Scottie Scheffler, his spouse Meredith and their son Bennett coming off No. 18 at Muirfield Village.
CBS
Welcome again to the Monday Finish, the place we’re double-mowing our entrance yard. It’s U.S. Open week! Let’s get to the information.
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And now, over to 14.
GOLF STUFF I LIKE
Are we getting main championship checks…each week?
As Xander Schauffele addressed the media final Tuesday forward of the Memorial Tournament, he admitted he was bracing himself for exhaustion. In half he was nonetheless worn out from successful (and celebrating) his first main championship. But that is additionally part of the schedule the place the Tour (and its superintendents) are bringing the warmth. And rising the tough.
Think again to Quail Hollow, the place Schauffele obtained outdueled by Rory McIlroy on a difficult setup that featured juicy tough, agency greens and swirling winds. Brutally exhausting. By week’s finish there have been simply three scores higher than six underneath par.
Then got here PGA week, sometimes one of many hardest on the schedule. But delicate circumstances and comparatively gentle tough meant Valhalla really yielded one of many simpler scoring checks of the yr.
A pair “regular” Tour occasions adopted however these have been robust, too, together with professionals tackling the rock-hard new greens at Colonial Country Club, the place solely winner Davis Riley cracked double-digits underneath par. Definitely exhausting.
And then the cream of the crop arrived in Dublin, Ohio for the Memorial Tournament, the place Schauffele offered a succinct appraisal of the take a look at: “The course is in great shape. It’s really hard. The rough is like, the most dense I’ve ever seen, so a lot of work to do.” Hard. But good. Welcome to the Tour.
Muirfield Village’s greens started the week comparatively delicate however issues obtained rapidly harder because the week wore on; by Sunday they’d firmed up, the goal sizes on touchdown areas had shrunk to just about nothing and the scoring common ballooned to just about 75. The tougher the greens get, the tougher the greens get.
But there’s a purpose we like issues robust — it tends to determine a becoming champion! Unsurprisingly it was the very best participant who survived the hardest take a look at greatest; Scottie Scheffler emerged the winner at simply 8 underneath par. Only 11 golfers completed the week in crimson figures.
“What we want as players is to be rewarded for good shots and punished for bad ones. Today was one of those days where I felt like the rewards for good shots were appropriate, and the punishments for bad shots were just severe enough. It was a good test,” stated Scheffler.
That’s what we would like as followers, too. I assume I ought to converse for myself: that’s what I would like as a fan, to see gamers challenged and examined and rewarded and punished and separated. It’s made for satisfying viewing these previous few weeks and it’s no surprise that winners like Scheffler and McIlroy have emerged. But it was fascinating seeing a PGA Championship-style take a look at the week earlier than the PGA Championship, and now we’ve had a U.S. Open-style take a look at the week earlier than the U.S. Open. Perhaps we’ll get one other the week after, too.
“I hear the rough is up over in Connecticut as well, so I feel like it’s going to be a really interesting stretch,” Schauffele stated of the Travelers Championship website, which can host a Signature Event subsequent week. “Actually, the U.S. Open might have the least amount of rough out of all the places we’re playing the next three weeks, which sounds wrong.”
Time will inform if that is an excessive amount of all of sudden, if gamers are overwhelmed down by the point they arrive in Hartford and if it dilutes Signature Events to have them on the shoulders of majors. But within the meantime? Enjoy the viewing. Pinehurst will look, really feel and play completely different than something we see on Tour. And what we see on Tour is, of late, exceeding expectations. Top professionals being examined at each flip? Pressure-cooker pars successful golf tournaments? That’s golf stuff I like.
WINNERS
Who gained the week?
Scottie Scheffler gained the Memorial, ending a prolonged two-tournament drought. The title was his first as a father and — unrelated — his first victory since full exoneration.
Linn Grant gained the Scandinavian Mixed — a cosanctioned occasion between the DP World Tour and Ladies European Tour — in significantly dramatic vogue. She chipped in on No. 18 to complete off a final-round 65. As she waited on the vary post-round, fellow Swede Sebastian Soderberg horseshoed a two-footer at No. 18 to submit 77, give away his eight-shot lead and hand Grant the title.
With her first Scandinavian Mixed win in 2022, Grant turned the primary girl to win on the DP World Tour. With Sunday’s victory, she’s the primary girl to win twice.
Another Swede, Linnea Strom, got here storming again from T52 with a final-round 60 to win the ShopRite LPGA Classic. She teed off at 8:20 a.m., required simply 20 putts and watched all afternoon as one rating after one other got here in behind her. None completed higher.
Carlos Ortiz gained LIV’s Houston occasion for his first victory on the circuit, whereas the Cleeks took house their first staff title.
And Ernie Els gained for the second consecutive week on the PGA Tour Champions, beating Steve Stricker in a playoff on the American Family Championship.
NOT-WINNERS
But not losers, both.
Collin Morikawa is again. While he didn’t fairly full his chasedown of Scottie Scheffler on Sunday, he shot a final-round 71 to chop a four-shot deficit to only one.
Morikawa reunited along with his lifelong swing coach Rick Sessinghaus simply earlier than the Masters and whereas correlation and causation are exhausting to show, he’s been on a tear ever since. T3 on the Masters. Ninth on the RBC Heritage. A decent T16 on the Wells Fargo. T4 from the ultimate Sunday pairing on the PGA. Fourth on the Charles Schwab. And now a runner-up end on the Memorial. Morikawa stated it’s been numerous enjoyable discovering himself in these last pairings once more after a while away. But he additionally seemed like a person with a chip on his shoulder.
“I mean, I feel like I’m always under the radar, so I just kind of show up and do my thing,” he stated. “Look, I’m not flashy by any means. The golf game doesn’t spurt out long drives or crazy putting or whatever. But I just kind of find a way to get it done and that’s kind of what I’ve stayed true to.”
We’d suggest he sticks with it.
SHORT HITTERS
Saudi stuff it is best to know, in short.
-The PGA Tour’s transaction subcommittee carried out its first in-person meeting with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the backers of LIV Golf.
–Tiger Woods was among the many Tour aspect’s in-person attendees in New York City, whereas PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan attended, too.
–Rory McIlroy dialed into the decision from Ohio and described it as “very productive, very constructive, very collaborative”.
-The sides have been meeting remotely to debate a possible funding within the PGA Tour, McIlroy stated. But this three-hour session centered extra particularly on the way forward for skilled golf.
-One McIlroy takeaway might sound apparent however has been some extent of competition all through the LIV/PGA Tour saga: the PIF is considering monetary return.
“That’s what they want. It doesn’t seem like they’re getting that at the minute within golf,” he stated, referencing LIV’s present steadiness sheet. “And this — hopefully if issues progress and we get to a sure level, then hopefully they see a future the place that may occur, they will begin to get some returns on their cash.’’
-The PGA Tour confirmed in an announcement that the edges had met, that “more progress was made” and referenced “a shared vision on the future of professional golf.”
ONE DUMB GRAPHIC
This made me giggle:
ONE SWING THOUGHT
From Collin Morikawa.
“I just got in this little rut … because I wasn’t feeling out the shots, I was just playing numbers in my head trying to do this math equation instead of actually being an artist and playing shots.”
ONE BIG QUESTION
What can we count on from Tiger Woods?
Because typical U.S. Open setups are significantly taxing on the physique, analysts have assumed Tiger Woods and his nationwide championship gained’t be an ideal match the remainder of his profession — except for this week at Pinehurst, the place he might get round on short-game, guile and creativity.
But Woods’ brief sport was a part of what let him down at Valhalla, the place he admitted after lacking the minimize that he wants extra event reps to get his sport prepared however isn’t positive his physique can deal with any extra. I’m without end a Woods optimist, so I say he makes the minimize this week — however he hasn’t but proven he’s able to deal with 4 rounds of event golf. Let’s hope that is the week that modifications.
ONE THING TO WATCH
Wyndham’s turnaround.
How’d final yr’s U.S. Open champ go from No. 300 on the planet to No. 3? By making these three dramatic modifications:
NEWS FROM SEATTLE
Monday Finish HQ.
We accomplished (survived?) our first cross-country flight with our four-month-old child this week. I’ve a few billion takeaways, however certainly one of ‘em is this: anytime the flight attendant disturbs a sleeping baby with a blaring credit-card promo they should be arrested. Or at the very least that baby’s dad and mom get a free drink.
Can’t wait to look at the U.S. Open with you all. I’ll meet you again right here subsequent Monday — or in your electronic mail inbox with particular inexperienced graphics. But provided that you subscribe under!
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We’ll see you subsequent week.
