5. No flagstick for JT?
…not so fast.
Gotta love Thomas’ take on putting with the flag in.
“I mean personally I don’t think I can – I mean obviously whenever I’m like this and (caddie) Jimmy (Johnson) is, that’s one thing. But I mean if I have an 8-footer to win a golf tournament, I can’t – I mean no offense, I can’t really take myself seriously if I kept the pin in. I mean it just would be such a weird picture and like on TV me celebrating and like the pin is in and my ball’s like up against it. And so I don’t know, to me that’s one thing. But, yeah, I guess there’s some instances in tournaments where the pin is really the only thing that can stop it, that’s one thing. But if I have a putt, I’m trying to make that thing’s coming out.” (via Golfweek)
6. Welcome to the working world, Kyle Thompson!
Alex Myers at Golf Digest.…”In his third crack at the big leagues this past season, Thompson missed the cut in 20 of 22 starts while earning only $24,878. He decided the Wyndham Championship in August would be his final tournament if he didn’t qualify for the FedEx Playoffs, and he stuck to his word.”
- “For some reason I haven’t had nearly the monetary success of some other guys,” the five-time Web.com Tour winner told the Greenville News the week of the Wyndham. “If you get one or two good years on the PGA Tour, it can set you up for years.
- “Instead, after 17 years as a tour pro, the 39-year-old Thompson finally settled on his first “real job” to support his family for the foreseeable future. And he was excited about embarking on his new insurance career to begin the new year”
7. It’s 2019, so…
…time for an updated look at 2019 Masters odds!
Golf Channel’s Will Gray...”The Westgate opened Masters betting as soon as Brooks Koepka captured the PGA Championship last August, meaning that bettors have had more than four months to stake some early claims. While Spieth started out alone as the 10/1 favorite, he’s now joined by Woods, who started at 12/1, and Rose, who opened at 16/1 but has since received some support.”
12/1: Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods, Justin Rose
14/1: Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas
16/1: Rickie Fowler
18/1: Jon Rahm
25/1: Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau
30/1: Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama
40/1: Francesco Molinari, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson
50/1: Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Cameron Champ, Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay
60/1: Louis Oosthuizen, Thomas Pieters, Webb Simpson
80/1: Danny Willett, Alex Noren, Cameron Smith, Brandt Snedeker
100/1: Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter, Joaquin Niemann, Kevin Kisner, Tyrrell Hatton, Charley Hoffman, Branden Grace, Billy Horschel, Matt Fitzpatrick, Gary Woodland, Aaron Wise
8. Casey to Honma?
Via GolfMagic/most likely a tweet from Golf.com’s Jonathan Wall that they spotted…”Casey, who has been a free agent in the iron market ever since Nike Golf’s departure from clubs and balls several years ago, was photographed with a Honma TW-U Forged utility iron in his hands during his practice round at Kapalua on Tuesday. “
“The Englishman signed a metalwoods-only deal with TaylorMade in 2017, but is a free agent when it comes to the rest of his bag.”
9. Koepka’s goals
Apparently, Brooks Koepka only accomplished a portion of what he set out to do in his two-major season.
Rex Hoggard writes…”Despite that success Koepka said he checked off about “half” his goals last season, pointing out that he missed a good portion of the spring with a wrist injury and he didn’t make every cut.”
- “I like playing the weekends,” said Koepka, who missed his only cut at a non-team event at the RBC Canadian Open in July. “I wasn’t happy on that plane ride home. I can tell you that much.”
- But hey... “In bed by 10 o’clock every night. I did good on that one. Every night,” he laughed before adding, “On the road. On the road.”
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