A weird week in golf
Five-person playoffs, two-man wins and much more...
It was a strange week in the golf world.
Consider: the most normal result was Joaquin Niemann winning a LIV event, his fifth all-time.
On the PGA Tour, the team tournament in New Orleans was claimed by Andrew Novak — who finally got the win in his fourth Sunday final pair of the season — and Ben Griffin.
Over at the LPGA Tour, a five-person playoff was needed to decide the first major of the year, the Chevron Championship, after a flubbed chip on the 72nd hole. Too many rulings and even more putts later, Japan’s Mao Saigo emerged victorious.
The leading edge
By Myles
Three thoughts on a weird week of golf…
Retweet: Playoffs are the best. That’s what I wrote last week after JT beat Andrew Novak to win the Heritage just seven days after Rory won his green jacket in a playoff. Well, The Chevron Championship provided one more point in my favour, as the five-person playoff at the first major of the season was so bad it was good, and can only be described as chaotic.
To start, it only happened because of this shot by the tournament leader on the 72nd hole…
In the playoff on the par-5 18th, there was one legitimately great shot, an approach by Ruoning Yin to give her a look at eagle, and she three-putt from 20 feet or so. Yin wasn’t alone — Hyo Joo Kim and Ariya Jutanugarn also missed shorties for birdie, and by the time Saigo completed her up-and-down, she’d somehow won. Even if it felt more like everyone else lost.
JT or Spieth? This conversation has popped up in the aftermath of Thomas’ Heritage win, as the two buddies’ resumes are now shockingly comparable, despite Spieth’s superlative start. JT: two majors (both PGAs), 16 total wins. Spieth: three majors (Masters, Open, U.S. Open), 13 total wins. Both guys are 31, and each might have a decade-plus of competitiveness ahead of them.
For now, I’d take the Spieth resumé. The majors are a real clincher here, but the remainder of the season could be interesting. At the PGA in a couple weeks, the spotlight will be on Spieth to complete the career grand slam — at a place in Quail Hollow where JT snagged his first major in 2017. Then, if JT could pad his resume with one of the Opens, I think things could flip again. Worth watching this space, at least.
Is Joaco’s win embarrassing? That’s what Nate said after the Chilean pulled down yet another meaningless LIV win over the weekend. Except, this one had some meaning — it clinched a U.S. Open spot for Niemann through a newly established LIV-to-major pathway.
Now, Nate said the win was embarrassing because of how Niemann is often said to be the best non-PGA Tour golfer in the world. Yet his major record would not agree.
Not even a smidge of yellow there. And let’s be honest: at LIV, there’s maybe 15 dudes who would be competitive on the PGA Tour at all. No denying the high-end talent, but the depth is brutal. So Niemann’s wins there are, what, the equivalent of owning five CJ Cup Byron Nelson wins? And when given the chance to validate them, Niemann never has.
Neither the PGA at Quail nor U.S. Open at Oakmont is an ideal fit for him, as both reward big hitters. But we just said JT won at Quail in 2017, and for Niemann to prove he really deserves mention in that kind of category, he needs to uncap the highlighter on Wikipedia.
The false front
By Nate
Getting your first PGA Tour win at the Zurich is amazing/pathetic. While I wasn’t grinding practice sessions in my early days, I know every golfer grew up dreaming of draining a birdie putt to win on the PGA Tour — rejoicing by yourself on the 18th green as the crowd erupts.
I know I would’ve been thinking about the Green Jacket, but who knows, kids nowadays may have more lofty goals of pocketing $100M on LIV, hitting 10M subs on YouTube or maybe even winning a designated event (if that’s what they are still called?).
Well, two pals, Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak, got to experience their first winning moment on Sunday at the Zurich Classic. It was easily the biggest moment of their careers and I’m sure they are living it up on Bourbon Street as we speak. Full credit.
Hate to be this guy, but there’s a caveat: this was a team event.
Novak himself said he was spinning out of control on the back nine and needed Griffin to carry the boats. We’ve already seen Novak in multiple final pairings struggle to finish business — a teammate was presumably all he needed.
It’s just, like, I mean, kinda weird? Two guys that have been unable to win on their own get their first event PGA Tour win together?
Either we as fans need to collectively agree that this is half a win, or maybe I just need to be less salty and let them have it.
Who knows — maybe there’s now a new generation of little dimpleheads circled around a green imagining winning a team event with their best bud en route to some gumbo.
I doubt it.
Links roundup
No Laying Up’s ‘Strapped’ series — a tightly budgeted golf trip where cash is earned through birdies ad mega bonuses — is back on Wednesday. Get hyped with the trailer here.
The new ALD golf collection is as cool, and as expensive, as you might suspect
Swing thoughts
By Myles
Last week in this space, Nate touted his first round of the year as being essentially perfect.
I wish I could say the same.
A couple nights before, someone told me they usually play their close to their best in their first round of the season, to which I responded that I hoped the same for me.
“I doubt it,” was the response I got back.
And that person was right.
Over at Cardinal East Wing, conditions were harsh — about 5 degrees with strong, swirling winds is not exactly ideal.
I was also implementing a new swing, which of course I never actually practised, but what better place to experiment than the course itself, right????
Wrong. Smother hooks and dead pulls galore off the tee. Combined with absolutely zero feel on and around the greens, it was one of those days where scoring goes out the window.
But my drive on 18 was the best of the day (don’t ask what happened after) so, ya know, I’ll be back soon.
That chip is pure nightmare fuel. Skin crawling stuff there.