By Alex Myers
Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we started the new year not with a bang, but with a beep. In fact, a series of very annoying pre-dawn beeps thanks to the batteries dying in a carbon monoxide alarm. Fortunately, because I’m old and hadn’t even stayed up until midnight on New Year’s Eve, I didn’t lose too much sleep. In any event, the first PGA Tour event of the new decade delivered lots of drama and gave us plenty to talk about as we begin an eighth(!) year of The Grind. Wow, time flies when you’re having fun, and doing, well, whatever the heck it is I do in this space. Thanks as always for following along.

WE’RE BUYING

Justin Thomas: Is it too early to start putting together the next round of player-of-the-decade posts? Because this guy has a great chance to be at the top, and he’s already off to a fantastic start. Thomas won the Tournament of Champions for a second time in four years, outlasting Presidents Cup teammates Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele in a playoff at Kapalua, and overcoming some bad swings and a crazy decision on the 72nd hole that almost made Josh Allen’s absurd attempted lateral look smart by comparison. In the end, though, JT won for a third time in seven starts. HOT.

In fact, his 12th career PGA Tour title made him the fourth player to reach that milestone before turning 27 (Tiger, Jack and Sneed are the other three. Decent). And, amazingly, the artist formerly known as Jordan Spieth’s little buddy has now passed his good friend in career wins after once trailing 8-1. I hope this doesn’t affect the dynamic of #SB2K20!

Pat Perez’s $8,000 toilet: Or, rather, Pat and Ashley Perez’s $8,000 toilet. Apparently, Pat has put his wife in charge of interior decorating and the couple will now have a chamber pot fit for a King and Queen. Check this thing out:

Does anyone need to be massaged or have their feet warmed while doing his/her business? Of course not. But it sure sounds luxurious. Considering Perezes’ recent $10K Vegas dinner bill, getting this magical toilet for less seems like a steal.

The World Handicap System: The new system that’s going into affect and will put most of the world on the same system makes a lot of sense. I applaud such changes as attempting to factor in conditions and updating daily so there isn’t as much luck as to when your handicap is calculated ahead of your big event. I also like the net double bogey max rule for everyone. It never made sense to me that different players could take different max scores. However. . .

WE’RE SELLING

The World Handicap System: There are still some problems, starting with the system counting even fewer rounds. I’m not a math major, but the fewer the rounds that count, the smaller the sampler size and the less accurate you get. I thought they’d go the other way with that. Also, as Dean Knuth points out, the new extra calculation to adjust course handicaps to par defies logic (since course rating already factors par into its equation) and makes this process even more confusing. In related news, I hate course handicaps because I always feel like I’m giving everyone on my golf trip too many strokes. I’m calling for a course handicap revolution! Get rid of them altogether!

Patrick Reed’s reception: It may be a new year, but people haven’t forgotten about Reed’s sand shenanigans in the Bahamas last month. One fan went as far to scream “CHEATER!” after Patrick Reed missed his birdie attempt on the third and final playoff hole. And one player—former U.S. Ryder and Presidents Cupper Chris DiMarco—went as far as calling Reed, well, see for yourself the tweet that has since been taken down:

Wow. Reed is under such fire from all around that I’m surprised Ricky Gervais didn’t take a shot at him in his Gold Globes monologue/bloodbath.

Rickie’s pineapples:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B60k04_nkmh/?utm_source=ig_embed

Nope.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour continues its Hawaiian Swing with the Sony Open, AKA that event where everyone thought a ballistic missile was on its way to wiping out the entire island. And yet Justin Thomas just kicked back on his hotel couch, opened up a sliding door and listened to music. No wonder he’s so cool under pressure. Well, other than that horrendous decision to hit 3-wood on 18 on Sunday.

Random tournament fact: Seven of the past eight winners of this tournament played at Kapalua the week before. So do with that what you will. For the record, I’ve got $10 on Brendon Todd at 50(!)-to-1 odds. Sure, he didn’t have a good week at the Sentry TOC, but he played, damn it.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—That’s the last time a fan will heckle Patrick Reed this year: 1-MILLION -to-1 odds

—Brooks Koepka will publicly criticize a golfer for slow play this year: 40-to-1 odds (Actual odds)

— Brooks Koepka will privately criticize a golfer for slow play this year: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Yes, this came out a few weeks back, but we were on break and didn’t get the chance to properly discuss. And because it’s one of the greatest golf photos of all time.

Well played, TaylorMade.

VIRAL VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK

I don’t care that more that we have more than 99 per cent of the decade to go, there will not be a more unlikely putt holed in the next 10 years than this:

$5,000 PUTT! ?

A Baylor fan sinks a putt on the court to win five thousand dollars. pic.twitter.com/LK4IaeGSnV

— ESPN (@espn) January 5, 2020

Good for that dude. Although he deserved the same paycheck JT got at Kapalua for that effort. And speaking of crazy “putts”:

#SCtop10 #WaitForIt @RealMattScharff pic.twitter.com/JAFjMYs7HT

— Garrett Clark (@gm__golf) January 2, 2020

That’s some impressive engineering.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK INVOLVING AN OSCAR-NOMINATED ACTOR

People freaked out about the Masters promo that ran over Christmas, but this U.S. Open at Winged Foot ad involving Don Cheadle has me even more hyped!

Did you see it…Oh, you didn’t?

Around the #USOpen, we love football…but we’re not talking about football.

This is only the beginning! pic.twitter.com/LkuqXM2xi5

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) January 5, 2020

Yes! Let the bogeys flow!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I should have won the tournament. I know it. Everyone knows it.”. —Xander Schauffele. Substitute the word “game” for “tournament” and this statement could have also been uttered by anyone on the Buffalo Bills.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Members – Attached are my #notes from today’s meeting with architect Hank Jones on our upcoming back nine redesign. pic.twitter.com/xafP6231Bn

— Club Pro Guy (@ClubProGuy) January 6, 2020

One of the highlights of my 2019 came when CPG followed me. A true genius.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

How about Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman showing off her swing?

Had no idea what I was doing… think I just got lucky ? https://t.co/tIfGq2HoUg pic.twitter.com/0Cpihr7hz8

— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) December 29, 2019

Of course, you’d expect a gymnast to have good balance. Speaking of decent athletes. . .

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PROS MAKING US FEEL BAD ABOUT OURSELVES WITH OUR WORKOUTS

Lexi Thompson’s New Year’s resolutions: Get stronger, win more, lose less passports.

And how about the New Year’s Eve message Brooks Koepka sent the rest of pro golf? While everyone else was out partying, the World No. 1 was in the gym:

It’s been a journey these past 3 months rehabbing my knee but it’s coming along & I’m ready to get back out there healthy for a strong 2020 ? pic.twitter.com/oIFunY7wO0

— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) December 31, 2019

Meanwhile, my resolution is to read our post called “12 exercises every golfer should be doing now.” Not to actually attempt them, mind you, but to read about them. Hey, it’s a start.

THIS WEEK IN PGA TOUR PRO-WAGS PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Harry How

Awwww.

THIS AND THAT

Brooks Koepka beat Rory McIlroy for the Golf Writers Association of America Player of the Year. I voted for Brooks and I’m glad to see golf writers put more value on major championships than tour pros. . . . Scott McCarron beat Steve Stricker in the GWAA’s vote for PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year. I voted for the Strick Show and for some reason, golf writers don’t put more value on majors when it comes to the senior circuit. . . . Dottie Pepper paid off the lunch debt for 50 students at her former elementary school in upstate New York. What a great gesture. . . . Lost in all the best-of-the-decade madness was an incredible Bernhard Langer stat. While Dustin Johnson and Inbee Park led the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, respectively, with 18 wins, Langer led the seniors with 32! What a machine.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who will wind up with more career wins: JT or Spieth?
What would Johnny Miller say about Patrick Reed?
What would Ricky Gervais say about Patrick Reed?

The post Justin Thomas passes Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed’s enemies list grows, and Pat Perez’s $8,000 toilet appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
For the first time in 28 years, golf’s two premier Player of the Year awards were split, Brooks Koepka earning the PGA of America’s honours while Rory McIlroy captured the PGA Tour’s title. On Tuesday, the Golf Writers Association of America settled the matter.

For the second straight year, Koepka won the GWAA’s Player of the Year, besting McIlroy with 44 per cent of the vote to 36.

“I am extremely humbled to receive this award for the second year in a row,” Koepka said. “The GWAA does so much for the game we all love, so to be their Player of the Year again is a real honour.’’

Koepka added his fourth major victory at the PGA Championship in May, building a seven-shot lead to hold off a surging Dustin Johnson at Bethpage Black. Koepka became the first player to defend both the PGA and the U.S. Open in a career, and joined Woods, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen as the other players to defend two different majors. The win moved Koepka to No. 1 in the World Ranking, a spot he continues to hold.

Koepka added runner-up finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open, along with a T-4 at the Open Championship, joining Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Jordan Spieth as the only players to finish top four or better at every major in a calendar year. Koepka also notched wins at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and C.J. Cup, and posted nine top-10s in 2019. He led the tour in official money and was fourth in scoring.

Tiger Woods, who won the 2019 Masters, finished third in voting.

Other GWAA winners announced on Tuesday were Jin Young Ko (Female POY) and Scott McCarron (Senior POY).

The post Brooks Koepka bests Rory McIlroy for GWAA Player of the Year appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
The PGA Tour’s player-of-the-year race wasn’t decided until the last tournament of the 2018-’19 season. And even after Rory McIlroy won the FedEx Cup title at the Tour Championship in August, the debate over whether he or Brooks Koepka deserved the top honour remained heated before McIlroy contentiously got the nod in a vote of tour members.

In contrast, who would pick up the LPGA player-of-the-year award has been a foregone conclusion for a few months. Jin Young Ko’s stats speak for themselves: four victories, including two major titles (ANA Inspiration and the Evian Championship), three runner-ups, five additional top-10 finishes and no missed cuts in 20 starts.

And with a T-9 finish on Sunday at the BMW Ladies Championship, the 24-year-old from South Korea officially ended the discussion. Despite three events remaining on the LPGA schedule, Ko’s edge in points over Jeongeun Lee6 (241 to 123) makes it mathematically impossible for anyone to catch Ko.

“I am so thankful to win the Rolex Player of the Year award,” said Ko, who was the LPGA rookie of the year in 2018. “This was one of the best years of my career and to earn this award is one of the best honours I could ever receive. Some of my golf heroes have won this award and I can’t believe that my name is now on the same list.”

There is more to for Ko to play for in the coming weeks. She currently leads the LPGA in scoring average (68.933) and prize money ($2.71 million). And she’s way out in front of the Race to CME Globe, although this year the points reset for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. For Ko then to win that top honour and the accompanying $1.5 million paydays, she’ll have to prove herself again the final week of the season at Tiburon Golf Club.

The post In contrast to the PGA Tour, the most incendiary thing about the LPGA player-of-the-year award is how early Jin Young Ko won it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Rory McIlroy got the best of Brooks Koepka on Sunday. A day later, Koepka returned the favour.

The PGA of America announced Koepka as its Player of the Year Monday afternoon, edging McIlroy for the honours.

The PGA uses a year-long points formula to determine its winner, with tournament victories, official money standings, and scoring averages featured in its equation. Koepka’s wins at the PGA Championship, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and C.J. Cup bestowed 50 points, 10 more than McIlroy accumulated for his Players Championship, Canadian Open and FedEx Cup triumphs.

That category proved to be the difference maker, with Koepka finishing with 84 points to McIlroy’s 78.

Patrick Cantlay and Gary Woodland tied for a distant third with 42 points, with Matt Kuchar coming in fifth with 36.

The PGA Tour is expected to announce its Player of the Year, which is voted on by the players, within the next month. Though there’s some debate if McIlroy’s consistency will top Koepka’s major dominance, history favours Koepka. Since the award’s introduction in 1990, only twice have the PGA of America and PGA Tour winners been different: Nick Faldo (PGA) and Wayne Levi (Tour) in 1990, and Corey Pavin (PGA) and Fred Couples (Tour) in 1991.

Koepka becomes the first player to defend the PGA Player of the Year since Tiger Woods in 2007.

The post Brooks Koepka wins PGA of America Player of the Year over Rory McIlroy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
It is a personal testament, really, that this argument is being had at all. We thought we grasped the magnetism Rory McIlroy holds over the sport, cultivating a rapport with fans and media unique among his peers. But perhaps we even underestimated that scope, because here we are.

“Here” being the idea that McIlroy, fresh off a FedEx Cup victory, has a résumé to rival Brooks Koepka for PGA Tour Player of the Year honours.

We get it, especially in this “EMBRACE DEBATE” culture. With a whopping two weeks without golf—who says the tour does not have an offseason—we need to talk about something, right?

So what the hell: Does Rory McIlroy have a viable case for POY? Here are the arguments for, and against, that cause.

Rory’s strokes-gained figure

McIlroy finished with the best non-Tiger strokes-gained season in PGA Tour history (or at least since 2003, when the statistic was first tracked). That metric underline italicizes and bolds McIlroy’s steadiness from start to finish in the 2018-’19 season. For what it is worth, Koepka finished ninth in the category.

But there is a flaw in strokes gained: It does not account for the Masters or Open Championship, only two of the biggest events on the calendar (more on this in a moment). McIlroy finished behind 93 combined players in those two tournaments; Koepka, just four. That strokes-gained figure, and the variance between the two golfers, takes a different shape were they’re part of the equation.

They both won three times

Yes, although not all wins are created equal. Koepka has the PGA Championship, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude, and the CJ Cup (which featured 11 of the top 30 players in the World Ranking). McIlroy has the Players, the RBC Canadian Open (which featured eight of the top 30 OWGR) and the Tour Championship/FedEx Cup. While East Lake had the 30 marquee names in the field, it was still a field of 30.

And for those asserting the Players is major-worthy, the fact that Brooks finished T-56 at TPC Sawgrass unequivocally proves it is, in fact, not a major. Speaking of …

Does Brooks deserve that much credit for his major finishes that weren’t wins?

Apparently Brooks joining a small company of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth as the only players to finish top four or better at every major in a single calendar year has been lost in the East Lake afterglow.

The question, of course, ponders whether some place too much importance on the majors. From an analytical view, yes, four weeks should not outweigh the other 40. That is not the reality of our sport, however, especially at the echelon that McIlroy and Koepka operate. It may be unfair, but those two—as well as Woods, Spieth, and Phil Mickelson—know all too well, history will mostly judge their seasons through a four-tournament prism. As a corollary, the Grand Canyon gap between Koepka’s major season and McIlroy’s almost puts this entire conversation to bed.

Even so, let us suspend that truth for the sake of discussion. If we are subtracting credit for Koepka’s major run under the idea that only wins matter, then we are damn sure doing the same to Rory’s top-four finishes at the Tournament of Champions (another 30-player event), the Genesis Open and the St. Jude. Even that is generous to McIlroy; can you really say finishing second to Dustin Johnson at Chapultepec is level with finishing second by one to Tiger Woods at Augusta or by three to Gary Woodland at Pebble?

Kevin C. Cox

Rory boat-raced Brooks in consistency

McIlroy sure did: 14 top-10s in 19 events (well, technically 13; not sure if getting bounced in the Sweet 16 of Match Play should qualify as a top-10) while Brooks “only” had nine top-10 finishes in 21 starts. Of course, Dustin Johnson had 12 top-10s to Brooks’ six last year and lapped him in strokes gained, and no one was making that argument.

McIlroy’s consistency was spectacular. That translated to a bunch of money and a high FedEx Cup standing. It does not automatically confer POY status.

Brooks wasn’t the biggest major story this year

This one was floated by a few talking heads after the Tour Championship. Not sure how Tiger Woods’ Masters triumph lessens the accomplishments of Brooks, but hey, he can add that to his suddenly fleeting list of slights.

By that logic, Rory’s season isn’t the biggest story in his own homeland. That honour goes to Champion Golfer of the Year Shane Lowry.

Of course, we are but lowly writers and fans. What say the players? Justin Thomas, the 2017 Player of the Year, is adamant on who deserves the award.

“Consistently, Rory has outplayed Brooks by a mile in how he’s done the entire year. It’s unbelievable how he’s played,” Thomas said on Sunday at East Lake. “But the most important thing is wins and playing great in the big events, and nobody has done that better than Brooks. I don’t know how you don’t give Brooks the Player of the Year with three wins and a major and a WGC and top four in every major. That’s pretty strong.”

As for Rory himself, well, he thinks Brooks should have it, too. Although added a slight jab in the process.

“He’s had a great season. He’s won another major, he’s won three times. And I know it’s going to sting because he most likely will win the Player of the Year, but he didn’t win the FedEx Cup,” McIlroy said following his victory on Sunday. “So I know it’s going to sting him for a bit, but I just wanted to tell him he’s playing so good. He’s the No. 1 player in the world, and he’s had a great season, and he said something similar to me, just happy for me.”

From his lips to the golf gods’ ears. Rory McIlroy, FedEx Cup champ … and Brooks Koepka, the Player of the Year.

The post ‘Rory McIlroy, Player of the Year.’ Sure, let’s entertain the discussion appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Last month Tiger Woods declared the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year race over before the FedEx Playoffs even began. “You win two majors, you’ve got it,” Woods said, referring to Brooks Koepka. “It’s not real complicated.” It’s tough to argue with that, or with someone who knows so much about the award having won it a record 11 times. And the most recent winner agrees.

On Tuesday, the PGA Tour tweeted out the résumés of this season’s top-five contenders, but one of them, Justin Thomas, who is the reigning recipient of the award, was quick to concede that Koepka has wrapped it up ahead of next week’s Tour Championship.

DJ.
JT.
Brooks.
Bubba.
Bryson.

The Player of the Year race is far from decided. pic.twitter.com/daOPj3rHud

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 11, 2018

Of those five players, Koepka is actually the only player not to have won three times this season. However, his two victories came at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.

All five of the candidates have a great chance of also hoisting the FedEx Cup, although Koepka, currently No. 7 in the standings entering the season finale at East Lake, and Watson (No. 8) would need to win the Tour Championship and get some help from those in the top five. Thomas, Dustin Johnson, and points leader Bryson DeChambeau all would automatically claim the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus by winning the Tour Championship.

But if Woods and Thomas are any indications as to how the rest of the PGA Tour pros will vote for the Player of the Year Award, then that honor is a foregone conclusion no matter what happens next week.

The post Justin Thomas joins Tiger Woods in conceding PGA Tour Player of the Year to Brooks Koepka appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall

Welcome to the Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here’s every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of Oct. 23,

Justin Thomas, still good at golf

The mark of a player is cobbling together a score when they don’t have their best. A distinction Justin Thomas has rightfully earned.

The reigning Player of the Year turned in an opening-round 63 at the CJ Cup in South Korea, yet—for most of the weekend, and especially on Sunday—Thomas appeared to be running on fumes. (Not that you can blame the guy: 2017’s been a bit of a busy campaign.) That he managed to find himself in a playoff—a battle he won over Marc Leishman—is a testament to the capacity, firepower and fortitude of the 24-year-old.

“I am so excited,” Thomas said in victory after notching a birdie on the second sudden death hole, “… to not do anything. I officially have nothing left.”

For Thomas, who at one point was caught by cameras saying “My legs feel like jelly,” it was the sixth victory in the calendar year, one that saw the Alabama product transform from fledgling entity to marquee star. He’s set to shut it down for the foreseeable future, a vacation well deserved.

But you have to feel for Thomas’ fellow tour pros. If the cat’s reached the point where he can do that with the gauge on “E,” who know what prospects are ahead with a full tank of gas.

JUNG YEON-JE

Golf Channel loses TV feed

The star presence of Thomas was a shot of vitality desperately needed for the overseas, inaugural CJ Cup. Alas, the playoff unfortunately went unwatched by the masses. Literally.

Technical difficulties prevented the Golf Channel from airing the live broadcast of the Thomas-Leishman showdown, instead re-running play from regulation. When the issue was fixed, the cameras showed Thomas giving his post-championship speech.

“The satellite path of the television feed provided by tournament organizers stopped feeding at 2:30 a.m. ET. Golf Channel personnel immediately alerted the tournament production group to the problem. We apologize to our loyal viewers who stayed up late to watch coverage live.”

In terms of scale, it’s not exactly the Heidi Bowl. Still, if you’re going to pull the plug on live coverage, at least show the normal mid-night Golf Channel programming:

Sergio, not a welcoming guest

Certain duties are expected of a host. Warmly greet those in attendance. Set up a friendly environment. Make sure everyone is having fun. Sergio Garcia is not that host.

With a final-round four-under 67, Garcia picked up his 14th European Tour title at the Andalucia Masters presented by…the Sergio Garcia Foundation. His 12-under 272 total bested Joost Luiten by a stroke, with the rest of the field struggling at the grueling Valderrama Golf Club.

Warren Little

“You can never relax at Valderrama,” said Garcia, who calls the track one of his favorites. “You have to love this place. You have to stay patient. Bad breaks have to be dealt with. So I just tried to stay patient and make sure any bad moments didn’t affect me too much. And I made a couple of key putts coming in.”

Makes sense. Sergio might have been the host. But a man has to protect his turf.

While his 2017 will be remembered for finally capturing that elusive major, the dividends since Augusta National have been few and far between for Garcia. Nevertheless, the win vaulted him up to second in the Euro Tour’s Race to Dubai behind Tommy Fleetwood, with just four events left on the postseason schedule.

Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images

Commissioner resigns over rules debacle

Move over, Dustin Johnson and Lexi Thompson. This rules snafu is the stuff of legend.

At the KLPGA’s KB Financial Star Championship, Hye-Jin Choi and You-Na Park received two-stroke penalties for marking balls on what they thought was a putting green and picked them up, only to discover the surface was not deemed part of the green. However, upon further review, it was determined four other players throughout the day had done the same thing and already signed their cards.

Initially, the tournament committee decided to rescind the penalties of Choi and Park, a decision that led to a protest from the rest of the field, with players threatening to withdraw. The KLPGA countered with a puzzling response: wiping out all scores from the first round.

“We deeply apologize to players, golf fans and sponsors who helped organize the tournament,” the KLPGA said in a statement. “We will do better to meet the expectations of those who love the KLPGA and will do our best to prevent similar cases from happening again.”

It was such a disaster that the KLPGA’s lead rules official, Jin-Ha Choi, resigned over the matter.

Personally, I’m rooting for such a situation this season on the PGA Tour. If only for the ensuing takedown from Brandel Chamblee. It would be glorious.

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Creamer gets surgery

Paula Creamer announced via Instagram that she had surgery on her left wrist in Houston, and that she will not compete again until 2018. The former U.S. Women’s Open champion hopes the procedure will help remedy an ailment that has nagged at her for two years.

It’s a bit of a drastic move; Creamer’s injury is one usually treated with rest and non-surgical options. Sadly, Creamer and her team felt the issue was so severe that an operation was warranted.

Creamer, who joined the tour in 2005, has won 10 times in her career, most recently at the 2014 HSBC Women’s Champions. Though she struggled in 2017—she is currently ranked No. 126 in the world—she turned in an impressive showing at the 2017 U.S. Solheim Cup team as an alternate after Jessica Korda had to withdraw due to injury. Creamer went 3-1 in her matches to contribute to the winning U.S. team.

According to the Houston Methodist Hospital orthopedic department, patients who get intersection syndrome surgery typically achieve full recovery after six to eight weeks of physical therapy.

The post Thomas reigns, Garcia wins his own event, and a rules snafu for the ages: What you missed this weekend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Looks can be deceiving in golf. Within one day of each other last week, two players standing no bigger than 5-foot-10 and weighing no more than 170 pounds were announced as PGA Tour Rookie of the Year (Xander Schauffele) and PGA Tour Player of the Year (Justin Thomas).

While confined to their average-size body types, what Schauffele and Thomas have in common to make up for it is incredible clubhead speed of 117-118 miles per hour. Neither will be confused for 6-foot-4, 220-pound Ryan Brehm, whose average club head speed of 128.18 mph led the PGA Tour, and 6-foot-4, 190-pound Dustin Johnson, who hit a 341-yard drive to set up a FedEx Cup playoff win over Jordan Spieth. But Schauffele, 23, and Thomas, 24, have the distance that puts them in the same category as DJ, muscular U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka or the original trendsetter in sports training coming to golf, Tiger Woods.

“Both of us aren’t very big,” Schauffele admitted during a conversation we had last week. “As everybody manages to say on TV, ‘Yeah, he hits it pretty far for a little guy.’ Well thanks. I don’t feel like a little guy, but I guess I am relative to Dustin and Tiger.”

Another commonality of Thomas and Schauffele is both learned under fathers who encouraged their boys to hit the ball as far as they could. Stefan Schauffele was an aspiring decathlete in Germany that taught Xander how to swing a golf club with the same principles he learned to throw the javelin. “Speed comes from the separation of levers one and two, the hip versus the shoulder,” he explained over the weekend. “That’s what we’re doing and it seems to work.”

Stefan pointed out that using his biomechanics, smaller players actually have a better chance at repeating the sequencing he’s adapted from throwing sports in track and field into golf. He pointed out that 5-foot-8 Rory McIlroy was the longest player on the PGA Tour in the 2016-’17 season and not coincidentally is also one of shortest in height. “Rory’s longer than all the big guys,” he says, “because he has tremendous separation of levers.”

Thomas and Schauffele offset their physical size with technique that delivers incredible clubhead speed. (Photo by Getty Images (2))

Thomas’s father, Mike, was a PGA professional in Kentucky who taught his son the conventional fundamentals. “I really never worked on increasing his speed,” said Mike Thomas. “I think most of it came from he was always so small and short he swung hard to make up for it. If you see some video of his swings at 7 or 8 years old, he’s wailing away at it. Once he got bigger and stronger, he didn’t stop swinging hard at it. I never tell a student to slow down. Speed doesn’t harm [a golf swing] as much as what they are doing while at that speed. The rest was a lot of natural ability, flexibility and good fast-twitch muscles. It wasn’t hereditary, I can tell you that. I have never hit it anywhere.”

Justin, who finished eighth in driving distance at 309.7 yards, told me he preferred sitting on the couch over going to the gym until realizing the upside of fitness at the University of Alabama and later on tour. He added 15 pounds before the start of the 2016-’17 season, and believes that going up to 160 pounds helped him finish strong in the PGA Championship and FedEx Cup, overcome the nagging injuries of a long season and avoiding jet lag while traveling (which both he and Schauffele will aim to hope to do after flying this weekend to Malaysia for the upcoming CIMB Classic).

“I don’t think there’s a certain age you would say you have to get started,” Thomas said. “But it is a big deal and I think kids are starting to figure out as they grow up.”

Schauffele ranked 16th at 306.8 per drive, a little over a yard shorter than J.B. Holmes (the driving distance leader in 2011) and 6-foot-2 Gary Woodland, and less than a yard ahead of Jason Day, Jon Rahm and, remarkably enough, Bubba Watson.

“Nobody had Trackman when we were 15 years old,” Schauffele pointed out. “In terms of hitting it far, I’ve always hit it further than anyone else in my age group.” When he was 16, Schauffele was 5-8, 150 and flew it 290-295 yards. He’s now 5-10, 170 and consumed more by his short game than distance. He feels that’s what separates him from the consistency shown by his contemporaries, like Thomas, who have a more complete game.

“I still need to learn how to chip and pitch properly to hang with the big boys,” he told me while packing for his trip to Kuala Lampur. “That’s what I’m worried about right now.”

But all in good time. At least that’s something Schauffele knows he can grow into.

The post Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and the real secret to how anyone can keep up with the big boys appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
Justin Thomas isn’t inclined to reveal his goals for the upcoming PGA Tour season, but the mere fact that he intends to hit up Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and his good pal Jordan Spieth for advice on setting them is an indication that he’s thinking of bigger things.

Bigger will be immensely challenging.

Thomas, 24, today was announced as the recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Award for PGA Tour Player of the Year for a season that included five wins, one of them his first major at the PGA Championship, and the FedEx Cup title. The Kentucky native also won the Arnold Palmer Award as the leading money winner.

“It’s a huge honor. Any time you can win an award with someone like Jack Nicklaus’s name on the award, it definitely means a lot, and it’s something that I’ll cherish for a while for sure,” said Thomas, who beat Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama in a vote of their peers. “It’s kind of crazy, especially for someone with the expectations I’ve always had for myself. It never really entered my mind winning it.”

Thomas achieved nearly all of his goals in the 2016-17 season, and enjoyed other highlights, too, including a 59 in his wire-to-wire victory in the Sony Open in Hawaii, and a nine-under-par 63 in the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, setting the championship record for scoring in relation to par. He finished the season ranked fourth in the world behind the three players previously mentioned: Johnson, Spieth and Matsuyama, respectively.

Encores, of course, are nettlesome. He can merely ask Spieth, who followed up his five-win season in 2015, which included two majors and the FedEx Cup title, with a less-than-satisfying two-win campaign.

“I know how hard it is to do because of how deep the tour is right now and how many great players there are and how guys are winning three, four, five times a year every year, and it’s something that’s going to be tough to continue or tough to replicate,” Thomas said. “But I’m definitely going to give it my best.

“I’ll just continue to do what I have,” he added. “I don’t know who I heard it from back in college or whenever it was, but you just have to break it up. You have to have two to four goals that are very achievable, two to four goals that are in grasp but will be tough, and two to four goals that are maybe a little bit out of the realm and are going to be very difficult to do, but are somewhat achievable if you have a great year like I did this year.

“That’s something I’ll probably spend some time talking to Mr. Nicklaus about or Tiger because those are guys — those are the only people — or even Jordan, those are the only people I know that have had such success in one season multiple times, and they’ve had to deal with resetting their goals and reevaluating.””

RELATED: 15 things you need to know about Justin Thomas

After winning just once in his first 70 starts on tour, Thomas enjoyed a breakout season in which he trailed only Spieth and Rickie Fowler in scoring with a 69.359 adjusted average and tied Spieth with a tour-leading 12 top-10 finishes in his 25 starts.

The secret to his success lies in his ability to light up the scoreboard blended with the maturity to manage his explosive game. OK, it was mostly about blasting away, attacking courses with a power game emanating from his relatively slight 5-foot-10, 145-pound frame.

“I love going low. I love making birdies. It’s something I honestly, as crazy as it is, I really think it speaks a lot to the courses that we played in college at Alabama,” Thomas said. “They weren’t exactly the hardest golf courses, but they were pretty good courses, but you could really score on them, and that’s something that Coach [Jay] Seawell would preach to us. … When you go out and play professional golf, you need to know how to make birdies, and you need to know what you’re doing when you’re six-under through nine or have a chance at 59, because you can’t let up one bit.

“I felt like I’ve always had the firepower to do so, but it was just about keeping the pedal down and keeping that aggressive mind frame when you’re playing that well,” he added. “That was something I was able to do, and Jimmy [Johnson, his caddie] did a great job, as well, helping me not change my mind frame and our game plan when we’re playing really well and just continue to attack, and yeah, I posted a lot of low numbers over the last couple years, but especially this year.”

Nevertheless, it’s not all about birdies, he agrees. “You could look at me now versus me probably in my rookie year, and I’d say that’s the difference – it’s just experience,” he said. “You have to pick your spots. That’s something I’ve learned, and probably the biggest difference in my game now is just learning when to be aggressive and learning when my game is good enough that I can do so.”

Thomas has little time to celebrate the award or revel in his role in a runaway USA victory in the Presidents Cup that concluded Sunday at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. Next week he will attempt to win his third straight CIMB Classic in Malaysia.

“I still am having a hard time grasping and understanding that I leave for another event in a couple days,” he admitted.

But it’s a good problem to have, as is the trouble he encounters when trying to single out one or two highlights in a season full of them. “I really don’t know. It’s tough, but for good reason. I’m obviously fortunate to have a lot of great moments and a lot of — just a lot of different scenarios or instances that I’ve really never experienced before. But that shot I hit on 17 at the PGA was probably the best shot I’ve ever hit in my life under those circumstances.”

That would be the 7-iron from 221 yards on the par-3 17th at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. The clutch shot set up a 15-foot birdie that enabled him to finish off a closing three-under 68 and a two-stroke victory in the 99th PGA.

After stowing away his Wanamaker Trophy in Rickie Fowler’s home safe during Hurricane Irma, Thomas has retrieved the prize and has it displayed on his fireplace mantle in his home in Jupiter, Fla.

“It doesn’t quite fit in my office in terms of I have a little book case, and it’s a little bit bigger than the other trophies I have,” he explained. “There’s kind of a nice little ledge above the fireplace in my living room that it just fits perfectly, right when you walk in the front door, and I think I’m going to leave it there.”

If he realises more of his goals in the coming season, that spot won’t be big enough, either.

The post Justin Thomas named PGA Tour Player of the Year, hints at setting higher goals appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Seriously, what a fun and efficient way to navigate a golf course. Being able to zip out to your golf ball and hit your next shot is the definition of ready golf. And even if you’re not playing well, you’ll still feel like Marty McFly on that hoverboard in Back To The Future, Part II. OK, so there were a couple of close calls with parked cars in a parking lot test run, but by the third ninth hole, you start to get (somewhat) comfortable. And talk about a great way to get kids into the game. If you get a chance to use a GolfBoard, go for it. In the meantime, here’s what else is going on in golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Justin Thomas: So much for any PGA Tour Player of the Year drama. Maybe his buddy Jordan Spieth can run the table at the final two events, but we’re penciling in JT for POY after picking up a fifth victory of the season at the Dell Technologies Championship to go with the first major he won at last month’s PGA. And just look at the heady company the youngster now finds himself in:

5 wins including a major in a season before age 25, since 1960:

63 Jack
99 Tiger
00 Tiger
15 @JordanSpieth
17 @JustinThomas34

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) September 4, 2017

With his three-shot win over Spieth, Thomas ascended to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Next year’s #SB2K18 might have a stronger field than some tour events.

Stacy Lewis: The native Houstonian gave us one of the year’s best stories in any sport when she pledged to donate last week’s check from her LPGA start to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts — and then made it a winner’s check by claiming victory at the Cambia Portland Classic. She got a surprise victory embrace from her husband, Gerrod Chadwell, who is the University of Houston women’s golf coach and spent some time last week kayaking to his team’s facility to save some equipment.

What made it an even more storybook result was the fact that Lewis hadn’t won in more than three years despite finishing runner-up a remarkable 12 times during that span. Sports are a heckuva a thing, aren’t they?

Peter Uihlein: With a win in the first Web.com Tour Finals event, Uihlein locked up his PGA Tour card for next season. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because golf fans have been hearing it for a long time. Uihlein is the son of Titleist CEO Wally Uihlein and he won the 2010 U.S. Amateur before taking his game to Europe a la Brooks Koepka. Anyway, congrats, Peter, but what took you so long? Kidding! Sort of.

Tiger Woods: He’s BACK! To pitching and chipping, that is. Woods put the golf world in a frenzy with a quick video of him hitting a single shot while showing off some serious pipes in a tank top. And this time, it wasn’t even a full shot.

Dr. gave me the ok to start pitching pic.twitter.com/tboq1L3Xdn

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) August 31, 2017

Baby steps, Tiger. Baby steps.

WE’RE SELLING

People complaining about Thomas and Jordan Spieth being too friendly: Seriously, how is this bad for golf/sports/humanity?

#respect @JordanSpieth greets @DellTechChamp winner @JustinThomas34. #pgatour pic.twitter.com/BEKEFkxhRk

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) September 4, 2017

U.S. Presidents Cup bubble boys: Congrats to Kevin Chappell moving into 10th and final automatic spot — by less than a single point — and a pre-emptive congrats to Charley Hoffman, who at No. 11, will likely join Chappell on a first Presidents Cup squad. Everyone else below No. 10 in the standings? You’re out of luck following Phil Mickelson’s T-6 that virtually guarantees he’ll be the final captain’s pick by Steve Stricker. And for No. 12 Brian Harman and No. 13 Jason Dufner, there’s no one to blame but themselves after both failed to crack the top 60 at TPC Boston.

Raymond Floyd’s house: As in, the World Golf Hall of Famer has put his Hamptons house up for sale. For $25 MILLION:

But before you scoff at the price tag, keep in mind it’s 14,000 square feet of living space (there’s a main and guest house) and it’s just a seven-minute drive from . . . Shinnecock Hills! If we all pool our money together, maybe we can buy it. The guest house, that is.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour takes a rare week off before the final two legs of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but there’s still some exciting golf to watch. The LPGA is playing in Indianapolis for the inaugural Indy Women in Tech Championship, and you can get a glimpse of some future PGA Tour stars at the Walker Cup, an event Justin Thomas played in just four years ago:

Michael Cohen

Random tournament fact: The U.S. leads the all-time series against Great Britain & Ireland, 35 to 9, but each side has won the biennial event seven times since the 1989. And Justin Thomas or his buddy Jordan Spieth (Did you know they are buddies?) won’t be playing this year.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Jonathan Ferrey

Stacy Lewis’ victory leap into her caddie’s arms showed how much she wanted to win — for herself and Houston.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (NOT INVOLVING TIGER WOODS)

Check out an NBC cameraman’s nifty footwork to avoid being hit by a Marc Leishman shank on the final hole of the Dell Technologies Championship:

This camera guy deserves a big raise. pic.twitter.com/dxCiosO7K7

— Skratch (@Skratch) September 4, 2017

And Leishman was thankful for this unexpected display of agility:

I definitely owe him a beer, saved me a shot there for sure!

— Marc Leishman (@marcleish) September 5, 2017

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Supposedly, this is the wedge of Maury Povich, who happens to be a scratch golfer:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYeeYgSDAy7/

Classic.

THIS WEEK IN BUBBA BEING BUBBA

Bubba Watson had a day that Boston sports fans can only dream of, first, hitting a “home run” over the Fenway Park’s Green Monster:

Home run from top of green monster @fenwaypark!!! @SCTopTen #SCtop10 #Fenway pic.twitter.com/BKJylkYzxY

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) August 31, 2017

And then hanging with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady on the sidelines of a New England Patriots pre-season game:

I love this guy!! #12 pic.twitter.com/n65imsbL0I

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) August 31, 2017

Speaking of Brady, Jordan Spieth said he tried the legendary quarterback’s diet recently. “Tried” being the operative word. Not surprisingly, a diet of no sugar/gluten/caffeine/dairy/flour/basically anything didn’t stick with the young Texan.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Check out this adorable/funny interaction between Phil Mickelson and a young fan at TPC Boston:

Phil asked this youngster a question.

And got an honest answer. ?@DellTechChamp pic.twitter.com/u4RamP2CLW

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 5, 2017

Good stuff, Phil. Although, you really miss chatting with Bones, don’t you?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Just what we’re going to be able to do, we’re going to be able to help me rebuild houses and get their homes back. That’s more important than anything.” — Stacy Lewis #Perspective

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY PETER UIHLEIN-CHELSEA GATES PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYmTbtVB6Gn/

With Uihlein earning his PGA Tour card for the first time, that means golf fans have a new PGA Tour WAG to get to know. Everyone say hi to Chelsea, a TV sports reporter and yoga instructor:

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

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

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYHVjQkBB09/

THIS AND THAT

Jake Olson, the blind long snapper who warmed hearts with a successful PAT during USC’s season opener, is also a very good golfer. That is one talented — and inspiring — college kid. … NBA superstar Kevin Durant admitted to playing the video game Rory McIlroy PGA Tour “seven or eight hours a day sometimes.” We’re guessing Golden State head coach and avid golfer Steve Kerr would rather KD use that time to play 36 real holes a day. … A South Korean woman allegedly cut off her husband’s penis in part because he spent too much time and money on his golf habit. I did not tell my wife about this story. … And finally, congrats to co-worker Mike Johnson’s son Shawn on making his first hole-in-one:

Honestly, was too excited to post this last night. My boy, Shawn, jarred the tee shot on Rock Ridge CC's par-3 ninth for an ace! #proudpapa pic.twitter.com/dEygnmooJk

— Mike Johnson (@EMichaelGW) September 2, 2017

Of course, this now means that not only do all of my colleagues have an ace before me, but all of their kids will beat me to it, too.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Why don’t more golf courses have GolfBoards?

How many hours of Tiger Woods PGA Tour did I play in college?

Did you remember to re-order the NFL RedZone channel before Sunday?

The post Stacy Lewis’ charitable win, Justin Thomas’ impressive playoff push, and introducing the newest PGA Tour WAG appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.