Claire Rogers/Getty Images
Hello friends, Happy Tuesday. I’m new on assignment at a very busy airport in Los Angeles. The security line at airports the day after a major tournament always seems like a tent with cargo thrown at it—almost everyone wears a hat, T-shirt, or hoodie to the US Open. I was no better than the rest of the people out there as I wore my oversized Masters jacket and adidas golf hat.
First, I want to explain to all of you how amazing the media center food is at the US Open. Not sure to thank for this. LACC? USGA? Mike Wan himself? I will write a handwritten letter to whoever was responsible for this matter. Every meal was delicious. Have you ever been to a wedding, looked at the children’s table and wished you were able to eat chicken fingers and fries? Me too. Fortunately, they had those on site, as well as salads, burgers, tacos, and more.
They also had a mid-afternoon snack each day. There was a popcorn machine on Friday, soft pretzels on Saturday and a barista on hand to make whatever drink you wanted. Sorry to the people behind me who had to wait as our vanilla latte with oat milk was hand made each day.
Father’s Day posts
It was Father’s Day Sunday, and with a handful of dads in the field at the US Open, the USGA made sure to team up with some of the tour kids for a special surprise and the result was amazing.
How great is that? I also spent Dad’s Day at LACC, but made sure to get a gift of a cargo tent for Dad by his (many, many) requests. The media center barista also had some fun with a latte on Sunday morning.
The best places to watch the players
The LACC is pretty spread out, so it wasn’t easy to find the *perfect* viewing spot on the course last week. However, I spent a lot of my time people-watching next to the player access area, which also happens to be right next to player services. I thought the best people-watching location in the world was in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park on a hot summer afternoon, but I was wrong. It’s in the LACC parking lot, players hopping out of their Lexus SUVs, TrackMans in hand, sporting gyms and getting ready to warm up.
This is also a great place to play a little game that I like to call “Will this golfer appreciate me?” The golf team had a very high stroke rate here. I was greeted by McIlroy, Finau and DJ, while Dylan Dethier and Sean Zak had a small chat with their favorite guy, Xander Schauffele, as he made his way to the band.
Players usually walk from the parking lot to player services and player dining before heading to the range, and the USGA has been making a few jokes with their meals all week.
Ricky’s cute gestures
I’d like to discuss Rickie Fowler next. My sister, Ellen, won the “Sportsmanship” award several times in high school. An honor like this is usually reserved for the outstanding players on a team, but I would like to give one to Mr. Richard Fowler after his performance in the LACC, even though his play might make him more of an MVP contender.
There’s a reason kids love Ricky Fowler and why dozens of big men dress in head-to-toe orange at any and all golf events. People love Fowler! He is unapologetically himself and gets rewarded for it. I mean, it’s hard no to root this guy. He signed post-tour signings long after his tours ended over the LACC weekend.
Shout out to Fowler for doing this. I leave places exclusively by Irish farewell (this habit may have stemmed from large family parties or I tried to leave church on Sundays as a kid while my parents took upwards of 30 minutes to bid everyone’s favor), so this sort of thing definitely wouldn’t work for me.
His other kind gesture fell at the US Open on Sunday, and it was more elegant than staying up late for a bunch of kids’ days.
Even though he lost to Windham Clarke, he made sure to tell the US Open champion how proud his late mother was of him.
He then took a few moments to check in and congratulate Clarke as they passed each other in the quick meet area.
Good man alert! And my last piece of evidence that Fowler deserves the 2023 US Open sportsmanship award is what I saw when he exited the 18th green on Sunday night. Welcoming his parents and wife, Fowler immediately took his daughter, Maya, in his arms. “How is it going?” He asked her before asking if she wanted to go see what everyone in the club was up to.
And when asked about Maya in his post-tour interview, Fowler explained how amazing she was to him.
Fowler seems to be the best. And if that whole “being a cool guy” thing isn’t something you can totally relate to, I prepped the most relatable thing Fowler did all week: Carrying a heavy-duty water bottle.
Windham Clark
To the US Open Champion! Clark had such a large crew cheering and yelling with him as he made his way to the scoring tent that I really felt like I had just watched a football team win their state championship and he was the quarterback.
And thanks to Clark’s win, we’ve officially got a new WAG on the scene! Clark’s girlfriend, Alicia Bogdanski, works for Discovery Land. That’s all I have in terms of information on the couple at the moment.
my new buddies
For me, the best part of my job is how I’m constantly meeting new people on the road. I’ve met sacks, volunteers, other writers, and golf fans over the past year and a half or so. When it’s a major week, I feel like I finally catch up more people than usual. I interviewed people working on the second season of full swingAnd USGA employees, photographers, agents, and some new caddies this week. I even got to meet the Paulina Gretzky, As a die-hard fan of Dustin Johnson, I’ve been keen to cross paths for years now.
Shout out to my co-worker for a picture of us talking. I will cherish an odd amount.
I also spoke to Colleen Morikawa for the first time this week. We’d met once or twice in passing before, but when I was out after a training ride on Tuesday, he asked me who was my guest at The Scoop for the week (disclaimer: I didn’t have a guest). Then, I cordially invited him to join me for some ice cream and golf talk sometime in the future, asking him about the LACC and Macklemore golf swing as we made our way to the 11th hole together.
My third and final “big meet” of the week was Michael Griller, pregnant Jordan Spieth.
Mackay bones He introduced me and we ended up talking about Taylor Swift’s party, which seems to happen a lot when I’m off the scale.
Max is a psychic?
Max Homma may have missed the loss in the LACC, but his prediction game was impressive on Sunday. If you missed it, he and Justin Thomas enjoyed watching the action during the last round.
And then Max predicted not just a winner, but a winning outcome.
I would never tell a six-time PGA Tour winner to quit his day job, however if One day Homa decides to take a new career path, he must become a psychic and bring big profits. Or a sports bettor, but I’m not sure if I should suggest that.
My favorite adidas look of the week
Anyone who knows me, has seen me out, or even just glimpsed me in a Zoom meeting knows that I’m not elegant. It’s getting as iconic as the black jersey and jeans (the original, I know) – but I always struggle with figuring out what to wear on site at a tournament. So thanks to my new friends at Adidas for making my week easier by picking out a few looks for me. They saved me a lot of time in the morning and, more importantly, from more humiliation in my family group chat. These were some of my favorite items at the Los Angeles Country Club.
My character doesn’t come with these items (for better or worse), but I guarantee a bunch of compliments do. I prefer a sporty look when I’m on location, so that’s what I went for. These are great for any golfer out there. And a bunch of them are for sale too!
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Go to golf joggers
$95
Move comfortably on the golf course with these adidas golf track pants. Wear them to play a few casual rides with friends or for that early morning run at the driving range. They’re made from a soft, stretchy fabric that lets you swing with a full range of motion from a backswing to that smooth follow-through.
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Knitted bomber jacket
$51
Don’t let the cold get in the way of your golf game. Slip into the adidas Golf Jacket and stay warm whether you’re working on your long game on the driving range, playing all 18 holes or teetering after a long round. It’s made of soft, double-knit fabric and has AEROREADY to help you stay dry from the tee to the last putt.
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