Slumps happen to all golfers, and they happen for any number of reasons. But slumps tend to end for just one reason — a player’s steadfast refusal to let the game beat him.

Heartsick over the failing health of his mother and frustrated over his own myriad maladies that prevented him from remaining one of golf’s top players, much less enjoying a game that had meant so much to him since he was a boy, Jason Day nearly called it a career a couple of years ago. Chronic back problems not only made golf more challenging but also downright painful. He couldn’t practise like he wanted to — or needed to. He played too many events simply because he had to. “It was a stressful time,” he said.

His mother, Dening, lost her five-year battle with cancer last year. It was Dening who sacrificed for her son so he could chase his dream of a career in golf. And then it was his wife Ellie who offered continual support and encouragement as Day went about rebuilding his game with swing coach Chris Como.

On Sunday, Mother’s Day, both women were on his mind.

Taking over the solo lead with a bang @JDayGolf ? pic.twitter.com/qI5iFCXNEL

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 14, 2023

Having shown signs of a resurgence most of the year, Day finally found his way back to the top, winning for the first time in more than five years with a one-stroke victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson in McKinney, Texas. It took an impeccable performance, which perhaps made it all the more satisfying, as Day assembled a bogey-free nine-under 62 at TPC Craig Ranch.

The victory, worth $1.710 million, was the 35-year-old Australian’s 13th on the PGA Tour and it came 13 years after his first one, also at the Nelson. In outduelling a half-dozen challengers on a damp afternoon, the former World No. 1 snapped a winless drought stretching 1,835 days. Day, who lived in Dallas when he won that first time in 2010 (when the event was played at TPC Four Seasons Resort) capped a 23-under 261 total with a two-foot birdie putt on the par-5 home to edge Si Woo Kim and rookie Austin Eckroat.

“It’s been a struggling few years, and to be able to go out … five years since my last win … and to be able to go out and get the win the way I played today, was really special,” Day said, surrounded by a pregnant Ellie and their four children. “I’m very pleased how things have progressed over the last couple of years for me.

“Just non-stop grinding and non-stop wanting to improve and trying to get better,” Day added, talking about his career comeback. “I’ve had a lot of injuries with my back and for a moment there I thought I wasn’t going to play again. Just trying to get through those two years, just trying to get through a tournament was difficult. To be on the other side of it, to be healthy, feeling good about my game, finally winning again … yeah, it’s no better feeling.”

Day broke down in tears after the victory hit home. It wasn’t just because of the length of time between wins but because all that had happened in that span.

“Yeah, I was in tears for a little bit there, and to think about what my mom went through from 2017 on to her passing last year and then to know that … it was very emotional to go through and to experience what she was going through,” he said. “Then I had injuries on top of all of that going on in my life. To be honest, I was very close to calling it quits. I never told my wife that, but I was OK with it, just because it was a very stressful part of my life.

“Ellie, she never gave up on me trying to get back to the winner’s circle again. She just always was pushing me to try and get better.”

Of course, Day, who began the 2022-23 PGA Tour season last September ranked 175th in the world, realised that he wasn’t ready to let his career fade away. He won five times in 2015, including the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in record fashion, and reached the top of the World Ranking, and even if he couldn’t work on his game as assiduously as he once did in recent years after hooking up with Como in late 2020, he never stopped thinking about it.

“I would be up at 2 in the morning thinking about my golf swing, 1 in the morning calling Chris saying: ‘Hey, man, like I’ve got this thought, what do you think?’ And then I’d go out and practice the next day,” he said, underscoring how determined he was to rebuild his game.

That’s a far cry from what he was thinking just a year or two earlier. He explained his tortured mindset: “Yeah, it was at least a couple years ago when I was just struggling. My thought process was to go: ‘OK what’s my contract minimum that I have to play?’ It’s 20 events. Can’t practise Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday really. If I’m playing the pro-am then I’ll struggle to get through that, that’s fine, I’ll get through that. Get in Thursday, Friday, if I make the cut, great, and if I don’t, that’s a tick off the tournament list. To have that mindset, to even just think about the way that I was thinking, just to try and get through a tournament because of how much pain I was in, it’s not a healthy way of playing golf in general, not a healthy way of just living in general.”

Day was hardly ever in trouble or struggling on Sunday and led the field in strokes gained/tee to green for the week at 2.736 strokes. But it was his still-sparkling short game that put him on the path to victory amid a bunched leaderboard.

He was part of a five-way tie for the lead until he chipped in for birdie from 37 feet at the par-4 12th hole — the most difficult on the golf course — to get to 20-under. He was caught briefly by Dallas resident and World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler at the short par-4 14th, but Day never trailed the rest of the way, regaining the lead alone again when he two-putted the 14th for birdie.

In all seven players held at least a share of the lead at one point on a day of intermittent showers that became a downpour in the final 30 minutes. The final round was played using preferred lies, as if the field needed more help to pummel defenceless TPC Craig Ranch. The final-round scoring average was a blistering 67.048 and 75 of the 84 players who made the cut bettered par.

Kim, a South Korean native who calls Dallas his “second hometown” closed with a 63 after missing the cut last year. Eckroat had a 65 after sharing the 54-hole lead with Texas native Ryan Palmer and Zecheng “Marty” Dou, who is a member at TPC Craig Ranch. Eckroat had a chance to tie Day on 18 but came up well short and right on a 63-footer for eagle from the back of the green. He still enjoyed his career-best finish.

“Yeah, all of us got off to a decent start, and then I looked on hole 9 and saw I don’t know how many guys, but 10, 15 guys had a chance to win realistically, and it was crazy,” said Eckroat, 24, who rose to 77th in the FedEx Cup standings after starting the week 136th. The T-2 was his best finish in 31 tour starts and the $845,500 he earned more than doubled his career earnings. “I mean, you’re just trying to get up there, and it was fun to get some separation at the end and see if you could get a chance to win, like I did, and it was a really fun battle on the back nine,” he said.

Dou, who had a 67, looked like he would take control of the tournament when he birdied four of his first seven to reach 20 under, but he suffered a double bogey at the par-4 eighth after flying his approach from the right rough over the green and out of bounds, and it opened the door to a logjam that would take hours to unravel. He ended up T-5 (still much better than the T-17 that was his previous best career finish in 44 starts) with Scheffler (65) and Tyrrell Hatton (64).

Day, who has risen to 20th in the world, had already posted six top-10 finishes in 15 starts this year, but he had missed the cut at last week’s Wells Fargo Championship, which just so happened to be the site of his most recent win before Sunday. That didn’t sit well with him. But it turned out to be a blessing. The guy who hasn’t been sleeping at night thinking about his swing decided to forget about it.

“I was kind of fed up with having to go over like a lot of technical thoughts with my swing. So I just decided I’m just going to go out and just try and play some golf,” he explained. “For some reason, I just thought that I was going to win the tournament. It’s easy to say that now because I won it, but that’s just … for some reason I just had this sort of calmness about it. It’s weird because when you’re playing golf and you’re in the hunt or around the lead, sometimes there’s moments in your round that you think, ‘Oh, it’s kind of not my time.’ I really never had that thought at all this week.”

It was definitely his time. Perhaps because it was about time.

The post From ‘close to calling it quits’ to a PGA Tour winner again: How Jason Day kept the faith appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

When is a club broken badly enough that it can be replaced under the Rules of Golf? Given what happened to Seung-Yul Noh during his opening round of the AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas on Thursday — in which he shot a 11-under 60 despite having a driver mishap mid-round — more than you would probably think.

After a wayward drive on the 12th hole at TPC Craig Ranch (which the South Korean felt was actually a solid strike), Noh called for a ruling upon noticing the face of his Callaway Pardym Triple Diamond driver had a hairline crack. When an official took a look, the crack was deemed not sufficient enough to warrant replacing.

Wait, what?

PGA Tour rules official John Mutch offered some clarification: “Under Model Local Rule G-9, a club is not replaceable solely because of a crack. He wanted to know if he could replace the club. The answer to that was no. There needed to be some more subsequent damage other than just a hairline crack.”

Weird as that seems, the damage came on the next swing with the club on the 13th tee. Noh opted to use the driver despite the defect because a 3-wood would leave him with a long iron or even a 5-wood into the par 4. His drive subsequently went way left, but he scrambled for a par and, perhaps better, did enough damage to be able to take the club out of play.

“After he hit it on 13, it became significant damage,” Mutch said. “There was definitely separation in the metal on the face, and there was clear concavity in the face. Concavity renders a club face non-conforming. So the club at that point was unfit for play.”

Interestingly the MLR has other quirks as well. If the replacement head had been in his bag, it could not have been used, but one from his locker or car or any other place could. In fact, if he didn’t have a back-up, he could have borrowed a head from a player that had already finished his round. Luckily for Noh, he had one with him on the property. It was retrieved and brought out to him on the 15th tee. He was able to attach it to the shaft and he had his replacement. He went on to make two more birdies on the last three holes to post the course-record-tying score and take the early lead by three shots.

Yet, that’s where another oddity in the rule occurs. The local rule allowed for Noh to use the same shaft (no big deal) but also allowed, according to Mutch, for Noh to configure the adjustable settings in any manner he chose, even if it was a different setting than what he started with. Although it would be odd to do so, if a player was fighting a miss to one side that could prove to be helpful. The only condition being that once you set it and use it, that’s the setting you go with the rest of the round.

Unless, of course, you break the driver again.

The post The rules quirk behind why a damaged driver needs to be REALLY damaged to be replaced appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Say what you will about the non-designated events, but they have had enough star power to be interesting and enough storylines to be compelling. And when Scottie Scheffler started out six under after his first six holes, well, it looked like Seung-Yul Noh’s 60 in the morning wave might not be the low round of the day. All of which would be plenty fine with the crowds in Dallas, where Scheffler resides.

The world No. 2 got off well in his first start since the RBC Heritage with a 30-footer at the first then ran off a string of birdies on Nos. 3 through 5. At the short par-4 sixth, Scheffler bombed one 319 yards, leaving a delicate pitch of 25 yards over a bunker fronting the green—a terrifying shot for the weekend warrior, but one right in Scheffler’s wheelhouse — and commentator Craig Perks knew it.

Scottie Scheffler chips in for eagle @ATTByronNelson to get to -6 ? pic.twitter.com/MBPT5jzbcZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 11, 2023

“It would not surprise me to see him make this,” Perks predicted moments before the strike, which went high, landed soft and rolled gently into the hole. Forget announcing. Get that man on the next plane to Vegas.

“It’s kind of a nice amphitheatre around that green,” said Scheffler. “You have the stands there in the back, and there was a lot of people on the right side. My chip landed in a really good spot, and then you could kind of hear the crowd going … their volume raising as the ball got towards the hole and then they all celebrated when it went in. So that’s always fun.”

But we digress. Scheffler was on a heater and the 59-watch was on. Unfortunately, the 2022 Masters champion stalled with a three-jack bogey from 55 feet at the par-3 seventh then suffered back-to-back bogeys at 12 the 13, the former after failing to make par from the fringe.

Scheffler got them all back and then some, however. After a scorching drive at the 321-yard, par-4 14th flew all the way to the green leading to a birdie he then rolled in a 17-footer for birdie at the par-3 15th. At the par-5 finisher, Scheffler smoked a fairway wood from 261 yards to 15 feet, leading to a finishing eagle.

“I was pretty frustrated mid-round,” said Scheffler. “I didn’t feel like I was doing anything wrong, I just kind of got on the wrong end of a few things, and the putts definitely weren’t falling middle of the round, but the beginning and the end everything was going in.”

300-yard carry to the green.

Scheffler getting all of this one ? pic.twitter.com/M78A8rAW4e

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 11, 2023

A seven-under 64 and a tie for fourth place is pretty good. Luckily for the rest of the field, it could have been even better.

Adam Scott is in attack mode

Adam Scott has accomplished a lot in his career. A Masters title, 14 PGA Tour wins and over $60 million in PGA Tour earnings. However, instead of the green jacket propelling him to greater heights, Scott has been very good as opposed to great since then, winning just five times in the ensuing decade, the last in 2020.

Another victory, however, might not be far away. After a T-5 at last week’s Wells Fargo Championship, Scott continued the good play with an opening-round 63 at the AT&T Byron Nelson, leaving him three behind Noh, and giving him his best opening round since 2014.

Best opening round for @AdamScott since 2014 ?

He shoots an impressive 8-under 63 @ATTByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/ihWrjhgCJp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 11, 2023

Known for having one of the best driver swings in the game, Scott used the big stick as a trusted weapon at TPC Craig Ranch, driving it long (324.3-yard average, boosted by a 352-yarder) and straight (11 of 14 fairways) that had him leading the field in strokes gained/off the tee.

“It’s probably the best I’ve driven it in forever,” said Scott. “That was a nice way to start every hole. Took advantage of that nicely, certainly out of the gates on some of the long par-4s, birdieing three of the first four holes on that side is a nice way to start.”

Scott made it four of five with a tasty tee shot on the short, 321-yard, par-4 14th, it coming to rest 28 feet from the hole leading to an easy two-putt birdie. He made five birdies over the final 10 holes, narrowly missing an eagle on his final hole, when his second shot on the par 5 stopped inside 10 feet.

“The game was feeling really good there last week, and getting a result is always good for the confidence, too,” said Scott, who didn’t have a top-10 on the year until last week in Charlotte. “Coming here on a course that’s going to throw a lot of birdies out there, getting in that attack mindset was key, and take advantage of the good swings.”

Good swings were something Scott had in abundance on Thursday.

Marty Dou feels at home

Marty Dou hasn’t had much luck on the PGA Tour since he became the first Chinese player to gain tour membership in 2017. The ledger reads 44 starts, only 17 cuts made and no top 10s. This week, however, gave Dou reason to be optimistic.

“This is my home course,” Dou said of TPC Craig Ranch. “I practise here. I live like seven minutes from here. It’s comfortable playing here because it’s somewhere you’re always on, even on the driving range. It feels like you’re at home. I think that’s a big thing for me to play good.”

Play good is downplaying his round. After starting with a bogey Dou ripped off nine birdies over the remaining 17 holes. Although he made a 28-footer at the 12th and a 18-footer at 16, the other seven birdies were all from inside 10 feet. For the day he ranked third in strokes gained/tee to green.

Asked how he was going to keep the good play rolling, Dou simply wants to go back to the well. “I don’t want to fill myself with too much thoughts in my mind,” he said. “Just kind of play as today, hit good drives, hit good iron shots and make some putts. I think I’ll accept anything with the score if I can do that.

“Just being at home, you just feel everything is smooth,” he said. “Like there’s no rush at anything, and the drive is always like come here and practice, same road I take. It doesn’t really feel like a tournament, actually. It just feels like you’re playing a practice round on your weekend days or something, like your off-season days.”

Let’s see if he feels that way if he’s in contention come Sunday.

The post Byron Nelson Classic: Scottie Scheffler stalls (then rebounds) after scorching start, Adam Scott is in attack mode and Marty Dou feels at home at TPC Craig Ranch appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The amateur in question happens to be Knauth, who earned an exemption into the 156-man field by virtue of winning the 2022 Byron Nelson Award, given by the Golf Coaches Association of America to a graduating senior for his achievement in the classroom, on the course and in the community. Knauth, an All-American at Carnegie Mellon, beat out the likes of Division I standouts Cole Hammer of Texas and Trent Phillips of Georgia to become the first Division III winner of the award since Nathaniel James of Washington and Lee in 2008.

Knauth isn’t just making his PGA Tour debut, he is playing in his first professional tournament. And if that isn’t enough of a challenge, he hasn’t exactly been preparing for this opportunity as diligently as one might expect — though it isn’t for lack of desire. He lives in New York City and academic requirements tend to receive priority.

“My golf practice routine stopped existing around March,” Knauth told Golf.com. “That’s when school got kinda tough.”

That’s not to say that he hasn’t tried to keep his game in somewhat decent shape, venturing out in temperatures only slightly above freezing to get in a round here and there, primarily at Inwood Country Club, as opposed to devoting time on the practice range. “I’ve just been playing,” said Knauth, who admits he isn’t quite the golfer he was a year ago, though he still has his moments. “If nothing else, I know I can get the ball around a golf course and into a hole no matter how the swing feels.”

A native of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Knauth is a self-taught golfer who began playing at age eight. He played high school golf and some tournaments in the North Central Pennsylvania Golf Association but wasn’t even aware of AJGA events. He went to Carnegie Mellon to pursue his academic goals — Knauth carried a 3.90 GPA while earning dual degrees in physics and mathematical sciences — and only was accepted on the golf team after showing his ability in a few USGA qualifying events.

William Knauth (third from right) was a first-team Division III All-American in 2022 as he wrapped up his senior season at Carnegie Mellon. Julio Aguilar

Knauth was still a raw golfer as a freshman and posted a scoring average of 76.2. As a senior he averaged 71.5 and went on to set two school records while winning twice for the Tartans. He also was a two-time All-America Scholar.

As a youngster, Knauth was so proficient as a violinist that he played in the state orchestra. But it is that experience that has guided his ambitions as a golfer. He loves the game and doesn’t want to become so immersed in it that it diminishes his enjoyment. “[Practising the violin intensely] taught me to understand that you don’t have to push yourself in everything,” he told PGATour.com.

Given his love of golf, his choice of academic discipline and his preternatural intelligence — he was a fine amateur pilot at one point — Knauth naturally has done some statistical research on golf. He also is fully accepting of the fact that the game isn’t where his future lies.

“I have some self-belief, but I know I’m not Scottie Scheffler,” he said. “Taking the chance on myself where it could work out with golf, but it probably won’t, versus having something which is almost as equally as cool at Columbia, I just made the decision that there’s maybe a chance but I’m not sure enough of it to give up the other opportunities.”

Nevertheless, he is embracing this week’s opportunity. It doesn’t come along for everyone.

“My goal this week isn’t to prove that I’m any kind of golfer. … No matter how good I get, there’s a lot of people better at this game. But there aren’t any better mes,” Knauth said. “No one else in the field at the AT&T Byron Nelson is currently pursuing a PhD in statistics. That’s my thing. Instead of pretending that I can and want to be the best, it’s just finding something that puts a little bit of uniqueness to what you’re trying to do.”

The post Meet the amateur golfer, violinist and future PhD playing in his first pro tournament at the AT&T Byron Nelson appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The former University of California star tweeted out an image from the practice green at the AT&T Bryson Nelson stating that there’s “purposeful sabotage” afoot after noticing something a bit off.

There has been a mystery player or caddy that has been writing 1% 2% 3% on the practice green for aimpoint… BUT they’re all OFF by about .5% which is a big deal if you’re trying to get a feel before a tournament round. Is it purposeful SABOTAGE??? #Controversy pic.twitter.com/wluDkN5MTT

— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) May 8, 2023

“There has been a mystery player or caddy that has been writing 1% 2% 3% on the practice green for aimpoint…,” Kim tweeted. “BUT they’re all OFF by about .5% which is a big deal if you’re trying to get a feel before a tournament round. Is it purposeful SABOTAGE??? #Controversy”

Now, this most likely isn’t an Illuminati-esque plot, but it is odd that the numbers are off for a professional event. Could this be a fellow pro getting an advantage on his opposition or just a good old-fashioned blunder?

Most likely the second, but Kim is keeping everyone on their toes, which is always needed at the conspiracy-laden AT&T Byron Nelson.

The post PGA Tour winner Kim jokes about ‘purposeful sabotage’ at AT&T Byron Nelson practice green appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Nothing except the fact that he won the same event last year.

Thanks to a bogey-free nine-under-par 63 at TPC Craig Ranch, a course with weaker defence than Norwich City, Lee repeated in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas, by doing himself one better than a year ago with a 26-under 262 aggregate total, one stroke ahead of Spieth. His was a performance worthy of the title, coming as it did amid a sea of sub-par scores. If you shot 20-under this week, which (quick maths) is averaging five-under 67 each day, you couldn’t even congratulate yourself with a top-10 finish.

So what if Lee, a sturdy, rock-music loving, God-fearing South Korean, did trample all over a more enchanting narrative — that of Spieth, the Dallas native who made his PGA Tour debut in this event at age 16, finally winning at home. Sentimental favorites still have to get it in the cup faster than everyone else. Lee was just a little bit better after coming into the week 118th in birdie average at 3.68 per 18 holes.

“It was just like a dream again, just like last year. It’s an amazing feeling,” said Lee, 30, who became the eighth player since 2000 to win his first two tour titles at the same event and the first to do it back-to-back since Daniel Berger at the 2017 St Jude Classic. Lee joined Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson as the only repeat winners in tournament history.

“We had it blowing 15-to-18mph our last 10 or 11 holes, so that score this afternoon, especially the last closing stretch of holes, is just a phenomenal score,” Spieth said of Lee’s performance.

For all the scoring chances available at TPC Craig Ranch — there were 2,228 birdies recorded, the most at any tour event since 1983, and 104 eagles, second most in the same time frame — this tournament can be summed up rather simply by two par putts.

Spieth whipped a 10-foot birdie try three feet past the cup at the par-4 10th hole and then missed the comebacker. He did line it up first, at least. A few hours later, clinging to a one-stroke lead, Lee, after chipping from an awkward lie just outside a greenside bunker, faced a 12-footer at the par-3 17th and neatly guided it home. He followed with a two-putt birdie at the home hole that forced Spieth to come up with an eagle to tie, but his chip from the front fringe wasn’t wrapped in destiny.

“I had a pretty good look at birdie and just got a little too aggressive and hit it through the first break. And then I kind of got in my own head in the wind there on the second,” Spieth, who closed with a 67, said of his hiccup at 10. “To go from thinking I was going to make birdie to making bogey, I mean that’s obviously a big swing.”

Nevertheless, with a victory and his second runner-up finish of the year in his last two starts, Spieth rightfully is looking ahead with optimism to next week’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, where for the fifth time he will try to complete the career grand slam. “It was a good week, good momentum going into next week,” Spieth said, “but this one will sting just a little bit.”

Spieth, who posted his best finish in his hometown tourney, isn’t the only player rounding into form heading to Tulsa.

Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, closed with a 62 for a share of third place with Sebastian Muñoz, another local player who opened with a 60 and held the lead for each of the first three rounds before a middling 69 to finish at 24-under 264. Thomas, the 2017 PGA champion, was part of an eight-way tie for the lead at one point, closed with a solid 67. He finished joint fifth at 265 with Texan Ryan Palmer, who shot 66, and Xander Schauffele.

Oh, yeah. Schauffele. Where do we start? Seldom is a guy who finished three back worthy of a shout out, but the Olympic gold medal winner gets one here, because he was flat-out ridiculous over his final 54 holes. Actually, just look at his final 49 that he played in 26-under and without a bogey. He stood three-over after three holes of his second round but somehow made the cut on the number at five-under. He began the final round T-30 and putted out on 18 for birdie and a one-stroke lead he knew wasn’t going to hold up. Still, he signed for 61.

“I don’t quit; it’s not really in me,” said Schauffele, who won last month with Patrick Cantlay at the Zurich Classic team event. “Even when I miss cuts, I’m still trying my hardest and that’s just kind of how I am. I knew it was going to be a trip, a journey to come back, and I’m always up for the challenge. When you’re so far away from the cut line like I was on Friday you kind of just free yourself up, kind of like today, just try and make as many birdies as possible and sometimes it goes your way.”

Lee got things going his way after changing back to his two-ball putter he used in last year’s win at TPC Craig Ranch. He should never switch again. Especially after the par save at 17 that kept his nose in front.

“Honestly, very nervous there,” he explained. “I know it’s a very important putt to make a par. Jordan and a lot of guys coming just one behind and I know a lot of guys make a birdie at 18, so I need to make the putt. Just, I pray and then make the putt.”

And then he reacted with a little fist pump.

He, too, was thinking of what comes next. He missed the cut in last year’s PGA at Kiawah Island, and the rest of the year was decent, but he ended up 31st in the FedEx Cup standings and missed the Tour Championship by one spot. Ouch. He has goals beyond Southern Hills, too, which would include securing a spot on the International Team in the upcoming Presidents Cup in North Carolina.

“My first goal,” he said, “is next week play well, hopefully make the cut and play well, and then also keep momentum and try to [play in] more champion group or more play well, so hopefully this season will be better than last year.”

Lee admits that he prays mostly to bolster his confidence. Seems to work. “Sometimes, like I need to believe in myself, but just need a, ‘Oh, God,’ like, please, pray.” Doesn’t hurt at all that TPC Craig Ranch is like his own Amen Corner.

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The post KH Lee repeats at the AT&T Byron Nelson, but there were several winners ahead of the PGA Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
The Coronavirus pandemic has hit a giant pause button on fans being able to watch golf on TV, and in some cases, even kept people off courses. But while we hunker down and hope for a speedy return to normalcy, we can also use this time as an opportunity to learn more about the game we love. Here’s our latest installment of “Did you know?”

To write of a tour pro shooting rounds of 123-114 would seem to be revelling in the failures of others. This is not one of those stories. Instead, it is a story of great resilience. Mike Reasor shot those astronomical scores during the final two rounds of the 1974 Tallahassee Open. But the story goes beyond those numbers.

Reasor played the PGA Tour fairly regularly from 1969 through 1978 and for his career made 202 starts and made the cut 119 times. He posted 10 top 10s, including a T-2 at the Maumelle Open Invitational in 1971. In short, a journeyman pro, but one with some game.

In those days the exempt list only stretched to 60 players instead of today’s 125. However, unlike today where you need to finish in the top 10 to get into the following week’s event if you’re not exempt, back then, all you needed to do was make the cut and finish the tournament. Repeat: Finish the tournament.

That provision is how Reasor ended up shooting those scores.

After a second-round 71 which comfortably had him within the cut line, Reasor went horseback riding that afternoon. Reasor got thrown from the horse and separated his left shoulder and cracked some ribs. Under any normal circumstance, Reasor would have withdrawn, but as a pro struggling to make expenses, he wasn’t about to pass on the paycheck for the week and wasn’t about to forego his exemption the following week.

According to several published accounts, Reasor—who had caddied for Arnold Palmer at the 1966 U.S. Open—played the final two rounds swinging just with his right arm, using mostly a 5-iron, wedge and putter. As word spread of Reasor’s quest, spectators flocked to watch.

The display of determination was impressive, but eventually meaningless. Reasor’s injuries were such that while exempt for the following week’s Byron Nelson Classic, he simply could not tee it up in the event. Reasor died last year, but will always be remembered for shooting the two highest scores on the PGA Tour in recent memory. Hopefully he’ll be remembered more for his grit than the numbers would indicate.

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