It's been quite the week here recovering from our lightning strike. Service was switched over yesterday and replacement TVs should arrive today.
I did watch a bunch of the golf on Sunday, even some of the golf from Memphis.....
Megha-Winner - Meltdown No. 1 (actually, there were two) happened Saturday afternoon on the coast of Oregon:
Megha Ganne was fortunate to make the U.S. Women’s Amateur final at Bandon Dunes.
“I won't say exactly what I was thinking, but you can imagine,” said Ganne, who was three down through 10 holes against Australian Ella Scaysbrook, who had never trailed in any of her five matches and had not even reached the 16th tee since stroke play.
“I reminded myself that I have literally won so many matches from 2 down, 3 down, 4 down,” Ganne said of the semifinal. “Matches start on the back nine no matter what the score [says]. [I] reminded myself of that and how many times I've done it. Today is no different.”
Except that it was the semis of the Women's Amateur and it didn't look like Ella Scaysbrook would ever miss a shot, until someone flipped a switch and she suddenly missed all of them.
Megha, a Jersey girl, has always been hard to evaluate, bursting on the scene young but outshined at Stanford by those other more famous girls:
The Stanford senior first made it on the USGA scene by reaching the 2019 semifinals as a 15-year-old where she lost in 19 holes to then-Stanford senior Albane Valenzuela. Ganne would contend two years later in the U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club, but it was the best trophy in golf that she most wanted to win. And Ganne did so late Sunday on a gloriously firm, fast, and breezy Bandon Dunes links by beating Missouri’s Brook Biermann 4&3 to capture the elaborately designed Robert Cox Trophy.
Don't remember that 2019 Amateur, but I do remember her in that final group on Sunday at Olympic. But these two girls go back even further:
The 22-year-old Ganne was competing in her seventh U.S. Women’s Amateur and drew a worthy opponent in Biermann, a recent Michigan State grad. Each of the women qualified for the 2018 Drive, Chip & Putt national finals at Augusta National Golf Club in the Girls’ 14-15 division and Golf Channel found an image of the two in line together entering the competition’s long drive portion. Ganne, who competed in four DCP finals, finished fourth and Biermann fifth that year.
The next USGA competition to be staged at Bandon Dunes will be the 2028 Walker Cup Matches. The U.S. Women’s Amateur, along with the U.S. Amateur, will be conducted at the resort in consecutive weeks in 2032.
Let's hope they expand the coverage windows by then.... A great event, and the men are already under way at Olympic.
Say It Ain't So, Tommy-Lad - I got home around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday and turned on the golf, catching the leaders early on their back nines. Fleetwood immediately caught my eye with some steely play, which made me stick around because, well, Tommy on the lead can be interesting.
The ending will have the man's fans despondent:
Ageless Rose makes late charge in Memphis, tops Spaun in playoff; Fleetwood comes up short again
Justin Rose has still got it. Still has his nerves. Still has his swing. Still has sufficient power andlevel of fitness. Still knows how to shake off adversity. Still has the ability to perform in the clutch.He still knows how to win.At age 45, Rose became the oldest winner on the PGA Tour in five years on Sunday in Memphis when he defeated reigning U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.Trailing fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood by three strokes with five holes remaining in regulation, Rose reeled off four straight birdies to surge past his European Ryder Cup teammate and join Spaun at 16-under 264 at TPC Southwind. Then Rose birdied the last two holes of the playoff, the first to stay alive after Spaun buried a long birdie of his own, and the second, from 11 feet, for the title, his second in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the 12th of his PGA Tour career.
After all his near misses, this isn't exactly a great surprise, but we always find ourselves rooting for the old guys....I wonder why that is.
Everyone likes JR, but the headlines are all about that guy that just can't get it done. This from this week's Tour Confidential panel:
Tommy Fleetwood held the 54-hole lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but a 17th-hole bogey and final-round one-under 69 on Sunday kept him a shot out of a playoff (in which Justin Rose beat J.J. Spaun on the third playoff hole for the title). Fleetwood has won seven times on the DP World Tour but is still famously winless in 162 PGA Tour starts. Is this sample size officially big enough to explain what’s holding him back?Hirsh: No! I don’t think we know what’s holding him back yet. It could be a lot of different things, but what’s abundantly clear is he keeps putting himself in these positions. And with a game and easily repeatable golf swing like him, it’s only a matter of time before he converts.Colgan: Yes! And the answer is simple: It’s in his head. I spent a while reporting on the phenomenon of “choking under pressure” — or performing less than your best when it matters most — and I learned that golfers are uniquely attuned to struggle under the limelight. It’s because of how our prefrontal cortex handles stress, and how the “repetition compulsion” of the golf swing fades while under duress. The good news: Practice helps — and Tommy is getting lots of practice.Marksbury: As Fleetwood said in his post-round interview, it’s really hard to win on Tour. And it’s not like his final round was a complete blow-up — an ill-timed bogey on 17, sure, but that happens. To even have a chance to win, you have to put yourself in position for a potential letdown. Tommy’s definitely getting lots of practice. He’ll get there eventually!
Bonus question: What's more easily repeatable, Tommy's swing or his meltdowns with the lead?
Unfortunately, Jess Marksbury is grading on a curve, because just when he seemed to have things under command, a series of really loose shots ensued. That said, there's a really good reason that people keeping hoping for the best for him:
A note about Fleetwood in a year dominated by male players acting like three-year-olds who just had their banky sucked out of a window: the PGA Tour’s most famous winless golfer spoke to both NBC and the on-site press before signing autographs for the many fans who were on his side Sunday. Fleetwood kept a smile throughout. We’re lucky to have him.“All these experiences and these close calls, like I say, there's no point in making or allowing them to have a negative effect on what happens next,” he said. “What would be the point? It was a great week. I did a ton of good stuff, and as disappointed as I am, I have to try to find the strength to make it all a positive experience and hopefully next time go again, put myself in that position again and we just go again.”
Any chance Rory and Collin were taking notes?
It's such a small thing, but I respect him all the more because he could have ducked the hard questions, but instead showed us his human side. I think the over-under for my allegiance switch at Bethpage is.....wait for it, 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Earlier if Patrick shows up hatless again....
Shack sums up the Ryder Cup ebb and flow:
On the plus side for Captain Keegan Bradley:
- J.J. Spaun (2nd) may be playing all five sessions if he continues to swing the club like he did in Memphis. Spaun has clinched a top-six spot and looks like a machine under pressure.
- Cameron Young will move up the points list to 14th after a final round 64 and fifth-place finish. It’s hard to imagine how he’s bypassed as a pick
- Ben Griffin registered his ninth top 10 of the year and remains ninth in points.
- Andrew Novak’s T6 finish will keep him in the top 12 points earners with longshot hopes of a Captain’s pick.
- Patrick Cantlay demonstrated signs of life with a 70-67-66-68, T9 finish ahead of the BMW at Caves Valley where he was victorious six years ago.
- Fellow T22 finishers Xander Schauffele and Colin Morikawa each posted a 65 in otherwise ordinary weeks by their high standards. But Morikawa made it through the week without incident using his fifth luggage handler of 2025. Baby steps!
Missing from Captain Bradley's list of positives is anything favorable about Playuer Bradley.
On the flip side:
On the plus side for European Captain Luke Donald:
- The performance of Rose (Win) and Fleetwood (T3). Not that either man’s place on the team was in doubt, but Rose made four birdies in his last five holes and another two birdies in three playoff holes. It’s absurdly impressive stuff from a guy whose should be starting to scout out the Boeing Classic venue at this point in his career.
- Viktor Hovland (T32) posted rounds of 68-67-67 after opening with 74. Nothing great. But nothing to worry about. Unless he fires another coach.
- Ludvig Aberg (T9) recorded his second top 10 since missing the U.S. Open cut.
- Jon Rahm nearly won the LIV Chicago event.
- Sergio Garcia faded down the stretch and just got that much easier to bypass with the final Captain’s pick.
That last one is just a crushing blow.... but at least leaves my options open to switch sides.
Here's a quick snapshot of team standings:
TEAM USA RYDER CUP RANKINGS1. Scheffler 2. Schauffele 3. Spaun 4. Henley 5. DeChambeau 6. English 7. Thomas 8. Morikawa 9. Griffin 10. Bradley 11. McNealy 12. Novak 13. Harman 14. Young 15. Cantlay
TEAM EUROPE RYDER CUP RANKINGS
1. McIlroy 2. Rose 3. Fleetwood 4. MacIntyre 5. Hatton 6. Straka 7. Lowry 8. R. Hojgaard 9. Aberg 10. Hovland 11. Wallace 12. Fitzpatrick 13. Detry 14. Rai 15. J. Smith
There was this silly bit from the TC panel:
The six auto-qualifying spots for the U.S. Ryder Cup team will be set following next week’s BMW Championship, and with a $20 million purse offered at the BMW, there’s still time for some players just outside that cutoff to make a major move and secure their spot. Which player on the bubble most needs a big week to jump into the top six so they don’t have to worry about receiving a captain’s pick?Jack Hirsch: I don’t think there’s any other answer than the defending champion this week, Keegan Bradley. Also known as the team captain. Keegan is 10th on the U.S. points list, and he seems to have softened his stance that he wouldn’t pick himself. I don’t know the math, but I would assume only another win would get him into the top-6. Otherwise, it will be very interesting to watch what he decides regarding picking himself or even relinquishing the captaincy.James Colgan: Keegan is a good answer, but I’m leaning towards Chris Gotterup. He’s been a hard charger in the last few weeks — along with Cameron Young — but a T54 finish in Memphis wasn’t enough to finish the job. He needs another strong performance.Jessica Marksbury: Agree with my colleagues on Keegan and Chris, and will also add Andrew Novak to the list. Novak was ranked 13th on the Ryder Cup points list heading into the FedEx St. Jude, and frankly, was not a name I would have considered for the team. But a T6 finish in Memphis should help his cause, and backing it up with another strong performance next week could end up being a major difference-maker.
Chris Gotterup the two-week wonder? Sheesh!
Dylan Dethier had this extended analysis in his Monday Finish column:
Team USA taking shape.Let’s tier out the Americans.Tier 1: ALREADY LOCKS BEFORE MEMPHIS (3)Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander SchauffeleTier 2: JUST NEEDED PROOF OF LIFE; NOW THEY’RE IN (5)J.J. Spaun (second place), Patrick Cantlay (T9), Russell Henley (T17), Collin Morikawa (T22), Justin Thomas (T28)Tier 3: FINISHED T48 IN MEMPHIS BUT STILL HAS TO BE IN (1)Harris EnglishTier 4: ONE MORE SIGN OF LIFE IN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS COULDN’T HURT (1)Keegan BradleyTier 5: TRENDING UP (2)Cameron Young, Ben GriffinTier 6: ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN (5)Mav McNealy, Sam Burns, Andrew Novak, Chris Gotterup, Jordan SpiethDARK, DARK HORSESAkshay Bhatia, Brian Harman, Kurt Kitayama, and just for fun, Jackson KoivunTier 8: OFFICIALLY OUTWyndham Clark, Daniel Berger, Jake Knapp, Patrick ReedSO IF YOU HAD TO PICK TODAY…Scottie SchefflerJ.J. SpaunXander SchauffeleRussell HenleyBryson DeChambeauHarris English–Justin ThomasCollin MorikawaPatrick CantlayCameron YoungBen GriffinKeegan BradleyUltimately all that chatter amounts to this: You’re skipping past Nos. 11, 12 and 13 on the below list and taking a hot hand (Young) and a proven killer (Cantlay). Up for debate is whether Bradley would like to sacrifice himself in the process…
I think it more likely than not that Bradley leaves himself off the team, unless something special happens this week. Not that any of the replacements will blow your socks off....
The European team is even more locked down, a virtual mirror image of that 2023 squad:
Team Europe's Likely Ryder Cup Roster
Rory McIlroy
Jon Rahm
Sepp Straka
Tyrrell Hatton
Ludvig Aberg
Viktor Hovland
Tommy Fleetwood
Robert MacIntyre
Shane Lowry
Matt Fitzpatrick
Justin Rose
12th pick???
What have those guys ever done?
Harry Hall is getting surprising support for that last spot, although I'd bet on a Hojgaard twin to be named later (which logically would be the one that wasn't on the 2023 team).
That will have to do you for today, and I'm unclear as to the blogging schedule for the remainder of the week. Check back early and often just to be safe.
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