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Morning 9: Bryson: I feel like I can go faster…and I’ve found something for more accuracy | JT: No ball rollback needed | Ricky Barnes’ wild night in the ANGC clubhouse

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1 “Feel like I can go faster”
David Dusek at Golfweek…”Three years ago, DeChambeau asked his trainer, Greg Roskopf, a question. “What is the end game in all of this, in all this neuromuscular training and working out?'” Roskopf replied that he wasn’t sure because no athlete had ever, “gone the distance.”
  • “To that, DeChambeau said, “I’m willing to go the distance, and we went the distance…”
  • “I truly felt like I started to become an athlete probably around December of this past year,” DeChambeau said during a pre-tournament press conference Tuesday. “I started moving weights up quite a bit, and when I was with Greg in Denver, we just kept upping the weight, and I’m like, ‘Man, I did not think I would be able to tolerate all these forces going through my body,’ and I kept recovering well after that.”
  • “I wake up every day and feel like I can go faster, I can swing it faster,” DeChambeau said with a smile on Tuesday. “Just last week, I got my 6-iron up to 112 miles an hour swing speed. My ball speed was 160, and that was me going after it. But I don’t know where the limit is on this, and I’m excited about that because I keep looking forward to each and every day to go down this rabbit hole to see how far I can go.”
2. Bryson has “figured something out”
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner with a few of the mad scientist of golf’s latest #content gems…”I think I’ve figured something out in the golf swing that will hopefully help me hit it a little straighter,” he said Tuesday. “That would be nice.”
  • “His length, of course, has not been the issue since he added roughly 40 pounds of muscle over the past year. He currently leads the PGA Tour in average driving distance, at 323.9 yards…”
  • “So how, exactly, did one of the game’s bulkiest bashers work on his accuracy during the off-week? It’s a trial-and-error process in which DeChambeau said he “must have tried 50 different things” as he worked his way through the entire bag.
  • “It’s just a process of elimination going on,” he said, “and then finding a little nugget every once in a while going, Oh my gosh, it works with everything! And that’s what I felt this past week.”
3. JT on Winged Foot: Really hard, maybe his favorite course
Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…“Thomas played two rounds at Winged Foot (alongside Tiger Woods) earlier this week in anticipation of next month’s U.S. Open.”
  • “And the verdict?”
  • “It’s really hard,” he said Tuesday. “I absolutely loved it. It’s one of my favorite, if not my favorite courses I’ve ever played. It’s right there in front of you. It’s not tricked up. Nothing is hidden. You just stand on the tee and you’re about 490 yards away and you have a really narrow fairway and a pretty severe green. There’s a lot of holes like that.”
4. Thomas: No golf ball rollback needed
Zephyr Melton, owner of the best name in golf journalism, with this for Golf.com…“That said, there is still a place in the game for plodders. In fact, of the four golfers who have won multiple times this season – Brendon Todd, Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson and Justin Thomas – only Thomas ranks inside the top 100 in driving distance. Bombs might generate headlines, but (this season, at least) precision has proven to be more important.”
  • “I think the fact that three guys have won multiple times this year being outside the top 100 in distance just proves yet again that you don’t need distance,” Thomas said at The Northern Trust. “Yeah, it’s helpful, but it makes me cringe and it really bothers me when whoever says that, you know, the golf ball or everything needs to be rolled back because there’s plenty of people that are still performing well that don’t hit it as far.
  • “It is quite an interesting stat,” Thomas continued. “I loved it when I saw it because that just kind of proves yet again that length is not the answer. It’s just helpful. Still got to get the ball in the hole.”
5. Beware USGA email scam
…and no I’m not referring to the one where you send $10 and all you get is a bag tag… kidding. Kidding.
  • Golfweek’s Todd Kelly…”The United States Golf Association put a warning out on social media on Tuesday about an email scam soliciting part-time employment at September’s U.S. Open.”
  • “The USGA advises everyone that this is scam and those involved are not affiliated with the USGA or the tournament.”
  • “The USGA was recently made aware of a fraudulent email campaign in which persons are falsely posing as USGA representatives to offer job candidates part-time employment for use of their vehicles to advertise for the 2020 U.S. Open. Please be advised that this is a scam. This email campaign and the persons involved are in no way affiliated with or have any connection to the USGA or the U.S. Open. Do not respond to the email and do not provide any personal or financial information. If you receive any such email or solicitation, please email the USGA at [email protected]. You may also want to notify your local law enforcement regarding this scam.”
6. Ratings? 
Geoff Shackelford writes…”last week’s Wyndham Championship, won in compelling fashion by Jim Herman over Billy Horschel. It was soggy, hot, with an ok field, but sports television offered plenty of competition: NASCAR, NHL playoffs and MLB games across the country. Oh, and sports fans have lives that might have them doing other things, too, reportedly.”
  • “Yet the Wyndham held its own against the heavy competition. From ShowBuzzDaily.com’s roundup of sports ratings where you can see how the other sports fared…”
  • “The 1.62 edged out the Portland-Memphis NBA play-in game on ABC Saturday, which did draw a much younger audience, but just a 1.29. While this was not a true playoff game and the NBA/ABC combo is off 45% on average from 2012, this is still an eye-opening sight with golf facing tougher competition Sunday. (The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss looks at the NBA’s falling ratings here.)”
  • “Up 36% from last year’s Wyndham, the tournament at Sedgefield also held its own against 2019’s BMW Championship. That was won by Justin Thomas and contested on a similar weekend as the 2020 Wyndham, but with less TV competition and a better field…”
7. Mac Bernhardt
Michael Bamberger at Golf.com with the story of exiled agent Mac Bernhardt (who once represented Davis Love III and Justin Leonard) as he mounts a comeback…
  • “…In 2013, the company Barnhardt owned, Crown Sports Management, was bought out by Lagardère Sports, which has a golf division run by Steve Loy, Phil Mickelson’s agent. In May 2018, Barnhardt was, in his own candid telling, fired. That act triggered a noncompete clause. Barnhardt was pushed to the sidelines for a two-year period. Those two years have come and gone and then some. Which brings us to the comeback he is attempting.”
  • “…In the story of his business life, to turn our subject’s 58 years on this earth into a movie script, Barnhardt’s in the part of Jerry Maguire where Jerry (Tom Cruise) is trying to recruit the fictional NFL receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) to be the first client in the new, we’re-humans-first agency Jerry wants to launch. In real life, Barnhardt settled on his Rod Tidwell last summer. That’s when he started focusing his particular brand of attention, with its curious blend of purposefulness and nonchalance, on Ogletree, a tall, lean golfer from Union, Miss., where his father owns a Piggly Wiggly grocery store….”
8. Ricky Barnes’ wild ANGC story
Told on the latest episode of Subpar, Barnes recounts getting locked out of Augusta National Masters Sunday following a night out at the bar to celebrate his low am honors…
  • “I get back to the front gate to get dropped off and the gate’s closed,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. I hop the brick stone wall, get over, and I’m jogging down Magnolia Lane thinking someone’s going to shoot me.”
  • “…I go upstairs, and they’ll kill me for saying this,” Barnes said. “[British Amateur champion Alejandro Larrazábal] is the only one still there. And it’s only us two. So we walk down the crow’s nest, and there’s a telephone booth and we walk left and we keep going around and there’s the champion’s locker room.”
  • “Then, Larrazábal slipped on a green jacket in a nod to fellow countryman Seve Ballesteros.”
  • “Alex goes right into Seve’s locker, and he’s got Seve’s green jacket on,” Barnes said. “He’s pouring drinks with Seve’s jacket on.”
9. JT peaking?
Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper…“Thomas, 27, has plenty to be confident about entering the playoffs: he’s No. 1 in FedEx Cup points, the No. 2 golfer in the world ranking and has the most wins on the PGA Tour this season.”
  • “However, the 13-time Tour winner insists he’s just warming up…”I’m not trying to peak this week,” Thomas said Tuesday. “I’m trying to kind of start the upward climb to hopefully be peaking (at the Tour Championship) in Atlanta.”

 

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GolfWRX Editor-in-Chief

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. geohogan

    Sep 8, 2020 at 8:08 am

    BD is the real deal… Tin Cup

    He will keep pushing, the weights, until his proprioception is gone
    … and his fitness trainer admitted he doesnt know.

    Where has weight training got Koepke….damaged knee and hips?
    ask Jason Day.

  2. Dat jurnolizm do

    Aug 19, 2020 at 10:23 am

    Great job missing the story about Charlie Woods crushing a US Kids event with Tiger looping for him.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

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GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.

As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open betting preview

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As the Florida swing comes to an end, the PGA Tour makes its way to Houston to play the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course.

This will be the fourth year that Memorial Park Golf Course will serve as the tournament host. The event did not take place in 2023, but the course hosted the event in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Memorial Park is a par-70 layout measuring 7,432 yards and features Bermudagrass greens. Historically, the main defense for the course has been thick rough along the fairways and tightly mown runoff areas around the greens. Memorial Park has a unique setup that features three Par 5’s and five Par 3’s.

The field will consist of 132 players, with the top 65 and ties making the cut. There are some big names making the trip to Houston, including Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala.

Past Winners at Memorial Park

  • 2022: Tony Finau (-16)
  • 2021: Jason Kokrak (-10)
  • 2020: Carlos Ortiz (-13)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value). 

Key Stats For Memorial Park

Let’s take a look at several metrics for Memorial Park to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds:

Strokes Gained: Approach

Memorial Park is a pretty tough golf course. Golfers are penalized for missing greens and face some difficult up and downs to save par. Approach will be key.

Total Strokes Gained: Approach per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Tom Hoge (+1.30)
  2. Scottie Scheffler (+1.26)
  3. Keith Mitchell (+0.97) 
  4. Tony Finau (+0.92)
  5. Jake Knapp (+0.84)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Memorial Park is a long golf course with rough that can be penal. Therefore, a combination of distance and accuracy is the best metric.

Total Strokes Gained: Off the Tee per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+0.94)
  2. Kevin Dougherty (+0.93)
  3. Cameron Champ (+0.86)
  4. Rafael Campos (+0.84)
  5. Si Woo Kim (+0.70)

Strokes Gained Putting: Bermudagrass + Fast

The Bermudagrass greens played fairly fast the past few years in Houston. Jason Kokrak gained 8.7 strokes putting on his way to victory in 2021 and Tony Finau gained in 7.8 in 2022.

Total Strokes Gained Putting (Bermudagrass) per round past 24 rounds (min. 8 rounds):

  1. Adam Svensson (+1.27)
  2. Harry Hall (+1.01)
  3. Martin Trainer (+0.94)
  4. Taylor Montgomery (+0.88)
  5. S.H. Kim (+0.86)

Strokes Gained: Around the Green

With firm and undulating putting surfaces, holding the green on approach shots may prove to be a challenge. Memorial Park has many tightly mowed runoff areas, so golfers will have challenging up-and-down’s around the greens. Carlos Ortiz gained 5.7 strokes around the green on the way to victory in 2020.

Total Strokes Gained: Around the Green per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Mackenzie Hughes (+0.76)
  2. S.H. Kim (+0.68)
  3. Scottie Scheffler (+0.64)
  4. Jorge Campillo (+0.62)
  5. Jason Day (+0.60)

Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult

Memorial Park is a long and difficult golf course. This statistic will incorporate players who’ve had success on these types of tracks in the past. 

Total Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+2.45)
  2. Ben Griffin (+1.75)
  3. Will Zalatoris (+1.73)
  4. Ben Taylor (+1.53)
  5. Tony Finau (+1.42)

Course History

Here are the players who have performed the most consistently at Memorial Park. 

Strokes Gained Total at Memorial Park past 12 rounds:

  1. Tyson Alexander (+3.65)
  2. Ben Taylor (+3.40)
  3. Tony Finau (+2.37)
  4. Joel Dahmen (+2.25)
  5. Patton Kizzire (+2.16)

Statistical Model

Below, I’ve reported overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed.

These rankings are comprised of SG: App (24%) SG: OTT (24%); SG: Putting Bermudagrass/Fast (13%); SG: Long and Difficult (13%); SG: ARG (13%) and Course History (13%)

  1. Scottie Scheffler
  2. Wyndham Clark
  3. Tony Finau
  4. Joel Dahmen
  5. Stephan Jaeger 
  6. Aaron Rai
  7. Sahith Theegala
  8. Keith Mitchell 
  9. Jhonnatan Vegas
  10. Jason Day
  11. Kurt Kitayama
  12. Alex Noren
  13. Will Zalatoris
  14. Si Woo Kim
  15. Adam Long

2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open Picks

Will Zalatoris +2000 (Caesars)

Scottie Scheffler will undoubtedly be difficult to beat this week, so I’m starting my card with someone who I believe has the talent to beat him if he doesn’t have his best stuff.

Will Zalatoris missed the cut at the PLAYERS, but still managed to gain strokes on approach while doing so. In an unpredictable event with extreme variance, I don’t believe it would be wise to discount Zalatoris based on that performance. Prior to The PLAYERS, the 27-year-old finished T13, T2 and T4 in his previous three starts.

Zalatoris plays his best golf on long and difficult golf courses. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the category, but the eye test also tells a similar story. He’s contended at major championships and elevated events in the best of fields with tough scoring conditions.  The Texas resident should be a perfect fit at Memorial Park Golf Club.

Alex Noren +4500 (FanDuel)

Alex Noren has been quietly playing some of his best golf of the last half decade this season. The 41-year-old is coming off back-to-back top-20 finishes in Florida including a T9 at The PLAYERS in his most recent start.

In his past 24 rounds, Noren ranks 21st in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 30th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, 25th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses and 21st in Strokes Gained: Putting on fast Bermudagrass greens.

In addition to his strong recent play, the Swede also has played well at Memorial Park. In 2022, Noren finished T4 at the event, gaining 2.2 strokes off the tee and 7.0 strokes on approach for the week. In his two starts at the course, he’s gained an average of .6 strokes per round on the field, indicating he is comfortable on these greens.

Noren has been due for a win for what feels like an eternity, but Memorial Park may be the course that suits him well enough for him to finally get his elusive first PGA Tour victory.

Mackenzie Hughes +8000 (FanDuel)

Mackenzie Hughes found himself deep into contention at last week’s Valspar Championship before faltering late and finishing in a tie for 3rd place. While he would have loved to win the event, it’s hard to see the performance as anything other than an overwhelming positive sign for the Canadian.

Hughes has played great golf at Memorial Park in the past. He finished T7 in 2020, T29 in 2021 and T16 in 2022. The course fit seems to be quite strong for Hughes. He’s added distance off the tee in the past year or and ranks 8th in the field for apex height, which will be a key factor when hitting into Memorial Park’s elevated greens with steep run-off areas.

In his past 24 rounds, Hughes is the best player in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Greens. The ability to scramble at this course will be extremely important. I believe Hughes can build off of his strong finish last week and contend once again to cement himself as a President’s Cup consideration.

Akshay Bhatia +8000 (FanDuel)

Akshay Bhatia played well last week at the Valspar and seemed to be in total control of his golf ball. He finished in a tie for 17th and shot an impressive -3 on a difficult Sunday. After struggling Thursday, Akshay shot 68-70-68 in his next three rounds.

Thus far, Bhatia has played better at easier courses, but his success at Copperhead may be due to his game maturing. The 22-year-old has enormous potential and the raw talent to be one of the best players in the world when he figures it all out.

Bhatia is a high upside play with superstar qualities and may just take the leap forward to the next stage of his career in the coming months.

Cameron Champ +12000 (FanDuel)

Cameron Champ is a player I often target in the outright betting market due to his “boom-or-bust” nature. It’s hard to think of a player in recent history with three PGA Tour wins who’s been as inconsistent as Champ has over the course of his career.

Despite the erratic play, Cam Champ simply knows how to win. He’s won in 2018, 2019 and 2021, so I feel he’s due for a win at some point this season. The former Texas A&M product should be comfortable in Texas and last week he showed us that his game is in a pretty decent spot.

Over his past 24 rounds, Champ ranks 3rd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 30th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses. Given his ability to spike at any given time, Memorial Park is a good golf course to target Champ on at triple digit odds.

Robert MacIntyre +12000 (FanDuel)

The challenge this week is finding players who can possibly beat Scottie Scheffler while also not dumping an enormous amount of money into an event that has a player at the top that looks extremely dangerous. Enter McIntyre, who’s another boom-or-bust type player who has the ceiling to compete with anyone when his game is clicking on all cylinders.

In his past 24 rounds, MacIntyre ranks 16th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 17th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 10th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses.

MacIntyre’s PGA Tour season has gotten off to a slow start, but he finished T6 in Mexico, which is a course where players will hit driver on the majority of their tee shots, which is what we will see at Memorial Park. Texas can also get quite windy, which should suit MacIntyre. Last July, the Scot went toe to toe with Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open before a narrow defeat. It would take a similar heroic effort to compete with Scheffler this year in Houston.

Ryan Moore +15000 (FanDuel)

Ryan Moore’s iron play has been absolutely unconscious over his past few starts. At The PLAYERS Championship in a loaded field, he gained 6.1 strokes on approach and last week at Copperhead, he gained 9.0 strokes on approach.

It’s been a rough handful of years on Tour for the 41-year-old, but he is still a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who’s young enough for a career resurgence. Moore has chronic deterioration in a costovertebral joint that connects the rib to the spine, but has been getting more consistent of late, which is hopefully a sign that he is getting healthy.

Veterans have been contending in 2024 and I believe taking a flier on a proven Tour play who’s shown signs of life is a wise move at Memorial Park.

 

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Tour Rundown: Malnati’s 2nd, Korda rebounds

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March has brought out the lion as the month draws to a close. An early spring fortnight brought dreams of golf for the northern states until Mother Nature shrieked a veil of snow across those emerald fairways. Fortunately for golf, the sun shined bright and warm across a fair part of the links landscape, and events in Singapore, the Yucatan, California, and Florida, went off as planned. We hold our breath when champion golfers rise to the occasion in grand slam events. For the Malnatis, Feaglers, and Svenssons of the golfverse, every week is a major opportunity. In honor of their efforts, let’s begin this week’s Tour Rundown with a flying beast seen rarely outside the southern oceans: the albatross

PGA Tour @ Valspar: Malnati earns second tour title

Keith Mitchell played 54 great holes from Thursday to Saturday in Florida and played two more great ones on Sunday. It was the eight rotten holes on day four that cost him nine shots and dropped him from first to 17th in one round. Mitchell looked like a man poised to collect his first tour title, until his Sunday malaise. His struggles cleared the way for a number of challengers to move up the board. The tournament was won at 12-under par, but eight players finished within four shots of that lead.

Four shots are not a lot to make up on the Copperhead golf course at Innisbrook. Adam Hadwin, Carly Yuan, Xander Schauffele, and Ryan Moore finished on 276 strokes, four back fo the leader and tied for fifth. Mackenzie Hughes and Chandler Phillips finished one shot lower, at 275 strokes, in a tie for third spot. The runner-up spot was claimed by Cameron Young, perhaps the most talented player on tour without a win. Young was spectacular all week, never leaving the 60s.

Late in the round, Peter Malnati posted his fifth birdie of the day, at the difficult 17th. His tee ball from 200 yards settled six feet from the hole, and he guided the putt home. Ahead of him, on the uphill 18th, Young flew his drive far left but was able to loft an approach onto the green. His first putt, from 50-ish feet, came up woefully short and his attempt to save par was wide of its mark. Despite a drive into the left fairway bunker at the last, Malnati was able to recover to the green in two and coax a 25-feet approach put to tap in range. The victory was Malnati’s first since 2015, and his second overall.

LPGA @ Se Ri Pak Championship: Korda rebounds for overtime win

During the first week of March Madness, maddening things happened on and off the hardwood. For Nelly Korda, the eagle she collected with five holes to play, should have given her momentum and confidence. Instead, it took her in the opposite direction. She found bogies at 15, 17, and 18, and it was only a saving birdie at the 16th that allowed her entry into a playoff with Ryann O’Toole. The pair returned to the 18th tee, and Korda once again managed to reverse fortune.

After the eagle, Korda strode at 11-under par, while her closest pursuers were a solid handful behind. At that juncture, O’Toole snared birdies at 15 and 16, and closed with pars at 17 and 18. She waited 45 minutes for Korda to finish, certainly uncertain as to her chances for more golf. In the playoff, both golfers hit stellar approach shots to the home green, with Korda about four feet inside O’Toole. The UCLA alumna missed her run at birdie, but Korda’s aim was true. The victory was her 10th on tour and her second of the 2024 campaign.

DP World Tour @ Singapore Classic: That’s Svensson with three S’s

Svenson and its variations must be somewhat similar to the name Smith across the English-speaking world.  Your father was a guy named Sven, so they didn’t think too long before giving you a last name. Jesper Svensson must be relieved: coming from a long line of Svens (hence the double S in the middle) his parents strayed from the norm and went all in on Jesper. This week in Singapore (which might be renamed Ssingapore for a bit) Jesper, son of Svenss, took down a guy that the golf world was all in on, just a decade ago.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat has a fun name to pronunce, at least for filologists. Back in the 2010s, he was a rising star, bound for glory. He collected four wins on the DP World Tour, from 2015 to 2018. Then, inexplicably, he went away. The Thai golfer made his return to our collective view in 2024 and came within a whisper of collectin win number five on Europe’s tour. Aphibarnrat opened and closed the event with rounds of 64, and normally, those fireworks would have sufficed to ice the trophy. Then came a guy named Jesper, son of Svenss.

Despite three bogies on his Sunday card, Svensson amassed eight birdies and two eagles and posted 63. This indiscrete round was enough to earn him a spot in a playoff with Aphibarnrat. The duo returned thrice to the 18th tee, and things appeared to worsen with each voyage. After having the hole with birdies in trip one, the pair managed pars in trip two, then a par and bogey in trip three. Just like that, the tournament had reached a conclusion, and Jesper Svensson the golfer will now threaten Jesper Svensson the bowler’s hold on Wiki searches. Enjoy one of his approach shots for eagle during round four.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Bupa: Feagler stands tall after playoff

The KFT event along the Mexican Riviera began day four in the hands of an Argentine golfer. Nelson Ledesma appeared worthy of the title, until he endured a thousand small cuts, on his way to a closing 81. He dropped from 1st to 31st and didn’t just open the door for his chasers. He took out two or three walls and exposed the entire barn for all to enter.

The PGA Riviera Maya course played a stout, 7200 yards this week, and its defenses were apparent for all who came to compete. The week’s low round of 65 came on Thursday, and was redeemed by Jesus Montenegro, He soared ten shots higher on day two but would steady himself enough to finish in a seventh-place tie. With 66 on Thursday, Davis Shore found himself in contention, and he would remain until closing time. As the challenges increased, scores headed north and rounds of 76 and 74 would ultimately be found on the scorecards of the men who tied at the top.

Shore posted a 76 on day three, while Clay Feagler signed for a 74. On Sunday, as Ledesma was tumbling, both Shore and Feagler marched toward a 4-under-par total. They edged past Julian Etulain and tied for the pole position. Off to extra time they went, but three trips over the 436-yard 18th resolved nothing. Each golfer posted par-bogey-par, and the playoff moved to the 10th tee for its conclusion. There, Feagler made another bogey, but Shore went one worse. Unable to avoid double bogey, Davis Shore was relegated to runner-up status, and Clay Feagler collected a shield for his first Korn Ferry Tour title.

PGA Tour Champions @ Hoag Classic: Six seniors for Padraig

If any man could ever match Bernhard Langer’s 46 wins on Tour Champions, he would certainly have many of the characteristics of Padraig Harrington. The reason he won’t is his heavy investment in a wider reach of golf. Harrington captained the European Ryder Cup side in 2021, a venture that consumes close to two years of a golfer’s attention. After turning 50, Harrington continued to play the PGA Tour, mixing in Tour Champions appearances when time allowed. The Irish golfer has also become a YouTube favorite, offering advice and wisdom to those who wish to improve at the game. In other words, he lacks Langer’s laser focus on one task: winning titles.

That’s quite all right because when Padraig Harrington is on his game, wins come his way. They are rarely runaway victories, and this enhances his reputation for performing at the wire. This week in California, Harrington managed to close out Thongchai Jaidee in a most un-Harrington-esque manner. The lad from Dublin closed birdie-double-birdie-birdie, and this was enough to hold off the champion from Thailand by one.

The double at 16 was Harrington’s second of the day. A pair of doubles is welcome in no poker hand, yet Harrington found a way to overcome. The win was his sixth on Tour Champions. With a pair of playoff losses on the senior circuit, Harrington was fortunate to conclude matters in regulation time.

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