Weekend Wrap - Gold And Silver Edition

Your humble blogger has rarely enjoyed a golf tournament as much as I did this weekend's comp on that museum piece in the Kingdom of Fife.  Not only were the memories of our own recent round still fresh, but the yardage book came out to anticipate starting lines off those back nine tees.... 

Lydia In Full - Admittedly, it hasn't been quite the same for me since she lost the glasses, but she's had quite a good few weeks.  From Shack:

As the wind howled and rain ensured a full Scottish experience, multiple current and former World No. 1’s rose atop the 2024 AIG Women’s Open leaderboard. But only one player in the last 15

groups broke 70 during the ghastly weather: Lydia Ko. Her steadiness outlasted dynamic efforts from the pursuing greats and made the New Zealander a fitting winner of a St Andrews major.

Early in the week the new LPGA Hall of Famer, recent Gold Medalist and former low amateur at the Old Course mirrored the sentiments of past winners at the world’s most important golf course: Ko admitted early in the week to being a gradual admirer of links golf.

Just days later after surviving the worst imaginable summertime links weather, Ko’s two-stroke victory may end up defining the 27-year-old’s brilliant career. And while current No. 1 Nelly Korda threw away her second major win in 2024 after two head-scratching double bogeys over four days of otherwise brilliant play, Ko’s absurd steadiness ultimately prevailed.

More on Korda for sure....

The commentators kept insisting it was the worst conditions ever, but far too dry for that to be remotely true.  But they were proper links conditions, ones we can only pray will recur when the men next visit.  

But while the names aren't all top-of-mind for casual golf viewers, but it was cream doing that which cream does:

As some of the surprised contenders faded away, a four-way tie surfaced with Ko on the Road hole, Korda a group behind and the final pairing of Vu and Shin at the 15th. All have ranked first in the world, including young Yin, who’d overcome the worst side of the first-round tee time draw to hang around long enough to finish in a four-way tie for second.

And spread over the final three games, so Lydia had to wait and watch to see if that 18th-hole birdie would suffice.

Shall we check in with the Tour Confidential gang?  How good was this event?  So good that the TC panel was forced to ignore the men (not to mention that Tiger guy) were forced to lede with it:

Lydia Ko won the AIG Women’s Open for her first major title in eight years. It was her first start since getting her final Hall of Fame qualifying point after winning the gold medal in Paris two weeks ago. She went toe-to-toe with World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who was looking for her second major of the season and seventh win overall and World No. 2 Lilia Vu in the final round. Where does this finish rank among the best major finishes this season (men or women)?

Jessica Marksbury: There’s always some recency-bias with questions like this, but that was

definitely one of the most — if not the most — exciting finishes of the year. The last few holes were incredible. The cast of characters, all of whom were seeking a third major title: Nelly, World No. 1 seeking her seventh win of the season and suffering a late back-nine disaster; Lydia, newly-minted future Hall of Famer coming off a gold medal at the Paris Olympics; Jiyai Shin, the resurgent veteran seeking a third Open; and World No. 2 Lilia Vu, all in the mix with four holes left to play. Then throw in the Old Course, wind and rain, and Lydia’s clutch birdie on 18, and I mean, WOW! What a way to cap the major season.

Josh Sens: We’ve been spoiled with some electric finishes in recent months. This one was riveting enough to finish second in my book, behind the U.S. Open but ahead of the PGA. The fact that it starred the most likable player in professional golf made it all the better. Who can resist rooting for Lydia Ko?

Alan Bastable: Yeah, Ko’s vibes are good for the game. She’s a great and worthy champion. And, yes, this was a final round fans could feast on. But I was most intrigued by Korda’s Sunday. As Nelly proved earlier in the season, there are weeks when she’s untouchable. But there also are, well…other weeks. Like her three straight missed cuts after her win at the Mizuho in July. Or her unremarkable showings at the Evian and the Olympics. And then this week in St. Andrews. The title was hers to seize, but then came a sloppy double on 14 and a bogey on 17 when she left her par try the one place she couldn’t afford to: short of the hole. Korda admitted at the Olympics, “I think recently what’s been happening to me is I make a mistake and then I make another mistake on top of it.” That’s ultimately what cost her this Women’s Open title. I’m very intrigued to see which version of Korda shows up at the Solheim Cup.

Bastable jumped the gun on Nelly, who seems to be auditioning to be named the Greg Norman of women's golf.  

Let me just interject a word of praise, or at least respect, for the much-maligned finishing hole on the Old Course.  It looks sufficiently short to be drivable and it appears to have no defenses, but good luck if you get to that tee box needing a three.... There's no metric that defines bewildering greens, but it is the most maddening green on the planet.  

She was ahead of the other contenders when she realized where she stood:

“Just before my second shot on 18, I realized that I was tied for the lead, and I knew I kind of felt like the girls coming in would also birdie the 18th,” Ko said. “So I wanted to make sure that I birdied and just give myself a chance at it, no matter if I go in a playoff or end up not winning.”

She made the birdie, respectfully acknowledged the crowd, then camped out at the putting green to stay loose for a playoff to get visual confirmation on a historic win. Ko’s biggest major victory to date came after Vu missed a downhill birdie putt, freeing up the low-key champion to celebrate with family and friends as the latest legend to conquer the Old Course.

Of course, that shot is iconic, the only thing missing is the crowd filling in behind her, because there were two more groups yet to play in:

One always feels that those yet to play will birdie No. 18, and yet not so many of them actually do....Of course, there was that Rocca guy, but no time for that right now.

Folks are calling this Lydia's Golden Summer and all, and no doubt she's one of the most popular girls out there.  But while we might be happy for her about that Olympic Golf Medal, that event is not a serious competition because of the dreadfully weak field.  This one, however, has no such limiting factors, so it does deserver to be considered, well, major.

The silver reference in the header refers to the trophy (the subtlety being that in this case the silver is far more impressive than that golf medal):

AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

 This isn't your traditional grand trophy that you might expect of a Major but it remains a thing of

beauty for the champion. This trophy was first awarded to Lorena Ochoa in 2007, when it was the Ricoh Women’s British Open, and in 2023 Lilia Vu would get her hands on a second Major.

The trophy is a fluted design with floral pattern and it was created by Edward Asprey who has had a hand in many of the game's best-known bits of silverware, including the iconic falcon trophy awarded to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner.

If they had asked me, I'd have suggested a Championship Belt....

But what to make of our Nelly?  It's frankly hard to watch at times:

On Sunday, Korda made birdies at 5, 7, 9 and 10 to vault past everyone and take a two-shot lead,

with fellow Americans Lydia Ko and Lilia Vu trailing behind and on the verge of falling out of contention.

Then at the par-5 14th hole, disaster struck for Korda. The hole should have been a great opportunity to add a fifth birdie to her scorecard and set her up for a waltz to the winner’s circle. A layup attempt on her second shot ended up in the long grass, where she caught a flyer to send her third shot over the green. Then Korda came up short with her chip, which rolled back off the green.

With her fifth shot, she successfully chipped to four feet, leaving her a great look at bogey which would have left her in the lead by one. But Korda’s short bogey try missed, giving her a devastating double-bogey to fall into a tie for the lead.

“I had 58-degree and it just shot on me. The wedge shot that I had over the green was kind of sitting a little bit in a hole with some of the — whatever you call it, the ‘hay’ or whatever you call it behind it,” Korda said Sunday after her round, explaining her double-bogey on 14. “I just can’t catch it cleanly and then obviously didn’t make the putt for bogey.”

To me, it feels Normanesque, in that we're anticipating the blow-up holes.... And she didn't just miss the bogey putt, she didn't exactly put a confident stroke on it.

Shack has more:

Korda seemed as if she was destined to win and repeat Vu’s feat from last year in capturing the first and last majors of the year. The 26-year-old’s focus and calm seemed restored after a brutal

summer run and reportedly came thanks to recent lessons from dad Petr, who she worked with in Prague following the Paris Olympics. Korda birdied the fifth, seventh, ninth and 10th holes while three-putting the sixth for bogey. She arrived at the par 5 14th with a one-stroke lead over Ko and by two over Shin. With the tees moved up to 548 yards, Hell bunker was not the issue. Korda actually got within paces of the green after two strong shots and faced a semi-blind lob shot to a pin cut 30 paces into the massive double green. Five shots later, she was back to 6-under par.

The double bogey seemed as unimaginable as her Saturday six at the par 4 16th, where Korda drove out of bounds despite a westerly wind blowing balls away from the boundary fence.

“I'm going to mess up and unfortunately I messed up over the weekend twice in two penalizing ways coming down the stretch,” Korda said. “Theoretically that's what cost me the tournament but I played well.”

The same overall brilliance that saw Korda win six straight times earlier this year in a variety of settings was also on display throughout her first foray over the Old Course. But the rare hiccups came at the worst times imaginable, including a bogey at the 17th where she had to play away from the hole after barely trickling into the Road bunker. A par putt came up way short and set up a required eagle at 18.

That par putt was as unconvincing as the bogey putt three holes earlier.  This is one she let get away, which seems to be something of a signature move.

What a great week that ended with a worthy champion.  I watched so much of it that I won't need to watch golf anytime soon.  Good thing the men don't have anything important happening this week.

Keegan, Begrudgingly - I'm sorry, I'm a bad blogger, but I just don't give a you-know-what about the FedEx Cup:

Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship Sunday thanks to a final-round 72 in difficult conditions at Castle Pines to hold off Adam Scott, Ludvig Aberg and Sam Burns by one. It’s his first win since being named the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain last month and certainly adds fuel to the argument that he could be a playing captain next fall at Bethpage. Do you think Bradley can play his way onto next year’s team and if he does, should he give up the captaincy?

Marksbury: It’s awesome for Keegan to have this resurgence in his game … and yet! A playing

captain just seems like a bad idea. The Ryder Cup is such a pressure-cooker of emotions, and totally exhausting for both players and captains alike. I can’t imagine trying to lead with a clear head and compete at the same time. But maybe that’s just me!

Sens: I feel exactly the opposite: that the demands of the captaincy are exaggerated by fans and the media alike. Pick your team and send them out to play. When you boil it all down, how much more is there to it, aside for some media obligations. As with golf, overthinking things rarely does much good. If Bradley can play his way on, he should compete. We don’t get to see player captains often. For all the flag waving and chest-beating USA, USA chants, it’s still meant to be an exhibition. Entertain us. Seeing Bradley in the dual role would be good fun.

Bastable: Tiger pulled it off the double duty at the 2019 Presidents Cup, going 3-0 in Melbourne. No reason Keegan can’t also play both roles effectively at a Ryder Cup. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There is still much golf to be played between now and decision time. One win at this early stage will not secure Bradley a spot. I’m with Sens, though. Few players bring the energy and fire that Bradley does to match play. Having him in the heat of the action with his squad would be fun to watch and surely a motivator for his troops.

OK, guys, let me see if I have this right.  We're in the middle of the PGA Tour's dramatic playoff run, and the only aspect of this outcome that you find interesting is how it affects the 2025 Ryder Cup?   Jay must be so damn proud of his marquee events....

That's A Wrap - A different kind of wrap, that is:

With major championship golf now complete the for the year for both the top men and women in the world, what moment sticks out to you from 2024?

Marksbury: It’s been more than three months, and I’m still not over Scottie’s arrest. I don’t think I ever will be! But aside from that, I really loved the Olympic golf this year. The tears on the podium we saw from Scottie and Lydia demonstrated just how much it means to these players to compete for your country on the world stage. It was great to see.

Sens: Scheffler’s arrest was tough to top in its sheer weirdness. But the image I can’t shake is Rory standing over that little slider on the 18th at Pinehurst, looking doomed to miss it before he drew the putter back.

Bastable: Korda’s win at the Chevron will stick with because of its historic nature; it was her fifth straight LPGA title, an achievement that my little brain still can’t process. But on a personal level, I’ll never shake Rory’s meltdown at Pinehurst. When he packed up his stuff and emerged from the locker room that Sunday evening, I was standing in the hallway just outside. The glassy, shell-shocked look in McIlroy’s eyes is one I won’t see forget.

That's a pretty good summary of a bizarre year in golf, but there's actually some follow-up news about Scottie:

Officer involved in Scottie Scheffler arrest accused of stealing thousands of dollars from suspect

The officer who reportedly did not turn on his body camera during the arrest of professional golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from a suspect.

Louisville Metro Police Officer Javar Downs was searching a man during a traffic stop and seized an envelope with about $10,000 cash just after midnight on Wednesday.

The man reported that Downs took about $4,000 of that cash and submitted the rest to evidence at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections.

According to an arrest citation, Downs was booked at LMDC on theft and official misconduct charges.

We're in the best of hands, folks.

Headers Of The Week - Just a few bits that caught my eye, beginning with this:

Tom Kim apologizes for bludgeoning green at FedEx St. Jude Championship

 It's the B-word that makes this an all-timer, but Sergio Garcia was unavailable for comment.

Did you hear about that epic Brooks Koepka-Jon Rahm playoff at the LIV event at the Greenbrier?  Two studs fighting for supremacy at an iconic venue, seems like they're finding their groove.  I'm guessing that the ratings will reflect the intensity and drama on offer?  What?  OK, I'll guess again....

Pickleball on FOX outperforms LIV Golf on CW by notable margin on Championship Sunday

I'll need a moment to stop laughing....

I had a couple of Rory headers, but I think I'll give him a pass today.  Though that Alan Bastable bit above does have me thinking that  late-career Rory might be the better comparison for Nelly than Norman.

That's it for today, kids.  I'll undoubtedly be back later in the week, but don't intend to push myself too hard unless there's news to dissect.  Have a great week.