It was Vivian Hou going up against Jensen Castle in the Women’s Amateur final Sunday at Westchester Country Club, a battle between the 53rd and 63rd seeds in the event. Underdogs each of them, who had managed to play their way into the final match.
That they were tied after four holes and seven holes and 14 holes was a sign of what the match became. Hou was up after five holes and after 12 holes and after 18 holes. Then, after a break for lunch, she started slow and gave up her lead immediately. If the match had just been 18 holes, like every other match in the event, Hou would be the Women’s Amateur champ. So it goes during the championship matches.
Castle pressed her with birdies on the 19th hole, the 20th and the 21st to even things up again. It wasn’t until Hou rallied on her own with birdies on the 30th, 31st and 34th to get herself back to 1 Down with two to play. Unfortunately, she never got both of them. Castle canned a 13-footer on the 35th hole of the match for a winning birdie, her ninth of the day.
Employee No. 2 and I were able to spend some time watching the young ladies, WCC being very much in our 'hood. The bride even headed over yesterday morning to watch the first loop of the 36-hole final.
As is typical in these things, Castle had little business being in that final:
Castle was about as much of an underdog as is imaginable. She survived a 12 for 2 playoff just to advance to the match play portion of the event, and didn’t even bring enough clothes for seven days worth of golf. The blue shirt she wore during the final match was the same one she wore in her round of 64 match on Wednesday. She even used the same golf ball for five straight rounds during the competition. Perhaps that’s the best sign of all.
Yes, they were apparently doing laundry every night... Of course that 'graph above ignores an even greater escape than the 12-for-two playoff, needing Rachel Heck to 3-putt from twenty feet on the 18th hole of their semi-final, which your humble blogger took hard (having declared Thursday that the winner of the Heck-Brooke Matthews match would win the event).
I wasn't planning to watch the final match, but the bride went over to watch the morning eighteen, and when I arrived home from golf she had the coverage on. I just plunked myself down in an easy chair and didn't move until the match and tournament concluded.
The men play their Amateur at Oakmont this week, though the girls will be a tough act to follow....
Dateline: Tokyo - Is there anything more difficult in sports than to win when you're expected to?
Korda continued her dream season with a tumultuous final-round 69 at Kasumigaseki Country Club to win the women's golf gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. Korda, whosevictory completed an American sweep of the golf gold medals after Xander Schauffele's triumph in the men's tournament, fought through a double bogey, being caught twice and waiting through a late 48-minute delay with two holes to finish because of looming Tropical Storm Mirinae.
“It’s crazy,” Korda said. “It sounds absurd that I'm a gold medalist and an Olympian. I don't know. It hasn't sunk in yet.”
Korda started Saturday with a three-shot lead that moved to four with birdie on the second hole. It was her first in 14 holes, going back to the sixth hole of the third round.
Playing in the same final threesome, Lydia Ko, wasn’t waiting for Korda to close the door. Ko, who ultimately shot 65, birdied four of the first five holes to cut the lead to two.
It was no walk in the park, however:
On Saturday, she had cause to smile. Playing with Korda and Ashok in the final threesome, Ko birdied four of the first five holes. Korda, meanwhile, idled in neutral. By the time the final groupreached the par-3 7th, Ko had cut the lead to two, a dramatic turnabout that grew more so a few beats later when Korda tugged her tee shot, flubbed two chips and walked off the 7th green with a double-bogey 5. She, Ko and Ashok were now tied.
For the first time in the tournament, Korda looked rattled. When she found a fairway bunker on her next swing, an opportunity lost on a reachable par 5, it seemed like she was destined to come unraveled.
But that’s the crazy thing about golf.
It proved to be the moment when she found herself instead, recovering from the sand and grinding out a birdie. Then she birdied the next. And the one after. Three in a row. When Ko bogeyed the par-3 10th from a green-side bunker, Korda’s lead was back to three.
As with the men, there was a playoff that didn't involve the winner, which I find one of the charming aspects of Olympic golf. Shall we see what the Tour Confidential gang thought of it all? First, about that winner:
1. Nelly Korda, in the middle of a dominating season, added another chapter with a gold medal in the women’s Olympic golf tournament. Korda had already won three times this season — including the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title — and still has a couple of big events remaining. What impressed you most about her win in Tokyo?
Sean Zak: How calm it all looked. She got that lead and cruised. And then when it got tight, and she had the horn blown with just one hole to play, she seemed as calm as ever. After the delay, calm as ever. That downhill putt on 18, calm as ever. Just so calm.
Josh Sens: The way she bounced back from that double bogey on 7 in the final round. It’s not easy playing as the front runner for such a long stretch. At that moment, when she lost her solo grip on the lead, it would have been easy for her to unravel. It looked like she might with the very next tee shot, a tug into the bunker. Instead, she reeled off three birdies in a row. That showed amazing mental toughness.
Dylan Dethier: In golf, we don’t usually see the favorites win. It’s tough to be expected to win and then do so anyway — the game is too fickle. I was most impressed that Korda won when she especially wanted to (she’s had the Olympics in her sights for months) and when the world expected her to (she entered as the betting favorite and World No. 1). Not an easy task.
Michael Bamberger: That she got it done. That’s what the greats do. Tiger at Pebble in 2000, Hogan when he played his lone British Open, etc. She was the best player in a big event. There was every expectation that she should win. But golf is not tennis. Yet she won.
Yeah, it wasn't all that pretty, but she got it done. Sort of the anti-Rory, no?
They actually devote a segment to this worthy young lady:
2. One of the biggest stories out of the Olympics may have come from a non-medalist: Aditi Ashok, who finished fourth and inspired her home country of India along the way. She ranked last in the field in driving distance, having lost some pop due to a bout with Covid earlier this year, but led the field in putting. Was she the best story of the men’s and women’s Olympic golf tournament? If not, who, or what, was?
Zak: I think that goes to Rory Sabbatini and his final-round 61 for all of Slovakia. If we told you a month ago that he’d take the silver with a 61 on Sunday, you’d guarantee him golf’s best story of the Olympics.
Sens: My son tells me the best part of Olympic golf was the skateboarding. But I’m with Sean on Sabbatini. After that, there were tons of great smaller moments. Xander’s gutty scramble-par on 18 to win. Rory McIIroy awakening to Olympic golf. Paul Casey’s obvious joy in just being. And if watching Lydia Ko’s great smiling sportsmanship (to say nothing of her play) wasn’t enough to put you in her fan club, I don’t know what it would take.
Dethier: The best story was the big picture. Two deserving winners, two compelling tournaments, two nail-biting finishes, plenty of late-night intrigue from the golf-watching public. Golfers in attendance raved about the experience. There are tweaks we could make to the format, for sure, but golf in the Olympics works. That’s a big deal.
Bamberger: I think seeing more a genuine feeling, and maybe I am speaking for myself, that golf does belong in the Olympics. I think this format does not work, but golf belongs in the Olympics.
Ywozer, that's some serious cognitive dissonance. I mean, if you're inclined to uncritically believe in the importance of Olympic golf, Aditi Ashok is your poster child. A little disappointing that she'll depart Tokyo with only snow globes and other tourist trinkets, but now we get to watch for the effect on golf in India... According to Chief Inspector Dawson, this should inspire young Indians to toss their cricket bats for golf clubs.
While I'm by nature skeptical that there will be much of an effect, it's at the very least an understandable desire and something for which we can all hope. But it's the fetishization of Rory Sabbatini that troubles me, as he'll no doubt have young South Africans dreaming of marrying Slovakian babes and gaming the Olympic qualification system. Seriously, guys, have you thought through what message is being sent?
Then, for reasons that elude your humble blogger, the same question is asked a second time:
3. With the men’s Olympic golf tournament finishing last week and the women’s now complete, what’s your takeaway from golf’s two weeks in Tokyo? What will you remember most 10 years from now?
Zak: That anyone who isn’t on board with it, is just too far removed to appreciate it. Everyone who went to Rio seemed to love it. Everyone who went to Tokyo loved it. Even the players who struggled on the course. The horde of volunteers that followed Hideki Matsuyama brought life to what many people thought would be a lifeless event. Rory is all in on Paris. Dustin should be, too. Just wait until Riviera in ‘28. The progress has been slow but it’ll be lasting, I’d think.
Sens: The extreme weather for one. But also the lack of fans, and how much that affected the experience of watching the event. It’s great that everyone who was on hand enjoyed themselves. But that’s a pretty self-selecting group; they chose to go in the first place. That tournament with crowd energy would have been so much more riveting, especially with Japanese players in the mix down the stretch in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
Dethier: I remember my sixth-grade teacher advised us to skim through our tests when we started, just to see what was ahead — so I sort of answered this one above. But 10 years from now I’ll remember Xander Schauffele’s first crowning victory, the gold medal that cemented Nelly Korda’s superstardom and, sadly, the empty bleachers. Oh, plus that 7-for-1 bronze medal playoff at 3 a.m. EST.
Bamberger: That you can have a men’s event followed by a women’s event on the same course in consecutive weeks. That four-round, 60-person medal events are too ordinary for an Olympics.
I think Mike packed a lot into a two sentence response, though that first bit seemed to have been put to bed back in 2014 at Pinehurst. But for all the plaudits being thrown out, does anyone really think they'll remember much of this in ten years? Color me skeptical... But the problem with the praise is that it mitigates the urgency to address the format, which is to the game's detriment.
Dateline: Memphis, TN - Interesting nits from the event, though little of it concerns actual golf. I actually turned this on after the conclusion of the Women's Amateur, and caught the ending of a really strange Sunday on Tour. The win will be popular for sure:
Abraham Ancer, finally, is a winner.
And the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, finally, had a winner.
On a day where seemingly no one wanted to raise the trophy, it was perhaps poetic that the player who did had never done it before on the PGA Tour. Ancer, as talented a golfer as there is in the game, yet without a win in 120 starts, won his 121st, dropping a six-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff to prevail at TPC Southwind.
Ancer beat Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama in the extra holes. Had you foreseen this ahead of Sunday, there’s no need for you to read the rest of these words, as you’re very likely a psychic and know what’s coming. Ancer started the final round five shots behind Harris English, Burns was eight back and Matsuyama nine. Then each shot, in that order, 68, 64 and 63 to finish at 16 under.
And those who had been ahead of them? Well …
We'll get to that in a sec, though we'll first copy-and-paste the TC panel's take on the winner:
4. Abraham Ancer, at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, survived a playoff and a TPC Southwind course that wrecked the third-round leaders to win his first PGA Tour event. Ancer had been knocking on the door for a while, and he’s currently 21st in the world. With victory No. 1 out of the way, what’s his ceiling?
Zak: Way higher than I ever thought it’d be. When he first burst onto the scene years ago, it seemed like he was peaking. But he’s never wavered. He played well in the Presidents Cup. He’s played well in majors. Invitational Tour events. He’s just a damn good golfer who Mexico should be extremely proud of.
Sens: There’s just too much talent out there for a guy like Ancer to dominate for long stretches. But it’s easy to picture him being in the mix consistently for a long, long time. Furyk-like, maybe? He clearly feels comfortable in big moments, which you can’t say for any number of players who might be more impressive tee to green.
Dethier: Higher than you’d think if you just saw him on the range. Ancer doesn’t hit it far but he hits it straight. He peppers greens. He may not overpower par-5s but he’s second on Tour in par-4 scoring average — and that didn’t even include this week. I don’t think World No. 1 is soon to follow, but Ancer could surprise plenty of people with a run at the edge of the top 10.
Bamberger: He’s likable, bordering on charismatic. He’s an internationalist. He has a broad view of the world. He could have a major impact on golf in Mexico. As a player, I see him as a Max Homa, and Max Homa as an Abe Ancer.
I'm guessing that this week was his ceiling, because the history of short hitters isn't all the encouraging. He's a nice little player, but this one basically fell into his lap (and one assumes that Sam Burns will be on Abe's Christmas card list in perpetuity).
But the far more interesting bits come from that final group, both parts of which are relevant:
It was one of the most dismal nine-hole stretches you could see on the PGA Tour. On the one hand, you had one of the nicest players around get caught under a handful of (justified) slow-playwarnings, rush through the back nine in staggering humidity and swirling wind, and lose a lead that looked as close as a lead can come to unassailable. On the other, you had his playing partner, the most controversial player on tour and someone who does himself no favors, enduring what amounts to four-plus hours of bullying that has been openly encouraged by his rival. It was an ugly scene: poor displays of golf, worse displays of behavior, and two contenders who didn't collapse as much as they imploded.
This is the story of Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau, who entered the back nine on Sunday at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at 20 under and 18 under, respectively, well clear of the other contenders, the best of whom sat at 16 under and would stay there the rest of the round. A classic match-play dual had unfolded, and it was obvious to anyone watching that the eventual winner would come from this final duo.
Or not... But do tell:
That story began to crumble for good on the 11th hole, a par 3 guarded on three sides by water,but it was precipitated by slow-play warnings that started on the sixth hole. That’s where DeChambeau found himself in an odd situation with a ball lodged beneath a fence, half inbounds and half out, that required precious minutes to resolve. They were on the clock a hole later, and that would take its toll on English, who afterward felt that rushing his routine cost him the tournament.
All of which led to the 11th hole, when English’s tee shot landed miles short of the green, dunking it in the water. He made double bogey. With a huge window of opportunity now open, DeChambeau responded, however, by launching his tee shot over the green, into the water. He hit his third shot from the drop zone, only for the ball to land in a front bunker, leading to an eventual triple bogey.
It's not often one makes a double, yet has the honor on the next tee.
Needless to say, this didn't help the pace of play. It compounded their need to rush, and though English still held a two-shot lead as he walked to the 12th tee, he found the water again on the next par-3, the 14th, with what is likely one of the worst shots he's hit this season—a weak, inexplicable fade that started right of the green, got worse, and never had a chance to avoid the pond that is, unlike 11, eminently avoidable. English showed his first visible bout of frustration when he hammered his wood into the tee box after an errant drive on 17, but his lead had been so big that he still had a shot to make the playoff later won by Abraham Ancer on 18. After pulling off an aggressive approach into the 18th green, he failed to read enough break on his birdie putt and came up one shot short. His back nine total: 40
DeChambeau, somehow, fared worse. By the time his back-nine nightmare was over, he had posted 41, and when he met his caddie and manager behind the 18th green, he lamented his round in language that was, to put it mildly, colorful.
And while DeChambeau is a hard guy to warm up to, it's gotten ugly out there:
Since then, it has evolved into fans calling DeChambeau various forms of Koepka's name, with "Brooksy" being a favorite. On the surface, this may sound ridiculous, minor, and even funny. In reality, when you follow DeChambeau for even half a round, and you see the faces of the people taunting him for a mean little thrill, it looks crueler and more intense than would come across on TV or in written reports. It clearly makes DeChambeau miserable, but he's locked into an unwinnable position where if he reacts, he looks thin-skinned and inevitably makes the abuse worse. Yet staying silent doesn't help, either. After staring down several fans throughout the course of play on Sunday—a long glare, accomplishing nothing, before he marched away—he finally broke down on the 17th tee when a female fan shouted, yet again, "Brooksy!"
"Good one!" he shouted back, but he looked bitter, and tired, and defeated, and the only thing you could feel for him in that moment was pity.
DeChambeau is not a figure who elicits much sympathy, especially from his detractors, and incidentally I tend to agree with a lot of the reasoned criticism directed his way, particularly on the recent subject of vaccinations. Nevertheless, there is a marked difference between disagreeing with someone, perhaps even disliking him, and supporting the kind of psychological abuse that he now endures in every single round he plays, which is effective in that it's nearly impossible to police (DeChambeau and his caddie even approached the literal police walking with their group on Sunday to complain) and which shows no signs of abating.
While we're all naturally focused on Bryson, the implications for Harris English, who has played himself into serious Ryder Cup consideration, might be equally meaningful. To his credit, English did a post-round interview, and took full responsibility for not handling the time warnings better. Bryson did his usual stiff-the-media thing, which you'd think the Tour might need to address.
Of course, this back-nine collapse, which was eerily reminiscent of Torrey Pines, wasn't Bryson's only controversy in Memphis. As you no doubt recal, Bryson has taken incoming over his failure to scream the word "Fore" when he hits a shot towards other human beings. he recently had this response on the issue:
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I do shout fore. I don't know what you're talking about. There are plenty of people on the tee box that do shout fore. You're bringing up a very controversial thing, which is unfortunate, but 99 per cent of the time I do, and unfortunately people think I don't. But that's okay, they can say whatever they want.
But apparently he lost his voice in Memphis:
DeChambeau has only granted interviews to PGA Tour Live following his first two rounds. Two European Tour players who are not in the field, however, spoke up and took DeChambeau to task on Twitter for not yelling “Fore!” when one of his errant drives headed toward the gallery.
Following the first round, Richard Bland, who won his first European Tour event this year at the British Masters and took the lead at the U.S. Open through 36 holes, didn’t hold back when criticizing DeChambeau after watching the telecast on TV.
“Bryson ploughing it into the crowd again off the tee & no shout of “Fore.” Maybe it needs someone to get seriously injured for him to learn.’”
I don't know, but I have trouble taking this issue seriously since I'm pretty sure you can't hear anything 400 yards away. On the other hand, his refusal to play the part seems equally silly...
Then there were his curious thoughts on the vaccine:
On Tuesday, DeChambeau told three reporters about his recovery after testing positive for COVID-19 two days before he was going to leave for Tokyo to represent the USA in the men’s tournament. He was forced to withdraw and DeChambeau acknowledged he had lost 8-10 pounds, about 5 mph of swing speed with his driver and he battled fatigued.
The world No. 7 and winner of 8 PGA Tour titles also said he had not been vaccinated, saying he was young, healthy, working on his health and added he didn’t want to take a dose of the vaccine away from others who need it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, notes there are no vaccine shortages in the U.S. And that 90 percent of all positive cases — and 95 percent of hospitalizations due to COVID — are the result of unvaccinated individuals. DeChambeau’s comments received backlash.
This is an issue I'm ever less eager to take on than Foregate. Of course, I love the appeal to the CDC for authority, given their rather bleak track record. After all, I'm old enough to remember the testing fiasco they created when they refused to approve others' testing kits, yet their own test was defective because they couldn't be bother adhering to their own manufacturing standards.
The CDC still seems to want to deny that those that have had Covid have developed natural immunity, which seems a strange position since the vaccine basically replicates that very experience. So, if Bryson simply wanted to make that case, I'd be open to it, as I think others should be. But instead he speaks of the selflessness of not taking the vaccine from those more needy, which can't help but make him appear even more out of touch.
One of my blogging To-Do's is an update post on the Ryder Cup qualification process, which concludes at the end of the FedEx Cup playoffs. But there's one other little news item that relates to this last bit:
The fallout from Bryson DeChambeau’s revelation that he has no plans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine is spilling over into the Ryder Cup. Prospective members of the U.S. team are being asked if they’d be willing to get vaccinated before the event next month, Golfweek has learned.
One day after DeChambeau’s comments, the leadership of the U.S. Ryder Cup began reaching out to likely members of the team asking about their vaccine status and if they would be willing to be vaccinated in advance of the event, two sources told Golfweek. This outreach came at the urging of the PGA of America, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed. One player who was contacted declined to say if it was Captain Steve Stricker.
Discussions are also underway between the U.S. and European teams on how to respond if a player tests positive during the matches. Both teams are said to be determined to ensure the Ryder Cup is not upended by the pandemic. The options being considered include forfeiting an affected player’s point in the Sunday singles matches and possibly even having alternate players on site for each team. Talks about those issues remain in the early stages with nothing yet decided.
Steve Pate, call your office.
I find myself wondering how Steve Stricker is feeling about his captain's gig these days. He's got two major team room headaches (at a minimum) in Bryson/Brooks and PReed, not to mention the Covid risks that have adversely affected majors and the Olympics.
But it also seems to me that, if they were looking for a reason to avoid a some of these interpersonal issues, Bryson just handed them a easy out. Of course, that assumes that Bryson is the only unvaccinated player on the Ryder Cup hopeful list, and we sure don't know that for sure.
I'll leave you start your week, and hopefully see you tomorrow.
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