Coming into this week, many said that a northeastern course would be a terrible venue for a month-of-May PGA Championship, especially one not built on sand. They said that the winds would blow, the rains would fall, and the course would mud up like a college Oozefest. As of Thursday, it had yet to happen at Bethpage Black, despite ominous weather earlier in the week.
With the ancillaries out of the way, attention turned to the actual golf, particularly the current major champions group of Tiger Woods, Francesco Molinari, and Brooks Koepka. As the reigning holder of the Wannamaker trophy, the oft-slighted Koepka ambled into Farmingdale with a chip on his shoulder. Did it remain there? Did he get outplayed by his two group-mates? Read up on the 5 things we learned on Thursday, to find out the honest truth.
5. George Gankas might be the name on everyone’s mind by week’s end
He coaches Danny Lee and Sung Kang. Kang won last week at the Byron Nelson, and Lee is in 2nd place (more on that later.) Gankas is a flat-brim-wearing, driving-range-teaching, rip open your hips and thrust that pelvis like Elvis, kind of guy. No holding back, and he’s fun to watch. His stable of golfers might be ready to break through, and break the mold. Remember where you first heard it.
4. Happy Hollow Club REPRESENT! Mill River Club HOLLA!
For today, the PGA professionals (not touring pros) from Happy Hollow Club in Omaha, and Mill River Club in nearby Oyster Bay, sat inside the top 20 of a major golf championship. The PGA Championship cares as much about its club professionals, as the Masters does about amateurs. When either one makes the cut, it’s a big deal. Jason Caron (the local) had 3 each of birdies and bogies, while Ryan Vermeer (the cornhusker) matched his total with 2 of each (birdies and bogies.) These are guys who not only keep golf running on the daily level, but can game it with the world’s best, if only for a day. Here’s to another hot round tomorrow for each, a made cut, and a weekend at Bethpage.
3. Tommy of the cascading lettuce sits in 3rd after 18
Tommy Fleetflow…Tommy Flowwood…Tommy Sweetflow…oh, sorry, where was I? This all might seem eerily familiar to the Englishman. Last June, he finished one shot behind current leader Brooks Koepka at the US Open, on a golf course located about 60 miles away, in the Hamptons. Fleetwood turned the tables at the Ryder Cup, where he was the hero of the week. Now he returns to battle Brooks, but he has 4 shots to make up. Like Koepka, Fleet started on the inward half. He birdied one-third of his holes, but made 3 bogies on the day to slip back to 3-under par. Despite the miscues, the man from Southport was surprised at the number of birdies he snared:
I was a little bit actually. It wasn’t something that I really — I mean, I didn’t really have an over and under on how many birdies I might need to make, but like sort of you feel like you make one, you feel like the course isn’t really giving you much. I think it definitely felt more playable today, though, than on the practice days. I made a great birdie on 15, which was my first one of the day, but at no point does it feel like the course is going to lend anything to you. Yeah, six birdies is a lot. It’s probably more than I thought I would get.
2. Danny Lee was super good … in 2008
The Korean golfer from New Zealand won the 2008 US Amateur by 5 & 4 in the finale. He has had moderate success since then, known as much for being Rickie Fowler’s prank patsy as a tour winner. Lee has never threatened to win a professional major, so it’s doubtful that he’ll be in the mix past 36 holes. For today, he was outstanding. 8 birdies offset by 2 bogies brought him to -6 on the day, one off Brooks Koepka’s course record. By the way, Danny has real-people concerns, just like you and me:
Yes and no, but I know my family is sacrificing out there for me to chase my dream out here. I guess I should say yes. I sometimes feel like I’m a bad person when I play bad because a young baby and my wife and my mother-in-law traveling with me out here, and when I don’t make a good result, it just makes me feel like I didn’t do what I’m supposed to do. I definitely have that kind of mindset in my head now.
1. Koepka silences doubters for at least one day
Course record? Seven under par? No bogies? Nothing that anyone predicted, all came true for the defending champion on Thursday at the Black. Despite, or perhaps because of, a pairing with the greatest golfer of all time and the greatest Italian golfer of all time, Brooks Koepka showed them and everyone who watched, who the man to beat is this week. He opened with birdie on the 10th, the same hole Woods double-bogied, where Molinari earned bogey. Just like that, the quiet one was 3 up and 2 up, respectively. It didn’t get much better for the wee men the rest of the way. His burliness birdied his last hole, the 9th, in addition to 5 other birdies. Pretty much the perfect round, to get people to sit up and take notice. Despite it all, the big man was convinced he left three shots on the course:
Well, I didn’t take care of the par-5s, didn’t birdie any of the par-5s. That was disappointing because I felt like you know those are holes you should be able to birdie. Definitely can reach, what is it, 4 and just hit a bad drive there. And then 13 I can get there, too, I just hit it in the bunker. And then the second hole today, my 11th hole, I missed about a five-footer. That would have been nice to shoot 60. I guess that would have been pretty good.
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Rascal
May 17, 2019 at 6:53 pm
He’s sure come a long way from ggswingtips on Instagram!
Ronald Montesano
May 17, 2019 at 8:20 pm
ha ha…good one, amigo.
Stacey Uchtman
May 17, 2019 at 9:50 am
Gankas has a crazy swing himself, I think he is Wolff’s coach if I’m not mistaken too.
Ronald Montesano
May 17, 2019 at 8:21 pm
You betcha. Good catch.
Paul
May 16, 2019 at 11:48 pm
“Remember where you first heard it”. Wait, what?
George has been around for years, he didn’t get credibility because he didn’t have big name players. But now his young people are coming up fast. We heard of George on YouTube years ago. We didn’t hear about George here first, or that he was going to be a great coach, we figured it out a long time ago, Golfwrx is playing catch up.
Ronald Montesano
May 17, 2019 at 6:30 am
Notice how we didn’t write “You heard it here first.” Just reminding you to “remember where you first heard it.” Also, to split hairs even more, we are the first outlet THIS WEEK to write about Gankas’ teaching impact on the first round.
That said, I’d love to hear more about how you found the gospel according to George. I’ve been a Twitter follower for about 8 months, and am trying to gently incorporate elements of what he teaches into my swing. #NowhereNearCali
Obee
May 17, 2019 at 9:49 am
Oh come on, Ron! “Remember where you first heard it.” The implication there is absolutely that the reader heard it in YOUR article first. Otherwise it’s nonsensical. There is zero chance you really meant to have the reader take a moment to ask: “Self, where did you first hear of George Gankas.”
And if you did mean that, then that’s just bad writing. No offense. 😉
I mean, I love your stuff, but that was just a bad response.
I’ve been following Gankas for two(?) years now. Love his stuff. Even booked a lesson with him, but since I live in Riverside, it was too long a haul, and I couldn’t make it. Need to book another for sure….
Thomas A
May 17, 2019 at 10:08 am
I heard it in Ron’s article first. Never heard of the guy before.
Ronald Montesano
May 17, 2019 at 8:24 pm
#LotsaLove4ThomasA
Glad to provide a service, my peep.
Ronald Montesano
May 17, 2019 at 8:22 pm
Obee…give my best to Luke…and Rey…and the other Jedi.
S’up? I’m meeting you halfway.