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Tour Rundown: Big macs | Steph’s celebration | Linn Grant

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9 months ago

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For golf fans across the world, July signals the arrival of ground golf on telecasts. Four wondrous tournaments play out across streams and sets around the globe. Doesn’t matter if it’s heathland or linksland, or some delicious hybrid of the two. The ball bounces and ricochets and caroms, befuddling fans and perplexing players. Just think about it: we have three more weeks to watch this marvel.

The most famous shot of the week came in a semi-pro event, featuring those guys we hate because they excel at more than one sport. Steph Curry showed us all how to celebrate a walk-off eagle at the Celebrity Tour event. Amateurs everywhere, take note, and then take a lap with our Tour Rundown.

DP World Tour @ Scottish Open: Two big macs have birdie fest at Renaissance

Rory McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre gave golf fans a wild close to the Scottish Open. MacIntyre is the Scottish talent that the home of golf has yearned for, since Sandy Lyle ceased playing like Sandy Lyle. Young Bobby made a startling eagle at the 10th hole, and closed with an outrageous birdie at the last. He marked 14-under par as the clubhouse lead, then waited for the final four groups to make their trek homeward.

On the day, Tom Kim, Tommy Fleetwood, and Scottie Scheffler had made runs at the title , which seemed in reach, for all the world. Rory McIlroy, the 3rd-round leader, was in the midst of another Rory Final Round. You know the type: four bogeys by the turn, two shots returned to old man par. No one knows the final-round affliction better than the Northern Irishman, and no cure was in site for his tarantella. And then, middle-aged Rory suddenly became young Rory for the closing nine holes. Birdies at 11 and 14 gave him hope, and a stout iron to the 53rd green brought him to a tie with Bobby.

Then, McIlroy did an audacious thing. He drove the fairway, hit to the green, and drained a ten-feet putt for his first-ever, Scottish Open title. What could Bobby and all the rest do, but nod and clap? On the eve of the year’s final major championship, McIlroy had become great again. It’s been nine years since his last major victory, and perhaps Hoylake will bring him glory once more, as it did in 2014.

A note on Rory. He came into the game when the bar had been raised by Tiger Woods. When Tiger came into the game, there was some fitness and little technology. His main competition was in its twilight year, and a certain left-handed golfer was the only, major threat to his reign. Rory contends with fitter, more intelligent, more committed golfers, on a daily basis. It’s time to stop making comparisons between previous generations and this one. Wins are more preciously achieved than they were at the turn of the millennium.

LPGA @ Dana Open: Grant gathers first LPGA victory in Ohio

Linn Grant amassed four bogeys over her 72 holes of play this week in Sylvania, near Toledo. That was a fine start. She followed the first course with buckets of birdies and the occasional eagle. She even holed from the fairway for a deuce on Saturday’s 11th hole. Grant wasn’t the only golfer to post four rounds in the 60s this week, but she found a way to make her scores slightly better than those of her pursuers.

An opening 64 gave Grant the co-lead with Jaravee Boonchant. Her 133 total through 36 stood her in a three-way tie for the top spot. It was Saturday’s spectacular 62 that cleared her path to solo first. Her advantage was six shots over her nearest pursuer, so the only obstacle between her and the podium’s top spot, was malaise. The Sweden native took care of business early on Sunday, marching to a three-under total through 13holes. A wee bogey bump at the 14th shined a bit of light for the chasers, but Grant added one more birdie, at the home hole, to conclude the day’s events.

PGA Tour @ Barbasol Championship: Normann defeats Kimsey in one-hole playoff

The Barbasol Championship represents many things to many golfers that you may never have heard of. Money toward keeping a tour card, exemptions that come with a victory, and a spot in the following week’s Open Championship for those not yet qualified. This week brought all those perqs to rookie Vincent Normann, a Swede by way of Florida State. Normann played well on Sunday, but was given a chance at glory when 54-hole leader Trevor Cone made double bogey at the penultimate hole. Cone and Adrien Saddier finished one shot out of a playoff, at 21-under par.

Tied with Normann after regulation was England’s Nathan Kimsey. The pair returned to the watery 18th, and both showed the nerves of the unproven. Each golfer missed the fairway, and then the green. Just when it looked like bogey would send the pair back to the tee for hole number two of overtime, Normann hit a marvelous recovery shot to two feet, to save par. When Kimsey could not match, it was a Normann conquest.

Korn Ferry Tour @ The Ascendant: Lindheim claims 3rd KFT title with clean Sunday card

Nicholas Lindheim has been around a while. The American won on PGA Tour Latinioamérica in 2014 and 2015. He won on the then-Web.Com tour in 2016 and 2017. Unlike his contemporaries, Lindheim was never able to make the final ascent to the PGA Tour. With his win this week at The Ascendant, he may finally climb the ladder’s final rung.

Alejandro Tosti held the 54-hole lead in Colorado, but the Argentine slipped to a Sunday 71, and tie for 4th position. Parker Coody closed with 67 to take third place, while Max Greyserman returned a 66 on day four, to stake a claim for solo second. Lindheim knew it was his day, when he nearly drove the 3rd green, then holed his pitch for eagle. 15 holes and 4 birdies later, Lindheim reached 20-under par and a two-shot advantage over Greyserman.

PGA Tour Champions @ Kaulig: Stricker claims another Senior Major

I don’t want to say that Steve Stricker is toying with his competition, but what else do you call it when a guy wraps a 73 with two slices of 65 bread? That’s what Stricker did over the first three days, and those efforts were enough to give him the lead with one round unsettled. On Sunday, a series of challengers stepped forward. First there was Harrison Frazar. Next came Scott Parel, Finally, here was David Toms. None of the huntsmen could quite track the Wisconsin native down, and Stricker closed with 69 to reach 11-under par on the week. His 269 at Firestone was enough to hold off David Toms by three, and win a seventh senior major title.

Stricker opened with three birdies in his first ten holes, forcing the hands of the competition. No one was on track to go low, so the poster child for second careers steered the boat into port with two more birdies and a bogey on the inward half. It was textbook Stricker play that finished the task: find the fairway, find the green, make or nearly make the putt. No one will ever match Bernhard Langer nor Hale Irwin, but Stricker’s body of work on Tour Times Two is certainly top ten in history, perhaps top five.

PGA Tour Canada @ Quebec Open: Lamb outlasts wolves in Canada

There was rain at Golf Chateau-Bromont, but not the kind that plagued states like Vermont and New York. The precipitation that fell on this golf course, had a softening effect on the greens. Players shot at flags, and the final total of 22-under par to the winner was part and parcel for the week.

Lamb did not post above 66 all week, and even that score was three shots higher than his other scores. Lamb closed with 63, his low round of the week. It could not come at a better time. Nearby, David Kim was quietly building a mighty effort. Kim was three-under on the front nine, then four under par on the inward half. His 62 was the week’s low round but, thanks to Lamb’s gritty performance, Kim could make up but one shot on the leader. The victory was Lamb’s second in two events, and locked up a Korn Ferry Tour card for the 2023-2024 PGA Tour

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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Morning 9: Rory: I’m not joining LIV | Masters ratings | Nelly: We just need a stage

Published

1 day ago

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Apr 17, 2024

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up to this week’s RBC Heritage.

1. Rory: I’m not going to LIV

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…McIlroy said neither he nor his agents have ever discussed a potential deal to lure him to the LIV Golf League, which is being financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

  • “I honestly don’t know how these things get started,” McIlroy told Golf Channel while on the practice range at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the site of this week’s RBC Heritage. “I’ve never been offered a number from LIV, and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV. Again, I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.
  • “It doesn’t mean that I judge people who have went and played over there. I think one of the things that I have realized over the past two years is that people can make their own decisions for whatever they think is best for themselves, and who are we to judge them for that? But personally, for me, my future is here on the PGA Tour, and it’s never been any different.”
Full piece.

2. Masters ratings down

Yahoo’s Jay Busbee…”Ratings for the full Masters week are now out, and 2024’s version ranks as the lowest since the COVID-impacted years of 2020 and 2021. There was a brief moment when four players shared the lead at the 2024 Masters, but Scottie Scheffler took care of business quickly enough and strolled to what qualifies as an “easy” Masters victory — a four-stroke triumph that wasn’t in doubt for most of the second nine.”

  • “Perhaps as a result, Sunday’s final round averaged 9.59 million viewers on CBS, according to Sports Media Watch, a 22.8% decline from last year’s 12.06 million. Scheffler’s win two years ago averaged 10.17 million viewers. Worth noting: Sunday’s final round was down 20 percent against last year’s victory by Jon Rahm, but last year’s final round fell on Easter Sunday, which created a significantly higher out-of-home percentage of viewers — 21 percent in 2023, as opposed to 9 percent this year.”
Full piece.

3. Chevron gets purse boost

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…“Chevron’s commitment to the LPGA went a step higher on Tuesday with the announcement of a purse increase to $7.9 million in 2024. The move brings the tour’s first major in line with the purses of other championships. The U.S. Women’s Open purse of $12 million paces the tour, with the KPMG Women’s PGA second at $10 million. The AIG Women’s British Open purse checks in at $9 million while Amundi Evian is $6.5 million.”

  • “Chevron, which moved the event away from Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, to Texas, last year, has increased the purse by $4.8 million since assuming title sponsorship in 2022. The company has committed to title sponsor the event through 2029.”
Full piece.

4. Shipley on “notegate”

Alex Myers for Golf Digest…”So what was up with “notegate”? During his hilarious spot with McAfee, Shipley reiterated there was no note from Woods, and that he was only looking at the moderator because he was so confused where the question was coming from:

  • “I looked over at the moderator like ‘Who the hell is this guy?'” Shipley says in the clip. “Because it just didn’t happen. I was so confused and so shocked in the moment.”
Full piece.

5. Nelly: We just need a stage

Iain Carter for the BBC…”Korda is the first American to win four consecutive tournaments on the LPGA since Lopez won five straight 46 years ago. This astonishing streak made the then rookie front page material for Sports Illustrated.

  • “Korda’s feats have yet to transcend the golfing village, and perhaps that suits her as she “tries to stay in my bubble”. But the American Solheim Cup player does recognise that more could be done to tell the increasingly compelling story of women’s golf.”
  • “I feel like we just need a stage,” she told reporters here at Carlton Woods just north of Houston. “We need to be put on TV.
  • “I feel like when it’s tape delay, or anything like that, that hurts our game. Women’s sports just needs a stage. If we have a stage we can show up and perform and show people what we’re all about.”
Full piece.

6. Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

  • Check out all of our galleries from this week’s event!
Full piece.
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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

Published

2 days ago

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Apr 16, 2024

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GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.

We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.

We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.

Check out links to all our photos, below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

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Morning 9: Aberg: I want to be No. 1 | Rory’s management blasts ‘fake news’ reports

Published

2 days ago

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Apr 16, 2024

By
By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we look back at the Masters while looking ahead to this week’s RBC Heritage.

1. Shane Ryan: Appreciate Scottie’s greatness

Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan…”This is what’s called generational talent, and we haven’t seen it in almost 20 years. Steve Stricker read the tea leaves when he picked Scheffler for the 2021 Ryder Cup—a decision that was richly rewarded—and starting in 2022, he was off to the races. The only hiccup was a few putting woes last year, but even that only served to highlight how remarkable his ball-striking had become—instead of winning, he was finishing third. When he fixed the putting, with help from a new coach and a bit of equipment advice from Rory McIlroy, he soared yet again to the top of the game, but this time he seemed more indomitable, more inevitable, more brilliant.”

  • “The sustained success of the last three years has officially made him the best professional golfer since Tiger Woods, a conclusion supported by analytics, the eye test, and every other metric you could dream up. With fewer majors, he has nevertheless leaped past Spieth, McIlroy, and Koepka in terms of pure ability. He doesn’t have their legacy, yet, but if we’re talking about peak performance, he’s already surpassed them.”
  • “He’s so much better than everyone else, which is a sentiment that is both commonplace—I saw it on Twitter over and over again—and revelatory. It’s the thing you say because there is nothing else to say. You’re left with the wild truth, which words can describe but never capture.”
Full piece.

2. Aberg: I want to be No. 1

The AFP’s Simon Evans…”The 24-year-old finished second, four strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler, after carding a final round 69 but he certainly won many admirers among the patrons at Augusta National and beyond.”

  • “And his performance has filled Aberg with self-belief.”
  • “Everyone in my position, they are going to want to be major champions. They are going to want to be world number one, and it’s the same for me, that’s nothing different,” he said.
  • “It has been that way ever since I picked up a golf club, and that hasn’t changed. So I think this week solidifies a lot of those things are there, and we just need to keep doing those things and put ourselves in positions to win tournaments, ” he said.
Full piece.

3. Homa’s honest answer on double bogey

Golf Channel staff report…”But Homa’s tee shot at No. 12 bounded off the putting surface and into a bush. After a healthy search, Homa found his ball and had to take an unplayable lie. He made double bogey, effectively ending his bid at a maiden major title.”

  • “Homa tied for third, seven shots back of Scheffler. Asked about what happened on the fateful 9-iron, Homa offered two replies.”
  • “The honest answer is, it didn’t feel fair. I hit a really good golf shot, and it didn’t feel fair. I’ve seen far worse just roll back down the hill,” he said.
  • “The professional answer is, these things happen.”
Full piece.

4. Harbour Town ahead

RBC Heritage field notes, via Adam Stanley of PGATour.com…”Scottie Scheffler is, for now, set to tee it up at the RBC Heritage. He was clear to say that if his wife, Meredith, would go into labor during the Masters, he would head home to be with her, so it’s safe to assume that same rule will stand at Harbour Town. Scheffler has not shot an over-par round all season and has three victories (and one runner-up). He made his debut at Harbour Town last year and finished T11… Matt Fitzpatrick looks to become the first golfer to go back-to-back at the RBC Heritage since Boo Weekley in 2007-08. Fitzpatrick, a playoff victor last year, has two top-10 finishes this season. He has just one missed cut at Harbour Town over the last six years and he finished fourth in 2021 to go along with two more top-15 results in a three-year span (T14 in 2018 and 2020)…”

  • “Jordan Spieth is hoping to continue his run of fine play at Harbour Town after a playoff loss last season and a playoff win the season prior. Spieth has five top-25 finishes at the RBC Heritage in seven starts… Justin Thomas earned a spot in the field after remaining in the top 30 (he’s No. 30) in the Official World Golf Ranking despite a missed cut at the Masters. Thomas, who finished T25 last season at Harbour Town, has two top 10s on the season… Ludvig Åberg, who is tops in the Aon Next 10, will head to Hilton Head for the first time. Åberg has had a fabulous 2024 campaign thus far with four top 10s (including two runner-up results) and is knocking on the door for a victory… Hideki Matsuyama was the only eligible player who did not commit to the RBC Heritage, while Viktor Hovland – after a missed cut at the Masters – withdrew from the field on Saturday.”
Full piece.

5. Reed’s caddie’s needle

Our Matt Vincenzi…”After a particularly bad drive during his third round on Saturday, Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain, also his brother-in-law, made a snide but factual comment to Patrick.”

  • “Your driving has cost us a lot this week,” Karain remarked.
  • “Reed didn’t disagree and told reporters after the round that there was nothing good about his round…
  • “A reporter then asked: “It’s a good thing he’s a family member, right?”
  • “Yeah, exactly. I’d probably be dragging him up that last hole,” Reed said. “I swear.Just what you want to hear as you’re looking at the ball in the tree, and he goes, ‘You need to drive it better.’ Thanks, Kessler. I appreciate it. Great words of wisdom. Drive it better.”
  • “This may be the last major for Reed for a while, as the 33-year-old has not been invited nor qualified for next month’s PGA Championship.”
Full piece.

6. LIV wants Hovland next?

Ewan Murray for the Guardian…”Rising speculation that Viktor Hovland will be the next high-profile golfer to be coaxed to the LIV tour will increase the need for Ryder Cup Europe to apply a simple qualification process for golfers on the Saudi Arabian-backed circuit.”

  • “LIV is forging ahead with plans for 2025, which include new events and the recruitment of more players from the PGA and DP World Tours. The rate of turnover is likely to be increased by the number of golfers who had three-year contracts when joining LIV, which will expire at the end of 2024.”
  • “Chatter on the range at the LIV event in Miami this month and again at the Masters largely surrounded Hovland, the world No 6 who starred for Europe in the defeat of the United States in Rome last year. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who also played in that team, have subsequently joined LIV. Hovland missed the cut at the Masters and promptly withdrew from the PGA Tour’s $20m stop in Hilton Head this week.”
Full piece.

7. Rory’s management: LIV reports are ‘fake news’

Brian Keogh for the Irish Independent…”A report that Rory McIlroy was on the verge of an $850million move to LIV Golf has been slammed as “fake news” by his management.

“Fake news. Zero truth,” McIlroy’s manager Sean O’Flaherty said in an email.

London financial paper “City AM” reported today that sources have told them that McIlroy “could” join LIV Golf

The paper reported that “two separate sources have told City AM that they believe a deal is close. It is claimed that LIV Golf chiefs have offered world No2 McIlroy an eye-watering $850m to join, plus around two per cent equity in the competition.”
Full piece.
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WITB

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