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Welcome back to Monday, which we’re writing from the Oak Hill Media Center! Our guidance for this column will be the same as that of Western New York’s Hofmann Sausage every time they produce a new hot dog:
Make it fast.
Let’s go to her!
First off the tee
drought for five years.
In 2020 I remember the nagging feeling of learning that Jason Day The end of his career was already in sight. in one interview He lamented feeling “your world is collapsing around you”. It was always assumed that he would play until at least the age of 40; Suddenly it turned my brain to 35.
“As an injured player, you think, ‘Maybe my time is just approaching and I might have to hit clubs. And that’s a really awful way to see it because I’m only 32.”
But it wasn’t long after that that he hit the perfect 180. In the summer of 2021, it is announce His intention is to return to the world’s No. 1 – and stay longer once he’s there. I was amazed at the desperation the first time and the determination the second. In the more than two years since then, we’ve seen no situation win.
On the heels of Day’s win at AT&T Byron Nelson on Sunday, reflect on the five years since his last win. He was brought to tears thinking about what it would mean to win on Mother’s Day, given his mother passed away last year after a long battle with cancer. And he preferred his wife Eli – pregnant with her fifth child – while continuing to believe in him.
“Honestly, I was about to call it quits,” he said. “I never told my wife that, but I was okay with it, just because it was such a stressful part of my life. But Ellie, she never gave up on me trying to get back into the winner’s circle again. She was always pushing me to try to get better.
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s so weird sitting here. I don’t know how to explain it. Going through what I’ve been through and then being able to be a winner again and be in the winner’s circle is so much fun, and I know there was a lot of hard work behind the scenes.” Which a lot of people haven’t seen.”
There is no way to watch all of the work; Only one day he will know that experience. But it was easy to be happy for him as he stuffed a 90-yard-two-foot wedge into No. 18, and set up a birdie punt at the end. His quest for world No. 1 is certainly a work in progress – and it has landed him a world No. 20 – but returning to the winner’s circle is something to celebrate.
The winners
Who won the week?
Jin Young Ko hunt down Mingi Leea birdie putt at No. 18 poured right into the center of the cup to force a Cognizant Founders’ Cup playoff.
When Lee bogeyed three on the first playoff hole, Ko’s two-stroke made her the winner. It nearly brought her back to world number one, too; Nelly Korda’s average of 8.40 was just a small chunk ahead of Ko at 8.38.
Jason DayHis victory was hardly certain. Sunday started at TPC Craig Ranch two strokes back from the lead and exited a ridiculously crowded leaderboard thanks to a final round 62. No one would argue that this was one of the strongest fields on the PGA Tour, but having Day and World No. 2 Scotty Scheffler Near the top of the leaderboard gave it some star power, while the sheer number of contenders yielded excitement for the back nine.
Dustin Johnson He came out of a three-man playoff in Tulsa to win his second LIV event, and put himself in conversation for this week’s PGA Championship. Will try to direct form Brooks Koepkawho beat LIV Orlando and followed that up with a near-miss lead at the Masters.
Almost winners
The second place is not just the first loser.
Se Woo Kim He finished one shot at Byron Nelson, his best finish since winning the Sony Open in January. Austin Aircoat The T2 finish, too, had its best result ever. CT pan He came home fourth, a surprising result considering he was coming off four missed runs in a row. And Scotty Scheffler He finished T5, his 13th consecutive result inside the top 12.
Despite the sour finish, Mingi Lee She left with a rosy look on her game.
“Obviously I was hoping to win, but looking at the whole year and just kind of assessing where I am, how I did this week, I think the positives are a lot more than the negatives,” said the new world No. 5.
Ashley Bohai He neared the podium at 10-under-par, three shots outside qualifying.
Cameron Smith And Grace brand Finished T2 after losing to Johnson in the playoff. And Brooks Koepka And Brison Dechambeau They finished T5, which is an encouraging sign ahead of their trips to Oak Hill.
Non-winners
Blurgh.
Jordan SpiethByron Nelson’s WD put his PGA Championship week into question; Spieth loves playing in Dallas and won’t quit if it’s not a big deal. can Michael Griller Spotted in Rochester on Monday, but I haven’t seen any sign of Spieth at the location yet. He’s just one PGA Championship away from the four Grand Slams, which makes this a particularly painful week for going under 100 percent.
Martin Kaymer will not enter the PGA for this week; The former champ played the LIV event last week, and will play next week as well, telling a LIV reporter that he doesn’t have the “I can win the golf tournament” mentality. Kaymer is recovering from wrist surgery and has finished outside the top 40 (of 48) in each of his last three LIV starts.
The last time Phil Mickelson He played the PGA Championship, and won. But Lefty only beat two players at LIV Tulsa, meaning he’ll need to capitalize on the same unmatched form that propelled him to T2 at the Masters. I’ve done it before…
Lesson learned
Keep your head in a spin.
There are many benefits of being a famous YouTube golfer. club deals. Flatter fans. Fame, fortune, and a job are so dreamy that referring to them as a job seems like an insult to Jobs.
What’s the downside? When you round up a large group of these adoring fans at a golf event and smoke one of them in the arm with a driver at close range, you can bet your group of online followers will be shooting and posting from every possible angle.
Enters Garrett ClarkRaed Al-Khair, A Youtube golf group With over a million subscribers and plenty of personalities in the online golf world. Clark, 23, has developed into an excellent golfer. In the most recent video posted to his private channel (gm_golf, which has an additional 876,000 subscribers) he posted a round of four people under the age of 67.
Playing on camera provides its own pressures, but Clarke is probably immune to those now. But starring in Good Guys is a whole different deal; The group invited onlookers and a large number of their passionate fanbase showed up. what happened after that? Clarke missed low, missed a left, and completely holed one of the groupings.
Everyone came out alive, but the different angles of the shot soon led to a seven-figure viewer count across social media. As for the shape of the shot? It was reminiscent of one of the all-time bean-shots in golf, which came courtesy of a golfer Tom Kite at the 1992 PGA Championship in Bellerive.
And if you like the genre, the LIV pro-am produced another amateur punk game when he was the coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mark Denault One of them plunged from his driver’s heel and straight into the local news reporter’s camera TJ Eckert.
The lesson: Amateur golfer beware. (And I think, Tom Kite.)
Cady Corner
Bryson’s New Stroller – Where’s Joe Lacava?
Let’s start with the LaCava bit: after a week of working full time Patrick Cantlay, Joe LaCava Catch an episode with Nelly Korda at Cognizant Founders. It didn’t go well. Korda made two double bogeys on her second round to miss the cut by one shot.
the last Joe Lacava – Son of Joe who passes aerial – had more success in weekend episodes. This is because he carried it Steve Stricker In his victory in the traditions of the regions.
“It’s good to get him his first win in a Tour,” said Stricker. “He’s a hard worker and a good kid, too.”
The younger Lacava messed around regularly Brandon Hay On the Korn Ferry Tour, which means the two LaCavas have already worked four championships in four rounds in the last two weekends. These are things for generations.
to Brison DechambeauSo: it’s on a new box! Greg Bowdenwho is known for his tenure in Tony FinoFrom 2014-2020, he debuted DeChambeau (DeBut?) at LIV Tulsa and led his player to the best result of his LIV career.
Bowden has spent the past several years focusing his efforts on launching evergreen GCan indoor golf facility outside of Seattle that he had co-opened with a former Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kers. Now back to the bag. That’s not the only change DeChambeau made either: with a swing trainer Chris Cuomo In the past, he has been seen working with him Dana Dahlquist In the range on Monday afternoon.
News from Seattle
Monday finish HQ.
If you like perfect weather, you’ll like Seattle right now. The same may not be true for Rochester this week; Wednesday’s highs should peak in the mid-40s and that could turn into a chilly Thursday morning as well. May in upstate New York is uncertain. But when it’s good, it’s really good – and it could be a really good weekend.
What then
3 things to watch this week.
1. Raw.
The guessing game at the beginning of the week in big companies always involves some prediction of the outcome. Just how hard is it to make it? This week, the rough isn’t cartoonishly long but it sure looks thick, and it gets thick off the track. One pro told me it reminded him of Winged Foot’s US Open setup because he gets a very fast penalty.
2. The Great 2.
Jon Rahm And Scotty Scheffler They’ve been so good in almost every event they’ve played that it will be especially satisfying to see them at the top of the leaderboard this weekend. Since there are no fakes on this course, I’d be surprised if they weren’t.
3. Brooks Koepka.
His series of masters has brought him back into the ranks of a major competitor to watch. How will he fare in an event he has won twice in the past five years?