Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Kobe certainly had his flaws, but you can’t argue the impact he had on the world. As Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard pointed out, 13(!) PGA Tour pros list him as their favourite athlete in their media guide bios. He was bigger than a sports star, bigger than a brand. His Mamba Mentality is a movement. And one that isn’t going away anytime soon. So let’s keep Kobe in our heads, at least for his relentless drive and tireless work ethic. And let’s keep Kobe, his daughter GiGi and the seven other victims of this tragedy in our hearts as a reminder of how precious our time on Earth is. OK, time to talk about some happier stuff.

WE’RE BUYING

Marc Leishman: The Aussie won the Farmers Insurance Open while playing with a different tragedy on his mind, providing the latest victory for a country looking for any good news. “Pretty amazing, particularly with all the problems that have been happening back in Australia with the fires and people losing their lives. Just devastating really,” Leishman said. “So if this can bring them a little bit of joy, it’s a big win for me personally and then for them as well. I hope this can bring them a bit of joy.”

Sean M. Haffey

Leishman joins Cameron Smith as Aussie winners on the PGA Tour in the past three weeks. Plus, Lucas Herbert won the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Well done to all three providing a much-needed boost and raising awareness and relief funds for what’s happening Down Under.

Sebastian Soderberg: The Swede didn’t come close to winning in Dubai, but he did shatter the European Tour record for fastest round by shooting a Sunday 75 in 97 minutes. Soderberg and his caddie, younger brother Jasper, also got in their cardio workout by 8:45 a.m. and had the rest of the day to do whatever they wanted. How efficient.

97 minutes. 75 shots. ?

Sebastian Söderberg on the fastest round in European Tour history.#ODDC pic.twitter.com/4J4TxH9wV1

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 26, 2020

When it comes to playing quickly, though, Soderberg couldn’t quite catch Wesley Bryan, who played a solo Sunday round at the BMW Championship in 89 minutes. Oh, and shot 69, by the way. That prompted this Grind video in which I tried my best to speed talk like the Micro Machines Man in Wes’ honour:

In any event, golfers of every skill level don’t need to play this fast, but we could all pick up the pace a bit. So to guys like Wes and Sebastion, thanks for the inspiration.

Tiger Woods’ new driver: Not to give TaylorMade free advertising here, but Woods sure looked comfortable swinging the new Sim driver around during his T-9 at Torrey Pines to kick-off 2020.

While Phil Mickelson has resorted to wildly swinging out of his shoes as he approaches 50 (he hit 2 of 14 fairways on Friday), Woods has throttled back by hitting what he calls a “slap cut.” He’s hitting more fairways, his misses are manageable, and “slap cut” is instantly one of my all-time favourite Tigerisms.

WE’RE SELLING

Jon Rahm’s Sunday: First of all, that was a rough start. I mean, wow. ROUGH. It makes you wonder how much more pressure he was feeling to win this tournament than a Euro Tour event. . . To the Spaniard’s credit, though, he made a furious late rally only to come up one shot short. But making matters worse is the fact he thought he was actually tied for the lead when he tapped in for birdie on 18. How can you not know where you stand in a tournament?! How could he not know he needed eagle on 18?! That’s a bad job. A really bad job.

Bryson DeChambeau’s finish: On the bright side, Bryson says his new bulk has “opened new boundaries I never thought were possible.” But his recent quote about hitting it so far that his pace of play won’t matter didn’t hold up too well as DeChambeau was given a bad time on the back nine while contending in Dubai. Also not holding up too well was his play down the stretch as he threw away his chance to defend his title. . .

Today in Dubai, Bryson DeChambeau was put on the clock and given a slow-play warning on the 10th hole.

He went on to shoot 76, T-8, which included bogeying his last four holes. pic.twitter.com/3RovwMAgbM

— Samantha Marks (@SamanthaSMarks) January 26, 2020

Coincidence? Maybe. But this is certainly something to keep an eye on, especially when he plays on the European Tour.

Tiger’s bad break: Seriously, how in the world did this not stay in the hole?!

@TigerWoods nearly holed out from the fairway.

The ball went IN the hole … and came back out. ? pic.twitter.com/ikm21gLSju

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 26, 2020

No, seriously. How? Did anyone ask Bryson? Tiger out here doing magic tricks.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to TPC Scottsdale for the country’s biggest annual boozefest, which also coincides with a golf tournament. Welcome to the Waste Management Phoenix Open! Please try not to get arrested! And if you’re playing golf like Bryson DeChambeau, please try to keep up with the group in front of you!

Random tournament fact: It’s been one year since Johnny Miller signed off on NBC for his last tournament. I miss you, Johnny. I miss you every day. Well, every Sunday, at least.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Tiger Woods would ever make a leader board gaffe on the final hole: 1-MILLION -to-1 odds

—Tiger Woods will win the Masters: 10-to-1 odds (Actual odds, now a co-favourite)

—Johnny would have a LOT to say about Bryson this week: LOCK

TWEETS OF THE WEEK

Fully understand if Bryson wants to keep hitting it 40 past me tomorrow so we don’t have to chat.

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) January 25, 2020

Eddie Pepperell is the best. And he followed it up with this update after he and Bryson played together on Sunday:

We actually got on quite well. And to his credit, he’s sped up.

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) January 26, 2020

Well, other than that bad time, of course.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (PGA TOUR EDITION)

This is pure golf porn, folks.

Flushed. ?

?? pic.twitter.com/kNJUJFnKh0

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2020

Nicely done, PGA Tour.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (EUROPEAN TOUR EDITION)

And kudos to the European Tour CONTENT makers as well for this gem of a game pitting Viktor Hovland and Andrew “Beef” Johnston:

Beef ?Hovland #LuckOfTheDraw ??#ODDC @OMEGAGolfDubai pic.twitter.com/d0glMwwGQj

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 24, 2020

Just don’t try this at home. Unless your course is completely empty.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Lucas Herbert is a European Tour winner. And an honest bloke:

Victory + Australia Day = ? pic.twitter.com/Sj0ObZRnPO

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 26, 2020

Hope Monday morning wasn’t too painful, Lucas. You’re only 24! It gets much, much worse. Trust me.

THIS WEEK IN PGA TOUR PRO-WAGS PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

https://www.instagram.com/p/B704RKDAaz9/?utm_source=ig_embed

Get it? “Boat” load? Good stuff, Jena. Also, by my extensive research of Jena’s Instagram account, this is the first time she’s posted a photo of the couple on a boat together since May 4 of last year. What’s significant about that? Brooks won the PGA Championship that week. So he’s basically a lock-in Saudi Arabia this week.

And how about C.T. Pan going shopping with his wife and sometimes caddie, Michelle:

When it comes to grocery shopping, I’m her caddie. 3 tasks I need to do for her, show up, keep up and shut up. #happywifehappylife #groceryshopping #happymondays #groceryshopping pic.twitter.com/k1nAAFuZDc

— C.T. Pan (@ctpangolf) January 27, 2020

Also, pay up at the end. ? https://t.co/ojLON1xv2R

— C.T. Pan (@ctpangolf) January 28, 2020

Looks like someone learned his lesson from that time he knocked Michelle’s caddying skills on national TV.

THIS AND THAT

The Players Championship’s purse will increase $2.5 million to $15 million total with $2.7 million of that going to the winner. And no one even batted an eye. . . . Phil Mickelson missed his second consecutive cut to start a calendar year for the first time in his career. And at No. 86 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he might have a few more holes on his schedule since he currently isn’t qualified for a slew of big events. . . . Speaking of the OWGR, Jordan Spieth dropped out of the top 50 for the first time since his rookie season. That historic 2015 campaign seems like it was decades ago. . . . The Premier Golf League, a possible PGA Tour competitor, is drawing interest from players, including Rory McIlroy. The bad news for Phil and Jordan? These would be 48-man events. Ouch. . . . And finally, it looks like I need to find a new hiding spot for my fruit snacks. . .

She’s a crafty one. And like Kobe, I’m a proud girl dad. RIP Kobe and GiGi.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

What’s the golf equivalent of Kobe’s 81-point game?

How fast could I play 18 holes walking?

How much should I bet on Brooks Koepka?

The post Tiger Woods’ new toy, Jon Rahm’s brutal leader board gaffe, and a possible good omen for Brooks Koepka appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Beef ?Hovland #LuckOfTheDraw ??#ODDC @OMEGAGolfDubai pic.twitter.com/d0glMwwGQj

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 24, 2020

You know it’s about to get wacky when Beef draws a lob wedge off the tee. You can’t ask for a more sadistic combination than that. Hovland draws a four iron and puts in the fairway, but soon gets his comeuppance when a three iron rears its ugly head from the first cut from 127 yards. Beef follows that with the shot of the segment, somehow managing to hold a four-iron from 97 yards on the putting surface despite a downright disturbing lie.

After getting relief from the grandstands, nearly hitting it in the water, and coming a mere inch from holing a chip, Hovland picks it up for six, leaving Beef with a long putt from the back of the green for the win . . . with an eight iron, of course. After leaving it about six feet short, Beef pours in a two iron to halve the hole. Everyone goes home happy, albeit with some pretty fried nerves.

Overall, a pretty fun to way to kick off a pretty fun conceit. We hope to see more of this post-Dubai Desert Classic, perhaps at the Masters. Something tells us Augusta National will absolutely LOVE this sort of hi-jinx. In the meantime, feel free to try this at your local GC as long you don’t mind never being invited back.

The post Viktor Hovland and Beef draw random clubs out of hat, play Dubai Desert Classic’s 18th hole, chaos ensues appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Not all last-minute invites are created equal, in fact, sometimes they are preferable. Just ask Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who earned one of the more coveted last-minute invites in all of the professional golf on Sunday.

Johnston, who began the day 10 shots off the lead of Bernd Wiesberger, carded a final-round 62 at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. Through 15 holes the Englishman was at nine under, yielding a 59Watch hashtag on the Golf Channel broadcast. After he made birdie at the 16th, he put himself in position to pull off the improbable feat, needing back-to-back birdies to finish. He went par-bogey, settling for a nine-under 62 to vault 34 spots up the leader board and into solo third at the time.

Eventually, Beef finished in a tie for fourth, still good enough to earn one of the three remaining spots in the Open Championship next week at Royal Portrush. It will be his first Open Championship appearance since 2017, and his first major championship appearance since the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock.

Making the round and subsequent Open invite all the more special was the fact it came just a few weeks after Johnston revealed he had been struggling with his mental health in a player blog on the European Tour’s website. Johnston wrote about one low point in particular after the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge this past November.

“I came off the course on Sunday and couldn’t even bring myself to go get my clubs from the locker,” he said. “I just left them. I went straight back to the hotel and cried.”

Johnston quickly became a fan favourite when he burst onto the scene in 2016, picking up his first European Tour win at the Spanish Open and saying he couldn’t wait to get “hammered” afterwards. This made him very popular with American fans in particular, who showered him with chants of “Beeeeeef” everywhere he went. This, in addition to the added pressure he put on himself to perform, weighed heavily on him.

“You’ve got to remember, I’m a normal geezer from Finchley,” Beef wrote in the blog. “Next thing, I see a poll over in America asking fans, ‘who are you looking forward to seeing more?’ I finished above Tiger Woods. To get your head around that is very tough, and then came the pressure I put on myself to perform.

“The attention I got was just crazy. I want to take a picture with a kid, sign a ball and make their day, but it all happened so quickly.”

The good news is that Johnston appears to be in a much healthier mental state, which he credited to the help of psychologists and his fiancée Jodie Valencia. The couple announced they’ll be having a baby on Instagram in early June. Following his 62 at The Renaissance Club on Sunday, Johnston fought back tears talking about Valencia, only able to muster up a “Life’s good,” when speaking to Golf Channel’s Damon Hack. When Hack asked why he’s chosen to be so public about his mental health struggles, Johnston was as honest as he could be.

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? Why not? You can’t go wrong with saying the truth.”

Johnston also conducted an emotional interview with the European Tour. You can watch the full thing below, and you might need the tissues:

A final-round 62 brought out all the emotions for Andrew "Beef" Johnston.pic.twitter.com/sfuHFU78IE

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) July 14, 2019

There is no cheering in the press box, but it goes without saying that everyone in the golf world is thrilled to see Beef back and smiling again. Hopefully, there will be more smiling to come at Royal Portrush, where he’ll be joined by France’s Benjamin Hébert and Italy’s Nino Bertasio, who earned the other two exemptions that were up for grabs at the Scottish Open.

The post Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston earns last-minute invite to Royal Portrush with final-round 62 at the Scottish Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

RELATED: Padraig Harrington questions how “serious” Tiger is about winning the Open Championship

On Friday, Johnston missed his fourth cut of the season on the European Tour at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, carding rounds of 71 and 76 at Lahinch Golf Club. A day earlier, the 30-year-old Englishman wrote a blog detailing his struggles with mental health on europeatour.com

The worst of it came this past November, when Johnston finished in a tie for 27th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

“I came off the course on Sunday and couldn’t even bring myself to go get my clubs from the locker,” Johnston wrote. “I just left them. I went straight back to the hotel and cried.

“I nearly walked off the course at the Australian PGA Championship a few weeks later. I hit two bad shots and I couldn’t mentally handle it at all. I came off there and cried. I knew then that something wasn’t right.”

Johnston actually managed a T-9 finish that week at the Australian PGA, which still stands as his best result of the 2018-’19 season. But as Johnston explained, even good play wasn’t enough to quiet the demons.

“You’ve got to remember, I’m a normal geezer from Finchley,” he said. “Next thing, I see a poll over in America asking fans, ‘who are you looking forward to seeing more?’ I finished above Tiger Woods. To get your head around that is very tough, and then came the pressure I put on myself to perform. I finished low 20s at the [2017] Open and I was fuming.

“The attention I got was just crazy. I want to take a picture with a kid, sign a ball and make their day, but it all happened so quickly. I enjoyed the crowds and would never change that. But when you throw someone into that, you don’t know how it will affect them. I didn’t realize the underlying pressure I was putting on myself to perform, to try and please thousands of people.”

Fortunately, it sounds like Johnston’s mental health is improving. He has begun working with sports psychologist Ben Davies, who believes Johnston’s issues trace back to his breakout season in 2016, when he won the Spanish Open, finished in the top 10 at the Open Championship and earned his PGA Tour card. Johnston’s life off the course has helped as well. He got engaged in December to Jodie Valencia and the couple announced on Instagram last month that they’re having a baby.

In addition to his T-9 at the Australian PGA, Johnston has a pair of top 25s on the European Tour this season. He’s not made a single start on the PGA Tour, and he’s yet to qualify for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. His last chance to do so will come next week at the Scottish Open, where he’ll need to finish inside the top three of players who have not yet qualified to earn an invite.

The post Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston reveals mental health struggles following missed cut at Irish Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Luke Kerr-Dineen
If you’ve played enough golf, you’ve probably come across a similar story: A tour pro graces your home course and rattles-off a ridiculously low round with ease. I grew up hearing about Fred Funk, then stuck in the no-man’s land between 45 years old and the Champions Tour-eligible 50, shooting a 62 on my home course on his first visit. A friend of mine recently told me a similar tale involving Fred Couples carding a 59 on a visit to his home course, taking impossibly difficult lines off certain tees.

Who knows if those stories are real—perhaps they’re just legend. But I’m reminded of them every year during U.S. Open sectional qualifying when a host of seemingly struggling pros cruise through “golf’s longest day” with relative ease. It’s just another reminder that these guys are, dare I say, good. So much so that the top-tier players don’t even need to be in great form to shoot great scores at non-PGA Tour events.

Here’s what I mean …

Andrew (Beef) Johnston
England’s beloved Beef has been serving up a game that’s been pretty raw this year—just two top-10s in European Tour starts and none since March. And yet Johnston looked entirely comfortable finishing tied for medalist honors at the deeply competitive Walton Heath qualifying site outside London. Following a missed cut and a T-42 in his previous two starts, Johnston shot 10 under in his two rounds on Monday, marking the third straight year he has made it through qualifying.

[divider] [/divider]

Cameron Wilson
The 25-year-old qualified for the U.S. Open in 2012 while at Stanford, and then capped his collegiate career by winning the NCAA individual title in 2014. Since turning professional, however, the lefty has struggled finding his way. Last year, he missed 10 of 21 cuts on the Web.com Tour and finished inside the top 25 just three times. This year? He’ll be fitting the U.S. Open into his mini tour schedule after shooting 69-66 in his New Jersey qualifier.

Copyright USGA/Michael Cohen

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Adam Scott
Scott’s terrible putting has dogging his performance all year on the PGA Tour, and it almost cost him his streak of 67-straight major starts. Forced to playing in sectional qualifying for the first time in 17 years, Scott made hard work of it, grabbing one of the last spots on the number at the Columbus, Ohio, qualifier. In truth, it was always in his hands: Scott was inside the cutoff line midway through the back nine only to slip outside, before then playing his way back inside.

[divider] [/divider]

Russell Knox
Like Scott, Knox qualified via the deep Columbus, Ohio, qualifier and, like Scott, Knox has struggled to perform this year. He has just three top-10s in 20 PGA Tour tournaments this season dating back to last October, but wound up finishing seven under to book his spot at Shinnecock Hills.

Copyright USGA/Fred Vuich

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Aaron Wise
Wise won the AT&T Byron Nelson just last month, so it’s hard to poke at the quality of his game. Still, since the victory he has had a bit of a hangover, missing the cut in his next two starts. It wasn’t exactly U.S. Open qualifying form, but no matter. Wise’s two rounds totaling seven under was enough to qualify him on the number.

[divider] [/divider]

Eric Axley
The 44-year-old won in a rain-shortened Web.com Tour event in April, but hasn’t been doing much of nothing ever since: MC, MC, T-58, T-59 in his last four starts isn’t pretty on the eye, but he managed to shoot a seven under in Memphis, then make an eagle in a playoff to get into his first Open since 2010.

Copyright USGA/John Gress

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Sam Burns
And finally in the “these guys are on another level” files: Burns has been spending most of 2018 using sponsor’s exemptions to chase his PGA Tour card and, to his credit, has generally played quite well. That was until the Memorial, though, where his third-round 81 resulted in a MDF. Bad news, with the U.S. Open qualifier next week? Nope: Burns shot 62-65 to collect medalist honors at the Memphis qualifier by five shots.

The post For more proof tour pros are even better than you think they are, check out these U.S. Open sectional qualifiers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

His infectious enthusiasm and willingness to please after making it all the way to the penultimate group in the season’s penultimate major suddenly made him the well-rounded centrepiece of a media circus. Though he handled the distractions with aplomb, what the eventual 8th place finish at Troon and new-found fame didn’t help Beef achieve was to keep his eye on the ball career wise.

A top-10 at the lowly Puerto Rico Open was the solitary highlight of a year spent bouncing uncomfortably between the European and PGA Tours with his next best a T-27 at last summer’s Open at Royal Birkdale.

Beef knew it was “100 percent” time to “wipe the slate clean” and he’s started the process well with a pair of 68s at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA to be right in the mix halfway through the Desert Swing opener.

“When I finish my season, I look back at it and I was just like, it was so crazy, so many distractions, and I probably drunk too much, as well,” the 28-year-old Englishman admitted.

“You’ve gone to too many parties and you get invited here and there and stuff and you’re burning the candle at both ends. I was like, all right, that’s it. Once Christmas, New Year’s is done, just get back to basics and take it nice and easy. I feel great.”

And why not. Johnston is just four shots out of the lead and is sure to see his galleries on The National swell if he can keep the momentum rolling.

There’s no reason to believe he can’t with the big stick behaving.

“Drove the ball lovely,” Beef said after his bogey-free second round. “Hit a lot of fairways and you can put yourself in good positions to hit a lot of wedges and 9-irons in on the par 4s and stuff, so you can give yourself some chances. The putter went a bit cold on the back nine, but you just have to stay patient.”

Regardless of what transpires over the weekend, Beef won’t allow himself to be undercooked in one vital area this season – on the range.

“I didn’t put enough work in last year, it’s simple. It showed. So just get down, knuckle down and practice hard.”

The post Fresh cut of Beef appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

A scintillating 66 saw the man from Japan join reigning champion Tommy Fleetwood atop the leaderboard. Just as Fleetwood will have raised few eyebrows with six-under circuit, neither should the fact Tanihara is keeping him company come as any great surprise.

The world No. 71 and 14-time Japan Golf Tour winner won two of his three matches in Asia’s tight 14-10 loss to Europe in Malaysia and swept aside several of this week’s field, as well as Jordan Spieth, before being pipped by eventual winner Dustin Johnson in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship last season.

“It’s a tough course here,” said Tanihara. “Didn’t hit fairways so much but I’m thinking more about playing smart golf and making good putts. (Isao) Aoki, he won on The European Tour, and I’m just trying to focus on winning on The European Tour.”

With that said, the 39-year-old is by no means safe at the top. In a high calibre and tightly bunched chasing pack are myriad threats, Thomas Pieters, Bernd Wiesberger (both 67), Matthew Fitzpatrick and Andrew “Beef” Johnston (both 68) notable among them.

Nine players share third spot, including Scots Stephen Gallacher and Richie Ramsay, both of whom posted -4 68s on Thursday in a welcome return to the business end of the leaderboard.

Gallacher has had a tough old time of it since winning the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2014 and forcing his way into the Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles.

The Scotsman glided to eight top-10 finishes four years ago, but has managed only three in as many seasons since then.

“It was great, yeah. Played lovely the front nine. Gave myself a chance. Got to four-under. Only missed one green of the 18 and was never really outside 15-, 20-foot. Holed a few putts. Didn’t really play that great on the back nine, but you know, four-under is pretty good since the 1st of November [his last round].”

Ramsay, like Gallacher, carded only one bogey in his opening round.

“Yeah, very happy, probably the best opening round of the season I’ve ever had. Ball-striking was really good. I got four new clubs in the bag, so I love the added distance off the tee and I drove it well which is key around here.

“Just very consistent. Really pleased. Attitude was good. Everything was really nice. I think just coming out here, getting good practice in the nice weather was key to that.”

The post Tanihara out to emulate Aoki appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Last season wasn’t kind to Andrew Johnston. After taking the sport by storm in 2016, the man they call “Beef” struggled to find his footing, earning less than $300,000 in 13 appearances and losing his tour card in the process. His foray at last weekend’s RSM Classic didn’t change that tune, as his 77-75 were the highest scores through two days in Saint Simons.

But, while his game has gone sour, Beef’s demeanor remains as sweet as ever, evidenced in this interaction with a tour photographer.

In the middle of his Friday 75, Johnston sent a tee shot at the Seaside course into the native marsh. It was at this point the Englishman believed his 3-wood deserved a similar watery fate, sending the club flying into the moss. According to Golfweek’s Jeff Babineau, eventual winner Austin Cook saw where the wood settled, and tossed a ball in its general direction. A point of reference that helped photographer Stan Badz find the 3-wood, saving it from a muddy final resting place.

Badz then went after Johnston, hoping to return the rescued club. But, Beef being Beef, decided Badz had earned its ownership.

“He (Badz) went in there and got it, and I was like, ‘No, you go ahead and have that,’” Johnston told Babineau.

The best part? A hole later, Johnston realized he still had the headcover for the 3-wood, so he went back to Badz and gave him that, too.

“It was the least I could do,” Johnston said.

Badz happily displayed his newfound trophy for Babineau in all its glory:

Give the man credit. Any golfer can be charitable when things are going well. To keep a magnanimous disposition when you’re D.F.L. is why Beef is beloved.

The post Beef Johnston tosses club, lets photographer keep it at RSM Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It has been a tough season for Beef—currently ranked 185th in the FedEx Cup standings—as a result of finishing in the top 10 only once. Beef would need a really good finish at the Wyndham Championship next week to secure a 2017-’18 card, but this injury makes that possibility look slim.

That means Johnston would need to qualify through the Web.com Tour Finals Series for a second straight year to retain his card. Not exactly the type of season most would’ve expected after the 28-year-old became a fan favourite at the 2016 Open Championship with an eighth-place finish. Beef had made the cut in his past five major appearances.

The post PGA Championship 2017: Andrew (Beef) Johnston’s WD puts PGA Tour status in jeopardy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

We’ve heard a lot about the rough at Erin Hills leading up to this week’s U.S. Open, but there hasn’t been as much talk about a different kind of danger lurking at the course: Its bunkers.

They’re interesting in shape, they’re very sloped in spots and extremely narrow in others. And they could play a big part once the tournament starts on Thursday. Here’s Exhibit A, courtesy of U.S. Open rookie Whee Kim, who showed that in some cases players have a better chance of hitting themselves with their golf ball than getting it out:

This is U.S Open’s green side bunker.?? @pgatour @usga #Donotbethere#NoWayOut#SooooooTurf#USOpen#PGATOUR#골프#골프스타그램

A post shared by 김민휘 Wheeeeee (@wheekim) on Jun 12, 2017 at 5:42pm PDT

Enter Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who came up with a brilliant solution to tame Erin Hills’ sand traps this week. It’s just too bad it’s not a legal solution. Check it out as Beef utilizes the ol’ hidden-ball hand wedge to perfection:

BEEEF!! @beefgolf has got the bunkers covered this week ?? #usopen #golf

A post shared by Tyrrell Hatton (@tyrrellhatton) on Jun 13, 2017 at 9:58am PDT

Nice try, Beef.

The post Andrew “Beef” Johnston shows the best way to play Erin Hills’ bunkers (Unfortunately, it’s not legal) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.