By Jay Coffin
Gaby Lopez stood over a 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole of the Dana Open and knew the importance of the moment. With playing partner Megan Khang in tight for a likely birdie on the par-5 home hole at Highland Meadows Golf Club, Lopez understood she needed to make the putt or else there would be playoff in Sylvania, Ohio.

The fiery 28-year-old from Mexico calmly stepped up and drained the birdie putt before letting out a loud “VAMOS” while pumping her fist as she went to collect her ball from bottom of the cup. Lopez made eight birdies on Sunday, including three consecutive on the last three holes, to shoot eight-under 63 and capture her third career LPGA victory.

[parone_video_player campaign=”461″ defaultlang=”en” feed=”51-all-videos”/]

“I practised exactly for this moment,” Lopez said. “If the ball rolls over this spot, it’s going in. We got the job done.”

Lopez was well back after 36 holes but shot a Saturday 66 to vault into contention. Still, she started the final round in 11th place and knew she needed to make an early run with the leaders playing well behind her. She quickly made birdies on Nos. 3 and 4, then made another on the par-5 seventh hole to make her presence known.

On the back, Lopez birdied 10 and 13 before closing with the three straight to close her 63, good for an 18-under-par 266 total. She hit her approach to kick-in range on 16 and got up and down from greenside bunkers on the last two holes, both par 5s.

“Today it felt more like a Friday round,” Lopez said. “Having that calmness and having that quiet space is exactly what we’ve been working on. It paid off. It gets more simple when I do that.”

Lopez’ first victory came four years ago at the Blue Bay LPGA in China. Two years ago she beat Inbee Park and Nasa Hataoka in a playoff to win the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

Meanwhile, Khang is still in search of her maiden LPGA victory after coming close yet again. The 24-year-old American shot 65-67-64 the last three rounds and made five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the front nine on Sunday, but it was still one short. She finished in solo second place.

“There is always a little bit of disappointment, but Gaby played an amazing round as well,” Khang said. “A lot of mixed feelings but I gave myself chances, and just going to take what I learned from this week and carry on for my career.”

The final grouping of the day featured Lucy Li, Lexi Thompson and Caroline Masson. Li, 19, held the lead by a shot to start the day after getting into the field this week via a top-10 finish last week at the CP Women’s Open in Canada.

Li burst on to the golf scene eight years ago as an 11-year-old when she became the youngest ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, held at Pinehurst No. 2. She played a practice round that week in 2014 with Thompson.

Because of two victories on the Epson Tour, Li has LPGA status locked up for next year, although that does not give her status for this year. So she’s had to rely on a combination of exemptions and performance.

Li didn’t have her best on this Sunday at the Dana Open and made one birdie and 14 pars in the first 15 holes, while most of the rest of the field was taking advantage of the softer conditions. Still, she birdied the final hole to shoot 70 and tied for fourth place, three shots behind Lopez. Her top-10 finish exempts her into next week’s Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati and she’s already received a sponsor’s invite the following week for the Portland Classic in Oregon.

“I played good all week,” Li said. “I hit it good today, just some of the putts wouldn’t fall. It was a good, solid week. I tried my best and that’s all I can control.”

Meanwhile, Thompson had another final-round disappointment. She started the day only a shot off the lead and parred each of the first 14 holes, then closed with three bogeys and a birdie to shoot two-over 73. She tied for 16th place and was the only player inside the top 40 who shot over par in the final round. Thompson was hoping to grab her 12th career LPGA title but her first since 2019.

You may also like:
Mora the merrier in Finland on LET
Aramco Team Series to be held at Donald Trump’s Ferry Point in New York
Watch highlights from the LIV Golf finale
How could LIV Golf leave shorts until now?
Watch highlights from Day 2 at LIV Golf
Gooch has 4 Aces flying high in Boston
Too bad: Garcia expects tensions at BMW PGA
Mickelson promises better results
Watch highlights from Day 2 at LIV Golf
Cam Smith delivers on LIV debut
Mickelson says LIV Golf deserves credit
Get your FREE September edition of Golf Digest Middle East here
Cam Smith paired with Dustin Johnson on LIV Golf bow
Bubba Watson hopes he is still welcome at Augusta
UAE get under way at Eisenhower Trophy in France
LIV Golfers back format ahead of fourth event outside Boston
LIV Golf’s masterstroke signing may well turn out to be Lahiri
Why did Cam Smith join LIV Golf? 
It’s official: Smith joins LIV Golf
Viya Golf takes over management of Yas Links, Yas Acres and Saadiyat Beach
Team Europe announce Ryder Cup qualification process
Saudi Open to debut on Asian Development Tour
Win a spot at the DP World Tour Championship Pro-Am

The post WATCH: Gaby Lopez birdies last three holes to capture Dana Open for third LPGA victory appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

American Express partnered with six athletes playing this week in North Carolina and are using the logo space they’ve purchased to give local small businesses some publicity. Along with Ko, Celine Boutier, Gaby Lopez, Stacy Lewis, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang all have logos of local businesses on either their apparel or bags for the week.

The players worked with American Express to find a company that aligned with them, and each company is owned by women. Ko landed on High Octane Coffee because while traveling, her sister and her mother are always searching for the best local coffee.

“They are pretty avid coffee drinkers,” Ko said. “It’s cool to go to different spots and find local gems. I love looking around, finding a good vibe, seeing if they have good little snacks.”

Ko isn’t a coffee fanatic, but her usual coffee-shop order is a matcha latte. High Octane has it on the menu.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by High octane (@highoctanegirls)

“And the logo is super cool, with the coffee and the triangle, it’s chic and cute.” Ko said.

High Octane is in Aberdeen, North Carolina. The three women who own it, Kelly McAndrew, Tracey Harrison and Nicola Squires, turned a 1930s petrol station into their dream coffee shop.

“For Amex to do an initiative like this is really cool,” Ko said. “Especially for me, to partner with Amex and High Octane, a local business here, it’s truly cool to do that because it feels like there’s a connection: It’s more than us playing golf here, we’re getting familiar with the locals.”

Rooting the tour more solidly into the communities where they play is a trend Ko wants to continue.

“It’d be cool to be able to connect and give back as much love we get when we play there,” Ko said. “It’s something I’d like to see more of.”

More
Mina Harigae takes US Women’s Open lead
Metraux sisters roll into town at Italian Open
Five players to watch at US Women’s Open
Michelle Wie West prepares for long goodbye
Lucy Li on brink of a breakthrough
GOAT Annika happy just to be playing at US Women’s Open
Nelly and Annika get comeback tee times at US Open
Looking back at the dramatic Dubai Golf trophy with captains and players
Olivia Jackson makes a little bit of history
Your players to watch at the LIV Golf opener in London
All you need to know for the LIV Golf Invitational Series opener
Dustin Johnson to headline LIV Golf field in London

The post Why Lydia Ko has an unexpected logo on her visor at the US Women’s Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
Gaby Lopez, one of just two Mexican golfers ever to win on the LPGA Tour, has been thinking about the Tokyo Olympics for some time now.

“That’s my ultimate goal, being able to peak at that week,” Lopez told Golf Channel earlier this year. “That’s what my schedule is going to be played around, being rested, being prepared, in time to play well that week.”

Even if Lopez doesn’t claim a medal when the women’s tournament is contested in two weeks, she’ll have memories of the Tokyo Games that will last a lifetime. On Friday, Lopez, 27, had the honor of carrying her country’s flag during the Opening Ceremony along with diver Rommel Pacheco.

While Japan National Stadium, where the festivities took place, had no spectators for the occasion due to COVID-19 restrictions, the moment was still a big one for Lopez.

“It’s a huge honour to be able to represent my country in women’s golf in Mexico, which isn’t a huge sport,” Lopez said earlier this year. “To just inspire little girls and [for them to] see what a golfer and little girl can do to achieve their dreams, that’s going to be why I play golf and that’s what it means to me and my life and my career.”

This isn’t Lopez first Olympic experience; she competed in the Rio Games in 2016, finishing T-31.

Apparently, Lopez has been considered a likely flagbearer for Mexico for some time now. After her victory at the LPGA’s Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in January 2020, she said she was approached by the president of the Mexican Olympic Committee about the possibility of serving in the role that summer. Of course, the Games were postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lopez wasn’t the only golfer who served as a flag bearer during the Opening Ceremony. Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti, a two-time European Tour, carried his country’s flag along with tennis player Veronica Cepede. Zanotti competed in the Olympics in 2016, finishing T-15 at the Rio Games. In 2016, LPGA Tour pro Julieta Granada carried the flag for Paraguay.

Matthias Hangst
Flag bearers Veronica Cepede and Fabrizio Zanotti (left) of Team Paraguay during the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

The post Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti carry country’s flags during Olympic Opening Ceremony appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Scottie Pippen says Michael Jordan gave him a set of golf clubs as a rookie to “lure me in so he could take all my money.” Classic. #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/Bgd4SZvuEt

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) April 20, 2020

Jordan! What a savage. On second thought, I’m definitely going to keep watching because this docuseries is a content factory. In any event, let’s examine what else is (still) happening in the world of golf.

WE’RE BUYING

A June PGA Tour restart: At least, we’re buying its potential. The PGA Tour’s bold adjusted schedule seems extremely tentative at this point—especially because the European Tour continues to cancel events and has no timetable for a return—but it’s nice to have some positive news to report for a change. If all goes as planned, the season would restart at Colonial on June 11 and run all the way through a Labor Day Weekend Tour Championship for a total of 36 events in 2019-2020. The first four events wouldn’t have fans and there would only be one major (the PGA Championship in August) technically played this season and six next season, but who really cares? Golf would be back! Fingers crossed this all actually happens. There’s only so many possible Michael Jordan golf gambling stories to write about.

Alex Cejka: But there is still mini-tour news to report. This one-time PGA Tour winner and four-time European Tour winner is now a one-time winner on the Outlaw Tour after winning something called the Arrowhead Classic. Talk about a ringer. We’re guessing the $5,000 first-place check didn’t do much for a man who has about $20 million in career earnings around the world, but it looks like he’s keeping his game sharp. Cejka turns 50 in December so who knows? He could be senior tour eligible by the time play resumes.

Dinner at Tiger’s: Apparently, when you get invited to dinner at Tiger Woods’ house, bring a bat instead of a bottle of wine. As Justin Thomas told it on “Tiger Tales,” Woods and his son like playing home run derby in the living room after they eat. Yep, the living room.

Of course, JT couldn’t avoid breaking something. Anyway, sounds like fun. Speaking of “home runs”. . .

This invention: Kudos to Georgia’s Cobblestone Golf Course for coming up with a creative way to combat the spread of COVID-19:

Check out the new EZ Lift ball retrievers that we have installed on all flagsticks. No need to ever touch the flagstick again! pic.twitter.com/h5oKyXQME5

— Cobblestone (@CobblestoneGolf) April 16, 2020

Pretty slick. And pretty good for the back as well. I hope whoever invented this filed for a patent.

WE’RE SELLING

A Ryder Cup with no fans: Playing regular PGA Tour events without fans? Fine. I’d even be OK with major championships being contested this way. But the Ryder Cup? That’s a different animal altogether. The ELECTRIC atmosphere is what makes this biennial event so, well, ELECTRIC. How can you not have the absurdly large grandstands around the first tee packed with people? Or the incessant “Ole, ole, ole, ole! Ole, ole!” chants? Or the player song parodies? OK, so we could do without the last part, but you get the point. If this is how it’s going to be, let’s just punt to next year instead. Because if I can’t hear European golf writers bitch about how crude American crowds are toward the Euros, then what are we even doing here?

John Daly’s Coronavirus “cure”: In a video that we won’t share, the two-time major champ jokes(?) about drinking a bottle of vodka per day to help get “over this thing” really soon. “And that’s the way you kill this coronavirus I believe,” he adds. Hmm. It should be noted the World Health Organization says alcohol may actually put people at increased risk of contracting the coronavirus. Of course, it also should be noted that John Daly is not a doctor.

Tiger’s taste in gum: A year ago, golf’s biggest mystery was what gum Tiger Woods chewed on his way to his epic fifth Masters win. And now, we finally seem to have the answer and it’s not Big Red! Instead, Woods said during a recent fan Q&A with GOLFTV that he and caddie Joe LaCava like to chew on “orange Trident”:

What gum is @TigerWoods always chewing in competition? ?

Use #AskTiger to submit your questions. pic.twitter.com/I1McnhhOZu

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) April 17, 2020

We believe he means Trident Tropical, which is decent, but it’s no Trident watermelon. Or Bubbalicious watermelon. Or, really, any watermelon-flavoured. Or Big League Chew, which apparently makes a watermelon flavour now as well. That definitely wasn’t around when I was a kid. Man, we had it rough, huh? Anyway, Tiger, there are plenty of options out there. Then again, if you won the Masters chomping on this, maybe you should, um, stick with what’s working.

ON TAP

This week would have been the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, AKA that team event on the PGA Tour where Brooks Koepka usually invites his brother. This had become a fun one since switching to twosomes in 2017. Oh well, there’s always next year. We think.

Random tournament fact: Billy Horschel is the only player to win the Zurich Classic as both an individual and team event. Talk about a guy who is great at working alone and with others.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Brooks and Bryson will team up at next year’s Zurich: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—My local courses will add some sort of flagstick contraption: Even odds
—More people will be chewing Trident Tropical on courses everywhere: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Brenda Calcavecchia for sharing this (NSFW) scorecard from her husband Mark’s win at the 2007 PODS Championship (AKA the Valspar now):

This is a look into what I have been dealing with the past 20 yrs. The first day of pods he told me to pack up everything and be ready to go as soon as he was done. If you look closely before he signed his name he wrote “I fucking suck”. He ended up winning that week pic.twitter.com/zloGYLVgRV

— Brenda Calcavecchia (@brendacalc) April 14, 2020

Mark is certainly not the first or last golfer to write that on a scorecard. We’re guessing he’s the only one to go on to win a PGA Tour event that week, though. Good stuff.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

How about Rocco Mediate looking like any other guy on the range at your local course?

Good morning!@RoccoMediate on the range!#Golf #minnesotagolf pic.twitter.com/f0YKiX5O57

— goldenvalleycountryclub (@GoldenValleyCC) April 18, 2020

And yet he almost took down Tiger Woods at a U.S. Open. Golf. . . what a great sport!

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (TRICK-SHOT DIVISION)

Or really, trick-shot video of the month. We’ve seen some impressive ones during #QuarantineSZN, but this won GOLFTV’s Lockdown Trick Shot bracket:

Best lockdown trick shot ?

The votes are in and you guys have chosen “the ring shot” as the winner of our #BestLockdownTrickShot bracket. pic.twitter.com/FPOt9Trj2h

— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) April 20, 2020

And for good reason.

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PROS BEING QUARANTINED

Gaby Lopez misses going to the gym so much she shared an old workout video:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_LpBtjFC5l/?utm_source=ig_embed

Lee Westwood has created his own gym and is posting shirtless workout videos:

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

And Ian Poulter is still trolling people:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_AHe-EFsRW/?utm_source=ig_embed

All kidding aside, Lee looks pretty jacked. And I don’t care if that’s an old video from Gaby, that’s mighty impressive. And probably not covered in 8 Minute Abs.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Well, seagulls are known for flying around and sh–ing on people . . . so I am a seagull. I fly around and drop sh– on people. And it usually makes them laugh or sometimes is pisses them off. It all depends on what mood you’re in.” — Charley Hoffman to SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on why his nickname is “Seagull.” Love it.

THIS AND THAT

This week’s Golf Digest Podcast guest is Erik van Rooyen, an interview recorded before the start of the Players Championship. So about 13 years ago in Quarantine Time. . . .

Congrats to Tim Finchem, who did a great job as PGA Tour commissioner, for being the latest selection into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Of course, he also had great timing with Tiger Woods coming along. . . . Speaking of Tiger, how about this stat our Ryan Herrington dug up? Woods has won more than 40 per cent of possible prize money seven times in his career and is on pace to do it again this season. Tom Watson is the only other player to do this even once in the past 40 years—and he did it 40 years ago. Tiger! GOAT! . . . And finally, I’m on a big Wheat Thins kick of late:

That’s the undisputed GOAT of crackers in my book.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who is the “Seagull” of the Golf Digest office?
What was Michael Joran’s go-to gum on the basketball court?
What are Michael Jordan’s career earnings on the golf course?

The post Gaby Lopez’ workout, Michael Jordan’s savage golf move, and a classic (NSFW) scorecard message appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we’re going to have to pace ourselves if the opening week of the PGA Tour is any indication of what we’re in store for this season. There were impressive debuts on the course, impressive performances on the stage and there was Phil (still) being Phil after all these years:

TFW you've hit 15 of 54 fairways on the week. ??#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/QU1VqEthvZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 8, 2017

It was quite a start — and that’s before we factor in frightening wildfires, record-breaking performances across the pond and updates on two much-talked-about comebacks. Let’s catch our breaths and break it all down.

WE’RE BUYING

Defending champs: Brendan Steele made it back-to-back wins at the PGA Tour’s Safeway Open and Tyrrell Hatton did the same at the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Slight edge to Hatton for getting to celebrate on the Swilcan Bridge …

Well done, guys. Now if all of last season’s winners can keep this up, I might actually do well in fantasy golf this season.

Record breakers: Tommy Fleetwood and Ross Fisher didn’t win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, but what they did at two of golf’s most historic tracks will be talked about a lot more than Hatton’s victory. Fleetwood shot 63 at Carnoustie, and Fisher shot 61 at the Old Course at St. Andrews — with both scores breaking course records. By the way, Carnoustie is hosting next year’s British Open, so based on our new horses-for-courses theory, Fleetwood is basically a lock.

John Daly: Talk about life imitating art. Daly joined Gavin DeGraw on stage to pay tribute to Tom Petty by singing along to “I Won’t Back Down” on Thursday night and then birdied his final hole on Friday to shoot 69 and make his first PGA Tour cut in two-and-a-half years.

The fist pumps. ?
The smile. ?
The crowd. ????? @PGA_JohnDaly makes his first cut on the PGA TOUR since 2015. pic.twitter.com/GsLaT1G3iT

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 7, 2017

Actually, we’re buying Daly’s entire month, from presenting a sport coat to Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, to finishing runner-up at a European Senior Tour event in France, to opening a steakhouse in Arkansas. JD seems to be hitting life harder than ever at 51.

Tiger’s comeback: Tiger Woods is back! To hitting irons. “Smooth” irons, at that:

Smooth iron shots pic.twitter.com/v9XLROZnfW

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 7, 2017

Yeah, yeah, I’m getting suckered into another Tiger Woods comeback, but I can’t help myself.

Me: I'm done getting my hopes up for nothing
*Sees Tiger hitting full shots again*
Me: pic.twitter.com/Tup8vlrXCJ

— Golf Problems (@GolfProblems_) October 9, 2017

Tiger, if you’re going to break my heart again, just promise me you’ll do it quickly this time. Please?

WE’RE SELLING

O.J.’s comeback: On the first full day of the Juice being loose (again), Simpson was seen putting on a backyard green at the Las Vegas home he’s staying in:

We’re not knocking his effort — and at 70, he still has a few good years on the course — but his return to golf isn’t exactly great PR for the sport. Also, we’re pretty jealous of his backyard setup.

Phil’s fall policy: Remember a couple years ago when Phil Mickelson pushed for fall events in the wrap-around season to not count towards a person’s Ryder Cup point total? Well, that came back to bite him. Mickelson’s T-3 at the Safeway Open was his best finish since a runner-up at the 2016 British Open, but he’ll earn as many Ryder Cup points for his efforts as I did for sitting on the couch watching his efforts.

Unmarked golf balls: I’m not accusing anyone of taking advantage of the Rules of Golf, but every time something like this happens, it raises eyebrows and causes an uproar. At least, in the little world of Golf Twitter:

One of the worst #ProtectTheField examples I've ever seen. Finau 2 shots off the lead, ended up saving par from a plugged lie. pic.twitter.com/TsKHqHLrNK

— Will Gray (@WillGrayGC) October 8, 2017

It also probably only seems like it’s happening more now because people are making a point to point it out. Regardless, now that it’s become an issue, you’d think players would be even more careful about marking their golf balls — or telling opponents to do it — just to avoid this sort of controversy.

Silly penalties: This week’s “Hey, tour pros are just like us sometimes!” honor goes to David Howell, who teed off from in front of the marker. On No. 18 at the Old Course at St. Andrews. The gaffe resulted in an embarrassing two-shot penalty on one of the most famous holes in golf.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Malaysia for the CIMB Classic, AKA that event Justin Thomas wins every year.

Random tournament fact: This snake was spotted during last year’s tournament:

Last year at the CIMB Classsssssic …

?? pic.twitter.com/SlMXfvLOqR

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 9, 2017

Players better keep their heads on a swivel …

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

— Tiger Woods will win a major this year: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

— Phil Mickelson will win a major this year: 100-to-1 odds

— I will have nightmares about that snake: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

State of emergency declared as three fast-moving wildfires totaling 44,000 acres burn north of Napa, California https://t.co/OZZoeBrj5l pic.twitter.com/5XURlVTw6E

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) October 9, 2017

This was taken at Silverado Resort & Spa, which was evacuated just hours after the final round of the Safeway Open concluded. Wow. We wish the best for everyone in the area.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (TOUR PRO DIVISION)

The European Tour is up to its old tricks of creating fun videos, this time, getting Edoardo Molinari to take 500 attempts at making a hole-in-one. SPOILER ALERT: He doesn’t get it done!

How many shots would it take a pro to make a hole-in-one?

We gave @DodoMolinari 500 balls, here's what happened… pic.twitter.com/AcTwKiplYp

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 10, 2017

If you sense excitement from me, that’s because I’m happy to see another golfer – and a really good one, at that – get frustrated by not making a hole-in-one. It also just confirms that making an ace is 99 percent luck. Thanks, European Tour.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (TOUR-PRO TALENT DIVISION)

If this is really a nun, then she has the swing of an angel:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ052MvBG1v/

Talk about a potential ringer to bring to your next member-guest!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’m sorry, but f— cancer.” – Cristie Kerr, playing with a heavy heart, after winning the LaCoste Ladies Open de France. No need to apologize, Cristie.

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY WAGS PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION ATHLETICISM

Things got dangerous at one WAG’s 30th birthday party:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaAWkcbhvRn/

There’s so much going on here in this quick clip from Ashley Perez’s (Pat Perez’s wife). First off, why was there a fake cake? Second, why were they sitting on it? And finally, was there really an official videographer for the occasion? Impressive.

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PROS MAKING US FEEL BAD WITH THEIR TRAINING

Apparently, normal crunches aren’t enough of a challenge for the LPGA’s Gaby Lopez:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ7yN5oA6ZK/

That’s some Rocky IV-level stuff, and it goes without saying that you probably shouldn’t try that at home. Then again, that would require you having a punching bag at home. And actually having the motivation to work out.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITIES PLAYING GOLF (NON-O.J. DIVISION)

Soccer star Gareth Bale has a replica of TPC Sawgrass’ par-3 17th in his backyard:

First look at Gareth Bale's replica of the signature par three, 17th at Sawgrass in his own back garden. pic.twitter.com/acXm7YmEZJ

— GOLFNEWS (@golfnewsmag) October 2, 2017

Take that, O.J.

THIS AND THAT

Justin Thomas was officially named PGA Tour Player of the Year. It seemed like a lock, but you never know with votes these days. . . . Hunter Mahan’s T-13 at the Safeway Open was his best PGA Tour finish in more than two years. Mahan’s comeback isn’t getting quite the attention of Tiger’s (or O.J.’s), but he’s got the best chance of the three when it comes to winning this season. . . . Sergio Garcia and TaylorMade Golf are splitting up after 14 years. This one’s not quite as sad as Phil and Bones breaking up. . . . And finally, congrats to co-worker Joel Beall getting married over the weekend.

The only disappointing part of the wedding was that Jerry Rice didn’t crash it.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Why do wedding receptions go by so fast?

Why do playoff baseball games go by so slow?

Does that nun give golf lessons?

The post Tiger Woods’ latest tease, O.J. Simpson’s return to golf, a WAG’s scary b-day moment & an LPGA star’s intense workout appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.