18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Wells Fargo put a bow on their sponsorship of one of the best events on the PGA Tour. Born in 2003 as the Wachovia Championship I’ve covered every one of them except for the win by Max Homa in Potomac, Maryland. They got Tiger in their second year and immediately became one of the premier events in professional golf. The PGA Tour is headed to a new sponsor, reports are it is Truist, another financial institution, and they are likely to manage the event themselves with their new championship management arm. They have a HUGE act to follow. They are fortunate to have the Harris family and a great venue in Quail Hollow, who will host the PGA next year, and will likely head to Philadelphia in 2025 before returning to Charlotte in 2026.
- A delightful joy this past Sunday morning at 7 AM was going into Poppy’s bagels in Charlotte and seeing a gaggle of Dads with bedhead ushering around their sons with even better bedhead. Sleepy Sunday morning rituals with fathers and sons doing a rudimentary chore for the rest of the house. And surprisingly, as a Jersey guy, Poppy’s has legit good bagels.
- The greeting card section of your local grocery store is quite the scene on Mother’s Day at 8 AM. Desperate husbands rummaging through what’s left of the Mother’s Day cards. Settling for cards from aunts and uncles as a pitiful display of trying to salvage the day before it begins. Men are all goalies just looking for one more kick save and a beauty. I wasn’t observing by accident.
- Nelly Korda’s streak of wins in a row ends at five but not before she turned heads at the Met Gala in New York City. The LPGA remains in Jersey as they head to Liberty National, but they also run into the second men’s major this week. The interest in Nelly has been amplified and any win keeps the momentum going in the right direction.
- Rose Zhang is a potential superstar and in the absence of Nelly winning her sixth event in a row, Rose winning, especially with her returning this week to the site of her first win, is a tremendous consolation prize for the LPGA. Zhang is totally equipped to handle attention since she’s been receiving it for years and jumping on a zoom with “No Laying Up” after the win was smart on her part and the tour’s. Zhang’s battle with Madelene Sagstrom was excellent entertainment and Sagstrom’s post round interviews were endearing and graceful.
- Blades Brown kept the teen trend rolling this week. Brown, 16 years old from Nashville, TN not only made the cut at the Myrtle Beach Classic he finished in a tie for 26th at 10 under par. Following the made cut performances of Miles Russell, 15 years old, on the Korn Ferry Tour and Kris Kim, 16 years old, at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last week you can expect the kids to receive additional sponsor exemptions before the summer is over and they must go back for their next year of high school. There is an abundance of talent all over the world but to see three teenagers display the refined skill of scoring in events that demanded low scores to simply make the cut is widely impressive.
- The disclosure from Rory McIlroy this past Wednesday that he will not be re-joining the PGA Tour policy board was shared freely by McIlroy. The defense from the tour that they were simply adhering to their own governance appears duplicitous considering Tiger Woods received a board seat out of thin air. Subsequently, the next day we learned that Rory is now part of a subcommittee that will advise and participate in the discussions with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Finally, Rory and commissioner Jay Monahan met on Saturday after Rory’s bogey free third round of the Wells Fargo Championship and the nature of that conversation was likely not Rory’s gameplan for the final round. What might have been perceived as potential distractions for McIlroy in a tournament week clearly were not and it also should clear the way for Rory to avoid being bombarded about all those items this week at Valhalla with a massive international media presence.
- The fourth Wells Fargo victory for McIlroy will do two things at minimum. First, it furthers Rory’s place in Charlotte golf history and specifically Quail Hollow as the greatest professional champion in its history going back to the Kemper Open. Like Ben Hogan at Colonial, Tiger Woods at Bay Hill, Torrey Pines and Firestone, Rory is building a library of memories at Quail Hollow. It was always destined to be his happiest haunt with the freedom to hit driver everywhere and to take lines off the tee others simply cannot and the partisan crowds has made Charlotte Rory’s town.
- Being able to walk with McIlroy during his pro-am round on Wednesday and then follow him each day allowed me to gain real context as to the state of his game. His fairways hit percentages may have been modest, but his misses were miniscule. He missed the 16th fairway three of the four days but that was a result of flying the right fairway bunker that is now 330 yards from the tee and each day he hit a wedge into the par 4 that now measures north of 520 yards. His iron play was very solid and his second shots into 9 on Saturday and Sunday were outstanding. Additionally, his tee shots on the par 3 13th in the 3rd and final rounds were also the weight and shape he was calling on which are great indicators for the PGA. Finally, seeing the number of fine short shots he executed which include his 4th on 15 on Saturday, the 2nd on 8 on Sunday and his holed bunker shot for eagle on Sunday are strong indicators that his efficiency around the green is buttoned for a major test this week.
- Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka and Rory arrive in Louisville off wins. For Rory it’s his last two starts which include a team win with Shane Lowery. For Koepka it was his fourth career win on LIV and it was a 54 hole win in Singapore a week ago. Scheffler as we know has won his last two starts but he’s now three weeks removed from competitive golf with the birth of he and his wife Meredith’s first child. Scheffler mas won several events off more than a week of rest and his absence has not altered his position as the betting favorite and rightfully so. Fans have bemoaned the absence of stars from the winner’s circle in 2024 but Scottie’s streak since March and Rory’s sudden streak coupled with a Koepka win give the PGA some juice heading into the week.
- The captain of the International Presidents Cup team, Mike Weir, had to be pleased with the final leaderboard at Quail Hollow. Ben An, Sung Jae Im, Jason Day, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith and Corey Connors all finished in the top 13. I firmly believe we could see a Canadian Power pod of players in Montreal with up to five players representing the host nation with Korea also possibly having their own pod.
- Chris Gotterup won the Myrtle Beach Classic for his first PGA Tour win. He propelled himself to 67th in the Fedex Cup Standings and validated what many believed about him when he turned pro after a stellar career at Oklahoma. Gotterup has a Brooks Koepka vibe to him, self-assured, brawny and the mind of an athlete. Add the mustache and the bling and you have a dude with a distinctive look. I’m going to root for any guy with Jersey roots, but Gotterup has the goods. Jim McGovern, Bill Britton and Morgan Hoffman should be proud.
- The PGA should provide a ton of runway for Golf Channel to unleash Johnson Wagner at Valhalla throughout the week re-creating and re-visiting important and dubious moments from each day’s play. Wags has become a favorite of the content creating outfits in the game and golf’s own version of WWJD is now the rage. His re-enactment/explanation of the Xander Schauffele drop in round 1 of the Wells Fargo was a virtuoso performance. Johnson will also serve as the lead analyst on SiriusXM for the PGA with the radio legend Brian Katrik serving in a role he has mastered as play-by-play host of the radio broadcast alongside a fabulous on-air team and production team.
- Jordan Spieth was inside the top 5 of the Wells Fargo Championship with four holes to go in the 2nd round and then a series of poor iron shots saw him double bogey the 17th hole and bogey 18. He stumbled to a round of 76 in the 3rd round and finished the week in a tie for 29th. Following for portions of his final round, Jordan was doing an inordinate amount of muttering and audibly appealing to his caddie Michael Greller. The continued issues with his left wrist make his quest for the PGA and the career grand slam to be a true longshot in 2024.
- Speaking of longshots, Tiger Woods returns to the scene of one of his most iconic major moments and scintillating major victories, the 2000 PGA win in the playoff with Bob May. The walk in/finger point in the playoff is a top 5 Tiger image and his first two rounds with Jack Nicklaus was a true torch pass in the game. He arrived early in Louisville, and he will do what he does, battle on every shot. I’m going to lean that he misses this cut. The walk MIGHT be more arduous than Augusta National and while there would be zero surprise if he plays the weekend, I think Pinehurst is his best shot for a good week.
- This is the likely swansong for Valhalla and the PGA and major championships. I could see a tour event including a FedEx Cup playoff event being held at Valhalla but the PGA of America has built their own anchor site in Frisco, Texas and the landscape is littered with willing venues especially with the May date. The golf course has too many forgettable holes, but it has delivered big moments on the big Kentucky ballpark. Here’s hoping David Novak and his ownership team has a wonderful week.
- Let’s also hope the PGA of America was able to convince far more past champions to attend their champions dinner on Tuesday night. The optics of the last couple dinners was weak. These are elusive, historic and special clubs to be members of and I hope every effort is being made by the host organization and the past champions to be in attendance.
- I’m not overthinking the winner. Its Scheffler.