Zac Blair Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Zac Blair says everyone should stop “trying to shove (The Players) down your throat” as a major

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 05:05:45 +0000

By Alex Myers
The Players Championship returning to March was one of the key elements of the PGA Tour’s revamped schedule for 2019. It also ensured one of golf’s most tiresome debates would be held a bit earlier in the calendar this year: Should the Players be considered golf’s fifth major championship?

Technically, of course, it’s not. However, the PGA Tour, led by commissioner Jay Monahan, has begun calling the sixth-month stretch that includes the four men’s majors and is bookended by the Players and the FedEx Cup Playoffs as “The Season of Championships.” The Players now has dramatic new theme music and a snazzy new trophy. And golfers from Charley Hoffman to David Duval have been referring to the PGA Tour’s flagship event as a major.

But another tour pro, Zac Blair, disagrees. And he made his thoughts on the matter pretty clear on Monday:

Here’s my take … the players is a HUGE golf tourney … 1 that I’m positive any pga tour member would absolutely LOVE to win … but it’s not a major & I don’t think it’ll ever be a 1 when everyone is trying to shove it down your throat as a 1 … Just let it be the Players ??

— Zac Blair (@z_blair) March 11, 2019

The 28-year-old BYU product is not in the field at this week’s Players after losing his PGA Tour card last season. He has a T-49 and a missed cut in two previous starts at TPC Sawgrass, not that any of that info has any bearing on his emergence as one of the most thoughtful players in golf.

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Does Merion Golf Club have the best logo in golf? This poll declares it the winner

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 07:16:29 +0000

By Stephen Hennessey
It has been a common debate at 19th holes across the country for decades: Which golf club has the best logo? Is it Augusta National? Merion? How about Oakmont or National Golf Links? It’s a somewhat subjective question, but a fun one to discuss.

PGA Tour pro Zac Blair, with the help of his buddy Andy Johnson at Fried Egg Golf, a website that covers golf-course design and contributes intelligent debate to other topics in golf, polled their social-media followers to determine the best logo in golf. The winner? Merion Golf Club.

Your 2018 #LogoMadness Champion is …. the iconic wicker basket & scotch broom from Merion Golf Club! They took down Winged Foot Golf Club in the championship match. pic.twitter.com/CDnLzUiGvN

— Zac Blair (@z_blair) March 2, 2018

Most serious golfers know Merion’s iconic wicker-basket flagsticks, showcased in its logo, serve as pins at the East Course, whose rich history most famously includes Bobby Jones clinching the Grand Slam on its 11th hole at the 1930 U.S. Amateur. And they’ve done so since 1915, when designer William Flynn, who helped Philadelphia’s Hugh Wilson lay out the 126-acre design on the Main Line of Philadelphia, patented them. The USGA swapped out the wicker baskets for conventional flagsticks in 1950, but has known better not to mess with Merion’s trademark since.

It was probably not an upset for Merion to win this inaugural “Logo Madness,” as Blair dubbed it, as Merion has been known for its logo for almost 100 years. But Merion beat some of golf’s other legendary seals—eventually taking down another Northeast powerhouse, Winged Foot Golf Club, and its ultra clever but classy logo in the finals.

Winged Foot also has a rich championship history that links the legends of the game to its club. And its logo is equally as synonymous with the club as Merion’s is, although the club’s winged-foot emblem is an adaptation from the New York Athletic Club.

The Final Four included two other classics: Alister MacKenzie’s Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., a public-access facility, and Sleepy Hollow Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., designed by C.B. MacDonald and Seth Raynor in 1914, then worked on by A.W. Tillinghast, which edged out another tremendous seal—the whale of Maidstone.

In @the_fried_egg #LogoMadness 3rd place match we have Sleepy Hollow vs. Pasatiempo pic.twitter.com/YVpbE6392v

— Zac Blair (@z_blair) March 1, 2018

Here’s Maidstone’s logo … how great is that? Deserving of its No. 1 seed in this bracket, but getting taken down by another history-laden New York layout in Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfi3vUrh9J0/?utm_source=ig_embed

Some other fantastic logos that might not have gotten their due in this contest: McArthur Golf Club’s milkjug logo, Chicago Golf Club’s famous Far & Sure logo and Olympic Club’s winged logo.

Some of our favourites:

Boston Golf Club, with an ode to its city’s history, got the boot after the round of 32—after its unfortunate match-up against Olympic Club’s also awesome logo.

Olympic Club, with an obvious connection to its athletic-club history.

Chicago Golf Club also suffered a tough fate—losing to The Golf Club in Ohio’s logo in the first round. We think it’s one of the most recognizable and historic emblems in golf.

Los Angeles Country Club’s logo is pretty unique within golf. But its spot in the bracket meant an early exit after a defeat by Sleepy Hollow in the second round.

The aforementioned McArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla.

And how about Castle Pines—the 100 Greatest club in Colorado didn’t even make this 64-logo field! Those birds belonged in the field, for sure.

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Chesson Hadley shoots 61, trails leader Tyler Duncan by two shots at the Safeway Open

Golf Digest Middle East — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 05:44:23 +0000

NAPA, CA – OCTOBER 06: Chesson Hadley plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spa on October 6, 2017 in Napa, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

By Christopher Powers

Chesson Hadley entered the second round of the Safeway Open at even par, seven shots back of the lead and hoping to just make it to the weekend. By the time he reached the 10th tee at Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course, the four-time Web.com Tour winner had his sights set on shooting 59 after going out in six-under 30. He would end up finishing with an 11-under 61 that has him at 11-under 133, two shots back of leader Tyler Duncan.

Hadley, 30, had an eagle, 10 birdies and a bogey on Friday, which led to the low round of his career. After making a bit of a splash on the PGA Tour in 2014 and 2015, including earning his first victory at the 2014 Puerto Rico Open, the Georgia Tech alum struggled in 2016, making just 13 of 27 cuts and earning just over $500,000. He earned his card back on the Web.com Tour in 2017, winning twice and registering three finishes inside the top-3. Hadley is in search of his second PGA Tour victory in his 46th start.

Duncan, a PGA Tour rookie, posted a six-under 66 that included three birdies and an eagle on his final five holes. After 36 holes, he leads the field in putts per green in regulation, as well as total strokes gained. He sits at 13-under 131, two ahead of Hadley.

Defending champion Brendan Steele is just one back at 12-under 132 thanks to a five-under 67 that featured six birdies and a bogey. He leads the field in greens in regulation, hitting 34 out of 36 over the first two rounds.

Tony Finau, who carded a seven-under 65 without a bogey, sits three back at nine-under 135. He’s now made 15 consecutive cuts dating to last May’s AT&T Byron Nelson.

Also at nine-under is Zac Blair, who carded a bogey-free six-under 66. Phil Mickelson posted a second straight three-under 69, which puts him six shots back at six-under 138.

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FedEx Cup bubble boys sweat through Sunday at the Wyndham Championship

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 05:53:05 +0000

GREENSBORO, NC – AUGUST 17: JJ Henry putts on the 5th green during the first round of the Wyndham Championship on August 17, 2017 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC. (Photo by William Howard/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker
With two missed cuts and a WD in a three-year span at the Wyndham Championship, there’s little wonder that Henrik Stenson for years chose to skip the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale. Not to mention it comes amid a busy stretch of golf and precedes the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The 41-year-old Swede decided to return to Sedgefield Country Club this year, though. First and foremost, adding the trip to Greensboro, N.C., would help him hit his minimum number of tournaments required on the tour.

He ended up getting a lot more out of it than that.

Stenson bookended a couple of 66s with an opening 62 and a closing 64 to win by one stroke over Ollie Schniederjans. It was Stenson’s first victory since the 2016 British Open and first in the U.S. since 2013.

“It’s funny how it goes,” Stenson said. “Sometimes it’s just a coincidence why you decide to go to a tournament and make a change in your schedule.”

The victory reminded him of one he had late in 2012, winning in South Africa. It was his first in three years and kickstarted Stenson on a run of terrific golf that included three wins, four runner-up finishes and three third-place finishes in 2013.

Playing in the Wyndham this year means that Stenson will make five starts in a six-week span, culminating in the Tour Championship and a chance at a second FedEx Cup title to go with the one he won in 2013.

Martin Flores, meanwhile, is just thankful to have another week to play. All it took was a hole-in-one.

After starting the week 139th in the FedEx Cup standings and in need of a good performance to move inside the top 125 to advance to the postseason, the 35-year-old aced the 175-yard 16th with an 8-iron, then birdied the last at Sedgefield.

“I knew exactly what I needed to do, especially when I was at the 15th fairway, the par 5,” said Flores, who tied for seventh in the tournament to move to 118th in the FedEx Cup standings. “I knew I needed two more [strokes] and I was fortunate to get three. I’m extremely happy.”

Rory Sabbatini, Harold Varner III and J.J. Henry also played their way into the postseason with Sabbatini moving from No. 148 to 122 by virtue of his tie for fourth after a closing 64. Varner, meanwhile, tied for 10th to climb from 138 to 123, and Henry 16th-place showing, thanks to birdies on two of his last three holes, allowed him to become the last guy in, jumping from 134th at the start of the week.

“I’m not going to lie, I’ve won three times and played on a Ryder Cup and this was probably some of the most pressure I’ve felt, playing today,” said Henry, a 17-year PGA Tour veteran, after shooting a closing 67.

Then there were those who were less fortunate: Zac Blair, David Hearn, Seamus Power and Daniel Summerhays all fell out of the top 125 in Greensboro, and saw their seasons come to an end.

It was a difficult outcome for each.

The tournament-within-the-tournament vibe was perhaps best described by Geoff Ogilvy.

“There is a level of tension and stress in your body that’s just on a different level,” said the Aussie, who came into the week 125th in the FedEx Cup but secured his spot thanks to rounds of 66-66-67 the last three days to tie for 16th in the tournament. “I haven’t felt that since Q-School.”

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PGA Tour pro buys golf shoes on eBay

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 08:04:25 +0000

By Alex Myers

Zac Blair is one of the more interesting characters on the PGA Tour. He’s an architecture guru who plans on building his own golf club in Utah. He’s an avid LEGO collector. And apparently, he’s not above buying golf shoes. …on eBay.

Shortly before his morning third-round tee time at the Memorial, an ecstatic Blair tweeted this photo of his latest purchase:

Huge shoutout and two thumbs up to the random guy on @eBay that sold me these @FootJoy shoes. In the running for best purchase in history ?? pic.twitter.com/Hv4AdaMNT0

— Zac Blair (@z_blair) June 3, 2017

We’ve heard of PGA Tour pros making unusual equipment purchases before, including the time Jim Furyk bought a used putter for $39 and then won the 2010 Tour Championship and FedEx Cup. But we’ve never seen someone get so excited over a used pair of shoes.

Then again, those bad boys are pretty sweet in an old-school sort of way. Although, now we’re curious. What else has Zac Blair bought on eBay?

UPDATE: Blair didn’t waste anytime putting his shoes to use, wearing them on Saturday at Muirfield Village while shooting his best score (71) of the week:

One man's trash is another man's treasure.@z_blair is using a pair of golf shoes he bought off eBay. pic.twitter.com/09aIIHwCik

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 3, 2017

And it turns out, this is the first time he’s bought something on eBay:

First @eBay purchase… good buy tho ??

— Zac Blair (@z_blair) June 3, 2017

Maybe he should quit while he’s batting 1.000. . .

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golf shoes on eBay appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.