Of course, there are only rare occasions where attempting it is even in the cards. If the bunker has a significant lip (most do) it’s a complete no-go. But every now and then you’re in greenside trap that has no real lip and some nicely shaved fringe between you and the green and it hits you — this is puttable.

Apparently, that’s a thought that even crossed tour pros’ minds, as Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson showed us on Thursday at the Porsche European Open. At the par-3 eighth, Ferguson was presented with the exact situation outlined in the paragraph above this one, and he had no issue swallowing his pride and rolling the rock out of the sand and on to the green, setting up a look at par:

Wait, what?! ?@EwboF opts for the putter out of a green side bunker! #PEO23 pic.twitter.com/nkVDEIa10A

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 1, 2023

Say it with me now … ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

Unfortunately, Ferguson was unable to save par, but the ultimate goal was accomplished — take disaster out of play. Yes, even the world’s best see water behind the green and think: “Man, if I catch too much ball I could be in big trouble here.” Don’t believe us? Marcus ‘The Bullet’ Armitage was preparing for a similar situation at the par-5 15th during a Wednesday practice round:

Putting out of a bunker?!

That's what @marcusarmitage1 tried on Wednesday ?#PEO23 pic.twitter.com/BG0k1JVKSr

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 31, 2023

“Why even try and be fansaaaay, with a lob wedge,” Armitage says, before coming up woefully short with his putter. But hey, guess what he didn’t do? He didn’t skull one into the water on the other side. That’s a disaster tour pros and weekend hackers both like to avoid as much as possible. One of the very few things we have in common.

The post One of us: DP World Tour pro putts from bunker at Porsche European Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 2017 European No. 1 finished in a share of 14th at the Masters at Augusta National and followed that with a career-best finish of T5 at the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills last month.

Fleetwood is making his first appearance at the Porsche European Open since 2016 and is joined in the field by Henrik Stenson, who is teeing it up on European soil for the first time since being announced as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for 2023.

The 2016 Open champion will lead Team Europe in Rome next year and the Swede is looking forward to making a return to the formidable Porsche Nord Course in Germany this week. Also teeing it up in Hamburg is his recently appointed vice-captain Edoardo Molinari, who has recorded two top ten finishes in his last four starts.

Marcus Armitage returns to the scene of his emotional maiden DP World Tour triumph this week. The 34-year-old became the fourth consecutive English winner of this tournament in 2021 as he won by two strokes from Thomas Detry, Molinari, Matthew Southgate and Darius van Driel.

The European Open is the final event of the 2022 US Open European Qualifying Series, with the top 10 aggregate points earners, not otherwise exempt, from the British Masters, Soudal Open, Dutch Open and European Open earning a place at The Country Club, Brookline later this month. Armitage was one of the 10 players who earned a spot at Torrey Pines last year through last year’s Qualifying Series after his victory in Hamburg.

“I’m playing consistently,” said Fleetwood. “I’m always working hard on my game, but that doesn’t mean you’re always getting it right. I’m very consistent and I’ve shown some positive performances. I’ve lacked top finishes, but top five in the PGA was a good start to that.

“Overall, I feel more comfortable and confident about where my game is now compared to six months to a year ago. Hopefully results will be a part of that and they’ll come. Every week feels like there’s less pressure on each week to get it right. You don’t try and force it and just have faith in what you’re doing. Hopefully performances come and confidence builds from there.”

Stenson added: “I’ve done a lot of work on the long game with my coach. It’s been getting better. I haven’t had the results that we would like in the Spring. I’ve probably played better than the results have been showing — you just have to keep your head down, keep grinding and hopefully turn a corner on the results side of things.

“It is very much a long golf course and it’s playing fairly soft, which makes it play even longer. A lot of long par fours and the par fives are really, really long too. You have to keep the driver on the short stuff. It’s a lot of fairways and greens, make your pars and go to the next one on the par fours. Then on the par fives you want to give yourself chances with the approach shots and hopefully you’ll pick up a few birdies there.”

Armitage said: “My maiden victory was fantastic and it instills a little belief into you that you can do what you’ve always dreamed of and it’s great to be back. I’ve got some great memories.

“I was four behind going into the final day and I just turned up and thought ‘let’s go and have a great day and then get home and move on’. And then I set off like an absolute bullet and got it going and all of a sudden you’re in a position where you can win. It wasn’t until the last probably four or five holes that I realised that I had a real good chance on a tough golf course to post a score and get people behind me trying to catch me. I did that and I was buzzing at the end.”

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The post DP World Tour: Tommy Fleetwood relishing European return in Hamburg appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The answer, as it turns out, is oft-shirtless, sometimes pantless European Tour pro Marcus Armitage, who set his sights on that very record on Wednesday. After countless close calls and excruciating near misses—some of which cracked the windshield of the BMW M8 convertible speeding to catch Armitage’s drives—”The Bullet” eventually triumphed. Check it out.

Landing a golf ball into a speeding car?@MarcusArmitage1 tries to do the impossible. @CallawayGolfEU | #EpicDriver pic.twitter.com/GLwUxLnX87

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) April 28, 2021

That’s the long version. If you’re a fan of non-stop English colloquialisms or want to watch Armitage tear his shirt off and go running down the tarmac only to find out his initial attempt was inches short, this is the version for you. If you’re in a rush and want to get great straight to the money shot, however, then perhaps you’d prefer this:

The record breaking shot ? ?@marcusarmitage1 is an official @GWR holder ?@CallawayGolfEU | #EpicDriver pic.twitter.com/kAIqAKyr7B

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) April 29, 2021

Honestly incredible. Armitage flew his drive 303 yards into the back of a car speeding away from him at 115 mph. The driver, Paul, even slams on the brakes, locking up the tires at speed in order to catch the incoming shot. Whether or not that risk was worth the reward remains to be seen, but we can tell you this: That ace you hit back in 2004 on your puny muni’s 115-yard par 3 just doesn’t compare.

Sorry, not sorry.

The post Hitting a golf ball into a speeding BMW at 300 yards is crazier than any hole in one ever appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

WE’RE BUYING

Jon Rahm: The 25-year-old Spaniard is golf’s newest king after ascending to World No.1 with a dominant victory at the Memorial. Of course, it didn’t look quite so dominant after that late penalty (more on that later), but regardless, what a performance in what felt like his first major title given the field and difficult scoring conditions.

Andy Lyons

Rahm became the third-youngest, the fifth-fastest, and the second-ever Spaniard (after Seve Ballesteros) to reach No. 1. Impressive stuff from a guy who only seems to be scratching the surface. Golf fans should expect to see plenty of a different shade on Sunday for the next couple decades or so.

Christina Kim’s next career: The LPGA pro was a delightful addition to the golf broadcast this past week and we’d love to hear more of her. After her playing career is over, of course. She certainly had Golf Twitter chuckling when after Bryson DeChambeau expressed shock at missing a green left, she blurted out, “The ball’s above your feet, I mean, it’s probably going to draw.” Boom. You’d figure a scientist would know that. Anyway, our Brian Wacker caught up with her during the week to talk about her productive week while the LPGA is still off.

Matt Fitzpatrick on a Sunday on a tough track when he starts way back: In the two rounds with the highest scoring averages this season—the final rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial—Fitzpatrick has posted the only two scores in the 60s to make huge climbs up the leader board. I’ve got to remember this the next time I see wind in the forecast and a final-round pin sheet like this:

R4 hole locations for the ⁦@MemorialGolf⁩ ? pic.twitter.com/DcnlhEJWSB

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) July 19, 2020

WE’RE SELLING

Jon Rahm’s penalty: What a bizarre bogey that turned out to be. Did his golf ball move? Yes, but there’s no way he could see it. And didn’t the PGA Tour get away from HD replays being involved in rulings? Also, here’s a great point:

Imagine if in the NFL, 1 team was allowed video replay and the other wasn’t. That’s what you have on @PGATOUR. Not every shot is videoed the same way, with same scrutiny or with same # of angles. Going back to replay for rules infractions is an unfair playing field. #Memorial

— Will Strickler (@wstrick17) July 20, 2020

And here’s another tour pro offering his take on the situation in a slightly different way:

You know what moved…the tip of my junk when he holed it from there. Y’all can kick rocks

— Mark Hubbard (@HomelessHubbs) July 20, 2020

Seriously, that was one heckuva shot, especially given the situation. And I’m glad a replay didn’t cost Rahm the win. Full disclosure: I also bet on him to win so. . . yeah. . . I might have been just a bit biased.

Brooks Koepka: The four-time major champ finished solo seventh at Hilton Head a few weeks ago. Since undergoing a stem-cell procedure on his knee in the off-season, however, here are his eight other results on the PGA Tour: MC, WD, T-43, MC, T-47, T-32, MC, T-62. I’m not a doctor, but that knee might need some work. And if only there had been a three-month pause in the season to get it fixed. . . Of course, if Brooks reads this, he’ll probably sweep all three majors this year.

The World Handicap system: I had high hopes for the new system implemented by golf’s governing bodies this year, but it’s a total disaster. At least, for me. After entering seven (bad) scores, my handicap index hasn’t moved. Not a single tenth of a point. In either direction. Nothing. The result is I’m putting up embarrassingly bad scores for someone who is supposed to be a 7.8—and I’m running out of time to get more strokes before my annual golf trip/tournament next month. Please let me know if anyone else has experienced anything similar. Misery loves company. And other bad golfers.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to the Land of 10,000 Lakes for the second annual 3M Open, AKA that tournament with a lot of water in play where Matt Wolff drained a walk-off eagle last year and Bryson DeChambeau gave us this classic reaction:

Bryson DeChambeau when he found out Wolff hit that putt… pic.twitter.com/JcN9FOxTQV

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 7, 2019

He didn’t even look that stunned this past Friday when he made that 10 at Muirfield Village.

Random tournament fact: Bryson is not playing this year. In fact, a lot of big names are skipping with a WGC and a major in the next couple weeks.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Matt Wolff will win with a walk-off eagle again: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—I will win the 1 MILLION contest: 1 BILLION-to-1 odds
—Bryson will still be talked about a LOT during the broadcast: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Sam Greenwood

Again, penalty or not, that was awesome.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

The European Tour has done it again, this time having three pros compete in a closest-to-the-pin contest from 300 yards. By hitting driver off the deck. And Marcus “The Bullet” Armitage stole the show:

The #DriverOffTheDeck Challenge ?@CallawayGolfEU ? | #MavrikThinking pic.twitter.com/VRluayZVGI

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 17, 2020

Damn. These guys are good.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (FAIL DIVISION)

No longer in the running for “2020 Volunteer of the Year." pic.twitter.com/gBlrBCPQlV

— Skratch (@Skratch) July 19, 2020

I hate to say it, but. . . dude, you had one job.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’ve been preaching about [the golf ball going too far] for, goodness gracious … 43 years [ago] I first went to the USGA. I mean, that’s a long time to be studying something. Guys, stop studying it and do something! Will you, please?” —Jack Nicklaus, who took matters into his own hands by basically turning Muirfield Village into Winged Foot on Sunday. Glad to see I’m not the only person upset with golf’s governing bodies. Maybe Jack is ticked off at having a low handicap index as well.

THIS WEEK IN PROS ARE JUST LIKE US!

OK, so it’s a screenshot, but this was remarkable. It’s Sergio Garcia after stroking possibly the worst putt in golf history:

That’s tough to do.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Once again, there was a lot. Phil putted one from 78 yards:

A putt from 78 yards.
A full swing from 34 feet.

"Phil the Thrill" makes par. ¯_(ツ)_/¯#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/jCwFdzGvys

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 19, 2020

And he LAID UP on a par 3:

Phil just LAID UP from 173 yards on the par-3 16th pic.twitter.com/nZwkvhA7Qd

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) July 19, 2020

Incredible. But the best Phil being Phil story comes from The Action Network’s Jason Sobel, who reported on an old bet Mickelson won with Colt Knost that Jon Rahm would reach the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking within a year. “There was a comma involved,” Knost told Sobel of the wager. Well done, Phil. I actually won some money off Rahm winning this week. Sadly, there wasn’t a comma involved.

THIS AND THAT

Davis Riley is now one Korn Ferry Tour title away from the coveted and rare BATTLEFIELD promotion to the PGA Tour following win No. 2 at the TPC San Antonio Championship. Unfortunately due to COVID, that’s the only way he’s getting to the bigs before next season. . . . Congrats to Jack Nicklaus for edging Tiger Woods in the “Open for the Ages,” but my favourite part was Rory McIlroy’s final-round 63. Even in fake tournaments he continues to rack up backdoor top 10s! And finally, congrats to Nicole Rae and Liam Byrne for winning Golf Digest’s fourth annual Trainwreck tournament:

That being said, after winning by four, their handicaps are officially under investigation.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How many actual majors will Jon Rahm win in his career?
What country club(s) would I join if I won $1 million?
Would more on-course drinking improve my handicap?

The post Jon Rahm’s controversial finish, Phil Mickelson’s brilliant bet, and an unexpected TV star appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

⁦@EuropeanTour⁩ ⁦@dunhilllinks⁩ @CallawayGolfEU⁩ ⁦@CallawayTour⁩ ⁦@nikegolf⁩ ⁦@HowleyGC⁩ ⁦@wearehorners⁩ ⁦@woodsomeproshop⁩ #bulletontour pic.twitter.com/t7iufE2skE

— marcus armitage (@marcusarmitage1) December 1, 2019

Armitage’s positive outlook was a popular one on social media, with just about everyone who replied commending his great attitude. Three years earlier, Armitage went viral for a much different reason, this time after claiming his only victory on the Challenge Tour at the 2016 Foshan Open. During his post-round interview, Armitage, then 29, was overcome with emotion as he discussed his win, the fact he had earned a European Tour card, the loss of his mother when he was 14, and his dad, who was, as he put it, “struggling” at the time:

? @marcusarmitage1 is known as the joker on Tour, but behind the surface, this is what it really means #FoshanOpen pic.twitter.com/Tuvy6WVahL

— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) October 22, 2019

Apologies, should have posted a “grab the tissues” warning for that one. Since the Foshan Open win, Armitage has bounced back and forth between the European Tour and the Challenge Tour. He also played in the 2018 Open Championship, missing the cut in the only major start of his career. He’ll get a second crack in 2020 at Royal St. George’s thanks to his third-place finish in early January at the South African Open. The Bullet needed to hole this putt on the final hole to secure his spot:

One putt for a place in The Open.

As clutch as it comes from Marcus Armitage!@marcusarmitage1 #SAOpen pic.twitter.com/DwfsZ9oimI

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 12, 2020

Incredible. In addition to being clutch, refreshingly honest and emotional, The Bullet is also hilarious. On Tuesday, he posted video of himself sitting in his car while his new Callaways sat beside him in the passenger’s seat. It’s must-watch material:

Big thank you to Ian Garbutt today for fitting me! ⁦@CallawayGolfEU⁩ ⁦@CallawayTour⁩ ⁦@TileGiantLTD⁩ ⁦@HowleyGC⁩ ⁦@UnderpinSports⁩ pic.twitter.com/RfImlskcsh

— marcus armitage (@marcusarmitage1) February 4, 2020

Ladies, find yourself a man who will treat you the way The Bullet treats his new Mavriks. That was some serious caressing. Also, have to love The Bullet referring to himself as The Bullet. Wouldn’t expect anything less. Here’s another gem from a few weeks ago, in which Armitage shows off his demolition skills and calls himself “Bob The Bullet”:

Bob the bullet ? ⁦@CallawayGolfEU⁩ ⁦@CallawayTour⁩ ⁦@UnderpinSports⁩ ⁦@TileGiantLTD⁩ ⁦@HowleyGC⁩ ⁦ pic.twitter.com/c2wf4Pn70c

— marcus armitage (@marcusarmitage1) January 24, 2020

If you didn’t immediately smash the follow button, you’re doing it wrong. We all need more of The Bullet in our lives.

The post Marcus Armitage, AKA “The Bullet,” petting his new golf clubs is the funniest video you’ll see today appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.