We admit to being guilty from time to time of overusing the terms “bizarre” and “rules incident” in a same sentence. But we’re not entirely sure how to more aptly characterise what happened to Emiliano Grillo on the 72nd hole of the Charles Schwab Challenge than as, well, a “bizarre rules incident”.

It all becomes more, ahem, bizarre thanks to the fact that Grillo overcame the double-bogey six he would make on the 72nd hole to win in a playoff anyway, ending a nearly eight-year PGA Tour victory drought when he looked like it was drifting away down that aqueduct along the 18th hole.

Here then is our attempt at explaining what went down and why it was so … again, sorry, bizarre.

The set-up

Grillo started the day at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth four shots back of Harry Hall and Adam Schenk but made a furious charge, birdieing four of his first seven holes. As Schenk and Hall struggled down the stretch, both searching for their first PGA Tour wins, Grillo took a two-shot lead with another birdie on the par-3 16th. That was his advantage as he stood on the 18th tee at 10-under for the tournament.

All wet off the tee

Despite being ahead by two, Grillo used a driver off the tee, the ball leaking quickly to the right. It eventually found its way into a penalty area to the right of the fairway, in an aqueduct with water about two to three inches deep.

Emiliano Grillo. PGA Tour

Downstream issues

The aqueduct tilted downhill back toward the tee, so as the ball entered the water, it started following the flow and moving backward. Slowly. Very slowly …

Grillo’s ball. PGA Tour

The rules explained

Mark Dusbabek, the PGA Tour rules official working the broadcast, helped explain to Jim Nantz, Trevor Immelman and the CBS crew what was going on in real time as he was also listening in to the rules team’s discussions. Dusbabek explained that they had identified where the ball had entered the penalty area (roughly 187 yards away from the hole), which was the likely place Grillo would take a drop and play what would be his third shot with the penalty stroke. However, as the ball continued moving — as we said very slowly — down the aqueduct, there was the potential that Grillo could actually play the ball while it was moving.

Rule 10.1d notes that “A player must not make a stroke at a moving ball.” However, there are a few exception also listed. Exception 3 states, “When a ball is moving in temporary water or in water in a penalty area, the player may make a stroke.”

Dusbabek noted the potential for Grillo to hit the moving ball, but did Grillo know he could? Turns out he likely did, since he’d been in this aqueduct before.

“I’ve hit it there,” Grillo said after the round. “I knew, as soon as I saw the ball going right, I was like: ‘This is going to be a very long hole.’ I’ve been through that pain of watching the ball just roll 120 yards back.”

An overhead view of the aqueduct. PGA Tour

Decision time

As the ball kept moving, however, Dusbabek explained that eventually Grillo had to make up his mind on how he wanted to proceed. He couldn’t wait forever to see if the ball would stop in a more advantageous spot or not or if he was set to hit it while it was moving. And after roughly seven minutes, Dusbabek even interjected that the committee had decided enough was enough and that Grillo would have to decide to play the ball where it entered the penalty area (or presumably take a stroke and distance penalty and go back to the tee).

“We as a committee have been talking about it but enough time has taken place and he has been given enough time to make a decision here, so we’re going to make him go back to where it last crossed,” Dusbabek said.

Moments later, the ball did stop against a rock, roughly 140 yards or so from where it entered the penalty area.

Bizarre scenes on 18.

Leader Emiliano Grillo’s tee shot finds a water stream and takes five minutes to eventually come to a stop.

Grillo takes a penalty stroke and plays where the golf ball entered the stream @CSChallengeFW. pic.twitter.com/cc3XibhSwR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 28, 2023

Third shot off a cart path?!?

The camera eventually showed Grillo taking a penalty drop just outside the aqueduct but the ball rolling back in. He did this twice and then placed the ball on the concrete, which got the curiosity of Immelman.

“Dus, why was he allowed to drop it on the path right there?”

Dusbabek alerted everyone that the red line for the penalty area was right of where he took the drop. So the cement path was not in the penalty area, and is considered an immovable obstruction. Grillo didn’t seem to be phased by it as he showed no hesitation in what was going to happen next.

Sparky!

Grillo played his third shot off the concrete, getting a pretty clean shot off. The ball advanced 146 yards, leaving him 44 yards left to get up-and-down for a bogey, that would still have given him a one-shot lead. But the fourth shot stopped 19 feet from the hole and he missed the bogey putt.

A wet and wild finish for Emiliano Grillo on 18.

Double bogey to drop into a tie for the lead. pic.twitter.com/oygu04Wa26

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 28, 2023

The rest of the story

To his credit, Grillo didn’t mope around after his stumble, signing for a two-under 68 and waiting to see what would happen to Schenk and Hall as they played the 18th hole. Sure enough, Hall also found water, although the more traditional sort, as he pulled his drive into a small pond left of the fairway. He’d eventually make a bogey to finish tied for third.

Schenk had a chance to win in regulation with a birdie try from 15 feet but just came up short, forcing a playoff. They both replayed the 18th for the first sudden-death hole, Grillo finding the fairway this time. Pars from both sent them to the par-3 16th, where a birdie from Grillo would clinch the victory.

The post Emiliano Grillo could have hit a moving ball and other crazy things we learned from his bizarre rules incident appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Scottie Scheffler jumped into the Sunday mix at Colonial thanks to a hole-in-one.

The reigning Players champ started the final round at the Charles Schwab Challenge six shots back of leaders Harry Hall and Adam Schenk, and though Scheffler birdied his first hole he followed with seven pars, seemingly putting an end to any notions of a late charge in Fort Worth.

However, Scheffler’s hopes remained alive thanks to some 7-iron sorcery, knocking in his tee shot at the par-3 eighth from 189 yards for an ace:

Spectacular Scheffler! ?pic.twitter.com/5dEyqMX00I

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) May 28, 2023

Look at that camera shake! What a cool moment for the local favourite.

The hole-in-one was the second of the week at No. 8, with Harris English notching an ace on Friday. It’s the second hole-in-one of Scheffler’s career, the first coming down the road at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Scheffler’s ace jumped him into second spot, one shot behind eventual winner Emiliano Grillo. Given Scheffler’s putting struggles last week (71st in SG/putting, losing almost five shots on the greens to the field), maybe holing every approach is the way to go.

The post The crowd’s reaction to Scottie Scheffler’s hole-in-one is priceless appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Emiliano Grillo ended a nearly eight-year victory drought on the PGA Tour with a birdie on the second playoff hole to beat Adam Schenk at the Charles Schwab Challenge. But it wasn’t without a nail-biting finish.

The 30-year-old from Argentina held a two-shot lead coming to the final hole at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, only to push his drive into an aqueduct to the right of the fairway. After taking a drop and a penalty, he played his third shot off a concrete path, the ball coming up short of the green. When he was unable to get up-and-down, his double-bogey let Schenk, who held a share of the 54-hole lead, back into the tournament. A par on the 18th hole gave him a two-over 72 for the day, but matched Grillo’s eight-under 272 total.

Grillo and Schenk made par on the first playoff hole, a return trip to the 18th. They then proceeded to the par-3 16th, where Grillo stuck his tee shot to four feet, eight inches. Schenk, meanwhile, hit his shot over the green and while his second stopped three feet from the hole, Grillo closed things out by making the birdie, a second win to go with the title at the 2015 Frys.com Open, his first start as an official member of the PGA Tour.

With the win, Grillo claimed the $1.566 million first-place prize money payout from an overall purse of $8.7 million

Here are the prize money payouts for each golfer who made the cut this week at Colonial.

Win: Emiliano Grillo, 272/-8, $1,566,000
P-2: Adam Schenk, 272/-8, $948,300
T-3: Scottie Scheffler, 273/-7, $513,300
T-3: Harry Hall, 273/-7, $513,300
5: Paul Haley II, 274/-6, $356,700
T-6: Michael Kim, 275/-5, $293,625
T-6: Rickie Fowler, 275/-5, $293,625
T-6: Sam Burns, 275/-5, $293,625
T-9: Max Homa, 276/-4, $237,075
T-9: Mark Hubbard, 276/-4, $237,075
T-9: Kevin Streelman, 286/-4, $237,075
T-12: Harris English, 277/-3, $178,350
T-12: Aaron Rai, 277/-3, $178,350
T-12: Chad Ramey, 277/-3, $178,350
T-12: Justin Rose, 277/-3, $178,350
T-16: Austin Eckroat, 278/-2, $132,675
T-16: Russell Henley, 278/-2, $132,675
T-16: Viktor Hovland, 278/-2, $132,675
T-16: David Lipsky, 278/-2, $132,675
T-16: Justin Suh, 278/-2, $132,675
T-21: Byeong Hun An, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-21: Aaron Baddeley, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-21: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-21: Thomas Detry, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-21: Ryan Fox, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-21: Kramer Hickok, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-21: Austin Smotherman, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-21: Carson Young, 279/-1, $82,323.75
T-29: Kurt Kitayama, 280/ E, $50,104.10
T-29: Brian Harman, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Lee Hodges, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Si Woo Kim, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Peter Malnati, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Collin Morikawa, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Alex Noren, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Andrew Putnam, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Robby Shelton, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Sam Stevens, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-29: Sepp Straka, 280/ E, $50,104.09
T-40: Luke Donald, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-40: Billy Horschel, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-40: Min Woo Lee, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-40: Andrew Novak, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-40: Scott Piercy, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-40: Chez Reavie, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-40: Alex Smalley, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-40: Jimmy Walker, 281/ 1, $31,755
T-48: Nick Hardy, 282/ 2, $22,881
T-48: Patton Kizzire, 282/ 2, $22,881
T-48: Matt NeSmith, 282/ 2, $22,881
T-48: Vincent Norrman, 282/ 2, $22,881
T-52: Will Gordon, 283/ 3, $20,836.50
T-52: Ben Griffin, 283/ 3, $20,836.50
T-52: Tom Hoge, 283/ 3, $20,836.50
T-52: Maverick McNealy, 283/ 3, $20,836.50
56: Akshay Bhatia, 284/ 4, $20,271
T-57: KH Lee, 285/ 5, $19,662
T-57: Luke List, 285/ 5, $19,662
T-57: Justin Lower, 285/ 5, $19,662
T-57: Ben Martin, 285/ 5, $19,662
T-57: Patrick Rodgers, 285/ 5, $19,662
T-57: Brendon Todd, 285/ 5, $19,662
T-63: Cameron Champ, 286/ 6, $18,705
T-63: Erik Compton, 286/ 6, $18,705
T-63: Zecheng Dou, 286/ 6, $18,705
T-63: Cody Gribble, 286/ 6, $18,705
T-63: JJ Spaun, 286/ 6, $18,705
T-68: Joel Dahmen, 287/ 7, $18,096
T-68: Stephan Jaeger, 287/ 7, $18,096
T-70: Beau Hossler, 290/ 10, $17,748
T-70: Matthias Schwab, 290/ 10, $17,748
72: Russell Knox, 293/ 13, $17,487

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It had been eight years since his last PGA Tour victory, and in professional golf eight years is almost forever. So when Emiliano Grillo made a birdie putt at Colonial’s par-3 16th Sunday afternoon, he chased after his ball with an undercut that encapsulated the pain and disappointment and doubt experienced between then and now, on the precipice of capturing his second career title.

Ninety minutes later, Grillo was back at the 16th, that presumed victory very much in jeopardy and a moment that underlined why it is so darned hard to make a living in a game that traffics in heartbreak.

But for the second try in as many attempts on Sunday, Grillo walked off the par-3 16th with a 2. This time there was no punch to the heavens, instead a muted fist pump and a major exhale after surviving a dramatic stumble, and for that the 30-year-old from Argentina is the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge champ.

“Obviously it’s great. It made everything worth it,” Grillo said after a final-round two-under 68. “The playing, all the hours practising, the effort from my family. It makes you think when you started playing all the emotions come through your head.”

Starting his day four back of the lead, Grillo opened with four birdies in his first seven holes to get in the mix, adding a birdie at the 12th to jump alone atop the leaderboard. When he walked off the 16th the first time, he held a two-shot advantage at 10-under, one that didn’t seem in jeopardy with his closest competitors in Adam Schenk and Harry Hall having the toughest time making red figures.

But there is an aqueduct to the right of the 18th hole. It is mostly dry, its brook maybe an inch deep … and yet deep enough to almost sink Grillo. Still holding a two-shot advantage, Grillo sliced his drive at the 72nd into the aqueduct, and the channel’s stream caught Grillo’s ball — and the hopes and dreams that rode with it — and didn’t let go.

Bizarre scenes on 18.

Leader Emiliano Grillo’s tee shot finds a water stream and takes five minutes to eventually come to a stop.

Grillo takes a penalty stroke and plays where the golf ball entered the stream @CSChallengeFW. pic.twitter.com/cc3XibhSwR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 28, 2023

For seven minutes, Grillo waited for the stream to decant his ball but the stream would not abide. For seven minutes, Grillo studied his options, searching for a question that would keep the final outcome the same. For seven minutes, we were reminded why tournaments of consequence are awarded not after 70 or 71 or 54 holes, but a minimum of 72. Grillo ultimately took a drop off cement, his third shot finishing short of the green. The chip never looked good and neither did his save for bogey. There had been just four double-bogeys on the week at the 18th until that moment. There was now a fifth, and a birdie by Schenk at the 16th created a tie at the top.

“I knew, as soon as I saw the ball going right, I was like this is going to be a very long hole,” Grillo said. “I’ve been through that pain of watching the ball just roll 120 yards back.”

If there was any solace for Grillo he was not alone in his 18th hole stumble. Hall was the 54-hole co-leader with Schenk at 10-under and birdied his first two holes on Sunday to get it to 12-under. But the 25-year-old tour rookie from England failed to birdie another hole in the final round and played his last 14 holes in five-over. That included a bogey at the 18th after snap-hooking his drive into the water, when a par would have been good enough for a spot in a playoff. Only two players out of the 72 that teed it up Sunday found the water on the 18th, and it just happened to be Grillo and Hall, players in the final two groups.

“I learned a lot, and you don’t have to play great golf to win on a hard golf course coming down the stretch,” Hall said after his 73. “You’ve just got to hit it in the middle of the green and not do anything stupid.

“I did a few things stupid today.”

Schenk had a shot at the win in regulation, but his birdie putt at the 18th slid just by the hole, setting up overtime with Grillo after he posted a closing two-over 72. On the first hole of sudden death, both men found the fairway at the 18th, with Grillo again blocking his tee shot to the right only to receive a fortuitous bounce off a hill and back into the short stuff. Grillo’s approach went right but for the second time received a generous hop, this time his ball finishing 30 feet from the pin. Schenk’s approach followed suit on a similar line, hitting and rolling back just inside Grillo’s ball. Both birdie putts missed, sending the playoff to the 16th.

Grillo went first on the par 3, his approach again going right for the third straight swing and again getting a lucky break, his ball ricocheting off a mound that guarded a greenside bunker and on to the green that started to funnel his ball to the pin .. and kept funneling … and funnelled some more, until the ball came to rest four feet from the pin.

“Yeah, the shot wasn’t that great,” Grillo admitted. “Obviously it was a bit right of where I wanted. I took the entire slope and got close.”

Schenk could not match, his tee shot flying the green something fierce. Though he made a marvellous pitch to two feet, Grillo decided he had enough theatrics for one afternoon, converting the remaining 4 feet, 8 inches to claim what looked to be his just an hour before.

It is Grillo’s second victory, his aforementioned first coming at the 2015 Frys.com Open in Napa. That was the campaign in which Grillo won PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honours and finished 11th in the FedEx Cup, and a campaign that catapulted him to the 2017 Presidents Cup team. Since that breakthrough Grillo has had a solid but far from spectacular career, never losing his tour card yet finishing better than 59th on the FedEx Cup standings just once. This week at Colonial showed he has the game and form to be one of the game’s better international players, to be the performer that was promised so many years ago.

“It’s been tough, but it’s worth every second,” Grillo said. “People ask me if I would have done something different, obviously looking back, I wouldn’t. This is just worth it.”

What a moment

In the midst of preparing for a playoff, @GrilloEmiliano invited two young fans to hit some shots @CSChallengeFW. pic.twitter.com/naBLusQyyj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 28, 2023

That may ultimately come to fruition, and the security that Grillo earned will give him the chances to take those next steps. However, Sunday may not be remembered for Grillo’s almost collapse but how he responded to it, and we’re not referring to his play. Cameras caught Grillo warming up on Colonial’s first hole as he awaited his fate. What the cameras showed was not a player coming to grips with the unthinkable or preparing for a playoff battle, but a player who invited a couple of kids to join him on the range. Grillo was seen giving his club to one child and watched the little guy do his best to whack a ball as hard as he could, smiling and offering encouragement. After a few shots the kid handed the club back to Grillo, as Grillo exchanged a couple of high fives and bumps.

Yes, this is a game that traffics in heartbreak. Grillo reminded us it can be a heckuva lot of fun, too, and he didn’t need a win to prove that to us or himself.

The post A dramatic stumble, a heroic bounce-back and a sweet viral moment highlight Emiliano Grillo’s crazy victory appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

All’s well that ended well for Harris English during Saturday’s third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, but not without a few holes of restless worry about a potential penalty stroke derailing him.

English played in the final twosome with Harry Hall, training by three as he was getting ready to attempt a birdie putt from the first cut of rough just off the green on the second hole at Colonial Country Club, 17 feet from the cup. After addressing the ball, English, a 33-year-old tour veteran, stepped away, explaining to those around him that “My ball keeps rolling that way,” pointing toward the hole. English indicated that the ball was moving before he backed away.

Since English’s ball was in a “general area” and not on the green, if English caused the ball to move, he would have to replace his ball and incur a one-shot penalty. If he failed to replace it and play it from the spot it had move to, he would then get a second one-shot penalty for playing a ball from a wrong place.

English, Hall and English’s caddie conferred as PGA Tour rules official Dave Donnelly arrived to try to suss out the situation.

“I was taking my practice strokes right here, and I’m kind of looking at the ball a little bit, and (inaudible) is pointed that way,” English said.

Donnelly then asked English: “When the ball moved, was the club over there or was it behind the ball?”

“When it first moved, it was right here,” English said, his putter head positioned beside the ball as if to take a practice stroke.

That, of course, becomes the critical issue in this whole matter. If English had not yet to address the ball and it started moving, or it was moving already when he addressed it, English would not be on the hook for a penalty and would simply need to play the ball where it lies.

“What you showed me right there, that could not have caused the ball to trickle like that with you far enough away from it,” Donnelly said. “With that not having caused it to move and you didn’t do anything else to cause it to move, then the ball is just in play where it is.”

So English putted the ball from its new position, leaving the birdie attempt three feet short, then rolled in his par.

Mark Dusbabek, a tour rules official working on the Saturday broadcast, injected that the reason it appeared English was told he could play on with no penalty was that there wasn’t enough evidence to show he had caused the ball to move. “Therefore, if you don’t have that virtual certainty, it’s moved by natural forces and you play it from its new position.”

Adding to the confusion, however, was the fact the broadcast did not have any video that showed English’s ball moving before he addressed it to provide the virtual certainty in that direction either.

When the telecast moved from Golf Channel to CBS, English and Hall playing the sixth hole at this point, Jim Nantz came on the air and said the tour was still reviewing the video and would talk to the players about it again after the round, leaving English’s par-4 score in limbo. That uncertainty might help explain the fact English was at the time one over for the round and four back of Hall.

“I think the best way for him to deal with this is to process this like he is going to get a penalty,” analyst Trevor Immelman said. “If he doesn’t, then it’s a bonus.”

Thankfully for English, he didn’t have to wait until the 18th to get things officially settled. On the ninth hole, an official told English that he had been cleared of any potential penalty and the par 4 would stand.

“It was important for the committee to get to Harris as soon as we could and put his mind at ease,” Dusbabek said. “Based on his testimony, the ball had moved prior to him addressing the ball, putting the club behind the ball. He had been taking some practice swings he said and he saw the ball move forward a little bit. His actions did nothing to cause the ball to move. It was deemed it had moved by natural forces so no penalty.”

Nantz asked Immelman how big a deal it was for English to find out early rather than wait until the 18th hole. “Absolutely huge. I actually look for him to go one little run here now now that his mind is cleared out.”

And indeed English proceeded to birdie the next hole and climb into a share of the lead. By the end of the day he had shot an even-par 70 to sit one shot off the lead shared by Hall and Adam Schenk.

The post Colonial contender waits several holes for decision in midst of unusual rules issue appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Not only was it understandable that Michael Block struggled on Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge, it was expected. It’s been a whirlwind of a few days for the 46-year-old club pro, not to mention the fact he was coming into Colonial completely blind, having never even stepped foot on the property before.

That said, Colonial is the quintessential shot-shaper’s track. A Harbour Town-like layout that brings the older, shorter hitters like Block into the mix. As unlikely as it sounds, there was an alternate universe where Block carried over the momentum from Oak Hill and played some decent golf on the iconic Perry Maxwell design.

Unfortunately for Block, and for his merry band of Blockheads on social media, this is the real world and the real world has a way of punching you in the mouth even in the best of times. Block came out of the gates bogey-bogey-bogey on Thursday, a tough start to recover from on a random day at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club let alone in the opening round of a PGA Tour event.

Impressively, he nearly did, making a birdie at the fourth to get one back and then playing the rest of the front nine in even par for a two-over 37. All things considered, not the worst start, and it almost featured yet another fairy-tale moment at the par-4 ninth:

Michael Block was THIS close to an eagle hole-out ? pic.twitter.com/ULcar2WZJM

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 25, 2023

The very next hole, Block pulled off one of the sicker recovery shots you’ll see on tour this year after his tee shot at the 10th somehow came to a stop on a bridge.

Nobody can say this man doesn’t have a serious flair for the dramatic. What. A. Showman.

Things, predictably, came crashing down from there, with Block going on another stretch of three straight bogeys and then truly imploding late. He double-bogeyed three of the last four holes, finishing with an 11-over 81 that placed him in dead last by four strokes. Not surprisingly, he summed it up nicely afterward.

“It’s one of those days of golf. If you play golf, you know exactly what just happened,” said Block. “So I don’t really need to explain it too much because, if you are a golfer, you’ve had the day I’ve had. You understand the facts of where the lies aren’t good and the trees are in your way every time. Even your good shots are bad, your bad shots are worse, et cetera, et cetera.

“It is what it is. I’m going to live with it,” he added. “I thought it was going to happen that third or fourth round last week at Oak Hill, and it never happened. It happened now, and I wasn’t surprised by it, to tell you the truth. The experience I had last week was next level. So today, coming out here and not having my game at all and having a lot of bad luck or whatever you might call it, just call it golf. It is what it is. At the same time, I sat there, and I thought about it, and I said, I’m going to see my boys tomorrow night.”

The perfect perspective. This was always going to happen, and the fact that it didn’t happen last weekend in Rochester should never be described as anything but heroic. Everyone, Block included, expected him to crumble under the weekend pressure at a major, and if he did it still would have been a great story. To do what he did cannot be praised enough.

Of course, the naysayers of social media are likely relishing in the fact Block came crashing back down to earth, particularly after his quotes regarding Rory McIlroy’s length on a podcast appearance. Bad news for them is Block gets another crack at Colonial on Friday, and then he gets to finally go home and soak it all in with his family and friends while everyone hates on him from behind a screen. Think he’ll be just fine.

“I’m looking forward to coming out tomorrow and playing a great round and giving it everything I have,” said Block. “I’ve shot 58, and I’ve shot a 59 in my life, and since what I had today, I wouldn’t be surprised if I did it. So if I do, cool. If not, I’ll be seeing my kids and my wife tomorrow night in Orange County, California. It’s all good one way or the other.”

Amen to that.

A surprise leader

Harry Hall. Steve Dykes

Taking a look at the field list pre-tournament, one couldn’t help but wonder if this was yet another elevated event, with Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, Sam Burns and a number of other top players rolling into Fort Worth after the PGA Championship. And if elevated events have taught us anything, it’s that the cream will rise to the top.

Turns out, the Charles Schwab is not an elevated event, and the stars of this field were either suffering a little major hangover or England’s Harry Hall was simply playing a different course than them on Thursday. His career-low eight-under 62 has him in the lead by three strokes over Harris English.

Making it that much more impressive was the fact this was Hall’s first round at Colonial. When asked if this must be his favourite course now, he said: “Hopefully it will be by the end of the week.”

Long way to go, but it’s a safe bet that if Hall wins for the first time on tour, Colonial will definitely be in his favourite-courses conversation.

A (somewhat) concerning stat for Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth. Jason Allen/ISI Photos

Up until his recent wrist flare-up, Jordan Spieth was absolutely humming. He’s-going-to-win-any-week-now type stuff. A ball-striking clinic. Given his history of success at Colonial, this felt like a great spot for him to pick up his first win of the year.

Should Spieth shoot something silly on Friday, it could still very well be, though it’s an uphill battle now after he opened with a two-over 72 on Thursday. That’s notable because Spieth has never shot an over-par round in the first round at the Charles Schwab Challenge:

This also marks just the third time he’s shot 72 or worse at Colonial in his last 31 rounds here. It’s a place he could get around in even par with his eyes closed, which makes you wonder if the wrist is a little worse than he’s leading on. Or, quite simply, he could have just had a bad day.

He sounded not too concerned with the “moderate grade tendon sheath tear” earlier this week, but he also mentioned that the injury in question can “be pretty significant and it can be very insignificant.” Obviously, he’s banking on it being the former, as he continues to play through it. For now it sounds like a week-to-week thing, which is a shame given just how well he was hitting the ball and how high everyone was on him before something popped while he was playing with his son a few weeks back.

The post Michael Block’s (predictable) struggles, a surprise leader and a concerning stat for Jordan Spieth appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There was something to be said for Michael Block finally being back on a golf course. It’s his natural environment, where the 46-year-old California club professional looks most comfortable. Yeah, he’s got a good personality in front of the cameras — although too much time talking into a microphone was inevitably going to lead to saying something surprising — and he’s deservedly enjoying the spotlight after his PGA Championship performance. But it’s with a golf club in his hands, dunking holes-in-one and pulling off miracle up-and-downs, that Michael Block is the person golf fans have fallen in love with.

And falling in love again they did on Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge when Block added to his highlight reel of ridiculousness by pulling off yet another amazing golf shot.

It was the par-4 10th hole at Colonial Country Club, and Block, two-over on the day, hit his drive right of the fairway, the ball coming to rest on a gravel-covered bridge inside a penalty area. If the bridge wasn’t in the hazard, Block could have gotten free relief. But to move it now would have meant taking a one-shot penalty, and well, having a difficult third shot with the trees that were in the way still lurking.

“Risky, but the other shot is no bargain,” noted Curt Bryum on the Golf Channel broadcast.

After conferring with rules official Clay Neely, Block tried to figure out what he should do, talking to his caddie as his ball sat only 114 yards away from the green. “It’s a tough shot, but I don’t want to take the penalty,” Block could be heard saying, talking himself into what’s happened next:

Block from the … bridge?!
 
Ridiculous touch from Michael Block to avoid disaster.
 
(Presented by @CDWCorp) pic.twitter.com/kGL47685Ja

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 25, 2023

Needless to say, Golf Channel’s commentators were appropriated mesmerised.
“Oh, he got over the tree and this looks good,” said a stunned Smylie Kaufman.
“Oh come on now,” said Terry Gannon. “Just add it to the legend.”

As if Block was listening the broadcasters himself, he then jumped in:
“Better than taking a penalty, right guys? … I can’t believe it didn’t get it there.”

Block chipped his third shot to 15 inches and make the par putt. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t the momentum turning moment he’d probably have liked to have had, as he proceeded to bogey his next three holes. Maybe the magic is running dry. But it didn’t entirely disappear.

The post Michael Block can’t stop hitting ridiculous golf shots, stripes one off a gravel bridge appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Jordan Spieth provided an in-depth update on his injured left wrist Wednesday, the day before he’s set to play in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial.

The World No. 11 said that he was simply playing with son Sammy a few weeks ago when something “popped and jammed” in his wrist. He immediately knew there was a problem, quickly consulted with doctors and got an MRI the next morning.

The diagnosis? A moderate grade tendon sheath tear, according to Spieth, who admitted that he felt like a 12-year-old hearing so many big words thrown at him that he did not understand.

“It can be pretty significant and it can be very insignificant,” Spieth said the physicians told him.

Spieth, 29, withdrew from the AT&T Byron Nelson two weeks ago, then arrived at the PGA Championship last week at Oak Hill with his wrist heavily taped and black kinesiology tape from his wrist up to his elbow. He shot 73-72-71-69 and tied for 29th place.

The 2016 Colonial champion says that he’s done everything you can imagine for therapy — manual therapy, ice treatments, laser treatments and various stimulation methods. Advil is the only thing he’s ever taken to manage discomfort. Tuesday at Colonial he only had his wrist taped, he was not wearing KT tape.

Spieth will try to play up and through the US Open next month in Los Angeles, then will take a few weeks off to rest before heading to Europe for the Scottish Open and Open Championship. If at any point between now and then he feels more pain, he knows enough to instantly stop playing golf.

“There’s some damage there, but not enough to be massively concerning as long as I’m listening to it,” Spieth said.

“Again, I just keep on staying in touch with specialists. They would err on the side of caution, and if they’re pretty comfortable and I feel good about it, then I say why not play?

“I think I’m on par with following the docs I’ve talked to, and it’s kind of a week-to-week thing because it’s something that can get worse.

The post Jordan Spieth: Wrist not ‘massively concerning’ as long as he listens to it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

After an injury kept him out of the AT&T Byron Nelson two weeks ago, Jordan Spieth returns to his home state of Texas and one of his favourite PGA Tour events at the Charles Schwab Challenge. A winner, three-time runner-up and eight-time top-10 finisher at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Spieth has certainly made his mark at this tournament. But this go-around will feature a loaded field also looking to snag a win with the US Open just a few weeks away.

Joining Spieth is fellow Texan Scottie Scheffler along with fellow PGA Championship runner-up Viktor Hovland, as well as Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and Collin Morikawa. Also competing is new golf royalty, club professional Michael Block, who received a sponsor’s exemption after his out-of-nowhere T-15 finish at Oak Hill.

Sam Burns will be looking to repeat as champion. A year ago he came from seven shots off the lead to get into a playoff with Scheffler, then rolled in a 38-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to claim victory. If Burns can pull the repeat victory off, he’ll be the only the second golfer to win at Colonial in back-to-back years, joining Ben Hogan.

This year’s winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points and a $1.566 million share of the $8.7 million purse.

Tee Times (all times EDT)
FIRST ROUND
First tee
8.20am (5.20pm UAE) David Lipsky, Matthias Schwab, Justin Lower
8.31am Michael Kim, Russell Knox, Callum Tarren
8.42am Alex Noren, Kramer Hickok, Alex Smalley
8.53am Russell Henley, Chad Ramey, Erik van Rooyen
9.04am JJ Spaun, Brendon Todd, Brian Harman
9.15am Chez Reavie, KH Lee, Cameron Champ
9.26am Sepp Straka, Lucas Herbert, Richy Werenski
9.37am Aaron Baddeley, Will Gordon, Erik Compton
9.48am Nate Lashley, Thomas Detry, Ben Taylor
9.59am Dylan Wu, Harry Hall, MJ Daffue
1pm Troy Merritt, Mark Hubbard, Greyson Sigg
1.11pm Denny McCarthy, Adam Schenk, Ben Griffin
1.22pm Patton Kizzire, Jimmy Walker, Justin Suh
1.33pm Taylor Moore, JT Poston, Joel Dahmen
1.44pm Kurt Kitayama, Viktor Hovland, Cam Davis
1.55pm Tony Finau, Sungjae Im, Collin Morikawa
2.06pm Max Homa, Kevin Kisner, Zach Johnson
2.17pm Kevin Tway, Peter Malnati, David Lingmerth
2.28pm Michael Block, Min Woo Lee, Pierceson Coody
2.39pm Austin Eckroat, Carson Young, Paul Haley II
10th tee
8.20am Sam Ryder, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Stephan Jaeger
8.31am Ryan Palmer, Harry Higgs, Austin Smotherman
8.42am Zac Blair, Tyson Alexander, Ryan Fox
8.53am Nick Hardy, Si Woo Kim, Billy Horschel
9.04am Davis Riley, Sam Burns, Scottie Scheffler
9.15am Chris Kirk, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth
9.26am Tom Hoge, Rickie Fowler, Tommy Fleetwood
9.37am Danny Willett, Patrick Rodgers, Maverick McNealy
9.48am Eric Cole, Sam Stevens, SH Kim
9.59am Vincent Norrman, Kyle Westmoreland, Cole Hammer
1pm Dylan Frittelli, Cody Gribble, Emiliano Grillo
1.11pm Ben Martin, Hayden Buckley, Aaron Rai
1.22pm Henrik Norlander, Robby Shelton, Andrew Novak
1.33pm Luke List, Garrick Higgo, Andrew Putnam
1.44pm Matt Wallace, Tyler Duncan, Scott Stallings
1.55pm Harris English, Nick Taylor, Luke Donald
2.06pm Adam Long, Beau Hossler, Lee Hodges
2.17pm Scott Piercy, Kevin Streelman, Rory Sabbatini
2.28pm Byeong Hun An, Matt NeSmith, Joseph Bramlett
2.39pm Marty Dou, Harrison Endycott, Akshay Bhatia

The post PGA Tour: Tee times for the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Michael Block — you’ve heard of him, yes? — has come into a bit of money the past few days thanks to a T-15 finish at the PGA Championship, earning a cool $288,333 for his performance at Oak Hill. He has a chance to make some more dosh this week at Colonial at the Charles Schwab Challenge, as Block has accepted a sponsor exemption into this week’s event.

However, Block has an interesting offer should he want to cash in on his sudden fame. But it comes with a catch.

The club professional who has taken the sport by storm told the media on Tuesday at Colonial that he has been offered $50,000 for the 7-iron he used to make a hole-in-one at Oak Hill’s 15th during Sunday of the PGA Championship.

“I’ve had a couple different offers actually,” Block said. “It’s crazy, right? I’ve had a couple different offers, and the initial response was it was $50,000 and I’d hand deliver it. Kind of kiddingly, but I guess not really anymore.”

Block said there are other entities who want the club in question, which we imagine are the PGA of America and Oak Hill. Block isn’t sure what he’s ultimately going to do with the 7-iron. It’s been a whirlwind few days, after all.

“For right now it just needs to hit shots in there close for me, and I’ll go from there,” Block said.

Block tees off on Thursday at 2.28pm local time.

The post Michael Block’s $50,000 offer for his hole-in-one 7-iron appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.