19th Hole

Rory McIlroy reveals the tennis star inspiring him ahead of this week’s Masters tournament

Published

1 year ago

Apr 3, 2023

Rory McIlroy enters Masters week as determined as ever to join the greats of the game by winning his first Green Jacket.

The world number two has won all the other three majors (PGA Championship twice) but the Augusta prize has eluded him, with the most memorable chance being with a four shot lead going into the final day of the 2011 Masters, when a final round 80 turned the dream into a final position of tied-15th.

The Jupiter resident also had chances at the 2016 and 2018 runnings, leading at halfway at the eventful event won by Danny Willett, and when in second place after three rounds at the latter, before a final round 74 dropped him six shots behind Patrick Reed at the line.

With time comes maturity, and whilst there must still remain a degree of pressure, the 33-year-old is now well over the stigma of being the ‘next Big Thing’, whether that be Tiger Woods or any of the many other legends that have graced the game.

In that respect, McIlroy recognizes the demands of young talent in any sport, and in a recent interview with The Telegraph, spoke of his admiration for new tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz.

Both players have set their respective sporting worlds alight with their achievements at an early age.

McIlroy set numerous scoring records when winning the US Open in 2011 before becoming the second youngest ever player to reach the summit of the world rankings. He’s been the youngest ever to earn $10million in earnings on the tour, and in 2019 became the youngest ever player to spend 500 weeks inside the world top 10.

Stat of the week:

This week, 30.5 yo @McIlroyRory becomes the youngest player ever to spend 500 weeks inside the top 10 in the world ??

Tiger needed ~4 months longer to reach this remarkable #OWGR milestone.

NONE of the known younger stars could possibly break this record??

— Nosferatu (@VC606) November 11, 2019

In the case of Alcaraz, his win at the US Open last year meant he became the youngest winner of the major since Pete Sampras in 1990 and the youngest world number one in the history of the ATP.

At 19 years of age, much is expected of the Spaniard, and McIlroy can empathize with the problems that go along with comparisons to the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He also took time to admire the outlook and public persona of another potential sporting great.

“I’ve been reading Alcaraz’s interviews, he said. “I mean, to have this philosophy and, more so, the understanding and the conviction at the age he is and with all the pressure he’s had and the expectation on him to be the next big thing as that golden age comes to an end… well, it’s incredible really. A lot of what he says sticks with me, but especially one bit.”

McIlroy also recognizes the need to ‘enjoy’ the job and to realize there is little gain in trying to be ‘new (insert any previous relevant legend that will get headlines)’.

Explaining why he enjoys listening and reading Alcaraz’s scripts, McIlroy says his view is, “fantastic isn’t it? Listen to that-‘joy and instinct’. What a lovely, beautiful and very plain ambition to have.”

Rory continues, “It is what every kid has when they first play a sport and what invariably then gets lost when the really good ones progress and turn professional.”

McIlroy is, of course, no stranger to the pressure put on tennis stars, having been a previous fiance of former female tennis world number one Caroline Wozniacki.

“Alcaraz is not trying to be the new Federer or new Nadal or new Djokovic–he is just trying to play tennis as he wants to, but also to the best of his ability in a way that the fans will love. He talks of not making everything monotonous and life being more fun that way and his tennis being more fun to watch.”

He knows that at the very top of any sport, there is not only an expectation of victory, but sometimes a less ‘human’ side that maybe loses sight of the world around them.

“Of course, you need your structure and to put in the hours and to grind and be ‘professional’, but you should not lose sight that this is a privilege and the moments should be enjoyed. There’s so much more to it than winning, although, of course, that’s what you yearn for. And maybe just relishing in the moment was why I acted like I did on the 18th last year at Augusta.”

That incident was one of the most joyous seen on a golf course, and certainly by someone that was likely not to win the trophy.

McIlroy explains, “Scottie [Scheffler, eventual champion] was four or five clear of me at the time, but he was on Amen Corner and I suppose you never know with the 12th and everything. But I definitely wasn’t thinking ‘here comes my Green Jacket now’. I wasn’t’ standing over that bunker shot, thinking, ‘make this and you could get a play off’. I was totally in the moment thinking, ‘how the hell do I get this close?’.”

“It was difficult. I had to aim well up the slope, would have taken eight to 10 feet all day. But then it dropped, and I exploded. Collin then holed his–pandemonium! I’m telling you that’s as much fun as I’ve ever had on a golf course. And I’m also telling you that the second best time I’ve had like that was when I was in the final group with Tiger when he won at the Tour Championship [in 2018], his first title in five years. The atmosphere was amazing. So there you go. My two most favourite moments like that, have been when I’ve not won.”

“So it might have seemed a little victory to some – but it was a huge victory to me. That was the first time I’d ever left Augusta happy. Sure, I’d done well there before – I’d had something like six top-10s in the previous eight years – but that was the first time I’d left there with a big smile on my face. And with my history at Augusta, that was really notable for me.”

” But maybe last year helped to put the positive memories to the forefront of my mind.

If nothing else, I know I can enjoy myself there. And I fully intend to.”

With the words of his much younger hero ringing in his ears, who can argue this is the time for McIlroy to finally land the career Slam?

Vincenzi’s 2024 PGA Championship betting preview: Rising star ready to join the immortals at Valhalla

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The second major of the 2024 season is upon us as the world’s best players will tee it up this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky to compete for the Wanamaker Trophy.

The last time we saw Valhalla host a major championship, Rory McIlroy fended off Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler and the creeping darkness that was descending upon the golf course. The Northern Irishman had the golf world in the palm of his hand, joining only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as players who’d won four major championships by the time they were 25 years old.

Valhalla is named after the great hall described in Norse mythology where the souls of Vikings feasted and celebrated with the Gods. The course is a Jack Nicklaus-design that has ranked among Golf Digest’s “America’s 100 Greatest Courses” for three decades.

Valhalla Golf Club is a par-71 measuring 7,542 yards with Zoysia fairways and Bentgrass greens. The course has rolling hills and dangerous streams scattered throughout and the signature 13th hole is picturesque with limestone and unique bunkering protecting the green. The 2024 PGA Championship will mark the fourth time Valhalla has hosted the event.

The field this week will consist of 156 players, including 16 PGA Champions and 33 Major Champions.

Past Winners of the PGA Championship

2023: Brooks Koepka (-9) Oak Hill
2022: Justin Thomas (-5) Southern Hills
2021: Phil Mickelson (-6) Kiawah Island
2020: Collin Morikawa (-13) TPC Harding Park
2019: Brooks Koepka (-8) Bethpage Black
2018: Brooks Koepka (-16) Bellerive
2017: Justin Thomas (-8) Quail Hollow
2016: Jimmy Walker (-14) Baltusrol
2015: Jason Day (-20) Whistling Straits
2014: Rory McIlroy (-16) Valhalla

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 Valhalla

Let’s take a look at five key metrics for Oak Hill to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their past 24 rounds.

1. Strokes Gained: Approach

Valhalla will play as a true all-around test of golf for the world’s best. Of course, it will take strong approach play to win a major championship.

Strokes Gained: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

Shane Lowry (+1.25)
Scottie Scheffler (+1.09)
Jordan Smith (+1.05)
Tom Hoge (+.96)
Corey Conners (+.94)

2. Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Valhalla will play long and the rough will be penal. Players who are incredibly short off the tee and/or have a hard time hitting fairways will be all but eliminated from contention this week at the PGA Championship.

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee Over Past 24 Rounds:

Bryson DeChambeau (+1.47)
Scottie Scheffler (+1.11)
Keith Mitchell (+.90)
Alejandro Tosti (+.89)
Ludvig Aberg (+.82)

Strokes Gained: Total on Nickalus Designs

Valhalla is a classic Nicklaus Design. Players who play well at Nicklaus designs should have an advantage coming into this major championship.

Strokes Gained: Total on Nicklaus Designs over past 36 rounds:

Jon Rahm (+2.56)
Scottie Scheffler (+2.48)
Patrick Cantlay (+2.35)
Collin Morikawa (+1.79)
Shane Lowry (+1.57)

Strokes Gained: Tee to Green on Very Long Courses

Valhalla is going to play extremely long this week. Players who have had success playing very long golf courses should be better equipped to handle the conditions of this major championship.

Strokes Gained: Total on Very Long Courses Over Past 24 Rounds:

Scottie Scheffler (+2.44)
Rory McIlroy (+2.24)
Will Zalatoris (+1.78)
Viktor Hovland (+1.69)
Xander Schauffele (+1.60)

Strokes Gained: Total in Major Championships

One factor that tends to play a large role in deciding major championships is which players have played well in previous majors leading up to the event.

Strokes Gained: Total in Major Championships over past 20 rounds:

Scottie Scheffler (+3.14)
Will Zalatoris (+2.64)
Rory McIlroy (+2.49)
Xander Schauffele (+2.48)
Tommy Fleetwood (2.09)

Strokes Gained: Putting on Bentgrass Greens

Valhalla features pure Bentgrass putting surfaces. Players who are comfortable putting on this surface will have an advantage on the greens.

Strokes Gained: Putting on Bentgrass Greens over Past 24 Rounds:

Ludvig Aberg (+1.12)
Denny McCarthy (+1.08)
Matt Fitzpatrick (+0.99)
Justin Rose (+0.93)
J.T. Poston (0.87)

Strokes Gained: Total on Zoysia Fairways

Valhalla features Zoysia fairways. Players who are comfortable playing on this surface will have an advantage on the field.

Strokes Gained: Total on Zoysia Fairways over past 36 rounds:

Justin Thomas (+1.53)
Will Zalatoris (+1.47)
Xander Schauffele (+1.40)
Brooks Koepka (+1.35)
Rory McIlroy (+1.23)

2024 PGA Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (25%), SG: Off the Tee (22%), SG: T2G on Very Long Courses (12%), SG: Putting on Bentgrass (+12%), SG: Total on Nicklaus Designs (12%). SG: Total on Zoysia Fairways (8%), and SG: Total in Major Championships (8%).

Brooks Koepka
Xander Schauffele
Rory McIlroy
Scottie Scheffler
Bryson DeChambeau
Shane Lowry
Alex Noren
Will Zalatoris
Cameron Young
Keith Mitchell
Hideki Matsuyama
Billy Horschel
Patrick Cantlay
Viktor Hovland
Adam Schenk
Chris Kirk
Sahith Theegala
Min Woo Lee
Joaquin Niemann
Justin Thomas

2024 PGA Championship Picks

Ludvig Aberg +1800 (BetMGM)

At The Masters, Ludvig Aberg announced to the golf world that he’s no longer an “up and coming” player. He’s one of the best players in the game of golf, regardless of experience.

Augusta National gave Aberg some necessary scar tissue and showed him what being in contention at a major championship felt like down the stretch. Unsurprisingly, he made a costly mistake, hitting it in the water left of the 11th hole, but showed his resilience by immediately bouncing back. He went on to birdie two of his next three holes and finished in solo second by three shots. With the type of demeanor that remains cool in pressure situations, I believe Ludvig has the right mental game to win a major at this point in his career.

Aberg has not finished outside of the top-25 in his past eight starts, which includes two runner-up finishes at both a “Signature Event” and a major championship. The 24-year-old is absolutely dominant with his driver, which will give him a major advantage this week. In the field he ranks, in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, and has gained strokes in the category in each of his past ten starts. Aberg is already one of the best drivers of the golf ball on the planet.

In Norse mythology, Valhalla is the great hall where the souls of Vikings feasted and celebrated with the Gods. The Swedes, who are of Old Norse origin, were the last of the three Scandinavian Kingdoms to abandon the Old Norse Gods. A Swede played a major role in the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, and I believe another, Ludvig Aberg, will be the one to conquer Valhalla in 2024.

Bryson DeChambeau +2800 (BetMGM)

Bryson DeChambeau is one of the few players in the world that I believe has the game to go blow-for-blow with Scottie Scheffler. Although he isn’t as consistent as Scheffler, when he’s at his best, Bryson has the talent to beat him.

At The Masters, DeChambeau put forth a valiant effort at a golf course that simply does not suit his game. Valhalla, on the other hand, is a course that should be perfect for the 30-year-old. His ability to overpower a golf course with his driver will be a serious weapon this week.

Bryson has had some success at Jack Nicklaus designs throughout his career as he won the Memorial at Muirfield Village back in 2018. He’s also had incredible results on Bentgrass greens for the entirety of his professional career. Of his 10 wins, nine of them have come on Bentgrass greens, with the only exception being the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He also has second place finishes at Medinah and TPC Summerlin, which feature Bentgrass greens.

Love him or hate him, it’s impossible to argue that Bryson isn’t one of the most exciting and important players in the game of golf. He’s also one of the best players in the world. A second major is coming soon for DeChambeau, and I believe he should be amongst the favorites to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy this week.

Patrick Cantlay +4000 (FanDuel)

There’s no way of getting around it: Patrick Cantlay has been dissapointing in major championships throughout his professional career. He’s been one of the top players on Tour for a handful of years and has yet to truly contend at a major championship, with the arguable exception of the 2019 Masters.

Despite not winning majors, Cantlay has won some big events. The 32-year-old has won two BMW Championships, two Memorial Tournaments as well as a Tour Championship. His victories at Memorial indicate how much Cantlay loves Nicklaus designs, where he ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Total over his past 36 rounds behind only Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm.

Cantlay also loves Bentgrass greens. Six of Cantlay’s seven individual wins on the PGA Tour have come on Bentgrass greens and he also was one of the best putters at the 2023 Ryder cup at Marco Simone (also Bentgrass). At Caves Valley (2021 BMW Championship), he gained over 12 strokes putting to outduel another Bentgrass specialist, Bryson DeChambeau.

Cantlay finished 22nd in The Masters, which was a solid result considering how many elite players struggled that week. He also has two top-ten finishes in his past five PGA Championships. He’s undeniably one of the best players in the field, therefore, it comes down to believing Cantlay has the mental fortitude to win a major, which I do.

Joaquin Niemann +4000 (BetMGM)

I believe Joaquin Niemann is one of the best players in the world. He has three worldwide wins since December and has continued to improve over the course of his impressive career thus far. Still only 25, the Chilean has all the tools to be a serious contender in major championships for years to come.

Niemann has been the best player on LIV this season. Plenty will argue with the format or source of the money on LIV, but no one can argue that beating players such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith is an unremarkable achievement. Niemann is an elite driver of the golf ball who hits it farther than just about anyone in the field not named Bryson DeChambeau or (arguably) Rory McIlroy.

Niemann is another player who has been fantastic throughout his career on Bentgrass greens. Prior to leaving the PGA Tour, Bentgrass was the only green surface in which Joaco was a positive putter. It’s clearly a surface that he is very comfortable putting on and should fare around and on the greens this week.

Niemann is a perfect fit for Valhalla. His low and penetrating ball flight will get him plenty of runout this week on the fairways and he should have shorter shots into the green complexes than his competitors. To this point in his career, the former top ranked amateur in the world (2018) has been underwhelming in major championships, but I don’t believe that will last much longer. Joaquin Niemann is a major championship caliber player and has a real chance to contend this week at Valhalla.

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19th Hole

PGA Tour pro takes to social media during round after being left unhappy with ruling

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

During the of the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic on the PGA Tour, Alejandro Tosti found himself in a precarious position around a bunker on the 7th hole on Sunday.

The Argentine was well out of contention, but when he approached his ball, he found it was wedged into the lip of the bunker. Feeling as though the ball was embedded, Tosti called over a rules official.

To his surprise, his request for relief for the embedded ball was denied.

Tosti took to his social media to post a video of the situation that he was able to record during the actual round!

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this. Alejandro Tosti got a ruling about an embedded ball he didn’t like yesterday in Myrtle Beach. He took out his phone and recorded the situation and lie
I’m not good with rules, but it looks like he has a point to me, it looks outside of bunker. pic.twitter.com/6ycXiAWMEp

— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) May 12, 2024

The video was found on Tosti’s Instagram by Ryan French of “Monday Q Info” on X.

Tosti was able to salvage a bogey on the hole, but shot a final round 74 (+3) to finish in a tie for 63rd.

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Swing coach reveals why he recently told Brooks Koepka to ‘stop whinging’

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

Editor’s note: Whinging (British English): “Continuous complaining, especially about something that does not seem important,” per the Cambridge Dictionary.

At last month’s Masters Tournament, Brooks Koepka put forth a disappointing performance by his lofty standards.

The five-time major champion finished T45 a year after contending deep into Sunday of the 2023 Masters.

After the letdown, Koepka went to swing coach Pete Cowen, who he’s worked with for a decade, to ger him back on track.

Cowen spoke with The Telegraph, revealing what he said to the reigning PGA Champion.

“I gave him one of my old-fashioned b******ings when he was moaning to me about his putting. I told him to stop whinging and to just get to work on the issue. Again, that’s the sort of thing that triggers him. I gave him a b******ing before he won his first Major (the US Open) seven years ago.”

“He’s put in the hours and turned it around on the greens since then and with Valhalla being a big boys’ course, I can see him, at the very least, contending. If he wins, he’ll join (Sir Nick) Faldo and (Phil) Mickelson on six Majors and at his age that would be exciting. They’d probably still go on under-rating him, though.”

After the pep talk from Cowen, Koepka went on to win LIV Singapore.

As we enter the PGA Championship, three of the best players in the world, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka will all be coming off a victory in their previous start.