It was the longest putt Taylor has made in his nine-year PGA Tour career.

“For that to go in is unbelievable,” an emotional Taylor said immediately after, with the home gallery still in hysterics. “I don’t know what to say.”

On Tuesday, news unexpectedly broke that the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had announced intentions to create a new for-profit venture, a surprising turn of events after tour commissioner Jay Monahan had vowed for more than a year that the tour wouldn’t do business with the group that had pilfered some of its biggest names to help create the LIV Golf League.

On Sunday, Taylor was holding the RBC Canadian Open hardware just outside Toronto, after capturing his third tour title, with the adoring fans serenading the new champion. Canadian PGA Tour pros Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin and Mike Weir waited anxiously with the masses, hanging on every moment during the four playoff holes. They were not going to miss history.

WALK-OFF WINNER FROM 72 FEET! ?@NTaylorGolf59 wins @RBCCanadianOpen with the longest putt of his career! ? pic.twitter.com/lJtiIM43vN

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 11, 2023

“This is for all the guys who are here, this is for my family at home,” Taylor said. “This is the most incredible feeling ever.”

The drama capped a crazy four days for the British Columbia native. Taylor shot 75 on Thursday and was tied for 120th place. Rounds of 67-63 got him into contention on Sunday, where he actually held a three-shot lead for a moment in the middle of the round. But Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Aaron Rai and C.T. Pan, among others began making birdies, and it was clear that Taylor was not going to run away with his national open.

After a bogey on the 16th hole, Taylor birdied the last two holes to top Hatton by one for the clubhouse lead at 17 under, making a 12-footer on the final hole. But Fleetwood, a European Ryder Cup stalwart searching for his first PGA Tour victory in 119 starts, stormed back and birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to tie Taylor. Fleetwood played a nervy 18th hole in regulation and made par, sending the tournament into a playoff.

Of course, the playoff turned downright nutty. It started raining and continued the entire time.

Both men were short right of the green in two shots on 18 the first time but both got up and down for birdie, Taylor with a chip shot to five feet and Fleetwood by draining a 20-footer. The second time both men, again playing the 18th hole, made par after nervy approach shots. Then they marched to the par-3 ninth hole and hit tee shots to similar distances, around 15 feet, but both two putted for par.

Finally, on the fourth playoff hole, back on the par-5 18th, Fleetwood faced 12 feet for birdie and Taylor was 72 feet away for eagle, having reached the green in two. With the whole country holding its collective breaths, Taylor made the putt for eagle, sending the adoring gallery, Taylor and his caddie Dave Markle, into a celebration that’ll likely last well into the Canadian night.

“It’s huge for our game,” Weir said.

With victory on Sunday, Taylor is the first Canadian to win the national Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954. Minas Panagiotakis

Pat Fletcher was the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open, doing so in 1954. Since records began being kept in earnest in 1983, only one player has been T-120 or worse in a PGA Tour event after the first round and gone on to win—Ian Poulter at the 2018 Houston Open. He opened with 73 then shot 64-65-67 and topped Beau Hossler in a playoff.

“It was the most incredible atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of and it’s not even close,” Taylor said. “I think even walking the first tee today, walking to the first green, there’s ovations on every single tee and green. When Tommy would miss and they would cheer I kind of felt bad for him. But I knew just how pumped they were and they were trying to put every ounce of energy into it to help me pull it through.

“I blacked out when that ball went [on the fourth playoff hole] with Dave. So I’m curious to watch what we did. I don’t even remember what we did. But that was an incredible moment.”

Historical significance aside, the victory was just another piece of a golf résumé that continues to impress. Taylor won both the Canadian Junior (2006) and Canadian Amateur (2007) in consecutive years as a youth and was a standout in college at the University of Washington, being named Player of the Year twice in what was then called the Pac-10 Conference. He was a three-time All-American and won the Ben Hogan Award in 2010 as college golf’s best player.

As a professional, the Canadian Open win is his third on tour, following the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2014 and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2020. He’s the fourth Canadian to win on the PGA Tour this year, following Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Svensson and Conners and he’s up to a career-high 44th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He had missed his previous two cuts.

For Fleetwood, he’ll continue searching for that first tour title after yet another near miss. After opening with consecutive rounds of 70, a third-round 64 vaulted the Englishman directly into contention. The final-round 67 was good enough to get into the playoff this time, but he may have a couple sleepless nights thinking about how lacklustre he played the 18th hole in regulation.

All Tommy Fleetwood could do was smile after Nick Taylor’s dramatic putt dropped, leaving the Englishman still in search of his first career PGA Tour title. Vaughn Ridley

“Nice moment for Nick and the fans here,” said Fleetwood, with Hatton, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry watching the playoff to show support. “It’s great to be a part of that Sunday and that playoff. I had my chances, really. It wasn’t to be this time.”

Hatton birdied the last four holes to shoot an eight-under 64, which included a double bogey on the eighth hole. He was a shot out of the playoff. Rai (67) and Pan (70) were tied for third place with Hatton. Eric Cole made nine birdies to shoot 63 and jumped 18 positions on the leaderboard to tie for sixth place with Mark Hubbard.

It was another Sunday disappointment for Rory McIlroy. The World No. 3 entered the final round two shots off the lead and with a chance to win for the second consecutive week. Last week at the Memorial Tournament he shot a final-round 75 to tumble from contention. In Canada, he made consecutive bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6 to quickly drop out of contention again and ultimately shot 72 to tie for ninth place.

McIlroy was the two-time defending champion in Canada and a victory by him would’ve been significant for the game heading into the U.S. Open next week at Los Angeles Country Club. But it’s difficult to be disappointed with the way this prestigious tournament ended. A golf-crazed nation was rewarded with the victory that it had so desperately wanted for seven decades.

And Nick Taylor will never have to buy a beer in his beloved Canada ever again.

The post Nick Taylor can’t believe he just became a national hero, but he’ll take it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Hadwin, who was born in Moose Jaw, was one of many Canadian tour pros out watching the epic playoff between Tommy Fleetwood and Canada’s own Nick Taylor. On the fourth hole of sudden death, the par-5 18th, Taylor finally ended it with a ridiculously long eagle conversion, sending the Canadian crowd into a frenzy at Oakdale Golf & Country Club.

Taylor’s victory was the first by a Canadian in the Canadian Open since 1954, so you’ll have to forgive our friends up North for going as batsh-t crazy as they did. Among the chaos was Hadwin, who ran out onto the green spraying champagne in Taylor’s direction in celebration. Apparently, security had no idea that Hadwin was a fellow tour pro, a fellow Canuck and a friend to Taylor, with one guard mistaking him for a law-breaking fan and FLATTENING him Terry Tate office linebacker style:

Security is TOIGHT at the Canadian Open ? pic.twitter.com/6cS38bQiYk

— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) June 11, 2023

Usually it’s only Hadwin’s own wife, Jessica, who is clocking him from his blindside like that (on Twitter, that is). 

All kidding aside, my goodness, what a scene. Hopefully, Hadwin is OK, so he (and we) can laugh it off. Because it’s one of the funnier situations we’ve ever witnessed. Only in golf could a legit PGA Tour pro look so unathletic in plain clothes that he gets mixed up for a fan who got under the ropes and started to cause a scene. What an absolutely ridiculous sport.

UPDATE: We have an alternate angle of Hadwin getting driven into the ground by a security guard, and it shows him hanging on to that champagne bottle for dear life:

Adam Hadwin getting tackled by security (they thought he was a fan).

pic.twitter.com/869HS8uG5l

— Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) (@LouStagner) June 12, 2023

Cripes, Hadwin is lucky he didn’t get hurt. That would have been poor timing with the U.S. Open at LACC on tap this week. Good news is, it appears all is well. Here’s what Hadwin tweeted long after the celebration began:

Words cannot describe the magnitude of what you just accomplished. So proud of you @ntaylorgolf59!

— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) June 12, 2023

And yes, Jessica did eventually weigh in, revealing that her husband pulled the most Canadian move of all time after getting run over:

Sorry to leave y’all hanging, had to get the toddler ready for bed. I’m thrilled to report that @ahadwingolf is still among the land of the living and in true Canadian form, apologized to the security guard for being tackled.

— Jessica Hadwin (@jessicahadwin) June 12, 2023

The word “sorrey!” was uttered at least 100 times during this entire exchange. Peak Canada. Taylor, who had a front-row seat, also explained his view of the situation. 

“Corner of my eye I saw he got a nice tackle there,” he said. “I hope he’s all right. He was upright when I saw him later. So I hope he doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning with any broken ribs or anything.”

UPDATE: The “hits,” if you will, just keep on coming. Check out this cinema slow-mo version of the tackle heard round the (golf) world.

What happens when you chirp @jessicahadwin on Twitter…

(Sorry @ahadwingolf) pic.twitter.com/1Vs6YqM70Q

— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 12, 2023

The post Watch Adam Hadwin get FLATTENED by a security guard while trying to celebrate fellow Canadian Nick Taylor’s epic win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It was the outcome everyone in the rain-soaked gallery at Oakdale Golf & Country Club wanted to see on Sunday, Canada’s own Nick Taylor walking away the winner at the RBC Canadian Open, becoming the first native in 69 years to win his country’s national title. But it’s the way Taylor did it, taking down Tommy Fleetwood on the fourth playoff hole, that secured the 35-year-old from British Columbia a forever place among the great moments in Canadian sports history.

Let’s set the scene: Taylor, who made birdies on his last two holes in regulation, had hit his second shot on the par-5 18th hole just onto the green, but left himself a 72-foot eagle. In his nine full seasons on the PGA Tour, Taylor had never holed a putt that long, so expecting him to do it with everything on the line was probably a bit much.

But then … well this happened:

WALK-OFF WINNER FROM 72 FEET! ?@NTaylorGolf59 wins @RBCCanadianOpen with the longest putt of his career! ? pic.twitter.com/lJtiIM43vN

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 11, 2023

“I’m speechless. This is for all the guys here. This is for my family home … it’s … I’m very speechless. This is the most incredible feeling ever.”

Fleetwood, whose missed putts on the 72nd hole and the second and third playoff holes would have secured his first career victory on the PGA Tour, could only stop and congratulate Taylor before the Canadian was lost in a sea of humanity that spilled on to the putting green.

So what was running through Taylor’s mind when he stood over the putt? Here’s what he told CBS’ Amanda Renner:

“I had a similar line in the second playoff hole. I knew it was going to be slow with how much rain we’ve had. I wanted to get it as close as I can because Tommy, I thought he was going to make it {he had a 12-footer for birdie]. For that to go in it’s unbelievable. I don’t know what to say.”

Here’s another incredible view of the winning putt:

.@ntaylorgolf59 ? from Abbotsford, British Columbia ??(72 ft 6 in.) for the win pic.twitter.com/fBVMnIQqe5

— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 12, 2023

The post Watch Nick Taylor become a Canadian golf legend by holing the longest putt of his PGA Tour career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Canadian Open is about one thing, above all else: The Canadians. How can you not root for a home win on home soil?

Pat Fletcher, in 1954, is the only Canadian to win the Canadian Open since the First World War. But heading into moving day, we have some good options on the board. Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin and Wil Bateman are inside the top 20 heading into the weekend, and within five of Carl Yuan’s lead at nine-under.

Conners, in particular, at eight-under and sitting T-2, looks the most promising. The 31-year-old has the potential to be a top-10 player and is in the prime of his career. But these windows close quickly in golf. The wins that will define his career, if they happen at all, will happen now.

Corey Conners’ tempo is so buttery smooth. Used to work on it religiously as a kid.

Win or lose this week, he’ll end up in the Golf Swing Tempo Hall of Fame. pic.twitter.com/4QBML70W65

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) May 20, 2023

Conners is one of the sharpest ball strikers in the game — he’s second in strokes gained/tee-to-green so far this week — but his unreliable putting has continually blunted his killer edge. Conners’ 36th hole was the perfect encapsulation of this: Two incredible shots into the par 5 left him 14 feet for an eagle and the co-lead, only to miss the putt in front of the largest crowd on the course.

The wins will come when Conners learns to seize those moments, but all it takes is a spark to light a hot streak. With his home crowd pushing him on at every opportunity, this week may be the start.

Hatton running hot

Speaking of players in their prime playing great golf right now: Golf’s lovable angry man, Tyrrell Hatton, finished fourth and second at Bay Hill and the Players, respectively, and is currently on a five-event streak of finishing inside the top 20.

Now, T-2 heading into the weekend thanks to a second-round 64, Hatton’s game only seems to get better and better. It’s welcome news for European Ryder Cup fans, and it’s hard to spot a player in better form heading into the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Ditching technical thoughts

It’s the lesser-known name of Yuan at the top of the leaderboard, trying to stave off the likes of Hatton and Conners. In Yuan’s 16 events since graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour last season, his best PGA Tour finish is T-21. He’s adopted a new approach this week, and sits at nine-under after a five-under 67 in his second round.

“I’ve been way too technical in the past events this year, which didn’t really get me good results,” he says. “So I figured ‘why not just play freely?’”

What an up-and-down at the last ?@CarlYuanGolf takes a two-shot lead @RBCCanadianOpen pic.twitter.com/uX6QfzBHos

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 9, 2023

It’s working. There’s a long way to go, but Yuan’s new approach will have him coming into the weekend trying to do what Marty Dou came close to accomplishing at the AT&T Byron Nelson one month ago: becoming the first Chinese winner on the PGA Tour.

Rory’s relief

Rory McIlroy is contending despite a rough start to the week. Vaughn Ridley

Rory McIlroy sounded exhausted earlier this week. The defending Canadian Open champion has become the de facto leader of the PGA Tour. But following the shocking news of the PGA Tour partnering with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the funding source behind LIV Golf, Rory admitted he had felt like a “sacrificial lamb”.

“Yesterday was tough,” he said during his pre-tournament press conference a day after the announcement. “The shock of it, the surprise of it. I wasn’t looking forward to this to be honest with you.”

Understandably, McIlroy didn’t look his sharpest during his one-under opening round. Missing the cut, while never a good outcome, may not have been the worst outcome for a man who could perhaps use some extra rest before the US Open. But the thing about McIlroy is that he’s really good at golf; he doesn’t need his best to contend. A bogey-free 67 second round means he’ll go into the weekend three off Yaun’s lead.

With so much drama in the world of golf swirling around him, it gives him the chance to get lost in the basic joy of competing at the game he loves. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

The post Hatton heating up, Yuan playing freely, and other Canadian Open takeaways appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Rory McIlroy has served as the de facto face of the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, standing up for his tour in the absence of leadership and doing so because he believed it was the right thing to do. He also has admitted that putting himself out there in the game’s civil war took an emotional and physical toll, one he’s still reckoning with.

To those who sensed that McIlroy might be feeling betrayed after Tuesday’s stunning announcement between the tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, well, you’re right.

“It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens.” McIlroy said Wednesday at the RBC Canadian Open.

McIlroy, who spearheaded a player-led initiative that restructured and saved the PGA Tour, said he was not informed of the tour’s decision until Tuesday morning and that it wasn’t PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan who told him but PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne. When asked if he still had confidence in Monahan, McIlroy took a pause before responding, “I do.”

“I’ve dealt with Jay a lot closer than a lot of those guys have. From where we were a couple of weeks ago to where we are today, I think the future of the PGA Tour looks brighter as a whole, as an entity,” McIlroy said. “What that looks like for individual players in terms of keeping a tour card and bringing players back into the fold and then that sacrifices other people, that’s where the anger comes from, right. And I understand that.”

McIlroy, 34, has been outspoken about the controversial funding of LIV Golf, given the accusations of human-rights atrocities levied at Saudi Arabia. Although McIlroy didn’t back down from that stance, he said he’s come to accept PIF’s role as the tour’s financial partner.

“I’ve come to terms with it,” McIlroy said. “I see what’s happened in other sports. I see what’s happened in other businesses. And, honestly, I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that this is, you know, this is what’s going to happen. Like this is — it’s very hard to keep up with people that have more money than anyone else. And, again, if they want to put that money into the game of golf, then why don’t we partner with them and make sure that it’s done in the right way. And that’s sort of where my head’s at.”

Taking himself out of the equation, McIlroy said he does think this deal will benefit the sport and the fans. “I think ultimately, when I try to remove myself from the situation and I look at the bigger picture and I look at 10 years down the line, I think ultimately this is going to be, it’s going to be good for the game of professional golf. I think it secures the — it unifies it and it secures its financial future. So there’s mixed emotions in there as well, as there’s going to be. I don’t understand all the intricacies of what’s going on. It’s a very, what’s the word? There’s a lot of ambiguity. There’s a lot of things still to be sort of thrashed out. But at least it means that the litigation goes away, which has been a massive burden for everyone that’s involved with the tour and that’s playing the tour. And we can start to work toward some sort of way of unifying the game at the elite level.”

McIlroy is the defending champ at this week’s RBC Canadian Open.

The post Rory McIlroy: ‘It’s hard for me … not to feel like a sacrificial lamb’ after the PGA Tour-Saudi deal appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
The PGA Tour has already arrived at a solution to fill the open week on the schedule caused by the cancellation of the RBC Canadian Open.

The tour informed players on Tuesday that it will stage a new tournament at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C. An official announcement on the name and sponsor of the tournament is expected in the coming days.

Congaree was a Golf Digest Best New private winner in 2018 and will debut at No. 39 in our 2021-22 America’s 100 Greatest courses ranking. Located about an hour inland from Hilton Head, the course was designed by Tom Fazio, who describes the property as a low country version of his Shadow Creek design in Las Vegas. With large oaks and extensively reshaped land among its features, it fits the bill.

“Congaree wasn’t a great natural site, though you wouldn’t know it by looking,” said Golf Digest architecture editor Derek Duncan. “But it has something in abundance that great natural sites do have—and that’s sand. Sand forms the cosmetic backbone of the course, sweeping up from deep barrens into sharp, Melbourne-style bunkers. It also provides a pliable material that Fazio and his team used to form ridgelines, slopes and other contours that amplified an otherwise flat property.”

Built on the site of Davant Plantation and with the idea of holding a professional tournament from the outset, the ultra-private club was founded by two of the wealthiest men in the country, business magnate Dan Friedkin and the late Houston Texans owner Bob McNair. But Congaree, which will also be No. 2 in Golf Digest’s upcoming 2021-22 ranking of the best courses in South Carolina (behind only the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island), isn’t just a playground for the wealthy. At its core is a philanthropic element that provides educational and vocational opportunities for underserved youth who have a passion for golf, something that fits well with the tour’s own charitable endeavours.

It’s also not the first time the tour has had discussions with Congaree. The club previously made a pitch to host the 2025 Presidents Cup before the tour ultimately decided to go with TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

“It should be an exciting tournament course,” Golf Digest’s Duncan said. “At over 7,700 yards, the tour can make Congaree as big as they want it to be, but the architecture also offers opportunities for shorter temptations like the par-4 third and par-4 15th—each within reach of driver but protected by reservoirs of sand.”

The new tournament will be held June 7-13, when the RBC Canadian Open was originally scheduled to be played.

The post PGA Tour to hold new tournament at Congaree Golf Club, filling open date left by Canadian Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
The mayor of Toronto has cancelled all public gatherings through June 30 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, putting the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open in doubt.

Mayor John Tory, citing the “long battle ahead” against COVID-19, made the announcement Tuesday.

“While the city recognises the importance of special events and festivals to the livability and vitality of the city, protecting the health and safety of residents is of primary concern,” Tory said.

Mayoral spokesman Don Peat would later clarify the cancellation applies to events that get city permits like parades and festivals and does not include sporting events like Toronto Blue Jays, Raptors and Maple Leafs games. In that same breath, Tory’s full statement says, “The City’s decision provides clear direction to event organizers to enable them to make sound decisions in support of public health efforts” and that the city urged organizers “to follow Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health’s recommendations of physical distancing as a way to minimize COVID-19 transmission in the community when reviewing their event plans for the upcoming months and make prudent decisions about cancellations.”

The edict could mean trouble for the RBC Canadian Open, scheduled to begin on June 11 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club. St. George’s is located in Etobicoke, one of six municipalities amalgamated into the city of Toronto. The club had not hosted the tournament since 2010.

On Monday, Golf Canada postponed three regional qualifying tournaments for the Canadian Open, slated to begin on May 14. A cancellation would be the Canadian Open’s first since World War II.

It could also have a potential major effect on the PGA Tour schedule.

The Tour notified players this week that fields at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas (May 21-24) and the Memorial (June 4-7) at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, will increase from 120 players to 144. Conversely, as Golf Digest reported Friday, the U.S. Open—scheduled to be played at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y., starting June 18—is also expected to be postponed, as New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Should both the Canadian and U.S. Open be cancelled/postponed, sources tell Golf Digest the Colonial, Memorial and Rocket Mortgage Classic (May 28-31 in Detroit) would likely follow suit.

The post Toronto cancels all public events through June 30, putting RBC Canadian Open in doubt appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

So freaking classy. My apologies to cardigans everywhere. Arnie knew what’s up. Anyway, here’s what other important (and not-so-important) topics have us talking this week.

WE’RE BUYING

Tyrrell Hatton: In your face, Paul Azinger! At least, that’s what a lot of Europeans were feeling after the Brit won his first PGA Tour title—just a few months removed from wrist surgery (more on that later)—at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And what a hard-fought victory it was as Hatton became the first player to win a PGA Tour event with two over-par scores on the weekend since Geoff Ogilvy at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

Kevin C. Cox

Also, how good has this Florida Swing been? So much carnage! And we have another Winged Foot U.S. Open to look forward to in June! What a time to be alive! Except for that whole Coronavirus, of course.

European Tour playoff: The Qatar Masters was a wild ride down the stretch as Jorge Campillo went double bogey-bogey to drop into extra holes. But there, both he and David Drysdale put on a show, each birdieing the 18th hole TWICE (not a par 5, mind you) to keep things going. A third birdie by Campillo on his fifth attempt gave him his second win on “that” European Tour. Good for him, although most were rooting for the 44-year-old Drysdale to win his first in his (gulp) 498th start. Imagine getting into a playoff after all that time, coming up clutch with birdies on the first two extra holes, and still losing? Poor guy.

The Canadian Open(?): Oh, Canada! Thanks to a new metric (MOCCASINS) conceived by Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan and brought to life by stats guru Mark Broadie, this tournament in the Great White North has been deemed the greatest of all non majors. OK, so it’s just a seven-year sample size, but the RBC Canadian Open came in at No. 1 among regular events when it comes to producing the best leader boards based on its field during that time span.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

The top three tournaments overall—again, according to MOCCASINS—were the PGA Championship, the Open Championship, and the Masters. Sorry, U.S. Open. But don’t worry, you’re still No. 1 in my unofficial CARNAGE ranking.

Rich Beem: The 2002 PGA champ and three-time PGA Tour winner has gotten very familiar with the/that European Tour thanks to his role with Sky Sports the past five years and he joined this week’s Golf Digest Podcast to discuss Azinger’s comments, his infamous victory shimmy, and the player he has a self-professed man-crush on. This was a fun one:

https://soundcloud.com/user-96678684/rich-beem-best-pga-tour-leader-boards

WE’RE SELLING

Rory McIlroy on Sundays: A quick look at the numbers reveals Rory has shot 67-68-69-73-68-76 on Sundays this season. Not bad, right? Well, sometimes stats don’t tell the entire story. McIlroy had those last four tournaments in his hands and didn’t convert any of them into wins. The good scores came thanks to late pushes after he had already lost the tournament. And the bad scores, like Sunday’s 76 at Bay Hill, may have been enough to keep his top-five streak alive, but they were, well, bad.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Look, no one is immune to final-round pressure (other than peak Tiger), but I’d expect an all-time great—which he is as further evidenced by him becoming the third golfer to be ranked World No. 1 for 100 total weeks—like McIlroy to not play like a mere mortal on Sundays.

Brooks Koepka on any day: The four-time major champ’s struggles reached rock bottom (we think) with an accidental tribute to Kobe Bryant on Saturday. On the bright side, Koepka improved on that 81 by 10 shots on Sunday, but offered this blunt assessment of his game after. “Still shit. Still shit. But putting better.”

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

He’s right, it was better as he finished 44th in strokes gained putting among the 69 players who made the cut. For the season, though, he still ranks 208th(!) in that stat. Woof.

Tiger Woods’ new (sad) schedule: We talked last week about Woods opting to stay away from back-to-back starts, but now he seems to be staying away from non-major starts in general with his decision to skip this week’s Players Championship. The 44-year-old with a fused back is getting closer to a post-crash Ben Hogan (another big cardigan guy) schedule and as sad of a prospect as that is for golf fans, I don’t blame him. Heck, I’m not even 40 yet and I worry about throwing out my back every morning I get out of bed. Those weighted blankets are no joke.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour continues its Florida Swing with the Players Championship, AKA the PLAYERS, AKA that place where even Tiger Woods made a quadruple bogey on the island hole last year. At least Tiger fans don’t have to worry about seeing something like that again with Woods sitting out this week. By the way, I also happen to be a late scratch from TPC Sawgrass, unfortunately. And it has nothing to do with Tiger not being there. I swear. OK, well, maybe it has a little bit to do with that. . .

Random tournament fact: Despite all the debating, the Players Championship is not a major. However, TPC Sawgrass could wind up hosting one this year.

I'm told officials from the PGA Tour and PGA are discussing a contingency plan that could move @PGAChampionship from Harding Park in San Francisco to TPC Sawgrass. PGA statement below. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/vb1JhQtNUp

— Robert Lusetich (@RobertLusetich) March 9, 2020

As much fun as that would be, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Stay safe out there, folks. And remember to keep washing your hands.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Tiger will play as many events as Sungjae Im this year: 1-MILLION -to-1 odds
—Brooks Koepka will win the Players: 45-to-1 odds (Actual odds. . . value?)
—The Ponte Vedra Beach Chili’s will do a lot less business without me in town: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

That’s the infamous Hinkle Tree being removed from the Inverness Club. The tree, which was planted by the eighth tee before the second round of the 1979 U.S. Open to keep players (notably Lon Hinkle) from using a shortcut to reach the par 5 in two, was cut down after winds recently uprooted it. So RIP Hinkle Tree, but what you stood for won’t be forgotten by the USGA. Protect par at all costs. Even if that means buying a tree for $120 during a golf tournament.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Another week, another full-court putt made at a basketball game. This time the prize was. . . free bacon for a year?

This guy won free bacon for a year… FREE BACON FOR A YEAR!!!

Congrats to Logan for sinking today’s @smokehousemeats Putt for Pig Challenge at @MizzouHoops home finale.#SCTop10 #MIZ ??? pic.twitter.com/dOSlnVEP2m

— Mizzou Athletics (@MizzouAthletics) March 8, 2020

As far as prizes go, this isn’t quite as good as a free car that 84-year-old lady recently got, but it’s a heckuva lot better than the pile of scratch-off tickets the Knicks recently gave some dude for hitting a half-court shot. And in terms of free food, you could do a lot worse than bacon. Mmm. Bacon.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I drank a lot of red wine and played Xbox.” —Tyrrell Hatton on what he did while recovering from his wrist surgery in November.

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Right now, there are a lot of college kids wondering why they aren’t better at golf.

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

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OK, so that is a few weeks old, but it’s the most recent photo we could obtain of this cute couple. Why are we highlighting the Baddeleys, you ask? Because Golf Digest’s latest PGA Tour pro survey OFFICIALLY (sort of) answered an often-asked question concerning WAGs and Richelle came out on top:

Good job by Dave Shedloski and John Huggan doing some important reporting. Just imagining Huggy asking that question made my week. Anyway, the magazine even included this fun illustration:

So congrats to Richelle! And congrats to Aaron! Good going, guy!

THIS AND THAT

Tommy Fleetwood’s active-leading PGA Tour cut streak ended at 33. Pretty good for someone who has only won on that European Tour. . . . Congrats to Ernie Els on winning his first PGA Tour Champions title in his third start and for easily being the guy PGA Tour pros would want on their side in a bar fight, according to our survey. The Big Easy may have been a unanimous choice if he wasn’t 50. . . . The PGA Tour’s new TV deal ensures CBS will continue to broadcast at least 19 events through 2030. In other words, Golf Twitter has something to collectively bitch about for another decade. . . . And as always, my wife—who gets my vote for “best-looking golf writer WAG”—made me this delicious M&M and Kit-Kat encrusted chocolate cake for my birthday:

Although this year, she had to substitute some Cadbury milk chocolate bars around the perimeter because someone* (*me) had already eaten some of the Kit Kats. Anyway, I’m not complaining.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Would Tiger have played if this week was the Masters?
What tree/bunker/lake would you remove from your home course?
What item of food would you like to win a year’s supply of?

The post Tiger Woods’ new (sad) schedule, Tyrrell Hatton’s fun rehab routine, and PGA Tour pros pick the “best-looking” WAG appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

OK, so maybe there is no “rivalry” from Koepka’s viewpoint. As for the rest of us, well it sure looks like the makings of a grand clash between two of the most impressive golfers of this generation. If you don’t like the label rivalry, either, so be it. But the two are clearly going to be challenging each other for golf’s biggest prizes for the foreseeable future.

On Sunday, McIlroy won the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, defeating Xander Schauffele (while Koepka was back in Florida nursing an injured knee). McIlroy’s victory was his fourth in 2019 and second in his last six starts.

It also provided for some (not surprisingly) great perspective from the Northern Irishman.

“The four wins this year have been wonderful,” McIlroy said of his titles at The Players, RBC Canadian Open, Tour Championship and WGC-HSBC. “But more than that, I think it is the consistency that I’m bringing week in, week out. Even if I don’t have my best stuff, at least I give myself a chance. Even last week in Japan [at the Zozo Championship], finding something after a couple of days and go on to produce a high finish [T-3 after a so-so opening-round 72].”

He’s not wrong.

In 23 worldwide starts in 2019, McIlroy has 18 top-10 finishes. Only twice has he missed the cut this year (albeit one notable one at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush), his fewest number of weekends off since 2014, which also happens to be the last time he won a major.

Zhe Ji/Getty Images
With a subtle fist pump, McIlroy celebrates his playoff win on Sunday at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai.

The reason for the consistency?

“I think maybe more so than say when I first came out on tour, I try 100 percent over every shot, I think because I realise I don’t have as much time left as I used to when I was 20,” McIlroy said. “My concentration is better, and my mental capacity on the golf course is much better than it ever has been, and I think that’s a big key to why I’m able to play consistently week in, week out.”

The first part is true in a literal sense of course, though it is funny to hear Rory say that he doesn’t have as much time left in the game now, considering he’s only 30. It used to be that a lot of players didn’t peak until their 30s, offering McIlroy reason to think his best is still to come. Then Tiger Woods and the generation that followed his came along. Now players are winning sooner than ever.

Still, history shows that much, if not most, success comes in those “middle” years of a career. The 30s is the decade when Arnold Palmer won 44 of his 62 PGA Tour titles, Ben Hogan won 43 of 64, Jack Nicklaus won 38 of 73 and Tiger won 33 of 82, a total that would surely be higher if not for a litany of injuries and personal issues.

Sunday’s win by McIlroy was his third since turning 30 in May of this year.

The second part of McIlroy’s comments about his concentration on the golf course being the best of his career is also spot on.

In Shanghai, McIlroy played bogey-free golf over his final 39 holes and closed with a four-under 68. It took a superb effort by a flu-stricken Schauffele, who birdied two of his final four holes, including the 18th, to chase him down. and even then it wasn’t enough. McIlroy smoked a driver down the fairway on the same hole in the playoff, hit 4-iron to 25 feet and two-putted for birdie and the victory.

Ben Jared
It wasn’t Tiger Woods at the 2018 Tour Championship, but the fans following McIlroy on the 18th hole at the WGC-HSBC Champions gave his 18th career PGA Tour title a special feel

McIlroy had similarly impressive performances at the Tour Championship, where he avenged a loss to Koepka at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude the month before, and at the Players, where two late birdies capped a final-round 70 and led to a one-stroke victory.

No longer does he seem to be making the same mental mistakes that cost him more titles in recent years.

“Over the last [few] years, I feel for the most part, and there’s been times where I haven’t, but for the most part, I’ve been able to get the best out of myself when I’ve needed it, and that’s been a learning curve for me,” McIlroy said on Sunday. “That’s something that didn’t come quite as naturally to me at the start of my career. But I’ve had enough experience, and I’ve got a lot of great memories to draw back on.”

During the last few years, though, he’s also had injuries, equipment changes and life changes, with his very public split from tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, followed by his marriage to Erica Stoll in 2017. Healthy, and settled on and off the course, however, McIlroy’s best years might be upon us.

Along with that rivalry with Koepka.

“I’m excited for the future,” McIlroy said. “I feel like this year compares to 2014, 2015, but I don’t see any reason why I can’t go ahead and have an even better year next year.”

The post The reason behind Rory McIlroy’s consistency in 2019 is why he’s so confident about 2020 (and beyond) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

More than a decade later, Reavie was still waiting, with a slew of injuries and missed opportunities have gotten in the way.

Until Sunday at the Travelers Championship.

Reavie, who started the final round with a sizeable six-stroke lead, saw it whittled to one deep into the back nine at TPC River Highlands, then cruised to a four-stroke victory over Zack Sucher and Keegan Bradley for the second win of his career and first in nearly 11 years.

To put Reavie’s drought in perspective, he went 250 tournaments and 3,983 days without winning, the latter being the 11th-longest span between a maiden victory on tour and an encore. Consider that when he won in Canada he beat, among others, Billy Mayfair, Steve Marino, Anthony Kim and Glen Day—none of whom are still on tour.

“Had long years there in the middle,” Reavie said following his final-round one-over 69. “It was great because it gave me good perseverance and a good perspective of what life is and what golf is.”

He needed it. Or at least some patience, and a little good fortune.

In January 2014, the former U.S. Amateur Public Links champion underwent season-ending surgery on his left wrist to repair a torn sheath that holds the tendons in place. He was put in a long-arm cast for nearly four months, a short cast for another two and, despite being told by doctors that the procedure went great, was also informed there was only a 50-50 chance it was actually going to work.

Reavie returned to play in two events that fall but suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee that also required surgery.

“Those were probably the darkest days,” Reavie said of the wrist surgery. “Just the unknown and sitting at home, not being able to do anything and your mind wandering. OK, if it didn’t work, if I can’t play golf, what am I going to do?”

Reavie celebrates with wife Amanda Henrichs after winning the 2019 Travelers Championship. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

What he eventually did was play again, though success was a slow burn.

In 2015, Reavie missed the cut in 11 of 19 PGA Tour starts, including 10 of 11 starts early in the year, before he started to find any sort of consistency.

Then in September 2015, he won on the Web.com Tour to help catapult him back to the PGA Tour for the 2015-’16 season. Eventually, he began to show the talent he flashed his rookie year, too, racking up 13 top-10s over the next four seasons, changing his swing along the way to relieve the pressure he’d put on his wrist that led to his original surgery.

Among his best showings was a runner-up at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where Reavie, after leading most of the final round, birdied the final two holes of regulation to force a sudden-death playoff. He went on to lose to Gary Woodland following a poor chip shot and missed par putt on the first extra hole, but at the time it was his best finish on tour since 2011. The following week, he was a runner-up again, at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finishing three strokes behind winner Ted Potter Jr.

This year, Reavie opened with a tie for third at the Sony Open in Hawaii and played well again in Phoenix, tying for fourth. He also played steadily at the Wells Fargo Championship and at the PGA Championship, finishing in the top 20 in both. Then at last week’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he tied for third. It was his first career top-10 finish in a major.

“Being in the second-to-the-last group at the U.S. Open last week, that definitely gave me a lot of confidence coming into this week, and in particular today,” Reavie said Sunday from TPC River Highlands. “I played really well on Sunday at the U.S. Open, and I tried to treat this the same as I did then.”

At the Travelers, though, his best golf of the week came on Saturday. Trailing by six halfway through the third round, Reavie scorched the back nine at TPC River Highlands with a tournament-record-tying seven-under 28 en route to a sizzling 63. The dazzling finish, along with playing partner Zack Sucher’s implosion, gave Reavie his huge cushion.

He ended up needing it.

Halfway through Sunday’s final round, with Reavie having made just one birdie and one bogey over his first nine holes, Bradley closed in with four birdies over his first six holes on the back nine, trimming the deficit to one as they stood on the 16th tee. Fans were also vocal in their support for Bradley, a native New Englander, yelling for Reavie to three-putt, among other ill wishes.

Things turned on the par-4 17th, however, when Bradley drove into a fairway bunker and overcooked his approach shot. He tried to play a flop shot with his third, but with water long, he fluffed the shot and left himself 17 feet for a par. Three putts later, he walked off with a double bogey. Reavie, meanwhile, found the fairway off the tee and stuck his approach to 12 feet to set up one last birdie, and regain a four-stroke lead.

“Yeah, they were screaming at me,” Reavie said. “You get it every week. It’s not just this week.

“It was Sunday and just another test I had to go through today.”

One that was a long time in the making, just like that elusive second career victory.

As for what would Reavie have done had the surgery not worked out?

“Good question,” he said. “Haven’t figured that out yet.”

Won’t have to, either.

The post Chez Reavie has his encore tour win, and a hell of a story about how it probably shouldn’t have happened appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.