5. Jack’s place
Dave Shedloski, writing for PGATour.com, looks at the evolution of Muirfield Village…
- “And, yet, until a few years ago, when he redesigned the par-3 16th hole and built a new tournament tee for the par-4 18th in preparation for the 2013 Presidents Cup, Nicklaus continually had tinkered with his prized layout, transforming that imperfect masterpiece into one of the most revered designs in the world.”
- “Not only is Muirfield Village the site this week of the 44th playing of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, it also has been the venue for some of golf’s most popular and prestigious events. It is the only golf course in the world to host the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup. It also was the site of the 1992 U.S. Amateur.”
- “Long before Muirfield Village hosted any of those prestigious events, or even the first Memorial Tournament, Nicklaus made clear his intentions and aspirations for Muirfield Village as “a showplace of what the game of golf should be.”
Full piece.
6. Way to go, coach!
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols with the story…
- “Two days after Amy Ruengmateekhun led Ursuline Academy of Dallas to its second consecutive state high school title, she qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Open. Ruengmateekhun, 27, had been trying to make her way into the biggest championship in women’s golf since 2007. It took quitting the game competitively to get there.”
- “My girls are a huge inspiration for me,” Ruengmateekhun said of the high school team that carded its lowest round – 307 – on the final day of the championship. It marked the first time four players on her team broke 80 in the same round.
7. Studying with the scientist
Dave Shedloski sat in on the singular Bryson DeChambeau discussing his methods…
“FACTORS WHEN HITTING A 150-YARD SHOT”
1 Air Density
2 Elevation Change
3 Wind Vector X
4 Local Slope Adjustment
5 Roll Out Number
6 Secret
7 Choose Shot
“He of the single-length shafts in his irons and a vocabulary that makes him even more dangerous in Scrabble than on a golf course, DeChambeau went into painstaking detail on how he hit upon this checklist to hit upon a golf ball. With five PGA Tour wins before turning 25, and a victory earlier this year on the European Tour at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic (where he won by a record seven shots), The Professor has proven that his method is effective.”
8. Feinstein wants to hear from Rory again
…Sabbatini, that is…
- “Almost 10 years later, with slow play still an issue, I was writing a column about it for Golf Digest. Naturally, the first person I thought to talk to was Sabbatini. I’d always gotten along with him and thought getting him to talk about it would be a slam dunk.”
- “I was wrong. I approached him early in the week at the Players Championship. We shook hands and he said pleasantly, “What can I do for you?””
- “I never got the next sentence completely out of my mouth. “I’m doing a column on slow play and . . . “
- “NO!” Sabbatini roared, starting to walk away. “I’m not talking about it anymore. I’ve told the tour how I feel and what needs to be done and no one pays any attention. When they decide to do something, come back and talk to me. Until then, I’m finished!”
9. A very expensive flight
Our Gianni Magliocco writes…“Tom Gillis was one of many players who struggled in the tough conditions at Oak Hill East Course at last week’s Senior PGA Championship, and after finishing his second round on a total of nine-over par, the 50-year-old made the ill-fated decision to pack up his things and fly home to Michigan.”
- “Gillis had been three shots outside of the cut line when he decided to head back to Detroit, but on landing, the veteran golfer learned that the cut line had moved to nine-over par meaning Gillis had made the weekend.”
- “Faced with the option to either fly back to Rochester for round three or take a WD, Gillis chose the latter.”
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