Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we will never underestimate Dustin Johnson again. After seeing Johnson’s approach to the last regulation hole stop nearly 40 feet away, that’s right, I thought it was safe to go out and join my daughter in the park. Oops. And after hearing about his amazing hookup birdie putt – DJ actually punch, talk about historian! – from everyone, including my mom, I couldn’t get home in time to see Jon Rahm’s even more ridiculous winning putt.
Only the best back-to-back putts in golf history totaling 110 feet, not a big deal. What was he saying again? Oh right. These guys are good. Anyway, I took a break from trying to be father of the year to talk about golf. Let’s see it.
Jon Rahm: We can call it co-world n. 1? The recent number 1 has almost returned to the top spot by beating the current top dog, but he’s pretty close at the moment. How good was that ending ?! And what about this guy’s ability to hit 60 feet to win golf tournaments ?!
I can’t believe this guy is only 25 yet. It looks like it’s been around for a decade already. Plus, the harder the path, the better this young Spaniard seems to play, as evidenced by his wins at Muirfield Village and Olympia Fields since the reboot. This bodes well as we approach the US Open at the Winged Foot next month. And on Saturday he noticed a shot at everyone as he picked up his ball on the green without scoring it. Hey! I did it once too! Unsurprisingly, however, he didn’t win the tournament.
Dustin Johnson: For a moment on Sunday, it looked like this was going to be another DJ on the run as he took a three-shot lead. And if it hadn’t been for Rahm to make a final charge, it probably would have been. Look, you can’t win every week, even though Johnson has nearly won consecutively in tournaments that couldn’t have played otherwise. In some ways, this four-under performance was as impressive as 30 under romp from the week before. Once again, Winged Foot calls.
Phil Mickelson: We mentioned Mickelson’s impressive 61st opener at the PGA Tour Champions last week, but not the fact that he finished flush and tied the 54-hole scoring record on the senior circuit.
Golf enthusiasts have gotten a taste of just how good Phil could be as a TV analyst during the PGA championship, but he is still arguably the funniest golfer to watch on the planet. Watch and hear him as he gets up from his shoes to hit BOMB:
The man is grunting now! I have to love the effort. These other geezers had no chance:
This parlay: As predictable as Phil’s senior victory was, picking winners in professional golf is pretty tough these days. Unless you’re that mysterious player genius who correctly nailed the winners of this week’s events in the PGA Tour, European Tour and Korn Ferry Tour. AND PARLAY in odds of 3,000 to 1 on a bet of around $ 7:
Sophia Popov’s future LPGA status: Cinderella’s enjoyable golfing story of the year went through a disappointing plot twist when it was discovered that Popov, despite winning the Women’s British Open, would not receive the five-year tour exemption that top champions usually get. , but should instead make do with a two-year. The reason? He was not an LPGA member at the time of his win, having lost his card by a single hit at the Q School last year. Even more absurd? Popov is not on the pitch at next week’s ANA Inspiration, the second major of the season. Golf prides itself on adhering to strict rules, but don’t make an exception, especially during such a crazy year, it sounds ridiculous.
Tiger Woods’ 2020: After a fantastic crash in which he won the Zozo Championship for a record 82nd PGA Tour title and then was arguably the best player in the Presidents Cup, also captaining Team USA, expectations for 2020 were high. But after a T-9 in Torrey Pines earlier in the year, Woods went T-40, T-37, T-58 and T-51. Those poor announcers and cameramen who worked for PGA Tour Live had a few wakes up at the start of the weekend. By the way. . .
This tiger swing: TO.. .
OK, so it’s clearly a tutorial, but. . . still quite shocking to see a 15 times senior champion do a backswing like that and then lay the sod on one like a 30 handicapper. Let’s hope his rehearsal sessions go a little better in the next two weeks before the second major of the year.
The PGA Tour heads to East Lake for the Championship Tour, which is the event in which 30 golfers play for an amount equal to the GDP of a medium-sized country. This week’s winner will walk away with $ 15 MILLION and finishing DFL is worth $ 400,000.
About Random Tournaments: This is the second consecutive year that both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have not qualified for the event. However, that won’t stop us from watching this classic clip again:
CASUAL BETS OF THE WEEK
—Jon Rahm will pick up his ball without scoring this week: odds of 15 MILLION to 1
—Dustin Johnson will win this week: 2 to 1 odds (actual odds)
—Jon Rahm will win this week without his two-shot advantage: 5 to 1 odds
—Whoever wins this week will not be returning home with a commercial: LOCK
Adam Long handled Billy Horschel’s exclusion from the Tour Championship quite well:
And Joel Dahmen handled getting bumped from a weekend tee time with Cameron Smith’s Tiger Woods with some humor:
At least, we think Joel was joking. . .
This angle shot of Viktor Hovland hitting the driver from the bridge was positively mesmerizing:
Again, these guys are good.
THIS WEEK ON TOUR PRO PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION
Luke Donald and his wife Diane played tennis:
Make him move across the field, Diane! He doesn’t want to dirty those Jordans.
THIS WEEK ON TOUR PRO ADVERTISING ADVERTISING DISPLAY
First, Ian Poulter chipped a golf ball through one of his beloved Ferraris:
So, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson played with mini BMWs to determine the order of the playoffs:
This is brilliant marketing right there.
“I will play in many more Tour Championships and it will be the birth of your first child only once. This trumps anything else.” – Rory McIlroy says the right thing (as usual) about the imminent birth of her baby daughter.
Patriot Golf Day, which supports families of fallen or injured veterans, is this weekend (September 4-7). Play golf, donate, and support a great cause. . . . In recent weeks, the PGA Tour has announced partnerships with FanDuel, PointsBet and BetMGM. At this rate, there will be an official bookmaker for betting on each player. . . . Congratulations to Austin Ernst on taking his first LPGA Tour win in more than six years by shooting 20 unders (for three rounds) at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Prices aren’t the only low things at Walmart these days. Sorry, it was bad. To move on. . . And finally, congratulations to Christopher Powers of Golf Digest (and his lovely bride, Erika) for getting married and making a spectacular entrance to the golf course at their wedding:
It is also the first time I’ve heard bagpipes play anything other than “Scotland the Brave” or “Amazing Grace”. Well done in everything.
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PULSE
What will Rory and Erica name their baby?
Was that the most emotion a DJ has ever shown?
Why didn’t I bet on Phil to win his senior tour debut?
.
