By Alex Myers
Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we have never been so thrilled to get a haircut. My appointment felt like what I can only imagine having a tee time at Augusta National feels like. I was so excited I could barely fall asleep the night before. And when I finally got into that chair, I didn’t care about the result, just that I was there after four long months in which a mop had grown on top of my head. Was it the best haircut I’ve ever gotten? No, that’s still the time I got styled for a GQ shoot. But for 17 bucks, I’m not complaining. Anyway, let’s talk some golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Dustin Johnson: Apparently this guy didn’t like falling out of the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in four years. Johnson’s response was to win his next start at the Travelers Championship to move back to No. 3. More impressively, that’s now 21 career PGA Tour titles and a 13-season winning streak that’s only behind Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods. Decent company.

Also decent? The payout I received from betting on DJ to win, making it two weeks in a row for yours truly after wagering on Webb Simpson at the RBC Heritage. I didn’t make nearly as much as the guy who won 20 GRAND betting on Mackenzie Hughes as a first-round leader, but at least my barber trips should be covered for the next couple years, or decades depending on the quarantine situation. Thanks, DJ!

Jayson Tatum’s swing speed: Speaking of quarantine, the Boston Celtics star caught the golf bug during his and began taking lessons. According to Tatum’s instructor, he already has elite PGA Tour swing speed that reaches 125 miles per hour despite his silky-smooth action:

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

How about that “bunt driver” that goes 315 yards? Must be nice to be 6-foot-8 and freakishly athletic. OK, so I’d settle for just being somewhat athletic.

NBC’s USGA deal: The Peacock is getting golf’s national championship back beginning this year at a sweet discount since Fox will reportedly pay more than half of what’s remaining on the seven-year deal. Ouch. While we admire some of the innovations Fox added to its coverage these past few years, it still felt weird when the network parachuted in to broadcast only USGA events. There will be more continuity to NBC’s coverage. And more importantly, Yanni’s IN CELEBRATION OF MAN is BACK!

Between my haircut, the DJ bet, and that, it’s been quite a week.

The Summerhays family: First, 15-year-old Grace shot 76 from 7,000 yards at a Monday qualifier for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship. Then her 17-year-old brother, Preston, shot a pair of 70s in the actual tournament to narrowly miss the cut. But Uncle Daniel saved the best for last. The PGA Tour veteran, who previously announced his hometown event would be his last start before walking away from competitive golf to become a teacher and coach at his former high school, nearly pulled off a walk-off win. Summerhays shot a final-round 62 but lost in a three-man playoff eventually won by Kyle Jones.

Matthew Stockman

What a way to go out. Except …

WE’RE SELLING

Daniel Summerhays’ retirement: The guy is playing in this week’s TPC Colorado Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.

An emotional runner-up for Daniel Summerhays at his hometown @UTChampionship.

He had planned for it to be his final start as a pro.

But after receiving overwhelming support across the golf community, he’s onward to @TPC_ColoradoHL. pic.twitter.com/RdKHO8kUZn

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) June 30, 2020

He’s back! There are retirement speeches that lasted longer than that retirement. No, all kidding aside, Daniel still plans to walk away from competitive golf full time. You just can’t walk away while you’re on a heater. We get it.

More COVID WDs: Sadly, the list of these on the PGA Tour is starting to grow rather quickly. On the bright side, though, positive tests seem to be relatively contained and players seem to be taking things very seriously. Brooks Koepka and Webb Simpson were among those pulling out despite not testing positive for the virus themselves. And players like Jason Day have quickly gotten tested when feeling symptoms. Let’s hope this remains the case—even with guys who find themselves in contention.

Being paired with Ian Poulter: Greg Chalmers’ Sunday 73 seems a lot more impressive when you consider the tough scoring conditions he faced. Just watch and listen to this epic fart by playing partner Ian Poulter:

Grip it and rip it, @IanJamesPoulter.
(Sound way up) pic.twitter.com/LyFHSIH8uz

— Skratch (@Skratch) June 28, 2020

How can anyone concentrate with that sort of flatulence around? No wonder Poulter is such a dominant force at the Ryder Cup.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Detroit for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, AKA that new event last year that Nate Lashley went wire-to-wire and won by six shots as an alternate who got into the field on the eve of the tournament.

Random tournament fact: Again, a guy who got into a PGA Tour event on the eve of the tournament as an alternate went wire-to-wire and won by six shots. It doesn’t get much more random than that.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Absolutely majestic. And yes, that little white spot is where DJ’s drive ended up on the final hole. My word.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Check out Martin Kaymer telling a funny story about being single at the 2016 Ryder Cup and being able to hear what was going on in a teammate’s neighbouring hotel room:

Nothing worse than noisy neighbours ??#RCConfidential pic.twitter.com/iKYxcrVUZ4

— Martin Kaymer (@MKaymer59) June 25, 2020

“Others had more fun than me.” Classic. It looks like we won’t have a Ryder Cup this year, but in the meantime, we’ll take more Ryder Cup stories from Martin Kaymer, please.

TWEETS OF THE WEEK

If you’re not following Ben An on Twitter, you’re doing Twitter wrong. Here he is playfully taking a jab at Rory McIlroy:

You can…because I holed out ??? https://t.co/FIZ7XJMCBe

— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) June 25, 2020

And here he is acknowledging why he was selected as a feature group:

Thanks to @JordanSpieth for this opportunity ? https://t.co/DVVR5HZlgi

— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) June 28, 2020

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

What a week! In his first PGA Tour start as a 50(!)-year-old, Mickelson took the 36-hole lead. Then news came out that he has trademarked the phrase “Hit Bombs” for a clothing line. Let’s just hope these joggers don’t make the cut …

Elsa

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“But what I have to do is imagine I’m the casino and just keep playing.” —Bryson DeChambeau, who after finishing T-6 at the Travelers hasn’t finished worse than T-8 in his past eight starts. I believe Bryson was referencing that he’s close to winning again because over time, “The house always wins.” But in the meantime, he’s still making money like a casino. And now he’s earned a new nickname: Bryson DeCasino. Congrats, Bryson.

THIS AND THAT

In other failed nicknames, I started calling Brendon Todd “Bren Hogan” after he missed just one fairway through three rounds at the Travelers. That didn’t age well with his tough Sunday, but I’m still going to try to get this one to stick. … Collin Morikawa had his streak of made cuts since turning pro snapped at 22, just three shy of tying Tiger Woods’ record. Now he can get to work on breaking Tiger’s overall consecutive cut record of 142. Good luck, Collin! … Toptracer announced the introduction of a new game, GO FISH, at 250 range locations worldwide. We in golf always talk about finding ways to grow the game and this could be a good one. Once my daughter realizes the difference between a golf club and a broom, I’m in. … And finally, congratulations to our John Strege for retiring after 51(!) years in the business. I’m guessing this retirement will last longer than that of Daniel Summerhays. All kidding aside, it was an honour and a pleasure working with you, John. Here’s the send-off video we made for him:

OK, enough of the sappy reminiscing, John. Go get that handicap down!

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who was Martin Kaymer talking about in that Ryder Cup video?
What will Phil sell next?
Is Johnny Miller free the week of Sept. 14?

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The 36-year-old tour pro is walking away from the game to return to his alma mater, Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah. There, he plans to teach and serve as the school’s golf coach.

“It’s hard to say it, but after a pretty long, above-average career on the PGA Tour, I’m going to step away and go another direction for awhile,” Summerhays told the Deseret News earlier this week. “I’m going to try the education system and move into a teacher-mentor role rather than the touring-golf-pro role.”

Summerhays was a standout golfer and a member of the state champion basketball team at Davis before becoming an All-American at BYU. He won a Korn Ferry Tour event while he was still an amateur and then racked up nearly $9 million in earnings during his eight full seasons on the PGA Tour, where he recorded two runner-up finishes and a solo third at the 2016 PGA Championship.

It’s on the developmental tour where Summerhays will play one final event before riding off into the sunset scurrying off to homeroom. He’ll tee it up at this week’s Utah Championship, where he finished solo sixth for his only top 25 last season.

Obviously, the local event makes for a fitting finish. In Utah, the Summerhays name is royalty with Daniel’s older brother Boyd a former PGA Tour pro and the current coach of Tony Finau. Uncle Bruce was a PGA Tour Champions player and nephew Preston won last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur.

But even if this week had the ultimate storybook ending, Daniel Summerhays seems pretty set on his fall plans.

“When I thought about how I’d want to make a difference and an impact, that was one of the ways I felt like I could touch a lot of kids and spread my influence a little bit,” the father of four told the Deseret News. “The last several years it’s been in the back of my mind. Your kids get older and you love being around them and you start searching for ways to be home more and more. So I’ve loved being home especially through the coronavirus.”

The post After racking up $9 million in PGA Tour earnings, this 36-year-old golfer is quitting to become a high school teacher appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
We’re only in year two of the team format at the Zurich Classic, but it’s starting to feel like Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown have been doing this for a long time. The duo from South Carolina backed up their strong first and second-round performance with an eight-under 64 in Saturday’s best-ball format, giving them a one-stroke lead heading into the final round.

On Friday, Kisner said it would take something low to stay in the mix, predicting Saturday would be “kind of a shootout day.” He was right, as 12 of the remaining 36 teams shot 64 or lower, including three 61s. Kisner and Brown were on pace to be one of those 61s early, making birdies on five of their first seven holes and turning in five-under 31. But it wasn’t nearly as clean on the back nine, where they made five more birdies and three bogeys to finish with a 64, putting them at 20-under 196.

One off the lead at 19-under 197 is the team of Tony Finau and Daniel Summerhays, who fired a nine-under 63 that included four birdies on their final five holes.

“We had four birdies in a row I feel like on some of the tougher holes on the golf course,” said Finau. “We just ham-and-egged it really nicely. You know, I birdied 14, he birdied 15, I birdied 16, 17.”

While their finish was clutch, the shift in momentum came at the 10th hole, where Summerhays saved the day after Finau hit his drive out of play.

“The momentum-changing part about our round was on 10. I hit it out of play and (Summerhays) made a clutch birdie. That kept the momentum going for us when we really needed it. Kept me in it for a couple of holes that I didn’t have my best stuff,” said Finau. “So, the great thing about this format is it’s a team format, and we’ve been picking each other up nicely throughout these last three days. We’re going to need that tomorrow.”

This is the second season the two Utah natives have teamed together, and last year they missed the cut. Summerhays believes a little more trust in each other’s abilities has propelled them to the top of the leaderboard in their second try at the Zurich.

“I think, you know, it’s been interesting this week. Last year we were kind of all up in each other’s space. Hey, come read this putt. Let’s read together. What do you think here? This year we’ve just completely backed off everything. I called Tony in to read one putt yesterday and that’s basically it,” said Summerhays.

“In three rounds. I think it’s the underlying trust, right? So it’s, Hey, I’m trying my 100 percent best. So at the end of the day, it’s not like, Oh, how could he have done that, put me there?

“He’s trying his darnedest to get me in a good spot. I think that’s the great thing about having a close friend. We’ve played so much golf together. There isn’t any of that judgment,” he said.

Also at 19 under are 36-hole leaders Michael Kim and Andrew Putnam, thanks to a six-under 66 in the best-ball format. After carding one of the better alternate-shot rounds on Friday, a three-under 69, Putnam and Kim can’t be overlooked on Sunday at TPC Louisiana.

Chesson Hadley and Brice Garnett, who carded an 11-under 61, are two back at 18-under 198. Three teams are tied at 17-under 199, including Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy and Jason Dufner and Pat Perez, who each also posted 61s.

The post Kevin Kisner, Scott Brown lead by one heading into final round of the Zurich Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
With two missed cuts and a WD in a three-year span at the Wyndham Championship, there’s little wonder that Henrik Stenson for years chose to skip the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale. Not to mention it comes amid a busy stretch of golf and precedes the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The 41-year-old Swede decided to return to Sedgefield Country Club this year, though. First and foremost, adding the trip to Greensboro, N.C., would help him hit his minimum number of tournaments required on the tour.

He ended up getting a lot more out of it than that.

Stenson bookended a couple of 66s with an opening 62 and a closing 64 to win by one stroke over Ollie Schniederjans. It was Stenson’s first victory since the 2016 British Open and first in the U.S. since 2013.

“It’s funny how it goes,” Stenson said. “Sometimes it’s just a coincidence why you decide to go to a tournament and make a change in your schedule.”

The victory reminded him of one he had late in 2012, winning in South Africa. It was his first in three years and kickstarted Stenson on a run of terrific golf that included three wins, four runner-up finishes and three third-place finishes in 2013.

Playing in the Wyndham this year means that Stenson will make five starts in a six-week span, culminating in the Tour Championship and a chance at a second FedEx Cup title to go with the one he won in 2013.

Martin Flores, meanwhile, is just thankful to have another week to play. All it took was a hole-in-one.

After starting the week 139th in the FedEx Cup standings and in need of a good performance to move inside the top 125 to advance to the postseason, the 35-year-old aced the 175-yard 16th with an 8-iron, then birdied the last at Sedgefield.

RELATED: Watch pro make an ace to possibly secure a PGA Tour card

“I knew exactly what I needed to do, especially when I was at the 15th fairway, the par 5,” said Flores, who tied for seventh in the tournament to move to 118th in the FedEx Cup standings. “I knew I needed two more [strokes] and I was fortunate to get three. I’m extremely happy.”

Rory Sabbatini, Harold Varner III and J.J. Henry also played their way into the postseason with Sabbatini moving from No. 148 to 122 by virtue of his tie for fourth after a closing 64. Varner, meanwhile, tied for 10th to climb from 138 to 123, and Henry 16th-place showing, thanks to birdies on two of his last three holes, allowed him to become the last guy in, jumping from 134th at the start of the week.

“I’m not going to lie, I’ve won three times and played on a Ryder Cup and this was probably some of the most pressure I’ve felt, playing today,” said Henry, a 17-year PGA Tour veteran, after shooting a closing 67.

Then there were those who were less fortunate: Zac Blair, David Hearn, Seamus Power and Daniel Summerhays all fell out of the top 125 in Greensboro, and saw their seasons come to an end.

It was a difficult outcome for each.

The tournament-within-the-tournament vibe was perhaps best described by Geoff Ogilvy.

“There is a level of tension and stress in your body that’s just on a different level,” said the Aussie, who came into the week 125th in the FedEx Cup but secured his spot thanks to rounds of 66-66-67 the last three days to tie for 16th in the tournament. “I haven’t felt that since Q-School.”

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Jason Dufner showed more about his game Sunday in winning the Memorial Tournament than he had in any of his previous victories, including his PGA Championship triumph five years ago.

In the wake of a stumbling third-round 77—after setting the 36-hole tournament record at 14 under with a pair of 65s—Dufner found the resourcefulness and grit to calmly shoot a closing four-under-par 68 and win by three strokes. And he finished impressively to do it, playing the last four holes in two under par, including a three-foot birdie on the par-4 17th when the green was as receptive as a frying pan.

“I always take a lot of pride in kind of being a fighter, trying to come back,” said Dufner, 40, who looks back at his 10-year struggle just to make it to the PGA Tour as evidence of his determination.

Dufner doesn’t look like a fighter. He’s not ripped like many of the younger crowd, which is saying it delicately. He strolls the course with such indifference that it appears he’s on his way to the dentist. He brings ennui to the term “even-keeled.” But you don’t win without desire. Or without being able to hit shots under pressure. And Dufner always has been a superb shot-maker.

The putter, however, was another matter entirely. Daniel Summerhays, the third-round leader, has a putter nicknamed “Sweet Love,” from his college days. Not exactly as cool as Calamity Jane, but it earned a nickname nevertheless.

You wouldn’t have been surprised if Dufner simply called his putter “The Enemy.” Seldom did it seem like his friend, and he reciprocated at the RBC Heritage when he dropped his putter near the edge of the cup at the fifth hole at Harbour Town Golf Links after mishandling a short putt. Had to be the club. The 54-hole leader at Hilton Head, Dufner ended up T-11 after closing with a 76.

But this week at Muirfield Village, Dufner putted well enough to complement the full swings. He led the field in strokes gained/approach the green, hitting 54 greens in regulation. He also ranked 10th off the tee. He was 47th in putting, though in putting per greens in regulation he ranked first. And it was there when he capped a flawless back-nine 32 with a 33-foot par save on the 18th to make sure no one could catch him.

“You know, a lot of times for me the ball-striking is what I have to do well, and that’s kind of what I did on the back nine,” Dufner said, self-diagnosing. “I hit three or four shots that I almost couldn’t miss them, even though I tried on 17. Then to make par on 18 was really special. Obviously, knowing that I need to make bogey at worst to have a chance, but to make a 35-footer on the last hole, I did that a couple of years ago in Dallas to win, too.”

“To see him make that putt on the last was cool,” said Rickie Fowler, who ended with a 70 and shared second place with Anirban Lahiri at 10-under 278 after the native of India shot an early 65 and watched the carnage unfold in wet weather conditions that resulted in two delays and nearly forced play into Monday.

With his fifth career victory, Dufner moved back inside the top 50 in the world. He is the second Ohio native to win the Memorial, joining the tournament founder and host, Jack Nicklaus.

“Pretty good company there,” Dufner said in his usual phlegmatic way after winning on a layout he didn’t particularly care for until he played for the U.S. Team in the 2013 Presidents Cup.

He also is keeping company with Sir Nick Faldo, who in 1989 was the last player to shoot 77 or higher in the third round and go on to win at PGA Tour event. He did that in the Masters with a 77. Only Kenny Knox shot a higher third-round score in a non-major and won, carding an 80 in the 1986 Honda Classic.

“I hope it’s the start of some big things for this year and going forward. I’ve had a pretty good year this year,” said Dufner, who missed the cut in his previous start but had four top-13 finishes in his last seven starts. “I’ve been really consistent, a lot of top-25s and a lot of made cuts. I know that doesn’t sound flashy and great. But I felt like I played pretty well every week this year. It was a matter of time at some point some things were going to happen for me to be able to win.”

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