19th Hole
Phil Mickelson fires up buddy Keegan Bradley with text message
Before there was Jordan and Justin, there was Keegan and Phil. And the old pals are trying to spur one another one for strong finishes to the 2017 season.
Mickelson and Bradley have been close since at least the 2012 Ryder Cup with Mickelson serving the dual mentor/buddy function for the combustible Vermonter, who joined the Tour in 2011.
Neither Mickelson nor Bradley have had a particularly good year—heck, neither has won a PGA Tour event in the last four seasons. Mickelson has five top-10 finishes in 21 starts in 2017, Bradley, five top 10s in 28 starts, but neither have challenged for a trophy.
That said, Mickelson, undisclosed health issues behind him, is rounding into form in time for the Presidents Cup. Bradley, who didn’t make the U.S. team, needs a good week in Illinois to qualify for the Tour Championship—and thus stamp his ticket for next year’s majors.
Mickelson addressed this at the BMW Championship.
“We all go through highs and lows in this game. He and I have been on a stretch where we are not playing at our best and we are close to getting it back. I can see in it his game, I can feel in it my game and I really enjoy playing on the events with him.”
Further, Lefty said he sent his former Ryder and Presidents Cup partner something of an inspirational text before the tournament: “And I just sent him a little text,” Mickelson said.
“’let’s have a special week, we’re close, we’re playing well, let’s put it together this week.’”
Mickelson’s motivation worked, at least in round one. Bradley opened with a six-under 65. Hopefully, he keeps it up.
It’s been far too many Sundays since we’ve seen Bradley’s signature stink eye or pre-shot fidgeting on our televisions.
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19th Hole
Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
Fresh off of winning $2.76 million on UConn’s victory over Purdue on Monday night, Barstool Sports’ founder Dave Portnoy has just placed a massive bet for this year’s Masters.
Tweeting on Wednesday morning, Portnoy revealed that he has placed $300,000 on Scottie Scheffler to win this year’s Masters at odds of +450.
Should he win, that’d be a total payout of $1.65 million.
Keep the momentum. For people who wanted me to hedge for is why I didn't. So I could take another shot at glory. #DKPartner #scotty pic.twitter.com/X9a0X8HOTZ
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 10, 2024
Scheffler is one of the shortest priced favorites of recent times at the Masters, and is looking for what would be his third win in his last four events.
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19th Hole
Brooks Koepka was asked if a 59 was possible at this year’s Masters. His answer did not disappoint
During Brooks Koepka’s pre-tournament press conference for this week’s Masters Tournament, the five-time major champion was asked a bit of a silly question and gave a brilliant response.
Q. It sounds like the course is already pretty dialed this week, but under softer or optimal scoring conditions do you think 59 is obtainable on this golf course?
BROOKS KOEPKA: Have you played here?
Q. Not yet.
BROOKS KOEPKA: I can tell by the question.
Q. What number is attainable in your mind? 63’s the low.
BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, now, anything’s attainable. But, yeah, if you want to go play the members tees and maybe play like 15 holes, yeah, I could do that.
With the course record being 63, it’s somewhat unclear why the reporter thought a soft golf course would be enough to result in a score four shots better than the record.
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19th Hole
Viktor Hovland reveals surprise swing coach changeup ahead of 2024 Masters
In what’s already been a topsy-turvy season, Viktor Hovland is making another swing coach change.
While speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, for the Masters, the reigning Tour champion spoke openly about the struggles he’s been having with his swing.
Earlier this year, Hovland parted ways with his short game coach, Joe Mayo, after Mayo had helped him make significant strides around the greens. He then announced his new swing coach would be Grant Waite.
However, at the press conference, a new swing coach, Dana Dahlquist, was alongside the Norwegian.
“I’m still kind of looking for some opinions out there, but I feel like I’m on a good track right now and we’ll see where that takes us. It’s one of those things. I was playing great golf last year, but it’s not like I’m trying to change my golf swing.”
Hovland then spoke about the change to Dahlquist.
“I liked what he thought was the best strategy to get back to a lot of that movement from that time. I thought it made a lot of sense, and so we’ve been working together a bit now. Then we’ll see how it goes.”
The 26-year-old added that he didn’t feel his game was sustainable after his magnificent run during the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
“I had to find my way back to where I think I’m going to play my best golf. Even at the end of the last year, I still felt like, yeah, I was playing great, but I got a lot out of my game, and it didn’t necessarily feel sustainable. But it’s not like I consciously went in and said, hey, we’re going to change everything up.”
“There has been a bit too much back-and-forth. It has been difficult to see the way forward, what exactly is the answer, and what exactly I need to do. I feel that now I’ve decided that ‘this is right, this works.’ I have to get on with it. Then we’ll see how it goes. I feel things are going in the right direction, but it has been more difficult than we would have liked.”
Coming into the season, Hovland was one of the favorites to win the Masters. As the tournament approaches, it feels as if the young star has more questions than answers.
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- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
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