18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Bob MacIntyre winning the Scottish Open is the best “home” win of this year and is right there with the Nick Taylor win minus the Adam Hadwin takedown. Add in the heartbreaking loss of last year to Rory McIlroy and the eagle on 16 and birdie make on 18 and you have a dream week for Bob and the Scottish Open. The co-sanctioned event with the DP and PGA Tours is a big hit. There should be at least one more each season.
- Adam Scott will eventually take consolation in the second-place finish at the Scottish Open and he should. He will lament not giving his birdie putt on 18 a better effort but his 2nd is his first top 10 since Phoenix in February. Scott was looking to become the oldest winner since Phil Mickelson’s win at the PGA in 2021. Winners in their 40’s is now a very rare species on tour and not likely to change so a chance from Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, and Adam Scott or any other 40 something should be noted.
- Aaron Rai is playing the best golf of his PGA Tour career and with three top 5’s since the Byron Nelson and a very solid U.S. Open, he has become a player likely to win much sooner than never. He also moved to 50th in the FedEx Cup standings which actually mean something at this time of the year. 50th is the number for the 2nd playoff event and getting closer to 30th before the end of July is Rai’s next goal.
- Collin Morikawa finished T3-T4-T14 in the first three majors and he won the Open Championship in 2021. Collin had a solid putting week at the Scottish which is all that will keep him from being right in the thick of it next Sunday at Royal Troon. He’s a magical week away from having the best major championship season of his career and his chippy attitude about being overlooked has served him well.
- Ludvig Aberg has now gone five straight events, interrupted by a missed cut, without breaking 70 on Sunday. His 73 on Sunday at the Scottish included a 3 over 38 in the final nine holes. He’s a phenomenal talent and his habitual contending in his first season as a professional is widely impressive but he’s got a bad Sunday trend.
- I returned to Bandon Dunes this past week for two rounds and one overnight on the property. It’s my first visit since 2013 and the place is truly a mecca. To see the additional assets like Sheep Ranch, Shorty’s and the new food locations like the Ghost Tree Grill amplifies the resort’s determination to always be getting better. Driving only backroads from Portland on Wednesday gave me four hours to see the state of Oregon. Playing Pacific Dunes, first off, on Thursday in 25 mph winds was phenomenal. Seeing groups from all over the world of all ages only reinforces what I have said and written for years. Mike Keiser should be in the world golf hall of fame. You cannot impact the industry of golf the way he has, but more importantly given so many people such joy through the game and not be recognized.
- Spain had a very good Sunday. Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon, Spain won the Euro Cup by defeating England and Sergio Garcia won the LIV event in Andalucia, plus the Fireballs won the team title. Sergio is very proud of his home, and he argued after his win that the completion of the Spain sweep on Sunday would be one of the great days in Spanish sports history.
- Ayaka Furue became a major champion by winning the Evian Championship with a closing eagle on the last hole. Japan wins another major championship in 2024 and Furue crosses the major line for the first time. Evian is a major because it was given that distinction in 2013 and while I’ve never been there, I have zero interest in playing the golf course. I would enjoy looking over Lake Geneva, but the golf course looks absolutely dreadful.
- Nelly Korda finished T26 in the Evian and that’s her best finish in an event since her last win in the middle of May. For the presumptive player of the year the summer has been absolutely forgettable, but she can salvage it with a win at the Women’s British Open and a USA Solheim Cup victory. What appeared to be a year for the ages went weird and sideways on the third hole, the 12th, of the women’s U.S. Open.
- Royal Troon is an underrated member of the Open rota. It combines a wonderful list of champions with a secondary list of almost champions. Couple that with the routing of the course, the historic final rounds of several winners and you have a fantastic venue for the final men’s major of 2024. Bobby Locke, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson won at Troon in their illustrious careers and Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Weiskopf and Justin Leonard won their only majors at Troon. All three could have won more and in a nice touch Justin Leonard will have the honor of hitting the opening tee shot on the 1st tee on Thursday morning.
- Jon Rahm needs a week in the worst way. There are years in great players careers where they simply don’t fire during the majors but Rahm has had a dreadful major season in 2024 after departing for LIV. He’s postured in a way that is equally defensive and delusional. Missing the U.S. Open with the foot ailment was unfortunate but in a year of Bryson’s rebirth, the Scheffler dominance week to week and the Schauffele breakthrough Rahm has been a non-story in a PRIME year of his career.
- I always believed Tiger would age best at the Open. He’s a ground game genius, he sees what only others dream of seeing with his visualization and he drips into the history books and understands the weightiness of the Open. However, he has not even seen a spark this year in the majors, he has only one shot, the cut, and the potential for cold and wet at the Open makes his fragile body more vulnerable to failing him. Troon was his first Open championship as a professional and I hope this will not be his last as has been suggested by some. At some point he will wake up the echoes for at least one round in a major.
- Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson had one of the great final round showdowns in major championship history at Troon in 2016 and Phil also lipped out for 62 in the opening round that week. To me, it was not better than the duel in the Sun with Nicklaus and Watson. First, Jack and Tom were both historically more significant figures than Henrik and Phil. Watson was becoming the best player of his generation and Jack provided the heroics on the 18th that Phil did not to force Watson to answer where Stenson was free to close with a low score, but the more important chapter goes to Turnberry in 1977.
- Speaking of the old guard, Brendon De Jonge, on our 5 Clubs Open Championship preview declared that Ernie Els would have a good week at the Open. That was before Ernie won at Firestone to earn a berth in the 2025 Players Championship. The Open is generally kind to the elders so a solid week is not unrealistic for the 2012 champion.
- Scottie Scheffler is a borderline lock for player of the year but what if Xander Schauffele won the Open Championship? Wait, what if he then won a playoff event and the tour championship? In 2015 Jordan Spieth won the first two majors and finished 4th and 2nd in the final two but it was Jason Day he won the PGA and the first two playoff events to put real heat on Spieth for POY. Spieth shut down all the noise by winning the tour championship, but I think the door would be ajar, if, and only if, Schauffele wins the Open.
- Luke Donald gets the big chair for the Open Championship on NBC. Luke is very bright, and the major stage will prove his chops on the air. I would expect him to have a solid performance and what will be most interesting is if one of “his guys” Rory, Fleetwood, Aberg, get in the heat late and make a critical mistake how he expresses his viewpoint.
- There is no reason to think Bryson DeChambeau will retreat at Troon. His U.S. Open win was comprehensive, and his head space has never been better. Passing him over as a favorite will be a mistake.
- It is always darkest before the dawn. I think Rory will win the Open. The tangible reasons, he’s never been more complete of a player, his record at the Open is outstanding, and maybe this was the way it was going to have to be to get over the line again. I think his bounce back will measure among the greatest we’ve ever seen from on the mat to champion golfer in the span of a month.