Monday, August 21, 2023

Weekend Wrap - Big Dik Vik Edition

Hey, I didn't make that up, Tron Carter did:

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition a 28.... 

BDV - I watched quite a bit of golf, but almost none of this event:

Viktor Hovland has eight 3s on back nine, posts career low to win BMW Championship

Of course, that thirty-three on the front nine probably felt pretty good in the moment....

As Rory McIlroy counted up Viktor Hovland’s scorecard after the final round of the BMW Championship, he realized that Hovland’s back nine included eight threes and a single four.

“It adds up to a nice little 28 for him,” McIlroy said marveling at Hovland’s brilliant performance. “He just keeps his foot on the pedal. Just isn’t scared. Just keeps going forward, keeps going at it.”

The 25-year-old Norwegian kept his foot on the pedal and rode his way to a course-record 9-under 61 at Olympia Fields on Sunday and a two-stroke victory over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick. Hovland’s sizzling 61 to clinch his fifth PGA Tour title was the low round by a winner this season on the Tour and also the lowest final round in the history of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

When told that the CBS golf team declared it the best round of the year, Hovland exclaimed, “Wow!” and added, “It definitely has to be the best round I’ve ever played given the circumstances, a playoff event and this golf course.”

I'm certainly happy for the young man that he saved such a great round for the playoffs, especially that he didn't waste it in something inconsequential like a major.... The Tour Confidential panel had a couple of thoughts, none all that enlightening:

1. Viktor Hovland shot a final-round 61 — with a back-nine 28!! — to come from behind and win the BMW Championship by two over Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick. What’s your biggest takeaway from Hovland’s second win of the season?

Dylan Dethier: My biggest takeaway is that eight 3s on that back nine is some video-game stuff.
Hovland has been focused on playing with greater discipline in big events on tough golf courses. This was next level. It was disciplined but it was also raw aggression. One terrific shot after another. Gone are the days of Hovland only winning on resort-style golf courses. What a summer it’s been for Vik.

Josh Sens: All the short-game work has paid crazy dividends. He can afford to keep playing the aggressive style he’s always played without suffering the same consequences as he used to. Getting up and down two or three more times a round, or even a tournament— that’s the difference between wins and close calls. And fun to see him playing so well heading into the Ryder Cup. The better the Europeans are, the more interesting it is.

Jonathan Wall: How little we’ve talked about Vik’s impressive summer. In his last seven PGA Tour starts, he’s notched two wins and finished no worse than T29. It feels like the focus is constantly on Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm — and rightfully so. They’ve been playing on a different level this season. That said, Sunday’s back nine 28 was a reminder that Hovland’s as good as any pro on the planet. To do that at Olympia Fields — a course that forces you to elevate your game or perish — confirms he has another gear. We talk all the time about guys who have “that gear” in big moments. I think it’s safe to say Vik is one of those guys. With the short game and putter clicking, he’s nearly unbeatable.

Recency bias much, Jonathan?  They also look unbeatable when they're not getting beat, so sure.... I won't have time for a Ryder Cup deep dive, but we'll cover it this week for sure.  And while our focus will be somewhat U.S.-biased, just because the coverage skews that way, the name that perhaps should jump out at you from the excerpts above is Matthew Fitzpatrick, who along with Rory, Rahm and Viktor will have to carry a weaker-looking Euro roster.  Fitzpatrick has had a tough year, but his match-play chops could make him a force in Rome.

Shack has a bit on the final Top-30, who will strangely be exempt into pretty much everything next year:

One of the great (and strangest) perks in major championship remains the PGA Tour’s top 30 (eligible) members from the previous season. They earn their way into a host of championships the following year. The cut-off is well clear of the tournaments in question, yet the organizers of the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship continue to reward the feat (the PGA has its own points system for qualifying).

Making it to East Lake means suffering through 100-degree temps next week, but also now means a two-year PGA Tour exemption in addition to a 2024 Masters invitation, U.S. Open exemption and Open Championship berth.

Many of the top 30 already have paths to the majors. But a few don’t and will gladly take the status.

The obvious heartbreaker Sunday came with Sahith Theegala going on the same spirited run he made in 2022, only this time he came up a few points short to finish the season 31st.

 

I actually heard that Spieth was on the bubble, though he seems to have made it in without mussing his thinning hair.... 

With the points list finalized, the top six have qualified for the Ryder Cup, including:

1. Scottie Scheffler

2. Wyndham Clark

3. Patrick Cantlay

4. Brian Harman

5. Max Homa

6. Xander Schauffele

 As predicted, a certain guy has fallen out of that top six:

The remaining six spots will be selected by Captain Zach Johnson.

Koepka, as the PGA Champion, should be a lock to make the squad if he has signaled a desire to play.

Not that long ago the PGA Champion automatically earned a spot on the team but that was before players took Saudi millions and became pariahs to those who didn’t cash in and wish they did.

If he's expressed a desire to play?  Your guess is as good as mine....

The Tiger Double -  It is an historical oddity for sure:

It’s almost incomprehensible to think only two golfers have won the U.S. Junior and the U.S. Amateur. Even more incomprehensible: the first golfer to do it managed to win three of each USGA titles in a mere six-year span.

Nick Dunlap joined Tiger Woods on Sunday at Cherry Hills as winners of both in holding off Neal Shipley 4 & 3 to become just the second player to have captured the two USGA events.

As I recall, the first of those went on and had a decent professional career.... But it's easy to like the winner, because he's got perspective:

“Well, I think it’s only a third of what Tiger’s actually done,” said the modest Dunlap, 19, an Alabama sophomore. “But just to be in the same conversation as Tiger is a dream come true and something that I’ve worked my entire life for. It’s the hours and hours that nobody sees to try to get to this point and even have a chance to win this trophy. It’s unbelievable; can’t put it into words.”

Think this guy has match-play chops?

Dunlap, the 2021 U.S. Junior Am winner, caps an impressive match play run over the past two years in the format. Including this week, the 19-year-old has played in eight match-play events from an AJGA event, two U.S. Junior Amateurs, two college events and the prestigious North and South, and Western Amateurs over the time period and has compiled a 30-2 record. The only matches he lost were in his U.S. Junior Amateur title defense last summer and at the Western Am.

I'm one of those guys that thinks Tiger's six consecutive USGA match-play wins might be the most impressive, definitely improbable, feats in golf history.  Not even considering that Tiger was behind in all six finals, some by a considerable amount.

The thing that perhaps requires a reminder, is that the two favorites heading into Match-play, Dunlap and Gordon Sargent, ended up meeting in the first round.  That's merely a result of the scores they posted in the two rounds of stroke play qualifying, but therein lies another tale:

Just a great week of golf.... Geoff had this about the rarely-seen venue:

The week reinforced how there is never a dull moment at Cherry Hills. Even with too much rough kept to defend the poor old place from today’s plant-based-diet fueled distances, the volatile William-Flynn design showed off many fun design features recaptured by Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf Design. Cherry Hills once again reminded us that it’s one of the more engaged clubs in golf and finest places for a championship.

The Ryder Cup focus is appropriate, though there's two other team competitions this year, one of which has your humble blogger agog with anticipation:


Following the U.S. Amateur’s final match, the USGA announced the remaining six members of the 2023 Walker Cup team. The group of ten will head to St Andrews September 2-3rd.

Joining the previously announced Dunlap, Gordon Sargent, David Ford and Caleb Surratt, the selections by the International Team Selection committee:

Nick Gabrelcik, Trinity, Florida

Austin Greaser, Vandalia, Ohio

Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, California

Ben James, Milford, Connecticut

Dylan Menante, Carlsbad, California

Preston Summerhays, Scottsdale, Arizona

The USGA also announced two alternates: Maxwell Moldovan of Uniontown, Ohio and Neal Shipley, Sunday’s U.S. Amateur finalist.

Michael Thorbjornsen previously qualified but has withdrawn due to injury.

It's all about the venue in this case, as we've never seen a match play event on the Old Course.  If there's a more interesting track for match-play, i can't imagine what it might be....

I'll cover those Ryder Cup implicatons in the next couple of days.  Have a great week. 

 


 

 


 

 

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