Rory McIlroy obtained caught within the water at No. 16 at PGA National.
Brennan Asplen/Getty Images
Welcome again to the Monday Finish, the place we’re rolling up our pant legs, wading into the mud and getting again to work. To the golf information!
WE’RE BACK
Hopefully you observed we have been gone.
After a number of wild weeks of paternity depart (shoutout to my new youngster) we’re* again on the laptop computer and folk, it looks like males’s skilled golf remains to be in a reasonably bizarre spot.
The PGA Tour topped a worthy winner however slogged by means of one other unusual weather-delayed weekend and completed up on Monday morning which, regardless of the title of this column, at all times guarantees a juiceless end. LIV performed on in Saudi Arabia in entrance of negligible crowds and Anthony Kim, whose debut efficiency headlined the occasion, (understandably) completed in final place by 11. As the 2 circuits proceed to jockey for the within observe to world golf domination, it’s fairly straightforward to shrug from the sidelines. Hopefully I really feel otherwise this time subsequent week. But it’s good to be again within the combine!
*I at all times use “we” on this column as a result of it feels extra communal, like there’s a complete group on the Monday Finish and I’m similar to, the bureau chief. It’s simply me. But we’re all about transparency right here on the MF.
WINNERS
Who received the week?
Austin Eckroat was clearly the most effective participant on the Cognizant Classic, the place he completed off an aesthetic final-round four-under 67 on Monday morning to blitz the South Florida subject by three photographs and declare his first PGA Tour win.
Hannah Green received the HSBC Women’s World Championship, making three consecutive birdies to complete — together with a 27-footer on the final — to edge Celine Boutier in Singapore for her fourth profession win.
Joaquin Niemann received LIV’s occasion in Saudi Arabia, cementing his standing because the circuit’s hottest participant with a four-shot win and making his Augusta National exemption seem to be a no brainer.
GLAD, SAD AND MAD
Pro golf has all people feeling one thing. Here’s a brand new phase ft. three feelings.
WHO’S GLAD?
3. Jake Knapp, like the remainder of us web customers, brushed previous no matter optimistic suggestions he acquired final week and laser-focused on the detrimental stuff.
“It’s funny, like, a lot of people say ‘don’t read the comments’ and ‘don’t worry what people are saying,’ but I know people are ripping me apart for my performance on Sunday and the amount of fairways I missed,” Knapp stated over the weekend. That was in reference to final week’s win on the Mexico Open, the place Knapp claimed his maiden Tour win regardless of hitting simply two of 14 fairways on Sunday. I believed the green factor was largely only a enjoyable reality; I should have missed any Knapp-related criticism. But it’s clear that Knapp bundled the feedback of varied haters right into a chip he positioned squarely on his shoulder getting into Cognizant week.
And it labored! He completed T4, outplaying Rory McIlroy from inside his personal group and making a run on the prime of the leaderboard with a final-round 66.
“It’s not that I need to prove anything to anybody or anything like that, but I feel like I can play well on any style of golf course,” he stated. “It just feels good to come out here and validate that.”
2. Min Woo Lee logged the most effective end of his younger PGA Tour life, ending T2 on the Cognizant because of a 66-67 weekend and incomes his manner into this week’s Bay Hill Signature Event within the course of.
Lee stated he observed his supervisor Brett signed him up for the occasion on Sunday, simply in case he secured the top-three end he’d must get in.
“I was thinking about it coming down the stretch. Obviously thinking about the win, but yeah, was a really proud moment today,” he stated.
1. Erik van Rooyen left Saturday’s third spherical annoyed after capturing simply one-under-par 70.
“I was slightly crabby, and my caddie tells me, ‘Bro, you don’t know what’s going to happen, you might birdie the first seven tomorrow,’” van Rooyen stated later.
He didn’t birdie his first seven. But he did birdie his first six and eight of his first 10, catapulting himself into the outright lead. He’d finally get chased down, however life remains to be fairly good for van Rooyen: he spent Monday morning on the star-studded Seminole Pro-Member, which looks like a reasonably great spot to have a good time a final-round 63.
WHO’S SAD?
3. Keith Pelley, departing head of the DP World Tour, assessing the possibilities of the circuit retaining its prime expertise.
Pelley has confronted criticism for giving PGA Tour playing cards to the highest 10 finishers on the DP World Tour on the finish of a given season however defended the transfer in an interview with the Times, arguing there’s no manner for the tour to safe unique rights to its prime gamers vs. the PGA Tour. “It’s not reality,” he stated. “The players want to get to America. We’re not in the 1970s and the 1980s.”
In equity, “sad” isn’t how Pelley described the state of the DP World Tour nor his tenure there. He’s happy with his accomplishments, he stated, together with that provision. He’s proud to have secured the monetary futures of the tour and its prime gamers going ahead. But it’s straightforward to see how followers of the previous European Tour would learn it otherwise.
The interview additionally revealed Pelley’s resignation to the truth that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour are unlikely to succeed in a cope with the PIF and LIV anytime quickly; whereas he initially pinpointed the Masters as a benchmark, he backed off from a particular date.
“Whether it be in six months, a year, two years or 10 years, I think people are coming to the realization that a collective product is in the best interest of global golf,” he stated. “It is the only way growth and prize funds continue at this level. It is inevitable.”
2. The PGA Tour’s weatherman — and its TV scores folks — are seemingly feeling a bit glum coming off the final month of competitors. The Signature Event at Pebble Beach proved a Sunday bust when it obtained rained out and lowered to a 54-hole competitors. The greatest occasion in golf on the WM Phoenix Open included important rain delays, making a disjointed event that completed through the Super Bowl. This week’s Monday Finish™ was simply the most recent headache for a Tour that would use a clean stretch.
“I feel like with the rain delays, I feel like that’s nearly happened every week so far. Obviously the weather hasn’t been cooperative while we’ve played,” stated Min Woo Lee.
1. The PGA Tour’s greatest stars are unhappy, too, coming off one other week the place a longshot took residence the trophy. This tweet from Shane Bacon summed issues up fairly properly, I believed:
I don’t imply to take something away from Eckroat’s victory. He was steely beneath stress. He was a deserving champ. I anticipate we’ll see him atop leaderboards for years to return. And its meritocracy is among the many PGA Tour’s best property. But up to now the PGA Tour’s 2024 winners have lacked star energy, marking a stark distinction to the top-tier victors of early 2023.
This week felt prefer it may have belonged to Rory McIlroy, who received Monday’s Match beneath the lights in West Palm Beach and introduced that ball-striking to PGA National, the place he led the sector in strokes gained from tee to inexperienced. But then he couldn’t get a putt to drop, ending sixty fourth out of 68 in strokes gained placing. That added as much as a T21 end and, in McIlroy’s phrases, “a week that could have been.” Sigh.
I used to be additionally taken by Viktor Hovland‘s comments on Claude Harmon‘s podcast, Son of a Butch, as he looked at professional golf’s future. Its obsession with cash, he stated, threatens to drive that means from the game.
“Obviously the paycheck is nice as well, but that’s — if that’s what you’re remembering by the end of the week, I kind of — that feels a little bit soulless, in my opinion,” he stated.
Hovland stated he hopes for some form of reunification however admitted he doesn’t know the trail ahead for skilled golf. He known as the present state of affairs “a bit comical.” And whereas it’s most likely straightforward to be dismissive of cash when you have already got tens of tens of millions, Hovland has lengthy felt this manner.
WHO’S MAD?
3. Shane Lowry completed T4 at PGA National, a course the place he’s completed every little thing however win. He did every little thing however win once more over the weekend, taking part in his manner into the ultimate pairing earlier than stumbling out of the gate on Sunday. A double-bogey 5 on the par-3 fifteenth sealed his destiny, and whereas birdies at 16 and 18 made an enormous distinction in cash and FedEx Cup factors…
2. Joaquin Niemann clearly hasn’t performed a PGA Tour occasion shortly, however his final seven begins throughout LIV, the Asian Tour and the DP World Tour embrace six top-five finishes and now three wins. Niemann did some winter globe-trotting in the hunt for world rating factors to attempt to play his manner into the main championships, and the Masters rewarded him with a berth within the occasion. But in every of his LIV victories he’s taken photographs on the golf institution in his post-round interviews.
1. Paul Azinger unleashed on NBC Sports and the PGA Tour in a prolonged interview with Golfweek’s Adam Schupak. Azinger took problem together with his departure from NBC, detailing what he noticed as bad-faith negotiations earlier than the community in the end moved on from him as its lead analyst. He painted an image of a community and broadcaster on totally different pages, lambasting the corporate’s cost-cutting, describing one government as “an a-hole about [negotiations]” after which turning his ire to the PGA Tour, which is he stated “has fast become the qualifier for LIV, and it’s a sad day for golf.”
Azinger insisted within the interview that he was not bitter. But he additionally declared that he’s dominated out any form of return to work on the PGA Tour whereas it stays beneath present management. He additionally didn’t shut the door on a leap to LIV — and even the PGA Tour Champions.
“I’d rather call the Senior Tour than the PGA Tour to tell you the truth. I’m over the PGA Tour. To call the best senior players in the world, at least they’re the best.”
So, yeah. Azinger doesn’t love how issues ended. You can learn that complete factor here.
NEWS FROM SEATTLE
Monday Finish HQ.
Among the numerous blessings of a new child is the flexibility to take a seat on the sofa with a child in your lap watching sports activities for hours on finish beneath the guise of “childcare.” Rest assured we haven’t missed a lot. My daughter additionally appeared decided to get up to see Anthony Kim‘s LIV return, too; she at present operates on a number of totally different time zones.
In all seriousness I’m immediately and fully in awe of anybody who has a child and a job, to not point out these of you with a number of youngsters (and/or a number of jobs!) and should you’ve additionally discovered time to learn this far right into a golf recap column then I admire you much more. Here’s to a couple hours’ good sleep tonight.
WHAT’S NEXT
3 issues to observe this week.
1. Netflix! The PGA Tour may use a shot within the arm at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass as we gear up for main season and maybe that’ll come within the type of Full Swing, Season 2, which comes out Wednesday. (Keep your eye out for a number of appearances from a sure golf author…)
2. AK! We noticed how Anthony Kim’s debut went. How will his follow-up act look? LIV is again in motion this week in Hong Kong. We nonetheless received’t have a whole image of Kim’s comeback for a number of weeks, however it’ll be telling whether or not this subsequent event marks a step ahead — or reinforces the scale of the hill he has to climb.
3. Bay Hill! While I’ve grown allergic to fixed references to skilled golf as a “product” and I don’t suppose it’s been an excellent begin to the PGA Tour’s yr, I do suppose the reshapers of the Tour’s product have stumbled into at the very least one good concept: the Aon “Swing 5” and “Next 10”. Okay, perhaps that’s two concepts, however they appear to be efficient at taking the celebs of those smaller tournaments and boosting ’em into the Siggies. Winners like Knapp and Pavon and Eckroat are routinely in by way of victory. But so are near-winners like Min Woo Lee, Erik van Rooyen, Sami Valimaki and Stephen Jaeger. If you’ve been a predominant character in a non-Signature Event, there’s a superb likelihood you’ll increase your self as much as the massive time. That’s cool.
I’m excited for that crop of fellows to combine in with the remainder of the massive names for this week’s occasion. I’m excited at the potential for a event with out rain delays. (I simply checked the climate forecast for Orlando and so I’m now excited for the weatherman predicting weekend thunderstorms to be useless incorrect.) And I’m excited to be again, even when I’m typing these final couple paragraphs with my proper hand and a child in my left. Seems like a superb place to finish issues.
We’ll see you subsequent week!
Dylan welcomes your suggestions at dylan_dethier@golf.com.
