Ah, yes. March Madness is upon us. Before we hibernate in front of our televisions for the next three weeks, let’s get caught up on an exciting weekend of golf.
The Players Championship Delivered, Again
The Players Championship was an absolute blast this week. From the television coverage to the play on the course, the mixture of big names at the top of the leaderboard, and newer names, the playoff, this tournament was enjoyable from the start.
Rory McIlroy took home his second Players Championship, defeating J.J. Spaun in a playoff this morning. McIlroy and Spaun were at 12-under going into the three-hole playoff this morning. The final round had drama all over the place, with a four-hour rain delay forcing the players to adjust to the conditions on the fly. McIlroy held a three-shot lead at one point on the back nine, but Spaun rallied to force the playoff, after leaving his birdie putt short on 18, which would’ve won the tournament.
In the playoff, Rory McIlroy took down Spaun, winning by three shots. McIlroy cruised to a birdie on the par 5 (should be a par 4) 16th hole, while Spaun scrambled for a par. The turning point was on 17 when Spaun found the water and triple-bogeyed the hole while McIlroy three-putted for a bogey. McIlroy cozied it in for bogey on 18 and won the tournament as Spaun already played four shots.
J.J. Spaun had about as good of a week as a runner-up can have. He showed that he isn’t afraid to waiver on the back nine of a high-profile event, with one of the biggest names in golf lurking. McIlroy, who didn’t have his best stuff this week, still took home the title and barely got into the playoff with a par putt on 18 that barely snuck in the side door. This is another win for McIlroy that will help bolster his resume, but he’s still searching for the completion of the career grand slam, and ending his decade-long major championship drought.
There was a lot of discourse about whether The Players Championship should be the fifth major. Is The Players Championship a great tournament? Yes. Should it be a major championship? No.
The Players Championship is just fine as one of the true signature events (if not, the signature event that isn’t a major) on the PGA Tour, not one of these shoehorned signature events with limited fields. It’s a great event on the PGA Tour schedule and should be one of the anchor events in their schedule. Just because a tournament is great doesn’t mean it needs to be elevated to a major. Rewriting the history books would be a challenge. Jack Nicklaus, the only three-time winner of The Players, would be up to 21 majors, while Tiger would jump up to 17 majors with his two titles, and players like Webb Simpson and Jason Day (no offense) would be multi-time major champions.
Also, would The Players stay going up against Selection Sunday? Moving it a week earlier might work, but are players truly in form for a major in early March? August is out, between the Olympics, and trying to play in Florida in August is an awful idea. September is out with Ryder Cup and President’s Cup events taking place every other year. Plus, trying to go against the NFL is setting yourself up for failure.
For some reason, sports fans try to reinvent the wheel. Let’s leave The Players as a fantastic PGA Tour event, and move forward.
Joaquin Niemann Wins At LIV Singapore, Phil Mickelson Claims Niemann is Best In The World
For the second time in three events, Joaquin Niemann won the individual portion of the event on LIV, this time taking the title in Singapore. Niemann won by five strokes over Brooks Koepka, who’s also starting to find his form. Niemann recorded one bogey all tournament and made his second win of the season look extremely easy.
Fireballs GC took the team victory at 22-under, winning by three strokes over Legion XIII. This team has significantly over-performed this season, with Sergio Garcia not getting any younger but performing like a younger version of himself. Abraham Ancer, who’s always been a nice player, has really stepped his game up. David Puig is rounding into form nicely and seems to have settled in with the team. Newcomer, Luis Masaveu had his best performance of the season this week and the 22-year-old could be poised for a solid summer.
After the round, Touque GC’s X account tweeted about Niemann being a top-five player in the world. Phil Mickelson responded, “Top 5? Try #1” which provided a great, healthy, and cordial debate on X. Niemann certainly isn’t the best player in the world, but he’s been a top 20 player in the world since he joined LIV. He’s another player who’s benefitted from the move to LIV, and his game has improved. Niemann still hasn’t recorded a top 10 in a major championship, and that’s the measuring stick for professional golfers. So yes, Niemann might be playing well on LIV, but he needs to perform in the majors. Until then, he’s still a top 20 player, but not top five, or top one.
Brooks Koepka addressed comments made by Fred Couples on KJR, about his decision to either stay at LIV or return to the PGA Tour when his contract expires. Couples believes that after speaking with Koepka, he wants to come back to the PGA Tour and relinquish duties as captain of his team, Smash GC. Koepka said that while he talks to the 1992 Masters Champion, he doesn’t “go too much into detail about what’s going on.” Koepka also added that he’s focused on playing better in the majors and that he doesn’t know where he’s going, so he’s unsure how anyone else would know. Koepka would be a major splash if he returns to the PGA Tour, given his popularity and recent 2023 PGA Championship title, to give him five majors.
Volunteering Opportunities At U.S. Women’s Amateur In Oregon
This year, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship will be held at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon. The Championship will be held from August 4th through August 10th. The volunteering is from August 2nd through the 10th, as there will be practice rounds before the Championship.
To register to be a volunteer is open, which is a $50 fee. Included with the fee is a hat, golf shirt, layering piece, lunch, and, for $35 more, a logo’d folding chair. Junior volunteers, ages 13-18, are FREE! This is a great way for junior golfers to set foot on an outstanding golf resort, and watch some of the best women’s golfers in the world compete. The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship is a historic Championship and one of the coveted titles in women’s golf.
To learn more information on volunteering or to register, click here.
Ryder Cup Check-In
It’s about time to see what’s going on in the Ryder Cup Team Rankings, and there has been some movement, especially towards the sixth spots for both teams. The top six players who automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup teams will be set on August 18th for Team USA and August 25th for Team Europe.
There’s no surprise that Rory McIlroy has a substantial lead in first to make yet another Ryder Cup team for Europe. Tyrrell Hatton is comfortably in second, also not a shocker. Rasmus Hojgaard is third, Shane Lowry is fourth, and Ludvig Aberg is fifth. Those aren’t fully set, however, it would take quite a lot for at least the top four to change, and with Aberg being a favorite to win his first major this year, the top five could already be set for the Europeans. In the sixth and final qualifying spot, is Thomas Detry, who won on the PGA Tour recently. Detry has Niklas Norgaard, Matt Wallace, Laurie Canter, and Tommy Fleetwood breathing down his neck. Those five have been playing solid golf, and we will probably see at least one of them be a captain’s pick.
Team USA is still led by Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Collin Morikawa. Those three have been part of the new wave of American golf, and will likely be playing in many Ryder Cups for years to come. Russell Henley is in the fourth spot, and Henley has been very consistent this year. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him remain in the top six and perhaps make some noise at Bethpage this fall. Everything Bryson DeChambeau does makes noise. Lots of it. DeChambeau is in fifth, largely in part of his tremendous play at the majors last year. DeChambeau was controversially left off the 2023 Ryder Cup team, however, with a more wise captain in Keegan Bradley, DeChambeau should be a lock. The sixth spot is also up for grabs. J.J. Spaun, after his big week at The Players is in sixth, leaping 11 spots with his runner-up performance to momentarily hold the final spot. Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy, Lucas Glover, and Akshay Bhatia round out the top 10. Cantlay was a massive storyline last Ryder Cup, with Hatgate, and can be a thorn in the side of the competition. Lucas Glover, who was on the 2007 Presidents Cup team, could be a great story for the Americans. At age 45, Glover revitalized his game with the broomstick putter and continues to churn out good results and wins. Glover has never made a Ryder Cup team, but if he does this fall, what a story that would be. For what it’s worth, 2023 U.S. Open Champion, Wyndham Clark sits in the 17th spot, which is where Spaun was a week ago.
TGL Playoffs
The inaugural TGL playoffs will tee off this week, with the two semifinal matches taking place today and tomorrow, and the final series next week.
New York Golf Club is the fourth seed and will battle Los Angeles Golf Club in the first semifinal, tonight at 4 PM on ESPN 2. Tomorrow, Atlanta Drive GC and The Bay Golf Club will square off at 4 PM on ESPN. The semifinals should be fun, with NYGC being the “Cinderella” of the playoffs, while Atlanta and The Bay should bring fireworks to their Tuesday match.
The Final Series is next week, Monday will be match one, at 6 PM on ESPN 2. Tuesday will be match two and if necessary, match three. Match two will start at 4 PM on ESPN, and if there’s a tiebreaking match, that will start at 6 PM, also on ESPN.
TGL has been a fun watch during the week to continue to get the fill of golf, while seeing the personalities of the usually mundane pros on full display. I’m sure the playoffs will continue to be a fun watch, and will be a great primer to March Madness.
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