Cup of Tee

Matthew Coritz

It was an emotional day for the Day family. Walking to the first tee, Jason Day saw his caddy turned around and read “Adenil,” his mother’s name, across the back of his bib. He fought back tears pre-round, and right that second he knew what better day than today. She passed away a year ago from a long battle with lung cancer, and he knew that if he were to win, this would be for her. Donning a pink shirt, Jason did just that breaking a 5-year drought to win the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship. Jason and his mother forged an extremely tight bond over the last half-decade with Jason fighting a battle of his own against injuries and vertigo, while his mother fought her own fight. Regarding his career, Jason said, “To be honest, I was very close to calling it quits. I never told my wife that, but I was okay with it, just because it was a very stressful part of my life.” Through his own belief and the support of his family, he didn’t quit and is now reaping the benefits. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.

Jason Day has a wild story that not many people talk about. Growing up in Australia, Jason struggled mightily after losing his father Alvin at the young age of 11. He became an alcoholic and had a propensity for fighting by the age of 12. This is where his Mother stepped in and took it upon herself to change Jason’s life for the unimaginable better. She worked all day, grinding her tail off so she could provide for Jason and his two sisters. Times were so tough, he has said his mother would “cut the grass with a knife because we couldn’t afford a mower” and the family had to “boil water in a pot for baths because we didn’t have a water heater.” Realizing she had to act, she borrowed money to send him to Kooralbyn International School, a boarding school with an academy for golf. This solved his off-the-course problems as well, giving him the perfect environment to focus on school and golf— this place was in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to do. He has been quoted as saying he would practice 32 hours a week, waking up at dawn to walk a mile with his clubs over to the facility. This sounds like a story grandparents tell at family get-togethers about how they would walk to and from school every day and it was 3 miles uphill each way. These kinds of stories usually go in one ear and out the other, but he truly lived this story. It also sounds like a certain someone that would bike 3 miles each way with his clubs on his back so he could play golf freshman year of college. That someone would actually be me, and what a time it was. It’s no wonder though when people counted Jason Day out after his run of injuries and fall from number one in the world, he was undeterred. He was going to come back and win. He’d been through too much to stop short of this goal. 

It was an exhilarating Sunday, with as many as 6 players tied for the lead on the back nine in the afternoon. There were some big names battling for the crown including Day, Scottie Scheffler, Adam Scott, Tyrell Hatton, and Si Woo Kim. Scheffler is on a pretty mind-boggling run right now.  In his last 13 starts, he has finished no worse than 12th. Read that a couple of times and let it sink in. What a player. Scott, Hatton, and Kim all shot 64 or better, but it was not enough as Day came for the back 9 in 30 to seal the victory. 

The numbers have seen this win coming for a while, with Jason Day now sitting at number 7 overall in strokes gained total for the season, and number 9 in the datagolf rankings. His name had been floating to the top of leaderboards recently, he just wasn’t making the final push on Sunday. That changed in a massive way, as he fired a final round 62 to slam the door on the field. He’s always had the talent, as seen by his incredible run in 2015 with five wins including a major, it’s just that now his body is cooperating with him. After a series of swing changes to take the stress off his back, Jason Day is back. 

Looking at Jason Day’s resume now, I think people are really underappreciating the career he has had so far. With this win, he’s up to 13 on the PGA Tour with 2 WGC titles, 1 Major, and a win at The Player’s Championship. That’s quite the list and with the way he’s playing right now, his talent and mindset, he’s got to be on his way to a few more big wins. If he can crawl his win total up closer to 20 wins, and maybe another major or 2 he could be a sneaky legend of the game. There are some huge names around those totals and maybe we need to start looking at Jason Day perhaps as one of those guys and maybe even the best Australian player ever. He has a bit of a ways to go but those possibilities are certainly within reach.

At the end of a fun week, all eyes now head up to Rochester New York, and the intimidating Oak Hill Country Club. It’s that time again. Time for videos of the super long rough where the ball disappears into it. Time for manicured fairways and greens that just look a little bit different than the average weeks of the season. Time for roars that ring your ears, and make you feel that tingle in your soul. It’s time for the second major of the year.

Matthew Coritz

In a surprising heavyweight battle at the usually weaker-fielded Mexico Open, Tony Finau took down both the best golfer in the world Jon Rahm, and one of the tour’s fastest-rising stars Akshay Bhatia. Coming after the Masters, and then sandwiched between two designated events, many guys took the week off for some much-deserved rest before this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, but the cream of the crop rose to the top. That has been a common theme this season, where a game that can be so random and volatile has been star-dominated. Bhatia is a wiry 21-year-old who seems destined for that tier of stardom, but it’s just not his time yet. He definitely gained valuable experience in a final group with these two though. Last year it was Rahm who took the title, but Finau gets his revenge this year with a wire-to-wire performance. It’s a common notion in tournament golf that even the winners most weeks don’t have their best stuff all 4 days. That’s just how the game of golf goes, but Finau may have an objection to that idea with the way he brought it every day this past week. He was in total control from tee to green and was rolling his rock.

For years, the narrative was once Finau figures out how to win and get over the hump, the wins will come in bunches afterward. That has certainly been the case after something clicked for him last summer. He broke his 5-year drought to get his second win on Tour at the Northern Trust in the playoffs in 2021, then really hit his stride after winning the Rocket Mortgage last summer. With the win in Nuevo Vallarta, he now is up to 6 wins on Tour, and slides up to number 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The numbers say he’s been even better than that though sitting at number 3 in the Datagolf rankings, an advanced analytics system, and also number 3 in total strokes gained on the season. After winning at -24, he seems to be more confident on slightly easier tracks as the average score to par in his wins has him in the high teens each time. I’m looking for him to take the next step in those tougher environments and really contend in a major this year, as his ball striking has been at the elite level that is needed to win at those kinds of setups. Now that he knows how to win on tour, as one of the most likable guys in the game, I am certainly not alone in wanting to see him get it done on the biggest of stages. 

We all know the heater that Rahm has been on, and with this week he has set the record for most money earned in a PGA tour season. It’s still May. Depending on his FedEx Cup playoff performance he could come close to doubling the old record that he just broke. The quality of the play on the tour has of course been there, and now the money is starting to back it up. Of course, that money still has to be earned not given and I think that’s the ideal model. Can improvements still be made to the model? Sure, I’d like to see cuts at every single tournament, and maybe incorporate some team events into the schedule like the International Crown tournament the LPGA tour just fielded. They were repping their countries, they had jerseys on and it was kind of cool. I think events like the Zurich classic keep fans on their toes and why not add one with some international team flavor. The Ryder and Presidents Cups are obviously unmatched but why not a tournament with say 4 guys from each country from all over the globe at one event? There are two-man team events but I think a fall season 4-man thing would be pretty fun. 

To top it all off, just a few hours later, Finau was caddying for two of his sons on a local par 3 course. There were people that got some footage of him doing it, but he was certainly not doing it for the cameras. The Netflix Full Swing episode about Finau did a great job profiling him and put such a big emphasis on him being a family man. He really is that guy, both when the camera is filming and when it’s not. It’s refreshing to see, it seems like some guys think it’s a choice to either be an elite tour pro or be a great Dad but Finau is such a good example of just doing your best to be both. He’s committed to every facet of his life and is such a good role model for golfers young and old.  

One parting thought I’ll leave is this quote from Finau that may just be what clicked when he started this run last summer. After that Rocket Mortage win that broke open the floodgates, Finau said, “They say a winner is just a loser that kept on trying, and that’s me to a tee. How many times do I lose? But one thing I won’t do is give up, and I’m only here as a winner because I chose not to give up and kept going.” 

Matthew Coritz

It’s a classic 3-button blazer tailored by the Hamilton Tailoring Company, of the “Pantone 342” color, cut from the cloth of a tropical wool fabric sourced from Dublin, Georgia. It’s a shade more commonly known as Masters Green. It’s said the cost to make the jacket is around 250 dollars. But donning that jacket after all 72 holes, all of the tradition of the hallowed grounds of Augusta National, and the pressure that comes with it as the Masters Champion? That’s something money will never be able to buy. It’s the most iconic trophy in sports, and man is Jon Rahm seeing green. Jon Rahm, the buoy, has notched his 4th win of the season and is now a two-time major champion with an impressive 4 shot win at the Masters Tournament. He could have been deterred by getting the bad side of the draw, having to deal with the brutal Friday afternoon rain and wind. He could have fallen victim to the back 9 catastrophe that so many greats of the game before him have. But as Justin Thomas said, Jon Rahm was in total control of his golf ball all week, there was no stopping him. 

After a missed cut at Bay Hill and a withdrawal from The Players, Rahm was able to fly a bit under the radar with Scottie Scheffler being the clear favorite. Scheffler was coming in as the defending champion fresh off his own dominant showing at The Players. There was also the aura Tiger brings with him everywhere he goes, always drawing so much attention his way. Not to mention all of the buildup about this being the first event where the PGA Tour guys and LIV guys would be competing since the big split ate up a significant portion of the headlines. Despite all this, Rahm just did his thing, and after 4-Putting the first hole, he was lights out. To be honest, I got caught up in the chatter too. I talked myself into Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, and Jason Day as my picks. But the signs were right there. Rahm’s caddie Adam Hayes was sporting bib number 49 all week. That 49 is significant because it’s the birthday of Rahm’s idol Seve Ballesteros, the legendary Spaniard who has 2 green jackets of his own. Ballesteros tragically passed away due to Brain cancer in 2011, and what better way to honor him than winning the Masters on his birthday 4/9 with his caddie rocking bib 49. 40 years to the day Seve won his second Masters, this was meant to be. Rahm also called his shot all the way back in 2013 when he posted a picture on Twitter of a fortune cookie that read “Your talents will be recognized and suitably rewarded” with a caption that read “I’m gonna win the Masters.” A lot of people at age 18 say they’re going to win the Masters, and obviously not very many actually do. Thank you Panda Express, your cookies and writers are pretty much responsible for this moment.

It was another good showing from Brooks Koepka, who just 4 short years ago was golf’s clear-cut alpha. But things have changed. Rahm was the one strutting all over Augusta National Golf Club, never wavering in both bravado and ball striking. Koepka looked off from the first tee of his final round when he sprayed his first drive a country mile left. It was definitely a very encouraging performance, but unfortunately for Brooks, this wasn’t a 54-hole LIV event and those last 18 did him in. He was 12 under through his first 2 rounds, battled through tough conditions on Saturday to maintain a 2-shot lead going into the final round, then stumbled to a disappointing final round 75. He finished tied for second. It was good to have him back though. He was chippy in interviews, “spittin’ facts,” and showing so much of the game that made him an unstoppable force in majors, but he came up short this time. Golf seems to have a new guard coming in fighting their own battle with Scheffler and Rahm being the heavyweights, but Koepka is such an intriguing character to have in the mix. Love him or hate him, it’s fun to have a villain shake things up. 

There were a pair of golfers who went out early Sunday and lit the place up. Not so surprisingly one of those golfers was Jordan Spieth. In probably the biggest shock of the tournament, the other guy was Phil Mickelson. Both started the day at 1 under, 10 shots off the lead. Flying high sporting his “Hy-Flyers” LIV golf team gear, Phil fired a Sunday-low 65 to finish tied with Brooks at 8 under in second place. Spieth’s momentum halted on the 18th with a disappointing bogey to shoot 66 and finish at 7 under. It’s hard to state how out of the blue this was for Phil because, at age 52, all the data had shown he was coming into the tournament playing some of the worst golf of his career. The last time he had finished inside the top 20 at Augusta was back in 2015. But golf is a funny game sometimes, and it seemed to be a case just like a few weeks ago when Max Homa said, “You’re only one swing thought away from being good again.” Phil got back to a place he’s certainly comfortable at (he has 3 Masters wins) and found something magical. 

Another golfer doing his best to steal the show was the low amateur Sam Bennett. The young amateur from Texas A&M, who looks like Dabo Swinney’s long-lost son, had no fear and finished in a tie for 16th at -2. A top-20 finish as an amateur on your first trip to Augusta? Super impressive. The kid just oozes swag and never seems to be scared of the moment. Walking through the grounds of Augusta with a tattoo on his left arm reading “Don’t wait to do something,” the last piece of advice his dad gave him before passing away due to Alzheimer’s, Bennett sure made his Pops proud. He’s a kid who is super easy to root for with charisma you can’t teach. I got to see a lot of him at the US Amateur last summer and he has the focus and shotmaking of a pro. While I admit his long preshot routine can be a little jarring, he makes up for it with a club twirl smoother than silk. The kids got a bright future.

The final storyline for this week is the greatest of all time, Tiger Woods. He made another cut yet sadly had to make another withdrawal. There are many calling for him to hang ‘em up and just retire because he has nothing left to prove. It’s a bit of an overreaction as these were the worst possible conditions for him with cold weather and rain. Only a couple months ago, Tiger finished in the top 50 and under par at the Genesis Invitational.  But I think people fail to understand that guys like Tiger just don’t think like that. What once made him invincible is now causing him to keep trotting himself out there with just about every injury in the book. Quitting isn’t in his DNA. With a combination of unfaltering self-belief, love for the game, extreme work ethic, and stubborness, we get this version of Tiger Woods. And it’s a second act that’s just as inspiring as the first. Nobody grinds out rounds like Tiger Woods does. If he wants to work his ass off and grit his teeth through as many holes as he can, let him. Who are we to say he’s in too much pain to play? Is he the world-beater that was a threat to win everytime he teed it up? No, but let’s not act like he’s a bad golfer. Maybe instead we could appreciate how much the man grinds and put some of that to use in our own lives. 

Another year, another Masters week gone, and what a time it was. The grounds of Augusta National produce unmatched theater year after year and stories seem to write themselves. Jon Rahm has been seeing green this year, and there’s a whole host of players looking to knock him off the throne. With so much anticipation all winter, most people talk about a post-masters lull…but this season is just getting started.

Matthew Coritz

After the longest week in golf, Sam Burns has been crowned the last man standing at the WGC Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club. All told, Sam Burns had to play just shy of 126 holes this week! That’s almost as many holes as the 994 people in the town Sam Burns resides in, Choudrant, Louisiana. Burns is an interesting outlier on the Tour these days. With most guys living in the golf hubs of East Florida, Texas, and the southwest, Burns and his wife settled on small-town Louisiana for their home. He has set up shop at the quaint but serviceable Squire Creek Country Club, a Tom Fazio design. While that may limit his access to coaches, courses, and practice facilities, that hasn’t stopped him from racking up multiple wins over the past couple of years. And really, it does make sense. Life on the Tour is a blur, running city to city, state to state, and having a simple home base to slow down and unwind sure doesn’t seem like the worst idea.  I guess it’s like they say, “Different strokes for different folks.”

Normal tournaments follow the 72-hole stroke play format, but the Match Play is in its own category with the winner having to get through 7 rounds of golf in 5 days. The tournament started on Wednesday with the Group Stage. The Group Stage consists of 16 groups of 4, each filled out based on player seeding 1 through 64. Each golfer plays the other three in their group from Wednesday to Friday and whoever tallies the most points advances out to the weekend. Then the bracket-style 16-man single-elimination begins. This all gets packed into the weekend, with 36 holes each day. It is most definitely a grind, but Burns had no issues getting it done. After a sizzling 2022 which included 3 victories, Burns had gotten off to a relatively stale start to this season. The signs were there though, especially after an encouraging performance last week at the Valspar. Burns came out this week and ran through whoever the bracket put in front of him. This included an impressive win over a good friend and World Number 1 Scottie Scheffler in the semi-finals. While Scheffler has been dominant these last 2 years, this is now the second time that Burns has gotten the better of him in a mano-a-mano format. Burns took him down in a playoff this weekend and also took him down in a playoff to win at Colonial last year. Seems like he’s got his boy’s number. 

Cameron Young played some beautiful golf as well before running out of juice in the final, getting beat 6 and 5 in the Final, a match that was never really in doubt. The little pause at the top of his swing followed by his body absolutely uncorking to demolish the golf ball is something to behold. He seems to compress the golf ball into oblivion but it’s something about those Demon Deacons, they just love racking up the runner-up finishes. I’m sure Young will make his breakthrough soon, just like his pal Will Zalatoris did last year in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Young put together a stunning finish in the semifinal to assist in robbing the golf world of a Rory Mcilroy vs Scottie Scheffler Match Play final that would have been TV viewership gold for NBC. We did end up getting to see those two square off, but unfortunately, it ended up being the Consolation Third-Place match to decide who got the bigger check. 

Sadly, this is the end of the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship. It is currently not on the schedule for the 2024 PGA Tour season. I think this is a huge mistake because the DTMP is just pure fun. It’s also probably the most relatable form of golf to the average fan. I’m not talking about the quality of golf of course, but when you go out with your buddies, chances are you’re teeing it up, possibly throwing some money on it, and you’re playing a match. It’s quirky, it’s different, and it most likely isn’t the fairest way to determine a champion, but who really cares? Especially during the month of March, a bracket-style golf tournament is an absolute must on the schedule. Honestly, golf should go all in. Give me the straight-up single-elimination March Madness of golf. I want to see 1 seeds go down, I want to see cinderella stories, and I want to see FAU making the Final Four. Okay, maybe the last one can’t happen, but the first two definitely can. PGA Tour, don’t mess this up, please bring the Match Play Championship back at least one week of the year. But for now, all eyes head over to Augusta, Georgia. It’s that time. We are now officially a week away from the Masters. Is it Rory’s time to complete the slam? Can Spieth complete the comeback? What if one of the LIV guys steals the show? The Green Jacket is waiting.

Matthew Coritz

The wind was howling on TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole. The stadium setup seemed to turn the normally uni-directional wind into a swirling vortex of unpredictability. Max Homa had just gone into the water and double bogeyed. Taylor Montogomery had just dropped 2 in the water and carded a quadruple bogey 7. Thousands looked on as Scottie Scheffler stepped up the tee. Just a mere 133 yards away, the flag sat tucked behind the front bunker on the 81-foot by 78-foot island green that has crushed so many dreams over the years. After a long conversation with his caddy Ted Scott, Scheffler stepped up and flushed a wedge to 10 feet. Golfers dream of the opportunity to birdie one of the most famous holes in golf to take home the Players Championship Trophy, which features the famous “gold man” standing on the 17th green, knowing he conquered it. Scheffler had his chance with a short left-to-right putt he’s probably made thousands of times. He missed. Crushing. But actually, it didn’t matter. Not one bit. Scheffler absolutely blitzed the field on Sunday. By the time he reached 17, he was 5 strokes clear of the next man and barring a collapse of epic proportions, the trophy was already in hand. 

With a difficult course setup on Sunday, everybody at the top of the leaderboard seemed to be tightening up and going backward. Everyone except for Scheffler. He birdied five in a row from hole 8 to hole 12, and never looked back. The 20-footer he rolled in for par on the 72nd hole of the tournament was the icing on the cake, making him the first winner to shoot all 4 rounds in the sixties since 2006. On the broadcast, Paul Azinger was in awe after Scheffler went with aggressive shot after aggressive shot, not your typical old-school strategy of playing with the lead. But this is a new era, and Scheffler put on an absolute clinic on how to play with the lead. It’s like watching your favorite soccer team score first. Everything tells you they should keep the same game plan and go for another goal, but time after time managers get defensive and try to hang on by a thread to keep the one-goal lead. Golf is the same way. Keep the same game plan and play your game because Sunday afternoon is not the time to play with second thoughts. Take advantage of the birdie holes by attacking the short par 4’s and par 5’s, but play to the center of the greens on the par 3’s and long par 4’s. 

This seems to be a weekly theme of the articles, but yet again we have a new number 1 player in the world. Scheffler has regained his place on the throne after his 6th win in the last 13 months. Not to mention he has blown two leads over 4 shots. He is just always found at the top of the leaderboard. He also joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to hold the Players title and the Masters title simultaneously. Not a bad list to be on.

A narrative that’s seeming to gain steam is that Scottie Scheffler is boring. I think this really comes down to what you define as boring. Do you want someone who continues to get into trouble, but is a magician getting himself out? Do you want somebody who is fiery and wears his heart on his sleeve? If you do, Scheffler may not be your guy. But he’s anything but boring. Once you realize how genius he is at playing golf, not just hitting shots, you’ll understand his true brilliance. There is so much strategy to each shot that the casual fan can often overlook. He is rarely, if ever, in a bad spot and won this week by 5 strokes with field average putting. That is incredible ball striking and course management. Don’t get me wrong, I love a player who charges energy into the game of golf, but to call Scheffler boring completely misses the mark.

After the talk last week about next year’s elevated events’ new format, it sure would have been ironic if somebody who won’t make it into the fields next year won an elevated event. And that looked like a strong possibility heading into the weekend. Chad Ramey and Ben Griffin were among the names at the top of a leaderboard lacking some star power. The pressure is just a little different when the weekend comes around. Sunday backed up that theory, with the cream of the crop rising to the top. Tyrell Hatton lit up the back 9 with a -7 29 to finish solo second, including one the most ridiculous shots you’ll see with his approach into the 18th green.  Players like Viktor Hovland and Hideki Matsuyama also made their way up the board to finish inside the top 5. After 5 elevated events so far this year, Jon Rahm and Scheffler have combined to win 4 of them, with Kurt Kitayama, also a top 40 player in the world, taking the fifth. The idea that limiting the fields next year will change the results so far has not proven true at all. Who knows, at this rate, we might as well just have Scheffler and Rahm tee it up 1 v 1 every week.

Matthew Coritz

Kurt Kitayama, the man once referred to as “the project” at UNLV because his game was so raw at the time, is now a winner on the PGA Tour. In college, the talent and work ethic was there, always having been a pure ball striker and the last guy on the range, but the results never came. This forced Kitayama onto an absolutely gritty climb to the mountaintop he summited this past Sunday. There is the typical path of College, Qualifying (Q) School, the Korn Ferry Tour, then the PGA tour. There’s also the scenic path of some mini tours, a little time on an international tour perhaps, then finding your way back to the PGA Tour. Then there is Kurt Kitayama’s path. After college, Kurt spent time on the Canadian Tour, Web.com Tour, Asian Tour, Asian Developmental Tour, Japan Tour, PGA Tour China, China Tour, Korean Tour, European Tour Q School, Australasia Tour, Sunshine Tour, then gathered a couple wins on the DP World Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour, before making it back to the big time in gaining his PGA Tour membership card. If you want to talk about self-belief and never giving up on your dreams, look no further. To put the journey into context, he graduated from school in 2015 and got his tour card in 2021. That’s six long years, 72 months, or 288 weeks of not knowing if he had what it takes to stick around at the highest level… But man did it pay off with not only the 3.6 million dollar check that will clear this week but also the surreal feeling of getting to don the famed red cardigan the namesake of this tournament so famously used to wear, The legend, Mr. Arnold Palmer.

Kitayama started Sunday’s final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational ahead of the pack by a few shots and looked unflappable early before an awful break on the ninth hole. His tee shot rolled a mere 6 inches out of bounds and he was forced to retee and ended up carding a triple bogey. He dropped right back into the thick of it at 8 under and was forced to enter a real test of the will that has taken him so far, both in success and travel, in his career. There was an onslaught of superstars on the back nine trying to chase him down, but Kitayama handled them with relative ease. There was a stretch late Sunday when seemingly nobody on the course could get a putt to fall. Jordan Speith missed 4 putts from inside 8 feet on the back nine to take him out of contention. Rory Mcilroy had a short birdie on 18 to get to the winning number of 9 under and that didn’t fall either. There was one exception to that trend, and it was Kitayama burying a 12-footer for birdie after a majestic 6 iron from 217 on the Par 3 17th hole. While most guys came through 17 just looking to get out with 3 and move on, Kitayama took dead aim and made an incredible 2 on the hole. With this he took a one-shot lead to the last, but with Bay Hill’s difficult 18th, the tournament was far from a sure thing. He tugged his drive left but hit a beauty to the center of the green to give himself 2 putts from 46 feet for the win. While many guys could falter here and three-putt, he took his time and almost canned the first, leaving it just one rotation short. This led to a hilarious moment where he marked the inch putt and got to soak everything in. That’s about the only putt I think the average golfer could make with that much money on the line. After 3 second-place finishes in the last year and a half, he tapped the one incher in to finally enter the winner’s circle. 

With the win, Kitayama bucked the trend of the stars dominating these “elevated events.” The first two had been won by Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm, but it was refreshing to see a guy like Kitayama go in and beat those guys. With this win, Kitayama also offers a blueprint for success and hope for the guys who aren’t always seen in the list of top 10 in the world golf rankings. 

Dominating the headlines this week was the release of the PGA Tour’s plans for what these elevated events will look like next year. The big changes are highlighted by limited fields and a no-cut format, with the latter causing a pretty big stir in the golf world. It’s very easy to see no-cut, limited field, and immediately jump to “Oh that sounds like LIV golf,” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. First, we can start with the fact that the PGA tour has always had no-cut events, so this really isn’t anything new, they’re just changing which events as well as adding a few more. Second, the “cut” is pretty relative. Most regular events have around 60-70 players after the cut anyway so it’s essentially turning the prior non-elevated event weeks and a player’s body of work into the “cut” for that week’s event. It gives the fans a chance to see all the stars convene at one tournament. I will say I wouldn’t be against a small cut down to maybe 50 players after Friday, but that’s something to navigate farther down the road. 

There’s also talk that these elevated events ruin the rest of the events. Once again, that’s a very easy conclusion to jump to but after listening to the recent “No Laying up” Podcast with Peter Malnati, I’m convinced the opposite is actually true. They do a great job of covering in full the changes that will be made, but he does a particularly great job of explaining how the elevated events will be in sequence so as to give context to the non-elevated events. The changes will have players more motivated than ever to be at the top of their game and get into these events. For example, winning any event during the season will now provide an exemption into the rest of the elevated events for that season. Personally, I never really needed context to tune in to the 3M Open in Minneapolis for example, I will watch it anyway. But for the average fan, it gives them a reason to watch. Fringe players that fans will recognize will be there and now the events offer a chance to collect the points (both Fedex and/or OWGR) to get into the elevated events. This adds more pressure and creates a more continuous feel to the season rather than individual weeks. It’s kind of like watching individual episodes of “The Office.” They’ll always be funny, but watching it from start to finish provides layers to the story and makes it worth the time of tuning in every week to watch. It will always be entertaining to watch the best players in the world all at one event, but now the smaller events will have added value and will attract better players so watching them contributes to a continuous storyline making the week-to-week product better.

A lot of talks have been made of the “rank and file” guys of the tour, the players outside the top 50 in the world that make up a large body of the PGA Tour being upset about the changes. As one of those guys himself, Malnati provided insight into that as well. By incentivizing the non-designated events as the ones to get into the bigger tournaments, top players will be showing up to those and closing the gap on the argument of how elevated events will create a “2-tour system.” We saw this year how fields at events like the Honda Classic this year can suffer if the elevated events are not limited. As compelling as the storyline was of the battle between Chris Kirk, who overcame a bout with alcoholism, and Eric Cole, the journeyman mini-tour grinder, it’s fair to see it does not draw the number of eyeballs the Tour is looking for. There were only 8 out of the top 50 golfers in the world in the field. Also, quite simply if you’re a player on the outside looking in at the elevated events, don’t be bitter, get better. Kurt Kitayama did it. Why can’t you?

Matthew Coritz

You can go ahead and take last week’s headline and throw it out the window. No disrespect to Scottie Scheffler, who is an incredible player, but there is one man whose game is a level above the rest. Jon Rahm, Mr. Inevitable, The Buoy (the man never sinks out of the top 10), Rahmbo, whatever you want to call him. When asked whether Rahm’s success feels inevitable, Max Homa responded, “Is that like an Avengers quote? Yes, he’s probably Thanos, he has a lot of the stones in his toolbox. He has zero weaknesses.” As funny as this response was, it’s been true. Players always talk about having no “holes” in their game and Rahm is the latest personification of this. He plays an absolute missile of a cut off the tee that never seems to miss its spot. He is a reliable iron and wedge player, always giving himself good looks at birdie. To top it off, man can that guy putt in the clutch. It also doesn’t hurt when you’re getting the fortunate breaks Rahm did this week. With the slightly controversial TIO relief on Saturday for a free drop, and a bounce off the grandstands for a tap-in eagle on Friday going his way, good luck trying to beat him. When it rains it pours, and right now, Jon Rahm can do no wrong. 

We are now officially witnessing the second consecutive year in which a player goes on an absolute heater, and we haven’t even gotten to The Players yet. All of the majors still have to be played. This has the potential to skyrocket into an early 2000s Tiger-like run, or could fizzle out a bit and be looked back upon as just another incredible spurt by an elite player. With Jon Rahm’s skillset and current mindset we could be trending towards the former, which I think would be great for the sport. A dominant player gets people to tune in and raises the stakes to see if they can continue their reign. It has been exhilarating the last month or so to see the same names at the top of the leaderboard every week because it provides continuity and a rivalry that golf can sometimes lack. This generation has produced so many top-level players and it has been a pleasant change to see the same few guys going at it week after week. 

Speaking of those same couple of guys, it’s been hard to ignore Max Homa’s continued rise as well. If you just looked at the leaderboards, it may look like Rahm led and won with ease, but the back 9 was wild. Homa had Rahm on the ropes after the tenth hole and put up a serious fight before Rahm pulled away. Is Homa the third-best player in the world right now? I think it’s fair to put Rahm and Scheffler in a tier of their own at the moment. Homa himself will admit that, but after him rounding out the top 5 in the world has to be some order of Homa, Rory Mcilroy, and Collin Morikawa. With Morikawa’s lack of putting prowess, I would argue that he is number 5. Some may read this and think, “This dude is insane for thinking Homa’s better. Rory is a generational talent.” I get that. But right now when you watch Max Homa, he just has one of those moves that makes you think how could he ever miss with this pretty a swing? And I’d trust him around the greens more. So far this season Homa is fourth on tour in strokes gained putting while Mcilroy has been largely inconsistent. I also understand that people are quick to jump at Homa’s lackluster track record in majors, but Mcilroy hasn’t won one since 2014. Who knows, it looks like Homa has turned a corner and this might be the year. Homa sure does look like a threat to win every time he tees it up. What an awesome rise for one of the most beloved guys on Tour. 

Now onto one of the most beloved courses on the Tour. Riviera is one of the most hyped-up PGA Tour venues every year and deservedly so. It is such an elite mix of course design and vibe. The elevated tee box on the first hole, where tee shots seem to touch the sky. The bunker in the middle of the green on the Par 3 6th. The natural bowl of fans the 18th hole creates. Mix in a little Southern California sun and it really is something special. All that being said, the most famous spot is hole number 10. While it used to be universally adored, there was plenty of newfound debate on the iconic short par 4. In recent years it’s become as trendy to say it stinks as it once was popular to say it’s the best hole in golf. The problem most critics have with it now is that everybody goes for the green and just hopes it gets the right bounce. There’s no skilled shot you can play to rely on a consistent bounce onto the green, or a strategic spot to lay up to so you have a good look with a wedge in hand.  In my opinion, simply put, it rocks. That being said, I do agree more could be done to create different strategies rather than just slapping a 3 wood or driver left and hoping it gets a good bounce. Where I differ from the qualms over ten at Riv is the fact that the luck involved is what makes it so beautiful. Who said all good shots have to be rewarded? That certainly isn’t anywhere in the rule book, and it definitely makes for an enjoyable viewing experience. Seeing golfers who have the ball on a string week after week having to just hit and hope is so much fun. 

Riviera is also interestingly enough one of the only places in the world that the man who stole the show this week has not won at. That man of course is Tiger Woods. At this point, is Tiger Woods still human? Just when you think, “Alright, it was cool last time, I just don’t see him coming back from this,” he does it again. In his first official PGA Tour event in 3 years, the majors not included, he made the cut and finished under par. He barely even walks full rounds of golf anymore, yet he can still come out and play in one of the most competitive tournaments on Tour and do this. At this point, when Tiger does this, why are we surprised? Am I in any way trying to diminish his greatness and how insane his performance was? No. But being surprised when it comes to Tiger doing something like this shouldn’t even be in the conversation. It’s Tiger Woods, normal human logic does not apply to him. As crazy as this might sound, my mind immediately jumps to the thought, “Can he win again?” Followed by, “It’s Tiger Woods, why wouldn’t he?” Players like Christian Bezuidenhout were quoted saying he “absolutely” can. The signs for hope were certainly there, albeit there was a good bit of tournament rust. Considering that coming into the week he admitted he hadn’t even walked 72 holes over 4 days since Augusta last spring, this was a wildly successful week. The signs were there. The stripe show he put on. The roars that followed. The question is, “Will he ever be healthy enough to put it all together? With Tiger, there is always hope. 

Matthew Coritz

All the talk this past week leading up to the Waste Management Phoenix Open was about answering one question. Who is the number one golfer in the world? Is it Jon Rahm whose name seems inevitable to pop up on the first page of the leaderboard on Sunday? Or is it the man with all the tools, making his calendar year debut, Rory McIlroy? Doing his best Roy Jones Jr. impression, Scottie Scheffler came into this week to prove that y’all must have forgot. Rahm put up a good fight but McIlroy not so much, with his debut going more like the Nike polos with the off-center logo they put him in this week, not great. Let’s not forget, Scottie is the one coming off of winning the Jack Nicklaus award for Player of the Year with four wins highlighted by the Masters, and retained that number one ranking for the majority of 2022. It’s surprising he did not come in with more hype considering he was the defending champion. He simply took care of business, winning handily to join an exclusive list of back-to-back winners at the Phoenix Open that includes Hideki Matsuyama, Ben Hogan, and Arnold Palmer. Major champions only on that list it seems. 

Scheffler was in control all weekend, despite a great Sunday showing from cinderella Nick Taylor. The stage was set for a Sunday heavyweight battle between the aforementioned Rahm and Scheffler, but it was Taylor who stepped up to the plate and gave Scheffler a run. While not a household name, Taylor is still a proven winner on Tour who played nothing like his number 223 world ranking coming into the week. After a birdie on number 10, Taylor reached -5 on the day and had pulled even with Scheffler with 8 holes to play. They were even on the scorecard at the time, but knowing they had not yet entered the raucous stretch from the 16th to 18th holes, Scheffler seemed to have the advantage with his pedigree in the biggest moments.

Speaking of the 16th, man did it live up to the hype. The fully enclosed, arena-like atmosphere was a blast all week and it had it all – from the few shots that arguably decided the tournament to a streaker belly-flopping and swimming out to the floating WM logo. Don’t sleep on 17 either. There is nothing better than a hazardous, risk-reward short par 4 with so much on the line. When the final group came through 16, Scheffler was up by one on Taylor with Rahm lagging a few strokes behind. When all three players in the group missed the green long left, it turned into an up-and-down competition with 20,000 plus drunken fans roaring and jumping out of their seats. With Scheffler up against the grandstand and Taylor only just off the back of the green, it seemed like Taylor held the advantage. His advantage seemed to increase when Scheffler punched his chip fifteen feet by the hole, while Taylor’s came to rest inside of ten. That is when the clutch gene kicked in and Scheffler sweetly rolled in his par putt with a fist pump as beers flew behind him. Taylor blocked his right, completing the big two-shot swing. Scheffler went on to execute brilliantly on 18, driving it up the right side to avoid the water left, pitching it up, and canning the ten-footer for birdie to take a three-shot advantage to the last. He closed it out on 18 with a par. With the win, Scheffler also officially regained his perch atop the OWGR. The final stretch provided great action for the many thousands at the aptly named Stadium course at TPC Scottsdale. This tournament is essential to the growth of the game for the masses, providing both the highest quality golf and the highest quality party. As Colt Knost said on the broadcast, “We’ve got a loaded leaderboard and a loaded gallery.” I don’t think I could sum it up any better. 

The first (real) elevated event rocked. The Sentry Tournament of Champions was technically the first, but it was a limited field, so this week was the first peek at the next generation of the PGA Tour experience. First of all, there was a ton of money being thrown around, just take a look at the check Scheffler got. Additionally, Nick Taylor is a two-time winner on Tour yet this second-place finish was his best payday yet, cashing in a whopping 2.18 million dollars. From a quality of tournament perspective, I thought it was an absolute success. We got to see the best golfers on the planet, playing in front of the biggest crowds golf has to offer. If this is any indicator of how they’ll go in the future, keep me signed up. One thing I do have to say is that I will be disappointed if they limit the field of the elevated events next season which is the rumor right now. It’s great to see the stars duke it out, but it’s just as fun to see the Nick Taylors right alongside them. On another front, it was great to see some names finding their way back to the top of the leaderboard, highlighted by Rickie Fowler and Jason Day. What an ace from Rickie on 7! An absolutely butter 6 iron that never left the pin and rolled in like a putt. The swing tweaks have looked great and if he can roll the ball well hopefully Rickie can find his way back into the winner’s circle this season. Speaking of names we are used to seeing– TIGER IS BACK! Riviera is one of my favorite courses on Tour, and the Genesis Invitational next week is going to be a can’t-miss event because the Big Cat is in the field!

Matthew Coritz

Mr. California has done it again. Max Homa has taken his career to new heights with his 4th win in California and his 6th overall on the PGA Tour. He did so by firing a final round 66 on the always challenging South Course at Torrey Pines. Homa represents so much of what is good about the game of golf, namely his calm demeanor that exudes a lack of worries and his willingness to battle when everyone else seems to wilt under the pressure. As I was watching the back nine, I recall having a conversation with my dad and brother on Sunday and we all seemed to feel it was inevitable that Homa would win. Some people just have that “it” factor when crunch time rolls around and he most certainly does, evidenced by his record this season of 2 wins, 0 second-place finishes, and 3 top 10s. When he is in contention, the man is going to win. 

At this point in his career, everyone has heard the story of the roller coaster journey Homa has been on. He came out of college with huge expectations after winning the 2013 NCAA individual national championship and for the first few years, he lived up to them. But then he lost all confidence and fell off the tour and even struggled mightily on the Korn Ferry Tour. But then, something clicked. In a few short years, Homa has gone from struggling in the minor leagues to shining on some of the biggest stages in golf. A huge motivating factor for him was those lows he experienced. In an interview with Golf Channel after his second Wells Fargo championship win Homa said, “But I saw $18,000 in a year out here. I saw [what] feeling very, very small, having literally no hope as to getting a top-10, let alone making a cut that season. I carry that because I’ve seen it.” Instead of blocking those tough times in 2015 out of his head, he remembers them and that chip on his shoulder has carried him to the upper echelon of the tour. One thing every golfer, and person for that matter, should learn from Homa is that anything is possible with a good attitude when you put in the work to back it up. In a post-round interview, Homa gave us a glimpse of the brilliant perspective he has discovered throughout his development when he said, “You’re always one good swing thought away from being good again.” Golf frustrates so many of its players. That’s kind of the point. It’s fun to see someone with a “positive vibes only” mindset start to etch his name into the conversation of the game’s best. 

Homa also took a groundbreaking step for golf fans when he did a mid-round interview, strolling the 13th hole with an airpod in one ear and the CBS broadcast team on the other end. He was very open with sharing his thought process concerning his shot selection, shot shaping, and his plan on where to miss, even cracking a few jokes along the way. Don’t be fooled by the fun disposition and his carefree attitude, this is a guy who idolizes Kobe and embodies the Mamba mentality. We’ve seen in-game interviews take hold in a few sports, especially baseball, with players like Bryce Harper getting interviewed after huge postseason home runs. This is a little bit different though seeing that baseball players being interviewed won’t be in the batter’s box for a few more innings. Max on the other hand was answering questions in stride chasing down his ball in the fairway, all while figuring out his next shot. He kept it light, and going on to win the tournament definitely helped to dispel the argument that it would hurt his performance.

Speaking of that stellar field he took down, the stars were out in this one. Among those in contention were Jon Rahm, Colin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, and Tony Finau. Rahm, coming in on his own heater, threw up a dud on Sunday with a disappointing 2 over par final round, effectively eliminating his hopes of an unbelievable 3rd win in a row. Sam Ryder, the 33-year-old looking for his first win, simply couldn’t execute at the same level on the final 9 holes as he had all week. Winning on the PGA tour is hard. It’s as simple as that, and despite a wire-to-wire effort, it wasn’t enough to withstand the charge of some of the bigger names on Sunday evening. Torrey Pines truly never disappoints and is one of my favorite events every year, elevated events and world-ranking based field strength be damned. There’s something about the guys coming down the par 5 18th in the crisp San Diego air with the tournament on the line. Maybe it’s because it evokes the memory of Tiger stalking Rocco Mediate and the roar that followed as he pounced with a 15 foot birdie putt to send the U.S. Open into a playoff all those years ago. Speaking of major victories, with the U.S. Open being played at a course in Los Angeles where Homa grew up, and also where he happens to own the course record, it’s pretty easy to do the math on that one. Is it Max Homa’s year?