By Ryan Herrington
JUNO BEACH, Fla. — The Walker Cup had been the end goal for several months now for Tyler Strafaci, the place where the reigning U.S. Amateur champion would make his amateur swansong after an memorable nine-month stretch following his victory at Bandon Dunes. Now, it’s unclear whether he’ll get a chance to play at all in the two-day competition at Seminole Golf Club after needing to go to the hospital for precautionary reasons on Saturday afternoon.

Strafaci later returned to the course to watch the competition and said, “I really wanted to contribute. I just felt like I couldn’t give it my all today. … I wasn’t feeling up to it.

“It’s tough. I wanted to go out. I’ve been playing all my life for this. [But] I couldn’t have walked 18 holes.”

Like many on both the American and Great Britain & Ireland teams, Strafaci was stricken by a stomach bug that made his participation in the matches questionable. He started feeling sick on Thursday, arriving late at the course on Friday to practice a bit in the afternoon. On Saturday, he was a spectator watching the morning foursomes matches, but captain Nathaniel Crosby had him in the afternoon singles lineup, seemingly indicating that he was feeling well enough to play.

Yet while warming up on the driving range about a half hour before his 3:03 p.m. match against Ben Jones, he started feeling sick again. Strafaci sat down on a bench at the end of the range while medical personnel administer IV fluid to him. Teammate William Mouw was quickly summoned to the range to start to warm up as a potential replacement.

Strafaci got up and tried to hit a couple more golf balls, but after talking to U.S. Walker Cup team officials, the decision was made to substitute Mouw, a relaxation of the rules around the Walker Cup that had been allowed this week because of the fact that upwards of 15 players and both captains have been hit with the virus.

As a precaution, USGA officials said Strafaci was taken to a local hospital to receive more fluids.

In Strafaci’s place, Mouw dominated Jones, winning 4 and 3.

After winning the Havemeyer Trophy last August, Strafaci decided to forgo a fifth year of college golf at Georgia Tech, instead taking advantage of the spoils of being U.S. Amateur champion. He has played in two PGA Tour events (missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open and withdrawing after a round at the Genesis Invitational) as well as competing in last month’s Masters, where he also missed the cut. The dry run on tour was all in preparation for turning pro, with his scheduled debut to come next week at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Strafaci also has an exemption into the U.S. Open in June, thanks to his U.S. Amateur win.

The post Tyler Strafaci scratched from Walker Cup, goes to hospital with illness appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
Is it possible that the trio of amateurs in the 2021 Masters field—Tyler Strafaci, Joe Long and Ollie Osborne—might find themselves a bit lonely this week? After all, just once in tournament history has the number of play-for-pride participants competing at Augusta National been this small. That happened in 2008, when Colt Knost won the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links the previous summer, events where the winner gets an invitation to Augusta, but decided to turn pro that winter, forgoing his spot and leaving a trio to compete that April.

This year’s reduced amateur field is the result of the cancellation of the U.S. Mid-Amateur, Asia-Pacific Amateur and Latin America Amateur in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The good news for those who are here? Their chances of claiming low amateur honours at Augusta improved by twofold.

Mind you, for any of them to get to sit beside Masters chairman Fred Ridley in Butler Cabin with the eventual tournament winner on Sunday will require they make the cut, something that at least one amateur has done at Augusta in 10 of the past 11 years. But none of this trio has ever made the cut in a pro tournament. Osborne competed in the 2019 Barracuda Championship and Strafaci has played four PGA Tour events, including two this year in which he missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open and played just one round at the Genesis Invitational before withdrawing due to a collarbone injury that has lingered until recently.

“I’ve been having kind of a pitch count. I’ve been hitting maybe 20, 30 balls a day for the last two or three weeks,” Strafaci said. “But I’m hitting it really good. I feel healthy. My mind is clear, and so there’s no excuses for playing bad golf this week. I mean, I put all my work in. I fully expect to go out and compete.”

As is often the case, the main road block for the amateurs competing at Augusta isn’t experience so much as nerves. How do they handle the emotions of competing in a tournament that many of spent a lifetime dreaming of? Then again, that’s not confined to the amateurs in the field, but the pros as well

So who among the three is most capable of playing 72 holes this week? Here’s a peek at the players, in alphabetical order, along with a look at their chances of making the cut.

Joe Long, 23, England
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 46
How he qualified: British Amateur champ
Odd of making the cut: 10-1

Skinny: Kudos to the Englishman for taking a healthy approach to his practice rounds this week at Augusta National. The inclination for a first-timer is to jam as many holes in during practice rounds as possible to grab any last bits of local knowledge. The problem with that strategy is that you start the tournament with a tank that’s closer to empty than full. Long, however, has played just nine holes Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. (Mind you he did play four practice rounds two weeks ago.) That doesn’t mean he won’t be feeling the nerves come Thursday.

Kevin C. Cox

“It’s a new experience for me. I haven’t really played many courses like this before,” said Long, who won the British Amateur last June at Royal Birkdale. “Played a few in Australia, but it’s all kind of new. Playing in front of people, as well, is a new experience, as well. Kind of just trying to soak it all in and keep progressing really.”

When Long says it’s a new experience, it really is a new experience. He’s never played a golf tournament in the U.S. “My first full 18 holes was actually at Augusta National, which is, yeah, pretty special,” Long said.

• • •

Charles “Ollie” Osborne, 21, Reno, Nev.
WAGR: 247
How he qualified: U.S. Amateur runner-up
Odd of making the cut: 12-1

Skinny: The SMU junior has won two college tournaments during his career and is a mainstay in the Mustangs lineup, but has admitted to struggling to focus this spring in college events (73.57 stroke average) knowing the incredible opportunity that awaits. Osborne does have experience playing PGA Tour events, albeit just one: the Barracuda Championship, where he missed the cut, but that occurred in 2019.

Mike Ehrmann

Offsetting the inexperience has been Osborne’s relationship with fellow SMU alum Bryson DeChambeau, who he played a practice round with and who has been open on offering advice. “He’s taught me a lot how to go about this week and kind of take it all in and have fun with it and kind of how to do my best, too,” Osborne said. “It’s hard to treat it like a regular week, of course, but kind of go back to hitting those putts that you do every day, those five-footers and kind of moving back and forth between that.”

• • •

Tyler Strafaci, 22, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
WAGR: 11
How he qualified: U.S. Amateur winner|
Odd of making the cut: 6-1

Skinny: Strafaci’s golf background has been well-chronicled, including his grandfather, Frank Sr., getting invited twice to play in the tournament. He has the most tour-ready game of the three. And might the Georgia Tech halo help him out this week? When Yellow Jackets Matt Kuchar (1997) and Andy Ogletree (2019) won the U.S. Amateur to get into the Masters, they both then earned low amateur honours the following April. Plus Strafaci and Ogletree were roommates in college for three years, Ogletree sharing notes throughout Strafaci’s run-up to this week’s tournament. And part of his advice?

Kevin C. Cox

“Go have fun. That’s pretty much all it is. I’m not going to be … I’m competing for the love of the game this week, which is great. I’m an amateur. That’s a great thing about the Masters. Me, Joe Long and Ollie, we’re going to have a great opportunity to just compete and have fun with nothing to lose.”

MORE MASTERS 2021 STORIES FROM GOLF DIGEST:
A comprehensive history of every change made to Augusta National Golf Club
Bryson DeChambeau still intends to take down Augusta. But here’s how he’s changing his plan of attack
Augusta National’s most under-the-radar champions
A newly discovered letter from Bobby Jones reveals he might’ve had a different architect in mind for Augusta National
Augusta National as a ‘shotmaker’s course?’ Maybe not
Collin Morikawa’s yardage book reveals the work pros put in to prep for Augusta National

The post Everything you need to know about the three amateurs competing at Augusta National appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
BANDON, Ore. — It was a scene out of fiction, a gorgeously sunny day turned damp and gloomy, the fog having crept onto the cliffs and blanketed the Bandon Dunes Golf Course. In the eeriness, a movie of Tyler Strafaci’s making was playing in his head. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, visualizing the 4-iron shot that he was about to strike on the 36th hole in the final of the U.S. Amateur Championship.

“I said, ‘This is your time to hit a winning shot. Go get it,’ ” Strafaci recalled later when darkness had descended on the Oregon coast. “I’ve done it a bunch of times back home, and I knew I could execute it, and I trusted myself, and I did it.”

Strafaci powered a draw into the mist and exclaimed, “Oh, please be good!” When a handful of onlookers near the green cheered, he knew he’d reached the par 5 in two, settling 14 feet from the hole. It was the shot of Strafaci’s life, and in the fog, considering the pressure cooker of the circumstances, it’s likely one of the greatest on a finishing hole in the 120-year history of America’s national championship.

When opponent Charles (Ollie) Osborne, who had fought back in the tremendous match by winning the 34th and 35th holes, couldn’t get up and down for birdie, the 20-year-old from Reno, Nev., conceded the last, and Strafaci took the match, 1 up, without rolling a final putt.

It was a fittingly dramatic ending to a tremendous contest in which the combatants combined for 25 birdies and one eagle, including concessions. In the morning alone, they would have shot 60 in best ball.

“Oh please be good! Come on! Oh yeah!”

What a shot! @TyStrafaci with the RIPPED 4-iron to ? range. #USAmateur pic.twitter.com/wjUioHA5QN

— USGA (@USGA) August 17, 2020

“Ollie played spectacularly,” said Frank Strafaci Jr., who caddied for his son for the 159 holes he played over seven days. “I don’t know what they’re saying, but this has to be one of the best-played finals in U.S. Amateur history.”

Tyler Strafaci, whose amateur and college career at Georgia Tech was extended by the coronavirus pandemic, earned the right to lift the Havemeyer Trophy that eluded his highly accomplished grandfather, Frank Strafaci Sr. Eighty-five years ago, the eldest Strafaci captured his only USGA title, the U.S. Amateur Public Links.

“This trophy has been the holy grail for my family for over 80 years,” said Frank Strafaci Jr., 62. “And it’s something that my father always felt was an empty spot in his competitive career. It’s something that meant a lot to him, and I can genuinely say that he would have preferred Tyler to win it.”

Steven Gibbons
Tyler Strafaci with his caddie/father, Frank Strafaci, as they walk together during the final match of the U.S. Amateur.

RELATED: Golfer makes 102-yard hole-in-one at Sheep Ranch … with her putter!

On the 18th green, Tyler Strafaci bear-hugged and lifted off the ground 2021 U.S. Walker Cup captain Nathanial Crosby, the 1981 U.S. Amateur champion. With the triumph, Strafaci automatically makes the American Walker Cup team for the matches against Great Britain & Ireland next May at Seminole Golf Club in Strafaci’s home state of Florida.

“My grandfather was born in America, and during the late ’30s he was the best amateur golfer in the world—no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Tyler Strafaci said. “And for him not to be selected on that Walker Cup team, it kind of hit home hard with him. It’s a different day and age now, but he kind of held that deep inside him. That’s why I always wanted to be the first Strafaci to make a Walker Cup.

“It’s been a rough couple years,” he added, “because I’ve been pretty close to it, and now that I’m on that team, I feel like I’ve made him proud, and I feel like it’s just unbelievable.”

Strafaci has worn the family name with pride at times while feeling a pressure he may not have been able to acknowledge until he captured this summer’s North and South Amateur, a prestigious tournament his grandfather won twice in the 1930s.

“I think he found out this summer that he belongs,” said Georgia Tech head coach Bruce Heppler, who flew overnight on Saturday from Atlanta to attend the final and see U.S. Amateur and Yellow Jackets history. No other university has had two different players win back-to-back titles, with teammate Andy Ogletree winning a year ago a Pinehurst.

Reflecting on the family legacy on Sunday, Tyler said, “Later in my high school career, when I started playing amateur events and U.S. Amateurs and the North and South, and I had 20 people and cameras following, I don’t think I was ready to handle it—until about six months ago. To be able to do what I did and kind of overcome all that pressure and stuff, I’ve grown up and kind of compartmentalized a lot of stuff, and I got it done.”

Steven Gibbons
Ollie Osborne plays his second shot to the 11th hole during the final round at the 2020 U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes.

There was plenty of packaging things into various boxes in the Bandon Dunes final. There were the first 12 holes in the morning, when Osborne and his hot putter seized a 5-up lead with seven birdies—only one of them conceded.

Was Strafaci rattled? No, he said flatly, “Never a doubt.”

He backed up that bravado by storming back to win four of the last six holes in the morning to be only 1 down heading into a 90-minute lunch break.

When Strafaci won the 20th hole with a birdie 2 he completed the comeback, and on the 25th hole he seized his first lead with another birdie.

Then the fog rolled in and the match got wild. Osborne tied it with a birdie 4 on the 31st hole, but Strafaci countered with what would have been the shot of the tournament if not for his 4-iron at the last. Strafaci said he didn’t catch all of his tee shot at the par-4 14th—playing at 315 yards in the afternoon—but he still drove the green, his ball catching a slope and cozying up to six feet from the cup. And after Osborne made a tremendous up-and-down for birdie, Strafaci drained the eagle putt to retake the lead.

“To be able to clutch up on top of him was pretty cool,” Strafaci said.

Steven Gibbons
Tyler Strafaci plays his shot out of the fairway bunker at the 16th hole of the morning portion of the U.S. Amateur final.

The lead went to 2 up at the par-3 15th when Osborne overcooked his 7-iron to a tough lie down a slope and conceded after needing three shots to reach the putting surface. But then Strafaci made two big mistakes that led to the match becoming tied again—driving into a fairway bunker on the par-4 16th when he could have chosen to lay up, and not having enough club to clear the canyon on his approach at the 17th.

So, Strafaci had to stare down the par-5 18th hole again. He was forced to play it in his previous three matches—proof of his grinding wins.

“Coach [Heppler] today after my first 18, he came up to me and pretty much told me, ‘You know how to play 18. If it comes down to it, you’ve won it [three] times in a row; do it again. I did it,” Strafaci said.

Frank Strafaci marveled at the 4-iron shot from his son pulled off from more than 225 yards and recalled what he and his wife, Jill, saw in Tyler when he was a kid.

“He’d hit a shot like that and we’d go, ‘There’s something about him, something special,” the father said. “He just did things … we’d look at each other and say, ‘That’s not us; that’s all him.”

It’s all Tyler Strafaci now, and he’s got a USGA trophy to call his very own.

The post Tyler Strafaci comes up clutch on 36th hole, wins U.S. Amateur to add to his family lore appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
BANDON, Ore. — In this case, it’s truly like father, like son.

When Tyler Strafaci and Charles (Ollie) Osborne tee it up against each other in the 36-hole championship match of the 120th U.S. Amateur on Sunday at Bandon Dunes, their personalities and approaches to the pressure they face will be markedly different. Not only in their own demeanours, but those of their caddies—both of whom happen to be their dads.

Frank Strafaci Jr. is a fast-talking, edgy son of a New Yorker with longish gray hair who hails from a deeply accomplished golf family. There’s a certain amount of, say, confidence that goes along with that. Steve Osborne speaks softly and deliberately, just as you might expect from an attorney by profession. You’re probably not going to see him pounding his fist on a table in the courtroom like the lawyers do on television.

“My wife’s Italian. She’s the animated one,” Steve said with a grin late on Saturday afternoon.

Ollie Osborne is decidedly not cartoonish, which is why his family dubbed him the “Silent Assassin” when he’s on the golf course. “He’ll be walking up the fairway, talking to no one, but he will beat you,” his dad said with pride.

Tyler Strafaci, 22 and a rising fifth-year senior at Georgia Tech, doesn’t mask his emotions or thoughts, explaining about his near-collapse in the semifinals on Saturday, “I wasn’t responding to it well. I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t do well with it. I was telling my dad there was a lot of negative self-talk.”

The golfers are opposites to be sure, but that makes their first meeting of any kind all the more compelling, as does what is on the line for each of them if they can claim their first U.S. Amateur title. Strafaci got choked up after his 1-up semifinal victory over Aman Gupta when reminded that just by reaching the finals he’d made the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and likely will get an invitation to next year’s Masters, which his grandfather, Frank Strafaci Sr., played in three times. “So cool, awesome,” he said after pausing to collect his emotions.

Said Osborne, after he’d beaten Matthew Sharpstene, 4 and 2, “It’s kind of unbelievable. I can’t believe that I’m here. It’s just cool how this week has gone for me, and I’m excited to be in it.”

RELATED: Golfer makes 102-yard hole-in-one at Sheep Ranch … with her putter!

A 20-year-old from Reno, Nev., who will be a junior this fall at SMU, Osborne looked doomed to not make it out of stroke play when he got the field’s toughest draw for the first round—wind-swept Bandon Dunes on Monday—and shot 77.

“We had a little talk about how he has to just … feel that calmness within himself,” Steve Osborne said. “He’s at his best when he’s that way. Whenever he plays with me, he knocks my socks off. I told him to just pretend you’re playing dad.”

Osborne responded the next day by tying the Bandon Trails course record with a 64. His run through match play thus far has been one of domination, with only his first-round match reaching the 18th hole. On Saturday, in the most benign conditions of the week, Osborne was 1 down to Sharpstene after losing the seventh hole, but countered with four birdies while winning six of his final nine holes.

“This week, I’ve just been looking at this like I have nothing to lose, everything to gain,” Osborne said. “I try to be as aggressive as possible.”

Osborne, who won the AJGA’s 2017 Jordan Spieth Championship, has one college win and came into the week somewhat under the radar because of his place at No. 460 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. But he also advanced through two stages of qualifying to reach the PGA Tour’s 2019 Barracuda Championship, and while playing on his home course of Montreaux Country Club in Reno, he came up one point shy [with a double bogey on the 18th hole] of reaching the weekend in the modified Stableford format.

His dad also recalled that in SMU’s playoff to get into match play at the 2019 NCAA Championship, Osborne drained a 20-foot birdie that helped the Mustangs reach the final eight.

“The people who play him can see how good he is, and the best part is, he keeps working to get better,” Steve Osborne said. “When the top guys play him, they see it.”

Steven Gibbons
Tyler Strafaci and his caddie/father Frank Strafaci celebrate after he won his U.S. Amateur semifinal match.

Strafaci and Osborne hadn’t met until they greeted each other briefly on Saturday morning. Osborne figures to get a feel for his opponent early on Sunday. Strafaci, ranked No. 56 in the WAGR after winning this year’s North and South Amateur and Palmetto Amateur, has had a much more tumultuous route to the final. He was part of the rules snafu on Thursday when the caddie for Segundo Oliva Pinto brushed the sand on the 18th hole—a violation called out by the elder Stafaci that resulted in a lost hole and match.

In the quarterfinals, Strafaci twice lost a 2-up lead to mid-am Stewart Hagestad before prevailing on 18, and on Saturday, Strafaci stormed to a 4-up lead on Gupta, only to be caught by the 17th hole. He prevailed when Gupta drove into a bunker at 18 and took three shots to escape.

“Another weird finish. I don’t know how to describe it,” Tyler Stafaci said. “Still, it was a great match. I still played solid. [Sunday] I’ve got to do a better job if I get ahead to keep the pedal down.”

Strafaci admitted he had to overcome jangly nerves before he teed off. He said he spoke to former roommate and last year’s U.S. Amateur champ Andy Ogletree on Saturday morning. “I said, ‘Bro, I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty nervous. I’ve never been in this spot before.’” Strafaci said. “He was very good. He told me, ‘You just have to understand, the other guy is as nervous, if not more nervous, than you are.’ That kind of got me in a better mindset.”

Both finalists are playing with hope and expectations on their shoulders, provided by their universities’ rich tradition. Strafaci is seeking the fourth title for Georgia Tech, whose three champs include a legend, Bobby Jones [and his five U.S. Am wins]. SMU has four U.S. Amateur winners, with Bryson DeChambeau being the most recent in 2015.

Strafaci hung out and watched TV with the Havemeyer Trophy on the coffee table when he lived with Ogletree. Osborne has been bombarded with texts this week from some of the past Mustang champs, and, not surprisingly, he insists that doesn’t add to the pressure.

“It actually kind of calms me down to hear, and they are telling you that you’ve got the game, just kind of do you,” Osborne said.

Fathers and sons will no doubt be themselves on Sunday, and that’s all the theater we could ask for.

The post It will be a different kind of Father’s Day in U.S. Amateur finals appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
BANDON, Ore. — For most of his life, Tyler Strafaci has heard about the greatness of a man he never met. His grandfather, Frank Strafaci, died 10 years before Tyler was born, but he has loomed large in a golf-obsessed family because of the respect he earned as a person and a top-level amateur player.

On regular trips to play at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, Tyler’s dad, Frank Jr., made sure they always stopped to check out the locker with grandpa’s name on it—Frank Sr.’s reward for twice capturing the prestigious North and South Amateur in the late 1930s.

Never in his wildest dreams could Tyler have imagined sharing that feat with his grandfather, but he pulled it off July 5, wrapping up the North and South at Pinehurst No. 2 with a 3-and-1 win over 2019 U.S. Amateur semifinalist William Holcomb V. No other grandfather-grandson combo had done it.

Mission accomplished for one summer. Legacy fulfilled, right?

Not even close. Frank Strafaci Sr. also won a USGA title, the 1935 U.S. Amateur Public Links, and, with due respect, 85 years later his grandson has a chance to possibly one-up him. Tyler Strafaci is two match-play victories away from seizing the 120th U.S. Amateur Championship, with the first of those showdowns on Saturday at Bandon Dunes Golf Course.

The 22-year-old Strafaci, a Georgia Tech fifth-year senior from Davie, Fla., faces Oklahoma State rising junior Aman Gupta, 21, in one semifinal, with Charles (Ollie) Osborne, 20, taking on Matthew Sharpstene, 21, in the other match. The survivors meet in the 36-hole final on Sunday.

Steven Gibbons
Tyler Strafaci plays his third shot to the first hole during the quarterfinal round at the 2020 U.S. Amateur.

Strafaci advanced out of Friday’s quarterfinals by beating a player who has become a good friend—mid-amateur stalwart Stewart Hagestad, who pushed his young competitor to the par-5 18th, only for the 29-year-old to desperately lash a driver shot off the deck into a hazard, allowing Strafaci to close it out with a two-putt par.

“I thought I played fantastic,” Tyler Strafaci said. “I made some really good putts early on. I had three up-and-downs from a bunker in a row [at Nos. 3, 4, 5], and hit it [close] at 6 [to take his first lead].” Another strike he’ll remember—an “obliterated” 250-yard 5-iron that led to another birdie at 9 and a 2-up advantage.

Strafaci also had to deal with some adversity, suffering back-to-back bogeys that let Hagestad get tied through 15, only to have the older player push his approach to the right at 17 into a hazard, suffer bogey and drop 1-down again.

“I knew when I drew Ty that we were going to have a real tough one today,” Hagestad said. “He’s a good golfer, but he’s just such a mature person, and that comes from both his parents.

“His ranking [56 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings] doesn’t reflect what he is. He’s a stud.”

On the bag, keeping Tyler focused and upbeat while lending an ear to his frustrations has been his father, Frank Jr., an accomplished golfer who competed in a handful of USGA events. Frank, 62, hadn’t caddied much for Tyler since the junior golf days, but, as a Father’s Day gesture, the son asked his dad to loop in both the North and South and U.S. Amateur.

Frank was ready, having trimmed down by 30 pounds while riding a bike during the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s been great,” Tyler said of the teamwork. “Excuse my language, but I can bitch at him sometimes. If I’m stressed out there, he understands. He knows my game better than anybody. So I have him out there to calm me down.

“Usually,” Tyler admitted, “I haven’t liked him caddieing because we’d bicker back and forth. But he knows I’m at a level know where I’m in control of my game. Here’s there to push me along instead of teaching me. He’s there to reinforce and keep my head straight.”

The post U.S. Amateur triumph would add to Strafaci family’s deep golf legacy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we’re having second thoughts about intermittent fasting. While I’ve lost 10 pounds (Go, me!), Bryson DeChambeau has gained 40. Our golf games, however, are also going in opposite directions. Of course, Bryson’s weight doesn’t come from just stuffing his face (Shout-out to Pablo Sandoval), but from a calculated mix of protein shakes and well, more protein shakes. He could barely put the stuff down even while basking in the glow of his latest win.

So grab some whey and start mixing. We’ve got a lot to get to.

WE’RE BUYING

Bryson DeChambeau: The most talked-about golfer on the PGA Tour since the restart is now the tour’s best player as well. Regardless of weight class. DeChambeau entered the Rocket Mortgage Classic as a huge favourite. He left with a sixth career tour title and a seventh consecutive top 10 since supersizing himself. With his newfound length, the 26-year-old is just taunting golf course architects. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ross,” DeChambeau said referring to Donald Ross. “I didn’t mean to hit it over those bunkers all the time, but it just happened.” Hey, at least the young gun showed some respect by calling him Mr. Ross.

No, DeChambeau is not the first golfer to overpower golf courses (Jack, Tiger, Daly, Gilmore, among others), but no one has taken that focus quite to this extreme. Bryson making the 350-yard drive routine—he averaged 350.6(!) for the week—is like Stephen Curry making the 30-foot shot standard practice in the NBA. You now have to defend against it. And since golfers can’t play defence, their only way to keep up might be to eat up.

Shit just got real @b_dechambeau you better watch out cause this little whippersnapper will be within 75 of you in no time. ??‍ pic.twitter.com/jysRuzSLeD

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) July 6, 2020

And if I ever redo my PGA Tour Content Kings ranking, this guy is going straight to the top. There is always something to talk/write about with him, whether it’s what he’s eating or wearing or saying. DeChambeau may not always endear himself to golf fans, but they are clearly fascinated by him.

Will Zalatoris: Introducing the latest in a long line of Wake Forest golf greats (Go Deacs). Like Bryson on the big boy tour, this young man had strung together an impressive run of high finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour before finally winning at the TPC Colorado Championship. Such an important victory would normally mean we’d see him on the PGA Tour next season, but well, this is not your typical season. With the way he’s rolling, though, the three-win battlefield promotion isn’t out of the question.

.@WillZalatoris' #KornFerryTour results this season …

T4
T23
T34
T9
T26
T6
T3
4th
?

First professional victory @TPC_ColoradoHL.

Earned. pic.twitter.com/REe1gpEbK4

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) July 5, 2020

Tom Brady’s golf swing: It looks like Tom got a swing tip from Phil Mickelson at The Match, because, well, wow:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCV3LhwlgIR/?utm_source=ig_embed

If there’s ever a rematch, Tiger and Peyton might be in trouble.

The Golf Ball Fairy: There’s a small town in Pennsylvania where a mystery person has been leaving golf balls in bulk all over the place. For two years.

Would picking up golf balls on a daily basis be annoying to some? Sure. But think of all the money avid golfers living there have saved!

WE’RE SELLING

Bryson’s detractors: The haterz keep shifting the goal posts as DeChambeau keeps producing strong performances. After he ripped off six consecutive top 10s it was, “Yeah, but he isn’t winning!” After his seventh consecutive top 10 was that precision win, it was, “Yeah, but it was against a weak field and not a major!” I can’t wait until he wins the Masters and people point out August National doesn’t have real rough. It’s almost enough to make me feel bad for the guy. Almost …

Bryson’s cameraman comments: And then DeChambeau did something like this. Complaining about a cameraman doing, well, his job. And then not really apologizing about it after. And then doubling down on the flimsy apology following his win. Not great for the brand. Speaking of which …

Bryson’s Saturday shirt: Bryson wore a shirt with math equations on it. Because he’s THE SCIENTIST. Get it?!

wait wait wait wait wait pic.twitter.com/P7hi6NjitV

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) July 4, 2020

I actually kinda dig how the shirt looks from far away, but this is a bit much. Perhaps, because I never want to think about calculus again.

Matthew Wolff’s Sunday: I also never want to think again about how much money I missed out on because of Wolff’s disappointing final round. But while it’s still fresh, my $10 on Wolff at 125-to-1 odds would have practically covered this summer’s golf trip. However, it wasn’t meant to be as Wolff blew his three-shot lead through 54 holes in about the time it takes Bryson to do a set on the bench press. I’m still a big Wolff fan, but that hurt. Of course, it hurts a bit less when you’ve successfully bet on Webb Simpson and Dustin Johnson the previous two weeks. So don’t feel too sorry for me.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Dublin, Ohio, for the next two weeks, first for the Workday Charity Open and then for the Memorial. If you’re going to play back-to-back tournaments at the same course, you could do a lot worse than Muirfield Village. And while players are in town, they should go check out the original Wendy’s. On second thought, maybe they should just eat in. As we’ve been reminded many times, Muirfield Village makes a mean milkshake.

Random tournament fact: Bryson DeChambeau won the 2018 Memorial, but he’s not in the field at Muirfield Village this week. That’s good news for his fellow tour pros. And for whoever is making those milkshakes.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Bryson DeChambeau is taking this week off: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Bryson will win the PGA Championship/U.S. Open/Masters: 10-to-1 odds
—Bryson’s fellow tour pros will still be asked about him this week: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Stacy Revere

This drop may have cost me $1,250 as DeChambeau was able to two-putt from the fringe on No. 16 instead of having to hack out of thick rough for his second. Because of a stupid sprinkler head that happened to be near his ball. I’m not bitter about it, though. Not bitter about it at all …

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Well, it finally happened. Ho-sung Choi took one of his crazy swings and … completely whiffed. With a driver. Yikes.

Ho Sung Choi in the final group on the Korean PGA Tour today ? @GolfingWorld @ESPNCaddie @JasonSobelTAN @henrikstenson @EddiePepperell @BeefGolf @golfjuice @GOLFTV @Fehertwit @ESPNGolf @SkySportsGolf @iaincartergolf @brianwacker1 @chambleebrandel @AlanShipnuck @golfjuice pic.twitter.com/t0ZnybH98Y

— Korean Golf News (@KoreanGolfNews) July 4, 2020

Making this clip even more incredible is the fact he was 12 under at the time and playing in the final group. So he’s still a legend in my book.

TWEETS OF THE WEEK

After Francesco Molinari announced he’s moving from the U.K. to California, his golfer half, Tommy Fleetwood, was understandably upset:

?????but you said you’d never leave me!!!!

— Tommy Fleetwood (@TommyFleetwood1) July 2, 2020

And Frankie fired off the perfect response:

There’s always going to be a bed for you! pic.twitter.com/QR9VTA9UnR

— Francesco Molinari (@F_Molinari) July 2, 2020

MOLIWOOD forever. Well, unless you’re a U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Then you definitely don’t want to see this team forever.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Golf’s ultimate showman—and pitchman—was back at it, this time pushing private jets:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCT8OycDtuW/?utm_source=ig_embed

Maybe if Matt Wolff had won I would have treated myself. Sigh …

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It shows how much time he has on his hands. He needs some kids or something.” —Kevin Kisner on Bryson’s GAINZ. Hey, he’s got a point.

THIS AND THAT

After initially allowing fans for next week’s Memorial, the tournament changed its mind. With everything going on right now, another no-fan event is what they call a no-brainer, folks. … I’m happy to announce the launch of Golf Digest’s new podcast, Local Knowledge, and particularly proud of the work by Daniel Rapaport, Joel Beall, Sam Weinman and Greg Gottfried put into this first episode. Please give it a listen and subscribe:

Yours truly will host the next episode and let’s just say the topic will be juuuuust a tad lighter. … Congrats to Tyler Strafaci on his North & South Amateur win at Pinehurst, which came 81 years after his grandpa, Frank, went back-to-back in the prestigious amateur event. The Strafaci family is better at golf than my family. … And finally, my wife made this fantastic patriotic-themed chocolate pie for July 4:

So at least my family is really good at dessert.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

What does a Bryson DeChambeau “cheat day” look like?
Doesn’t Phil Mickelson have his own private jet?
Would Phil Mickelson mind taking a look at my swing?

The post Bryson DeChambeau destroys another golf course, Tom Brady’s improved golf swing and Brooks/Jena celebrate an important anniversary appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
There’s something about Pinehurst No. 2 that seems to be suiting Georgia Tech golfers of late. That is just one of the ways to digest for Tyler Strafaci’s victory in the final of the North & South Amateur. The Yellow Jackets who finished his senior season this past spring defeated William Holcomb V, 3 and 1, in Saturday’s 18-hole championship match—less than a year after Strafaci’s teammate, Andy Ogletree, won the U.S. Amateur title on Donald Ross’ masterpiece.

Strafaci, however, was also carrying on the family tradition with his victory. Back in 1938 and 1939, his grandfather, Frank, has claimed the North & South title (he also won the 1935 U.S. Amateur Public Links). Years later, his father, Frank Jr., had played in the event on several occasions before looping for Tyler this past week. The Strafacis become the first grandfather-grandson tandem to share the title. (Jack and Jackie Nicklaus are the lone father-son duo to both win.)

Frank Strafaci, left, after winning the 1938 North & South Amateur, is awarded as the trophy presentation by Kennesaw Mountain Landis. (Photo courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)

“I first came to Pinehurst when I was a little kid, and mom and dad and would always tell me what my grandfather thought of Pinehurst,” said Strafaci, whose grandfather had died before he was born. “The first thing we would do, my dad would walk me into the locker room and we’d find Grandpa’s locker. We’d sit in there and look at all of the names.

“I never thought that this day would ever come.”

Strafaci won six holes with birdies during the championship match, the last three on 13, 14 and 17 to rally from a 1-down deficit. The birdie at 17 was an emphatic finish, after he hit his tee shot on the par 3 to four feet.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Tyler Strafaci is the 2020 North & South Amateur Champion! His name will go up on the wall with his grandfather Frank Strafaci who won this event in 1938 and 1939! pic.twitter.com/8VnCCewPjy

— Pinehurst Resort (@PinehurstResort) July 4, 2020

Coincidentally, Holcomb was no stranger to Pinehurst, either. Last August he advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, losing to the eventual runner-up, John Augenstein.

“It was a great match, and hats off to Tyler,” said Holcomb, who finished his senior season at Sam Houston State in the spring. “I’m pretty frustrated because I feel like I gave away a few shots, but heck, what did Tyler have? Five, six, seven birdies on No. 2, one of the hardest golf courses in the world? He played great.”

Strafaci’s victory guarantees him a spot in the U.S. Amateur in August at Bandon Dunes.

The post A family first at the North & South Amateur appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Luis Gagne didn’t have to stick around this time.

A few weeks after heading home early thinking he had failed to advance from a U.S. Open local qualifier at Orange Tree in Orlando—only to find out later that he won a coin flip to move on to sectional qualifying—the LSU junior took medalist honors at the Bear’s Club on Monday with rounds of 68-70 to finish at six under and punch his ticket to next week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Gagne, who was born in Costa Rica but moved to Orlando when he was 5 and took up golf after his grandfather bought him his first set of clubs. “I’m at a loss for words.”

Gagne finished two strokes clear of Richy Werenski, who has spent the last two years on the PGA Tour, and finished second at four under to secure the second of three spots.

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WATCH NOW WHAT’S AT STAKE AT THE U.S. OPEN AT SHINNECOCK

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The drama of golf’s longest day was saved for 19-year-old Georgia Tech junior-to-be Tyler Strafaci, who survived a six-for-one playoff to nab the final spot from the qualifier.

Strafaci vanquished a host of players with interesting storylines: Cristian DiMarco (son of former PGA Tour player Chris DiMarco); University of Florida standout and Fred Haskins Award finalist Andy Zhang; former wunderkind now 35-year-old washout Christo Greyling; and Nathan Stamey all finished regulation tied at three under.

Playing in two threesomes in the playoff, Strafaci and Stamey each stuck it close to set up birdies on the 450-yard par-4 first hole to make it a two-man showdown for one spot.

One hole later, they both faced long putts from the edge of the green on the 240-yard par-3 second, with Strafaci’s coming up woefully short, leaving himself a huge right-to-left sweeper. Somehow, he poured in the 10-footer to save par, with Stamey then missing his attempt from about half that distance.

“I haven’t been playing too well the past year so it was good to see the hard work come together,” said Strafaci, who a year ago survived an 11-for-1 playoff at the U.S. Junior Amateur. “I was feeling stressed the whole day. My weakness is I’m very conservative. I’ve been working on being more aggressive and it paid off last couple holes.”

Golf has always been a family affair for Strafaci, who grew up playing at tony La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach, and had a club in his hand as soon as he could walk. He also had his brother on the bag on Monday and it was the fourth USGA event he has helped him qualify for.

Courtesy of South Florida athletics
DiMarco had the momentum going early after getting into the U.S. Open Sectional field as a alternate, but couldn’t finish off the 36-hole odyssey.

DiMarco had a similar family vibe, with his three-time PGA Tour winner dad carrying his sticks. You might recall DiMarco lost the coin flip to Gagne last month after he had left the site of the Local Qualifier thinking he had not done well enough to get into a playoff. Despite dropping to an alternate, DiMarco still managed to find his way to Sectional Qualifying.

After opening with a solid 68 that included a hole-in-one and handful of lengthy putts, DiMarco wasn’t as fortunate in the second round. He made five bogeys and four birdies en route to a 73. This time, of course, he did stick around (thankfully) to see if he was in a playoff. If there was a silver lining, however, he edged out Zhang, who earlier missed a 10-footer for birdie on the last hole that would have sent him to the U.S. Open, for the second alternate spot.

“Second alternate wasn’t what we came for, but you never know,” DiMarco said. “Love it when the caddie buys you a beer for your hole-in-one.”

Just in time, too, as darkness descended upon the Bear’s Club and the horn sounded for an incoming thunderstorm. Nearly 12 hours after it started, golf’s longest day had come to an end.

The post Duo involved in fluky coin-toss playoff at U.S. Open local qualifier become stories at sectional qualifying in Florida appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.