1 in the process … at the same spot he proposed to his wife … on his first Father’s Day as a dad … two weeks after he made national news for a brutally timed positive COVID test.
Rahm emerged the last man standing from a punch-drunk final day in San Diego, his final-round 67 good for a one-shot victory over the perennially second Louis Oosthuizen.
But we’re going to focus on something far less romantic: the distinctly unemotional decision he made in the most crucial moment.
His ball kicked pretty hard right before resting on a downslope of the bunker, with the green sloping away from him and toward a water hazard.
Open … and he had the discipline to pull himself out of dreamland and acknowledge that he might not hit that bunker shot perfect—and if he doesn’t, he brings disaster into play.
He’s not likely to hole that putt—the PGA Tour make percentage from that distance is roughly 17 percent—but he made sure he had a birdie look, which is what made it the smart choice from a probability standpoint.
2: That’s now six runner-up finishes at majors for Louis Oosthuizen, and along with his playoff loss to Bubba Watson at the 2012 Masters, this one might sting most.
One does not simply rack up seven top-two finishes in majors; that’s the same number Brooks Koepka has, and more than Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
So many massive names being in the mix, coupled with the return of fans, made this year’s final round umpteen times more enjoyable to watch than last year at Winged Foot, when Sunday afternoon was dominated by has-Bryson-solved-golf chatter.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen the tenor of a Sunday round completely flip when it gets to winning time, but this tempo change rang particularly loud.
And it’s gonna be like this for years if they don’t change the setup a bit.” A tad fatalistic, perhaps, but it does speak to a growing trend at the U.S.
Torrey’s fairways weren’t quite so hard to find—the kikuyu gives them that soft first bounce, and they’re not as canted—and while some non-bombers were able to hang this week, it felt like no coincidence that Rahm, Bryson, Brooks, Wolff, Rory and Co.
Two, his single-length irons mean his wedge and short irons are longer than most, allowing him to get some extra speed and steepness into the ball, which are crucial to rescuing balls from calf-high cabbage.
And while it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing method to make your way around a golf course, nor is it the type of game Bobby Jones or Ben Hogan played, it’s paying huge dividends at tough courses with penal rough.
Rahm knew very little English when he arrived at Arizona State in the fall of 2012, and he’s now a master of irony and sarcasm and pacing and dramatic pauses.
He came into this week off back-to-back runner-up finishes in Europe and kept the momentum cooking on this side of the pond.
It’d be similar to the pitch speed and exit velocity MLB teams show in their stadiums. The only potential snag in this genius plan is it would tell players how far their ball is flying on a certain day, which feels like something of an unnatural advantage.
The 48-year-old, winless in his first 477 European Tour starts before finally grabbing a victory last month, held a share of the lead at the halfway point, providing our latest example of just how beautifully unpredictable this game is.
Hit terrible shots all day, then pure two in a row for a kick-in birdie.
It’s uncanny how many holes at Torrey are just long and straight, with bunkers on both sides of the fairway landing area and both sides of the green.
Here’s what Phil Mickelson, who has not held back from ripping the USGA in years past, had to say about the setup: “I’m very surprised that, in the 30 years I’ve played the U.S.
Short, in the bunker? A solid 40 feet past the flag? Or, ideally, right next to the stick? Short, downhill par 3s are a factory for please-be-good-type shots because it’s quite tricky to figure out just how much mustard to take off, and it was terrific watching guys hoping their ball carried the correct weight.
13: How great was it to see Matt Wolff play so well this week? And, more importantly, enjoying himself in the process? It does feel we’re at a bit of an inflection point regarding athletes and mental health—Naomi Osaka has played a major role in shaping the conversation—and Wolff’s ability to return like this, after all that time off, will surely inspire more players struggling internally to consider stepping away for a bit.
I’m so nervous.” And, a day later, 19-year-old Akshay Bhatia: “I just have a hard time enjoying myself and understanding the opportunity I created for myself and just the atmosphere.
But the first step toward improvement is acknowledging the problem, and more and more guys are open to doing exactly that.
A number of Korn Ferry players were in the field this week and did not receive any Korn Ferry Tour points for their performance.
24 on the KFT points list, with the top 25 getting PGA Tour cards at the end of the regular season in August.
15: Announcers can’t stop, won’t stop saying “this, from a minute ago.” It’s a reasonable thing to say if journalistic integrity is your No.
Rory McIlroy delivered a perfect one after holing a birdie putt on 4 on Sunday.
Morikawa leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained/approach and strokes gained/tee-to-green this season, and so he’s able to contend week-in, week-out despite losing strokes putting most weeks.
Morikawa often looks frozen as he stands over the ball, and while we can’t pretend to know exactly the reason, most instructors will tell you nothing good happens in those extra still moments.
Not exactly an underdog story, as the South African has played on three Presidents Cup teams, remains the only man to shoot 62 in a major and once sat inside the top 10 of the World Ranking.
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