Lost in the miasma of the flood-the-zone Tiger coverage, is some actual golf news....
The NCAA's - It's been great, though there hasn't been much oxygen available. First, the indy champ:
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – Alabama coach Jay Seawell was recruiting at the Future Masters in Dothan, Ala., when someone suggested he go watch this kid from Mississippi. Seawelltook a look at 11-year-old Braden Thornberry, noted the uniqueness of his golf swing and thought “that probably won’t last.”
“Boy were a lot of people wrong,” said Seawell. “He’s the real deal.”
Thornberry became the first Ole Miss player in program history to win the NCAA Championship on May 29, topping the field by four strokes at Rich Harvest Farms. He took a look at the windy forecast and smiled: his kind of fight.
Thornberry’s deft touch around the greens helped him record one of only four rounds under par. He closed with a 1-under 71 and 11-under 277 total. Arkansas freshman Mason Overstreet (71) finished solo second at 7 under while Vanderbilt’s Matthias Schwab (75) and Theo Humphrey (70), along with Texas’ Scottie Scheffler (78), tied for third.
All I know is that funky, homemade swing held up best in the blustery final round conditions....
Those conditions made the qualification process for the match play team event must-see TV, as defending champs Oregon posted early and by the time the carnage was complete they were in fifth place.
Here's Shack's take on a great day of team match-play, but I repeat myself:
The passion of match play has once again made both men's and women's NCAA viewinga real joy for those of us who can have a television on all day. A big tip of the cap to Brandt Packer's Golf Channel crew for all of the great reaction shots, aerial footage and NCAA coverage.
How good was Tuesday's action?
The Nike Star Trek line sported by Oregon, Vanderbilt and others is actually growing on me.
Then again, it helps to see the clothes in school colors instead of the Best Pastels of Key West.
While the Ducks are the defending champs, Oregon's unlikely ascension to the final versus Oklahoma comes after they barely made the team match play portion of the proceedings. Brentley Romine with the Golfweek.com roundup of Oregon defeating Vanderbilt 3-2 and Oklahoma defeating home state hosts Illinois 3½ - 1½ to deprive us of a Pac-12 v. Big 10 match.
It's just great drama, and you'll not want to miss the final set of matches today. Here's the lineup:
Match 1: No. 130 Blaine Hale (Oklahoma) vs. No. 14 Norman Xiong (Oregon), 3:10 p.m. ETHale beat Xiong by six shots in stroke play.
Match 2: No. 53 Max McGreevy (Oklahoma) vs. No. 121 Edwin Yi (Oregon), 3:20 p.m. ETMcGreevy beat Yi by nine shots in stroke play.
Match 3: No. 149 Rylee Reinertson (Oklahoma) vs. No. 1 Wyndham Clark (Oregon), 3:30 p.m. ETClark beat Reinertson by three shots in match play.
Match 4: No. 51 Grant Hirschman (Oklahoma) vs. No. 114 Ryan Gronlund (Oregon), 3:40 p.m. ETGronlund beat Hirschman by five shots in stroke play.
Match 5: No. 98 Brad Dalke (Oklahoma) vs. No. 366 Sulman Raza (Oregon), 3:50 p.m. ETDalke beat Raza by five shots in stroke play.
You should ignore those stroke play results, as they mean as much right now as the kid's horoscopes.
That last match could be the decider, as Dahlke was the U.S. Open runner-up and Raza appears to be Ian Poulter reincarnate.
Coverage starts at 4;00 in the East, and DVR's should be set.
We Have the Beef - In the U.S. Open, that is:
Englishman Aaron Rai carried his magnificent recent form to Walton Heath Golf Club to earn medalist honors in U.S. Open sectional qualifying and secure his major championship debut at Erin Hills next month.
The Wolverhampton native, who has won two events on the European Challenge Tour this season, made an incredible late run, with five birdies and an eagle in his final nine holes of the 36-hole qualifier to card a second-round, 8-under 64 and come in at 14-under 130.
Li Haotong of China, meanwhile, will also make his U.S. Open debut at Erin Hills after he matched Rai’s 64 in Round 2 to place second with a 13-under total.
Frenchman Alexander Levy will return to the U.S. Open after he finished in a share of third place at 12-under par alongside 2006 U.S. Amateur champion Richie Ramsay. Levy tied for 27th in 2015 at Chambers Bay, his only U.S. Open start, while Ramsay will play the U.S. Open for the first time in 10 years and the first time as a professional..
Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who was a fan favorite in his U.S. Open debut at Oakmont Country Club last year, delighted the crowds at Walton Heath, making a hole-in-one on the second hole of the New Course during his morning round, and then recording a pair of eagles during Round 2 to earn his spot with one stroke to spare at 10-under 134.
Shack is, as usual, all over the seemy underbelly of the UK qualifier:
A European Tour story at USOpen.com details how the first U.S. Open sectional went at Walton Heath and in a tradition unlike any other, 23 Euros couldn't be bothered to finish.Longtime readers know I'm a bit of a WD at Walton Heath connoisseur, so it was nice to see that the current generation is just as disrespectful as recent years when the number usually hovers around 24 WD's.
That's really low rent....
Wisdom From Our Elders - Jack had an interesting take on Rory's WD from The Memorial:
“You think I had any injuries when I played? Do you think Arnold had any injuries when he played? Do you think Gary had any injuries when he played? How many tournaments do you think that we entered that we withdrew from during the course of our career?” Nicklaus said.
He put his forefinger to his thumb to signal zero.
“Never entered if I wasn’t going to play,” Nicklaus said.
I remember Jack hurting his wrist before the '72 PGA, but that's about all. But playing through aches and pains is different from real injuries, and sometimes rest is needed. But do go on, Jack:
“Would they withdraw back 30 years ago? Probably not, because that wasn’t the norm,” Nicklaus said. “We played through it. We had a ton of injuries and I played through it. But that’s sort of the norm today. And the guys … I made my own decisions. I didn’t have an entourage. I didn’t have a fitness trainer. I didn’t have a nutritionist, whatever you all have, somebody to cut my toenails in the morning.
Yeah, that's a good one for sure....
I certainly don't think Tiger's retinue has been helpful, but that's for different reasons.... Alas, he wasn't asked about his gym work during his career.....
Tulsa On My Mind - A Most curious announcement from the PGA of America about venues:
PGA of America to Conduct PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGAChampionship at Southern Hills Country Club
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (May 30, 2017) – The PGA of America announced today that it will host two different major championships at Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between now and 2030.
Southern Hills will host the 2021 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship—the most historic and prestigious major championship in senior golf—and also will be the venue for a PGA Championship no later than 2030.
Surprisingly, it's not the description of the KitchenAid-sponsored event, though that's a worthy howler.
They have awarded Southern Hills a PGA for a year to be named later.... Is it too early to produce the swag? Why would they do that? Shack nails it:
The PGA of America is returning to Southern Hills in a big way, awarding the Senior PGA in 2021 and a PGA Championship some time between "now and 2030." The uncertain timing suggests the venue is on standby as a possible replacement course should the PGA Championship move to May, or should they choose to replace an upcoming venue for any other reason. The intrigue!Too late to replace Bellerive next year? Sorry...
Here's the list of future site awards:
2017 Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina
2018 Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, Missouri
2019 Bethpage Black, Farmingdale, New York
2020 TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, California
2021 The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island (South Carolina) Golf Resort
2022 Trump International Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey
2023 Oak Hill Country Club, Pittsford, New York
2024-30* Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma
* Date to be announced
The love affair with U.S. Open site hand-me-downs remains perplexing for an event lacking an identity, but so is the affection for hot-weather venues in August (and St. Louis and Tulsa very much qualify). Have they not seen Lumpy in a wet golf shirt?
But it's those last two that come to mind, for differing reasons. Rochester in May is a non-starter, and they'll no doubt be watching how the women's Open in Bedminster plays out.
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