Weekend Wrap - Day Late Edition

To be fair, it was the Tour that finished a day late....

It was quite the weird Sunday of golf, with both major events derailing TV schedules.  Apparently some Yankee fans were angered that NBC stayed with the rain-delayed Travelers in lieu of the Yankees-Re Sox game but, given the Bronx Bombers recent form, that seems more merciful than triggering.

I prefer to discuss other matters, so let's dispense quickly with the actual results.  First, Hartford:

Scottie Scheffler misses short putt to lose Travelers playoff to Viktor Hovland

Twelve hours before Scottie Scheffler stood over a 4-footer to extend a Monday playoff at the Travelers Championship, he had faced a putt twice that length just to force one.

Now, with Hovland in the house at 21 under, Scheffler needed a 8-footer to finish on the same number. With the tournament on the line in the dying moments of Sunday evening, Scheffler drained the putt, following it into the hole with a fist pump and appearing for the moment to seize the momentum heading into a Monday playoff with Hovland.

But then, 12 hours later, there Scheffler was again on the same hole, staring down another putt with the same stakes on the line. It didn’t seem like much — an 8-footer for birdie with a touch of left-to-right break — and yet the enormity of the moment was lost on nobody: a make and the tournament would continue; a miss and Scheffler would head home the loser.

Scheffler seemed at worst very likely to make his putt, but in reality it was more of a coin flip: The Tour make-rate from the same distance is 50% to 54%, depending upon the year (53.55% this year) — and that’s leaving out the stress of putting with a Signature title on the line.

Scheffler stepped to his putt, settled and gave it a good stroke, watching as the ball headed toward the hole. But he’d hit it too hard. The ball caught the left edge of the cup, looping around and out. A lip-out for the loss.

Well, that bears no relation to my 21-hour old memory.  It was to me more like three-four feet, and I don't remember it catching any of the edge.  But, once Viktor's putt lipped in from the low side, my Spidey Sense kicked into the red zone, and I knew Scottie would miss.

The more significant event was the ladies' PGA, but that of course had to be buried at Hazeltine.  Here's Geoff's lede on the event:

Haeran Ryu Wins The KPMG Women's PGA

Of course, women's majors have their own tortured history, as Geoff can't help but introduce in his game account:

It wouldn’t be a major championship at Hazeltine National without some quirky drama.

Chased by Nelly Korda in pursuit of her third straight major victory, Haeran Ryu overcame a rain

delay, front-nine traffic that saw her lose the lead, and only minor signs of rust caused by an unexpected mid-season surgery, to win the KPMG Women’s PGA by two

In Thursday’s opening round—which also happened to be Ryu’s first start in six weeks—the 25-year-old opened with 73, leaving her a record-tying 10 strokes behind 63-shooter Ina Yoon. But with subsequent rounds of 64-68-70, Ryu ended up two clear of Yoon after making up 12 shots in 54 holes.

“Feels like dreams come true right now,” Ryu said after being dowsed by champagne on the 18th green. “I’m so happy right now. And thanks for God.”

The ten-shot deficit Ryu overcame tied the most in any women’s major. If you remember the other one, well, please leave your brain to science.

In the 1964 Women’s Western Open at Scenic Hills CC in Pensacola—yep, that was a major for 37 years—Carol Mann opened with a less than stellar 83 and trailed Ruth Jessen by 10 and went on to win. (Fun Final Golf Jeopardy answer: Scenic Hills is the only Florida course to host a U.S. Women’s Open, won by Donna Caponi in 1969.)

Well, Nelly was never going to win them all, though there wasn't enough chase in her to make things interesting.  And the last thing the LPGA needs is another unknown Korean major winner but, as a wise man said, it is what it is.

Shall we get to some more interesting stuff?  

Open Leftovers - Geoff has posted his usual follow-ups, and we'll start with his Champions:

Shinnecock Hills, the architecture. Ninety-five years after William Flynn’s dramatic reimagining of the property, the course continues to wow with a perfect mix of holes: long, medium, short, uphill, downhill, playing in a mix of directions and featuring just as many moments of engineered brilliance (Nos. 1-8, 14-17) and seemingly found rollicking wonders. incorporating sea-shaped rolling land (9, 10-12, 18). It’s not the course’s fault that modern green speeds, juiced equipment, and other “progress” often turns the focus away from the ingeniousness of each piece in the amazing puzzle. Thankfully, the setup showed off the course this time instead of detracting from one of America’s masterpieces.

OK, that's a take.  I should probably reread my cranky take from last Monday, but I found the week mostly lifeless.  It seemed to this observer that, based on Thursday and Saturday wind forecasts, that the USGA erred on the conservative side this year, and I battled boredom for the four days.

But Geoff giveth and Geoff taketh, as he adds this from his Cutmakers post:

Shinnecock Hills as a modern championship venue. The architecture remains supreme and the course still “tests” the world’s best in our juiced equipment era. But an excessive amount of

energy is required to inject the U.S. Open edge while maintaining the dreaded “fairness.” The USGA setup team and Shinnecock Hills crew did a miraculous job of keeping the course tough and still reasonable to play. But even with putting surfaces kept slower (and therefore bumpier), a majority of the greens see little dispersion in hole placements. The only solution would be to rebuild the greens and deaden slopes to create more cup options. (That should never be a solution for one week of golf every decade or so.) As impressive as the setup was in preventing any questions about equity, it’s hard to imagine how they’ll manage things in 2036 with even greater strides in equipment and agronomic practices. Thankfully, they have time.

Well, isn't that what I was getting at?

This is from his Champions column as well, but the most famous hole on the property was, well, kind of neutered:

The Par-3s. Shinnecock’s sinister one-shotters seemed more reasonable this time thanks to the USGA team’s setup measures and lessons learned from the last two Opens. The infamous Redan 7th played as well as it could, given the way double-digit Stimpmeter speeds force a tight bubble of hole locations. This makes what’s supposed to be an option-filled hole a bit one-dimensional for a course with so many layers. Using the left-hand tee three of four days helped, too.

This is obviously about the broader issues of making any venue capable of holding elite competitions.  But we have an Open Championship at the Old Course next year, and we'll be dealing with these same kinds of issue.  While oceanside golf is to this observer the purest form of the game, one quickly sees the issue with elite competitions.   

There's no solution, so let's get back to our snark, which is at least fun.

This is oddly from his Cutmaker category:

LIV and the U.S. Open. In what increasingly looks like the last U.S. Open awarding spots to LIV-affiliated golfers, six of 13 made the cut. They were a combined +39. Seven others went home early, including Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cameron Smith. The two exemptions graciously granted to the fading operation can now be returned. They’ll be better spent on Final Qualifying spots where the success rate was higher.

Excuse me, Geoff, but LIV had a devastating week.  Bitterly clinging to unrealistic dreams of privately financing their fever dream, they put on a demonstration of what happens to careers when players stop grinding.  Not pretty, is it?

The only LIV guy to show any form was this guy, though he showed other form as well, rendering his placement in the Winners post a major category error:

Joaquin Niemann. Even with an 11 on the card, a bruised ego, and signs he’s surrounded by a

neurotic team that tried to claim coverage of his club hurling was all part of some grand ant-LIV conspiracy, the Chilean posted a final round 66 to finish T7. After an opening 78 with a two-stroke penalty for hurling a club, Niemann played the final three days in seven-under-par thanks to 15 birdies. In becoming the poster child for Code of Conduct policies deemed necessary in the pro game after too many brats have shown a lack of concern for courses or people, Niemann became the first contestant in U.S. Open history to shoot as high as 8-over in the first round and finish the championship as low as 1-over. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the only other time a player made a 10 or higher in the U.S. Open and finished among the Top 10 was back in 1895—when the field went a whopping 11 deep and players didn’t have “teams”. John Reid, who finished 10th, made a 12 on the sixth hole in the second round. Fun fact: his caddie also did not try to call a reporter a liar for simply quoting a witness whose observations were backed up by…Joaquin Niemann.

Good on him for his play after the fact, but how was this anything but a disaster for LIV?

Geoff is certainly onto something here:

Late finishes. Championship golf benefits from “prime time” finishes by showing the sport to larger audiences. But in an era when so many golf fans are playing the game and ticket prices

have hit new highs, it’s increasingly common to see empty grandstands and a vacated property late in the day. Golf fans are morning people and people have lives. The rounds are way too long and not particularly easy for fans to justify hanging around until sunset. In 2026 alone, we’ve seen properties clear out at Augusta National, Aronimink, Riviera, and Shinnecock Hills even when big names are wrapping up play. The look is terrible. Since the perks for television to finish late are well-established, organizations need to ponder cheap, after-4 pm tickets and other perks for fans who stick around. “It was kind of unfortunate that we’re finishing in the dark and people weren’t really out there because there were some obviously key, big moments, and it did get a little flat,” Clark said of Saturday’s finish in front of a few hundred people. “I still felt the moment. It’s just maybe unfortunate that there weren’t all the people there.” That was a kind assessment. It was embarrassing for a U.S. Open. As was the round taking over four-and-a-half hours…in twosomes.

I called the week lifeless, and this was a contributing factor.  Obviously the late finishes work better with Left Bank venues, but I've long been puzzled by the USGA's love of Fathers' Day weekend.  The long days are great for getting your field around the course (and I don't take the large fields for granted these days),  but June is agronomically challenging at many venues and here's another factor in play.

But let's bring the heat with his (Point) Missers post:

Whatever that was. The weekend antics amounted to something far more complex and perverse

than simply chalking up the rudeness to Islanders being Islanders (again). There were no issues the first few days, and much of the crowd was not from Long Island. The galleries seemed pretty wonderful the first few days. They knew good golf and seemed genuinely appreciative to watch the best take on a magnificent course. But Sunday will be remembered as the most bizarre fan behavior in modern golf history (Old Tom v. Willie at Musselburgh has its own special place). The circumstances, allegiances and crowd demographics were different than last fall’s Ryder Cup, making the situation even more perplexing given the supposed lack of partisanship. These were Americans turning on an American playing his own ball and getting no empathy from his fellow playing competitor as jaggoffs hurled insults and entire grandstands cheered misfortune. For all of the overserved nimrods who live a tad too vicariously through the inbred-adjacent grievance machine (who are dear friends of the USGA!), the hostility toward good play was hard to believe. A massive number of seemingly traditional U.S. Open fans applauded poor outcomes and would not acknowledge Clark’s great shots. Early in the round, some of this could be chalked up to the size of his (six-stroke) lead. Maybe fans just wanted a close contest in the same way a tennis crowd can sometimes turn against someone running away with a match. Underlying factors may also include the perception that golfers are overpaid and are now fair game for heckling in the same ways fan abuse has surfaced in other sports. Clark kindly, even admirably, blamed it on the fans rooting for his playing partner pursuing the career Grand Slam (on Father’s Day, ICYMI). But the crowds were hardly sounding like the new Arnie’s Army in willing Scheffler to a win over the pesky young Nicklaus.

Just a really off-putting week.

See what you think of this take:

Scottie Scheffler. Golfers have never been the most dazzling sector of pro athletics. But they’ve always been revered by fans, sponsors, and other athletes because of their graciousness and uncanny tendency to act like no other athletes. Some of the classiness is a product of golf’s slow pace, which allows for sportsmanship instincts to take in, say, a long birdie putt from the fairway and pulling out a white flag to wave in mock surrender. Or conceding a putt that’ll leave the contest tied and the greater purpose of a team match from becoming something chippier than a goodwill exhibition. At Shinnecock, Scottie Scheffler was repeatedly given the opportunity to add himself to the list of all-time greats who also could read the room. Turns out, he ultimately wanted to win the U.S. Open more than sticking up for his fellow competitor and the right thing to do. He chalked up the harassment of Clark up to being in “the arena.” Sure, maybe in ultimate fighting. But this is golf. Sadly, his veteran caddie and man of faith also chose winning at all costs over dignity. Thankfully, Clark rose above it all to prevent the 126th from being remembered as the championship where fans cost someone a win.

Yeah, he's on to something here....  I saw Scotties comments, though I did not see what Ted Scott may have said.  I'm of two minds here, because crowd control isn't Scottie's job.  On the other hand, though, he ends up excusing the inexcusable.  And, come to think of it, what was Scottie saying at Bethpage?

This, I agree, is totally pout of hand:

Mashing and tapping. Any time Scheffler has a lie in the rough, he presses the grass down behind the ball to test the lie instead of accepting his fate. Any time Clark had a short putt, he began using his mallet to smooth the green without actually repairing damage, as the rules require. Scheffler too. The 2019 changes to the Rules destroyed “play it as it lies,” so now it has come to the thing the rules world feared most: players smoothing out their lines because no one wants to call them out.

Scottie is deep into Patrick Reed territory here....

The Schedule -  I haven't blogged the schedule announcement, so let's draft on the Tour Confidential panel to see what we think:

It’s official: beginning in 2028, the PGA Tour will witness the biggest shift in its competitive structure in decades, a plan that’s been long teased and was further rolled out by Tour CEO Brian Rolapp at the Travelers Championship. There’s lots to break down — you can read up on all of it here — but in short it’s two different tracks (a Championship Series and Challenger Series) with more schedule certainty and promotion/relegation. Let’s keep it simple: Will it work? And is it an improvement?

Josh Sens: It doesn’t solve the biggest problem, which is that so many players expect to get paid more than they’re worth in the market. I don’t see that going away. But this is definitely an

improvement in the simplicity at the top and clarity of the schedule. Players know at the start of the season where and when they’ll be playing, and fans do, too. The relegation – and elevation – paths are also more straightforward. The total number of main events will be (slightly) fewer as well, which is good. The world does not need more professional golf. It needs more interesting events. On that front, how can you not like the shift to match play to determine the season-ending playoff winner?

Josh Berhow: It does seem like an improvement, and I’ll admit I wasn’t a huge fan of this a couple of months ago (it seemed like still too much golf). But with more clarity now, I’m optimistic. I like that every event will know where it stands and fans can eventually figure out at which tournaments they’ll see Scottie Scheffler and at which ones they will not. And the match play tweak is a good addition. I can see why they shied away from it over the years but it’s time for a change and some added juice. Maybe they get lucky and get some marquee matchups along the way. Match play is simply too much fun, and too essential to golf’s history, to not be played more on the top tour.

Josh Schrock: It’s for sure an improvement. The PGA Tour was in desperate need of a shakeup that made its competitive model easier to understand instead of just being a large number of individual tournaments that lead to a convoluted postseason event that is hard to understand. Promotion and relegation is a system that is easy for every fan to understand and gives clear stakes to every tournament. Having a defined schedule for players on both tracks is a bonus for them. Having a clear structure that determines the best player of the season, rewards them and then goes into a match-play postseason is a huge win if the Tour can pull it off. I’m very optimistic about these changes and they come at a time when the Tour needs to elevate interest to get as big a chunk of the TV pie as they can as the NFL prepares to renegotiate.

There is so much BS contained in all these discussions, mostly around this issue of where the guys will play. But riddle me this, Batman, did we not know where Tiger would play pre-LIV? They keep telling us that they've solved a problem that never existed. Boy, these guys are good!

We always had important events and lesser events, but what we've lost is the competition amongst the events.  We always saw the fortunes of events ebb and flow, Torrey became important when Tiger played there but has faded since..... Honda had a renaissance for a few years, then waned.... That was an important feature that has been lost.

The schedule certainty helps the players, but is insignificant for the rest of us.  To me, the only bits that really matter are the following:

1. Field size!  120 isn't great, but it's one hell of an improvement over 70.
2. Putting the FedEx Cup out of our misery.

Maybe I'm forgetting something else, but isn't that about all they've done.  The FedEx Cup nonsense was all about their inability to choose between a season-long competition and a shootout, so now the football guy seems to have figured that out.  But the format is very much TBD, and they will quickly discern that match-play has limitations.

Time to nitpick. What don’t you like? Or what still needs work?

Berhow: For this to work I think it needs to be cutthroat and I like that sponsor exemptions are being eliminated, although I’m curious if certain players will be grandfathered in (through career exemptions created) to make sure they are on the more desirable tour. If that’s the case I hope it’s not too generous because that’s how the sponsor exemption craze became an issue to begin with.

Schrock: I agree with Berhow. There seems to potentially be some wiggle room for big name players to drop out but be placed back into the Championship Series through career exemptions. Those need to be few and far between or else the Tour risks having this all fall flat. How good you are at getting the ball in the hole should determine what Tour you are on. I don’t want to see Tony Finau or Jordan Spieth or Popular Player X finish 110 on the Championship Series and not have to go down to the Challenger Series unless there’s a good reason. Career exemptions should have a high bar and be able to be used one time.

Sens: Good points above. On a non-structural note, no serious effort to improve pro golf is complete without addressing the problem of pace of play. The game, like baseball before it, needs to pick it up. Rolapp’s from the NFL. Maybe they could institute a pass rush. At the very least, enforce the play clock mercilessly and without exception. I hope an announcement like that is coming next.

Good catch on the Career Exemption bit, especially since we saw how they abused the Sponsor Exemptions to buy off the Peter Malnatis of the world when they needed their votes.

I always look at who the Tour is screwing when they make these changes.  For instance, hasn't Korn Ferry just taken it in the shorts.  They put up their millions to be the principal feeder tour for the PGA Tour, and now the Tour itself is inserting another level above them.  You effed up Korn Ferry, you trusted them.

The sponsor exemptions is also interesting, given the number of long-term contracts in which sponsors have the right to reward their endorsers.  Oh, you thought you had a contract?  Isn't that precious?

Which type of players are happiest with this schedule, and which aren’t?

Sens: The Track 1 guys are clearly the happiest as they’re guaranteed to be playing in the biggest events throughout the year. For the guys outside the top, it’s obviously the opposite. Eliminating sponsors exemptions (another good move) can’t be welcome news to certain players who have relied on their popularity more than their performance to get into events.

Schrock: I think the Track 1 guys are happy because of the defined schedule and the purses they will play for, but this is a big win for players on Track 2, especially those who would be playing on the Korn Ferry Tour or splitting their time between the two. The $4 million purses on the Challenger Series will be a big increase from the KFT and the Challenger Series gives them a clear competitive avenue to get where they want. There has to be enough churn between Track 1 and 2 to make it right, but I think almost everyone should be happy with this development outside of the players who have been feasting on sponsor exemptions, made-cut exemptions and career money exemptions while playing bad golf. They won’t be pleased.

Berhow: It’s great for the middle tier of the top-track guys (are you following?) because they are safe on the most lucrative tour. I don’t think Scottie and Rory and those guys are much worried about dropping down. Although it puts pressure on the guys closer to the 100 range. For a lot of them, their spot on one tour vs. the other has significant ramifications.

C'mon, they took care of the same guys they always take care of, themselves.

I guess let's finish with the TC:

One other juicy nugget: the Tour’s postseason will introduce match play and finish at a “prestigious” course the Tour wouldn’t otherwise use to host a full-field event. Do these mystery venues add any intrigue for your average fan?

Sens: Venues definitely matter, and not just for architecture junkies. The better courses pose more interesting questions, which makes for more interesting competitions, even if you don’t give a hoot about design. The rumors of the likes of Pine Valley, Cypress and Seminole being in the picture seem like just that. Rumors. And besides, I actually think it makes more sense for them to go to high-pedigree resort courses, somewhere the average fan can actually play. That formula works nicely at Pebble, Kohler, Pinehurst and such. There are others.

Berhow: I like the high-end public option, Sens. And venues matter, but honestly not just for fans but for players. Most of these guys are bigger golf nerds than the audience watching, so they’d love to change it up as well. Cypress Point, Pine Valley, whatever — they’d look great on TV. And many of the ones rumored are great match-play courses too.

Schrock: Venues matter a ton for the players and the fans. As excited as I am about the match play championship, that’s something the Tour has to nail with the venues it chooses. If it leaks the possibility of Pine Valley, Seminole, Cypress etc., only to end up playing at East Lake, TPC Southwind etc., that will be a big loss. I think a rotation of these exclusive courses (if they are interested), along with prestigious courses, or even unique courses we’ve rarely seen like Chambers Bay, is the right combination the Tour is looking for to nail this format. But, in short, yes, venues are the most important part of this gambit in my eyes.

To me let's just enjoy them putting a bullet in the odious FedEx Cup.   But everything else remains on the come line.....

But maybe the funniest note on the subject was this:

Tiger Woods said little in return to public eye but made his presence felt

I'll allow you to read that on your own, but apparently that presence makes itself known to a precious few.

Phil In Phull -  Phil is enjoying his latest news cycle, which caused the NY Post to remind us all of the the Pat Perez incident.  Well, really the Ashley Perez incident, as explained herin:

Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson is facing fresh scrutiny after a new report detailed

allegations that he made an inappropriate advance toward the wife of fellow golfer Pat Perez during a PGA Tour event in 2015, according to The New York Post.

The claims were published by golf journalist Alan Shipnuck in a report for Skratch. Mickelson's representatives have strongly disputed parts of the allegations while acknowledging that he has previously apologized for past mistakes.

It's a lie, yanno, unless it's one of things he's apologized for...But care to see our hero in action?

According to Shipnuck's report, the incident allegedly took place during the PGA Tour's Barclays tournament at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey in 2015.

Mickelson had reportedly invited Perez and his then-wife, Ashley, to stay at a villa near the course. The report claimed the three were drinking wine on the patio when Perez briefly left to use the restroom.

During that time, Ashley alleged that Mickelson showed her a nude photograph of himself on his phone. According to the report, Mickelson then allegedly told her: “I’m going to leave my bedroom door open tonight. When Pat falls asleep I want you to come see me.”

What a guy! 

One of the recurring themes with Phil is the nature of his apologies and explanations.  In the latest bit he's hinted that there's video of the incident, but I suspect we'll never se it.  But this bit had me doing spit takes:

Shipnuck reported that Mickelson later apologized to Perez on two separate occasions. One apology allegedly occurred at the Madison Club in Southern California. Another reportedly took place during a 26-minute phone call after Perez remarked on a 2022 podcast that he had: “a different hate for Phil than most people.”

According to the report, Mickelson alternated between expressing remorse and claiming he could not fully remember the details of the incident. At one point, Shipnuck wrote that Mickelson suggested he may have been only partially clothed in the photograph rather than fully nude.

The report added: “Without admitting what he had done, Mickelson apologized directly to both Pat and Ashley and said, ‘I can’t tell you how disgusted and embarrassed I am in myself.’”

It never happened, but if it did I was only topless....  This is our Phil and this is how he treats his friends.  Any questions?

How Tiger and Phil have fallen.  What a sad moment in our game.

That's it for today, kids.  I'll see you when I see you.

Weekend Wrap - Summer of Our Discontent Edition

Wow, I suppose we should just console ourselves with Rory's Masters win, because absolutely nobody had the Aaron Rai-Wyndham Clark parlay.  With only one major remaining, we're left to debate whether that's a good thing or the other kind.

It's hard to fault anyone.  The USGA picked the most classic of venues (the only founding club of the USGA still able to handle elite play), set the course up appropriately for the anticipate winds, yet delivered a lifeless week of golf.  It's not that the leaderboard didn't feature interesting names, but rather that the play seemed, well, I'm gonna go with lifeless again.

Combined with the aggressive boorishness of the crowds, quite the shock on Long Island, and it all just feels dispiriting.... 

Where to start?  Anywhere but there, so how about Geoff's characteristic numerical summary:

• -4: Winning score to par by Wyndham Clark (64-69-70-73-276)
• 66: Low final round score by Joaquin Niemann, Ludvig Aberg
  
• 67: Final round score of runner-up Sam Burns
• 17: Final round scores in the 60s
• 71.389: Final round scoring average (Par 70)
• 3rd: Lowest final round in U.S. Open history behind 2019 at Pebble Beach (71.190) and 2015 at Chambers Bay (71.293).
• 22: U.S. Open rounds at Shinnecock Hills
• 1st: Sunday’s scoring was the lowest on average in the history of the U.S. Opens played at Shinnecock Hills
• 70-70-70-70: Keith Mitchell’s four rounds (T4), first in U.S. Open history to post four even par rounds
• 3: Players finished under par after 72 holes (3 over five previous
• T23: Position of low amateur Ryder Cowan (68-72-72-73) and Jackson Koivun (72-71-74-68)
• 11: Stimpmeter speeds (Greens single cut)
• 7,419: Final round yardages
• 73: High temperature under mostly sunny skies, dry winds S/SW occasionally gusting into 10-15 m.p.h.

No clue what Geoff means by that 22 rounds at Shinny?  Five modern Opens total twenty rounds.... did they play only two rounds in 1896?  

Now, about those crowds.  Here's one take:

Wyndham Clark had the world against him. He won the U.S. Open anyway

But even Clark wasn’t prepared for Sunday at the U.S. Open and the one-sided nature of it. When

Clark and Scheffler arrived to the first tee at 2:24 p.m., they received a nice ovation; it even seemed nonpartisan. But that did not last.

Fans sang “Happy Birthday” to Scheffler and waited patiently for this final group to put balls in the air. Scheffler hit first, then Clark. Then someone yelled before Clark’s ball had even reached its apex.

“Crash and burn, Wyndham!”

On Clark’s approach from the 1st hole, someone in the Founder’s Club, the luxe balcony hospitality tent left of the 1st fairway, yelled for the leader’s ball to get in the fescue. On the par-3 2nd, Clark missed well left and then had his chip roll slightly over the green. Some fans urged it to keep rolling.

“It’s brutal,” said one volunteer, looking behind him at the grandstands in disgust. “Cheering like that for a bad shot?”

It didn’t stop.

Before Clark teed off on 4, a fan yelled, “Don’t choke, Wyndham!” and was promptly removed by security. A couple more fans were reportedly sent home during the day as well. When Clark hit his approach, he seemed to receive a nice applause. It was such a rarity up until that moment that this reporter — who did not see where the ball landed — made note of it, only to find out the ball had landed 20 yards right of the green. That’s what they cheered for.

Don't know about that.  Seems like he was sufficiently prepared to, yanno, get it done.

Here's an alternative take:

What the U.S. Open crowd got wrong about Wyndham Clark

I do not claim to know much about Clark. I have seen what was reported about his behavior at the U.S. Open last year at Oakmont, when he destroyed a sacred locker room after a lousy round of

golf and later seemed disinterested in expressing remorse. I have seen his bad swings result in temper tantrums, including once accidentally narrowly avoiding striking a volunteer (those expressions of remorse were more sincere). And I have certainly seen the rehabilitation efforts he has undergone in recent months to shed the stigma that he is a hothead, or worse, a Bad Guy.

But after watching him on Sunday at Shinnecock, I do know this: Wyndham Clark has some serious backbone.

In case you weren’t already aware, it is very hard to win a major championship. It might be said that it is hardest to win a U.S. Open. A national championship victory is an experience tantamount to waterboarding — except here the drowning is not simulated. You do not win an Open. You endure through one, flailing wildly through a vast ocean of failure and disaster to eventually emerge with a score lower than your competitors. Very often, it takes every last ounce of you.

This is because the U.S. Open is the ultimate test of yourself. It reveals things that you wouldn’t dare say out loud. It presses you where you are weakest. It shows you who you really are.

To win a major championship the way that Clark did on Sunday at Shinnecock — in which he was competing not only against himself but against all of Shinnecock — was a reflection of Clark’s innermost self that not even he could paper over.

So how’d he do it?

He did it laughing.

Yeah, he was a laugh riot out there.  But the point is to deflect it, and obviously they found a way of doing that....

From Geoff:

Hubert Green played the final four holes of the 1977 U.S. Open under a death threat. Clark played the final 18 holes against Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, and a pitiful fan base refusing, en masse, to acknowledge a two-time U.S. Open champion’s clutch play.

To the credit of USGA security, efforts were made early in the round to crack down on fans crying out zingers like “Don’t choke” and other nonsense. Clark opened in three-over-par 38.

“Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win,” Clark said. “It’s pretty rare in an Open Championship or a major to have fans kind of boo against your shots or cheer for bad shots.

Looked like the USGA was far more proactive than the PGA of America, though that's quite the low bar.  Not least because the PGA of America wanted the chaos, given the vastly different nature of the events.

So, care for a review of Clark's "issues"?

2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow

One month prior to his incident at Oakmont, Clark received backlash for dangerously throwing his driver after a subpar tee shot. The driver hit a T-Mobile sponsor sign (the same sponsor Clark's hat represented) and was just a few feet away from a wind flag attendant. Here is a video of the outburst on hole 16 at Quail Hollow.

And, of course, this one cited all week:

2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont

During last year's U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Plum, Pennsylvania, Clark made headlines due to a post-round outburst. In Oakmont's historic locker room, which strives to maintain its original 1903 design, photos surfaced of a locker door bashed in.

Clark took his anger out on a locker door after he missed the U.S. Open cut, shooting eight over the first two days. Here is a photo of the aftermath from Clark's outburst at the storied Oakmont locker room.

There's pictures and video at the link.  That PGA club toss will get your attention, as it really could have taken out a volunteer.  Also, amusingly, he took out a TMobile sign, amusing because he currently sports a TMobile logo on his cap.

I'm ignoring a stupid comment from the Masters Par-3 contest, but I do want to add this one:

Bay Hill, March 2024, third round, 18th hole, cameras all over him. Clark is in the third-to-last group, playing with Scottie Scheffler. He hits his tee shot in the juicy right rough, yards from the lake there. His ball settles deep in it. He has, and this is a term of the art, nothing. One play: hack it out.

But Clark went in there with the heavy flange of a wedge, shoving it behind the ball four or more times. (The rule book says you can touch that grass “lightly” — the rules want to make sure you are not improving your lie.) While doing so, the ball — to Brandel Chamblee, to me, likely others — seemed to move. Your ball can’t move when you’re addressing it. If it does, it’s a shot and the ball goes back to where it was. That’s why Jack Nicklaus hovered — hovering is not addressing. Tour rules officials conferred and decided not to give Clark a penalty. I was not the only person flabbergasted by that.

“The ball clearly moved,” Chamblee said in the Golf Channel broadcast that day. “He clearly didn’t ground his club lightly. You begin to wonder: What does a Tour player have to do to get a penalty?”

Amen, Brandel.

Have you seen that clip of Patrick Reed at the Barclays?

So, is he any worse than Sergio, who still seems welcome in polite society?  PReed is about to be welcomed back on Tour, so can we at least be consistent?  He also didn't go to LIV with all the other a******es, so that should be a mark in his favor.

I know what this game can do to us, not that any of the above can be excused.  I actually remember liking his apology after the PGA incident, because he spoke of having to earn our trust back.  The Oakmont incident came far too soon after that, and his reaction to it was off-putting.  The apology came too late, but (operating from memory) I seem to remember it included some sense that the club should have kept the incident quiet.  Kinda like Bryson berating a Golf Channel cameraman for hurting his brand......   All those years of the Tour not disclosing disciplinary actions has created a generation of spoiled brats, eh?  Who coulda seen that one coming?

Shall we see what the Tour Confidential panel wants to talk about?  Again, you don't seem to be on board with this rhetorical thing:

Wyndham Clark won the 126th U.S. Open, taking a commanding six-stroke lead into the final round and ultimately besting Sam Burns by one stroke at Shinnecock Hills. How did Wyndham run away from the field so easily the first three days and then hang on, even when it looked grim, on Sunday?

Josh Sens: Clark’s putting was deadly all week. But in those opening rounds, he himself said that

the driver was key, that when the big stick is going well, he’s tough to beat. It probably helped that Shinnecock, like Los Angeles CC before it, was set up with wide fairways. Clark found a lot of short grass in those opening rounds. And then, when his tee-to-green game got sloppy in the closing rounds, his putter remained en fuego.

Zephyr Melton: He had a red-hot putter, got some fortunate breaks when he hit it astray, and hit some seriously impressive shots when things got tight. Winning wire-to-wire is always impressive, but to do it in U.S. Open conditions at Shinnecock is on another level.

Josh Schrock: He took advantage of the good end of the wind draw on Thursday, and did the same late Saturday when it died down. He built his lead that way and then leaned on a ridiculously clutch putter to bail him out when needed. To win a U.S. Open, especially wire-to-wire at Shinnecock, you’re going to need everything working in your favor; that includes making a number of par and bogey saves. Wyndham did just enough to keep the train on the tracks on Sunday and get it in the house.

I didn't see Saturday's round, in which he might have won it by building that lead.  I do think they're selling short how well he played the back nine on Sunday, pulling himself together in the nick of time.

Due to some past unsavory headlines — a rules controversy, club-throwing incident and damaging an Oakmont locker — Clark has had to work to reshape his image. Although some argue lots of golfers have tempers. Do you think the criticism of Clark is fair? And will this help turn it around?

Sens: It’s one thing to have a temper. It’s another to trash someone else’s property. Clark earned his reputation. He acted like a toddler on more than one occasion. But this week, he said and did all the right things, and he was gritty as all get out when it mattered. Sports fans like that, and I’m sure Clark earned some admirers along the way. Whether he’s actually changed, who knows? But since when has the American public ever demanded that its celebrities/athletes actually be the people they present themselves to be?

Melton: The criticisms after locker-gate are definitely fair, especially considering his lack of accountability and passive apologies. But in the world of sports, winning cures everything, and adding another trophy to his resume won’t hurt.

Schrock: How do we define fair? Sports and sports fans, by and large, are not rational or fair. Golf has lacked villains since most of them left for LIV, and if Clark can somewhat fill that void, then that’s good for the sport. It wasn’t just about him smashing a locker or almost hitting a volunteer with a driver at the PGA or mashing the grass down behind the ball at the API. It’s all of it. The fans went a little overboard cheering against him Sunday. But fans don’t like runaway winners, for the most part. They either want drama or a massive win from a superstar. Add in Clark’s transgressions, and you get a guy who isn’t exactly a fan favorite and a New York crowd that will try and will a train wreck into existence. Will a wire-to-wire win at Shinnecock help change that? Does it really matter? Probably not.

Fair?  I don't even know what the question is going for, as how could either of those anger issues be ignored?

To me, the locker incident is that far more troubling, because it wasn't in the moment.  You finish a round and sign your scorecard and, a half-hour later, you're destroying property?  That said, his career body of work doesn't hold a candle to Sergio's.  Wake me up when Wyndham spits into a cup or damages greens that others still have to play...

Scottie Scheffler, who turned 30 on Sunday, came up short in his first attempt at the career Grand Slam. What gives you optimism he won’t have to wait long to complete the slam, and what gives you pause?

Sens: The only thing that gives me pause is that it’s very hard to win majors. Beyond that, nothing. He’s the best player in the world. He’s healthy. And unlike some other generational talents, he does not seem prone to sabotaging himself on or off the course. If it’s not next year, it will be soon enough.

Melton: He’s got the highest floor of any player in the game, and even when he’s got his C+ game (like he did this week), he keeps himself in contention. It’s only a matter of time before he knocks one off.

Schrock: He’s just always around the top of the leaderboard. He hasn’t had his A game all year and is always in the mix on Sunday. As long as he continues to have the highest floor in golf, he’ll have more chances to get this done. But while we can all sit here and say that Scheffler should have many more chances to win the career Grand Slam, sometimes things aren’t that neat. We don’t know what the future holds, where his game will be at each time this tournament comes around, whether or not he’ll get the bad side of a draw here or an unlucky bounce there. These opportunities actually don’t happen all the time. It felt like Sunday was a big missed opportunity.

The whole week was a huge missed opportunity.  I don't know what's going on with the guy, who seems exceedingly cranky.  The ball-striking still seems elite, he just looks clueless with the putter.

Joaquin Niemann received a two-shot penalty for throwing a golf club during his first round at Shinnecock Hills. No video has surfaced, although The Athletic reported Niemann was angry he didn’t get free relief from fire ants after hitting two balls out of bounds, kicked a flag used to mark his ball and some nearby sand before throwing his club approximately 50 yards. The penalty falls under a new code of conduct policy to police such things. But without any video, do you think the penalty was too severe? Why not just a warning?

Sens: Let’s not fall into the Instagram-era trap of thinking that if it wasn’t captured on video, it didn’t happen. Clearly, there were witnesses, and Niemann didn’t deny what he did. If anything, he should be happy the rules didn’t call for him to be booted from the tournament.

Melton: The act must have been particularly egregious to warrant a penalty without prior warnings. Unfortunately, without any video evidence, we’ll never know exactly what happened.

Schrock: I don’t have a problem with the penalty as much as I do with the arbitrary nature in which it’s given out. Niemann didn’t deny any of the reported parts of the incident. On Sunday, he joked it was a pretty good throw while also saying he felt the USGA was being intentionally harsh on him. Frustration happens, but there has to be a line. The problem is that we don’t have a clear idea of where that line is and what constitutes crossing it. Jon Rahm drop-kicked his driver down the fairway without penalty. Niemann threw his club away from people and got dinged two strokes. I think the way punishments are given out and the lack of transparency about why they are or aren’t given is a bigger issue than Niemann’s individual incident.

I have no clue what happened, but it's amusing to hear Joaquin Niemann thinking he's important enough to be singled out by the USGA.  Who does he think he is, Talor Gooch?

What was your most memorable takeaway from the 126th U.S. Open?

Sens: That as tough as Shinnecock is to play, it might be even tougher to set up. A lot of agony and effort went into getting this one right, both in maintenance practices and in public communications about the conditions. No one wanted the course to become the story. But to some extent, it became anyway. To the point where I heard a superintendent say that if it takes so much sweat and stress to get the course right, it might not be a suitable modern U.S. Open venue.

Melton: That even when Shinnecock is “easy,” it’s still damn hard. With all the complaining we saw on social media, you’d think the winning score was 30 under! Despite being gettable, only three players finished the week in the red. What a test that place presents.

Schrock: Going to go off the wall here. With Wyndham putting the tournament in a chokehold from basically Thursday evening on, my biggest takeaway is what a bad time it was for LIV to have a dud of a week. As the league pitches outside investors to get money to exist in 2027, its two biggest stars completely no-showed from the good side of the draw. The 78 Jon Rahm shot on Friday was shocking and Bryson DeChambeau quickly exited the proceedings on Friday morning. Bad time to have a bad week.

Shinny is one of the truly great places in golf,  but I'll admit to qualms about it as an Open venue.  Seeing the USGA over-correct in the face of those Thursday wind forecasts, and knowing the unique agronomic issues, is it worth it?  It still challenged the guys, but wasn't it a tad, yanno, boring?

This is a good one to go out on:

Who won the week without winning the week?

Sens: Tom Kim. He qualified his way in, then guaranteed himself a spot in next year’s U.S. Open. Not bad for a guy who’d all but vanished from the radar.

Melton: Keith Mitchell. He opened the tournament with a 41 on his opening nine, bounced back with a 29 coming home, and then turned in three more rounds of level-par play. Pretty solid week, I’d say.

Schrock: Jackson Koivun and Miles Russell. The future of U.S. golf both made the cut and played the weekend together for both rounds. Koivun, who will now turn pro, tied for low amateur, and Russell, who is 17 (!), acquitted himself much better than a number of golf’s big names. The future is bright. Put them out first at Adare Manor, Furyk.

Those first two are worthy.  Mitchell's 41-29 might have been my single favorite moment from the week.

Surprised no one mentioned Sam Burns, who finished stronger than I've seen him do previously.  

Hope you enjoyed.  I need to get a move on, so have a great week. 

Weekend Wrap - Bel Air/Shinny Week Edition

I did watch quite a bit of golf this weekend, but likely not what most folks were watching.... The header will give it away.

The Ladies of Bel Air - Team match play just rocks.  There aren't a wide range of options to use the format, but it makes the amateur game far more interesting than the professional counter-part, at least on certain weeks.

Farah O'Keefe goes 5-0 and the U.S. routes GB&I in singles to reclaim the Curtis Cup

It couldn’t have been more appropriate that Farah O’Keefe was the one to secure the winning point for the U.S. to win the Curtis Cup at Bel-Air Country Club.

O’Keefe—the 21-year-old star and unquestioned leader—was told by captain Meghan Stasi in one of the famous Bel-Air tunnels that the U.S. would win the Curtis Cup. That was all O’Keefe needed to finish in style. She closed out the match and beat Charlotte Naughton, 2 and 1, securing the victory with a short putt on the 17th hole. Her teammates were celebrating at the 17th, and she joined them and jumped up and down with her teammates in a circle.

The Americans won the trophy back from GB&I, which won two years ago at Sunningdale. The U.S. has long dominated the event and a GB&I team hadn’t won on American soil in 40 years. That didn’t change Sunday with the Americans dominating in the 13-7 final tally.

Except that it wasn't a route, as Geoff explains:

The 44th Curtis Cup looked headed toward a down-to-the-wire finish until clutch back-nine play by the USA carried Captain Meghan Stasi’s team to a 13-7 win at Bel-Air Country Club.

While the final score will look like a dominant win, Sunday’s eight singles matches were all tight in a perfect reflection of the week’s intense matches in Southern California.

In fact, at times the board looked like a sea of (Carolina) blue during yesterday's singles.   And while it wasn't the craziest of Sundays, there were some crazy swings in individual matches, with two four-up leads squandered:

• Patience Rhodes recorded the first point for GB&I after going four down through seven holes against USA’s Kelly Xu, who never fell more than one down over the back nine in a wild opening match. Rhodes had to make a long par-putt to retain her lead and the first point. Xu enjoyed an unusual day in team match play history. She received her diploma before Sunday’s singles matches. While Xu might have wished she could walk with her fellow Cardinal, they walked out on Sundar Puchai despite the Google CEO never mentioning AI. Xu may have lost but she’s the first Stanford grad to ever get her degree from a USGA President and on the Swinging Bridge. Not bad!

• USA’s Jasmine Koo fell down four through 11 holes but miraculously birdied five of her next six holes before making par at the last to overtake Nellie Ong 1UP. The 20-year-old USC All-American from Cerritos, California recorded USA’s first and possibly most important point of the Singles to blunt the sea of powder blue on the board.

Mostly I just thought Bel-Air looked spectacular.  We've had quite the George C. Thomas tour the last few years, with Opens at Riviera and LACC, and that U.S. Women's Amateur at this very venue in 2023.

Geoff's notes on the venue are unfortunately limited by his paywall, here's as far as we can ride with him:

There might not be a venue more difficult logistically to hold an event played with crowds and the quirks that come with a team match play event. So it was especially delightful to see Bel-Air and the USGA pull off a special week in the hills above Los Angeles.

The remarkable golf course conditioning provided by Justin DiPeppo’s crew brought out the best attributes of the 2017 restoration project that returned an intelligent purpose to so many holes. Along with fun setup touches by the USGA’s team and surprisingly tough hole locations, Bel-Air showed how much better match play is when contested on something offering just enough of a say to spice things up.

The other fun bit of note was this:

Congratulations, Kelly Xu! 🎓

Missing @Stanford's commencement to represent the USA at the Curtis Cup, Xu got a special graduation ceremony of her own at Bel-Air Country Club before Sunday's singles matches. pic.twitter.com/UT2Qhavj6R

— USGA (@USGA) June 14, 2026

As explained in Golfweek:

Xu missed walking this weekend with teammate Megha Ganne, who made her professional debut last week at the U.S. Women's Open, and former Cardinal Rose Zhang, who officially walked this weekend but graduated after the last quarter.

Those Cardinal girls have always been close.

Even better than this great week is what lies ahead:

Future Curtis Cups in the United States: National Golf Links of America, in Southampton, N.Y., in 2030. Pine Valley Golf Club, in 1934, followed by Bandon Dunes (2038) in Oregon, Cypress Point Club (2042), and Seminole Golf Club (2046).

The only cruelty are those latter dates.... At the time of that Seminole match, your humble blogger will be..... let's see, carry the one and.... Nah, let's not go there.

Buddy Trip - How much of the Canadian Open would you guess your humble blogger watched?  Whatever you guessed, you're high.  In fact, the only golf I watched from Canada this week was the conclusion of that playoff in the U.S. Open qualifier Monday night.  It featured Max Homa, William Mouw and Max McGreevy, though it didn't end well for that first Max.

That was of slight interest, perhaps.  I had been wondering how the USGA would react, given the changes at Jack's event.  The most important qualifying site was always Columbus, OH, the Monday after the Memorial.  Problem is, with the Tour focused on micro-fields, the guys that need to qualify no longer have tee times at Muirfield Village.  So, instead of Columbus the day after, they had all those guys play in Ontario the week of the RBC, which makes sense.

I'm just blogging this because Bud Cauley is a former phenom/good guy that's endured setbacks, and this will be a popular victory:

It took longer than Bud Cauley ever dreamed. But finally, after 239 starts and years of uncertainty, he's a PGA Tour winner

It’s not uncommon these days to see tears of joy from the winner of a PGA Tour event, but if

anyone deserved a good cry, it was Bud Cauley after his long-awaited victory Sunday in the RBC Canadian Open.

Battling back from the golfing wilderness is something plenty of players endure, but Cauley had to fight hard for a number of years just to get back to the wilderness. Cauley's two-stroke win over fast-closing Matt Fitzpatrick in Caledon, Ontario, was the culmination of rebuilding his game to the highest level after doctors finally rebuilt his body sufficiently to pursue the career he always dreamed of having.

Cauley, 36, won in his 239th career start on the PGA Tour and 15 years after he turned pro following three years as a first-team All-American at the University of Alabama. It also came almost eight years to the day he nearly died in a one-car crash in Dublin, Ohio, following the second round of the 2018 Memorial Tournament.

It was June 1 that year when Cauley went to a nearby pub with former NHL player James Wisniewski and two other Columbus area acquaintances. One of those men, a local surgeon named David Crawford, was driving and lost control of his car about a mile from Muirfield Village Golf Club. The car struck a driveway culvert, went airborne, hit a number of trees and came to rest in a ditch. Seated in the rear passenger seat, Cauley was most seriously injured because the car struck the tree on passenger side, crumpling the door. Cauley suffered a concussion, six broken ribs on his right side, a punctured lung and a broken left leg.

Miraculously, he returned to competitive golf in September, but after playing in the season-opening Safeway Open in 2020, he had to step away to address lingering soreness in his ribcage. Thus began an odyssey of surgeries and complications that sidelined him for 3 1/2 years, until the 2024 WM Phoenix Open.

It might be a second tier event, but it was won by a first-class survivor.

Perhaps the best part of the Bud Cauley story is the comparison and contrast with the one that will follow it.  A reminder of the fact that people that had everything couldn't be satisfied with it, but a guy like Cauley just gets on with things.  But the most important thing to the top players over the last few years is to make the climb harder for the Bud Cauleys of the world.

Bottom Story of the Day - This is quite ugly, though I'm really not sure how to react.  As I understand, the original reporting is by Joel Beall at Golf Digest, although that is behind their silly paywall.  Here's a summary thereof:

According to Golf Digest, a female employee at The Farms Golf Club accused Mickelson of making “nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact” before a round of golf earlier this

spring. The publication stated that the employee reported the incident to supervisors, prompting a club investigation.

Golf Digest reported that officials located Mickelson during his round, confronted him regarding the complaint, and instructed him to leave the property before completing play.

The Farms Golf Club later issued a statement to Golf Digest confirming action had been taken.

“The Farms Golf Club is committed to maintaining a golf club environment that is safe, respectful and reflects the highest standards of conduct,” the club said.

The statement added: “Following a staff member report of member misconduct, the Club provided immediate and ongoing support to the staff member, conducted a thorough independent investigation of the incident and took decisive action. This individual is no longer a member of The Farms Golf Club.”

Golf Digest stated that multiple sources identified the individual as Mickelson. The publication also reported that a spokesperson for Mickelson later confirmed he had resigned from the club.

Phil Mickelson declined to comment directly on the allegations. However, a spokesperson previously told Golf Digest: “Any misunderstanding has been cleared up. Phil continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf.”

This is a Wow! because of it's location, the presumption being that this is how he behaves at home (this excerpt doesn't cover it, but The Farms is in Rancho Santa Fe) among those that know him best.  And this is how he behaves amid a family health crisis as well, one that most of us assume involves Amy.

That said, I'm always a bit queasy about such allegations against famous men, because.... well, you know the because.  And the club wasted no time, which makes it feel like it must have been expecially egregious.

Here's the inevitable pushback:

His attorney, Tom Clare, told Golf Digest that there is video evidence that will exonerate Mickelson of any wrongdoing. "There is a great deal of misinformation circulating and, while Phil’s full attention is devoted to a private family health matter, he has retained defamation counsel and is determined to hold accountable any publication or individual trafficking in speculation or false rumors." According to the Golf Digest reporting, The Farms Golf Club claims that there is no camera footage of the incident.

The incident occurred at The Farms Golf Club, in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Mickelson is no longer a member of the golf club and was removed from the golf course on the day of the incident. According to Golf Digest, a female employee accused Mickelson of, "nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact" prior to a round. The incident was reported to supervisors and Mickelson was asked to leave the property in the middle of his round.

Anonymous sources were cited by Golf Digest about the unwanted contact with a female employee at the club. While not much has been divulged from the situation, a spokesperson for Mickelson did tell Golf Digest, “Any misunderstanding has been cleared up. Phil continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf.”

The Farms Golf Club also provided a statement to Golf Digest. The statement included the following about the situation. "Following a staff member report of member misconduct, the Club provided immediate and ongoing support to the staff member, conducted a thorough independent investigation of the incident and took decisive action. This individual is no longer a member of The Farms Golf Club."

I for one take great comfort from the fact that any misunderstanding has been cleared up..... Good to know.

That said, Phil seems to have stepped in it on his way tot he first tee.  While the club is citing a "thorough independent investigation", said "thorough independent investigation" seems to have been concluded before Phil made the turn....  It sounds like it was so awful that there is no benefit of the doubt?  And, yet, despite my contempt for the man, I can't bring myself to believe that he could be so reckless amongst his peeps.

And, to repeat myself, with Amy perhaps not well....  Of course, this happens as the circus heads to Shinnecock.  Last time there you'll be constantly reminded about Phil swiping at that moving ball.  That's Phil in a nutshell, but I'll just add this reminder, that after he had beclowned himself at Shinny, he put Amy in front of the microphones to take the heat.  So perhaps Amy being ill is just an inconvenience for the man....

Exit Strategy - Scot land is about eight weeks out, but it's never too early to start anticipating it.  I just happened across this delightful video of one of my favorite spots in the Auld Grey Toon:

The Himalayas are a hoot, but mostly I just like the fact that there's a Ladies Putting Club that's older than all golf clubs in the U.S.

I do hope we score on the Daily Ballot this year, but I also want to get up the St. Andrews on one of our Sundays, when the Old Course is a town park and dog walk.  

I will try to do some blogging as we glide towards Shinny.  No promises, but hopefully good faith intentions will suffice.  Have a great week.

Weekend Wrap - Summer of Nelly (Part III)

OK, I'll admit it, a "Back in the Saddle" header might have been more appropriate....  It has been a while, I'll concede.

Even allowing for my back-sliding into a once-a-week golfer, my absence requires some explanation.  Two factors involved, a family matter of some urgency required my focus, then a trip to Portland, OR to see the bride's family.  No promises going forward, but this is an attempt to give you a reason to check my homepage.

I did actually watch some golf yesterday, flipping between the finish in Ohio and the drama on the Pacific.  The latter being the far more significant....

Nelly In Full - It's trite to note that the hardest thing to do in golf (or any endeavor, really) is to win when you're supposed to do so, but it's triteness is a result of its accuracy.  I don't think we can appreciate the weight that is on this slender woman's shoulders, as there is no one else that can move the LPGA dial even a hair.  

It's similarly trite to note that venues matter, and this was quite the get for the USGA, with the added benefit of those prime time viewing windows.  With Nelly in contention and beautiful California weather, those ratings have to be boffo, no?  We'll see, the worry is that the combination of Nelly's slow start and an audience that doesn't know how to spell USA might not have stumbled upon the early round coverage....

As usual, Geoff has much to offer, including his numerical summaries:

Nelly Korda By The Numbers

• 73-67-67-69: Korda’s four rounds

• 276: Nelly Korda’s winning total

• 276: Ben Hogan’s winning total in the 1948 U.S. Open at Riviera

• 7: Stroke deficit after the first round, tying the largest ever to go on and win (Park, 2017), Mallon, 2004, Berning, 1972, Mann, 1965).

• 2: Major titles, four LPGA Tour wins in 2026

• 39 of 56: Fairways hit (T18)

• 263.5: Avg yards of all drives (11th)

• 270.3: Avg. yards on measuring holes (11th)

• 42 of 72: Greens in regulation (32)

• 39’11: Proximity average of

• 24 of 30: Scrambling (1st)

• 107: Total putts

• 253’4”: Putts made (3.560: Strokes gained putting)

OK, perhaps a tad antiseptic, but is you recast those numbers for only the final three days, you'd see some even more impressive stats.  Again, I blame Lebron's shoes.....

Amusingly, Geoff ledes with that nervy final putt:

History will say the par clincher measured 2 feet, 10 inches.

But with all due respect to the advanced metrics provided by the PGA Tour’s brilliant ShotLink system, Nelly Korda’s winning putt in the 81st United States Women’s Open traveled another 10 inches after wrapping around most of the cup’s 13.35-inch circumference. When it finally dropped, the 27-year-old recorded a second consecutive major victory. But this one came in a championship the red-white-and-blue-blooded Bradenton, Florida native wanted the most.

“A nice ice cream swirl to cap off the day,” Korda said through a mix of tears and laughs. “Why did I leave myself such a long putt?”

That's what we were all thinking, even father Petr as he mimicked the length to Nelly's mother.   But her reaction was priceless, and serves as an apt synecdoche for the entire week, all of which was a struggle.Big sister Jessica gets a fair share of the credit:

Over four days, one component of Korda’s game kept her hanging around enough to ultimately

lift the Harton Semple Trophy: a short game performance for the ages.

The driving that plagued Korda in the opening rounds became machine-like on the weekend thanks to a grip change suggestion from her sister Jessica.

“It’s the hardest thing in the game of golf is to change your grip,” Korda said. “I was fiddling with it so much even on the range my sister was like, I just saw you regrip your grip four times before you hit that one shot, and I’m like, yeah, ‘because it feels awful.’

“I do not recommend changing your grip during a major championship.”

Nelly’s final round iron play lacked the crisp sound heard during Saturday’s 67. On a kikuyu golf course with hard greens measuring 13 on the Stimpmeter, the approach struggles meant Korda’s chipping and putting would make the difference in holding off runners-up Hull and Lopez.

And that's exactly where she won it, around and on the greens.  I thought her chances were slim when she failed to birdioe either of Nos. 10 and 11, the last real opportunities, excluding the Par-5 17th.  There she left herself way more than she wanted with a so-so chip, but the putt found the center of the hole.  Her putt on No. 18, well that fond more of a corner of the round hole....

Geoff captures that 17th hole pivot point:

By Sunday, it was the incredible play and persistence of her peers that created the most stress. There were multiple four-way ties throughout the sunny, windy final round. But none more tense than when Korda stepped up to her second shot for a go at the par-5 17th.

A roar from the packed crowd around the famous amphitheater 18th green filtered down Santa Monica Canyon when Gaby Lopez made a 15-footer for birdie to join Charley Hull (65-67 weekend) in the clubhouse lead at seven-under-par.

Following a 285-yard drive on the penultimate hole, Korda’s approach fell in line with many of her other less-than-crisp final-round approaches. She advanced the 223-yard shot only 205 yards. But she missed this one short and left of a pin cut 19 paces into the green and only three paces over the pronounced tier. Korda wedged to nine feet and faced a deciding downhill putt. It’s a strange one because it doesn’t break as much to the right as it looks or as Riviera’s natural tilt toward the Pacific would dictate. But Korda had been sinking three-footers all day on the “poa” greens that her male counterparts whine about. The steady hands and smooth stroke came through again for her third birdie.

“What I’ve been doing with my putting is just really looking at my intermediate target right in front of the ball where I want to roll it over and I knew that I needed to make it,” Korda said. “I knew it was going to be a really fast putt so I needed to put decent pace on it with how much I was playing it left-to-right.

“And I don’t really throw out fist pumps too often, but I did this weekend. I threw out a couple fist pumps here and there and I threw out a double fist pump on that hole because I knew what it meant.”

She still had to get it to the house, which she barely pulled off.  Nelly reflected on her path here:

“That 14-year-old girl that stepped on the range at Sebonack in 2013, I mean, her dream has just

come true sitting next to this trophy right now,” Korda said. “This week was definitely a grind. I don’t even feel like I had my B game (laughing). I was just grinding out there. And that’s what I guess major championships are all about, right? It doesn’t matter if you have your B or C game, you have to be there mentally.”

Korda’s on-course growth into an uber-steady presence is one of the more incredible career evolutions in the long history of the game. Always a fast player, Korda could get easily annoyed at slow-playing partners and rounds. She often pulled the trigger on shots too quickly. Fast forward a few years, and the quiet energy she exudes never goes full Hogan at the expense of remaining in touch with the course and crowds who adore her graceful presence.

“L.A. definitely showed up and it was a lot of fun to play in front of amazing crowds,” Korda said. “It’s amazing to see how much our Tour has grown in that standpoint of dads, parents, coming out with their little kids. I mean, that’s kind of what makes what we get to do so much sweeter.

To this observer, the key bit is Nelly winning with pars.... If she can grind it out with her C-game, then it's going to be fun seeing her upside, because her firepower has never been in doubt.

Geoff started on a truncated version of his Champions, Cut-Makers and Bufoons (that last one might not be exactly how he phrases it), which allows for some credit to the two ladies that missed by "this much":

Charley Hull. Whatta character, whatta swing, and whatta third round 65 that kept going Sunday with a 67. But Charley. The Malibu hate? Here’s guessing if you stayed in a house on Broad Beach you might think a tad differently about The Bu.

Gaby Lopez. Look out: she just birdied the last hole at Riviera to join the clubhouse lead of the U.S. Women’s Open. A brilliant performance that started with early trips to Riviera, scouting out its intricacies. But it’s another thing to translate the studying into an A performance.

They both made great pars at No. 18 to post -7.... Hull in particular is piling up the near-misses, although I'd find it easier to root for her if she'd lose the Malbon duds.

Shall we sample the Tour Confidential panel's insights?  Yeah, it's been a few weeks, but that query is still rhetorical:

1. Nelly Korda continued her dominant 2026, winning the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera for her fourth win of the season, fourth major title and, most importantly, first U.S. Women’s Open title. What did you learn about Nelly as she outlasted the field during a thrilling Sunday in LA?

Josh Berhow: She’s continuing to do what is one of the hardest things to do in any sport, which is to win when everyone expects you to win. She’s now finished first or second in seven of her

eight starts this season and has kept one really fun storyline — the season-long grand slam — alive for another few weeks. It’s just really impressive how she continued to plug along Sunday, kept hitting fairways and didn’t make any mistakes. That puts a ton of pressure on the people playing around you, as they know they have to make a move because it’s unlikely Nelly Korda will mess up. And it’s really difficult to make a lot of birdies in U.S. Opens.

Nick Piastowski: I guess this isn’t “learned,” but maybe more confirmed — that she’s willing to reassess. In her press conference on Saturday night, Korda talked about a recent “mindset shift,” saying that “instead of saying, you know, I’m screwed in this position, oh, here we go again, I’m just going to embrace the challenges and I’m not going to walk off the golf course; I’m just going to figure it out.” It’s maybe a smaller thing, but clearly something has clicked, and the fact that she did the work here is impressive.

Josh Schrock: I don’t know if I learned anything new about Nelly Korda, but watching her navigate what was undoubtedly the scariest round of her life on Sunday showed me that she is exactly who a lot of us thought and hoped she’d be. Her talent was always undeniable, but winning Chevrons and KPMGs is different than winning a U.S. Women’s Open on a course like Riviera. Everything always pointed to this being her destiny, but even she admitted she had doubts it would ever arrive. There’s something rewarding about watching someone reach their destiny, and now we get to find out where it leads her.

Josh Berhow's bit about Nelly not messing up is the point, methinks.  nelly has been a bit of a mistake-prone golfer, posting a ten on her first hole of a recent Open.  Her grinding as she did yesterday is the revelation, as we now have to check to see which of the LPGA's fourteen majors each year is up next...

It doesn't take them long to get to the tough one:

2. Charley Hull put together a record-breaking weekend at Riviera, Gaby Lopez got hot late on Sunday and In Gee Chun hung around to keep the pressure on the contenders. What played a bigger part in making this one of the most memorable U.S. Women’s Opens in years: Some of the game’s biggest stars fighting down the stretch, or the famous stage that hosted the event? And how can women’s professional golf replicate it?

Berhow: You can have one and not the other and still produce good golf tournaments, but when they both come together it makes it must-watch TV, which is the goal for every major golf tournament. Korda and Hull are arguably the two most famous players in the women’s game, and I love how different they are. Charley is twitchy and aggressive with that fast-swing tempo while Nelly is just so smooth and methodical. It’s a great, friendly rivalry if we could see them atop leaderboards together more often, but what I really enjoyed was seeing how the women played Riviera versus what we see when the PGA Tour stops there. It’s a fabulous private course, but viewers at home can relate to it and appreciate it much better watching how the women play it.

Piastowski: I think they work hand in hand — great courses bring out great play, and subpar courses, well, you know the rest. This week also “felt” big, didn’t it? Prime time! L.A.! Riv! There’s history there. There are challenges. Hell, places like Riv just look cool. And when given a proper spotlight, more folks care — though we do have to talk about how the broadcast was just three hours on Sunday. I think this is the LPGA’s next step — secure more regular-season events at big-name courses. And yes, the majors should continue the recent trend of doing that. And, yes, somehow, someway, the women should be playing at Augusta National.

Schrock: You need both, but I think Michelle Wie West nailed it pre-tourney when talking about the importance of the women playing the same courses as the men. It adds context and elevates everything. What really works is when we have the same venue host the men’s and women’s U.S. Open in the same year, like when Wie won at Pinehurst in 2014 after Martin Kaymer did. It’s incredibly important for the women to get to create their own moments on iconic holes and at golf’s cathedrals. The cream also tends to rise to the top at the cathedrals as it did this week and at St. Andrews in 2024. Venues matter.

OK, Nick, perhaps a little less caffeine might be in order....  This is really a tough one for the LPGA, and Nick shows what a halfwit he is.  The lady professionals are never playing ANGC, those folks made the decision to support the amateur game, and did so in a manner designed to hurt the LPGA.   Has anyone except your humble blogger noticed that the "Chevron" isn't exactly the "Dinah".

The question obviously overstates the quality of the leaderboard, but does so in a way the explicates the LPGA's dilemma.  Sure, Charlie is a name brand, but the girls has won exactly nothing.  To be real, the only name of the leaderboard that mattered was N. Korda, and perhaps we should talk through why that is.

Any professional sports undertaking needs to be strong in the U.S. market, the economics don't work otherwise.  So, how has American women's golf been doing?  Well, Lexi was supposed to save us, but it turned out that she's a delicate flower, so it's all on Nelly's shoulder.  The real problem is the foreign dominance of women's golf, but perhaps not in the xenophobic kind of way.

American audiences have embraced Anika and Inbee, the real problem lately has been that no one, two or three players from the foreign contingent have separated themselves and allowed the audiences to become familiar with them.  Jeeno, Patti and In Gee are all great, or could be if we saw them more often.

Of course Riviera was also a big part of the story, although I come down differently on the subject of playing were the men play.  I think this week came off better than some, if only because No. 10 played as George Thomas designed it to do....  It really doesn't work so well for the men, but in other circumstances the ladies risk showcasing their weaker play.

3. What’s your final takeaway from U.S. Women’s Open week?

Berhow: Nelly is really good and will dominate the conversation later this month at the KPMG Women’s PGA — as she tries to make it three in a row — but another storyline is starting to emerge as well: Charley Hull now has five runner-up major finishes without a win. Her last three: T2, T10, T2. She’s gotta break through at some point.

Schrock: We’re entering the summer of Nelly. She’ll dominate KPMG week but also will arrive at the Evian with a chance to win the LPGA Grand Slam (four of five) and also have a chance to do so at the AIG Women’s Open. If she wins both, she gets what Lydia Ko, and other ball knowers, would call the real career Grand Slam. And she’s about to kick down the door to the Hall of Fame. It’s all Nelly, but the biggest question is: Can the LPGA capitalize on a moment that feels much bigger than Nelly’s run in 2024?

Piastowski: That we’re watching a historic run. And, as Schrock said, above, the LPGA powers-that-be must capitalize on it.

So, remember how important venues are?  I mean we've touched upon it several times already...... You might want to take notes.  So, do we have a suitably exciting venue for that KPMG, where all eyes will be on Nelly?  Per Grok:

The 2026 KPMG Women's PGA Championship is being held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.

Thud!  The LPGA, once again snatching defeat from the jaws of victory....

The Postman Delivers -  Wow, this is as close to acknowledging that there was a tourney in Ohio as the Tc gang gets:

5. We had all sorts of good golf over the weekend (in Spain, California, Ohio and elsewhere), but who won the weekend without winning on Sunday?

Berhow: Hmmmm. J.T. Poston, Memorial winner, can now skip U.S. Open Final Qualifying on Monday so he has to be psyched, but that doesn’t answer the question. How about Kiara Romero? A 20-year-old amateur just tied for sixth at the biggest professional women’s golf tournament on the planet. That’s pretty good! (Oh, and honorable mention: Maria José Marin, another amateur, tied for 8th.)

Schrock: Four amateurs — Romero, Marin, Asterisk Talley and Aphrodite Deng — all acquitted themselves well at Riviera. Talley made U.S. Women’s Open history with her Saturday 66, and Romero took home low-am honors (Go Ducks!). The future of women’s golf is in great hands.

Piastowski: We all did, right? What a weekend. Here’s your pass to take off on Monday.

Does Josh Berhow not read the questions....  Although I do love that Poston was scheduled to play in Sectional today, although they no longer hold qualifying in Columbus, OH, because the Signature Event fields are too small to include guys that aren't exempt.  That fact alone should tell us something....

I'm not going to blog Poston's win, except to note my pleasure at recent events.  Aaron Rai's win at the PGA and a J.T. Poston-Ryan Gerard playoff at Jack's Place are helpful reminders of the nature of our game.  We can't script the outcomes and the best players in the world win less than 5% of the time, so just suck it up and deal with it.  I love the chaos, but I know how much Patrick Cantlay hates it....Play better, Patrick, but stop trying to keep guys that might be beat you out of events.

The other bit to note is what a mess our game has for a schedule.  Obviously the Women's Open should be scheduled against inferior Tour events, the Nelson or Colonial.  This diminished both the Open and Jack's event, and is completely unnecessary, except that our game is run by idiots.

The Wider World - Of course I don't have time to blog it right now, but interesting doings in our game.  That other tour has hit a speed bump, and the PGA Tour is dramatically restructuring its own schedule.  This may be as good as we get for today:

4. With the Saudi PIF no longer funding LIV Golf beyond this season, the league is in search of investors. A couple of weeks ago, Bryson DeChambeau said he’s “giving all I can to make it happen” in terms of potential investments but admitted his role as a player might be limited. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm said this past week he knows little about the business side of things and his “job is to play golf.” Should LIV’s stars feel obligated to help keep LIV afloat? Do they hold much power?

Berhow: Noooo. I mean, yes, if they have wealthy investors in their Rolodex, sure, reach out to them. But Rahm should not be scrutinized for his comments — he’s right. His job is to play. I’m sure promises were made to him when he joined the league, and I would assume one was never to help them find future funding in a few years. That’s why they pay the execs the big bucks.

Schrock: No. If you really, really want to help keep the league alive because you believe in team golf or want some place to play that isn’t the PGA Tour, then by all means, go for it. But I think Rahm has the right idea. Play golf and see what happens when the dust settles.

Piastowski: Maybe. If DeChambeau and Rahm tell whomever that they’ll be playing LIV Golf for the next decade and that they’ll work on bringing in other stars in, that’s a pretty good pitch. But yes, at the end of the day, the product is golf, so the golfers should play compelling golf.

In the pantheon of horrible Tour Confidential questions, this is a worthy conte4nder.  Not even clear what they're going for, but isn't the bigger issue whether anyone cares?   Obviously it's about what their options are, but it's pretty obvious that there are two guys the PGA Tour will want back, and then there's everyone else.  

But don't take anything for granted.  Two Golfweek headers, first the feeding frenzy:

Don't spend it all in one place, boys, because the paydays might be in jeopardy:

Really?  But I thought those guys only cared about growing our game..... It's so disillusioning!

I do hope to blog further on these changes, but that will have to keep for now.  Have a great week and I'll see you when life permits.