It was a line easily as applicable to the events that had preceded the Big Game some 2,100 miles away from Tampa.

Everybody loves a good comeback story and going into the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Jordan Spieth stood on the precipice of finally completing one.

It had been more than three years since Spieth had hoisted a trophy—the claret jug at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale—and more than two years since he had played in the final group on a Sunday. The boy wonder who’d won 10 times between 2015 and 2017, including three majors, but had fallen on hard times and plummeted nearly out of the top 100 in the World Ranking, was on the verge.

Yet the Sunday comeback that played out at TPC Scottsdale, turned out not to be his, but rather one from a different multiple-major winner.

In the end, Brooks Koepka rallied from five strokes back with a sensational final-round 65 that was highlighted by an eagle chip-in on the 17th hole to win by one over K.H. Lee and Xander Schauffele at TPC Scottsdale. The title was Koepka’s first since the 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and, more importantly, comes after an injury-plagued 2020.

“I was in some dark places mentally,” Koepka said. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to be the same again.”

That Koepka won in front of the largest crowds of any tournament since the COVID-19 restart last June might not have been a coincidence after he admitted to struggling to play at fanless tournaments in 2020. Christian Petersen

MORE: Brooks Koepka seizes the day while Schauffele, Hahn see title hopes slip away

Hyperbolic perhaps for the 30-year-old four-time major champ, but Koepka is known for finding motivation wherever he can. Be it in a slight (perceived or real) or in this case in the face of knee and hip injuries that, among other things, knocked him out of the first two months of the 2020-21 season and prevented him from playing in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot last September.

But there was also some validity to his words. Koepka, once a dominant and imposing figure on the tour who won a half-dozen times including back-to-back U.S. Opens and PGA Championships between 2017 and 2019, physically wasn’t able to hit the same kind of shots that catapulted him to the top of the game. If he had an uphill shot, he couldn’t get onto his left side and would end up hanging back, flipping the club. Being in bunkers was “horrific” because when his knee was flexed every movement pulled on it. Even bending over to put his ball down on the green he said was painful.

The lowest point came at last year’s Memorial, where he shot a final-round 80 to finish T-62. “I was in excruciating pain,” he said. “I was being told that my knee was still the same. The frustration of just trying to play and knowing I’m not myself, knowing I’m not even close to what I’m capable of doing, I can’t compete. I’m trying to compete, but I just can’t. I can’t swing the golf club like I want to.”

Though he was fully healthy at the start of 2021, Koepka continued to struggle, missing three straight cuts for the first time in his career.

MORE: Justin Thomas plays final round of Waste Management Phoenix Open after learning of his grandfather’s death

Then came a wild Sunday afternoon at the WMPO, where he’d picked up his first career title on the PGA Tour in 2015. This one would prove special, too.

With 10 players tied for or within one of the lead with just a few holes to play in the tournament, Koepka hit a fairway wood just short and left of the green on the 334-yard 17th. Then he holed his chip from 97 feet for eagle to break from the pack.

There were only 5,000 fans a day permitted at TPC Scottsdale this week because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but a roar rumbled across the desert course with the fury of a sandstorm.

“I like feeling like you got to show off in front of people,” Koepka said. “I struggle with just getting my head wrapped around everything. There is just no energy [with fanless tournaments]. I’ve struggled with that a little bit, so I need to figure it out. Who knows how long we’ll be playing like this. It was nice to have fans back.

“I do feel like I’m back. I felt like I’ve been back.”

As for Spieth’s comeback, another tour win will have to wait.

A day after matching his career-low with a 61, he didn’t seem to know which way the ball was going, nor could he make his putter cooperate. The only consistency was that there was none. He shot a one-over 72—just two strokes off matching the worst score of the entire day—and finished two shots back in a tie for fourth.

Spieth found himself playing out of the desert a bit too often on Sunday. Christian Petersen

Yet despite his struggles, Spieth still had a shot, just one stroke off the lead with five holes to play. Then he drove it into the water on the par-5 15th, missed a 10-footer for birdie on the par-3 16th and found water again on the 17th when his ball rolled through the green, his words powerless to stop it.

MORE: Diary of a Jordan Spieth fan—So much hope, too much reality on Sunday at TPC Scottsdale

Still, there were positives to take away from the week. It was his best result since his T-3 at the 2019 PGA Championship, though he was never in contention there. It was also a reminder that climbing out of the abyss takes time and happens in pieces. He was disappointed with the outcome, yes, but buoyant about where his game is taking him.

Sunday was his best chance at victory since the 2018 Masters, where he finished in third, two strokes back after a final-round 64.

“I think I believe in what I’m doing,” Spieth said. “A result like this just helps confirm what I was already feeling, and that just moves the needle the right direction.”

The same can be said for Koepka. His comeback is complete. Brooks is here. Jordan will be, too. One day.

The post A major champ completed a comeback at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Just not the one we expected appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
For a guy who shot a six-under 65 to roar back from five strokes off the pace and win his first PGA Tour event in 17 months, Brooks Koepka had a surprisingly tough time on the greens Sunday at TPC Scottsdale. En route to his eighth career tour win, Koepka managed to lose 1.045 strokes with his putter. How exactly is that possible when you shoot a 65?

For, arguably, the turning point of his victory, however, Koepka didn’t have to worry about his putter at all. After hitting a 3-wood off the tee on the short par-4 17th, Koepka’s ball landed short right of the green, leaving him 97 feet from the hole. Koepka took out a wedge and proceeded to chip and run his second shot, the ball looking like it was bound for the hole the instance it hit the putting green.

Sure enough, it went dark …

Rising to the occasion. ? pic.twitter.com/Zi61PBPPmU

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 7, 2021

Here’s a look from another angle:

?️ FOR THE LEAD.@BKoepka chips in for eagle on 17 to take a two-shot lead. ?#AonRiskReward pic.twitter.com/tWYQx8kQsv

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 7, 2021

The eagle 2, his second eagle of the round, jumped Koepka from a tie for the lead at 17 under to two strokes out from at 19 under. It was the cushion he’d need as Xander Schauffele and K.H. Lee would both get to 18 under, falling one shot short of catching Koepka.

The post Watch Brooks Koepka’s 97-foot eagle chip-in on the 17th that propelled him to victory at TPC Scottsdale appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
“Who could lose this the least?” asked NBC’s David Feherty on Sunday as he assessed the proceedings in the final round of what was turning out to be the Wasted Shots Phoenix Open.

Then Brooks Koepka stepped up and said, “Hold my Mic Ultra.”

With two eagles in the final round, including a chip-in from 97 feet at the short par-4 17th hole, Koepka established a measure of order to what had been an inexplicably chaotic final day in the Waste Management Phoenix Open (the proper name) at TPC Scottsdale. The four-time major winner, who had missed his last three cuts (a first in his career), re-established his competitive bona fides with a six-under 65 for his first victory in more than 18 months.

After battling through a nagging knee and hip injuries and just weeks after parting with his swing coach, Claude Harmon III, Koepka captured his eighth PGA Tour title and first since he outdueled Rory McIlroy to win the 2019 WGC-Fed Ex St. Jude Invitational, also shooting 65 in the final round at TPC Southwind.

“This is probably my favourite win to date, just because of everything I’ve had to go through,” he said after his rally from five strokes back, which tied for the largest comeback in the last three seasons.

Koepka, who led the field in greens in regulation, became only the fourth player to win at TPC Scottsdale after beginning the final round outside the top five on the leader board. He completed 72 holes in 19-under 265, one stroke ahead of Xander Schauffele and K.H. Lee. Schauffele, who began the day tied with Jordan Spieth and three ahead of the rest of the field, was relegated to his eighth runner-up finish since his last win at the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

The measure of Koepka as a stone-cold hard-ass was evident not with his chip-in for the lead, but for his second shot into the green at the par-5 15th hole. Playing partner James Hahn, who held a three-stroke lead with eight to go, had just hooked his second shot into the water. Hitting next, Koepka blistered a 6-iron from 239 yards just over the flag, setting up an 18-footer for eagle. Ruthless stuff. He two-putted for birdie to climb into a share of the lead.

“I live for those moments where you’ve got to close, you got to hit some quality shots, quality putts,” said Koepka, who admitted that the limited number of fans in attendance still made a big difference to his demeanour. “I don’t know, I just like showing off, I guess.”

Xander Schauffele hits his approach shot on the 14th hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Christian Petersen

The win came at the site of his first tour title in 2015. The first win is monumental for any player And, yet, this one obviously meant more. Koepka admitted that he’d gone through some dark places and wondered if he’d ever be “the same competitor.”

Obviously, he is.

“A lot of hard work has gone into this, and I’m actually really proud of myself,” he said.

Xander seconds that (crummy) emotion
When you have more second-place finishes than any other player since the start of the 2017-18 season, of course the first emotion that comes to mind when you fall just short again is “frustration,” which Schauffele expressed after losing to Koepka by one stroke.

For those keeping track, that’s 10 runner-up finishes in the last three-plus seasons for the California native, including three already this season and his second in a row. Second place in that category is World No. 1 Dustin Johnson with seven, but he has collected quite a few wins in that span, including the 2020 Masters in November.

A four-time tour winner, Schauffele is seeking answers, but he seemed to identify where to look after shooting an even-par 71 on Sunday.

“He’s a great example,” Schauffele, ranked fourth in the world, said of Koepka. “Won four majors, true champion and it shows. Hasn’t been in great form, comes out here, and wins a tournament. There is a lot to be said for him and his recipe for winning. Me and my team are trying to figure it out ourself. Another example is Dustin Johnson, where he said he hit some of the worst shots he’s hit in his career and walks out of there with a two-shot win [in Saudi Arabia].”

“Overall, I’m playing good golf,” he added. “I’m disappointed. I heard Jordan [Spieth] say that me and him could have made it a two-man race. If you told me I would shoot two under par out here to win the golf tournament, you know, it’s very doable after the first three rounds that I played.

“Winning is tough. I’ll lick my wounds and come back.”

James Hahn hits from a greenside bunker on the 12th hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. abbie parr

Speaking of wounds, James Hahn has a few
Hahn had a dream start to the final round followed by the most dispiriting finish for a guy playing on a major medical extension and is scratching for every FedEx Cup point he can get.

Hahn, who missed eight months in 2019 because of an elbow injury, birdied six of his first 10 holes for a three-stroke lead and then twice hit into the water on the final eight holes while playing them in four over par. Making matters worse was falling apart while paired with U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, who surged over that same stretch to end up T-4.

The silver lining: Hahn, who was seeking his third tour title, gathered 75 points for 10th place, and after his fourth top-10 of the season he has 382 points, more than enough to retain his card for the rest of the year. He closed with a two-under 69 and 15-under 269 total.

Not exactly worth doing another Gangnam Style dance, like he displayed on the 16th hole in 2013, but clearly the 39-year-old South Korea native from Northern California is moving in the right direction, notwithstanding his finish Sunday.

Carlos Ortiz hits his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Christian Petersen

Carlos recovers nicely
Gotta give some props to Carlos Ortiz, who posted a final-round 64 and sat around for some 90 minutes until someone usurped his clubhouse lead of 17 under par. Which happened to be Koepka.

The native of Mexico, who won his first PGA Tour event in November at the Vivint Houston Open, held a share of the 54-hole lead with eventual winner Patrick Reed at last week’s Farmer’s Insurance Open but dropped all the way to T-29 after skying to a 78. That’s not easy to shake off, but the sixth-year tour player tied for lowest score of the day (with Rory McIlroy) thanks to an eagle-par-birdie-birdie closing stretch.

“I’m trying to, you know, let things go, don’t let bad shots affect me,” said Ortiz, 29, who ended up T-4. “I think I’m way clearer the way I’m thinking around the golf course. I think that’s reflecting on the score, too.”

That 78 at Torrey Pines actually was out of character for Ortiz on Sundays of late. Starting with his closing 65 in Houston, Ortiz’s final-round cards read 65-66-74-64-78-64. Keep that up and more wins are surely coming. “It’s just weird; golf is weird sometimes,” he said. “Probably today I didn’t hit it the best. I don’t know, just somehow I just scored and made some good putts.”

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By Brian Wacker
Much like the Super Bowl, the playoff at the Waste Management Phoenix Open featured two opponents with contrasting styles of play. There was the long, sinewy power game of Tony Finau matched against the tactical beauty and terrific putting of Webb Simpson.

Golf has long proven there’s room for both at the top end of the sport, even in the current bomb-and-gouge climate that dominates the modern game. But upon closer examination, much like the other big game happening across the country in Miami, there was at least a little more similarity between the two than a passing glance would suggest.

Or it at least helped that Simpson could uncork a 318-yard drive down the middle on the first sudden-death playoff hole, leaving only a lob wedge into the 18th green at TPC Scottsdale to set up a 10-footer for birdie and the victory. Not bad for a guy who came into the week 160th on the PGA Tour in driving distance.

Three years ago, Simpson hired a trainer in an effort to try to keep up with the Joneses. Or at least guys named Brooks, Rory, Rahm, JT, DJ and Tiger. Those are the only players (mostly bombers) higher than Simpson in the Official World Golf Ranking after what was the sixth PGA Tour victory of his career and first since the 2018 Players.

“We set out on a journey to get longer, but very carefully because precision, accuracy, distance control is something for me that’s always been a strength and has to be a strength for me to play well, because I don’t hit it that far,” Simpson said. “We have picked up a mile-and-a-half to two miles an hour [clubhead speed] for the last two years and so we have made jumps. But I just didn’t want to do it overnight.”

Simpson has quietly spent the past few years working to get longer off the tee while maintaining his accuracy. (Steven Ryan)

To Simpson’s point, he ranked a modest 44th in driving distance this week, with an average of 303.4 yards off the tee. It was just far enough—especially when you’re third in fairways hit and fourth in greens in regulation.

“He’s gotten longer and more flexible,” said Paul Tesori, Simpson’s caddie, adding that a visit to Las Vegas at the start of the week to see Butch Harmon paid dividends, too. “We’re able to hit 3-wood on the last hole now, which has never looked good to him before, and have a sand wedge or lob wedge in.

“He’ll never be able to do what [the bombers] can do,” Tesori said, “but in his own way he has worked hard as he could. [It’s] all these little, small things, not necessarily to keep up, but if they keep pushing it, he needs to, too.”

The win was a punctuation to an incredible tear that the 34-year-old, who closed with a two-under 69, has been on since the middle of last summer. Over his last 10 starts, Simpson has seven top 10s, including four runner-up finishes.

On Sunday, it looked like he might be stuck with another second-place showing, particularly after hitting his tee shot in the water on the par-5 15th en route to a bogey, until a fantastic rally that included a big drive and clutch putting.

Trailing Finau by two with two holes to play, Simpson drove the green on the 332-yard par-4 17th after Finau had chosen to lay up and ended up in a fairway bunker. Simpson’s ball scooted onto the putting surface and two putts later, he had cut the deficit to one. Then Simpson split the fairway on 18 with a 315-yard tee shot to leave another wedge into the green.

Even then, though, it came down to putting. After Finau outdrove him by 50 yards, Simpson rolled in an 18-footer for birdie. Finau then missed a hard-breaking left-to-righter from nine feet that forced overtime.

Finau was hoping to finally grab his second PGA Tour win after 28 top-10 finishes since his lone victory in 2016. (Ben Jared/Getty Images)

On the extra hole, Simpson again found the fairway, while Finau tugged his tee shot into a bunker. Both men hit the green with their approach shots, but Finau slid his 19-footer by, while Simpson canned his 10-footer to end it.

For Finau, who remains stuck on one career PGA Tour victory, it was another case of what might have been. Over the last four years, the 30-year-old talent has 28 top-10 finishes but no wins. That includes six seconds.

“Coming down the stretch I had some looks,” said Finau, who closed with a final-round 70. “[Holes] 15, 16, 18, I had some looks to win the golf tournament, and they didn’t go my way today.”

For Simpson, things finally broke his way after his own stretch of close calls since the Players win nearly three years ago.

“It could have been easy for me to get down, but as you look at those tournaments, guys played great and that’s the way the game goes sometimes,” he said. “Sometimes you get handed a trophy, somebody bogeys a couple for you. But more times than not you’ve got to make birdies and those guys did it.”

Just the way Simpson did on Sunday.

Finau and Simpson shake hands on the 18th green at TPC Scottsdale. (Ben Jared/Getty Images)

The post By adding some power to his game, Webb Simpson has become one of golf’s most well-rounded players appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Harold Varner III delivered fans the greatest show on turf at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. And it had nothing to do with TPC Scottsdale’s 16th hole.

Varner, 29, opened up the event on Thursday with a par … and over the next two days, followed with 31 straight similar scores. For those of you scoring at home, that would be a whopping 32 pars, which set a PGA Tour record for most consecutive pars to start a tournament in the ShotLink era.

K.J. Choi was the previous title holder with 27 pars at the 2006 Colonial.

Frame this bad boy and put it in the Smithsonian.

Alas, some stars shine so bright they burn out in two wink’s of a coal miner’s eye. Varner’s golden quest was sidetracked at the 15th, where apparently the East Carolina product said “The hell with history” by making a birdie. The audacity. Worse, he followed with a bogey at the infamous 16th, moving him back to even for the event. Clearly, there are golf gods, and they are cruel.

It’s been an inauspicious start to 2020 for Varner, who missed cuts at the American Express and Farmers Insurance Open. Hopefully riding this magical train gets his season back on track.

The post Harold Varner III just broke an impressive, and slightly odd, PGA Tour record appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
Gary Woodland was practising at TPC Scottsdale on Sunday when the news of Kobe Bryant’s death broke. At first, he tried to figure out if it was real, then a wave of emotion swept over him.

Part of the reason: Woodland is himself a father of young children, and Bryant’s impact was transcendent.

“He shut the world down for a day,” Woodland said Wednesday. “It’s the people, the stories, and he’s one of those guys where I never met him, but I feel like I knew him. And that’s the impact I think that Amy’s had as well. People, even if you don’t know her, you felt like you know her.”

The Amy that Woodland was talking about is Amy Bockerstette.

It was a year ago at TPC Scottsdale where she and Woodland were introduced to one another on the famed 16th hole, through an arrangement by the PGA Tour. Bockerstette, 21, has Down syndrome and is the first person with the condition to have received an athletic scholarship to attend college, at Paradise Valley Community College in nearby Phoenix. On that day, Woodland asked Bockerstette if she’d like to hit a shot on the par 3 during the pro-am. She did, knocking her tee shot into a greenside bunker before getting up-and-down for par. Video of the moment went viral, and it has since been seen more than 44 million times.

Together again.

More to come.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/mvF82osceJ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 29, 2020

Wednesday, the two were reunited. A lot has changed in the 12 months since they met. Woodland is a major champion, having won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last June, and Bockerstette a celebrity with a foundation that launched in October that promotes golf instruction and play for people with intellectual disabilities.

“The impact of the U.S. Open was cool from a personal standpoint,” Woodland said. “It gives me a lot of confidence. I show up to golf tournaments, now I know I’m a major champion, I know I can beat the best players in the world any given week, so that’s special.

“From an impact that Amy’s had on me, that’s changed me in everyday life, being a positive attitude, loving people, staying in the moment. That will help you on and off the golf course anywhere you go. That’s the way I try to live right now. I’m trying to instill that in my kids, and my family, and that’s because spending time with her.”

Which brings us, for a moment, back to the sudden and tragic death of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter GiGi and the seven others, including three other teenagers, who perished in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles on Sunday morning.

Bryant was the father of four girls—a #girldad, another item that went viral after ESPN anchor Elle Duncan’s emotional moment talking about the one time she’d met Bryant and their bonding over being parents of girls. And Woodland is the father of two girls, after his wife, Gabby, gave birth to twins last summer, as well as a boy, 2-year-old Jaxson, who was born in 2017 when Woodland’s wife was again due with twins but lost a girl during pregnancy.

“It’s been an emotional week,” Woodland said. “When I think of Kobe now, I think of the images of him with his daughter, with Gigi, on the basketball court, talking to her, getting back into the game because of her and the love she had for it.

“I’ve looked up to Kobe my whole life. I grew up in that generation with him dominating, so I’ve always wanted to be him, the way he worked on the basketball court, I wanted his work ethic. … Looking at him the last couple years, I want to be like him as a father. I want to be able to spend time with my kids.”

Which is why on Tuesday Woodland brought his son onto the golf course with him for the first time during his practice round. Bryant’s passing was a cruel reminder of the fragility of life.

It was also a reminder of the impact he had, much the same way he had on Bockerstette and in turn Bockerstette had on him.

“I don’t know the impact that I’ve had on that compared to the impact she’s had. It’s been unbelievable,” Woodland said. “Everywhere I go I hear, ‘I got this,’ [and] people come up to me, I have adults come up to me crying because they have seen the video and they know somebody that has Down syndrome or it’s been, the impact that it’s had on other people has been tremendous. I had a kid come up to me in Maui this year after Saturday. I was going through the autograph line signing autographs talking to some kids and a kid came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I want to let you know I have special needs and I saw the video that you did with Amy and it makes me believe that I can be a normal kid.’ I got emotional there.

“That’s what it’s all about.”

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“I’ve never cried for another man that I’d never even met before,” Thomas said Tuesday at the Waste Management Open. “He was my favourite player.”

Bryant’s impact was transcendent and tributes have continued to pour in since the 41-year-old Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash Sunday morning in Calabasas, Calif. Jon Rahm posted an emotional video message on his Instagram on Sunday night after his runner-up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open. Tony Finau, who grew up a Lakers fan and whose mother died in a car accident in 2011, wrote about the joy and inspiration he received from watching Bryant. Others paid their respects after learning of the stunning news as well.

This week at TPC Scottsdale, Thomas will pay tribute to Bryant in a few ways. Each of his wedges is stamped with a different homage — “81 points” for the number of points Bryant scored against the Raptors in 2006; “Mamba Mentality,” a nod to Bryant’s nickname and approach to basketball; “Black Mamba” for his nickname; and his full name, “Kobe Bean Bryant.” His Scotty Cameron also features a purple and gold headcover with “RIP GiGi” and “RIP Kobe” written in black magic marker on it.

Thomas also brought a couple of Bryant jerseys with him, including one from Bryant’s alma mater, Lower Merion High School, in Philadelphia, that he’ll wear on the 16th hole during Wednesday’s pro-am.

Given the indelible mark Bryant’s left on so many, Thomas likely won’t be the only player this week to honour the late legend. It’s also likely that a tribute will be held during next month’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, about 20 miles south of where the crash occurred and 15 miles east of the Lakers’ home at the Staples Center.

“He had that kind of impact,” Thomas said of Bryant. “It sucks.”

The post Justin Thomas unveils touching tributes to Kobe Bryant at Waste Management Phoenix Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
Eight years ago Jarrod Lyle produced one of the more memorable shots in the history of the Phoenix Open, acing the iconic par-3 16th at TPC Scottsdale during the second round of the 2011 tournament.

The shot, which he hit with an 8-iron on the 163-yard hole and took a couple of bounces before rolling into the cup, naturally sent the crowd into a frenzy. It was also the first hole-in-one of Lyle’s career.

Now the moment will be commemorated each year in honour of Lyle, who passed away at age 36 last August after a nearly two-decades-long battle with leukaemia.

During Saturday’s third round of this year’s tournament, a temporary memorial will be placed at 16, with a replica of Lyle’s Titleist staff bag filled with replica clubs, including the 8-iron he used that day, along with his signature yellow bucket hat draped on top. A round plaque, painted yellow and with the Australian flag, will be placed nearby as well. It reads: “In memory of Jarrod Lyle,” with the words “Hole-in-one, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011, 9:16 a.m., 150 yards, 8 iron. Rest in Peace” engraved around the edge.

A permanent marker will also be placed on the 16th tee to celebrate the eight other aces made there, including the most famous of all by Tiger Woods in 1997.

As for what Lyle remembered of his own memorable moment?

“It was a perfect shot,” he said at the time. “I didn’t know what to do, what to say and to do it on 16 in Phoenix was pretty special. It’s something I’m going to remember forever.”

Now everyone else will, too.

The post Monument erected at TPC Scottsdale’s 16th hole to honour Jarrod Lyle and tournament aces appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Allen Kenitzer of the Federal Aviation Administration says the small plane went down in Scottsdale around 9 p.m. The plane, a Piper PA24, appeared to catch fire upon ascent.

“We do know the flight originated at Scottsdale Airport, and it appears it went down shortly after takeoff,’’ said Scottsdale police spokesperson Kevin Watts. No one on the ground was injured.

The crash happened at the home of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, one of the more popular tournaments on the PGA Tour. The site of the accident was on the Champions Course, one of two courses at the property. The tour event is played on the Stadium Course.

The post Six dead in plane crash at TPC Scottsdale, home of Waste Management Phoenix Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Playoff winner Gary Woodland, runner-up Chez Reavie, and Ollie Schniederjans and Brendan Steele, who both tied for third, shot closing rounds of 64, 66, 65 and 67, respectively. Fowler shot 73—the highest score of anyone in the top 25. For the fifth time in six career tries, he was unable to close out a final-round lead in a tour event. Not exactly a Super Sunday.

More annoyingly, Fowler has always loved the TPC Scottsdale, dating back to when he was given a sponsor’s exemption in 2009 while an undergraduate at Oklahoma State. He has finished second twice—including a loss to Hideki Matsuyama in a four-hole playoff two years ago. He had shot 11 straight rounds under-par on the course until Sunday.

Truthfully, Fowler’s inability to close the deal on this particular Sunday in Phoenix doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. What matters more is where he’s headed as he closes in on his 30th birthday—which will come this December.

By almost any measure, Fowler is about as successful as anyone on the planet, whether they play golf or not. He’s extraordinarily wealthy; he’s movie-star handsome; he’s among the very best in the world at his job and everyone—EVERYONE—likes him.

Which may be part of the problem.     

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Fowler’s Sunday 73 at TPC Scottsdale was unexpected considering he’d shot 11 straight sub-par rounds on the course

Fowler has won four times on the PGA Tour and twice more in important events on the European Tour. He has a flair for the dramatic. His first PGA Tour victory came in 2012 at the Wells Fargo Championship in, when he beat Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points in a playoff by almost holing out for birdie on the difficult 18th hole at Quail Hollow. Three years later, after his swing coach, Butch Harmon, presented him a copy of an anonymous player poll in which he and Ian Poulter were chosen the most overrated players in the game, he put on a miraculous charge at TPC Sawgrass to win the Players Championship, the biggest victory to date in his nine-year pro career.

Related: Ranking Rickie’s blown 54-hole leads from ‘not his fault’ to ‘should’ve won’

Fowler had gone to work with Harmon at the beginning of 2014, because he wasn’t happy with a record that included just the one win at Charlotte and two top-10 finishes in 16 major starts. And the instructor’s presence paid instant dividends. Fowler finished in the top five in all four majors in 2014, seriously contending at the Open Championship (T-2) and the PGA (T-3). He was also T-2 at the U.S. Open, albeit eight strokes behind Martin Kaymer.

In 2015, he won the Players; the Scottish Open and a PGA Tour playoff event in Boston. Last year, he won the Honda Classic early and was in contention going into Sunday at the U.S. Open. Brooks Koepka shot 67 that day at Erin Hills to blow by everyone and win by four. Fowler shot a disappointing 72 and finished tied for fifth. And then, at the PGA he back-doored another T-5, shooting 67 on Sunday while his buddy Justin Thomas walked off with the Wanamaker Trophy.

Big paychecks. Lots of TV time. Making friends on the course, in the locker room and wherever he goes. Fowler’s also been a very good Ryder Cup player, chosen in 2010 as a tour rookie because U.S. captain Corey Pavin was told he would be great in the team room.

Which, again, may be part of the problem.

OK, so how can being a terrific player beloved by everyone, popular with corporate America as anyone, blessed with a smile that makes women go weak at the knees, possibly be wrong?

How about this: He’s too nice.

Fowler is always the guy waiting behind the 18th green to congratulate his buddies after big wins. He was there for Jimmy Walker when he won the PGA at Baltusrol; he’s been there for Jordan Spieth at Birkdale and he (and Spieth) were there for Thomas at Quail Hollow. Fowler must be—should be—sick and tired of talking about how happy he is watching his friends walk off with major hardware.

That’s not to say it isn’t great for golf that the 20-something stars genuinely get along and are a classy group. It’s worth remembering that Spieth, after missing the playoff by one shot at the Open at St. Andrews in 2015, came back to greet the three players going through the extra holes after he’d finished his post-round media visits.

But there’s steel in Spieth, as he’s proved by winning three major championships and 11 times on tour before the age of 25. The same is true of Rory McIlroy, as kind a person as there is in the game, except when he smells a major victory.

Davis Love III is in the World Golf Hall of Fame. He won 21 times on tour, including the 1997 PGA. And yet, if you talk to other players, they’ll tell you if Love wasn’t one of the world’s nicest people, he might have won twice as much. If Tiger Woods would step on your neck to beat you, Love would be the guy calling 911 to get you help.    

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It’s hard to fault Fowler’s charm and good-guy demeanor, but it could work against him on the course, too.

It’s worth remembering that there were plenty of similar questions raised about Phil Mickelson when he was Fowler’s age. Mickelson had won 13 times on tour by then but still didn’t have a major title. It wasn’t until the 2004 Masters, a couple of months before Lefty turned 34 that he finally broke through on one of the four Sundays that decide a player’s legacy. From there, he’s gone on to win five majors in all and is just a U.S. Open short of the career grand slam.

Fowler’s not likely to match Mickelson’s 42 PGA Tour wins but there’s still plenty of time for him to transform from being a very good and very wealthy player to a Hall of Famer. After finally breaking through at Augusta, Mickelson later admitted that he’d gotten sick and tired of hearing he was just good enough to lose majors.

Perhaps what Fowler needs is to get angry, something that should come naturally when you’ve had the 54-hole lead in a PGA Tour event six times now but only converted one of them into a win (2017 Honda). He doesn’t have to throw a public tantrum. A private one might do just fine.

He’s proven repeatedly that he has the talent to compete with anyone in the world. His closing 61 at Tiger Woods’ event in the Bahamas in December most recently speaks to that. He’s proven he can contend in majors and withstand the crucible of the Ryder Cup. But does he have enough of a mean streak to go the next level? He’s a very good and successful player now. And a sweetheart of a guy.

He is not, however, a champion … yet.

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