The post A mind-blowing major finish, an egg farmer’s son | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post A mind-blowing major finish, an egg farmer’s son | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Bouncing back, and back, and back.

What moment do you think best explains Grace Kim’s outrageous major comeback on Sunday at the Evian?

She admitted she first thought she was out of it when she made double bogey at No. 12. But she also flipped a switch.

“I said to myself and to my caddie, ‘I’ve got nothing else to lose,'” Kim said.

Then she birdied 15. And 16. She came to No. 18 two shots behind leader Jeeno Thitikul — then nearly holed her approach into the par-5 finisher, ultimately tapping in for a tying eagle.

Things got arguably even more outrageous on the first playoff hole, when Kim blocked her approach shot into the water. Likely needing birdie to extend the playoff, she holed her chip shot, making birdie to extend.

How else could it end? Kim played No. 18 again, flagged her approach and holed the putt for eagle and the walk-off win. She made that look easy, too, but…

“I couldn’t breathe, Tom,” she said in her winner’s interview. “Yeah, I couldn’t really see. I was like, is it dead straight? Yeah. I’m hitting the putt. Glad it went in the hole.”

To sum things up, here are a few stats from her three final holes of the day:

-two total putts

-one penalty stroke

-five under par

Winning a major in preposterous comeback fashion — that’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Grace Kim won the Evian Championship; it was the major victory for the 24-year-old Aussie.

“It’s definitely crucial to have people to back you, and even in times where you don’t believe in yourself, to have those people know that you are capable and they’re here for that ride,” she said. “So, very grateful for them. Yeah, I honestly wouldn’t have done it without them.”

Chris Gotterup won the Genesis Scottish Open, holding off a star-studded field that included Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and plenty of others; he was so overcome with emotion in his post-round interview that he couldn’t speak.

Gotterup’s win felt significant because it wasn’t some random one-off; he’s been showing signs of contending — he’d been T28 or better in nine of 11 starts entering the week — but hadn’t broken through. As a bonus: He qualified for the Open in the process and suggested midway through his presser that he might cancel his flights to California (where he’d play this week’s Barracuda Championship) from the actual podium in real time.

William Mouw won the ISCO Championship, the PGA Tour’s Kentucky-based alternate-field event, thanks to a final-round 61 that sent him from T25 to a one-shot win. And now, a William Mouw fun fact: he was raised on an egg farm.

“My parents have owned and operated Billy’s Egg Farm in southern California for 30 years. To be born and raised on a farm taught me work ethic and hard work and nothing is earned — you’ve got to work or everything,” he said.

“So coming from a farm, it was amazing. It was — it definitely led me to see what it takes to make it in this world. Watching my dad wake up early mornings and work hard on the farm, deliver eggs, and it just solidified in me that hard work does pay off in the end, just — you need a lot of it.”

Bonus William Mouw on his celebratory plans: “I’m going to Dairy Queen. Yeah, I’m going to go have some Blizzards with my wife and we’re just going to enjoy it.”

Talor Gooch won LIV Golf’s event at Valderrama, edging out local favorite Jon Rahm.

“I just can’t describe how special it is to beat Rahmbo. While all the fans may not love that part, it makes it a little bit more special for me,” Gooch said. “It’s been two years since I won. My last win was here. So it’s been two years of a lot of hard work, a lot of time put into this craft, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears shed to get back here.”

Neal Shipley won The Ascendant at TPC Colorado, his second Korn Ferry Tour victory of the season, despite starting Sunday seven shots back. “I thought I had absolutely no chance if I’m being honest,” he admitted post-round. But a Sunday 64 earned him the outright win — and all but guarantees him a spot on the PGA Tour next season.

And Steve Allan won the Dick’s Open on the PGA Tour Champions; he shot six-under 66 for a four-stroke victory. The win was his second this season and came with a second different son — Joey, this time — serving as caddie.

NOT WINNERS

Some folks who got close…

Promising week for some big guns: Rory McIlroy (T2), Scottie Scheffler (T8), Xander Schauffele (T8) as well as some Brits rounding into form: Marco Penge (T2), Matthew Fitzpatrick (T4) and Justin Rose (sixth). Nicolai Hojgaard (T4) and Matti Schmid (T17) were the others to advance to the Open. Other big-name Euros showed signs of form including Sepp Straka (seventh), Ludvig Aberg (T8) and Viktor Hovland (T11).

At the Evian, Jeeno Thitikul one-upped her previous major championship heartbreaks — it’s not every day you have to outduel someone making eagle-birdie-eagle. Minjee Lee, who won the KPMG Women’s PGA in June, finished T3 alongside amateur Lottie Woad, who became eligible for an LPGA card via the LEAP program; she’s the first to qualify that way.

In Kentucky, amateur Jackson Koivun finished T6, while Kevin Kisner finished T8 — his best result in years. That doesn’t exactly get him in the Ryder Cup conversation but does elevate him inside the top 200 in the FedEx Cup…

SHORT HITTERS

5 quotes heading to the Open.

1. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler after his T8: “Definitely got adjusted to the time zone. I feel like I did some good stuff this week,” he said. “I feel like I’m really close. I feel like I was close to playing some really good golf. Just got to get some momentum.”

2. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy after his T2: “No frustration, really. I’m really happy with where everything is. Looking forward to getting to Portrush tonight and getting out on to the golf course early tomorrow and just turning my attention to that. But I feel like I’ve gotten out of this week everything, really, that I wanted.”

3. World No. 3 and defending Open champ Xander Schauffele after his T8: “Whenever you win a big title, they definitely remind you when they announce your name on the tee and it’s a friendly reminder — and then it goes away so you have to earn it again.”

4. Jon Rahm after a T2 at LIV Andalucia: “Honestly, I probably hit it better than I have in the last year and a half. Started seeing some shots that reminded me of some other good weeks, and once I got it going today and I felt comfortable on the greens, it was fun to put myself in that situation.”

5. Justin Rose, who finished as Open runner-up last year, after his T6: “I think there is going to be some rain sneak into the forecast. Ireland does seem wetter up there than even here. Mixed bag, I would say. Be prepared for all eventualities.”

RYDER CUP WATCH

Gotterup time?!

It’s tempting every week to insert the latest winner squarely at the center of the Ryder Cup conversation. But Chris Gotterup has an easier case than, say, Brian Campbell last week. He’s from New Jersey, he drives the cover off the golf ball and he’s on a strong run of form. With that said, he did enter this week at No. 71 in the Ryder Cup standings and is still just No. 41 after his win, which means he still has a tall hill to climb…

On the European side, Marco Penge will leap up the standings from No. 33 after his runner-up showing. Nicolai Hojgaard will, too, beginning to close the gap on his twin brother Rasmus. As of publish time only the U.S. standings have been updated; we’ll update Team Europe when they do.

Here’s where we stand:

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. Spaun 4. Henley 5. DeChambeau 6. Thomas 7. Morikawa 8. Griffin 9. Bradley 10. English 11. McNealy 12. Harman 13. Novak 14. Cantlay 15. Burns

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS (As of July 7)

1. McIlroy 2. Fleetwood 3. Hatton 4. MacIntyre 5. Lowry 6. Straka 7. R. Hojgaard 8. Aberg 9. Rose 10. Hovland 11. Detry 12. Wallace 13. Smith 14. Norgaard 15. Neergaard-Petersen

Complete standings here.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Angel Yin.

Asked about her mindset in a birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle finish, part of a final-round 63 that left her T5, here’s what Angel Yin had to offer:

“I think Sandra Palmer told me at the U.S. Open this year, she said, ‘On your last day, let Lady Luck take the wheel and have God put his hand on your shoulders.'”

ONE BIG QUESTION

What’s changed in LIV’s OWGR app?

LIV and the Official World Golf Ranking each announced that LIV had resubmitted a bid to join the official system and ultimately earn ranking points for its members. This is a big deal symbolically; LIV had essentially signaled that it was rejecting the establishment when it pulled its application last year. Their reapplication suggests they want to play ball, so it’ll be interesting to see specifically what changes they’ll be making. Different promotion and relegation rules? More official pathways into the league? Changes to the format in any way? This feels like a potentially important step in LIV’s effort to become part of the golf world, so the question becomes: Will their efforts be successful?

ONE THING TO WATCH

Shane Lowry.

On Monday we’re releasing a video feature from some time we spent with Shane Lowry as part of his cover story for the current issue of GOLF Magazine. He reflects on his epic Portrush win and we contextualize why it was such a meaningful victory. If that video isn’t out yet, it will be soon — you can track it down by subscribing here.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

The fact that there is a direct flight from Seattle to Dublin makes this redeye actually quite exciting, knowing I’ll be landing on the correct island. The only downside: one particularly hawk-eyed attendant weighed and subsequently confiscated my carry-on as I boarded the plane, as it was too heavy. Given the horror stories I’ve seen and heard about luggage in Dublin, I’m certain this won’t end well. But I’m dreaming of a train ride through the Northern Irish countryside and I’m determined to get there one way or another.

We’ll see you all week from Portrush.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post A mind-blowing major finish, an egg farmer’s son | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post PGA Tour’s $100m overhaul, shocking underdog, missing piece | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post PGA Tour’s $100m overhaul, shocking underdog, missing piece | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

An underdog winner.

What’s your favorite Brian Campbell underdog fun fact? That he’s the shortest hitter on the PGA Tour? That he has the lowest ball speed? That, entering Sunday, he had just one top-30 finish on Tour this season — and it was a victory? That he played just three events in 2022 and fell outside the top 1,500 in the world, part of a seven-year journey back to the game’s top level?

My favorite Brian Campbell underdog fun fact is that the final round of this week’s John Deere Classic fell exactly a decade — to the day — after his first-ever PGA Tour event, also the John Deere, which he played on a sponsor’s exemption while still a student-athlete at the nearby University of Illinois. Much has happened in those 10 years, which saw Campbell ascend to the PGA Tour but descend to the Korn Ferry Tour and stay there for much of that decade, good enough to stay but not to advance, stuck in professional limbo. Until this season, that is. Now, Campbell has two PGA Tour wins in just a few months. In a world where accomplished talents like of Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young and Denny McCarthy are still chasing their first Tour title, that’s a remarkable achievement.

Two top-30s this season — and two playoff wins? That’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Brian Campbell won the John Deere Classic over Emiliano Grillo on the first playoff hole.

“It’s easier said than done, but what worked for me a lot was trusting a lot of things I used to do when I was a kid,” Campbell said of his journey. “Getting back to enjoying the game and loving the game for what it is and just having fun with it.”

Lottie Woad, the top-ranked amateur on the women’s side, won the KPMG Women’s Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour by six shots, running away from a field packed with pros.

Daniel Brown won the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany, his second-career victory on the circuit; he’s now up to 15th in the Race to Dubai.

Scott Vincent won the International Series Morocco; it was his first pro win since 2022. He now leads the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit and is second in the International Series rankings; winning the latter would earn him a spot in LIV Golf for 2026.

NOT WINNERS

But agonizingly close…

Emiliano Grillo came the closest to taking down Campbell; his hopes were undone by a misfired tee shot in the playoff and a pitching wedge that carried 180 yards, airmailing the green.

David Lipsky came next-closest; he made a brilliant eagle at No. 17 to tie for the lead before missing the fairway at No. 18 en route to bogey. He finished T3 alongside Kevin Roy, who birdied No. 18 to make a crucial jump in the FedEx Cup (No. 88 to No. 71).

Things got crowded behind them; six players finished T5 including Max Homa, who improved from No. 122 to No. 98 in the FedEx Cup. Nick Dunlap finished one shot further back at T11 after nearly five months without a top 40. Rickie Fowler (T18) improved to No. 68 in the FedEx Cup as he hovers at the edge of the playoff picture. He finished alongside Davis Thompson, whose final-round 72 sent him from the lead to T18.

SHORT HITTERS

5 brief bits of golf news.

1. Collin Morikawa has enlisted the help of battle-tested caddie Billy Foster after a short stint with Joe Greiner came to an end last week. Foster most recently worked for Matt Fitzpatrick; the two teamed up for a 2022 U.S. Open victory. Foster will carry for Morikawa at the Genesis Scottish Open and the Open Championship. After that? We’ll see.

2. Jordan Spieth will be back in action at the Open Championship and fully healthy after a frustrating WD mid-round at the Travelers Championship, which he explained to Kay Adams was “just a weird neck spasm thing.” Spieth and his wife Annie are expecting their third child in the coming days; he’ll plan to head for Portrush after that.

3. Gary Woodland will round out Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup staff as an assistant captain, joining Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker as the U.S. team transitions to a new generation of leadership.

4. Joe Hooks missed the cut in his PGA Tour debut in Detroit last week — but Michael Bamberger’s account of his week, and his story, is well worth your time.

5. The PGA Tour announced its revamped playoff payout system, distributing a total of $100 million across three installments instead of just one: After the regular season ($20 million), the BMW Championship ($22.925 mil) and the Tour Championship ($40 mil to the top 30, plus $17.08 million in deferrals split among players ranked 31-150).

After they eliminated staggered-start handicap strokes from the finale, this felt likely — otherwise the Tour Championship would just be a one-week shootout for $25 million — but we’ll see how it plays out in the coming weeks as pros vie for high finishes to get them into the playoffs and into better position for each respective payout. Also, remember the Comcast Business Top 10? That’s still a thing, dishing out $40 million at the end of the season.

That’s a long way of saying that, assuming Scottie Scheffler remains No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, he’s about to get $18 million for his troubles. And then play for a whole bunch more.

RYDER CUP WATCH

Campbell time?!

Probably not. For the second consecutive week, neither top 12 saw any movement; even as a two-time winner this season Campbell is up to just No. 28. Lucas Glover made an interesting move from No. 20 up to No. 16, but mostly there wasn’t much movement on the American side.

On the European side, Jordan Smith elevated his position to No. 13 after a runner-up finish in Munich; while tournament winner Brown jumped 17 spots to No. 22. Here’s where we stand:

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. Spaun 4. Henley 5. DeChambeau 6. Thomas 7. Morikawa 8. Griffin 9. Bradley 10. English 11. McNealy 12. Harman 13. Novak 14. Cantlay 15. Burns

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. McIlroy 2. Fleetwood 3. Hatton 4. MacIntyre 5. Lowry 6. Straka 7. R. Hojgaard 8. Aberg 9. Rose 10. Hovland 11. Detry 12. Wallace 13. Smith 14. Norgaard 15. Neergaard-Petersen

Complete standings here.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Matt Kuchar.

One reporter asked Matt Kuchar to take them through what it’s like to be competitive when he’s twice the age of some of his competition. His response:

“I don’t know how to take you through it other than knowing you’ll get there. You’ll get there. Listen, I still feel like a kid. I still get excited to come to those tournaments.

“One of the unique things about the game of golf is every week we all start at even par, we all have a chance of doing something great.

“I think if you happen to be a professional baseball player and your team starts 10-40 it would be tough to keep going, but golf gives that you hope every week that you show up and you got a chance to do something great.

“So I show up here excited. I show up hoping to do something great this week.”

ONE BIG QUESTION

What’s pro golf’s summer missing?

I couldn’t be more fired up for the upcoming Scottish-Portrush 1-2 punch. And as a sicko I will watch plenty of 3M and Wyndham, just as I watched plenty of Rocket and John Deere. But it does feel like something is missing from this July-August stretch on the PGA Tour, where we’re left with just one major, none of the season’s Signature Events and a playoff structure constantly in limbo. So what is missing?

One answer would be “the PGA Championship” because there are plenty of people who would welcome its return to August. But let’s assume that’s stuck in May — I think the answer is “electric playoff venues.” I’d prefer to see East Lake and TPC Southwind earlier in the season and save August for a mix of courses that stir the soul. I’m originally from Massachusetts and I currently live in Seattle, so I’m biased, but a dose of northern golf in tournament-starved areas seems like a good place to start. The BMW Championship in Chicago was an incredible scene two years ago. We can do this, bit by bit.

ONE THING TO WATCH

Links golf szn.

No more scrolling, just settling in for a few minutes of Scottish goodness, via the DP World Tour:

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

Some folks here say that Seattle Summer doesn’t start until July 4th. In fairness, I have generally not found that to be true — this may be one of many things Seattleites say so that nobody else moves here — but good grief do we have a slate of good weather on tap. I’m off to a coffee shop or a golf course or just to wander around and feel alive. Wishing you some of the same.

We’ll see you next week.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post PGA Tour’s $100m overhaul, shocking underdog, missing piece | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Lexi’s close call, Paddy’s In-N-Out, Airbnb checkout time | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Lexi’s close call, Paddy’s In-N-Out, Airbnb checkout time | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Overcoming adversity.

We relish in professional golf’s underdog stories. Unlikely backgrounds, unlikely comebacks, unlikely shots in pressure-packed moments.

But on Sunday Aldrich Potgieter overcame something far more relatable: the early Airbnb checkout time.

Anybody who’s ever gone anywhere on a weekend trip knows this struggle. You’ve got a late flight but time to kill, or you’re playing Sunday morning golf but have nowhere to change post-round, or you’re scrambling after a big Saturday night to somehow clean up your mess and rouse your most useless buddy before the cleaners arrive. (Looking at you, Matt.) Or, in this case, you’re leading a PGA Tour event by two shots, but it’s midsummer, so you don’t tee off until mid-afternoon.

“Waking up this morning was kind of difficult. I had to book out of my AirBnB at 10 o’clock,” Potgieter said. He dutifully followed those directions, perhaps storing up good karma in the process, but because he didn’t want to be at the course until noon, the 20-year-old South African did what plenty of us might do to while away a couple hours: he stopped at a coffee shop — and overdid it. “That got me a little shaky,” he said later with a laugh. “No, it was okay. I kind of struggled to eat a little bit, the nerves kicked in when I got here kind of sitting at player dining, but I think that’s just kind of normal and kind of have to get through that.”

Normal is right. And get through it he did. Potgieter had already experienced Sunday Tour contention; he was in the mix on Sunday at the Farmers but faded with a final-round 78 and, in his next start, lost in a playoff at the Mexico Open. Then he saw just how tough the Tour can be: he missed seven of his next eight cuts. Then came a T6 at the Charles Schwab Challenge — and then, after several weeks at home spending time with family, he triumphed in five playoff holes for his maiden PGA Tour victory.

“I thought I didn’t hit enough balls at home, I could have done a little bit more work, but it’s nice to kind of see some results coming from [his recent] club fitting and having some time off to breathe a bit.”

It was a reminder that golf isn’t a game of perfect — it’s a game of dealing with challenges as they arise. Like Sunday nerves, early wake-ups or overcaffeination. And with Potgieter’s newly acquired $1.8 million winner’s check, here’s betting he can afford a late checkout fee going forward.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Aldrich Potgieter won the Rocket Classic in a five-hole playoff over Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk. His only regret? Tossing the winning ball to a fan.

“I was just pumped up. I know my grandma’s probably going to be quite mad at me. I give her all my stuff that I’ve won with, so she’s not going to be pretty happy,” he said.

Somi Lee and Jin Hee Im won the Dow Championship — the LPGA’s only team event — on the first playoff hole over Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang. While Lee and Im have 11 combined victories on the Korean LPGA, this was the first victory for either on the LPGA.

Patrick Reed won LIV Golf’s Dallas event in a playoff with a birdie on the first extra hole, securing his first victory on the Saudi-backed circuit and stirring up suggestions that he could enter the U.S. Ryder Cup team discussion.

Adrien Saddier won the Italian Open, his first win in his 200th DP World Tour start; the win was his first pro victory at any level since 2016 and qualified him for the Open, too.

And Padraig Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open for the second time, another win on the Champions Tour circuit to add to his three major titles in 2007-08.

“It kind of validates your career,” Harrington said. “It validates the past in a lot of ways. You’re reliving the past glories, hitting shots, waving at the crowds. People are coming out because they know you from the past.”

NOT WINNERS

But agonizingly close…

Lexi Thompson nearly broke her six-year winless drought in dramatic fashion; she and partner Megan Khang shot a final-round 60 at the team-tournament Dow Championship and fell in a playoff.

“I think for someone with a limited schedule…” Khang said post-round before Thompson cut her off.

“You almost said it,” she said, referencing Thompson’s hard-to-label, not-actually-a “retirement” which has led to plenty of good play.

After falling to Potgieter on the fifth playoff hole, Max Greyserman now has four runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour but hasn’t yet broken through. His summation:

“Handled myself really well, hit a lot of good shots under pressure all day from the start. Being at the top of the leaderboard in the final group — I’ve been in the final group once or twice before, but just to get that experience is good.

“I started the day two back. Obviously wish I could have had a few shots back or a few putts, but hit a couple good putts at the end with pretty decent speed and sometimes putts don’t go in.”

Chris Kirk’s playoff bogey knocked him out first; he finished T2 alongside Greyserman.

The rest of the leaderboard was densely packed with emergent names like Michael Thorbjornsen and Jake Knapp (T2) and Jackson Suber and Nico Echavarria (T6). Tournament favorite Collin Morikawa, who announced a caddie split earlier in the week, finished T8, three shots outside the playoff.

Sergio Garcia finished high enough to stay inside LIV’s top five and will earn a spot in the Open as a result. And Jon Rahm finished T11 — remarkably, his first LIV result outside the top 10.

SHORT HITTERS

5 notable made (and missed) cuts.

We’re not handing out participation trophies here — but we are giving shoutouts to some guys who played four rounds and sending our condolences to a couple fellas falling short.

1. Aaron Wise finished T51, which might not seem like much until you realize it was his first made cut on the PGA Tour since May 2023.

2. Here was Will Gordon, needing birdie-birdie to make an emotional cut to keep his card — and delivering (more here):

3. Finishing T67 at week’s end: Gordon Sargent, the mega-talent out of Vandy who earned his PGA Tour card last year but struggled with his game enough this year that he was dropped from their starting lineup. His first made cut as a pro is worth celebrating.

4. Rickie Fowler‘s 71-71 week left him well outside the six-under cut line and has him hovering around another line: the Top-70-Make-the-Playoffs number. He was No. 69 entering the week; now he’s No. 72. There will be plenty of interesting churn come playoff time.

5. Alex Noren is among the top 50 players from last year currently outside this year’s top 100; he missed the start of the season with a hamstring injury and is now outside the top 150, while Will Zalatoris (also injured, No. 118) and Adam Hadwin (No. 120) are the others not otherwise secure in their status for 2026. (Others like Max Homa, Sahith Theegala and Nick Dunlap still have winners exemptions that will give them some status for next season.)

RYDER CUP WATCH

No movement?!

Neither top 12 saw any movement; Potgieter is from South Africa and therefore not eligible. Greyserman made the most significant move up from No. 37 to 28, and he’s an intriguing theoretical for Bethpage — big hitter, hot putter, from New Jersey — but still a few high finishes away from that conversation. Keegan Bradley shot under par all four rounds and finished T41, which says more about the tournament setup than his theoretical player-captain readiness.

Patrick Reed made the biggest statement with his LIV win; it would be interesting to see how U.S. leadership would handle his candidacy if he made noise in his next few tournaments, too.

On the European side, Thorbjorn Olesen jumped Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen into No. 15; Frenchmen Martin Couvra and Adrien Saddier moved into No. 24 and No. 26, respectively. Here’s where we now stand:

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. Spaun 4. Henley 5. DeChambeau 6. Thomas 7. Morikawa 8. Griffin 9. Bradley 10. English 11. McNealy 12. Harman 13. Novak 14. Cantlay 15. Burns

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. McIlroy 2. Fleetwood 3. Hatton 4. MacIntyre 5. Lowry 6. Straka 7. R. Hojgaard 8. Aberg 9. Rose 10. Hovland 11. Detry 12. Wallace 13. Norgaard 14. Rai 15. Olesen

Complete standings here.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

Padraig Harrington on enjoying competitive golf.

The newest U.S. Senior Open champ dished on how he’s changed:

“I would have done some things different when I was younger for sure. I don’t regret how I approached the game and the way I went about it, but certainly I now appreciate more how much effort it takes to play on a Sunday compared to every other day.

“If you want to win tournaments, you’ve got to be exceptionally fresh and mentally fresh on Sunday. You’ve got to have the least amount of stress all the way you can during the week.

“Literally, probably just because of the nature of it, I definitely make an effort to enjoy my tournaments more, enjoy what’s going on around them. It’s not all work. And having your family here is part of that.

“Like, on Wednesday night? I went for an In-n-Out burger. I didn’t eat a french fry or a burger for 10, 15 years of my career. It was all about everything was get the right diet, all that sort of thing. But the start of this tournament, I actually had two double-doubles.

“You might think that’s not the best in terms of everything should be perfect, but at this stage of my career, I’ve got to enjoy my life out here. Opportunities like that to — when you come from Ireland, you don’t get the opportunity to go for an In-n-Out burger too often, so that was a nice bonus.

“I’m a more relaxed person. Still not relaxed, but more relaxed than I was as a younger player.”

ONE BIG QUESTION

Who’s gonna make a move at the John Deere?

This is the strongest field at the Deere in years, featuring big-name players (Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Sungjae Im), red-hot players (Aldrich Potgieter, Ben Griffin) and even top college players (Michael La Sasso, 2025 Division I national champion, and Jackson Koivun, the game’s top-ranked male amateur). Somebody’s going to move into playoff position. Somebody’s going to qualify for the Open last-minute. Somebody’s going to raise a little Ryder Cup noise — at least for a day or two. Who will those somebodies be?

ONE THING TO WATCH

Carlos Alcaraz, working on his move:

It’s Wimbledon Szn. And also PGA Tour-players-show-up-at-Wimbledon Szn. See you there.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I’m off to the East Coast this week to see some family and dive headfirst into the humidity. Let’s see how the 1-year-old likes New Hampshire’s finest black flies and thunderstorms…can’t wait!

We’ll see you next week.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post Lexi’s close call, Paddy’s In-N-Out, Airbnb checkout time | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Keegan Bradley’s dilemma, 5 strange WDs | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Keegan Bradley’s dilemma, 5 strange WDs | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

The captain’s moment.

On Sunday I was wishing for a moment that Keegan Bradley hadn’t been named Ryder Cup captain. Not because I think he’s unfit or undeserving; I’ve been a vocal Keegan fan for my entire adult life. But as Bradley finished off a dream moment — a second Travelers Championship win in three years in front of the New England fans he knows and loves — I felt some sadness that, even in the most incredible moment of his summer, the public’s attention would immediately fast-forward to the Ryder Cup.

But after listening to Bradley I realized that was a silly and unnecessary fear.

For one thing, he enjoyed the hell out of his victory, and celebrated accordingly as his 72nd-hole birdie putt found the bottom of the cup.

“Sometimes when I watch guys win tournaments and they don’t do anything I don’t get it because this is your chance to explode,” he said.

And for another, his role in the captaincy actually elevated his every appearance and experience. It’s elevated his entire life. He’s long served as the unofficial captain of New England golf; now he’s Captain Keegan, head of the entire golfing country. He feels the love when he’s pumping gas, he said. When he’s in restaurants. And definitely when he’s playing New England’s only PGA Tour event.

“I was on the 18th tee and I looked out, and I couldn’t believe how many people were up there, and then I hit my drive, I hit a perfect drive, and I saw it land in the fairway, and I heard the crowd, like, really cheer when it hit the fairway, and I thought, well, I’ve never heard that before when I’ve hit a drive,” he said. “Then when I was walking up to the ball, they’re cheering me on, and then when it was my turn to hit, the crowd really started to, like, cheer. Like, I couldn’t believe it. I had to take a second to, like, get it together here because I needed to hit a shot. Then when it landed and hit the green — because I can’t really see where the ball is, the crowd really went crazy.”

Like me, and probably you, Bradley was gutted for Tommy Fleetwood, whose 72nd-hole bogey opened the door for him to win outright.

“He’s just an unbelievable player, and he’s fighting so hard to get his first win. It’s a weird thing to be on the other side of that,” Bradley said. But he’s played on Tour for a decade and a half; he knows these moments are too precious to waste. As for that big-time Ryder Cup question? He’s finally ready to think about that, too. A win “definitely changes things,” he told Live From.

There’s a long way to go. When Bradley won this very event two years ago he moved to No. 7 in the Ryder Cup standings and seemed like a shoo-in for the U.S. team that would go to Rome. Then again, it was this week last year that Bradley was named captain and it felt at that point like a longshot that he’d compete to play at Bethpage. Now? He’s up to No. 7 in the world, the best ranking of his career.

On Saturday night, before he’d gotten across the line, Bradley said something particularly interesting: he’s walking his own path.

“I sort of have come to this epiphany sort of that no one has ever experienced what I’m going through right now. Arnold Palmer [was a playing captain] in 1962 I think it was, but for the most part captains are done playing or at the end of their career or playing the Champions Tour. So it’s pretty cool, I’m experiencing something that not a lot of people have.”

Crossing off a “new experience” and turning yourself into an American golf legend in the process? That’s golf stuff I like.

WINNNERS

Who won the week?

Minjee Lee won the KPMG Women’s PGA at Fields Ranch East, fending off the field in firm, windy conditions with several late, clutch birdies to win her third career major.

“I definitely was nervous starting the day,” Lee admitted post-round, though after the first few holes, she hardly looked it. “I wasn’t really sure if it was the heat that was making my heart beat more. I looked calm, but not as calm as everybody thinks.”

The 29-year-old Aussie bagged $1.8 million from a newly elevated $12 million purse. What’s next?

“I really wanted to be in the Hall of Fame. That’s why I started golf. That’s why I wanted to be on the LPGA Tour, to, you know, win a bunch of tournaments and try to get into it,” she said. “Seeing Lydia do it, I think I would really like to get there. We’ll see how we go after this week.”

Keegan Bradley won the Travelers Championship for the second time; it’s also his fourth win in the last three PGA Tour seasons. He moves to No. 7 in the world, No. 8 in the FedEx Cup and No. 9 in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, Bradley’s former sparring partner, won the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone in Akron, Ohio. The victory was the 61-year-old’s fourth of the season and the 17th of his Champions tour career.

And Myles Creighton had one of the more outrageous golf weeks I can remember hearing, like, ever. Creighton, a Korn Ferry Tour pro, opened his Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open with a Thursday 68 before things got really weird.

On Friday he was four shots outside the cut line with eight holes to play. He birdied No. 11 and made a hole-in-one at No. 12. After a pedestrian par at No. 12 he birdied No. 14 — and then holed out at No. 15 for another eagle. Suddenly he was safely inside the cut line and bogeyed 18 for another 68.

Saturday he didn’t make any eagles — but he did make a dozen birdies, including a chip-in on No. 18, to enter rarified golfing air by shooting 59.

Sunday he shot 68 for the third time this week, which was good enough to win by one — his first Korn Ferry Tour victory and his first top 10 this season. He’s up to No. 16 on the tour’s order of merit, which means he went from outside the cut line to in the hunt for a PGA Tour card in less than three days.

NOT WINNERS

But agonizingly close…

If you didn’t watch Tommy Fleetwood‘s agonizing defeat, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you. Even as a massive Keegan supporter I felt legitimately ill watching Fleetwood’s final bogey, which didn’t come from any single mistake but instead three half-mistakes — he switched clubs on his approach and left that 50 feet short, shorted his approach putt to just outside Bradley’s mark and then missed his par try well right of the hole. I’ve been deep in the film trying to figure out if that par putt swerved because it hit something, but I can’t tell if it would have missed anyway…

After sleeping on it, though, I have this takeaway — as heartbreaking and uninspiring as his finish felt, I still feel better about Tommy’s chances going forward. There’s clearly nothing wrong with his game, and post-round he said exactly what he should have.

Russell Henley’s T2 finish included the golf gods taking one away (his self-called penalty on No. 8 on Friday) and the golf gods giving back (his chip-in on the 72nd hole to post 14 under par, which tied the clubhouse lead until Bradley’s birdie ended things).

“Yeah, electric crowd. Pretty awesome to finish like that,” Henley said.

Jason Day and Harris English shared T4, while Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy finished T6.

“Positive vibes going into a couple-week break here and get ready for Scotland and The Open Championship,” McIlroy said.

“Obviously I was looking for a little bit more, but overall not a bad week,” Scheffler said. “If I have a different day yesterday I think it’s a different story, but can’t be perfect every day, just trying to do my best.”

And after a lackluster start to his week, last week’s U.S. Open champ J.J. Spaun shot Sunday’s low round, 63, to climb from T46 to finish T14.

At the KPMG Women’s PGA, American Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen of Thailand finished T2 as the only other players to finish under par behind Lee. Jeeno Thitikul, the World No. 2, held the 18- and 36-hole lead but shot 76-75 on the weekend to finish T4 as her hunt for a first major continues. Hye-Jin Choi finished T6, her fourth consecutive LPGA top-six; she’s also finished top 10 at the year’s first three majors. Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson started Sunday in the penultimate group but fell to T19 and T12, respectively; Lydia Ko and Charley Hull were also in that group at T12. There have now been 16 different winners in 16 LPGA events this year.

SHORT HITTERS

5 notable WDs.

I’m not sure the typical WD rate for a PGA Tour event, but five players from a 72-player field seems significant.

1. Jordan Spieth withdrew midway through his first round with a neck injury; he was “incredibly frustrated” because he’d felt like his game was set up for a big week — and said it was the first time he’d withdrawn from a tournament at any level.

2. Si Woo Kim pulled out with a back injury midway through his second round; he’d shot 71 on Thursday and was seven over through 12 on Friday before calling it quits.

3. Eric Cole was six under par after Saturday’s third round which had him T14 and in line for valuable FedEx Cup points (he entered the week at No. 60 in the standings) but he withdrew due to “illness” prior to Sunday’s round. A tweet from his mother Laura Baugh suggested that he’d been to the ER.

That lines up with reports from illness on the ground at last week’s U.S. Open as well as the Travelers; Bradley, like J.J. Spaun last week, said he had a kid up sick for much of Saturday night.

4. Matti Schmid was in last place to begin Sunday’s final round, and because they played in threesomes off split tees he was actually playing as a single in the final time of the day. He played four holes, making double bogey on his fourth, before he withdrew with illness.

5. Viktor Hovland‘s WD strikes me as particularly troubling. He, too, entered Sunday’s final round in T14, fresh off a Saturday 63. Here’s how he described what happened next:

“I warmed up on the range, felt great. I was just going to hit a last couple drivers before I was going to go to the first tee, and hit one shot and then felt a little bit in my neck, but it felt fine, didn’t feel hardly anything at all, just felt like something was maybe brewing.

“Then the next shot that I hit with a driver it just felt like, yeah, it just cracked. I don’t know exactly what happened, but there’s something that happened and just couldn’t move.”

Hovland had someone look at it but at this point it was just a few minutes before he was due on the first tee.

“Tried to play, but just wasn’t doable,” he said. “I could hardly just stand over the ball and move my neck. Couldn’t really do anything.”

Oddly enough his round started in prototypical fashion: 308-yard drive down the middle, wedge to 20 feet, two-putt par. But his bogey at No. 2 included a chunked wedge shot; after hitting his tee shot at No. 3, he headed in.

Between Hovland and Cole it was the first time that two players inside the top 25 had both WD’d from the final round of a Tour event in more than 30 years.

RYDER CUP WATCH

Captain Keegan ain’t the only one on the move.

Bradley was the most significant mover in this week’s Ryder Cup rankings, of course — he jumped from No. 17 to No. 9. (It is an oddity of the ranking that he’s No. 7 in the world but only No. 9 on the points list). At 7,845 points, Bradley is still further from Justin Thomas, who occupies the final auto-qualifying spot at No. 6 with 9,998 points, than he is from Brian Harman, who sits in the No. 12 spot with 6,521 points. In other words, there’s a lot of golf left. But there’s no question who’s trending in the right direction and who’d make an obvious fit for a rowdy golf course atmosphere in the Northeast this fall.

Henley got an important boost from No. 7 to No. 4, too. Spaun and Thomas picked up points and remained inside the top six. And English leapt Mav McNealy and remains No. 10.

On the European side, Fleetwood went from No. 7 to No. 2. Harry Hall also went from No. 29 to No. 24 — worth monitoring if he gets hot this summer.

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. Spaun 4. Henley 5. DeChambeau 6. Thomas 7. Morikawa 8. Griffin 9. Bradley 10. English 11. McNealy 12. Harman 13. Novak 14. Cantlay 15. Burns

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. McIlroy 2. Fleetwood 3. Hatton 4. MacIntyre 5. Lowry 6. Straka 7. R. Hojgaard 8. Aberg 9. Rose 10. Hovland 11. Detry 12. Wallace 13. Norgaard 14. Rai 15. Neergaard-Petersen

Complete standings here.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

Bradley on short putts.

One reporter noted that Bradley had looked at the hole on his final six-footer; he confirmed that to be the case.

“Six feet’s about my cutoff. I’ve been doing it for years,” Bradley said. “You know, I talked to some players, like, basketball players. [Michael Jordan] would say you never look at the ball when you shoot a free throw. You look at the rim. So I started doing it. I started to putt a lot better doing it. I actually extended how far out I do it this year, so I probably wouldn’t have looked at the hole last year from that distance. But I’ve been doing that for, you know, five, six years, at least.”

ONE BIG QUESTION

What’s Brian Rolapp’s handicap?

New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp appeared at the Travelers alongside current commissioner Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods, as well as members of SSG. And by citing his golf credentials (worked at a snack shack as a kid, plays a few times a year with his kids, refuses to disclose his handicap) he established himself as an outsider, someone with a fresh perspective on [gestures vaguely] all of this. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; in his Week 1 remarks he already made it clear that he won’t let tradition get in the way for tradition’s sake. His handicap, of course, is irrelevant. The real question is something like this: what does he see that he can change for the better?

ONE THING TO WATCH

If you’ve made it this far you need a cold brew or a cold beer and a 20-minute YouTube video starring Michael Greller and Chambers Bay. Good news:

(Editor’s note: If you already watched this Greller feature last week, feel free to refresh yourself on that Keegan-Miguel Angel beef)

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I had a broken sensor on my car, which means I’m planning a lengthy walk to pick it up from the shop this afternoon; it’s so nice out that I’m quite looking forward to that. Happy summer, my good people. I hope your drivers fly straight and sensors function properly.

We’ll see you next week.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post Keegan Bradley’s dilemma, 5 strange WDs | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post 10 things I’ll miss from the U.S. Open (and 3 I won’t) | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post 10 things I’ll miss from the U.S. Open (and 3 I won’t) | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

Editor’s note: To get the Monday Finish in your email every Monday (plus a magazine subscription and a bundle of other screaming deals) sign up for InsideGOLF here.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Viktor Hovland’s mojo.

The last thing that Viktor Hovland said into a microphone before leaving this year’s U.S. Open was, to me, the most interesting.

For context, let’s go back a couple months to the Valspar Championship. Hovland won that tournament despite being so disgusted with his swing that he almost withdrew beforehand. One exchange stood out to me that week, when a reporter asked Hovland if he thinks he’s too hard on himself and he said essentially that he thinks he has to be.

“I am hard on myself, yeah. But that’s also why I’m good,” he said. “If I wasn’t hard on myself I probably wouldn’t be out here.”

It was interesting, then, to hear him strike a slightly different tone on U.S. Open Sunday as he weighed the satisfaction and disappointment of a third-place finish. A reporter noticed he’d been talking with more confidence throughout the week, and Hovland said that’s been a conscious decision.

“I’ve been working on that a little bit. I’ve been tearing myself down a little too much,” he said.

“Even though I do know I need to work on some stuff and get back to where I used to be in a way, in a way, mechanically. But in the interim, I can still perform at a really high level, and there’s a lot of good stuff. Just got to take that with me and be a little bit kinder to myself.”

He’s still the same guy he was at Valspar, the hard-to-satisfy tinkerer who loves executing shots and pounded drivers on the Oakmont range deep into Saturday night, searching for something a little better. But all week at the U.S. Open Hovland reminded the world that he belongs at the top of the game. Finally it sounds like he believes it, too.

Hovland getting his mojo back — that’s golf stuff I like.

10 THINGS I’LL MISS FROM THE U.S. OPEN…

1. Championship significance.

The energy at a U.S. Open is electric. Practice rounds feel fun, festive; the USGA has gotten better and better at dialing in all the little stuff to make it clear you’re at a big event. Thursday and Friday are action-packed — even when that action gets a bit glacial. But once the weekend hits and players are re-paired, things really get momentous. Saturday is for positioning and Sunday is for crowning a champion. The aftermath of J.J. Spaun‘s ridiculous walkoff 65-footer was so captivating because you could see him processing the moment’s significance in real time. Everybody knows what it means; being on the ground you get to experience a little taste of how that feels. (I have also now decided I would like to win the U.S. Open.)

2. Championship chaos.

That entire finish was nuts, huh? I detailed some of the specifics on Sunday night if you want to relive ’em all, but the weather plus the rough plus the crowded leaderboard plus the pressure of the moment made for an inward nine that tested soul as much as swing. On the ground it was nearly impossible to keep track of who was leading and where the winner would come from, especially after contenders ran into one catastrophe after another. Fun to watch. Probably exhausting to compete in.

3. Hard golf.

We can debate the specific merits of rough length, fairway width, green speed and what this U.S. Open setup meant big-picture for the game of golf — but instead let’s stay small. It’s fun and interesting to watch the best golfers in the world get their teeth kicked in. I wouldn’t want every PGA Tour course to look or play like Oakmont did this week, but it’s great seeing these guys tested.

4. Adam Scott in the mix at a major.

I wrote Saturday night about why so many people were rooting for Adam Scott, specific in the context of sports’ greatest genre: The Old Guy’s Still Got It. With five holes left Scott still had a shot — but then he played those five holes in five over par. Another major, another question of what could have been. He spoke to Brendan Quinn of the Athletic post-round for a story that included this vulnerable exchange:

“You know, when I won that Masters,” he said, looking around like a man in an empty room, “I really thought, ‘Here we go, the floodgates are going to open.’”

The floodgates have not yet opened. Here’s hoping for another chance.

5. That 17th hole.

It’s where J.J. Spaun won the tournament, it’s where Tyrrell Hatton lost the tournament, it’s where Viktor Hovland hit a couple of the cleverest shots of the tournament, one each on Saturday and Sunday. It’s where players could catch respite from the barrage of bogeys — or get in weird trouble. No. 17 delivered again.

6. Cuts.

This week’s Travelers Championship will not have a cut and I think it’ll be a less interesting event as a result. Cuts are dramatic, they’re satisfying, they add urgency, they make for great stories and they improve the viewing experience — particularly at the majors. I get the theory behind no-cut events, but the reality is that events with cuts are better.

7. The dentist.

Matt Vogt made plenty of early-week headlines as the local qualifier with the most fun story, even if reality hit once they started keeping score. Two others made the cut. And several sectional qualifiers made noise in the tournament itself, including Cameron Young. The U.S. Open’s mix of exemptions, Tour-pro qualifiers and Cinderellas makes it feel big and, well, open.

8. Tyrrell Hatton.

He’s a terrific golfer who said he considers this his first time in Sunday contention at a major — and he really gives you the full experience.

9. Major championships.

You’re telling me we only have one men’s major left this year?!

10. Smart golf people.

One of the joys of attending these big-time events in person is spending time with others doing the same. It’s a chance to get the team at GOLF together for a week of big-time work but it’s also a chance to catch up with others from around the industry, from players to coaches to caddies to agents to media types. To my right in the media center were Matt and Will, the two brilliant, unassuming brothers who run DataGolf — it’s no surprise that they’re interesting guys and good hangs. Directly behind me were Brendan, Brody, Hugh and Gabby, the writers behind some of golf’s best feature reporting at the Athletic. Walking the course and following specific players or groups means the chance to chat with other golf media types, to kick around half-baked ideas, to sanity-check ideas, to make jokes that wouldn’t otherwise be funny. Writing can be a solitary enterprise — these weeks make it feel much less so.

…AND 5 THINGS I WON’T

1. Mud.

When it rains a lot at a golf tournament and there are a lot of spectators at that golf tournament, the places those spectators are walking get very, very muddy very, very quickly. This is not a new thing; I remember the first two majors I attended (the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion and PGA at Oak Hill) both turned to mud pits. Oak Hill in 2023 was the same way, as was Valhalla last year. (Augusta National has some magic green pebble stuff they use to solve most of their mud issues, although if you remember the police officer that almost took out Tiger Woods, that was a muddy situation, too.) Anyway, I spent this weekend tiptoeing gingerly around the worst of Oakmont’s swamps, desperately hoping to avoid the sort of day-ruining wipeout I saw from a few unlucky spectators.

2. Wet shoes.

Fool me once? Shame on you. Fool me twice? Shame on me. We’re definitely in “shame on me” territory when it comes to walking several miles a day at golf tournaments with non-waterproof shoes. Between dew, sprinklers, rain — there’s almost always something that’ll get your shoes wet, and that makes things far less pleasant when you’re typing in the media center later that evening, they crank the A/C and suddenly you can’t feel your feet. Note to self for Royal Portrush: Waterproof shoes. And extra socks.

3. Rory vs. the Media.

I know part (all?) of the job is to react to stuff that happens, but although I am fascinated by this latest chapter of Rory McIlroy vs. the media I do not condone the collective handwringing we’ve done as an industry around it. Is something up with Rory? Sure. But my instinct is that any over-the-top reactions we make in real time about his relationship with the media or whatever may age like a glass of milk. Let’s come back to this at some point when we know just a little bit more. In the meantime, here’s my favorite quote about athletes talking to media, from Andre Agassi’s biography, which I think about constantly:

“I can’t imagine all these people trying to be like Andre Agassi, since I don’t want to be Andre Agassi. Now and then I start to explain this in an interview, but it never comes out right. I try to be funny, and it falls flat or offends someone. I try to be profound, and I hear myself making no sense. So I stop, fall back on pat answers and platitudes, tell journalists what they seem to want to hear. It’s the best I can do. If I can’t understand my motivations and demons, how can I hope to explain them to journalists on deadline?

“To make matters worse, journalists write down exactly what I say, while I’m saying it, word for word, as if this represented the literal truth. I want to tell them, Hold it, don’t write that down, I’m only thinking out loud here. You’re asking about the subject I understand least — me. Let me edit myself, contradict myself. But there isn’t time. They need black-and-white answers, good and evil, simple plot lines in seven hundred words, and then they’re on to the next thing.“

(And that was pre-social media!)

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, out of the rain delay:

“The theme for how the day was going, [my coaches] were just like, Dude, just chill. If you were given four shots back going into the back nine [when you got here] on Monday, like, you would take that. They just said, Just let it come to you, be calm. Stop trying so hard.”

RYDER CUP WATCH

Movement!

Guess who’s gonna play on the U.S. Ryder Cup team?

That’s right, folks: It’s J.J. Spaun. He was a bubble boy (No. 13) and now he’s 10 spots better (No. 3). Sure, it’s mathematically possible for him to get bumped from the top six. But at this point it’d be a shock not to see him at Bethpage.

Other movement: Sam Burns (T7) improved from No. 15 to No. 14, while Cameron Young (T4) is trending way up and improved from No. 28 to No. 15. Jordan Spieth ticked up from No. 25 to No. 22. (Further down the list, just for kicks, Brooks Koepka jumped from No. 97 to No. 65 and Chris Gotterup from No. 86 to No. 71.)

On the European side Tyrrell Hatton (T4) jumped from No. 5 to No. 2. The bigger move came from Robert MacIntyre, who didn’t quite win the golf tournament but improved from No. 11 to No. 4 in the standings and went from “maybe” to “almost definitely” on our unofficial Make-o-Meter. Hovland seems extremely likely, too, although I was surprised he didn’t get a bigger bump than No. 13 to No. 10 with his solo third.

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. DeChambeau 4. Thomas 5. Morikawa 6. Henley 7. Griffin 8. McNealy 9. English 10. Novak 11. Harman 12. Cantlay 13. Spaun 14. Hoge 15. Burns

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. McIlroy 2. Hatton 3. Lowry 4. MacIntyre 5.Straka 6. R. Hojgaard 7. Fleetwood 8. Aberg 9. Rose 10. Hovland 11. Detry 12. Wallace 13. Norgaard 14. Neergaard-Petersen 15. Olesen

Full standings here.

ONE THING TO WATCH

Chambers Bay, 10 years later.

The amazing thing about this job is that every now and then a story idea that I’ve dreamt of actually comes true. And folks, that’s what happened when, the week before the U.S. Open, I revisited the site of Jordan Spieth’s rollercoaster 2015 victory at Chambers Bay with Michael Greller, the man who caddied him to the win. We walked the final few holes, we relived those moments and we dug into why that week was so meaningful to Greller, his family and his friends. I really think you’ll like the video we made from that day and I hope you watch it, pass it along, etc. — would love to do more stuff like this.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

That previous entry could have served as news from Seattle, too. (Again, you can skip the rest of this paragraph, go back up and watch that.) But something else is quietly happening: the Red Sox are coming to town, and they’ve won eight of 10. I take no joy in rooting against the Mariners, but if it’s a 1:10 first pitch on a Wednesday afternoon with the Sox in town? Don’t mind if I do…

Oh, and seriously — thanks to everybody at Oakmont who said what’s up. Loved chatting with you.

We’ll see you next week!

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post 10 things I’ll miss from the U.S. Open (and 3 I won’t) | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 U.S. Open sleepers, 1 angry qualifier, Rory speaks | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 U.S. Open sleepers, 1 angry qualifier, Rory speaks | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

Editor’s note: To get the Monday Finish in your email every Monday (plus a magazine subscription and a bundle of other screaming deals) sign up for InsideGOLF here.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Oakmont’s angriest competitor.

It seems to me very likely that nobody will come into U.S. Open week with a hotter fire lit directly under his golf shorts than Cameron Young.

I have noticed that certain corners of the golf internet — golf’s gambling corner, specifically — have a real love-hate relationship with Young. Love because he frequently seems like a good bet to win. Hate because he never does. Specifically Young has recorded seven runner-up finishes (and several more close calls) in the first 89 starts of his PGA Tour career without a win, which is stastically unlikely and impressive but real-life infuriating for him and, I suppose, for anybody investing in him as the winner.

Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open seemed like a golden opportunity for Young to break the curse; he started three shots behind as part of a jam-packed leaderboard, which meant (do not take this as insightful or even fact-based golf analysis) he had nothing to lose, could play aggressively and sneak up on the leaders. Young was struggling earlier this year but found something these last few weeks, and driving it well paid dividends at TPC Toronto. He made eagle on the first. Birdied 6 and 7. Birdied 14 and 15. And came to No. 18, a reachable par-5, just one shot behind Sam Burns‘ clubhouse lead.

He pummeled a 313-yard drive down the fairway, leaving 260 yards to the flag. Then he took 3-wood, fired it at his target, and … airmailed the green.

“I thought in the air I was going to have about a 12-footer to win the tournament, and it ended up somewhere I was going to struggle to make par, let alone make a 4,” Young said post-round, still in disbelief.

That “somewhere” he ended up was in thick rough on a downslope under a tree facing a delicate chip shot back towards the hole with water looming long. He walked away with a bogey 6 to finish T4.

So how’d he feel afterwards?

“This very moment? A lot of anger, a bit of frustration,” he said. “I couldn’t have hit two better shots on the last hole. I don’t hit 3-wood that far, and it’s blowing straight into the wind, and it decided to bounce all the way to the back woods.”

So what’s the point? The point is that I like this guy and I admit I’m fascinated by his dilemma. I like the way he’s committed to being himself, even though “himself” can be sort of shy and curmudgeonly. He sees the self-promotional social-media corners of sports as a scourge, so he avoids them altogether. He’s funny in a dry, dark sort of way. And he is, as far as pro golf goes, a tragic figure, a guy clearly talented enough to win who just hasn’t done so. Given his aversion to attention, an entire Tour of Cameron Youngs would probably not be good for ratings, but as a silent, brooding presence amidst an increasingly thirsty sports landscape, I appreciate his style and I hope he wins soon. Maybe it’ll be this week.

Oh, and there’s a whole heap of good news for Young fans (the Youngsters?), even if he wasn’t exactly grinning about it: He qualified for two majors this week. Last Monday he played his way through sectionals into the U.S. Open. And his finish at TPC Toronto was enough to give him the nod into the Open Championship.

Things are looking up already.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Ryan Fox won the RBC Canadian Open, making birdie on the fourth playoff hole to beat Sam Burns. It’s Fox’s second playoff PGA Tour win in four weeks; he chipped in for his maiden victory at Myrtle Beach in May.

Jennifer Kupcho won the LPGA Shoprite Classic, surprising even herself after a tough stretch of play; the win was her first top 10 of 2025.

“Struggled a lot at the beginning of the year,” she said. “Struggled mentally. Completely lost my swing back in L.A. pretty much, so really was just trying to figure that out. Going into Chevron I didn’t know where the ball was going. So to be able to say I’ve won now, like only really a few weeks later, is kind of insane.”

Joaquin Niemann won LIV’s event in Virginia, firing a closing 63 for his fourth win in the league’s first eight events. Phil Mickelson stirred the pot when he declared Niemann the No. 1 player in the world earlier this year; Graeme McDowell had a more measured take after this one:

“He’s just so good,” said McDowell, whose 66 yielded his first podium finish. “He’s an absolute top-10 player in the world. You could argue top five. Phenomenal, phenomenal player.”

Connor Syme won the KLM Open, his maiden DP World Tour title in his 182nd start, moving from 263 to 145 in the world in the process and marking the 150th DPWT for Scottish pros.

Sara Kouskova won the Tenerife Women’s Open, her second consecutive LET title; the Czech pro is now up to No. 2 on the circuit’s Order of Merit.

Austin Smotherman won the BMW Charity Pro-Am, firing a final-round 67 to win by three, move from 267 to 173 in the world and up to No. 4 on the KFT’s Order of Merit as he efforts a return to the PGA Tour.

And the tandem of Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke teamed up to win the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis., on the PGA Tour Champions, marking the first win for Bjorn on the circuit.

NOT-WINNERS

But still winners.

Sam Burns lost in the playoff to Fox but reinforced the idea that his ball-striking is catching up with his (PGA Tour-leading) putting; he now has five top-20s in his last six starts.

Ludvig Åberg hit the ball quite well en route to a T13 finish, which was an encouraging sign heading to a tournament that should theoretically suit him.

“I feel like the work we’ve done since the PGA has shown things that I like,” Aberg said, adding that he feels more “at ease” with his golf swing.

Shane Lowry, the 54-hole leader the last time the U.S. Open visited Oakmont, was third in the field in strokes gained approach.

And Nick Taylor was low Canadian.

On the LPGA, Ilhee Lee finished runner-up, her first top 10 since 2016 and her best finish in over a decade.

And on LIV, the final leaderboard suggested a few intriguing names flashing form heading to Oakmont, including Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson (T4, two shots back), Jon Rahm (T8) and Dustin Johnson (T10).

SHORT HITTERS

Five sleepers to watch at the U.S. Open.

Pre-cursor: I dunno, your guess is as good as mine. But I’m looking at the odds board and these guys at 100-1 or longer may not win but jump out as underrated and potential contenders.

1. Harris English, 100-1. Absolute dog on brutal setups. T2 and T12 in his last two majors. Three top-eight finishes at this tournament this decade. Played well at the Masters, the Truist, the PGA, the Memorial. A lot to like.

2. Taylor Pendrith 110-1. Drives it well basically every week and has had some strong weeks with his irons, too, making him a real ball-striking threat on a course that’ll demand it — if his putter cooperates he could do some real damage.

3. Cameron Young, 150-1. We’ve spilled enough ink on Mr. Young but I’ll add that he grew up playing at a prestigious Northeast country club; he’ll feel as comfy as one can in the Oakmont confines.

4. Max Greyserman, 250-1. He’s stuck in the “meh” zone; six of his last seven starts he’s finished between T22 and T33, which is impressive. This is kind of just a feeling that a terrific putter with plenty of power who grew up one state over could find his way into the top 20.

5a. Rasmus Hojgaard, 250-1 and 5b. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, 270-1. Two big-balling Danish Rasmuses on the cheap? Why not?! These guys have both shown potential as ball-striking studs, and Oakmont will reward exactly that. RNP is entering in dreadful form off three MCs in a row — but before that he’d logged three top-4s in five starts across the DP World Tour and PGA Tour. Rasmus Hojgaard has the potential to be one of the better hitters in the world but hasn’t consistently put four good rounds together, hence the discount price.

ONE BIG QUESTION

How will the dentist play?

And the high schooler, and the mini-tour pros, and the grinders that made it all the way from local qualifying through sectionals and into this U.S. Open field? Of the nearly 10,000 players who competed in the first 18-hole stage of U.S. Open qualifying, just 16 made it into this week’s U.S. Open field, several with terrific, inspiring stories. Can any make the cut?

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Rory McIlroy.

This isn’t a swing thought so much as an observation: it was unsettling to see McIlroy beat just four players (plus WDs) at the RBC Canadian Open.

I’m not saying I’m worried about Rory McIlroy. I’m not saying he’s suddenly bad at golf. I’m just saying that when you win the Masters and complete the career Grand Slam it would be nice if you could just sort of float along on cloud nine for a while rather than lose at golf to one guy named Cougar Collins and another fella who works for Goldman Sachs.

To McIlroy’s credit, he spoke to the media before the tournament, admitting some malaise, and he spoke after shooting 71-78, admitting some worry. Some of what he said:

“I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn’t.”

“There’s still learnings that you have to take from a day like today … Yeah, I’m going to have to do a lot of practice and a lot of work over the weekend at home and try to at least have a better idea of where my game is going into next week.”

“I went back to a 44-inch driver this week to try to get something that was a little more in control and could try to get something a bit more in play. But if I’m going to miss fairways, I’d rather have the ball speed and miss the fairway than not. I was saying to Harry going down the last this is the second time this year I’ve tried the new version, and it hasn’t quite worked out for me. So I’d say I’ll be testing quite a few drivers over the weekend.”

RYDER CUP WATCH

Sam Burns.

There was exactly one change in the top 15 spots in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings on Sunday: Sam Burns’ runner-up finish elevated him to 15th from 24th, while Daniel Berger slid to No. 16.

On the European side, two guys improved by one: Ludvig Aberg passed Justin Rose for seventh while Robert MacIntyre slid past Niklas Norgaard for 11th.

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. DeChambeau 4. Thomas 5. Morikawa 6. Henley 7. Griffin 8. McNealy 9. English 10. Novak 11. Harman 12. Cantlay 13. Spaun 14. Hoge 15. Burns

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. McIlroy 2. Lowry 3. Straka 4. R. Hojgaard 5. Hatton 6. Fleetwood 7. Aberg 8. Rose 9. Detry 10. Wallace 11. MacIntyre 12. Norgaard 13. Hovland 14. Olesen 15. Canter

Full standings here.

ONE THING TO WATCH

Mickelson’s chip.

You wouldn’t consider Phil Mickelson and Oakmont to be a natural fit, but if he’s getting into wizardry, maybe anything’s possible?

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I’m readying myself for a Monday night redeye to Pittsburgh for a week of U.S. Open coverage, a reminder of the wonders of Alaska Airlines, which consistently surprises me with its array of nonstop flight destinations. Unrelated: the passenger door of my car will not open from the outside, a problem I have not yet diagnosed, never mind solved, the sort of vaguely pesky thing you can tolerate for a while and the sort of to-do list item that looms especially large whenever I’m about to leave for a week. Also, the weather has been unbelievably perfect. Seattle rules.

If you’re at Oakmont, say hello.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post 5 U.S. Open sleepers, 1 angry qualifier, Rory speaks | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Nicklaus talks Scottie, Griffin talks sunglasses | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Nicklaus talks Scottie, Griffin talks sunglasses | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

Editor’s note: To get the Monday Finish in your email every Monday (plus a magazine subscription and a bundle of other screaming deals) sign up for InsideGOLF here.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

An all-time great on a current great.

Scottie Scheffler won his second consecutive Memorial Tournament on Sunday and while there are 1,000 stats, shots and stories that could sum up the ways in which that’s impressive, I was most struck by the way Jack Nicklaus, tournament host and 18-time major champ, talked about Scheffler post-round. Older generations of athletes can be dismissive of new waves, but Nicklaus seemed intent on proving the opposite. He raved about Scheffler’s game, and included the highest compliment of all: that it reminds him of his own.

The two sat beside each other for Scheffler’s winner’s press conference, which turned into a fascinating dynamic of Scheffler as humble winner (“It’s always special being able to come here and play Mr. Nicklaus’ tournament”) and Nicklaus as his hype man.

“Ben Griffin’s a nice player. Sepp Straka is a nice player. Nick Taylor is a nice player,” Nicklaus said. “[Scottie] knows that those guys are not in his league.”

At one point Nicklaus fielded a couple of Scheffler’s questions for him.

“I’ll answer for you,” Nicklaus said after Scheffler was asked about his killer instinct. “He doesn’t want to brag about what he does. But he has the ability to bring his level to whatever level it needs to be. That’s what good players do. And, you know, he’s not a good player. He’s a great player. I mean, look at the record that he has had the last few years. It’s unbelievable.”

Then Nicklaus said two particularly interesting things in two sentences:

“He reminds me so much of the way I like to play. I don’t think I played nearly as well as he played,” Nicklaus said. “He’s playing better than I played and more consistent. He’s just been playing fantastic, and I love watching him play. Whether it’s here or on the television or whatever it is, I love to watch. Anytime he’s playing, I want to watch.”

That’s a remarkable observation — not just that Scheffler plays like Nicklaus but that, according to Nicklaus, he’s playing at a higher level.

By the end, they were finishing each other’s sentences talking about another great: Tiger Woods, who has won this event more than anybody.

“One thing I think Tiger was really good at was bringing that level of intensity to each and every shot,” Scheffler said.

“On Thursday,” Nicklaus interjected.

“Hungry,” Scheffler added.

“Started the tournament with it,” Nicklaus agreed.

“That’s something I always tried to emulate,” Scheffler said.

And so on.

So what’s it like for Scheffler to sit there and hear this from Jack?

“It’s really hard to put into words what it’s like sitting up here with arguably the greatest player of all time and we’re sitting here talking about stuff that I did today on the golf course. It’s a pretty weird feeling,” he said.

An all-time great appreciating a current great — that’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Maja Stark won the U.S. Women’s Open thanks to a relentless performance at Erin Hills; the first title on U.S. soil for the 25-year-old Swede was the biggest in the game. She’s now up to No. 6 in the world.

Scottie Scheffler’s Memorial win was the 16th PGA Tour title of his career and came just three years, three months and 19 days after his first win — just sixteen days behind Tiger Woods’ time span and two months behind Nicklaus’.

Nicolai Von Dellingshausen won the Austrian Alpine Open for his first DP World Tour title, completing a journey back to the top of the tour after he’d lost his card two seasons ago.

Trace Crowe won by five at the Korn Ferry Tour’s UNC Health Championship; it’s the second KFT title for Crowe, a 28-year-old Auburn grad who’s from Raleigh, N.C. and won this week at Raleigh Country Club.

NOT-WINNERS

But still winners.

Ben Griffin finished solo second a week after winning the Charles Schwab, Sepp Straka finished solo third two starts after winning the Truist, and Nick Taylor finished solo fourth, his best result since winning the Sony Open in January.

Rickie Fowler played his way into this summer’s Open Championship thanks to a T7 finish at Memorial, taking full advantage of a sponsor exemption. Fellow sponsor invitee Brandt Snedeker shot a Sunday 65, the round of the day, to improve from T38 to T7 and jump 69 spots on the FedEx Cup list in the process. Whether that’s proof that sponsor exemptions work when properly deployed or are proof that sponsor exemptions are anti-meritocratic and far too powerful is a debate we’ll wage another day.

SHORT HITTERS

Five notes of note from the U.S. Women’s Open.

1. Maja Stark’s eyes popped when she was informed that the U.S. Women’s Open’s winner’s check is for $2.4 million. “I didn’t even know that,” she said. What will she do with the money?

“Maybe move out of my studio apartment. That could be one thing. I don’t know … I’m very happy with what I have in my life right now. Having the security for the future, I think I’ll just be very happy about that.”

2. Nelly Korda finished T2, two shots back, which she described as a “heartbreaker” of a result but was a victory of sorts, too; it’s her best result in a tournament that has beaten her up. Last year she was in the midst of a historically good season when a 10 on a par-3 led to a missed cut and “definitely put a dagger into my heart”, she said. This year, though?

“I just need to continue knocking on the door, and hopefully it will open.”

3. The top 10 finishers from this year’s USWO earn an automatic berth in next year’s event. Playing in the final group, Julia Lopez Ramirez needed par at 18 to remain inside that crucial number and made 8 instead. The other side of the coin? Several groups ahead, Hailee Cooper had gotten up and down from 46 yards to earn a top 10, a return trip to this tournament a “life-changing” check for $358,004. Our Sean Zak had more.

4. Kiara Romero was in last place after a third-round 84. Then the 19-year-old amateur, with nothing to lose, shot a final-round 67, the lowest final-round score for an amateur in tournament history.

5. An absolutely bizarre story involved Amari Avery, whose week started with a promising 1-under 71, turned for the worse after an attempted break-in at her rental home and got downright strange when her boyfriend accidentally grabbed the wrong travel bag, leaving with her clubs instead. Avery ended up borrowing the clubs of Gabi Ruffels for her Friday round just a couple hours after Ruffels had played them in the morning round; Avery made ’em work and shot 73 to cruise inside the cut line. Her own sticks in hand, she shot 76-76 on the weekend to finish T45 — but she’ll leave with a heck of a story.

ONE BIG QUESTION

What’s up with Ben Griffin’s glasses?

The universal experience of watching Ben Griffin on TV is that when he pops onto the screen, somebody in the room will inevitably ask, “so what’s up with his sunglasses?” On Saturday he offered an insightful (and comprehensive) answer:

“I see floaters. I have really bad vision,” Griffin said. “So about a year ago is when I started seeing floaters, went to an eye doctor, realized my retina was starting to kind of try to detach itself. I had retinal holes, so I had to go get basically laser surgery to fill in those holes. I had eight retinal holes in both eyes, so I was at risk of losing vision maybe within five or six months had I not gotten the treatment. So I still see the floaters, I had to get the surgery just to maintain my level. Because of that, when I wear sunglasses it’s a little bit darker out, so I don’t necessarily see the floaters as well. So if it’s really bright out and I’m not wearing the sunglasses, I look into the clouds or whatever and I see black stuff everywhere.”

Griffin added that he thinks there’s an additional benefit of the shades, which he identified as Uswing Mojings (the same type Phil Mickelson debuted several years ago): improved green-reading.

“They say the science behind ’em kind of helps with green-reading and I think it’s 100 percent true. I love the ability to see the contrast a little bit better, than when it’s really bright it’s kind of hard to see maybe grain changes from time to time. So seeing contours is definitely a little bit easier I think with the sunglasses.”

How does he feel about the glasses as his iconic look?

“I guess I’m getting to the point where I have more and more fans and people like it, so I’m not going to stop wearing ’em, that’s for sure.”

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Maja Stark.

How’d a player without a ton of confidence in her game win a testing U.S. Women’s Open?

“I don’t really think I ever felt that my confidence was great. I think that I just stopped trying to control everything, and I just kind of let everything happened the way it happened,” Stark said post-victory. How’d she do that? She stuck to her processes, listened to her comedian caddie and added one interesting chill-out move:

“During the practice days, I realized that, if I just kind of hovered the club above the ground a little bit before I hit, I released some tension in my body,” she said.

RYDER CUP WATCH

The next American tier…

The Memorial had nearly endless U.S. Ryder Cup subplots, particularly on the margins. Russell Henley (sixth in the ranking) had been scuffling and MC’d at the Masters and PGA but earned a ton of points with a T5. Mav McNealy finished T5 alongside him and moved up to No. 8 after a few weeks of slippage. Griffin made the biggest move, jumping to No. 7 thanks to his runner-up finish. The group finishing T7 was particularly compelling, as it included U.S. captain Keegan Bradley (now 16th in the ranking) and human rollercoaster Jordan Spieth (still just 25th) plus Tom Hoge (quietly 14th). Harris English and Patrick Cantlay finished T12; they’re Nos. 9 and 12 in the ranking, respectively.

On the European side, Sepp Straka moved up to No. 3, where he’s a lock for the team. There wasn’t a ton else to report, with a bunch of Euros playing well without shifting the balance of the team (Aberg T16, Fleetwood T16, MacIntyre T20, Lowry T23, Hovland T25).

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. DeChambeau 4. Thomas 5. Morikawa 6. Henley 7. Griffin 8. McNealy 9. English 10. Novak 11. Harman 12. Cantlay 13. Spaun 14. Hoge 15. Berger

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. McIlroy 2. Lowry 3. Straka 4. R. Hojgaard 5. Hatton 6. Fleetwood 7. Rose 8. Aberg 9. Detry 10. Wallace 11. Norgaard 12. MacIntyre 13. Hovland 14. Olesen 15. Canter

Full standings here.

ONE THING TO WATCH

Scott’s celebration.

There’s nobody doing things quite like Scottie Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, who seems to be some sort of winning savant, delivered a pre-round sermon on Sunday and finished out his day like this:

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I spent a few days at the Memorial and won’t comment on rumors that I averaged more than a milkshake per day from the clubhouse, other than to say that Oreo is a great start to any combo. Also, if you spend enough time standing on the driving range with a milkshake in hand you will get heckled by players and coaches alike as to what, exactly, your “job” is. I’m just hoping my bosses don’t start asking the same thing.

We’ll see you next week.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post Nicklaus talks Scottie, Griffin talks sunglasses | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post A triumphant return, a questionable decision, Paddy’s golf advice | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post A triumphant return, a questionable decision, Paddy’s golf advice | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

Editor’s note: To get the Monday Finish in your email every Monday (plus a magazine subscription and a bundle of other screaming deals) sign up for InsideGOLF here.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Perseverance.

This isn’t the first time Bud Cauley‘s been back here. But this time feels different.

Here is the Memorial Tournament, held this week as always at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Cauley played this event for the first time in 2012, at just 22 years old. He made the cut that year, as he did in his next three return trips. The only year he’s missed the cut, in fact, was 2018, and that preceded something awful: that Friday night Cauley was a passenger in a car that went off the road, hit a culvert, hit a tree and flipped.

In the months that followed, Cauley said he felt lucky to be alive. He’d broken six ribs but mostly was relieved his injuries weren’t more severe. He made a remarkably fast recovery, returning to tournament golf after just a few months away. In his first trip back to Dublin, at the 2019 Memorial, he found something special and finished T9.

Cauley played through the summer of 2020 without incident before, out of the blue, his right side began to hurt. Doctors thought the pain could be connected to plates he’d had put into his chest following the crash, but when they went to remove the plates, bone had grown on top of them. Still, after removing some scar tissue they stitched Cauley up and hoped he’d be fine. Instead? Two weeks later, he was standing at home when his wife noticed his shirt was wet.

“[I] take my shirt off, there’s just a hole in the side of my chest,” Cauley recalled earlier this year. That was the first of several setbacks. Surgeries that didn’t heal well. A seroma. C-diff from the antibiotics. “Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong,” he said.

It was more than three years by the time Cauley returned to professional golf in early 2024. He competed on a Tour medical extension and made about half his cuts, although through 15 starts he hadn’t cracked the top 20. He didn’t play Memorial; things had changed in the years that had passed and it had been elevated to one of the Tour’s Signature Events. But he flashed some serious game with a T5 at the Sanderson Farms, showing signs of things to come. And then? Something special.

Cauley played his best golf in years in the right place at the right time, finishing T6 at the 2025 Players Championship, in the process fulfilling the terms of his medical extension and earning complete PGA Tour status for the rest of 2025. It would have been easy to experience a letdown after that, but he didn’t: Cauley followed with a T4 at the Valspar and a T5 at the Valero Texas Open. Then came last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, where Cauley’s final-round 67 propelled him into third place — and in doing so qualified him for this week’s Memorial.

“It’s a place I’ve played at a bunch and had a couple of good finishes, so I’m excited to get up there and play,” Cauley said post-round, a class in understatement.

But he doesn’t have to say it — we’re happy to. This week is different because Cauley’s been through so much. Because he’s emerged out the other side. And because he played his way back here through the best run of golf of his professional career.

Going through hell and back — and then earning a triumphant return? That’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Just weeks after winning his first PGA Tour title, Ben Griffin earned his first individual PGA Tour title, reminding us once again that you haven’t done anything until you’ve done it. He talked about the stepping stones of his career, from retired pro (for several months in 2021) to, well, what’s next?

“Now I’m at the point where I feel like I’m starting to show that I am an elite golfer. I can compete against the best,” he said. That’s a special spot to be. Or so I would imagine.

Chisato Iwai won the Mexico Riviera Maya Open by six shots thanks to a final-round six-under 66 at Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen. The 22-year-old Japanese pro started one stroke back but birdied No. 1 to seize the lead and then birdied 3-4-5-6 to begin the rout. She’ll arrive at this week’s U.S. Women’s Open in strong form — as will her twin sister Akie, who finished T16 and has two runner-up finishes this season.

Kristoffer Reitan won the Soudal Open in Belgium in particularly improbable fashion; he began the day T28 but fired a final-round 62, got into a playoff when leader Ewen Ferguson bogeyed the last and then won with a birdie on the second playoff hole. It was the first DPWT victory for Reitan, who has been in the game long enough to nearly give up only to keep coming back. He won the finale on the Challenge Tour (now HotelPlanner Tour) in 2024 to earn his card for 2025; on Sunday he showed he’s taking full advantage.

If you like dramatic conclusions, you’ll love this walkoff eagle from Pontus Nyholm, the Swedish pro who holed a putt from off the green to claim his first Korn Ferry Tour title. He’s yet another Swede on the rise; there are currently 10 inside the top 300 in the world.

And Angel Cabrera won the Senior PGA Championship, his second major title in as many weeks. His very presence on the PGA Tour Champions has stirred debate, but there’s no doubting his golf game has returned — Cabrera now has three wins in his last six starts on the senior circuit.

NOT-WINNERS

But still winners.

Matti Schmid finished solo second at Colonial, somehow surviving six bogeys and a double on Sunday to contend for the win; he also played his way into the Memorial.

Scottie Scheffler finished just shy of a third title in as many starts, but his T4 with what seemed like his B-game was a plenty impressive result.

Tommy Fleetwood’s front-nine Sunday 31 got him in the mix but three back-nine bogeys doomed his chances; his T4 marked his 41st PGA Tour top 10, the most without a win by a significant margin. Fleetwood is currently playing good enough golf to belong in golf’s second tier (just below the major-winning Schefflers, McIlroys and DeChambeaus of the world); the entire golf world would love his win total to better reflect his game.

And Rickie Fowler played his way into the final group before fading to T16 thanks in part to a painful double bogey at No. 11; it was his third top-20 in his last eight starts as he’s settled into a rhythm of making a lot of cuts without seriously contending. Not a bad way to live — but we know Fowler expects more.

SHORT HITTERS

Five intriguing golf reads.

1. How do you capture the attention of the golf world in the U.S. Amateur Four-ball? By playing one-vs.-two — and winning. Our Alan Bastable was there for one of the more intriguing golf matches in recent history, ft. Marc Dull, who’s anything but. (HERE)

2. Lucas Glover added layers of intrigue to the driver-test debate that ignited during last week’s PGA Championship when he suggested plenty of pros sidestep the test by providing a backup driver, anyway. (HERE)

3. Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch laid out the latest set of challenges facing a potential PGA Tour – LIV reunification deal; you may or may not agree with Lynch’s views on LIV but his contextualization of player value and current contracts (Dustin Johnson’s up after this season, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau after next) is intriguing and central to any discussion around LIV’s future. (HERE)

4. The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn tracked a sometimes-hopeful, sometimes-despondent Max Homa at the PGA Championship. (HERE)

5. Any version of Michael Bamberger on Tiger Woods is worth your time. (HERE)

ONE BIG QUESTION

What was Matti Schmid thinking?

It’s been a while since I have heard golf commentators as collectively disdainful of a decision as I did watching Schmid play his bunker shot at the par-4 17th hole on Sunday. Schmid, already down one, hit his approach into a greenside bunker, where he drew a poor, partly plugged lie. Given the circumstances, many pros would have thrown caution to the wind and played at the hole anyway, hoping for a miraculous outcome in pursuit of victory. But Schmid played away from the hole, intentionally aiming for the rough to, as he said, limit his damage and try to make 5. CBS’s Dottie Pepper criticized the decision in real time, the broadcast booth echoed her sentiments and Golf Channel’s withering post-round analysis lined up with the view that this was a poor, bizarre decision. As for Schmid’s explanation?

“Well, it was blocked, and there was not a lot of sand, I would say, so I knew it would kind of come out hot.

“I mean, the only two places were right of the green or long left, and I think then I would have had to chip up and over. So right even though the grass was a bit more tricky, I think the up-and-down was a little more straightforward. At that point I just tried to make a 5, and thankfully I did it.”

In reality? I think they’re right, though it’s unlikely it would have made a difference. Schmid navigated a touchy up-and-down for bogey, which would have likely been his score regardless of bunker strategy. But when he chipped in for birdie at 18 he forced Griffin to hole a four-footer to avoid a playoff. With a margin that slim, everyone was left wondering what would have happened had he chased some magic one hole earlier, too.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Padraig Harrington.

We could probably just borrow from Paddy every single week for this section, but I thought this post-round analysis from the Senior PGA was self-deprecating, insightful and relatable, as Harrington can so often be.

“I think one of the worst things you can do on the golf course is judge and analyze,” Harrington said. “After, let’s say, 26 holes, I knew I’d missed two greens this week and hit a couple of par 5s. That was horrible information to have in your head. You shouldn’t be aware of how many fairways or how many greens because we don’t play fairways and greens, we play score.”

He continued:

“Every day should be just a score. You should never be analyzing a round as you’re playing it. There’s no doubt, the fact that I knew I’d hit lots of fairways and greens meant I was analyzing my round. In a perfect world you wouldn’t even know what score you’re shooting, you’d just be playing.”

RYDER CUP WATCH

The next American tier…

There’s something intriguing happening with the U.S. Ryder Cup team. It may be too early for this to matter, but it’s an intriguing trend nonetheless: there’s a group of journeymen vying for spots on what has for years been a recognizable, star-studded team. (Note: I’m hoping to write more in-depth on this in the coming days, but here’s a start…)

The top five on the U.S. side are blue-blood Ryder Cup vets — Scheffler, Schauffele, things of that nature. But the ever-underrated Russell Henley at No. 6 offers a fitting transition to the next tier, which is led by Harris English at No. 7 and includes Andrew Novak (No. 8), Maverick McNealy (No. 9), J.J. Spaun (No. 11) and Ben Griffin (No. 13). None of ’em are younger than 29. None of ’em have played a Ryder Cup. None of ’em are notably big hitters. And none of ’em (this is an admittedly dumb metric, but speaks to their wattage) have more than 40,000 Instagram followers. Entering the year I would have guessed that the bottom half of the U.S. Ryder Cup team would be a battle between big-time established stars (think Tony Finau, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark) and young, up-and-coming smashers (think Akshay Bhatia, Michael Thorbjornsen, Luke Clanton). Instead? We’ve got a completely different, fascinating mix. What a game.

TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. DeChambeau 4. Thomas 5. Morikawa 6. Henley 7. English 8. Novak 9. McNealy 10. Harman 11. Spaun 12. Cantlay 13. Griffin 14. Berger 15. Finau

TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS

1. McIlroy 2. Lowry 3. R. Højgaard 4. Hatton 5. Straka 6. Fleetwood 7. Rose 8. Åberg 9. Wallace 10. Detry 11. Norgaard 12. MacIntyre 13. Olesen 14. Hovland 15. Canter

Full standings here.

ONE THING TO WATCH

I’m admittedly transfixed by the ProV1-box-as-lunchbox move from Rickie Fowler‘s caddie here. Can honestly say it’s never something I’ve considered. This 10-second clip is art.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I have acquired something dangerous: A new swing thought. In its first 18-hole deployment, which came last Friday, it mostly didn’t work. But I’m trying to channel my inner Ludvig and commit to the process on the off-chance that this actually is the one.

In the meantime, it’s off to Memorial for a few days. See you there, and then back here.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post A triumphant return, a questionable decision, Paddy’s golf advice | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Scottie’s hilarious swing fix, Rory’s silence, surprise PGA winners | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Scottie’s hilarious swing fix, Rory’s silence, surprise PGA winners | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

Editor’s note: To get the Monday Finish in your email every Monday (plus a magazine subscription and a bundle of other screaming deals) sign up for InsideGOLF here.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

PGA’s surprise winners.

Scottie Scheffler‘s PGA Championship victory was impressive. It was dominant. And it was historic. But it wasn’t shocking. Neither was Bryson DeChambeau finishing second — he’s making a habit of contending in majors. Two of the top three favorites ended as the two top finishers. No surprise there.

But there were some big-time surprises behind them.

Consider Harris English, who began Sunday T36 and then shot 65, low round of the day by two, to post the clubhouse lead; by day’s end he was T2, which meant his final round was worth more than a million bucks. (My only question: Had Scheffler gotten DQ’d, arrested or played the Green Mile in a hundred over par, would English have been able to return for the playoff? Or was he long gone from property?)

Davis Riley was lost. Earlier this year he was shooting 80, WD’ing, missing cuts — but in his last several starts he says he’s embraced his swing DNA and found his way back. His Sunday required a bounce-back, too: He went bogey-triple on 6 and 7 before playing three under par the rest of the way to post an improbable, impressive T2. Now he’s in this year’s U.S. Open and next year’s Masters and sits just outside the top 50 in the world.

Jon Rahm had a nightmare finish, falling from a share of the lead to seven shots off the pace, but he was Scheffler’s biggest Sunday threat and still finished T8. After all the criticism Rahm took for his 2024 major championship record, he’s quietly finished top-15 in each of his last three majors — and the next two set up quite well for him.

Things got really wild elsewhere in the top 10, though:

This was the first made cut at a major for Ben Griffin and Joe Highsmith, who finished T8.

It was the first top 50 at a major for Ryan Gerard, who finished T8 alongside them.

It was somehow the first top 30 at a major for J.T. Poston, who slid in at T5.

And despite his four PGA Tour wins, this was the first top 20 at a major for Jhonny Vegas, who held the 36-hole lead and hung in for a T5.

It was also the first top 10 for Si Woo Kim (T8), for Taylor Pendrith (T5) and somehow for Joaquin Niemann (T8), too. Something to build on.

Matt Fitzpatrick has been open about his struggles — a top-10 here (he finished T8) was a much-needed confidence boost.

When Matt Wallace finished third at the PGA in 2019, it was easy to project him as the sort of guy who’d contend at every major. But it hasn’t been that easy. This week’s T17 was his best major finish since that year.

And then there were the Ryder Cup captains. Keegan Bradley (T8) is this year’s U.S. captain, but Scheffler was the only guy from the 2023 Ryder Cup team who beat him this week.

And European captain Luke Donald faded after a hot start to finish T60, but this was his first made cut on the PGA Tour in a full year.

So, big win for Scheffler. But he wasn’t the only one leaving Quail Hollow happy. Celebrating the little wins — that’s golf stuff I like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Championship by five shots, reminding the golf world of its current pecking order. He’s No. 1 and everybody else — even the recent-career-grand-slam-winning Rory McIlroy — is fighting for second. Magnificent win, magnificent finish, magnificent command of the golf ball throughout the finishing stretch on both Saturday and Sunday, when Scheffler dominated the easy holes (Nos. 14 and 15) and the brutish Green Mile (16, 17 and 18) en route to a comfy final margin. One quote from the PGA Tour chaplain Brad Payne, Scheffler’s good friend and frequent pickleball partner, from this Scottie story I wrote:

“I’m a good athlete,” Payne says, “but he’s on a different level. Usually we don’t lose, but if it gets close, he starts pushing me farther to the sideline. He goes from taking up 50 percent of the court to 65 to about 90 percent. Then, when we get up by about six points, he’ll let me back in.”

Angel Cabrera won the Regions Tradition, the first senior major of the year. The former Masters champ returned to the PGA Tour Champions last season after serving more than two years in prison in Brazil and Argentina for charges related to domestic violence. It’s clear his golf game came right back; he’s now won two of six starts this season.

S.H. Kim won the Korn Ferry Tour’s AdventHealth Championship, his first win in an event under the PGA Tour umbrella; the South Korean pro has conditional PGA Tour status this year but is looking for a full-time return to the big show.

NOT-WINNERS

The list of cut-missing pros was particularly juicy this week, including last week’s winner (Sepp Straka, +2), the Grand Slam hunter (Jordan Spieth, +2), one of golf’s most consistent contenders (Shane Lowry, +2), the Masters contender and Next Big Thing (Ludvig Aberg, +3), one of the hottest players in the world (Justin Thomas, +3), one of its most consistent ball-strikers (Hideki Matsuyama, +3), some of LIV’s biggest names (Patrick Reed, +4, Cameron Smith, +7, Brooks Koepka, +9, Dustin Johnson, +12) and several other U.S. Ryder Cup contenders (Patrick Cantlay, +6, Will Zalatoris, +6, Russell Henley, +10). Grisly!

SHORT HITTERS

Five quotes from guys who didn’t win the PGA.

1. Bryson DeChambeau (T2) wants a better golf ball:

“What I really think needs to happen, being pretty transparent here, is just get a golf ball that flies a little straighter,” he said.

Feel free to eye-roll at that one — Oh, you want a straighter golf ball? Same, Bryson! — but DeChambeau’s outside-the-box thinking has unlocked efficiencies through the bag and it’s reasonable to think he could push some engineering team to break new ground with the ball, too, which he explained presents extra challenges at his speed and trajectory.

“Everybody talks about how straight the golf ball flies. Well, upwards of 190 [mph ball speed] like Rory and myself, it’s actually quite difficult to control the golf ball,” he said. “The ball sidespins quite a bit and it gets hit by the wind quite a bit because our golf balls are just in the air longer. So I’m looking at ways of how to rectify that so that my wedges can be even tighter so it can fly straighter.”

2. Jon Rahm enjoyed the chase:

“God, it’s been a while since I had that much fun on a golf course, 15 holes,” he said. He added this, from Sir Charles:

“I always like to go back a little bit on something that Charles Barkley likes to remind basketball players all the time. Like, I play golf for a living. It’s incredible. Am I embarrassed a little bit about how I finished today? Yeah. But I just need to get over it, get over myself. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not like I’m a doctor or a first responder, where somebody if they have a bad day, truly bad things happen.

“I’ll get over it. I’ll move on. Again, there’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week. I’m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the U.S. Open.

“Sorry for the long answers. I’m trying to process things right now.”

(We like long answers, Jon.)

3. J.T. Poston relished his first time in major contention:

“It’s definitely a momentum boost,” he said. “I think the big thing is it was a learning curve for me this week. You know, it’s the first time I’ve really been in this position in majors and I feel like I held my ground pretty well overall. I think I’ve proven to myself that I can win one of these things, which is very exciting. I feel good about where my game is at. Played well on a hard golf course. That definitely can carry over into the weeks to come and the rest of the season.”

4. Xander Schauffele, defending champion, whose 12-major top-20 streak finally ended (he finished T28):

“After getting kind of a decent round going, the goal was to try to backdoor a top 10. I’m still in need of points. So that was my motivation today,” he said, then added this: “If we had four more days stacked up right now, I feel like I’d have a pretty good chance. Just kind of was in better form, and then I had a few things go awry in my swing and made my approach pretty bad. Just kind of lost control of the golf ball there midweek, unfortunately.

“Yeah, just didn’t have enough to score well, but I feel like I’m playing a lot better than what I’m doing. So just got to hang tough.”

5. Rory McIlroy, who didn’t speak:

On the one hand, this is the collision of two stories you have my permission not to care about at all — 1. McIlroy’s driver failing a test that drivers fail all the time and 2. McIlroy declining to answer questions after any round, continuing the ongoing conversation around whether pros should be required to do post-round media.

But forget whether it’s right or wrong for McIlroy to skip the press. It’s kind of strange, no? In his pre-tournament availability he made it sound like everything the rest of the way will be gravy, and it’s not like four middling rounds take away from last month’s career-capping accomplishment. There’s also plenty to talk about; he could have reflected further on returning to major championship competition, broken down his tournament play and added context that would shut down any manufactured firestorm around this driver-testing story. Mostly fans just like to hear from McIlroy, its latest, greatest champion. A week’s-end wrap after his Sunday round would have solved all of the above, and I’m curious why he skipped out on that. But the irony of him not talking is that we don’t get to satisfy that curiosity; nobody got a chance to ask.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

Scottie Scheffler’s complex tip.

Scheffler has said plenty of times that the things he works the most on are pretty basic setup adjustments. It was fitting, then, that this was the story of the mid-round tweak that saved his Sunday, which came from caddie Ted Scott:

“On 7, 8, 9, I felt like I hit the shots really solid and it was coming out left,” he said. “And I told Teddy walking off 9 tee, I was like, ‘That one felt pretty good. I don’t know why that was left again.’

“He was like, ‘Well, maybe you’re aimed over there. Just try and hit a little further right.’

“I was like, okay. So I got on 10, and felt like I squared up my shoulders and hit it right up the middle.”

Hitting it left? Make sure you’re not aimed left! Sometimes simple is best.

RYDER CUP WATCH

Major points…

It’s not yet June and already if I was Keegan Bradley I would be tempted to flip out at every reporter that asked about a potential role as playing captain at this fall’s Ryder Cup. With that said, it’s an increasingly intriguing possibility. Bradley’s T8 — which included a missed shortie on No. 18 that would have left him T5, and points-rich — was the latest in a string of solid finishes, and he’s now up to No. 17 on the U.S. points list, though in reality he’s playing better than that.

The U.S. team’s biggest movers came from off the radar, headlined by Harris English (who jumped five spots to No. 7), Bradley, Ben Griffin (up five spots to No. 18) and then Poston and Riley, who have now cracked the top 25. The top five spots on the team seem secure, but even Russell Henley‘s recent slide has him in limbo and we’re in prove-it territory as we cruise towards summertime.

On Team Europe, Matt Wallace and Viktor Hovland each posted solid finishes and picked up a few points. Matt Fitzpatrick picked up his first meaningful points, too, as did Jon Rahm, whose status went from “definitely on the team” to “definitely, definitely on the team.” Sergio Garcia made the cut but finished near the bottom of the leaderboard; he admitted after the round that he doesn’t currently deserve a spot on the squad.

Here are the current standings:

TEAM USA

1. Scottie Scheffler, 21490 pts

2. Xander Schauffele, 11747

3. Bryson DeChambeau, 10318

4. Justin Thomas, 9343

5. Collin Morikawa, 8917

6. Russell Henley, 7878

–

7. Harris English, 6282

8. Maverick McNealy, 5921

9. Andrew Novak, 5858

10. Brian Harman, 5808

11. J.J. Spaun, 5162

12. Patrick Cantlay, 5156

TEAM EUROPE

1. Rory McIlroy, 2982 pts

2. Shane Lowry, 1124

3. Rasmus Højgaard, 1034

4. Tyrrell Hatton, 1004

5. Sepp Straka, 943

6. Justin Rose, 870

–

7. Tommy Fleetwood, 845

8. Ludvig Åberg, 819

9. Thomas Detry, 650

10. Matt Wallace, 638

11. Niklas Norgaard, 608

12. Viktor Hovland, 541

ONE THING TO WATCH

Tiger Woods talking Scheffler, specifically their similarities, is really cool stuff.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

We have a little garden box outside our front door and apparently last year at some point planted some snap peas that never grew. This year, though? Suddenly there’s one massive vine that has sprung out of the earth and is winding its way towards the sky, Jack-and-the-Beanstalk style. Incredibly excited to harvest about a half-dozen snappers in the next week or so. What a thrill!

Also, thanks to those of you who chimed in with Pacific Northwest hidden-gem (or hidden disaster) golf options — still accepting suggestions at the email below.

We’ll see you next week.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post Scottie’s hilarious swing fix, Rory’s silence, surprise PGA winners | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Major champ’s yip fix, 1 caddie’s unlikely payday | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The post Major champ’s yip fix, 1 caddie’s unlikely payday | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

Editor’s note: To get the Monday Finish in your email every Monday (plus a magazine subscription and a bundle of other screaming deals) sign up for InsideGOLF here.

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Going right to left.

When is a five-foot birdie putt something much, much more? When you add some important context.

Below you’ll find a five-footer posted by golf writer Rob Hernandez. It’s a birdie putt. In a 5-for-1 playoff. For this Arizona site’s final qualifying spot. For the biggest event on the LPGA schedule, the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills next month.

But here’s the thing: that’s a 5-time major champ holing that left-handed putt. And she’s a right-handed golfer. With the yips.

Rewind nearly two decades and you’ll recall that Yani Tseng was a prodigy. Between 2008 and 2011, she won five majors — all before she’d turned 23. She spent two years as World No. 1. Expectations went through the roof. But then, simply put, golf got hard. There was talk of a “slump” as early as 2012, and it’s safe to say a lot has happened in the 13-plus seasons since that last major. Tseng’s most recent battle is with the yips, which is why in her latest comeback she has flipped sides to become a left-handed putter. She freely admitted as much in an interview with Golfweek‘s Beth Ann Nichols last month. “To be honest, I had the yips. I just couldn’t make the short putts,” she said.

So making a short putt to advance to the biggest tournament in women’s golf is very cool. It’s a testament to her resilience. Because I can only imagine how easy the game felt when she was racking up majors in her early 20s. And I can only imagine how hard the game must have felt in the years since, and how jarring it must be for a pro who has been to the mountaintop to admit that hey, I can’t do this. But now she is doing it, in a new way, and Tseng will play the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time since 2016 — the year her game began to disappear.

Now, if you really want to dream: Tseng is missing just one major in her quest for the career Grand Slam: this one, the U.S. Women’s Open (ignoring, for our purposes, the new-school Evian). She’s 36 — the same age as Rory McIlroy, who completed his own grand slam by winning the Masters last month after a drought of more than a decade. She was watching; she posted a photo of Rory afterward, and wrote this, roughly translated:

“Rory has waited 11 years. He tells us with his actions that we should never give up our dreams. As long as you persevere, spring will eventually come.”

Tseng probably won’t win the U.S. Women’s Open. But she has gone to the game’s highest peaks and gone deepest trenches — which means that it’s cool to see her keep going.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Sepp Straka won the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club, the biggest title of his life. With the win came a check for $3.6 million as well as a one-of-one cricket-bat trophy; the tournament is expected to return to Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., next season.

Jeeno Thitikul won for the first time on the LPGA Tour this season, although she’d already logged four top-fives; her four-shot victory at the Mizuho Americas Open inched her that much closer to World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

“I’m just trying to do my part. I’m just trying to improve myself every day,” Thitikul said, getting sentimental. “Winning or not, I’m just — I think the real win that I have, it’s all the people around me.”

Ryan Fox won the PGA Tour’s additional event, the Myrtle Beach Classic, with a chip-in on the first playoff hole. It doubled as a present for his wife.

“On Friday I said, ‘What can I get you for Mother’s Day?’ She goes, ‘Well, a trophy would be nice.’ I guess I lived up to my end of the bargain there.”

Martin Couvra, a 22-year-old French DP World Tour rookie, won for the first time at the Turkish Airlines Open thanks to a final-round 64. He started the day four shots back but surged past the rest of the field with a flurry of front-nine birdies.

Lucas Herbert won the International Series event in Japan, firing a final-round 64 to finish five shots clear of the field. Per DataGolf, Herbert — who plays mostly on LIV — will be the best player in the world not invited to this week’s PGA Championship; DG has Herbert at No. 31 in its ranking, although he’s just No. 167 in the OWGR.

And Sophia Popov won the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic on the Epson Tour, a meaningful Mother’s Day victory with her father on the bag and in front of her two-year-old daughter Maya. It was her first win since the 2020 AIG Women’s Open.

NOT-WINNERS

But not losers, either.

Shane Lowry has been playing ridiculously consistent high-level golf. Since the BMW Championship in August of last year he’s played 18 individual events (including a handful on the DP World Tour) and logged 15 top-20s — although I’m not sure he would have been comforted by that as he walked off 18 after a brilliant approach followed by a deflating three-putt that left him T2. He’s up to a career-best No. 10 in the OWGR.

Justin Thomas finished T2 alongside Lowry, his third top-two finish in four starts. Patrick Cantlay’s T4 finish was his highest finish since T3 at last year’s U.S. Open. Tommy Fleetwood’s T4 was his best result since a T3 at last year’s Masters. Cameron Young’s T7 was his best result since last summer. And Rory McIlroy’s ho-hum T7 was just the latest in a string of high finishes for the World No. 2.

CADDIE CORNER

Another one-off looper win.

Beware the short-term caddie… Sepp Straka’s fill-in Drew Mathers was a last-minute add to the team when Straka’s usual guy Duane Bock went out with an injury last week. It’s not just that Mathers, a mini-tour pro who plays with Straka at home in Birmingham, Ala., had never caddied on the PGA Tour. He’d barely even seen a PGA Tour event; he could remember just one day of tournament golf he’d been to in person. Whatever his winner’s fee (it could presumably be split with Bock), it’ll help with Q-School.

Bock was there all week serving as a consultant of sorts, perhaps a caddie to the caddie, which isn’t something I’ve heard often before. Nor do I remember seeing an injured caddie behind the 18th green giving his boss a hug, but there was Bock.

Thomas’ boss Matt Minister was back after a couple weeks away with injury; Thomas high finish served as a reminder that it wasn’t just caddie Joe Greiner that led him to the top of the leaderboard at the RBC Heritage.

“I missed him every step of the way at Augusta and at Hilton Head,” Thomas said of Minister. “It would have been really cool to obviously win with the first week with him back. But I know our time is coming. We’ve just got to keep our head down and keep doing what we’re doing and just stay patient.”

And Collin Morikawa played his first tournament with Greiner on the bag full-time; they were in contention until late on Saturday and finished T17.

SHORT HITTERS

5 takes from around the golf world.

1. Signature Events should not come the week after a major.

There was a Siggy the week after the Masters and there will be another the week after the U.S. Open. Rory McIlroy prefers the structure around the PGA, with the Signature Truist serving as a lead-in event.

“Before, I’m all for. After, I’m not a huge fan of it, but there’s only so many weeks in the year.

“I really like playing the week before if it makes sense. I think, again, this week was a great indication of where my game is and what I need to think about and what I need to work on going into next week. But the weeks after majors are tough.”

Thomas just won the week after a major, but even he admitted there’s a post-major letdown.

“To be perfectly honest, I think playing the week after the U.S. Open at Oakmont is going to really suck. Oakmont is hard, and it’s going to take a lot out of us,” he said. “That’s really different than playing at a place where you’re shooting 15-, 20-under, but it is what it is. We’ll all be more than happy to tee it up, and there will be a winner at the end of the week.”

2. The PGA Tour needs to visit the Northeast more often.

It still seems absurd that Boston, New York and Philadelphia (and, for that matter, Chicago) have a combined zero permanent PGA Tour stops. (We’re not quite counting the Travelers as New York or Boston here.) But as McIlroy said, “trying to figure out the dates and the best times to play — it’s hard.” Short seasons in the Northeast means that members are reluctant to give up their courses. But as a New England native who lives in the outrageously overlooked Pacific Northwest, c’mon, fellas. Let’s keep thinking outside the box…

3. The golfer with the most pressure on him this week is Jon Rahm.

Since his LIV departure, Jon Rahm has proven his level is still extremely high but hasn’t shown it in the majors. (He’s been fine, with top-15s in each of his last two. Just not not up to his level.) And with other top dogs winning recent big events — Scottie Scheffler won everything last year, McIlroy just won the Masters, Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open, Xander Schauffele picked off two majors — the ball is in Rahm’s court.

4. …unless Jordan Spieth gets into contention.

We’re in a nice place with Jordan Spieth where he arrives at Quail Hollow with what is technically another chance to win the career Grand Slam but nobody really expects it to happen. It’s pure upside. Of course, Spieth may not see it that way — especially if he plays his way into the mix…

5. There aren’t enough majors for all the guys who need one.

Think of the talented pros who “need” a major win to prove their mettle in this era of professional golf but don’t yet have one. Tommy Fleetwood. Patrick Cantlay. Ludvig Åberg. Tyrrell Hatton. Joaquin Niemann. Sungjae Im. Viktor Hovland. Tony Finau. Etc. When you figure that the guys who do have one or more already — the Schefflers, McIlroys, DeChambeaus, Schauffeles, Rahms, Thomases and Morikawas of the world — are likely to keep hoovering up more, a whole bunch of guys are inevitably left out in the cold. I guess that’s why majors are so special. Let’s enjoy this one.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

An Irishman in the weather?

I got a kick out of Lowry being asked whether he can handle wind and rain better than most. His response?

“No. Everyone says that to me every day when it rains. I live in South Florida, and I plan to be there now,” he said. Though in fairness, he did acknowledge he can be something of a mudder.

“I think I’m able to handle them probably better than a few people, but I don’t particularly like or enjoy going out and playing in these conditions,” he added. “But yeah, I handle them well.”

RYDER CUP WATCH

Sepp!

Among those there to congratulate Straka behind the 18th green? McIlroy, his Ryder Cup teammate. His message to Straka: “He told me at least this win counts for Ryder Cup points,” Straka said later, referencing his American Express victory earlier this season, which didn’t earn him any points. “I’m sure this will probably help me out with the rankings a lot.”

Straka was right: He immediately leapt from No. 20 to No. 5. Based on his form, you can expect to see him at Bethpage — as well as the man who finished T2, Lowry, who jumped to No. 2 in the standings.

On the U.S. side, Thomas’ T2 finish served as a reminder that he’s among a handful of locks for Bethpage, and Cantlay’s T4 was useful for his cause, too. But there’s plenty of work to be done. Here are the current top 12 on each side:

TEAM USA

1. Scottie Scheffler, 16361 pts

2. Xander Schauffele, 11573

3. Justin Thomas, 9343

4. Collin Morikawa, 8856

5. Bryson DeChambeau, 8190

6. Russell Henley, 7878

–

7. Andrew Novak, 5858

8. Maverick McNealy, 5788

9. Brian Harman, 5768

10. Patrick Cantlay, 5156

11. J.J. Spaun, 5049

12. Harris English, 4154

TEAM EUROPE

1. Rory McIlroy, 2956 pts

2. Shane Lowry, 1124

3. Rasmus Højgaard, 1023

4. Tyrrell Hatton, 991

5. Sepp Straka, 943

6. Justin Rose, 870

–

7. Ludvig Åberg, 819

8. Tommy Fleetwood, 814

9. Thomas Detry, 650

10. Niklas Norgaard, 608

11. Matt Wallace, 572

12. Laurie Canter, 521

ONE THING TO WATCH

Chris Wood’s last top-10 finish was at the 2018 Dutch Open. His Sunday 64 left him T7 in Turkey — and with a mixture of relief and determination as he looks ahead.

NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

I’m on the lookout for hidden-gem golf in the Pacific Northwest. Your quirkiest, roughest, most charming, most scenic, least scenic — all of it. If that inspires anything in your knowledge or imagination, hit me up at the email address below. And happy PGA Championship.

We’ll see you next week!

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.

The post Major champ’s yip fix, 1 caddie’s unlikely payday | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.