By Ben Alberstadt
August 3, 2021
Good Tuesday morning, golf fans. Welcome to another day of the Olympic golf ball header image.
|
|
1. Now the Japanese women eye the gold medal
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Last week, Nasa Hataoka played a nine-hole practice round with Hideki Matsuyama at Kasumigaseki Country Club. The round included the predictable small talk along with a few shared bits of course information, but what wasn’t discussed was the unique pressure the members of Team Japan face this week.”
- “While there’s a great deal of pride among the Japanese players to compete in an Olympics at home there’s also heightened expectations, particularly for Matsuyama, who was poised to complete a dream season following his victory in April at the Masters with a medal-winning performance in Tokyo.”
- “…He mentioned that because he couldn’t win the medal on the guys’ side, he sent me a good luck message on the girls’ side,” Mone Inami said.”
|
|
2. What’s more valuable to an American female golfer: a major victory or a gold medal?
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…“This week in Tokyo, three of the four players representing Team USA are major winners, with World No. 1 Nelly Korda claiming her first in June at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang have one major title apiece. Jessica Korda still awaits her first.”
- “I would’ve loved to have been able to compete for a gold medal,” said LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, who won seven majors. “You can win majors, a lot of people have majors, but very few people have gold medals. To have one of those, it’s something really special. That’s something that you can pass onto your kids and your grandkids. I think it’s an amazing thing.”
- “Inbee Park, another seven-time major winner, has said on numerous occasions that her notoriety in South Korea went to another level after she won gold in 2016. When Park was vying for her fourth major in a row in 2013, former LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said the TV rating in South Korea was about an 8, which is similar to when Tiger Woods won the Masters in 2019. When Park won the Olympics in 2016, the TV rating in South Korea was a whopping 27.1.”
|
|
3. Feeling the pressure…sort of
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Jessica and Nelly Korda were at Kasumigaseki Country Club preparing for this week’s women’s competition as Schauffele was grinding out a par at the final hole to claim the gold medal. It was Schauffele’s moment, but the pressure was felt by everyone on Team USA.”
- “My Whoop [fitness strap] registered an activity during his last hole,” Jessica Korda laughed. “I think we’re really feeling it for him, it was just so clutch coming down the stretch and that last hole and with the putt and everything, that it’s bigger than us and golf.”
- “Jessica Korda lives in South Florida and often practices with PGA Tour players, including Justin Thomas who finished tied for 22nd in Japan and had plenty of Olympic insight to offer.”
|
|
Surprised to see a quarterly print publication advertised in a daily email newsletter? Don’t be.
The idea behind the Morning 9 is a roundup of the day’s most significant storylines presented in an easy-to-digest format. The Golfer’s Journal occupies the other end of the spectrum: long-form, photo rich essays from some of the best writers in golf discussing all elements of this beautiful, maddening game.
More a collection of essays than a magazine. More a coffee table book of first-rate photos than a glossy, ad-filled monthly — GJ is a must-have for true lovers of golf.
|
|
GolfWRX may earn a commission of “GolfWRX Recommends” products.
|
|
4. Park pursues another gold
Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“I mean, 2016 was far more pressure-filled than I’ve ever felt in my life. I don’t know if I could do that again,” Park laughed on Monday at Kasumigaseki Country Club. “If I felt it once again this year, I don’t think I would be able to play.”
- “For all that she has accomplished in the game, it was her performance in The Games that Inbee Park is most proud of.”
- “That’s not to say Park isn’t looking forward to this week. In fact, she made a return trip a priority following her victory in 2016 and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which postponed the Olympics one year, she landed an intensely contested spot on the South Korean team.”
|
|
5. Hero World Challenge returns
Golf Channel digital team…”The Hero World Challenge will return after a year’s absence because of the global pandemic.”
- “The event, hosted by Tiger Woods, will have an increased field of 20 players. It is scheduled to be contested Dec. 2-5 in Albany, Bahamas, and broadcast on Golf Channel and NBC Sports.”
- “While Tiger Woods tweeted out the information on his personal account, he did not say if he would be able to compete. Woods, who was in a single car crash in Feb., was spotted last week on crutches, putting weight on his surgically repaired right leg.”
|
|
6. An alternate was one of the great stories at the USWO
Max Schreiber with a very cool tale…”Dana Ebster made the most of her time at this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open as the tournament’s first alternate, and she’ll be able to do it again after a T-10 finish got her into next year’s tournament.”
- “Ebster, whose only LPGA start came at the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open, got a chance to play at Brooklawn Country Club after current NBC Sports and Golf Channel commentator Kay Cockerill withdrew from the major to cover Olympic golf in Tokyo, Japan.”
- “…Ebster, 51, runs the junior academy and is a shop assistant at Turlock Golf and Country Club in Turlock, California. The club raised the money to send her to Connecticut, where she said she was on cloud nine with her son, Chris, on her bag.”
|
|
7. Harris English’s turnaround
Sean Martin PGATour.com…“How did English turn his career around? By returning to the swing that helped him have so much success earlier in his career. English started working with swing coach Justin Parsons in the spring of 2019.”
- “He just kind of brought me back from getting lost in this whirlwind of different swings and different mechanics and swing positions,” English said. “He simplified it so much that I can know what I’m doing. (Golf) is actually a game now. I’m not worried about how my swing looks.”
- “Below, Parsons explains how English unlocked his old swing and returned to the game’s elite:”
- “It’s difficult to hit your target if you’re not aimed at it. Parsons described English’s alignment as “erratic” in their first session together. “I asked Harris to hit an 8-iron to five or six different targets and it was clear that he did not aim at the changing targets in the same way,” Parsons said. “As we discussed his desire to be a more consistent ball-striker, we agreed that without the process and execution of good alignment being in place, the golf swing was never going to be consistent.”
|
|
8. Should caddies get medals?
|
|
9. Women’s Olympic competition tee times
Check out who’s teeing off when, via Golf Channel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brian
Aug 4, 2021 at 12:30 am
Caddies don’t get green jackets.