Heard so many people say if they could have one job it would be Anthony Bourdain's.
Goes to show that absolutely no one is immune to issues of mental health. Tremendously sad. RIP.
John Daly II, the son of PGA pro John Daly, is Hooters' first NIL ambassador.
“I have seen my father’s great relationship with Hooters over the years, and I am proud to continue my family’s association with this iconic brand.”
Jon Rahm on why he didn’t WD from RBC Heritage:
“I made a commitment earlier in the year and I want to honor that commitment…I put myself in the shoes of not only the spectators, but the kids. If I was one of the kids, I would want to see the recent Masters Champion play.”
👏
You can count on one hand the times Sports Illustrated (
@SInow
) has gone with a wordless cover. The Miracle on Ice comes to mind. It’s saved for truly special moments. This was one of them.
Will Zalatoris is such a class act. After he missed the putt for a playoff, he went up to Matt Fitzpatrick’s parents and said: “If I had to lose to anyone, I’m happy it was your son.”
Charlie Woods hasn’t smiled in like an hour. Just hit a butter cut 4 iron to 4 feet and holed it from the back tees. Did not acknowledge any of the people yelling his name as he walked to the next tee. Tunnel vision. Apple, meet tree.
Tommy Fleetwood used Augusta National caddie Gray Moore this week. He posted his best-ever finish at the Masters. Currently T4. That would pay $880,000. Assuming the normal(ish) 8% of a top 10 finish, Moore would take home $70,400. That'll do just fine.
In a golf era increasingly characterized by the rich getting richer, stories like these really make you smile. First player from Uganda to ever make a cut on the DP World Tour.
Neal Shipley, a grad student at Ohio State, finished runner-up in the U.S. Amateur. Lone amateur to make the cut at the Masters, so he's guaranteed to be in Butler Cabin for the ceremony. And his Sunday pairing: Tiger Woods. What a week.
Brooks Koepka is an all-time great. What a unique career. Wasn't good enough to go to Florida. Cut his teeth on the Challenge Tour. Broke through late. Wins 4 majors in 3 years. Loses game, confidence. Injuries. Beefs. LIV. Blows the Masters. Now, BACK. As many majors as Seve.
PGA Tour didn’t communicate this to players at all. They found out same time we did.
“Shocked and confused.”
“Disgusted. They didn’t tell us anything.”
Story updated with statement from Woods' agent Mark Steinberg:
"Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries. He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support."
This is a hall-of-fame Homie Move. Caddying for your boy—for 36!!!—the day after winning $3.6 million in a playoff and boozing after.
This is the vibe you’re looking for from the boys all summer. 10/10 stuff.
No rest for the champion.
Less than 24 hours after his victory
@MemorialGolf
, Viktor Hovland is caddying for former
@OSUCowboyGolf
teammate Zach Bauchou at U.S. Open Final Qualifying in Columbus.
“It’s a cool Tuesday or Wednesday shot” is Caddiese for “don’t you dare even think about trying this.”
Greller did all he could. But a golfer with his mind made up on a hero shot will not listen to such boring topics as logic and reason.
Netflix has followed a few guys each week. At the PGA, the 3 main players they trailed: Justin Thomas, Mito Pereira and Matt Fitzpatrick. Spent significant time off-course with all 3.
A dream week for the show. They'd been waiting for an outcome like this. Can't air soon enough.
Sahith in tears talking to us just now. Put absolutely everything he had into this week and fell one shot short. An emotional rollercoaster. What a stud. A star is born.
Max Homa on how he'll feel tomorrow:
"I haven't drank in a really, really, really long time, but I've been planning it for Sunday after the Masters, so probably not great."
Max Homa fighting off tears after the round. “I tried, man…”
Tournament means the world to him. New career-best ranking of world No. 8 and $2.18 million aren’t a bad consolation prize. But in the immediate aftermath, these guys aren’t thinking that way. They’re competitors.
Rory today: "The lead's changing hands with guys making bogeys, not really birdies. So don't know how people find that entertainment value."
This is a point players, Tour often miss. We like when it's hard! We like seeing bogeys! Birdies aren't cool when everyone's making them!
Details on LACC tickets. 23,000 for sale to the general public—but 14,000 of those were for hospitality. Those are very expensive. Only 9,000 GA warriors. These are the people that bring the energy, the atmosphere. And that’s just a shockingly low number. The corporate Open.
Sahith Theegala called that the most fun round of golf he's ever played in his life. Said there were countless people yelling "CHIP IT IN FOR TIGER!" on 16. Then he canned it. So great.
Just followed the Scottie Scheffler method at Chipotle of saying chicken, then waiting until they give a serving of chicken before saying “double chicken” and I must say—terrific results. He’s not just a ball striking genius.
US were DEAD. Then Hatgate story surfaces and they have a rallying cry. Cantlay single-handedly flipped last match. Macho finish. It'll take the biggest comeback in Ryder Cup history but for the 1st time this week US have momentum.
All 12 Americans should play hatless tomorrow.
Matt Fitzpatrick on LACC atmosphere.
“Very poor…It’s disappointing on the USGA side. They want a great tournament—from what I’ve heard a lot of members bought tickets and that’s why there’s so many less people. Hopefully it’s not the same for other U.S. Opens going forward.”
I had very high expectations for a Top 30 Shots of Jordan Spieth’s Career video and yet this surpassed them. Some of these hole-outs are laugh-out-loud.
I agreed to not tweet last weekend and let me tell you, hardest 48 hours of my life. Never again.
Anyways...been a long time coming and I'm beyond stoked to join
@ForePlayPod
. I explain my Barstool decision at the blog below. I love you all. To the moon.
Rory walked off that 18th green shaking his head, with a look like "can you believe what just happened?"
One of the coolest scenes in my time covering golf. This will forever be the Michael Block week.
Awesome to see Phil Mickelson acting like Phil Mickelson again. Smiles, thumbs up, the whole 9 yards. The darkness was never going to be forever. He's a legend of the game.
Rory McIlroy on Phil Mickelson's comments:
"I don't want to kick someone while he's down obviously, but I thought they were naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant."
I’m told the guys who took the LIV money and wanna return to the PGA Tour will definitely pay a fine. Won’t be equal for every player, either. Will that be enough to assuage guys who are pissed they turned down $100 million to stay loyal, only for the two to merge? Hmm….
Lee Westwood is playing Augusta with his son, Sam, tomorrow...and said Sam will caddy for him in the Masters.
Girlfriend out, son in.
The man is living his absolute best life.
Shoutout to Jon Rahm for reminding us of this unbelievable Tiger stat on Sunday…
If Tiger Woods only played in 1999 and 2000–so 2 years and nothing else—he’d have 17 wins and 4 majors. That’s a better career than Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, we could go on…
“Full Swing” drops on Netflix on Feb. 15, the Wednesday of Riviera week.
Some featured players:
—Rory(!)
—JT
—Spieth
—Fitz
—DJ
—Scottie
—Brooks
—Morikawa
—Poulter
—Dahmen
And yes, they were all over the LIV stuff. The wait is almost over. Let’s go!
Phil Mickelson made the cut in a major for the 100th time today. One hundred. That’s 25 years of majors if you make the cut in all of them. Yes, 25x4 still equals 100. That’s an incredible accomplishment.
I’d heard murmurs about
@Morgan_Hoffmann
. That he’d moved to the jungle. That he’d gone fully off the grid. That he’s drinking his own piss.
So I went down to Costa Rica to see him. What I saw was truly remarkable:
USMNT thoughts: We still have way too much MLS going on. We’ve come a long way toward un-MLSing, but not there yet.
That game was *begging* for Gio Reyna, who’s been money for Dortmund this year. Instead: Jordan Morris of the Seattle Sounders. But wait—he scored at Stanford!
So Sergio joins LIV, fights to be able to still play the European Tour, shoots 76 in the opening round at Wentworth, withdraws when play is paused for a day, immediately flies across the Atlantic and is at College GameDay by noon EST on Saturday.
Got it.
Guy literally birdied his final 7 holes to shoot back-nine 28, get into a playoff, then lays the sod over his first wedge shot int he playoff. This game never ceases to amaze.
He zagged when everyone zigged. Went pro when all his peers went to college and everyone told him what a bad choice he made. Took a few years to find his footing and people dunked on him. Now? He's a 22-year-old PGA Tour winner into the Masters. And a lefty. Have a day, Akshay.
There’s gonna a tonnnnn of angry PGA Tour players who turned down hundreds of millions of dollars. Do you compensate those guys? What happens with the designated events next year?
This is a player-run organization and they didn’t tell them shit.
PGA Tour didn’t communicate this to players at all. They found out same time we did.
“Shocked and confused.”
“Disgusted. They didn’t tell us anything.”
30 minute gap between each press conference…except for Tiger. They know everyone’s gonna need to type/talk that up immediately. All these years later, all these injuries later, it’s still Tiger and then everyone else. Kind of amazing.
Heard an all-time first today…asked Sahith Theegala how it feels to now be a top 30 player in the world?
“I’m not. I’m overrated. You’re telling me there’s only 28 guys better than me? No way. There are parts of my game that are good. But then there are other parts that suck.”
Brooks Koepka showed up to LIV DC the day before the tournament, off a bender, shot 5 under for 3 rounds, finished 14th out of 48 and made $330,000 for his troubles. That *should* cover the cost of the post-PGA Championship celebrations.
Bryson DeChambeau is 28, former US Am/US Open champ, jacked, longest guy on tour, content machine.
Richard Bland is 49, wore his home club’s hat while leading the US Open, grey stubble, needed 478 starts to win in Europe.
They played a match today. Tied. Golf stays undefeated.
Jordan Spieth was in complete awe of Juan Postigo Arce, whose right leg ends at the knee…and shot -1 on the four-hole loop (1, 2, 17 and 18) at St Andrews on Monday evening.
Think there are 12 LIV guys in the field at Augusta. Roughly 20% of LIV is in the Masters. So what Talor Gooch really means is there’d be an asterisk on Rory’s win because Talor Gooch isn’t in the field.
🚨*️⃣⛳️
#NEW
: LIV Golf’s Talor Gooch says if Rory McIlroy wins at Augusta it will have an asterisk beside it: "If Rory Mcllroy goes and completes his Grand Slam without some of the best players in the world, there's just going to be an asterisk. It's just the reality. I think…
Scottie Scheffler says he'll serve steak, cheeseburger sliders, family-style sides, Texas redfish, with chocolate chip cookie and ice cream for dessert at the Masters Champions Dinner.
Nothing fancy. Sounds about right.
Turns out Collin Morikawa's ball on 6 rolled back from its spot, so he marked where it came to rest, moved it back, and then marked it in its original spot. No penalty, didn't do anything wrong. That guy's the furthest thing from a cheater.
CBS says Sunday’s final round of the Masters was the most-watched golf telecast on any network in five years, averaging 12.058 million viewers and up +19% vs. last year.
Scottie really gonna turn up Tuesday night, play 9 holes of practice, the week after winning the Masters, open with a meh round of -2 and then and just chasedown and dust a field full of the PGA Tour’s best players?! This is out of control.
All the negativity toward Rory over the past 2 years has obscured the fact that he is a very, very good person. He’s kind to every fan, marshal, journalist, volunteer, player. The best kind of ambassador for our game.
Kurt Kitayama’s played on every development tour on Earth. Finally got card in Europe. Always wanted to play in the US. Got enough points to get into Korn Ferry Finals and got his PGA Tour card. Played well to finish 41st in FedEx, get into designated events. Wins API. So great.
We can play verbal gymnastics, but it’s as simple as this:
Tiger, Rory, Rahm, Spieth, JT, Collin, Scottie etc. declined the money.
Phil, DJ, Sergio, Westwood, Oosthuizen, Na, Schwartzel, Gooch, Poulter etc. took the money.
Jon Rahm has now made $13,288,540 this season. Still has PIP and FedEx Cup bonus to come, plus whatever he makes for the rest of the year. That is one very rich man.
Rory McIlroy has four majors and a bajillion dollars and yet he’s still giddy as hell after a (very, very sick) hole-out. Laughs about it with his best mate/caddie and bounces up to the green cheesing like a child. Golf is the greatest.
“You ever play with Tiger?”
“Yeah…I lost to Tiger in a playoff at Augusta.”
Some of the best content I’ve seen. They genuinely have no idea. And DiMarco is so matter of fact about the whole thing. Not a dick about it at all. Incredible interaction.
Showing up to your own Hall of Fame induction ceremony in a backwards hat, skin tight long sleeve and shades is a level of Alphaness with which I am not familiar.
Walk and talk with SVP on Thursday. Makes the cut on Friday. Plays with Justin Rose on Saturday. Paired with Rory McIlroy on Sunday. Hole in fucking one. If you proposed this before the week I’d tell you to turn down the sap ya cheeseball. This is unreal.