By Joel Beall
Among their sporting brethren, golfers are not known for their colourful commentary following play. In their defence, it’s hard to be insightful when the question is “Tell me about your round.” Nevertheless, post-round interviews are mostly a mundane exercise.

Which is what makes Harold Varner III a national treasure.

Varner turned in one of the best performances of the morning wave at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, racking up nine birdies and a bogey for an eight-under 63. It was a score bested only by Bryson DeChambeau as the afternoon groups tee off at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. “Yeah, it was good,” Varner said after his round. “Just good to be back playing. It’s been a while. Haven’t played since Napa, so I just wanted to get back to it. Nothing too crazy, but, yeah, made a lot of birdies.”

In one sense the 63 is not a surprise; Varner ranked 13th on tour in Round 1 scoring last season. Conversely, this leaderboard proximity to DeChambeau—the most talked-about personality in golf in 2020—begs some type of juxtaposition, leading to this question from the assembled media:

Q: When there is no wind on a golf course that’s got no rough and you see that the scores are already 5-, 6-under par when you’re teeing off and one of those is the reigning U.S. Open champion, do you have to kick yourself in gear or just go from —

Apparently Varner got the gist and responded in kind.

“No. My foot is pretty far up my butt by the time I start, so we’re ready to go,” Varner said. “What do I need to do? I play golf. If he plays good and I play good, I like my chances.”

Anatomical complexities aside, that is a picture not normally painted in pressers. Varner was also asked if the course suits his personality, to which he remarked “I think Vegas fits my personality more than the golf course, but that’s neither here nor there.”

Keep in mind, these are Round 1 quotes. Should Varner stay the course and ultimately grab his first win on tour this weekend, we can only imagine the commentary gold that will rain from the winner’s circle.

The post Harold Varner III had the perfect response when asked if Bryson DeChambeau motivates him appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Tony Finau has tested positive for COVID-19, the PGA Tour announced Tuesday.

In a statement, the tour said Finau tested positive during the pre-tournament screening process at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open. Finau confirmed the news through Twitter.

“Earlier today, I received a positive result for Covid-19 under PGA TOUR on-site testing protocols and have begun a period of self-quarantine to protect others around me. I am feeling well, and am otherwise in good spirits,” Finau said in a statement. “I look forward to returning to action as soon as I am able, and I wish everyone at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open a great week ahead!”

Finau is coming off a T-8 finish at the U.S. Open. The 31-year-old finished 17th last season in the FedEx Cup, and entered the week 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Per tour protocols, Finau must now enter quarantine.

Eleven players have tested positive for COVID-19 since the tour’s restart in June, with Scottie Scheffler and Sam Horsfield the last two players to do so, both at the U.S. Open. Bronson Burgoon will replace Finau in the field.

The post Tony Finau tests positive for COVID-19, out of Shriners appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
We wrote over the weekend about how the latest tour pro to be experimenting with the Bryson DeChambeau/swing-out-of-your-shoes method of driving was a pretty big surprise: Rory McIlroy.

As we said then, it was inevitable that DeChambeau winning the U.S. Open with his bombs-away strategy would cause previously sceptical peers to become more willing to give the method a try. It’s just that McIlroy was, well, really previously sceptical.

Remember that McIlroy notably praised DeChambeau on the Sunday of his victory at Winged Foot (“It’s kind of hard to really wrap my head around it.”) but did so with a seeming caveat.

“So I think … about the guy, I think it’s brilliant, but I think he’s taken advantage of where the game is at the minute,” McIlroy said. “Look, again, whether that’s good or bad, but it’s just the way it is. With the way he approaches it, with the arm-lock putting, with everything, it’s just where the game’s at right now.

“I’m not saying that’s right or wrong. He’s just taking advantage of what we have right now.”

Earlier in the summer, when asked if he might consider bulking up like DeChambeau to help increase his swing speed and get more distance, McIlroy noted he wasn’t inclined to do so since he felt he typically hit it farther when he was smaller.

And yet, on his Instagram story feed over the weekend, McIlroy shared a look at some numbers on a launch monitor in which he appeared to follow DeChambeau’s swing-it-hard lead with some eye-popping results.

Mind you, McIlroy was already no stranger to long drives; he has averaged between 306 and 319 yards in driving distance on tour each of the last five seasons. And whether he decides to crank it up in a tournament setting isn’t clear.

And double mind you, this was just one brief image on an Instagram feed. Skeptics quickly suggested that golf pundits would be reading too much into this one little easter egg on McIlroy’s social media account.

To them, we now offer another piece of evidence that this “experiment” might actually be real.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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A post shared by RORY (@rorymcilroy) on Oct 6, 2020 at 10:04am PDT

Indeed, if McIlroy was fretful of DeChambeau “taking advantage” of today’s technology, it’s not enough to keep him from exploring whether it could work for him, too.

The post Rory McIlroy hints—again—that he’s tinkering with the Bryson DeChambeau approach to distance appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.