By Daniel Rapaport
Brooks Koepka seems keen on making one thing clear: He and Dustin Johnson were never as close as the media made them seem.

Koepka, who raised eyebrows when he took thinly veiled shots at Johnson ahead of the final round at last week’s PGA Championship, was asked about his relationship with the world No. 4 at this week’s Wyndham Championship.

“Yeah, we worked out for—I worked out with Joey [Diovisalvi] for two years,” Koepka told reporters on Thursday after an opening two-over 72 at Sedgefield C.C. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know what you guys—you guys make your own stories, so I have no idea what you all do, but I think even the Jordan and Justin thing gets blown out too much. I think you guys overplay—you guys overplay a lot of things.”

Koepka was referring to Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who have been friends since junior golf. Thomas referred to Spieth as “one of my best friends” after the two played together in the third round of the PGA.

The Koepka-Johnson relationship has been a hot topic since last Saturday, when Koepka was asked about his prospects going into the final round at TPC Harding Park despite being two back of Johnson. “I mean, I like my chances,” Koepka said. “When I’ve been in this position before, I’ve capitalized. I don’t know, he’s only won one.” Koepka was later asked whether winning a second major is harder than winning a first, to which he replied, “If you look at the top of the leader board, yes.”

His comments drew condemnation from many in the media, as well as Rory McIlroy, who offered this pointed response: “Sort of hard to knock a guy with 21 wins on the PGA Tour, which is three times what Brooks has.”

Koepka proceeded to shoot four-over 74 on Sunday to finish T-29, his worst performance in a major since the 2018 Open Championship. Johnson’s two-under 68 saw him finish in a tie for second.

On Wednesday, Koepka did a Q&A with Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch and said he had no spoken to Johnson (or any other players) about his comments. When Lynch asked specifically whether he plans to reach out to Johnson, Koepka said, “that’s not something I’m planning on doing.”

Koepka and Johnson were known as the “Bash Bros” after appearing on a Golf Magazine cover together in 2018. The were also reports that the two were involved in a physical altercation after the 2018 Ryder Cup, but Koepka denied anything of the sort.

“There was no fight, no argument,” Koepka said. “He’s one of my best friends. I love the kid to death.”

The post Brooks Koepka on his friendship with Dustin Johnson: ‘You guys make your own stories’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

if he gets on the green here, that might be tourney
holy ****
MOARRRRRRRRIKAWA
shut ti down
morikawa comin in HOTTTTT
shut it the **** down
this is done
Kid deserves to win
My gawdballgame?
what a ****ing crack

We transcribed that exchange to show the pure joy/awe/excitement that the eventual champ’s shot inspired, because that’s an important element to keep in mind before diving into the technical stuff. If you’re on Twitter, you saw the same dynamic play out. It was a true jaw-dropper, and even Paul Casey, fighting for his first major, had to stop and admire the result from his perch on the 17th tee. Frank Nobilo rose to the moment on CBS: “It’s brilliant, Nick. It’s brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. That is what we’ve been waiting for. Twenty-three years of age … the shot of his life!”

As the leader in a major with all the pressure, Collin Morikawa dials up this drive? Unreal. pic.twitter.com/dy7VUdCwAc

— GOLFonCBS (@GOLFonCBS) August 10, 2020

It’s easy to say this kind of thing in hindsight, but Morikawa won the tournament with that shot. Yes, a few strange things could have happened the next few holes (Jean Van de Velde happened, after all), but it was such a devastating momentum shift for the rest of the field that it feels correct—if not obvious—to say this was the definitive moment of the tournament. It was even a terrific showcase for Toptracer—being able to witness the gentle, perfect fade with the aid of the red parabola highlighted the bold genius of the strike, and lent it a certain destiny. Even a day later, it is eminently re-watchable.

But let’s come back down to earth. When we ask the question posed in the title—is this the greatest shot in PGA Championship history?—we have to sidestep the landmine of recency bias. Clearly, we might be victims of this, so let’s delve into the objective world of numbers.

Data from the PGA Tour’s tracker2 data shows that Morikawa achieved a massive 1.21 strokes gained just from that single shot. That makes it his single best shot of the event, besting his 38-foot birdie putt on No. 11 Friday, but that conclusion feels pretty drab. Duh, of course it is.

Then again, it’s actually pretty profound, because you can’t divorce the feat from the stakes. This was a 23-year-old (an extremely polished 23-year-old, but still) playing in his first PGA Championship, and experiencing the nerves of being in contention at a major for the first time in his life. Standing before a risk/reward hole, tied for the lead with Paul Casey, he was facing a difficult shot under the best of circumstances (only 17 of 73 players who attempted to drive the green Sunday were successful). With the weight of history on him, even a “good” shot would have been stunning. To hit the best shot of his entire week, in those conditions, is just this side of absurd.

In fact, as the PGA Tour’s Shotlink graphics coordinator Luis Rivera told me, he had the second-best shot off the tee of any player all day … on any hole. Denny McCarthy, far out of contention, hit his tee shot on 16 to two feet, but beyond that, nobody touched Morikawa.

Darren Carroll/PGA of America

Collin Morikawa follows his tee shot on the 16th hole Sunday as it chases up to the hole and sets up an eagle putt that helped him win the PGA Championship.

RELATED: 14 things you need to know about Collin Morikawa

Along with the pressure aspect, you can’t divorce his feat from the way it completely shifted the momentum of the tournament. All day, the players at the top of the leader board clustered together, with nobody breaking away from the pack. Tenuous one-shot leads were the most breathing room anyone could muster, and Morikawa himself was an afterthought until he chipped in on 14. Then, with one swing of the club, everything changed. This might sound melodramatic, but he basically brought the entire field to its knees, and—again, hindsight is 20/20 etc. etc.—won the tournament with a shot.

But in order to call it the greatest shot in PGA Championship history, we need to introduce that last critical element: History. To compare what Morikawa accomplished with great shots of the past, we brought in Bob Denney, PGA of America historian and all-around smart guy. Denney collaborated on our list of the 15 best PGA Championships earlier this year, and if anyone could put Morikawa’s drive into context, it was him. So we asked the question to him directly: Was this the g.o.a.t.?

“Well, based on the stakes,” Denney said, “it ranked, for me, in the top three.”

Hearing that from a student of the game was a relief, and as it turned out, Denney was no less bullish on Morikawa than the most rabid Twitter partisans.

“It signals to me a new era in the game,” he said. “It shows the quality of play coming out of the college ranks, and I just believe this young man’s mental toughness, right behind that beautiful smile of his, is solid. He’s 23, and it almost seemed like he was 43, the way he managed that golf course.”

RELATED: Collin Morikawa’s reason for not setting goals will make you feel woefully inadequate

Denney compared him to Jack Nicklaus in terms of his intelligence, but when it came time to put his drive up against the greatest single shots in championship history, he had three other golfers in mind.

1. Gary Player, 1972, Oakland Hills. On the 16th hole that year, Player faced a difficult approach shot from beaten-down rough, behind an enormous willow tree and separated from the green by water. In fact, he had to stand on a chair just to see his line. He pulled out a 9-iron, hit a high swooping shot over the willow, and it rolled to within four feet of the cup. He made par on 17 and 18 to close out the victory, but it all went back to what Denney called “an amazing feat of athletic ability.” Player considers it his best shot ever:

2. Bob Tway, 1986, Inverness. Tway was in a bunker on 72nd hole, and on the tiny greens of Inverness (“I bet your living room has more floor space,” Denney said), he floated the ball just over the lip to sink the shot for a walk-off win against Greg Norman. “He was jumping like a school boy in the sand.

3. Gene Sarazen, 1923, Pelham Manor. This was in the match-play era, and Sarazen was taking on Walter Hagen in the 36-hole championship. They finished tied, and on the 38th hole, Sarazen drove into deep rough. According to Sarazen, he told the gathered crowd that “I’ll put this one up so close to the hole that it’ll break Walter’s heart.” He was as good as his word, hitting his pitch two feet from the hole, forcing an error from Hagen, and then winning with birdie.

(For those curious about Shaun Micheel’s approach shot at the 2003 PGA, recall that he was already up by a stroke at the time, so the kick-in birdie, while impressive, did not clinch victory.)

We refrained from forcing Denney to rank them, because it’s validation enough that he thinks Morikawa’s shot belongs in this exalted company. Tway’s walk-off was more dramatic, but luckier. Player’s approach is more visually dramatic, but less of a clear momentum shift. Sarazen’s has the feel of legend, but is shrouded in the fog of history.

There’s no clear hierarchy here, and the great thing is, there doesn’t have to be. What Morikawa accomplished on 16 will live on in golf history. Is it the best shot ever at a PGA Championship? There’s an argument, which means that the answer is “yes” if you want it to be. And in this moment, in August 2020, who doesn’t?

The post Was Collin Morikawa’s drive on 16 the greatest shot in PGA history? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
With no fans in attendance, the 2020 PGA Championship was always going to be one for the record books. But Collin Morikawa made even more history with how he finished off his maiden major title.

With weekend rounds of 65 and 64, Morikawa posted the lowest closing 36 holes by any golfer in a major. Ever.

Morikawa’s 129 total topped by one a mark held by Tiger Woods (2018 PGA), Tom Watson (1977 Open), Nick Faldo (1994 Open), Ian Baker-Finch (1991 Open), and Marc Leishman (2015 Open). Unlike Woods, Faldo, and Leishman, Morikawa’s weekend scores led to victory.

Morikawa has been linked to Tiger a couple times already this year for a couple other impressive accomplishments. He nearly matched Woods’ record for most consecutive cuts to start his pro career and he drew more comparisons to the 15-time major champ for having more PGA Tour wins than missed cuts following his victory at the Workday Charity Open.

More importantly to the 23-year-old, he can now call himself a major champ like one of his idols. And he actually beat Woods to hoisting a Wanamaker Trophy with only Jack Nicklaus and Rory McIlroy being younger PGA champs in the stroke-play era.

“It’s great company,” Morikawa told reporters after. “You know, it’s been crazy, because this entire start of my professional career, I see all the things comparing to Tiger and doing all this and then Tiger is on a completely different level. I think we all know that. But any time you’re in the conversation of the greats, Jack, Rory, Tiger, no matter who it is, if you’re in that conversation, you’re doing something well.”

The post Collin Morikawa breaks major mark shared by Tiger Woods appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
SAN FRANCISCO — Deep down the stretch of this most peculiar major championship, seven guys elbowed each other for an unobstructed look at glory. Dustin Johnson. Matthew Wolff. Scottie Scheffler. Tony Finau. Paul Casey. Jason Day. Collin Morikawa.

The chaos juxtaposed the silence of golf amidst a pandemic. The heat of leaderboard movement contrasted the biting chill of August by the Bay. And the day begged for someone to emerge, to raise his head above the crowd. But for a while, no one seemed particularly keen on seizing control at TPC Harding Park. Putt after putt after putt for somebody, anybody, to reach 11 under slid by the wayside.

So Morikawa decided that putters are overrated, and that he was going to win this PGA Championship with some other sticks.

The 23-year-old, playing in just his second major championship, followed up a fatted approach on the 14th with a chip that fell just over the front lip for a birdie. Two holes later, after abandoning his pre-tournament plan not to go for the green on the driveable par-4 16th, he delivered the shot of his life and the decisive blow: a power-cut driver on the par-4 16th that pitched on the front of the green, 278 yards from the tee, climbed up the slope and rested just seven feet from the cup. The putt was dead-centre, the lead was two, and golf had its next superstar.

“I feel very comfortable in this spot,” Morikawa said. “When I woke up today, I was like, this is meant to be. This is where I feel very comfortable. This is where I want to be, and I’m not scared from it. I think if I was scared from it, the last few holes would have been a little different, but you want to be in this position.”

Morikawa’s final-round 64—after a third-round 65 to get into the mix—were the stuff of dreams. Back on earth, it was good for a two-shot victory over Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson. The four other one-time co-leaders finished a shot further back. With the victory, Morikawa becomes the third-youngest PGA Championship winner since the tournament went to stroke play in 1958, trailing only Jack Nicklaus and Rory McIlroy. (Sorry, Tiger). And his closing 36-hole score of 129 is the lowest by a winner in major championship history.

“It’s great company. You know, it’s been crazy, because this entire start of my professional career, I see all the things comparing to Tiger and doing all this and then Tiger is on a completely different level. I think we all know that. But any time you’re in the conversation of the greats, Jack, Rory, Tiger, no matter who it is, if you’re in that conversation, you’re doing something well.”

The most surprising aspect of Morikawa’s rapid success is how unsurprising it is. After growing up down the coast in Los Angeles, he played four years of college ball at Cal-Berkeley and reached No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He turned professional last June, played his first event at the RBC Canadian Open, finished T-14 and cashed a check for $125,400. If you thought that was hitting the ground running, consider he cashed checks at each of his next 21 starts, making a helluva run at Tiger Woods’ record of 25 straight made cuts to start a career.

The run ended last month when he missed the weekend at the Travelers Championship. He won his very next start, in a playoff at the Workday Charity Open, where he survived a 50-foot dagger from Justin Thomas and punched back with a 25-footer of his own. After that victory, where he stared down the current World No. 1, he spoke about not being as comfortable as he wanted to be while in contention. His heartbreak from Colonial, where he missed a three-footer to lose a playoff just a month earlier, still loomed large.

“Comfortable is the best word for a lot of these guys out here, because they’ve been out here for many years,” he said that day at Muirfield Village. “They’ve been out here, they know the courses, they know where to hit it, and for me it’s getting as comfortable as I can as quickly as I can.”

Comfort is a word he uses often. Eleven times in his winning press conference, to be exact. He seemed pretty damn comfortable all weekend at Harding Park, an adopted home course of sorts, where he played roughly a dozen practice rounds while at Cal. He played within himself all week despite giving up some 25 yards off the tee to some of his beefier competitors.

Sean M. Haffey
Collin Morikawa celebrates chipping in for birdie on the 14th hole during the Sunday’s final round.

RELATED: The two clutch shots that won Collin Morikawa the PGA Championship

Morikawa is something of a throwback player—not short, by any means, but not the type to post pictures of launch monitor readings to Instagram. In the group ahead of his, DeChambeau hit an 8-iron over the green with his approach into the par-5 10th. Morikawa needed a fairway wood for his, and it finished just short of the front edge. He makes up for his distance disadvantage with a steadfast commitment to flushing golf shots. An uncanny predilection for finding the dead-centre of the clubface immediately caught the attention of the game’s established stars, who knew they had a yet another 20-something to contend with for the next decade-plus.

“There’s always a bunch of guys that rock up on the scene, and he didn’t necessarily get the most publicity out of the group he was in,” said Paul Casey, ostensibly referring to Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland, the other two-thirds of the vaulted Class of 2019. “But, you know, I consider myself a veteran. I’ve been around the block, so I know talent when I see it. I don’t like the term talent, but you know when somebody is good, and Colin was good.

“We could just tell. Those of us who knew, knew that was the cat. He’s the one.”

RELATED: 13 tweets that tell the story of a wild Sunday at the PGA

Brooks Koepka, never one to lavish praise on fellow golfers, put it succinctly: “He’s really good,”

Bryson DeChambeau agreed: “An incredible ball-striker.”

Cameron Champ, who played with Morikawa on Sunday and was his teammate at the 2017 Walker Cup: “He knows his game and what works for him. His iron play and off the tee is amazing.”

Tony Finau offered an ominous warning: “He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. He’s a heck of a player. He doesn’t have a weakness in his game. He doesn’t have a weakness mentally.”

Morikawa, it should be noted, would tell you that his short-game still needs work. He spent the majority of the COVID-19 hiatus drilling his chipping and putting, the last two pieces to his puzzle. He came into the week ranked 119th on tour in strokes gained/chipping and 164th in strokes gained/putting. The chipping, as we know from 14, came up huge on Sunday. But so did the putting, all week—he picked up more than 8 shots against the field on the greens this week, best in the field.

“Normally if I’m putting around zero, I’m very happy,” Morikawa said, suggesting he’s happy to putt an average-PGA Tour pro level. “But the last two days at Memphis, I thought I made huge strides. This week, I just kept that going, and yeah, a couple little adjustments in the setup and that paid huge dividends for me. Just feeling a little more comfortable over the ball, getting my head where it should be, and just being able to putt and really react to the target from there.”

Still six months away from his 24th birthday, Morikawa now has three PGA Tour victories, a major championship and spot among golf’s hyper elite. With the victory, he becomes the No. 5 player in the world. More importantly, he’ll never have to answer those thorny questions about when he’ll win his first major. With his tally already started, there’s only one thing left to do: win a whole lot more. There’s no particular rush, though. Remember what Finau said? He’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

The post Tour pros knew early that Collin Morikawa had game. Now everybody does appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Brooks Koepka may have been two behind entering the day, but he sure seemed like he was the man to beat. . . until he wasn’t:

Didn’t expect Brooks to get dropped from the coverage today, but here we are.

Out in 4-over 39.

Worst score of anyone inside the top 60.

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) August 9, 2020

Speaking of Brooks, Rory McIlroy reignited the Brooks-DJ flames from Saturday. Well, thanks to our own Daniel Rapaport asking him about it:

Deleted the original tweet cuz I screwed up the transcript. So try No. 2…

Asked Rory about Brooks’ comments yesterday:

“I certainly wouldn’t say it…it’s different..sort of hard to knock a guy that’s got 21 wins on the PGA Tour, which is three times what Brooks has.”

— Daniel Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) August 9, 2020

Nice job stirring the pot, Dan! Looking forward to Brooks mocking McIlroy for caring so much about regular tour wins. Let’s keep this thing going!

In other “news,” we following a decent finish by Tiger Woods, we learned that his off-weeks aren’t much fun (Go to 2:13 mark):

Tiger’s weeks off sound brutal.

Here he was after his final round. pic.twitter.com/eLGh46ES8k

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) August 9, 2020

“Puke sessions”? No thanks.

We were reminded that with no fans on the course, players need to be a bit more careful with what they say:

Justin Thomas didn’t like his putt pic.twitter.com/QhEqMVrefQ

— Real Super Dave (@SuperStatsDave) August 9, 2020

And we found out that Chris Webber is a big Cameron Champ fan when he sent plenty of positive vibes his way:

Tiger is my favorite- I love D.J. – Koepka- Day Fowler, Finau and Rory….. BUT LETS GO SACRAMENTO!!!!!! It’s MY MAN @Cameron__Champ – Sacramento’s Finest! .. it’s his time. Let’s get it!!!!!

— Chris Webber (@realchriswebber) August 9, 2020

But like the former NBA star, Champ remained stuck on no major victories. OK, so stuck isn’t the right word for a guy who is still only 25. He’ll be back.

Speaking of the NBA, Stephen Curry was at TPC Harding Park to take in the action:

Apparently, that whole no-fans rule doesn’t apply to two-time MVPs. Anyway, Steph picked a good golf tournament to illegally attend because it was tight down the stretch. Look at this leader board!

LMAO pic.twitter.com/4r29ULmPlV

— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) August 9, 2020

That’s not even that great of a tweet, but it gets the job done and I wanted to throw Chris a bone because he was the only member of our Be Right Podcast (By the way, you should be listening to that every week because we are absolutely on fire right now) crew who didn’t bet on Morikawa. Poor guy.

Fiancée, peering up from her phone for the first time all evening and seeing Morikawa: “did he win?”

Me: “yes.”

Her: “did you bet on him?”

Me: “no.”

Her: “of course you didn’t.”

Me: pic.twitter.com/yYK3wMFtra

— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) August 10, 2020

Ts & Ps, CP.

Ts & Ps to DJ as well. Dustin Johnson held the 54-hole lead then birdied the 55th hole to start his Sunday. Surely, he would close the deal this time, right? Wrong. Amazingly, the 21-time PGA Tour winner couldn’t get much going after than and remains stuck on one major.

I won’t know how to explain to my children how Dustin Johnson only won one major.

— deepfriedegg (@deep_fried_egg) August 10, 2020

At least he’s got one. Despite valiant efforts by Paul Casey and Tony Finau, they left majorless. For Casey, of course, it’s been a lot longer of a drought.

That’s a bit rude. But yeah, time to update the graphic. It’s 64 now.

Please update this @GOLFonCBS #PaulCasey pic.twitter.com/vsUb3Anmu2

— Smitty (@Smitty_801) August 10, 2020

Other guys like Jason Day and Scottie Scheffler made things interesting for a bit, but then Morikawa took over. And ironically, the young man known as arguably the best iron player took his first solo lead of the tournament after missing the green with his approach shot on No. 14:

MORIKAWA!!! CHIPS IT IN FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/5KPm6tkW5Z

— GOLFonCBS (@GOLFonCBS) August 9, 2020

And then he really seized control with this incredible drive on No. 16 that set up an eagle:

Shot of the day/month/year for Collin Morikawa. pic.twitter.com/3TubR6LlQG

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) August 10, 2020

That’s two legendary shots in the span of about 20 minutes. Incredible. It was all part of a final-round 64 that gave him his first major title in just his second start in one of golf’s four biggest events. To further explain how good this guy has been since turning pro last year, allow me to get one of my own tweets in the mix. What the heck.

.@collin_morikawa as a pro on the PGA Tour:

27 starts
3 wins
1 missed cut
1 major

Good lord, what a stud.

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) August 10, 2020

Morikawa’s only mistake? Not keeping the Wanamaker Trophy’s lid closed in the same manner he closed the door on his first major title:

Yep, the top comes off Collin ? pic.twitter.com/MbgMoOzUPt

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) August 10, 2020

He’ll be better prepared next time. At 23, he’s not going anywhere.

The post 13 tweets that tell the story of a wild Sunday at TPC Harding Park appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Sam Weinman
When Collin Morikawa skipped in that saucy chip for birdie on the 14th hole, then drove the 16th green to set up eagle, it was fair to wonder if the guy had any mistakes in him on Sunday.

Well, he did, actually, but at least not until the tournament was already secured.

In an already awkward 18th green trophy celebration conspicuously devoid of fans, Morikawa finally got to put his hands on the Wanamaker Trophy that he had spent the day hunting down.

He was excited, as you would be. Maybe too excited. Because then this happened.

Yep, the top comes off Collin ? pic.twitter.com/MbgMoOzUPt

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) August 10, 2020

These are the type of moments you’re permitted to laugh off when you’ve outlasted an all-star leader board to claim your first major in just your second major start.

Although it is worth noting the Wanamaker has proven to be troublesome for other elite-level golfers, and they deftly escaped catastrophe. To wit:

You’ll learn how to handle all these trophies, Collin. Looks like you’ll get plenty of practice.

The post Collin Morikawa’s fumbling of the Wanamaker Trophy was the only thing he did wrong on Sunday appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
SAN FRANCISCO — Among the bottomless bucket of clichés, one rings truer than most: Better late than never. Better to shoot something in the 60s on Sunday than something in the 70s, even if you finish your round some 90 minutes before the leaders tee off.

Tiger Woods will leave TPC Harding Park and head home Sunday in a better mood than he started the day, thanks to a final-round 67 at the PGA Championship.

“I drove it kind of like I did on Friday, and irons were a little bit more crisp and I hit better putts,” Woods said. He picked up shots on the field putting for the first time since Thursday. “I made a few early on, and just kind of kept the momentum going. It’s something I hadn’t done the last two days, and it was an under par tournament score [one-under 279], which yesterday I was saying that’s kind of what I wanted to do. I made it happen today.”

It was, to revisit that cliché bucket, too little too late. Woods opened the week with a two-under 68 to put himself in the mix, but he wasted some really solid ball-striking early on Friday and could not sustain any momentum. A two-over 72 saw him enter the weekend at even par, eight back of the lead, needing a low round on Moving Day to have any chance.

His putter hamstrung that effort, as he posted another 72 on Saturday. Woods debuted a new wand this week, a slightly longer, heavier Scotty Cameron that looks almost identical to the one he used to win 14 of his 15 majors. And the early returns were positive, but Woods struggled to hit putts firm enough on Friday and Saturday and could not move up the board despite feeling mostly comfortable with his swing.

“That’s golf,” Woods said. “We lose way more tournaments than we win. This is one of those weeks where I didn’t quite make the putts when I needed to, and I missed a couple shots on the wrong sides. But overall, I think I had one three-putt for the week and I had no doubles, and that’s always something that you want to do going in throughout 72 holes of a major championship. Unfortunately, I didn’t make enough birdies.”

On Saturday, the first birdie didn’t drop until 16. It was a slog, but Sunday brought different news. Woods got up-and-down from a bunker for the first time all week—he was 0-of-7 through Saturday—for a birdie on the par-5 fourth, then followed it up with a beautiful chop from the rough right of the fifth fairway that trickled out to three feet. A third birdie of the day on No. 7 drummed up the possibility of something in 64 range, but Harding Park’s brutal 8-9 stretch that, as it has been doing all week. He turned in two-under 33 then failed to birdie the easiest hole on the course, the par-5 10th.

Jamie Squire
Tiger Woods walks alongside caddie Joe LaCava down the 10th hole during Sunday’s final round at TPC Harding Park.

Woods had made five pars in a row before making a six-footer for birdie on 14 and a 10-footer on 17, both the result of butter-cut approaches that were perfect for distance. A bogey at the last didn’t damper Woods’ spirits, and he was rather upbeat after the round.

So what next, then, for Woods?

Well, as is typically the case, he stopped short of confirming when and where he’ll play again. He is not in the field for next week’s Wyndham Championship, so the next possible start would be the following week at TPC Boston for the Northern Trust, the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events. It would seem a likely spot for Woods, but with the Playoffs spanning three consecutive weeks, it’s no certainty. Woods has not played three straight weeks since the 2018 playoffs and has not played back-to-back 72-hole events since February 2019.

“Well, that’s potentially what could happen,” Woods said of playing back-to-back-to-back events. “We’ve been training for that. Trying to get my strength and endurance up to that ability to making sure that I can handle that type of workload. We knew once I started playing again when I committed to Memorial that this was going to be a heavy workload, and my training sessions, we’ve been pushing it pretty hard, making sure that I kept my strength and endurance up. This week off will be no different. We’ll be pushing it hard to make sure that I can stay strong and have the endurance to keep on going.”

The post Tiger Woods (67) closes out week at Harding Park on positive note appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, goes the saying. Which Brooks Koepka considers Dustin Johnson in that equation isn’t entirely clear, but this much is certain: Johnson has become Koepka’s latest target, for his game and with his words.

“I like my chances,” Koepka said after a one-under 69 in the third round of the PGA Championship put him two strokes behind Johnson. “When I’ve been in this position before, I’ve capitalised. I don’t know, [DJ’s] only won one.”

Ding, ding.

Earlier in the week, Koepka declared that the friendship with his fellow Bash Bro was essentially a media fabrication, overblown and not accurate. His crew, he said, is not made up of fellow players. He often plays practice rounds on the PGA Tour alone.

If there was still any question about Koepka’s priorities on tour, his comments Saturday should remove any doubt. He is here to win majors, not friends.

It’s an approach that isn’t directed exclusively at Johnson, either. Among those lurking another stroke back are Jason Day and Justin Rose, both major winners with stout resumes and a proven ability to withstand the final-round cauldron of such events.

But it has been five years since Day won the PGA and seven years since Rose’s U.S. Open victory, points that were not lost on Koepka when he was asked about the difficulty of those men trying to add another piece of major hardware to the mantel.

Is a second one harder to win?

“If you look at the top of the leaderboard, I’d say yes,” Koepka said. “It does become difficult if you think you’ve played good enough to win multiple ones.”

Which Koepka has—four in all, including each of the last two PGA Championships. Now, he’ll try to become the first player in a century to win three straight Wanamakers.

All he has to do is beat Johnson. It’s a proposition he seems fully confident in if not motivated by.

Given his own resume, he has every reason to be.

Four of his Koepka’s seven career victories have come at major championships, with wins at the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Opens and each of the last two PGAs. In his last five majors, he has finished no worse than fourth.

Now comes a shot at a fifth, with Johnson among those he’ll have to beat.

Two birdies in his last three holes to rebound from a string of three straight bogeys helped. So does the pressure of playing in the final round of major and adding another piece of sterling to the trophy case.

“It’s just a comfort level,” Koepka said. “I feel comfortable around the lead in the big events.”

No matter who is in his way.

The post Why does Brooks Koepka like his chances Sunday? Because Dustin Johnson’s “only won one” major, for starters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
That Dustin Johnson posted an impressive five-under 65 on Saturday at TPC Harding Park to take the lead going into the final round of the PGA Championship was not terribly surprising. He’s already won once this season, at the Travelers Championship in June, and is a major champion with the kind of firepower to go low no matter the setting.

Only something was missing as Johnson prepared to tee off in the third round in San Francisco: His yardage book.

“I did [lose it],” Johnson said. “It’s got to be in the bottom of my bag, but I didn’t want to take all my clubs out on the golf course.”

Fortunately for Johnson, his caddie, brother Austin, had another one. He also said there wasn’t any difference between the two books.

“I just use a regular yardage book,” Johnson said. “I use it more so I can get the yardages out of the fairway and where the flag is.”

It worked out. Johnson made eight birdies, including three over his final five holes, to surge to the top of the leader board, putting him in position to win his second career major after capturing the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

As for the book, he had a good sense of humour about it.

Asked if the extra one was of TPC Harding Park, he joked, “No, it was from last week, but it worked out well.”

The post Dustin Johnson shoots a 65, grabs 54-hole lead, all while missing this from his bag appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
SAN FRANCISCO — The driver broke. Expired is probably the more appropriate word.

Bryson DeChambeau has been walloping that thing relentlessly for months now. Swinging it as hard as he can, which is harder than anyone else on tour can. It made it through Colonial. Held up in Hilton Head and Connecticut. Peaked in Detroit, where he bullied the competition and beat them all. Survived the late-night, adrenaline-addled speed sessions in his swing coach’s living room. Stuck with him through disappointing showings in Columbus and Memphis.

The club had been with him for over a year, throughout the entirety of his beef-up and “speed training,” which has been the talk of the post-COVID golf world. But on Thursday at TPC Harding Park, on the seventh hole of the PGA Championship, when its owner tried to lean on it, the shaft finally gave out. Can you blame it?

“At some point, material is material,” DeChambeau said. “You keep wearing it and using it like that, you know, stuff is going to break down. I’m just glad it lasted this long.”

Undeterred, he dispatched his manager, Conor Olson, to the parking lot. That’s where his backup was. Olson had 15 minutes or so to play with, because DeChambeau’s next hole, thankfully, was a par 3. Olson made it back in time, DeChambeau attached the head to the replacement shaft—same specifications, to comply with rule 4.1—smashed one 327 yards down the center on No. 9, made birdie, and continued on like nothing happened.

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“The nice part about it is that I’ve used that [replacement] shaft on the practice range this week, testing, just making sure I have backup shafts. I pretty much do that every week for the most part because I know I’m swinging it this fast, something is going to happen sometime. It’s just—you know, it’s just going to happen.

Sean M. Haffey
Bryson DeChambeau laughs after breaking his driver on the seventh hole in the first round of the PGA Championship.

DeChambeau managed a two-under 68 on Thursday, a solid score, especially considering he had the misfortune of falling in the late-early half of the draw. The course played nearly a full stroke harder in the afternoon, as the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. The twilight conditions forced him to abandon his driver-or-bust strategy—he hit irons off both the 15th and 16th tees, playing those two holes in one over, before bringing it back for one last 347-yard smash at 18.

“The golf course changed dramatically on the back nine, and it was one of those things that you almost got to be careful and cautious,” DeChambeau said. That’s, uh, not exactly his style these days.

“I hit 4-iron off of 15, and the wind just blew it really hard to the right. The fairway got firm, and got an unfortunate spot. It just seemed like, you know, we were grinding to finish. The golf course showed its teeth, and you know, we took the brunt of it.”

It’s not apples to apples, as a number of his drives on the back nine were downwind, but DeChambeau’s driving distance actually increased with the new shaft. He averaged 320.5 yards before the break and 339.5 yards after it.

It was an impressive display—to everyone except Adam Scott, that is. He’d been back home in Australia, waiting out the COVID madness, until flying to the States just a few weeks ago. This was his first tournament in five months, so it was his first time playing alongside Bryson 2.0.

His thoughts?

“He’s hitting it long. There’s no doubt about it. Not to like put him down any, but I thought it was going to be longer,” Scott said with a friendly smile. “There’s been so much buildup, me reading the news and listening to him and watching him play, I thought I was going to see like almost one of those long-drive guys.”

Perhaps if Bryson breaks two drivers on Friday, Scott might change his tune.

The post Bryson abandons all-driver attack, and Adam Scott takes a smiling shot at him appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.