Fortunately, our country is slowly returning to normal, normal enough for another one of those wild scenes to crop up on Sunday at the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Here’s the thing, though, only one man in the field could have made such a scene possible – Phil Mickelson, who became the oldest major winner in golf history with his final-round 73.

The people were, understandably, excited. After Mickelson all but secured victory with a well-struck 9 iron into the 72nd green, it was utter chaos:

Was there for Tiger in 2018 and 2019. This is right there with it. History. Goosebumps. Phil thrills again. pic.twitter.com/Jye2dTfxaa

— Brian Wacker (@brianwacker1) May 23, 2021

One of those sportswriter moments where you feel legitimately high. Like, probably won’t remember tweeting this tomorrow. I am sober, for the record, Mother. #Sports hit sooooo different. pic.twitter.com/wk84HzzQy9

— Daniel Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) May 23, 2021

Among the hooligans on 18… pic.twitter.com/CnmHrxtKmt

— Alan Shipnuck (@AlanShipnuck) May 23, 2021

Gather around, folks.

A major champion will soon be crowned. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/7WuWjHLxKT

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) May 23, 2021

“PHIL DEFEATS FATHER TIME.” pic.twitter.com/24QN2M9xRU

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 23, 2021

All eyes on Phil. pic.twitter.com/7pspQIFpni

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 23, 2021

Straight out of a movie, and something only Phil or Tiger could produce, or Shane Lowry in Ireland, which is understandable. That said, would anybody be upset if fans running up the fairway like they did back in the day become the new normal?

Mickelson, to the surprise of no one, perfectly summed up the scene. “It was slightly unnerving but exceptionally awesome.”

Spot on, as always, Lefty.

The post The scene on the 18th hole as Phil Mickelson made history was something out of a movie appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
Phil Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course by two strokes over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen, and not only was the final round a bit of a roller coaster, but what was in his bag wasn’t entirely clear, either.

Depending on which report you believe from CBS or equipment companies, Mickelson either busted his Callaway X Forged UT 1-iron and replaced it with a Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero 13.5-degree 4-wood or broke his TaylorMade Original Mini One driver and replaced it with a backup that he had with him on site.

Photos appear to indicate it is likely the latter, as the TaylorMade club Lefty used the first three rounds was heavily blacked out while the markings on the one he used Sunday were readily identifiable. Photos also appear to show only two woods in the bag.

Of course, with Mickelson and his equipment, things are never boring and that extends beyond the question over which club he actually broke and which club he replaced it with. Mickelson came to the PGA armed with a new driver—a Callaway Epic Speed with 6 degrees of loft and a finished loft of 5.5 degrees. The driver has a Fujikura Ventus Black 6TX shaft, and according to Callaway PGA Tour rep Jacob Davidson, the Epic Speed head has a lower center of gravity that helps Mickelson keep the spin rate down when he hits his preferred cut off the tee. On a course where wind can be a big factor, keeping spin down is important on any shot with curve on it to help avoid the bend from beginning too much.

At the long end of his bag, Mickelson used a trio of Callaway X Forged UT utility irons for his 1-, 4- and 5-irons. The X Forged UT is a hollow-body construction, which gave Mickelson plenty of distance, especially with the 1-iron, while providing plenty of height when needed on longer shots into the firm greens. Callaway’s Apex MB rounded out his iron set, which Mickelson used to rank second in strokes gained/tee to green, picking up more than eight shots shots on the field and 12th in greens in regulation. All of Mickelson’s irons have KBS Tour V 125 S+ shafts and Golf Pride MCC grips.

The shot of the day, however, was when Mickelson holed out from a sandy area for birdie on the par-3 fifth hole using his 60-degree Callaway PM Grind wedge. Mickelson’s 52-degree wedge is bent to 50 degrees and the shaping on his 55- and 60-degree feature a slightly update version of the company’s C-grind sole configuration.

Given that Mickelson is one of the game’s best short-game players ever, it’s somewhat fitting a wedge helped propel him to his sixth major championship victory. And as for his bag, that’s one thing that is not in question.

What Phil Mickelson had in the bag at the 2021 PGA Championship

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X Triple Track

Driver: Callaway Epic Speed (Fujikura Ventus Black 6TX), 5.5 degrees

Driver: TaylorMade Original Mini One (Fujikura Ventus Black 7X), 11.5 degrees

Irons (3-5): Callaway X Forged UT; (6-PW): Callaway Apex MB

Wedges: Callaway PM Grind (52, 55, 60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey PM prototype

The post The clubs Phil Mickelson used to win at Kiawah island appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But, come on. It’s Brooks Koepka in a major. And “Major Brooks” is different from “Run-of-the-mill-tournament Brooks.” The guy has eight PGA Tour titles and four of them are history book material, including PGA Championship wins in 2018 and ’19. He’s been in the top-four on the leader board after eight of the last nine rounds in the championship including Thursday’s effort.

So, if you’re surprised, you haven’t been paying attention.

There were plenty of other candidates, however, for most surprising opening round on the sand-strewn Pete Dye pressure cooker. And, by the way, John Daly, who Wild-Thinged his way to an 85, wasn’t one of them. Neither was Rory McIlroy, who shot 75 and once again proved incapable of breaking fast from the starting gate in a major.

Plenty of other qualifiers out there, though. Our list, in sort of a particular order:

Good surprise: Corey Conners, 67.

Stacy Revere

Given how he has performed this season, including consecutive top-10 finishes in the Masters, Conners has shown a propensity for posting some nice rounds. The surprise here is that a 67 didn’t seem plausible in that wind, where the scoring average hovered around 73-74 all day. And the 29-year-old Canadian, ranked 39th in the world, made it look kind of easy. One bogey marred an otherwise impeccable day. No pictures on the scorecard, but this one actually deserved a few.

Bad surprise: Justin Thomas, 75.

Jamie Squire

Thomas surpassed his worst PGA opening round by two strokes—though maybe that isn’t a bad thing; his previous high first-round score came in 2017, the year he won his only major. Clearly one of the pre-championship favourites, especially after winning the Players in March on another Dye design, Thomas had one of those “couldn’t-throw it in the ocean” rounds. And that’s with the Atlantic Ocean right there. If it wasn’t for his work around the greens, at which he is among the tour leaders, and classic grinding, he might still be out there.

Good surprise: Keegan Bradley, 69

Gregory Shamus

Ten years removed from his surprise win at Atlanta Athletic Club, Bradley posted his second-best first-round score in the PGA. You could make the Koepka-style argument that this isn’t much of a surprise since the run of good play that Bradley has been on this season. He hasn’t missed a cut since February and posted opening rounds of 64 and 66 in his last two PGA Tour starts. Plus, Bradley was T-3 at the 2012 PGA at Kiawah. Still, hasn’t had a top-10 in a major since the 2014 U.S. Open and has made the cut in only four of his last nine major starts since 2017.

Good surprise: Rickie Fowler, 71

Patrick Smith

This was so good, and so unexpected, we wrote an entire story on the game’s best ad pitchman. That’s not meant as a dagger. He’s popular. And he’s wise to cash in on his celebrity. He just needs to augment his resume. Good place to start. With a finish no better than 17th this season, and now 128th in the world, Fowler didn’t have eye-popping stats Thursday, but he avoided the big number in a round of three birdies and two bogeys. He ranked 10th in the field in strokes gained/approach. Contrast that to his season rank of 184th in approach. So maybe he’s approaching some form.

Bad surprise: Sam Burns, WD

Matthew Stockman

The Louisiana native reportedly slipped on the fifth hole and aggravated an old back injury en route to a front-nine five-over 41. Frustrating for sure given he finished 1-2 in his last two starts. (Fatter wallet must have thrown off his equilibrium?)

Good surprise: Jimmy Walker, 73

Patrick Smith

The 2016 PGA champion has fallen to 528th in the world, which might have led to the privilege of playing in the same group with Daly. Watching Big John bang it around in 85 whacks couldn’t have been helpful, and yet Walker, who has soldiered on despite complications from Lyme Disease he contracted in ’17, managed a highly respectable score. A confidence-boosting birdie-birdie start undoubtedly was the key for the 42-year-old Texan, who entering the week had played just 50 rounds in 18 starts this season. Not a good average.

Remarkable surprise: Phil Mickelson, 70.

Patrick Smith

In his 29th PGA Championship, the left-hander found himself three over after six holes following three straight bogeys, and he was looking like the guy who finished off the Wells Fargo Championship 76-76 on the weekend. Then he registered five birdies and didn’t put another square on the scorecard. He obviously thinks he’s still Phil Mickelson. For one day, he was, but again, go back to Wells Fargo, where he opened with a 64. Maybe this week will be different?

Incredibly bad surprise: Adam Scott, 78.

Sam Greenwood

As a native of Australia, Scott probably knows how to play the wind in countless endeavors. Some of which he might be hesitant to talk about. The 2013 Masters winner rinsed his opening tee shot at the par-4 10th hole and started scribbling down hideous numbers. His effort was 10 shots higher than his opener in 2012, in which he eventually finished T-11. In his first start since last month’s Masters, Scott played poorly tee to green, hitting just eight fairways and seven greens. Weird stat line. And done with that swing?

Ugly surprise: Daniel Berger, 79.

Jamie Squire

One birdie from a player who ranks third on tour in birdie average was perplexing. Didn’t help that he was chopping it up alongside U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker. Welp, find a tourniquet and get ready for tomorrow.

The post The most surprising rounds of Day 1 at the PGA Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.—Corey Conners didn’t see a shot land for the final three hours of his round. Why waste time squinting into the South Carolina sun, trying to follow a white pellet 300 yards away, when you know exactly where it’s headed?

These kind of blackout stretches are not uncommon for the 29-year-old Canadian, who hardly ever stops smiling. His ball-striking, on the contrary, does not mess around. The swing is so rhythmic it should come with a warning: Do not operate heavy machinery while watching this man hit tight draw after tight draw. In that department, he’s the heir apparent to Louis Oosthuizen. If you prefer more concrete evidence, Conners is the only player on tour ranked inside the top 12 in both strokes gained/off-the-tee and SG/approach. It’s not a stretch to think he’d be a top-10 player if the putter would ever cooperate.

The putter cooperated on Thursday, and there’s your first-round leader at the PGA Championship. By two.

Conners picked up nearly four shots on Kiawah’s paspalum greens in shooting a five-under 67, and he did so while playing in trickier afternoon winds.

“It was a really special round,” Conners said. “I did a lot of things really, really well. It’s really nice to see some mid-range birdie putts fall in the hole. Really gave me confidence, and felt like I rolled it really well for the rest of the round. A lot of putts had chances to go in and I made some nice saves, as well.”

Particularly encouraging, of course, was his work with the flat stick.

“I’ve seen glimmers of good putting in certain events throughout this year, and I’ve worked really hard on it,” Conners said. “… It’s held me back a little bit, I would say, over the last few years, but it’s definitely becoming more consistent—and fine-tuning it week-by-week, definitely have a lot more confidence right now.”

We don’t doubt the veracity of those glimmers, but in the high-leverage moments he’s put himself in with his ball-striking, it’s been darkness. He elbowed his way into contention—politely, of course; he’s Canadian—at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and could not buy a putt. Same story at the Players, and the Masters.

The glass-half full outlook: Those are huge events, on demanding courses, and he’s given himself a chance. Conners has been playing at a top-20 level for the better part of a year now, with seven top-10s since October. This is another huge event and this is another demanding course, particularly when the wind’s doing its thing.

It helps to have a go-to shot, and Conners’ two-yard draw cut through the breeze beautifully on the closing gauntlet that played dead into the fan. On 16, a beauty from 154 yards to a back-left pin. Four feet, birdie. On the devilish par-3 17th, a piercing long iron to the fat part of the green for a stress-free par, The last swing of the day was a 3-hybrid into the par-4 18th—that’s a thing this week—to 14 feet, his bid for 66 sliding just by.

“I’d say it’s impossible to be stress-free around this golf course,” he said. “You can’t fall asleep out there on any holes. It’s very challenging. Yeah, I was fortunate to have a good day. Made it as least stressful as possible on myself.”

The post Corey Conners rides hot putter to solo lead at Kiawah Island appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C — What was supposed to be hard was easy. Or maybe he just made easy work of the hard. Will Zalatoris has a habit of doing that.

Zalatoris continued to exceed ever-growing expectations by turning in a one-under 71 Thursday to be squarely in the PGA Championship mix.

“Yeah, actually everything was solid,” Zalatoris said after Round 1.

He is making his first career PGA Championship start but we are well past introductions with Young Master Zalatoris. Zealots long eyed him as an intriguing prospect, golf fans became acquainted during his lights-out fall, everyone knew his name after he came a shot short of wearing the green jacket. When you’re trading tweets with Happy Gilmore, you know you’ve made it. Zalatoris’ rising celebrity was on display before the tournament began in earnest, playing a practice round with United States Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, assistant captain Zach Johnson and, ahem, team consigliere Phil Mickelson on Monday.

“He hits it a long ways,” Stricker said of Zalatoris. “He’s got a great imagination. I was talking to his coach a little bit and yeah, so you know, it’s a guy if he continues to play well would be a great fit for Whistling Straits.”

Before we start entertaining Zalatoris playing at that Pete Dye gem in the fall, he must tackle Dye’s Ocean Course this week. And it was an inauspicious start for Zalatoris Thursday, making 6 at the par-5 second and 5 at the par-4 fourth. The front is the easier of sides, and going deep in the black before the back is nothing but bad news. Luckily for Zalatoris, the sixth delivered good tidings.

From 120 yards, he spun in a 60-degree wedge for an eagle 2, moving him above the rising tide and allowing a chance to breathe.

“Yeah, it was a nice bonus,” Zalatoris said. “I had 122, about a 15-mph wind right behind me, and I tried to smash a 60, and thankfully it flew straight into the hill and had a ton of spin.” He added a birdie at the par-5 seventh and another one at the 12th to move to two under, just a stroke out of the lead.

Yet what was just as impressive, if not more so, was his finish. It wasn’t pretty; he missed a five-footer for birdie at the par-3 14th and did not take advantage of the 18th’s grandstand backstop by blowing his drive right of all America. But nothing about the Ocean Course’s closing stretch is pretty (at least for competitors), and playing the final four in one over is a number plenty of guys would have signed for. A bogey at the 18th will leave a sour taste. Conversely, that he kept it from being worse after a drive into the junk might have been his most important play of the round.

“Obviously would have been nice to make a couple more birdies coming in,” Zalatoris said. “I had my chances but I did everything I needed to do to play well. So it’s there.”

Zalatoris is not kidding: He gained more than three strokes on the field in approach. At first glance that’s not too surprising, as he entered the week third on tour in the category. However, considering the afternoon wave came out on the business end of scoring (nearly a stroke higher than the morning group), that is a damn fine day.

Which brings us to Friday. It’s a congested leader board with a heck of a lot of star power, but Zalatoris’ star is as bright as anyone’s at the moment. As for the moment itself, the 24-year-old is at ease, saying the reason he played well at the Masters and the U.S. Open before that was he treated those showcases like a normal week.

“You know, the golf courses are obviously way harder than regular tournaments, and harder golf courses tend to favor me since my ball-striking is the best part of my game,” he said. “I think if anything, it’s the same ol’ same ol’, keep on doing what we’re doing.”

Given what he’s been doing, that could lead to a weekend that’s anything but regular.

The post Will Zalatoris continues to make the hard look easy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Legendary NBA basketballer Kevin Garnett once said screamed at the top of his lungs, “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!” Jordan Spieth fans might be screaming a similar refrain to the heavens when their knees hit the floor on Thursday night.

That’s because, according to this stat from stats guru Justin Ray, Spieth’s chances of making history and completing the career grand slam this week are practically nil following his opening-round 73:

Jordan Spieth opens with 73 (+1).

He has never won a professional event worldwide with an opening round over par.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 20, 2021

Welp, that was fun while it lasted, Jordy. Pack your things, fire up the jet. Your week is over.

Obviously, we kid, but that is still a tough stat to look at for Spieth’s legion of fans (and anyone who has a financial interest in him this week). It’s almost hard to believe, until you quickly remember that Spieth has always been a fast starter, often grabbing hold of tournaments on Thursday and never letting go. In all 12 of his PGA Tour victories, he’s shot at least 71 or lower in the first round. In nine of them, he’s shot 68 or lower.

We did go back and look to see if Spieth has at least come close to winning after an over-par opening round, and we’re talking truly “close.” The answer is yes, twice. At the 2017 Dell Technologies Championship, Spieth opened with a one-over 72 at TPC Boston, then wound up finishing in solo second at 14 under, three back of winner Justin Thomas. The second time came in the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie, where Spieth shot a one-over 72 on Thursday and then played his way into the final group on Sunday, but faded with a closing 76 to finish four back of Francesco Molinari.

One thing to note about his near Carnoustie comeback—he was six back after the first-round 72, which just so happens to be the exact deficit he faces after 18 holes at Kiawah Island, where Corey Conners grabbed the solo lead with a five-under 67. Should he somehow fight his way into the final group again, like he did in Scotland, he’ll have a chance to put this pesky stat to bed and to make history by becoming the sixth player ever to win the career grand slam. Hey, per Garnett Law, anything is possible.

The post Based off this stat, Jordan Spieth’s chances of winning this week just went to zero appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Daniel van Tonder? Rasmus Hojgaard? They don’t need this. Those guys are just (I assume) happy to be there. On the more famous side, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson do not need this. They’d like it, just as anyone would, but their legacies have been cemented and they can’t realistically expect to have a chance. (OK, Phil probably believes with his whole heart that he’ll win, but you get my point.)

Then you get to the bread and butter of the competitive field, and you start to see some guys who actually do, to varying degrees, need a major win. To measure the true depth of their need, let’s invent a one-to-10 scale and place the key names where they belong at each level. We begin with the most mild, non-urgent cases:

1.0 – I don’t need this at all, but I could shock the hell out of everyone and make America dread the Ryder Cup

Viktor Hovland. Yeah, he’s 23, and yeah, he has plenty of time to round into form, but if I had to pick one player who is wayyyy better than the average golf fan would know, it’s Hovland. Did you know he’s on the verge of breaking into the World top 10(No. 11, currently)? Did you know he’s third in the FedEx Cup standings, mostly because he’s got a top 10 in eight of his last 13 starts? If Hovland was American, the hype around him would be enormous right now (maybe jussssst shy of Morikawa-levels), but he’s Norwegian, so he’s more under the radar than he deserves. A win at Kiawah is absolutely not necessary, but I’m putting him here because it would change the way we looked at the 25-and-younger set of emerging stars.

Maddie Meyer

2.0 – I could definitely use it for the ole legacy, but I probably can’t win and I guess I’ll be fine.

Matt Kuchar. Yes, he’s one of the best players never to win a major, and yes, there’s kind of a monkey on his back. But he’s 42, Kiawah is too long for him to probably have any realistic chance, and despite a resurgence starting at the WGC-Dell Match Play, he seems to have kind of settled into that late-career groove from which no great legacy-changer will emerge. (Note: If you want, repeat this exact paragraph for Lee Westwood, adjusting the details where necessary.)

Christian Petersen/PGA of America

3.0 – I absolutely don’t need this in the legacy sense, but I do want to prove I’m still in the game

Brooks Koepka. Golf seems to have gone through cycles in the past few years where we see a dominant golfer emerge, win a couple majors and then vanish for a while to the point that you think, “Wow, is that person just never going to be the same again?” It’s happened with Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth most prominently, and Koepka is next in line, with his four majors in three years. The last two years haven’t been as kind, and coming into Kiawah, he’s hurt and not in top form. He shouldn’t win, and he almost definitely won’t … but from a halt-the-sad-narrative angle, he could definitely use it.

Keyur Khamar

4.0 – I have everything to prove, even if nobody believes I can actually do it

Tony Finau. We all know he’s one of the best players in the game, and we all know he struggles to win. It seems like a fantasy now, but imagine how he could shatter this perception with one major win. Kiawah should play to his strengths, and we know from his nine career top-10s in majors that he’s usually in the mix, so why not Finau? Well, because he hasn’t shown any indication that it’s remotely possible in the clutch. And that’s why he needs this, or something like this, pretty badly.

Mike Ehrmann

5.0 – I still have plenty of time, but what once seemed inevitable is now … still inevitable, but a little worrisome

Jon Rahm. How long do you have to be an elite player, and how old do you have to be, before the certainty that you’ll win a major gives way to the start of the dreaded doubt? Rahm, 26, has NOT reached that point yet, but he’s also not strictly among the too-young-to-wonder crowd anymore. Spieth, McIlroy, Thomas had already won their first major by now, and Koepka was barely older. If you believe Rahm is on their level, then you have to start inserting some expectations into that analysis. Rahm is almost past the point where he can skate past the major talk with the magic bullet we call “potential,” and the rest of his career starts … well, if not now, then very soon.

Mike Ehrmann

6.0 – I need this very badly, but that has been the case at every major for years and we’re all a little fatigued

Rickie Fowler. I could go back and look at the first time I wrote a story about Fowler trying to break through at majors, but it would probably be too depressing. Suffice it to say that he got his first career win in 2012, and we’ve been talking about it ever since. Problem is, after a slew of top-10s from 2013-2019, the trend actually looks worse. He missed the Masters, and he needed a special exemption just to get into Kiawah. It’s frustrating to revisit this story over and over and over every year, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a story.

Keyur Khamar

7.0 – I am really too good not to have won a major, despite my youth

Xander Schauffele. You know how many guys from positions 1 through 12 on the FedEx Cup standings have zero wins this year? One, and he’s in fourth place. It is, obviously, Schauffele. He was also No. 3 on last year’s list with zero wins. His major record is practically obscene, with top-10s in eight of his 15 appearances and exactly one cut. He’s absurdly consistent, and consistently great, and with wins at the ’17 Tour Championship and ’18 WGC-HSBC, we know he can win big events. And yet, though the math almost makes it seem impossible, no wins have accompanied his excellence in the last two years. He’s only 27, yes, but man, this guy really, really needs a major.

Ben Walton

8.0 – I am really too good to have won only one major, despite my youth

Justin Thomas. He’s not playing great at the moment, but putting that aside, he’s probably the most talented player in the world, with the potential exception of Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm. He is a great winner, as he proved yet again at the Players. But now he has to worry about becoming the next Adam Scott, or Justin Rose, where the long tapestry of success never spills over into the majors again. It’s not quite the same, of course; he won his first at a much younger age, and at 28 he’s theoretically just entering his prime. Still, his ability is so otherworldly that yes, it is a little weird that he doesn’t have No. 2 yet—even Rory McIlroy took a jab at him for it on Tuesday—and yes, he does need it.

Stacy Revere

9.0 – I am great again, I think, but you’re not really going to believe it until I win a major

Jordan Spieth. We lived so long in the halting, start-and-stop world of Spieth’s various resurgences that it’s incredibly difficult to believe that we’ve reached the end of the road. And yet, we almost definitely have—he won again, and he followed that win with two top-10s. The Masters was always going to be a near-impossible hill, since he won the week before, but now those heavy expectations are gone and the major watch can begin in earnest. He needs this to complete his long odyssey from the depths of the sport and—by the way—it would give him a career slam before the last man on this list.

Keyur Khamar

10.0 – The time is now, the form is now, the resurgence is now, and we’ve waited long enough

Rory McIlroy. Come on, who else? It may sound odd to say that the guy with four majors is the one who needs this one the most, but there’s really no other way to look at it. Rewind to 2014, and he was poised to maybe become the third-greatest golfer ever after Jack and Tiger, and now…nothing. Well, not nothing, but none of the big ones, and we all know that’s how his legacy will primarily be measured. But he’s back in form now, he won in Charlotte, and we all know what he can do at Kiawah. The major slump has to end, and it has to end now; he’s too good to keep stumbling when it matters.

Sam Greenwood

The post 10 players who need a Kiawah win the most appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Will any PGA club pro break 80?
The Ocean Course is a beautiful beast that has already gotten into the heads of the game’s best touring pros; in practice rounds probable Hall of Famer Zach Johnson has been having trouble just reaching the fairway on the second hole. How can a part-time sweater-folder hope to compete? There’s actually a little bit at stake collectively for the club pros. There are annual calls to reduce the number of them in the field, which would open up spots for more hardened players who make their living playing golf, not teaching it. And the desire not to embarrass the club pros factors into the typically benign setup at the PGA. If the tees get moved up at the Ocean Course it will be to avoid the spectacle of club pros shooting in the 90s, not because of Jon Rahm’s whining, which will cheat fans out of the glorious spectating that would come with the course being tipped out. So here’s hoping some of the PGA of America’s poster boys play well.

Who is most likely to break Golf Twitter’s heart?
So many to choose from! Max Homa is the darling of the interwebs and looks ready to become a player of real importance. Joel Dahmen has already declared on his Twitter feed that he is confident of a top-10 finish. Tony Finau is overdue for another crushing near-miss. The guess here is that the streaking Homa will contend but won’t win, which is more than a moral victory as Player Impact Performance is now just as important as FedEx Cup points.

Does anyone remember Dustin Johnson?
The world No. 1 has been a non-factor on the PGA Tour this calendar year, including a missed cut at the Masters. But the guy is so flammable he’s always one good round from being a threat again. With his piercing ball-flight he’s particularly dangerous in windy conditions, which are pretty much guaranteed at the Ocean Course. Johnson, who has finished runner-up at the last two PGAs, turns 37 next month. The window is not closing just yet but he needs to win a couple more majors to enjoy a career total on par with his massive talent.

Patrick Smith

Which Rory McIlroy will show up?
The return to Ocean Course is a referendum on the last decade of McIlroy’s career. His eight-shot romp at the 2012 PGA, when Rory was a tender 23, inspired Padraig Harrington to say it was McIlroy, not Tiger Woods, who posed the biggest threat to Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 career major championship victories, even though at the time Rory trailed Tiger 14-2. It has been a wild ride ever since, with flashes of brilliance compromised by inexplicable slumps. Now McIlroy arrives with a new swing coach (Pete Cowen), the confidence of a recent win and the burden of history, as he has been stuck on four majors for seven long years. Rory has already accomplished enough to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer but the repeated failings in the majors lead to an inevitable sense of what-could-been. McIlroy needs to bust out and win one more—which would tie the career hauls of mega-talents Seve Ballesteros, Byron Nelson and Phil Mickelson—to kick off a triumphant second act to his career. What better place than a big ballpark like the Ocean Course, already the site of one career-altering triumph?

Are we emotionally ready for Jordan Spieth to contend to the bitter end?
Spieth is back. The statistics (16th strokes gained approach, 14th around the greens) prove it, as does his recent win at the Texas Open. But he won’t be back back until he’s in another dogfight at a major championship. Even at his best, Spieth was golf’s most unpredictable high-wire act this side of Phil Mickelson. (Who can forget Jordan’s 71st hole double-bogey at Chambers Bay or wild bogey from the driving range at Birkdale, two majors he actually won?) If Spieth has a chance to win coming down the treacherous closing holes at the Ocean Course golf fans everywhere are going to need an intervention or at the very least a cigarette.

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By Joel Beall
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C—The first ball went to parts unknown. The second, water. The third followed the second. There wasn’t much vexation, at least visibly; it was a practice round, after all. And on his fourth, after he and his group moved from the back 17th tee to a box 25 yards up, Bryson DeChambeau did, in fact, hit the green Wednesday afternoon. But as he went forth, a fan perched above a sand path noted, “This wind has him turned every which way.”

DeChambeau’s career is one built off zealous pursuits. They may not be conventional and often the routes he takes to them are derided, yet he always gets to where he wants to go. Off of talent, sure, but also a manic approach that does not allow for anything less. However, there is one pursuit DeChambeau has not mastered, what in the past has called his “Holy Grail.” The wind.

“The one thing, nobody out here will ever be able to control, is the conditions of the course, whatever it is, and the wind,” DeChambeau said after winning the 2018 Northern Trust. “The wind is always going to be the final—you know, the Holy Grail. We’ll never be able to figure that out.”

He is a different player—in profile, performance, stature—than he was then. The quixotic chase remains though, and that could be problematic this week. For the one thing Bryson DeChambeau can’t control is what will control this tournament.

“It’s not easy. It’s definitely a difficult test at hand. I think that’s what’s so unique about this golf course is that when the wind picks up, it is probably one of the hardest golf courses I’ve ever played,” DeChambeau said Wednesday ahead of the 2021 PGA Championship. “You can’t miss it in certain areas. Like you can’t bail out left or right. You’ve just got to have your ball-striking on the whole day, and if you don’t, you’re going to get penalised.”

Getting penalised is not something Bryson is used to. Most PGA Tour and major championship venues bend, if not altogether break, at the bomb-and-gouge attack. It is a strategy DeChambeau rode to a U.S. Open victory, and a strategy that has him first in the FedEx Cup standings heading into Kiawah.

The Ocean Course, however—despite weighing in at 7,800 yards—will require more this power. As DeChambeau mentioned, there is a premium on precision, an area which he has struggled with off the tee (172nd in driving accuracy) and in approach (195th in proximity to the hole). Those vulnerabilities could be amplified against the relentless puffs off the Atlantic. valleys below the volcano-like greens.

Moreover, DeChambeau is, by his own admission, not one who likes to dabble in conjecture. The wind, by its very nature, has no equation.

“We try to make our best educated guess, but it doesn’t always work out,” DeChambeau said. “Like for example, today I hit a perfect shot with a 53-degree wedge at 10:30 [in his swing arc] and on the device it says it went the right distance, and then we looked up and it landed five yards past the flag and went over the green, just because of wind and something we couldn’t feel or control. It just gusted right at that moment.”

Jamie Squire
Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau walk off the 10th hole during a practice round prior to the 2021 PGA Championship.

This expected chaos led DeChambeau to surmise this week that the tournament would be decided by providence and composure. The latter of which has, at times, not been Bryson’s strong suit.

“A lot of it is going to be dependent on luck this week. I will say that. When it’s dependent on luck you have to be patient,” DeChambeau said. “You have to say either there’s going to be good breaks, there’s going to be bad breaks, but you have to be patient, wait for those opportunities to make birdies on the par 5s, on those short par 4s, and just hit it in the middle of the green this week. That is my ultimate goal is if I can hit as many greens as possible, I think I’ll do OK.”

Give DeChambeau credit. In a sport filled with players unwilling to concede their flaws, he is transparent that the wind has him flummoxed. He continues to work the blackboard, but still hasn’t figured out the best way to remove the guesswork.

Not to say he’s short on conviction. In his follow-up, DeChambeau worked “laminar flow” into his answer. No, seriously:

“If there was a way to figure out the wind—man, you guys are going to eat this one up, but the laminar flow of the wind and how it works—look, there are certain times where over certain dune hills and stuff on greens and before the greens where the wind will flow down and up and over certain mounds, so that’s going to make it feel weird, play different, and it’s just going to affect how the ball goes,” DeChambeau says.

This is not a knock on DeChambeau or his chances this week. For starters, most of the field shares his frustrations with the wind. His distance, should he be able to keep his flight down, will continue to be a tremendous asset. For what it’s worth, DeChambeau’s shortest drive in his practice rounds was “only” 270 yards.

DeChambeau has also proven he’s more than muscle. He finished T-3 at the TPC Sawgrass earlier this year, a course that shares many of the Pete Dye attributes that will pose as challenges this week. His putting, which was such a sore point earlier in his career he toyed with the side-saddle method, is now a weapon in his arsenal, ranking 10th in stroke-gained/putting last year and 38th this season.

Conversely, even here DeChambeau mentioned the wind. “You’re over the putt and you go, oh, more gust, and so you push a little bit more or whatever to account for that.” And there was the wind, again, when DeChambeau was asked his comfort level on the dance floors: “The wind really affects putts. That’s the tough part. You have a perfect aim and you hit it and the wind gusts and moves it along. You’ve got to be willing to adapt and adapt really quickly out here.”

So here we are, on the eve of the PGA Championship, with a forecast calling for steady 15 mph wind in Rounds 1 and 2. To make it to Round 3, to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy after Round 4, DeChambeau will need to adapt to his discomfort. And adapt quickly.

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By Daniel Rapaport
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Ninety-nine of the world’s top 100 golfers are here, but the same two faces keep popping up everywhere—on social media, on the TV promos, on the signage. One of these men hasn’t won a major in nearly seven years; the other isn’t even a top-25 player.

The all-powerful World Ranking is derived from a formula that incorporates two years’ worth of results. A rolling average, so to speak. It’s the polar opposite of the AP Poll in college sports, which serve as a snapshot in time: Here are best teams, right now. Such a heat-of-the-moment system jives much better with the goldfish-like memory of sports fans. The computers may care what you did in the 2019 Northern Trust, but the people don’t. This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business, and Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth have done plenty.

We’ll start with McIlroy. Just nine days ago and just north of the South Carolina border (and just after missing three cuts in a row), he suddenly looked like the Rory of old in winning the Wells Fargo Championship. Not so much his game—gone is the push-draw off the tee, banished to the bench in favor or a baby fade—but his presence. When McIlroy gets going, his gait morphs into a beautiful mixture of childlike bounciness and grown-man assuredness. He hadn’t walked like that in more than 18 months, the time since he last won before that, a barren stretch that saw him drop to No. 15 in the World Ranking.

The context surrounding the win, the 19th of his career, gave it some extra oomph. After looking totally and completely lost in shooting 79-75 at the Players in March, McIlroy summoned whisperer Pete Cowen—a proverbial other set of eyes, but an older and wiser set, too. We will not presume to fully comprehend the X’s and O’s intricacies of what a generational talent and his instructor are working on, but Cowen has clearly pushed the right buttons. To go from where McIlroy was at TPC Sawgrass, to where he was at Quail Hollow suggests progress that goes beyond an impact position. Belief has returned to the McIlroy camp.

“When you’re in the thick of it,” McIlroy said Tuesday, “it always seems further away than it is.

“The big thing that I was really encouraged with at Quail Hollow is it’s my first time really getting myself into contention in a while, and to have those thoughts and movements sort of hold up under that pressure, trying to win a golf tournament, coming down some really tough holes, that’s what I was really pleased with.”

The location of this week’s golf tournament has certainly aided the hype machine. Kiawah’s Ocean course has hosted just one major before this one, the 2012 PGA Championship. Rory McIlroy won it by eight. None of us are the same as we were nine years ago. His hair was longer then and less grey. His swing was loopier, his body looser. He was dating Caroline Wozniacki at the time, now he has a daughter with wife Erica who he’d meet for the first time a little more than a month after that win. He celebrated victories as young men do; on Sunday, after winning at Quail Hollow, he was in bed by 10 a.m., sober as a judge.

Put simply: “I feel like a completely different person.”

Golf courses change, too, especially when you visit them in different times of the year. Rory’s romp came amid oppressive August heat; this week calls for high 70s with a steady breeze. May looks good on Kiawah. Still, only one person in the field has won a golf tournament here.

“Probably going to be a different wind than we played in the last time,” he said, “so it’s going to play like a completely different golf course. I played great here last time, obviously, and won my first PGA and my second major, but just because I did that doesn’t mean that I’m going to find it any easier this week than anyone else.”

Spieth’s build up has been more of a slow burn. To be fair, he was starting from a much darker place. Rory’s winless streak lasted 18 months; Jordan’s lasted 44. Spieth came dangerously close to dropping outside the top 100. No serious person dared to label Rory done, but plenty went there with Spieth.

The first real signs of progress came at TPC Scottsdale in February, where his electric 61 on Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open gave him a 54-hole lead for the first time in forever. He didn’t leave with any hardware but that was fine, because his T-3 the following week at Pebble Beach made it clear he might be on to something. And after a T-4 a few weeks later at Bay Hill, he was back. Then came a win in Texas, a T-3 at the Masters and last week’s T-9 in at the Byron Nelson, and now we’re talking about the Career Grand Slam again. It was an annual occurrence in the years immediately after winning claret jug in 2017, but journalists did him the professional courtesy of laying off the CGS talk last year at TPC Harding Park. He had no chance, and he knew it. His T-71 came and went without a second glance.

It’s on our minds. Is it on his?

“It’s not,” he said. Perhaps his ability to block out noise is a reason he excels at a sport like golf, but we’re just spit-balling here. “I think as we get into the weekend, if I’m able to work my way into contention, I think it’s something that’ll obviously be asked and come up, and it’s something that I certainly want.”

Him, and everyone else. Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth aren’t the only two coming into this week in fine form. Xander Schauffele is playing well, and Justin Thomas, and Patrick Reed, and Viktor Hovland. Heck, Sam Burns might be the hottest player on the planet. But McIlroy and Spieth are finally playing well at the same time, and they’re two of the very few players not named Tiger that have proven to strike a note with fans.

Each has an opportunity to do something remarkable this weekend: Rory to re-ignite his major count, Jordan to accomplish something only five other men ever have. And so they enter this tournament as a clear No. 1 and No. 2, algorithms be damned.

The post The common bond that makes Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth Kiawah’s most-talked golfers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.