Kevin Na withdrew from the Masters on Thursday following the completion of his first nine holes.

Na was the first group out on Day 1 but experienced an inauspicious start at Augusta National with a double-bogey at the first and though he birdied the second things did not improve, bogeying three of his next four holes. Na made the turn in 40 strokes before pulling out with an undisclosed illness. Throughout the round Na appeared to be in discomfort.

At the time of his WD, Na was last on the scoreboard. This was his 12th start at the Masters, and he had finished inside the top 15 in his past three Masters appearances.

Na entered his way into this year’s Masters field as one of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of 2022. He was one of 18 LIV Golf members in this week’s field.

Mike Weir, who was playing with Na, will finish his round as a single.

Ben Jared

Not much later, Will Zalatoris, one of the fancied players, also withdrew prior to his 1.24pm tee time through injury.

After strong showings in his first two Masters appearances, Zalatoris won’t get a chance to keep the string alive. The eighth-ranked player in the world was scheduled to tee off in the afternoon in a marquee pairing with major winners Collin Morikawa and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Zalatoris, 26, has had a run of injuries and illness in recent months. He had a breakout season in 2022, posting runners-up in the PGA Championship and US Open, and notched his first PGA Tour victory in the playoffs’ FedEx St. Jude Championship. But he suffered two herniated discs in his back at the BMW Championship the next week and shut it down for the rest of the year.

The Wake Forest alum’s best finish this season is a tie for fourth in the Genesis Invitational, but he also had to withdraw from the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship two weeks ago because of a stomach virus that resulted in the already lanky golfer losing seven pounds.

Prior to his 1:24 p.m. ET tee time, Will Zalatoris has withdrawn from the Masters due to injury. pic.twitter.com/VdMZ3kzVlP

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 6, 2023

He was sounding very optimistic earlier this week about a return to the Masters, where he finished solo second in his debut in 2021 and tied for sixth last year.

“It’s taken its sweet time to get the full swing to come back, but I think really the last couple weeks we finally have seen some progress,” Zalatoris said on Tuesday.

About the back injury, he explained, “The genesis of it was actually bad right ankle mobility. Because of me not pushing off my right side soon enough and being a very kind of dynamic player with some side bend, my right hip got high and tilt back. We’ve been trying to get me actually to stand closer to the golf ball, so that makes me create space with the ball so I can turn more horizontal as opposed to lateral. It’s been good.”

The post Masters 2023: Kevin Na and Will Zalatoris withdraw at Augusta appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“This week, I’m the man,” he exclaimed late Sunday afternoon, a wide smile crossing his face as he held aloft the trophy after winning LIV Golf Tucson on the third hole of a four-man playoff.

It was just his second start after joining the LIV Golf League and comes after fielding a 30-minutes call earlier this year from Kevin Na, the Iron Heads captain who was finalising his team’s roster for the 2023 season. Na made his pitch to Lee, hoping to convince his good friend to join LIV Golf. The move was potentially life-changing.

Even so, risks had to be weighed.

Lee’s recent form didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Of his 23 starts in 2022, Lee missed the cut 12 times and was forced to withdraw on three other occasions. Previous seasons shared a similar script. Nagging injuries — a wrist here, a hip there — just seemed to linger. Lee’s last victory was in 2015 and doubts started to creep into his head on whether he’d ever post another win. “I just felt like winning was not my thing,” Lee admitted.

Yet Na was convinced the raw talent was still there, the kind of talent that can win a US Amateur as an 18-year-old, which Lee did in 2008. It just needed to be unlocked again.

Swing coach Drew Steckel, who works with both players, encouraged Na to pursue Lee. So did Na’s long-time caddie, Kenny Harms. Even Na’s wife made her feelings known. “She wanted him for the team too,” Na said.

Na figured the warm, embracing environment of LIV Golf League’s team-based competitive structure was exactly what Lee required. Already, he had seen how it raised the level of other gifted players whose careers appeared in need of a jump start, including another US Amateur winner, Peter Uihlein. Na hoped a good support team could help Lee get out of his own way and resurrect his game.

“Not to be mean, but Danny can be a little bit of a head case,” Na said. “He’s extremely talented. We knew that my coach and myself being there for him mentally and to mentor him would help him reach his peak performance. He’s an unbelievable player.”

The Iron Heads were the obvious team to provide that support. Like Lee, Na and Sihwan Kim — a holdover member from last year — were born in South Korea before relocating to another country. Lee moved to New Zealand, Na and Kim to America.

From Lee’s perspective, the 32-year-old realised his career drifting had to stop. The injuries were one thing, but he also took a critical look in the mirror. It was time to rededicate himself to the game. So his goal for 2023 was to increase his practice time. He also switched to a long putter in hopes of better performances on the greens.

When Na called, Lee told him about his new attitude and his plans to work hard.  “I’m going to be a new man,” Lee insisted. “And you called me.”

Silently, Na thought: This must be a sign.

During those 30 minutes, Na made the offer and Lee accepted. But it wasn’t without hesitation. There were no big financial guarantees for Lee. Na’s most significant enticement was the promise of brighter days, nothing more.

Lee could see other benefits. He looked at the 2023 LIV schedule that includes Mayakoba, a place he enjoys playing, Greenbrier, a course he’s won on, and Sentosa in Singapore, another course that’s familiar to him. That appealed to him. It also didn’t hurt that The Gallery Golf Course, the host venue for Tucson, was inspired by famed architect Donald Ross’ Pinehurst No. 2 – the site of Lee’s US Amateur win.

Lee also liked the 14-tournament season that would allow him more time to work on his game and stay healthy, instead of focusing on the grind of simply making a cut. Too many times, Lee has ended a string of consecutive starts on a sour note. “I tend to play too many weeks in a row,” Lee said.

Even so, in the ensuing days after accepting, Lee called Na several times, seeking assurances that the big move was the right one.

“He said: ‘Bro, I know you’ve been a huge supporter of me and you’ve always been there for me, but am I making the right decision?’” Na recalled. “I said: ‘Danny, I can keep telling you how good this is and how good this product is, how exciting it is out there, but you have to see it for yourself. But I promise you, you’re making the right decision.’”

Said Lee: “He could see that my game is so close to being great, but he told me that this environment of LIV Golf is probably better for me than staying out on the PGA Tour.”

Ultimately, Lee trusted that his friend was steering him in the right direction — just as he has in recent years when times were tough and Lee needed a sounding board or a dose of reality.

“When I struggle with my game or my life, sometimes I call Kevin or I’ll go to his place and ask for his advice,” Lee said. “When Kevin thinks he’s your friend, he’s one of the nicest guys. He wouldn’t lie about anything or make me feel good to see something. He’ll tell me what’s up straight away.”

At the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba, Lee opened with consecutive rounds of even par before fading on the final day when he hit just three fairways. But perhaps the most important takeaway from that week in Mexico was getting an understanding of the team dynamic that’s such a vital part of the LIV Golf player experience.

Danny Lee. LIV Golf

He realised that every bogey has consequences beyond just his own individual score. That his teammates need him to perform, and that no matter how he stood on the individual leaderboard, every shot still matters for the team score. Lee even joked this week that when he makes a bogey now, Na’s face pops up in his head.

That’s exactly what Lee needed. To get outside his own bubble and become a part of a golfing family. He’s eager to spend time on the range or practice rounds with his new teammates. He said he’s “never practiced that much in my life” since joining LIV. He finds himself looking at leaderboards and checking out his team’s standing instead of his own position — a common refrain among the 48 players in the field.

“I made probably the best decision to play on LIV Golf,” Lee said. “You get to play with the best in the world, and there’s a team aspect. It just teaches me how important each shot is out there because there’s a team involved. It doesn’t matter if you’re having a bad day or a good day.

“It’s a little different than what I grew up playing in, but I love it out here. It’s awesome.”

Still, the final three holes that Lee played Sunday at The Gallery had no impact on the team’s outcome. It came during the four-man playoff to decide the individual trophy. The Iron Heads had already clinched third place on the team leaderboard, their first podium finish.

Even as his teammates waited at the 18th green to cheer him on, Lee was theoretically just playing for his own glory.

On the second playoff hole, after a brilliant approach inside 10 feet, Lee had a chance to win with a birdie but missed the putt. He called himself an idiot — but he didn’t dwell on the lost opportunity like he might have in recent years.

On his next trip down 18, his approach landed pin-high but to the right, off the green near the stands. Despite knowing par would keep him alive in the playoff, Lee still played an aggressive stroke. His putt had steam on it but clanged against the pin and dropped in for the win.

Iron Heads’ Scott Vincent and Kevin Na congratulate Danny Lee. LIV Golf

He thrust both arms in the air and let out a yell. His teammates quickly embraced him. For a golfer who wondered if he’d ever win again, it was a great way to wash off the last few years of frustration.

The key, though, is that even in the playoff, even with the outcome only impacting his own fate and nobody else’s, Lee felt the comfort of playing for a team. While he doesn’t want to let down his team, he also knows that a support system now exists to help him handle any negative moments. Soft landings for any failures.

“Even if I happen to miss that putt and lose in a playoff, my team is going to just say it’s OK, you can do it next time,” Lee said. “There’s a place I can go somewhere for disappointment.

“I’m just really happy to do something special in front of my team and make our team proud. … I’m just trying to prove Kevin was right, that Kevin made a right decision to pick me.”

The post Proving Kevin Na right — Danny Lee’s win justifies his captain’s faith appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Dustin Johnson attends his press conference prior to the LIV Golf Invitational – London event. Aitor Alcalde/LIV Golf

By John Huggan

The opening press conference at the first edition of the LIV Golf Invitational Series was going along smoothly enough in London when Dustin Johnson detonated his bomb. Almost casually, the two-time major champion dropped into the conversation that he has joined Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen (who also resigned from the DP World Tour), Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia in resigning his membership of the PGA Tour.

Immediately, that makes Johnson, who emerged from the last Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits with a 5-0-0 record, ineligible for the next playing of the biennial contest between the United States and Europe, as well as the upcoming Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow in September. But his decision also seemingly takes the 37-year-old South Carolinian outside the jurisdiction of the PGA Tour if and when possible sanctions are brought against those players who have made the decision to play on the Saudi-sponsored circuit that kicks off at The Centurion Club just north of London on Thursday. In turn, if the PGA Tour can’t/hasn’t sanctioned a player, it is unlikely the USGA or another governing body overseeing a major would take any action to prohibit a golfer from competing in their championships.

“I’ve resigned my membership of the PGA Tour and I’m going to play here for now, that’s the plan,” said Johnson. “It was a difficult decision. The Ryder Cup is unbelievable and is something that has definitely meant a lot to me. I’m proud to say that I’ve played and represented my country. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to do that again. I don’t make the rules, but all things are things that are subject to change, and hopefully at some point they will. Ultimately, I decided to come do this and play out here. I’m excited about it.”

Asked if he was worried that some observers might see his move as putting money before patriotism, Johnson’s response was typically short and to the point.

“I chose what’s best for me and my family,” he said.

You might also like:
All you need to know for the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational event at Centurion Club in England
Big Phil confirms LIV Golf participation
Analyzing the 42 players who have signed up for LIV Golf
Your top players to watch at LIV Golf Invitational
DJ to headline LIV Golf Invitational
Rory McIlroy says LIV Golf players should not be punished harshly
PGA players defend jump to LIV Golf Invitational
Looking back at the Dubai Golf trophy with captains and players
Bland to play LIV Golf, even if it means ban
Rickie Fowler considers LIV Golf options
Shiv Kapur hails Asian Tour opportunities thanks to LIV Golf and Saudi Golf
The Gulf Club: The latest golf news from around the UAE
Meet Malak, the first Arab to play at US Women’s Open
In the mix: Olivia Jackson
Impossible pin position causes havoc at high school event

The post Dustin Johnson is latest to resign his PGA Tour membership after joining LIV Golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
ATLANTA — On Sunday morning, those near the top of the Tour Championship leaderboard had $15 million on their mind. For the man on the bottom, however, the magic number was 1 hour and 59 minutes.

That’s how long it took Kevin Na to play his final round at the 2016 Tour Championship, which is the fastest anyone’s gotten it around East Lake. (Or, at least the fastest since the tour has been measuring such things). It’s not the fastest round on record for the PGA Tour—that belongs to Wesley Bryan, who shot 69 in 1 hour 28 minutes at the 2017 BMW Championship at Conway Farms.

Joaquin Niemann and caddie Gary Mathews knew that mark was out of reach, for undulating East Lake is no easy walk, and especially not on a hot and humid late-summer day. But they also knew they would be playing alone, the initial field of 30 cut to an odd number when Brooks Koepka withdrew on Saturday with a wrist injury. And Niemann knew he didn’t have his best stuff, and it’s been a long season, so why not have a little fun at the end of it and get some bragging rights over Na in the process?

Mathews emptied out the bag in preparation; there were three balls instead of the usual nine, the training aids were left at home, as was the rain gear and umbrella. Breakfast was light, on-course deliberations were minimal.

In the end, the mission was accomplished. The 22-year-old Niemann hustled hard throughout his back nine to play his final round at the Tour Championship in 1 hour 53 minutes. On the 18th green, after Niemann two-putted for par and a two-over 72, Mathews fell to the ground in (semi-mock) exhaustion. Despite finishing last among those who completed 72 holes this week, Niemann will still collect a $405,000 bonus for finishing 29th in the FedEx Cup.

There’s a new fastest man at East Lake. ?@JoacoNiemann finishes his final round in 1 hour and 53 minutes. pic.twitter.com/LCOtfOveGY

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 5, 2021

“I didn’t know how fast I could play 18 holes, but on the front nine, I decided to play quick but not like crazy quick, not like rushing and hurrying up,” Niemann said. “But then they told me I did like just over an hour, I was like, ‘ah, I’m just going to rush it and try to break the record.’ It was pretty good, the back nine.”

Niemann admitted that he’d probably have abandoned the record-chasing had he played the front nine in a few under par. But after a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 eighth, Niemann went full DGAF-mode.

?? So you’re telling me there’s a chance… pic.twitter.com/5IWkeCDOll

— Skratch (@Skratch) September 5, 2021

“When he made double on 8,” Mathews said, “it felt like it took us 20 minutes to play that hole. And we were walking up to 10, and the guy that helps us out in the caddie area there said, ‘You’re at 1:03.’ So we were flying for nine holes.”

?‍ @JoacoNiemann has played 15 holes in 1 hour and 40 minutes.

And he just made a birdie. pic.twitter.com/WV2VOeEAXm

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 5, 2021

On the 10th tee, he informed his walking scorers—two 17-year-old kids—that the last nine holes would be a hustle-fest. He played his final side of the season in 47 minutes and shot even-par 35, including a birdie on the intimidating par-3 15th over water.

The Atlanta crowd got a major kick from the image of Niemann, who is rail-thin, jogging ahead of Mathews, who is not rail-thin. Yet not everyone was pleased.

“Man, if he had taken his time today and shot 64, he might have made another couple hundred grand,” said Paul Azinger on the NBC broadcast, his tone not sounding as if tongue was in cheek. “But now he’s got a meaningless record and he is hurting … hope that was fun for him.”

It’s only partially true. Had Niemann shot that six-under round—which, he said, was essentially impossible with the form he was in this week—he’d finished somewhere around 20th, which comes with a $505,000 cheque. At the risk of sounding insensitive, perhaps $100,000 isn’t quite so important to a 22-year-old who’s made nearly $4 million this season and $9.5 million in his young PGA Tour career, to say nothing of endorsements.

It wasn’t until after his round, in the scoring tent, that Niemann second-guessed his decision. PGA Tour chief of tournaments and competition Andy Pazder greeted him there with a stern look on his face. He told Niemann that his antics had disrespected the professional game, the Tour Championship, and that he would be fined $10,000.

“I look at him like, I was burning inside,” Niemann said. “I was going to say something and he’s like, ‘all right, forgive me. Before you say something, I was just kidding.’

“I was like, ‘Oh, I hate you.’ He gave me a really hard time.”

The post Joaquin Niemann plays Tour Championship final round in 1 hour 53 minutes, gets punked by PGA Tour official appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
Just as you don’t pick a wife based on who looked best at last night’s party, you don’t make a Ryder Cup decision based on one tournament. Playing well at this week’s Tour Championship certainly cannot hurt the cause, but U.S. captain Steve Stricker will take a wider lens; he’ll consider a player’s body of work over the last year, how his game fits the course, whether he can handle Ryder Cup pressure, whom he might partner with. Resisting the urge to act on impulse or recency bias is part of any decision-maker’s job description.

In that sense, Kevin Na is making Stricker’s job a helluva lot harder—with each putt he walks in comically early, with his ridiculous and yet routine up-and-downs, and with a run of terrific play that has continued this week at East Lake. Na posted a four-under 66 on Saturday, his second consecutive bogey-free round on a layout that, unlike the prior two playoff venues, is showing some fight. He’s 11 under gross for the week would put him in a tie for second if this tournament had normal scoring. (It doesn’t, so he’s in solo fourth, seven shots behind Patrick Cantlay). This comes after a T-17 at the BMW Championship, which came after a T-8 at the Northern Trust, and he also has two second places in the past two months.

“I haven’t really been petitioning myself for a pick,” Na said. “I feel like I’m in a good position to get the captain’s interest. I’ve been playing very well the last third of the season, two runner-up finishes. Good playing the last couple weeks. I feel like I’m hot in these playoffs … Captain Stricker, I don’t know, what do you think?”

Surely he’s at least thinking about the 37-year-old now. There’s a general consensus that four of Stricker’s six picks are essentially spoken for: Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau and Harris English. On Friday, Daniel Berger gave the impression that he’ll be getting a call as well. That leaves one spot for a number of candidates: Na, Patrick Reed, Sam Burns, Webb Simpson, Jason Kokrak and Billy Horschel. Na’s recent play stacks up favourable to any of the others, but it’s his intangibles that make his candidacy particularly intriguing.

There are plenty of tour players that put on breathtaking displays on the driving range. Na is not one of them. He is not tall like Dustin Johnson, ripped like Brooks Koepka or blessed with rhythm like Louis Oosthuizen. He does not bomb it like Bryson DeChambeau or wear you down with consistency. like Cantlay. He hasn’t held a finish in Rory McIlroy-like fashion since he turned pro as a 17-year-old in 2001. He recoils on nearly every driver swing. There’s a lot of learning involved.

And yet he has a gift for getting the ball in the hole in very few strokes, optics be damned. Any golfer who’s lost a match to someone with a funky-looking game understands the unique frustration of that experience.

“Kevin Na is like a three-handicapper who has a career round on the PGA Tour,” said one PGA Tour radio host this week.

He’s not a three handicap you want to play against. Na has four PGA Tour wins in the last 38 months, thanks largely to a gritty attitude and a short game that is the envy of his peers. He leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained around the green for the season, and while he ranks 94th in strokes gained putting, he’s third on tour in that stat over his last 24 rounds.

“He can get up-and-down from a trash can,” is how Billy Horschel put it. “One thing that gets overlooked in match play is making putts. Guys that can make putts, who aren’t afraid to make it when it’s on the line. It might be a six-footer in the middle of the match, or to win the match, putting is so huge in match play. It can be such a detriment to your opponents if you’re consistently making putts. It beats the other opponents down, and they get frustrated by it.”

On paper, Na’s game wouldn’t seem a perfect fit for Whistling Straits, which will play extremely long. Most expect the rough to be negligible to exacerbate the Americans’ distance advantage. It calls for bombers, not grinders. When asked about his course fit at the Northern Trust, Na smiled.

“The way I’m putting right now, it doesn’t matter where I play,” he said.

There’s another non-bombing grinder who’s had a decent run at Ryder Cups: Ian Poulter. As far as partners go, Na frequently plays practice rounds with DeChambeau. The two would be a natural pairing, taking one tricky task—finding someone to play with Bryson—off Stricker’s mind.

Na said he has not reached out to Stricker, that he’s not the type to lobby for a pick. On Saturday, after beating playing partner Finau by seven despite giving up some 30 yards off the tee, Na kinda-sorta lobbied for a pick.

“Two-eighty in the fairway is good enough for me,” he said. “I’m a good long-iron player, and I’ve hit a lot of 5-irons and 4-irons stiff this week and making plenty of birdies.

”I think I can get on the European team’s nerves walking in a bunch of putts and getting up-and-down from everywhere.”

The post Could Kevin Na steal a Ryder Cup pick? He’s making one hell of a case to captain Steve Stricker appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Finding a bright spot amid Team USA’s performance at the 2018 Ryder Cup is a bit like trying to identify the most fun part of a root canal. (The receptionist was nice, I guess?) There were hardly any positives for Jim Furyk’s side at Le Golf National outside a strong opening session, and by Sunday afternoon the only question was what the Europeans’ margin of victory would be. Seven points, it turned out.

Just four Americans finished the week with a winning record. Two of them, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, are locks to make this year’s team at Whistling Straits. The other two, Webb Simpson and Tony Finau, have some convincing to do.

Finau’s an especially intriguing case. Three years ago, he received a captain’s pick only after posting three top-10 finishes in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which were four events back then. He was an obvious pick if the criteria were current form, but Le Golf National and its bowling-alley fairways seems tailor-made to hamstring his length and make him uncomfortable. Only he shined in his Ryder Cup debut, splitting two fourball matches alongside Brooks Koepka and waxing a previously 4-0 Tommy Fleetwood 6 and 4 in singles.

That performance bodes well for his chances, but his form coming into this week’s Northern Trust did not. The 31-year-old does not have a top-10 finish since the PGA Championship in May and sits 12th in the Ryder Cup points standings with just two weeks left until the six automatic qualifiers are decided.

“The biggest reason I made the team [in 2018] is I showed the captain in the playoffs that I was in great form,” Finau told Golf Digest on Wednesday. “I think I’m in a similar situation this year where I’m going to have to play well in the playoffs, and I welcome the challenge.”

The challenge seems to be welcoming him, too. There are few who make this impossibly complex game look as simple as Finau when he’s swinging it as well as he was on Friday at Liberty National; the swing is compact and efficient, powerful and controlled, repeatable and beautiful. The birdies flow inevitably, as though very little effort is exerted. This was FInau at his best, making eight birdies and a lone bogey at 18 for a seven-under 64 that had him at 11 under total, one back of leader Jon Rahm—who will absolutely, positively be at Whistling Straits—for the 36-hole lead when he signed his card.

“I would say [the Ryder Cup] is in the back of my mind, but pretty far in the back of my mind,” Finau said, reminding us that compartmentalization is a pre-requisite to playing on the PGA Tour. “I think the FedExCup, and just every day I know is a big day. I approach it as that. And for the most part, you try to have your game do the talking. At this point, I think that’s what it’s all about. Everybody wants to make the team. I’m included in that. I would love to be a part of that team. But at this point in the season, our games have to do the talking and I’m happy with the start of the playoffs, and I’ve got to keep playing well I think to make the team.”

He wasn’t the only Ryder Cup hopeful in his group to take it deep. Much has been written about the candidacy of Kevin Kisner, given his match-play chops, don’t-mess-with-me attitude and a victory at last week’s Wyndham Championship. There’s another Kevin with similar moxie who’s also catching a heater at the right time: Mr. Na.

Kevin Na has two runner-up finishes in his last three starts, including a playoff loss to Kisner at the Wyndham. His good, however, looks markedly different from Finau’s, and not just in that Tony’s a full head taller. Finau ranks 34th on tour in driving distance—and that’s with a three-quarter backswing that’s probably closer to a two-thirds backswing—while Na ranks 175th. The 37-year-old overcomes the length disadvantage with a fully healthy Scoring Gene—he leads the tour in strokes gained around the green and picked up over 3.8 shots to the field with his short-game alone on Friday, including a remarkable up-and-down after a full-swing flop shot on the finishing hole to polish off a 66.

“It’s so much fun to watch him play,” Finau said. “The places he got up and down from the last couple days were unbelievable. I’ve played with him enough to know when he’s playing well, those are automatic things. My caddie and I joke around watching him around the greens, doesn’t matter where he hits it, he’s going to get up and down, and sometimes he’s going to chip in. On 18, you’re dead over there, he has to hit this high flop shot, stop it on a dime, hits it to two feet. He was doing that the last couple days.

“He’s such a great player, gritty player, and we had that kind of mojo together.”

Mojo. It’s a precious commodity, one that has been missing from recent U.S. team rooms. Patrick Reed looked destined to develop into an American Ian Poulter of sorts, but struggles in both France and the 2019 Presidents Cup have taken some of the shine off. Na would certainly bring a jolt of energy, and the fans would drink up his propensity for walking in putts while the ball is still comically far from the hole. And, perhaps more importantly, those are the types of antics that get under an opponents skin. Perhaps Stricker has taken notice.

“I’m sure he’s watching. Yeah, I’d like a chance,” Na said. “I know that was in the back of my head. Probably shouldn’t have been in the back of my head in the playoff. A couple weeks before, finished second at John Deere. Things are trending in the right direction. I’m going to need probably a win this week or next week to have a chance for a captain’s pick.”

How, though, would his game translate to Whistling Straits, which is expected to be a bomber’s paradise?

“The way I’m putting right now, doesn’t matter where I play,” Na said.

Did you catch that, Steve?

The post Tony Finau, Kevin Na making Ryder Cup statements that Captain Stricker can’t ignore appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Former champion David Duval is the latest player to drop out of the Open Championship.

The R&A announced Sunday that Duval, 49, is no longer in this week’s field at Royal St. George’s. No reason was given for his decision; Duval had told Golf Digest he planned on teeing it up this week and had made the trip to the United Kingdom.

A former World No. 1, Duval captured the claret jug in 2001 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club thanks to a final-round 67. The win was viewed as a breakthrough for Duval; however, it would prove to be his last professional victory.

Duval joined Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson, Matthew Wolff and Kevin Na as high-profile names to drop out of the tournament in recent days. Matsuyama continues to register positive COVID-19 tests while Watson cited close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. Na is passing on the event due to travel restrictions; no reason was given for Wolff’s decision, making it his second missed major this year.

Duval is replaced by John Catlin, an American who plays on the European Tour. Catlin will be making his Open Championship debut.

The post Former Open champ joins growing number of WDs from Royal St. George’s appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Scott Brown was born in Augusta, Ga., but the 10-year vet has never played the Masters. He’s damn close to making that dream a reality.

Brown made nine birdies on Saturday for an eight-under 63, a performance that moved him from middle of the pack to near the top of the board in the John Deere Classic.

“Drove it really well to start off with and then was able to hit the ball close with my irons and capitalize on the putting,” said Brown who sits at 14 under for the week. “Kind of a momentum carrying over from last week a little bit on Sunday’s round. Started to see some putts go in, and just carried it over to this week a little bit.”

While the Masters is the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, Brown’s been more focused on getting out of the rain. It’s been a rough season for the 38-year-old, missing the cut in 15 of 25 starts and entering the week 180th in the FedEx Cup, placing Brown in massive danger of losing his card. It’s a standing that Brown is trying to use to his advantage. “At this point my FedExCup position, I kind of need to win, so it kind of frees me up in a way,” Brown said Saturday afternoon. “I have one goal, and it’s to come in here and win.”

This tournament has been palliative to Brown in the past, posting six top-25s in eight career starts, and Saturday proved to be an analgesic. Despite losing strokes to the field off the tee, Brown gained over four shots on his competition on the greens and another three in approach, a combo that allowed Brown to paint the course red. Impressive as those nine birdies were, it was an up-and-down out of a greenside bunker on the 18th for par that was the exclamation point on his day.

That par has him on the precipice of a life-changing walk. It won’t be easy, not with a crowded board of viable opponents. Brown’s lone win on the PGA Tour came at the alternate-event Puerto Rico Classic in 2013, and with over 260 career starts under his belt no one has to tell him how rare such opportunities are. There’s a heck of a lot on the line for Scott Brown Sunday. He’s waited 38 years for this moment. What’s another 18 holes?

“It’s been a tough year, but I’ve been trying to stay positive. I’ve got a good team around me saying just keep doing what you’re doing,” Brown said. “You just never know when it’s your time.”

Three other takeaways from Saturday at the John Deere Classic.

Packed at the top

Since TPC Deere Run took over as this event’s venue in 2000, no course on tour has surrendered more birdies. Should that trend continue Sunday … strap in, folks.

Sebastian Munoz sits in the lead at 16 under thanks to a four-under 67. There are a whopping 11 guys three shots or closer to Munoz. That pack includes Brandon Nagy at 15 under; Brown, Adam Long, Ryan Moore and Cam Champ at 14; Maverick McNealy, Chez Reavie, Luke List and Jhonattan Vegas at 13. Even major winners in Jason Dufner and Lucas Glover at 12 under are close enough to make a run.

Sunday’s forecast calls for rain, which should leave the course extremely vulnerable. Expect a shootout, and perhaps sudden death. There have been back-to-back playoffs heading into the John Deere Classic, and Saturday’s board has the trappings for a third.

Andy Lyons
Cameron Champ plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the John Deere Classic.

Champ back from the wilderness

Fans and media tend to embellish or hyperbolize when a player is in a slump. That’s not the case for Cam Champ, whose struggles—especially against his immense talent—have gone somewhat under the radar.

The two-time tour winner has not posted a top-25 finish in 2021 and entered the week 149th in the FedEx Cup. Worse, the woes were not just one facet of the game but systemic; Champ ranks 163rd in approach, 199th in SG/around-the-green and 206th in SG/putting. His driving remains prodigious (seventh in SG/off-the-tee), but even in today’s modern game, that will only take you so far.

However, Champ has emerged from the wilderness, making five birdies in his first six holes on Saturday and is in the mix heading into the final round.

“I got off to a great start, obviously I would want to keep that momentum going, but I hit a few squirrely shots and I made some great pars and great putts,” Champ said after a 65. “So for a Saturday in kind of getting me up there close within a few shots, obviously there’s guys finishing, it could be, I could have, I could be done one, two, three, who knows, but at least I’m within reach.”

He hasn’t been flawless through three days in Silvis; his second shots leave much to be desired, as does his wedge work around the green. Yet his putter has been lights-out and he’s managed to keep the big numbers at bay, highlighted by a bogey-free round on Saturday.

Champ is not in danger of losing his card thanks to his win at the 2019 Safeway Open. In that same breath, he seemed to be on the verge of big things after contending at the 2020 PGA Championship last August, and the returns since TPC Harding Park have not lived up to the billing. He also alluded to off-the-course matters that have made him focus on his mental health.

“One of our purposes is to win, to win golf tournaments, to be the best as we possibly can, but for me, coming to the realization of a lot of things; I have many other purposes I want to achieve,” Champ said. “For me it’s not all about golf. Obviously as a kid and coming out here trying to get on tour it had to be because that was my situation and I had no other choice.

“But now that I’m out here and I got married, I’m maturing in levels, I’m starting to kind of figure out myself and what works for me. So obviously I’m going to put a hundred percent effort into this game, I love it, it’s given me so much. But also I have my family, I have other things that mean more to me than this game. So for me it’s just kind of balancing that and figuring that out and how I can manage both of those to have my ultimate success. … I talked to my wife, I talked with my coach, and just try to have a more open-minded process and enjoy the game more, not be so hard on myself and as long as I put the work in, then results will come.”

No matter what happens Sunday, this week has underlined that those results are near, and that Champ can return to that big-time trajectory.

Kevin Na remains a human highlight machine

We suppose there might be fans who are tired of Kevin Na’s walk-in celebrations, similar to how there are people who think a hot dog is a sandwich. But just because these heathens exist does not mean we have to acknowledge their foolish opinions.

Which is a long way of saying: Kevin Na was dropping premature celebrations again on Saturday, and it was a delight:

Fist-pumping before it drops. ?

Kevin Na is 1 back after back-to-back birdies. pic.twitter.com/GgvucXeXFI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 10, 2021

Our only qualm is it’s time for Na—whose Saturday 66 has him in contention—to take his act to the next level. Whip his hat to the ground like Tiger Woods at Bay Hill. Turn to the crowd and twirl his hand to his ear, letting the roar that ensues be his signal. Go full Incredible Hulk and tear his shirt into two.

Should these suggestions come to pass … please, Steve Stricker, give the man a captain’s pick on the Ryder Cup.

The post Augusta native has shot at first Masters berth, Cam Champ stays hot and Kevin Na continues to be human highlight machine appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Two years ago, as you may recall, Kuchar approached a rules official after Garcia missed a tap-in par putt that he assumed had been conceded. But Kuchar hadn’t actually verbalised the concession, which is necessary under rule 3-2(b), and the rules official deemed that Garcia had lost the hole.

A similar situation played out between Kevin Na and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson on the 11th green at Austin Country Club. Johnson, who was 1 up at the time, had an eight-footer for a birdie that would have won the hole. The putt lipped out on the high side, and Johnson quickly picked up the ball to head to the 12th tee.

Not so fast! Apparently, Na, who lost his first two matches and was thus already guaranteed not to advance past the group stage, did not actually say “it’s good” or something to convey the message. So he called Johnson back and explained why he needed to wait for Na to affirmatively concede the hole, rather than assume the putt is good without actual confirmation.

Kevin Na giving DJ a lesson on scooping a ball before it’s officially conceded:

Na: “I know it’s this, but you still have to wait until I say something.” pic.twitter.com/GVJhXMBMXI

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) March 26, 2021

It was a tense exchange, with both caddies listening intently as Johnson insisted that the putt was so short, it never crossed his mind that it wouldn’t be conceded.

“I know it’s like this,” Na said, as picked up by greenside microphones, “but you still have to wait until I say something.”

Johnson tersely apologised and began walking to the next tee. Na then affirmed that they had halved the whole—or, in other words, that he would not enforce any sort of penalty on Johnson for the quick-rake. Which he could have, under rule 3-2(b), which clearly states that “a concession is only made when it is clearly communicated.”

It was a no harm, no foul situation in the end—but it’s not often you see two pros talking intensely, in close proximity to each other, about a rules situation. The vagaries of match play, as they say.

The post Kevin Na confronts Dustin Johnson following quick-rake gimme appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
One year while doing a preview story about the Players Championship I spent an hour zipping around TPC Sawgrass with long-ago PGA Tour player Mark Carnevale, who lives in the area and knows the course well. When we reached the eye candy of the property—the 17th hole—he lumbered over to the tee box, took exactly zero practice swings and proceeded to knock a 9-iron onto the middle of the green before one-handing his putt within a few inches of the Sunday pin on the far right. Easy.

If only the little 143-yard par 3 was so benign on Thursday.

Late in the first round of the Players Championship, 33 balls had found the water surrounding the 17th. It is the second-most single-day total in the tournament’s history, with the ugliest number being 50 in the first round of 2007.

Three of the water balls on Thursday belonged to Ben An en route to him recording an 11, one shy of Bob Tway’s record 12 there in 2005. Kevin Na also rinsed three Titleist Pro V1xs before chipping in from the fringe for an 8. He later withdrew, citing a back injury after an opening-round 81. Charl Schwartzel dumped two in the drink and made an 8.

Well into the day, the 17th was playing well over par (3.33) and as the second-toughest hole on the course, behind only the perenially difficult 18th. Only 63.45 percent of the field had hit the green in regulation, with some missses that didn’t go into the water having trickled dangerously into the rough or onto the runway that serves as a walkway to the green.

Kyle Stanley, playing in the first group off the 10th hole at 6:45 a.m., was the first to find the water, his ball taking a swan dive off the back after he nearly holed his tee shot there on the fly. Henrik Stenson put one in the water, too, and Patrick Cantlay almost did, his ball saved by the walkway on the back of the green.

Keyur Khamar
Kevin Na suffered an 8 at the 17th, shot 81 and withdrew from the tournament.

“Greens are super quick, they’re very firm in places,” said Graeme McDowell, who escaped 17 with a par when his tee shot barely stayed on land before he two-putted from 50 feet. “Like the back of the green on 17. I mean, you pitch that ball past the slope at all today and it’s getting a massive hop and going over the back.”

Even the shots that looked good didn’t always end up that way. Jim Herman landed his ball just on top of said ridge, about 15 feet short of the flag. It hopped on by, then trickled into the water.

Louis Oosthuizen was more fortunate. His ball stayed just on the fringe and he saved par. Justin Thomas wasn’t. His took one hop and trundled in.

Why were so many getting all wet?

For one, the pin was just six paces from the back. For another, the green was firm.

“I had a 5-iron on 2 today that rolled out probably eight paces and then I had a pitching wedge on [17] that hole that rolled out like six,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t add up, and they were very consistent over the course except for that hole.

“It always is a little bit firmer for obvious reasons, but especially up there on top, where you have the gradual upslope that if you land it into it, as soft as it is, it’s going to rip back. But then you want to land it up top with the helping breeze, you get it up in the air or a little bit of adrenaline with fans out here now, you can land it pin high and one hop in the water like I did.”

Still, the hole was playing unusually difficult, despite the pin position not being a new one. While there have been only five years when the collective scoring average was under par, and it plays as one of the more difficult par 3s on tour, as we found out in taking a deep dive into the mystery of the hole, it still ranks as just the eighth-toughest hole on the course since 2003.

Last year, it was even easier. There were only three balls in the water in the opening round—second-fewest in any round in tournament history—when the pin was in a similar spot.

Another reason there were so many balls ended up in the drink? As Carnevale said years ago, and was backed up by Paul Azinger during NBC’s broadcast, tour players see a flag and aim at it, particularly when they have a short iron in hand, a prospect made more difficult with more club and less spin.

Well, not all of them.

“I never try and get it back there,” said Lee Westwood, who found land on the right side of the green, two-putted for par from 50 feet and shot 69. “There’s a crown in the middle of that green and I played here years ago, and I played a practice round with Nick Price, who said just try and land it on that crown every day; ignore the flags.

“And if you walk off 17 with a 3, I think you’re more than happy.”

Especially on Thursday.

The post The horror show that is Sawgrass’ 17th got uglier with every swing in the first round appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.