By Joel Beall
Bart Bryant, a three-time PGA Tour winner died in a car accident on Tuesday. He was 59.

An All-American at New Mexico State University, Bryant turned professional in 1986 and reached the PGA Tour in 1991. Most of his career was plagued by injuries, having to return to Q-School six times to keep his tour card.

However, at 41 years old and in his 187th career start, Bryant broke through at the 2004 Valero Texas Open in late September. The next year Bryant won the Memorial Tournament, making an up-and-down par out of a hazard on the 18th hole at Muirfield Village to beat Fred Couples by one shot. Months later Bryant would win for the third time in 14 months, and in dominant fashion, capturing the season-ending Tour Championship by six shots over Tiger Woods. It was the largest second-place deficit of Woods’ career.

Bryant had two other top-10s in 2005, catapulting him inside the Official World Golf Ranking top 25. It is a campaign considered one of the best one-year wonders in tour history.

Bryant finished his tour career with 317 starts and made more than $9 million in earnings. He enjoyed a prosperous run on the PGA Tour Champions, winning twice and logging 29 top-10s in 142 appearances on the senior circuit. Bryant’s brother, Brad, was also a PGA Tour player, with a win in more than 560 starts on tour.

The PGA TOUR family mourns the tragic loss of 3-time TOUR winner Bart Bryant.

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 1, 2022

“The PGA Tour is saddened by the tragic passing of Bart Bryant and our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “The Bryants have been a part of the PGA Tour family for over four decades and we are grateful for the impact and legacy he made on our organization and countless communities. Bart will be dearly missed.”

Bryant’s first wife of 34 years, Cathy Cox, died of brain cancer in April 2017. Bryant is survived by his second wife Donna, daughters Kristen and Michelle and his stepchildren.

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The post Memorial champ and three-time PGA Tour winner Bart Bryant dies in car accident appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brendan Porath
Jon Rahm shot one of the great rounds in Memorial Tournament history on Saturday, an eight-under 64 to take a commanding six-shot lead as he attempted to defend his title from 2020. Everyone watched it go down on CBS and on the grounds at Muirfield Village Golf Club. But it won’t go down in the record books, as it was all wiped out as he walked off the 18th green, where, in a dramatic and discomfiting scene, PGA Tour officials approached him and told him he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Rahm had to immediately withdraw from the tournament under PGA Tour protocols. The tour quickly issued a statement on the positive test, clarifying the timeline throughout the week.

On the evening Monday, May 31, the PGA TOUR notified Jon Rahm that he was subject to contact-tracing protocols, as he had come in close contact with a person who was COVID positive. Per the TOUR’s COVID Health & Safety Plan, Rahm was given the option to remain in the competition and enter our tracing protocol, which includes daily testing and restricted access to indoor facilities. Rahm has remained asymptomatic.

Rahm has tested negative every day, but his most recent test – which was performed after the conclusion of his second round (rain delayed) and before the start of his third-round – returned positive at approximately 4:20 p.m. ET while Rahm was on the golf course. The PGA TOUR’s medical advisor requested a confirmatory test on the original sample, which came back at 6:05 p.m. ET, and was also positive.

The PGA TOUR’s medical advisor notified Rahm immediately upon completion of his round, and under TOUR protocols, he will be withdrawn from the competition. Rahm is now in isolation, and in accordance with CDC guidelines, he will need to remain in isolation through Tuesday, June 15.

Rahm’s knees buckled and he bent over in agony as he was informed. The CBS broadcast and onlookers at Muirfield Village were left with little clarity about what was happening until Dottie Pepper tracked down the news of the positive test moments later.

The Spaniard’s Saturday started early with a hole-in-one in the resumption of his second round en route to capping a 65. Then he turned around in the third round to match the lowest 54-hole mark in tournament history at 18-under 198. As Justin Ray noted, it was Rahm’s best strokes-gained round of his career. He flag-hunted all day and raced away from a loaded group of chasers that included past winners at Muirfield Village in Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa. Those two, it now turns out, will be your co-leaders come Sunday afternoon in Dublin, Ohio.

In addition to the WD at an event where he was suddenly an overwhelming favourite to close out for his sixth career PGA Tour victory, Rahm will now have to be in isolation until June 15. That’s two days before the start of the next men’s major championship, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. It was a tournament in which he was already considered among the favourites, having won his first career PGA Tour title at Torrey Pines in the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open.

The post Jon Rahm tests positive for COVID-19, withdraws from Memorial while leading by 6 shots appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
It couldn’t have been going better for Jon Rahm on Saturday at the Memorial Tournament. The 26-year-old had to wake up earlier than he liked to finish his second round, but he made a hole-in-one in the morning and later went on a back-nine birdie binge in the afternoon to seize a six-shot 54-hole lead. A sixth PGA Tour title was firmly in his grasp—until he was told he had to go home.

It’s been almost exactly a year since the PGA Tour restarted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and while there have been a number of players contracting the virus—some of which led to forced withdrawals from tournaments—we had never seen anything like what happened in the immediate aftermath of the third round at Muirfield Village.

After tapping in for a 64, Rahm was told the bad news greenside. He had tested positive for COVID. The leader in the clubhouse was no longer even welcome in the clubhouse. Brutal.

In a statement released by the PGA Tour, it was explained that Rahm had been informed on Monday he was subject to contract-tracing protocols after coming in close contact with someone who had tested positive. Rahm had tested negative every day since and showed no signs of having the virus.

On Saturday, however, his test following the second round came back positive at about 4:30 p.m., or while he was playing a back nine he would shoot 30 on to extend his lead. Rahm wasn’t pulled off the course then because the PGA Tour’s medical advisor requested a second test of his sample. That positive result didn’t come back until just minutes before Rahm finished his round.

PGA TOUR Statement on Jon Rahm pic.twitter.com/HvMmWLCHeq

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 5, 2021

Had Rahm remained in the tournament, he likely would have become the only player other than Tiger Woods to win the Memorial Tournament in back-to-back years. He had also matched Woods’ record for the event’s largest 54-hole lead, and at 18 under par, he was just two shots off Stewart Cink’s 72-hole scoring record at Muirfield Village that was set in 1994.

The positive test very likely cost Rahm the nearly $1.7 million first-place prize. On the bright side—kidding, there’s no bright side—he should be cleared to play just in time before the U.S. Open, which starts June 17.

Anyway, we should be celebrating what was an incredible performance that included a seven-hole stretch in which he was six under. But sadly, we’re talking about this. And while the Rahm story will dominate golf—and sports—headlines for days, here are three other takeaways from Saturday at the Memorial:

(Whispers) Hey, we’ve got a tournament now . . .
We had our “There’s one heckuva battle going on in the B-Flight!” jokes ready to go. Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay have played some fantastic golf, but both had been left in the dust by Rahm come Sunday evening.

At 12 under par, the pair of future American Ryder Cup teammates were set to start Sunday a half-dozen shots back. Now, they’ll be in the final pairing as co-leaders. Unreal. What a turn of events—and what a stroke of luck if you have a betting slip on either.

“It’s kind of the worst situation for something like that to happen,” Cantlay told reporters after, “and he played awesome today and it’s just, it’s really, it’s a shame. It’s unfortunate.”

Then there’s Scottie Scheffler and Branden Grace, who are tied for third at nine-under. Starting the final round three back instead of nine is obviously quite a difference. Anyway, there should be more drama over who is going to shake Jack Nicklaus’ hand after winning on Sunday. Well, if anyone is even shaking hands at this point. As Golf Digest contributor Rick Gehman pointed out, Rahm’s playing partners didn’t even high-five him after his ace:

Makes sense that Morikawa and Xander didn’t high-five Rahm after this ace.

Likely knew he was in the protocol. https://t.co/6XsQezTiID

— Rick Gehman (@RickRunGood) June 5, 2021

Crazy times.

Justin Thomas continues to struggle
OK, what’s wrong with Justin Thomas? Since winning the Players in March, JT’s best result is a T-13 at the Valspar, and he’s looking at a fourth consecutive finish outside the top 25 after a third-round 75.

The putting has been the main culprit these past two months and it’s certainly let him down again this week as he ranks 62nd in strokes gained out of the 69 players who made the cut. But Saturday, the best part of his game let him down as well as Thomas lost more than 1.3 shots to the field on approach shots.

For someone who ranks second on tour for the season in that category, he better hope that’s just a blip.

Bryson’s bomb turns heads
Let’s talk about something a bit more fun, eh? It wasn’t a great round for Bryson DeChambeau, but he still managed to hit the day’s most-talked-about shot. To say he took a bold line off the tee on the par-5 fifth hole would be an understatement. Check out this phenomenal poke that wound up in a fairway where players usually lay up to:

Up and over the trees. ??

A mammoth 357-yard drive for @B_DeChambeau on No. 5. pic.twitter.com/lgOhNRJRNE

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 5, 2021

Absolutely ridiculous. Just look at where DeChambeau’s drive wound up compared to everyone else in the field on Saturday:

Another look at that line. ?

TOURCast: https://t.co/6S6kklqSLk pic.twitter.com/uGDK63I3wr

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 5, 2021

And it led to this funny exchange with playing partner Jordan Spieth, who says he was hoping to see Bryson try hitting it over the trees:

Discussing the drive of the day …@B_DeChambeau: I’m glad I did it.@JordanSpieth: I mean, obviously. ? pic.twitter.com/XVrs0gERT7

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 5, 2021

After having just 145 yards in for his second on the 540-yard hole, DeChambeau hit one to 15 feet—he described it as a “chip little wedge”—and two-putted for birdie. But his one-over-par 73 left him outside the top 30 entering the final round, and he seems a bit miffed at the whole “Brooksy” situation. He did acknowledge, “If [Brooks Koepka] keeps talking about me, that’s great for the PIP Fund.” So is channeling any anger towards Brooks into mammoth tee shots like this one.

The post Jon Rahm’s untimely positive COVID test, Justin Thomas continues to struggle, and a Bryson bomb you have to see to believe appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
Jack Nicklaus revealed during a Sunday weather delay at the Memorial Tournament that he and his wife, Barbara, both contracted the coronavirus in March. The two have since recovered after suffering only mild effects.

“We were very, very fortunate,” Nicklaus told Jim Nantz during the CBS broadcast. The Golden Bear, the founder and host of the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio, said Barbara was asymptomatic and that he had a sore throat and a cough for a few days. The couple, who celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary July 23, each celebrated their 80th birthdays earlier this year.

“Barbara and I are both at an age, 80, where it is an at-risk age,” Jack said. “Our hearts go out to the people who did lose their lives, and their families. We were just a couple of the lucky ones.”

The Nicklauses stayed at their home in Florida from March 13 to April 20. They both have tested positive for the antibodies, Jack as recently as last Sunday.

RELATED: Why tour pros are wearing yellow ribbons during Sunday’s final round of the Memorial

The post Jack Nicklaus says he and wife, Barbara, are fine after revealing they contracted COVID-19 in March appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matthew Rudy
There’s always something to see with Phil Mickelson, whether it’s his calves, newly-sculpted skinny body—or yes, now a new, unusual putting stroke. Mickelson has freely alternated between a conventional putting grip and turning his trail around in a claw grip. At the Memorial, he added a new wrinkle in the form of a pump-fake hesitation at the top of his backstroke.

Whether it worked or not depends on your definition. Mickelson made five birdies, but also took triple on No. 17—hitting his approach shot into the water and missing a two-footer for double. It left him far out of contention at two-over through 36 holes, but if the triaged stroke is a band-aid for a case of the yips, the alternative could have been far more gruesome.

“That’s what I think it is, personally…the yips,” says Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher and tour short game guru Kevin Weeks. “He’s doing something he has to do to get control again over the face. He’s done the claw or the saw before, so he’s had some issues, and this is another step toward finding a new feel. But I think the only time I’ve ever seen something like it was Charles Barkley.”

Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher and short game coach Stan Utley is based at the same Scottsdale facility as Mickelson’s coach, Andrew Getson. Utley points out Mickelson always takes an analytical approach to improving. “I know Phil has a good reason in his mind for what he’s doing,” says Utley. “And when you take the stroke for what it is? The mechanics of the swing looked perfect to me, and he obviously is rolling it in.”

Most players are willing to toss “orthodoxy” in putting if it means rolling more in, and that makes for one way Mickelson is no different than you or me. But if you’re struggling with your putting and reckon you’re going to try a stutter step in your stroke, keep a few things in mind.

“I wouldn’t change you if you did it and you rolled it well, but if you do pause like that, it can potentially lead to surging the handle toward the target,” says Utley. “That’s going to make it harder for you to control your speed.”

Weeks thinks the strategy would be good for a player who tends to stop the putter at the ball or flinch in anticipation of impact. “If you pause it, you’re pretty much guaranteeing you’re going to accelerate through the ball, which addresses the stopping problem. If you’re getting bound by impact, you can also close your eyes at the start of the through-stroke, or watch the butt end of the grip in the stroke instead of the ball. I’ve also had players try a pencil grip where the index finger of the trail hand is pointing where you want the ball to go.

The caveat to all of this? “He might have tried everything and this is where he is,” says Weeks. “The yips will tangle you up, and players will try anything to get out of it.”

The post Phil Mickelson’s odd new putting stroke might be hiding a bigger issue appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedoski
Jon Rahm can surpass Rory McIlroy as the No. 1 player in the world without winning this week’s Memorial Tournament. Through two rounds at Muirfield Village Golf Club, Rahm looks like he wants to ascend to the coveted top spot in style.

Thanks to a “solid” 5-under 67 on a calm Friday morning in Dublin, Ohio, Rahm is in prime position heading into the weekend, sitting a stroke behind second-round leaders Tony Finau and Ryan Palmer with a 36-hole total of 8-under 136. Rahm converted six birdies against a lone bogey, and just as importantly, he was steady in cleaning up a handful of par saves when trouble arose.

“The key today was making a few par putts,” said Rahm, currently No. 2 in the world. “A couple three-, four-, five-, six-footers for par that kept the round going. Making those pars on 3 and 4 and then making birdie on 5 was a big difference, so I’m happy about that and happy to close out with a birdie after making a mistake on 8. Overall really solid. Feel really comfortable.”

Rahm, 25, didn’t have much going last week during the Workday Charity Open when the setup was drastically less demanding—at least not until the final round, when he scorched Muirfield Village for an 8-under 64. So, the Spaniard had more than a little momentum heading into just his second Memorial appearance. His only other Memorial start, in 2017, resulted in a missed cut after a second-round 77.

“I started with a bogey on 10,” Rahm said of his second-lowest round of the season on Sunday, “and I think I just told Adam [Hayes, his caddie], ‘Let’s just go for it; I have nothing to lose whatsoever, a lot to win.’ I started hitting good shots, making a couple putts, and that’s how I ended up being low. Didn’t really focus on the score or anything special.”

Two days later, after what was statistically his best tee-to-green round of his career, Rahm fine-tuned his swing on the practice range. “Just looked at one of my swings and went to just a different feel based on how the ball flight was going,” he explained. “I felt a little bit more comfortable. Not 100 percent with the irons. I’m comfortable off the tee, but some of my iron shots have been rather bad just because I wasn’t too confident. But it was getting better.”

Rahm, like McIlroy, was playing well before the PGA Tour shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, but he hasn’t been as sharp in the five weeks since golf restarted. In five events before the break, he posted four top-10s with a runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open, and he was T-17 in his other start.

Finishing T-27 last week marked his best finish since golf’s return.

Fitness was a focus for Rahm during the forced sabbatical, and he has added distance – as if he needed it; he averages 305 yards off the tee – which he hasn’t quite gotten used to, at least not with his irons. In response, he had the lofts on his irons adjusted and is starting to dial those in.

Rahm, who lives in Arizona, actually wasn’t planning on entering last week’s event at Muirfield Village. Now it appears to have been wholly beneficial. He escaped the heat at home and is bringing it to the Memorial Tournament.

“It’s hard to see back home at the end of the day Arizona is so hot everything flies straight, everything goes far,” he said. “I knew it was going to happen; I knew I was going to need most likely two, three weeks to get used to things, and that’s what I did, and hopefully this is the beginning of a good run.”

The post Jon Rahm can reach No. 1 this week, and he’s off to stellar start appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
The Memorial Tournament hoped to be the first PGA Tour event since golf’s restart last month to have fans in attendance. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine cleared the way, and tournament officials as recently as two weeks ago outlined protocols for a limited number of spectators. But on Monday, tournament and tour officials announced a change in plans, deciding against letting in fans at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

The announcement comes on the same day that a report by the Ohio Department of Health showed a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations across the state. After dropping to 381 total cases on June 12, the rolling seven-day average for new cases has more than doubled to 977 a day through Sunday, according to the report.

“While we embraced the opportunity to be the first PGA Tour event to welcome the return of on-site fans—and be a part of our nation’s collective reemergence from the COVID-19 crisis—we recognize the current increase in positive COVID-19 cases across the country and our ultimate responsibility,” said tournament director Dan Sullivan in a statement. “It’s disappointing to the many who have tirelessly worked to create a plan for on-site patrons, but I’m confident the learnings from these efforts will contribute to golf’s continued success, and we’re excited to showcase Muirfield Village Golf Club—and ultimately, the Memorial Tournament—to our fans over the next two weeks.”

So far, the four tour events staged since the PGA Tour’s return have all been without spectators. That will also be the case for this week’s Workday Charity Open, a substitute event for the previously cancelled John Deere Classic that also is being held at Muirfield Village.

As for when fans will be allowed to attend tournaments on the tour, that remains unknown. But it doesn’t appear likely anytime soon.

The 3M Open in Minnesota, which follows the Memorial on the schedule, has already said it will not have spectators. Ditto for the Barracuda Championship, July 30-Aug. 2, in Truckee, Calif.

The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, which is scheduled for the same week as the Barracuda, has yet to say if fans will be allowed. Last month, executive director Darrell Smith said he was “cautiously optimistic.”

The PGA Championship, slated for Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, is also proceeding without galleries.

The post Memorial Tournament changes plans, won’t allow fans after all appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But Kaymer bogeyed the ninth hole, failed to birdie the par-5 11th and then bogeyed 12, 13, and 18. In the meantime, Patrick Cantlay was setting the course on fire, shooting an eight-under-par 64 (the lowest Sunday score by a winner in Memorial history) to beat Adam Scott, who also had a strong back nine, by two and Kaymer, who ultimately shot an even-par 72, by four.

Kaymer had to be disappointed with his back-nine 38, but he certainly had to feel good about his week—especially given that it was his first top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since a T-4 at the Honda Classic two years ago and popped him back into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings—at No. 97—for the first time in more than a year. He went into the tournament ranked 186th.

Citing those numbers as signs of improvement feels ludicrous for a player who is a two-time major champion and was the second-youngest player in history to reach No. 1 in the OWGR when he reached that milestone in February of 2011, shortly after turning 26. Only Tiger Woods had reached the top at a younger age than Kaymer.

In 2014, Kaymer won the Players Championship—arguably the most important non-major event in golf—and the U.S. Open in a six-week period. He went wire-to-wire in both events and won the Open by an astonishing eight shots.

Since then . . . nothing.

Kaymer is golf’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The question is why? He hasn’t been cursed with injuries, although he did have a blister on his right hand Sunday that he insisted didn’t affect his swing or his play.

My theory on this is simple: he’s one of those rare athletes who is too smart and too thoughtful for his own good. Plenty of great athletes are smart: the two greatest golfers of all time, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are plenty bright. Roger Federer, who has won more major tournaments than any man in tennis history, is also supremely smart. Peyton Manning, Bill Russell, Wayne Gretzky—all kings in their sport—were and are very cerebral. (Although if I never see another Manning insurance company commercial my life will be greatly improved).

But all of them had an ability to hyper-focus on the task at hand, to not question the meaning of victory while in pursuit of it.

Kaymer’s just not built that way. I asked him once about the night he ascended to No. 1 in the world back in 2011. It came after he had lost the final of the World Match Play to Luke Donald. He smiled almost wistfully.

Related: 17 things you need to know about Martin Kaymer

“You know it was nice,” he said. “My father had flown in to be there because we knew that once I reached the final I was going to be No. 1. We went to a good restaurant, my dad, my brother (Philip who is also his manager) and my girlfriend.

“After a while, though, I started to think, ‘I’ve worked for years to reach this moment and, in the end, what does it mean? Am I a different person? A better person?’ It was, to be honest, a little bit melancholy.”

Getty Images

Kaymer speaks English with a tinge of a German accent but his English vocabulary puts most of us to shame.

It was Peggy Lee who once sang, “Is that all there is?” Lee’s song is about a fire, a circus and a lost love, but the phrase can certainly be applied to athletes who reach a pinnacle and then wonder why there isn’t more to the moment.

David Duval admitted to having that feeling after winning the Open Championship in 2001. He never won another golf tournament.

“It was very much an existential thing,” Duval told me several years ago. “I knew when I finally won a major I was going to feel a kind of joy I’d never felt before. And I did—for a little while. Then, after that initial spasm of joy passed, I found myself looking around and thinking, ‘I put in all that work and THIS is what it was all for?’ I couldn’t shake the feeling.”

Kaymer was able to shake the feeling—if not completely. Even though he changed his swing in 2011 in order to try to hit the ball more consistently from right-to-left so he could have a better chance to play well at the Masters, he won a WGC event later that year and, early in 2012 he had a TEN-shot lead with 13 holes to play in Abu Dhabi and completely collapsed to shoot 75 and finish third.

“I’m in shock,” he admitted afterwards. “I’m honestly not sure what happened.”

He is sure that the swing change had nothing to do with his fall from the top. “I won in 2011 after I made the change,” he said. “I should have won at Abu Dhabi. It was more mental than anything else.”

No surprise there.

He struggled through most of 2012, but had accumulated enough points to make Jose Maria Olazabal’s Ryder Cup team. He was a major champion who had been ranked No. 1 in the world and yet he arrived at Medinah convinced he didn’t belong on the team.

Olazabal played him Friday afternoon in the four-ball matches with Justin Rose and the result was a 3-and-2 loss to Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

“I felt sorry for Justin having to play with me that day,” Kaymer said. “I know Oly put me out there because he knew I had to play Sunday and he didn’t want me sitting for two days.”

That evening, Bernhard Langer sat Kaymer down for a talk. Langer was Germany’s first great player and had been Kaymer’s hero as a boy.

“He told me I had to stop thinking I didn’t belong in the team,” Kaymer said. “I was there because I’d proven how good I could be, that I had the ability to play great golf if I would just stop questioning myself. I do that a lot.” He smiled. “I do that too much.”

Olazabal sat Kaymer on Saturday and then put him out in the 11th singles match since he had front-loaded his lineup with his team down 10-6. That meant Kaymer faced Steve Stricker. He didn’t play brilliantly, but he played solidly, Langer’s words in the back of his mind all day.

As almost everyone knows, the match came down to Kaymer’s seven-foot par putt on the 18th hole. If Kaymer made the putt, Europe would clinch retaining the Cup. In 1991, Langer had a putt of similar distance on the 18th hole at Kiawah Island that would have allowed Europe to retain the Cup. He missed. That moment flashed through Kaymer’s mind for a split second as he lined up his putt. But then, Langer’s words from two days earlier came back to him.

“I’m here right now because I’ve played well enough to get to this moment,” he remembered thinking. “My teammates have put me in this position and I’ve put myself right here. I’m meant to be here and I’m meant to make this putt. The whole thing is brilliant.”

With that, Kaymer holed the putt, a moment he says will always be his most unforgettable in golf regardless of what the rest of his career brings.

Two years later, still not 30, he won at Pinehurst and appeared headed for a lock Hall-of-Fame career.

And then…nothing.

“Is that all there is…”

It isn’t just that Kaymer hasn’t won since Pinehurst, he’s rarely been in contention. In 12 tournaments on the PGA Tour this year—prior to Sunday—his best finish had been a T-33 at Bay Hill. But he showed signs of life three weeks ago when he finished T-8 at the British Masters.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, he was Dr. Jekyll for 62 holes, until playing the last 10 in three-over-par. Even so, he was delighted with the progress and with the notion that his game is coming back.

“It gives me a great deal of optimism going forward to have played this well,” he said. “I felt very good about my golf this week.”

Kaymer will now head to Pebble Beach next week and will then try to qualify for the Open Championship. His five-year exemption for winning at Pinehurst ran out last year.

There is still a great deal of work ahead for Kaymer if, at 34, he wants to get back to anywhere close to where he once was in the golf pantheon.

The third place finish at Muirfield Village allowed him to jump to 120th on the FedEx Cup points list—the first time he’s been inside the top 125 in years. But for a player with Kaymer’s remarkable past, just making the FedEx Cup playoffs is hardly the end game.

There’s no questioning his ability to play with the world’s best players. As long as he doesn’t spend too much time trying to figure out what it all means.

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