Another week, another playoff. Plus, some other headlines as the golf season is in full swing.
RBC Heritage Delivers Another Fantastic Tournament, Justin Thomas Back In The Winner’s Circle
The RBC Heritage continues to be one of the top events in the PGA Tour schedule. Harbor Town Golf Links is a really good golf course that tests the PGA Tour pros, while not being gimmicky. The hard greens and stress on accuracy make the tournament shine. The fans show out and make it feel like a top-tier event, and the action once again came down to a playoff.
Justin Thomas hadn’t won a tournament since the PGA Championship in 2022, when he won that in a playoff also. Thomas has been playing good golf this year, with a solo second at the Valspar and at the American Express, while tossing in a pair of top tens at The Genesis and Phoenix Open. Thomas has been playing like a top ten player in the world this year, and finally getting a win is bad news for the competition. Next month, the PGA Championship returns to Quail Hollow, where Thomas won the 2017 PGA Championship. With Thomas having a good track record at the course, plus his added distance, he could make a run at his third PGA Championship.
Thomas and Andrew Novak battled down the stretch as Si Woo Kim faltered with a 3-over 74. Scottie Scheffler hung around, but a double bogey on the par-5, 15th hole set him back, and he finished five shots out of the playoff. Thomas had a bogey-free 68, where he didn’t make the big mistake and played steady golf. Andrew Novak had a wild first nine, recording only three pars en route to a 34 going out. Coming in, Novak parred his way around, but made a birdie on 16 to draw even with Thomas. Novak had an eight-foot putt to win on the 72nd hole, but a poor effort on the birdie try left him with a par and a playoff.
Thomas took just one playoff hole to get the win, as the pair played 18 again. Novak had a long birdie putt that was a solid effort but missed. Thomas stepped up and drained his birdie putt from 21 feet to claim his first win in over 1,000 days. Thomas hadn’t won as a father, which was emotional for him as his young daughter was on-site, with his wife to make it a true family win. His father, who’s been instrumental in his golf career, also joined the family to celebrate the win.
Winning in professional golf is hard. It doesn’t matter what tour, what event, whether it’s a major or not, it’s damn hard to win a professional golf tournament. Thomas has been pretty good over the last three years, but his performances at the majors have been mediocre, and missing the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs was a shock. Other than that, Thomas has been in position to win a handful of times, but he couldn’t get that elusive win.
Thomas has been a staple of Team USA at the Ryder Cup over the years. This year, he’s trending to be a top-six qualifying player, rather than relying on a Captain’s pick to make the team. Thomas playing at his best is good for Team USA, and can make a difference on the team, especially in front of the home fans.
Thomas has had a new caddie on the bag, in Joe Greiner. Greiner was on the bag for Max Homa, but split with Homa right before the Masters. Thomas scooped him up the week of the Masters, where he finished T-36 before winning in just their second tournament together. Caddies are more valuable than ever, and the right combination of caddie and player can launch a career. Scottie Scheffler and Ted Scott are a modern example of that, and had Scott not picked up Scheffler’s bag, who knows where he’s at. Thomas and Greiner could be a lethal combination that unlocks Thomas and his ability to win multiple majors in the future.
One moment that stands out was in the third round when Thomas was on the second hole and was in a waste bunker. Thomas reported that his ball moved when he was trying to move pebbles around it. There wasn’t video evidence that the ball moved, but Thomas said it moved and was adamant about it. He ended up making par, and that one stroke could’ve avoided him being in the playoff. However, Thomas did the right thing and was rewarded with the win. There are a lot of golfers, specifically amateur golfers, who would lie or not even say anything. It takes courage to call out a penalty when you’re the only one to see the infraction, and Thomas deserves the proper recognition for that. Doing the right thing will always get rewarded by the golf Gods.
Wesley Bryan Suspended By PGA Tour
The PGA Tour suspended PGA Tour player and YouTuber Wesley Bryan for participating in “The Duels: Miami” a match on YouTube as part of LIV Golf’s Miami event. Ryan French of Monday Q Info broke the story and talked to Bryan as part of his story. The Duels: Miami was an event that LIV Golf put together with teams of two that featured a LIV Golfer and a YouTuber paired up, and six pairs were battling for a $250,000 purse. The video was uploaded to Grant Horvat’s YouTube channel, who, in an ironic twist, revealed this week he’s been offered a spot via a sponsor’s invitation to participate in the Barracuda Championship, a PGA Tour event.
According to French, all of the creators were informed of potentially featuring similar disciplines as Bryan through a third party, however, those threats were rescinded for everyone but Bryan. Bryan was at first put on probation when the made-for-YouTube match was announced in March. Then, Bryan was suspended the day after the match was uploaded to Horvat’s YouTube channel, and at the time of this being published, it has over two million views.
Bryan was supposed to be teeing it up at the Corales Puntacana Championship, where last year he finished in second place. Bryan told French that he’s “extremely grateful to the Tour” and “I don’t want this to be the end of my professional golf career.” Bryan also expressed that he didn’t regret participating in the video and has aspirations of growing golf through YouTube.
Welsey and his brother George run a YouTube channel called “Bryan Bros Golf” which has over 555,000 subscribers. They frequently post various golf videos that easily get over 100,000 views, and occasionally eclipse 1,000,000 views on their most popular videos. The PGA Tour over the last few years has embraced YouTube content by creating multiple events where YouTubers are invited to compete in events.
The suspension seems like a targeted attack on Bryan. Players who have gone to LIV have suspensions awaiting them, while some players who have attempted to qualify for LIV via their Q-School haven’t been suspended or faced the threat of a suspension. The timing of Grant Horvat announcing his invitation to a PGA Tour event while Bryan is suspended, within a few days of each other, is a pretty awful look for the PGA Tour. Again, the video wasn’t even uploaded to LIV’s YouTube channel. It was uploaded to Grant Horvat’s channel, who has partnered with Phil Mickelson, a LIV golfer, for a video series, yet Horvat gets the invitation while Bryan gets suspended.
This further shows how ludicrous the state of men’s professional golf is. Players are getting suspended over a YouTube video. How outrageous is that? Dysfunctional organizations do dysfunctional things, and this scenario further proves that statement to be more of a fact than an opinion. Bryan doesn’t even know how long his suspension is. So not only did the PGA Tour suspend him for a milquetoast reason, they didn’t even tell him how long he’d be suspended for.
Common sense seems to be shriveling by the minute in our society. Look no further than men’s professional golf for that to be on full display in many areas of the game. It’s a shame because last week, men’s professional golf showed off what it should be and where the game can be.
USGA Accepts Record Entries For U.S. Open/Local Qualifying Underway
The 125th U.S. Open takes place this June from the historic Oakmont Country Club for a record 10th time. Another record was set this week, when the USGA announced for the fourth time in championship history, the number of entries to play was over 10,000. This year, topped them all, with 10,202 accepted entries. One of the best parts of the U.S. Open is that anyone has a chance to play in the U.S. Open, granted your handicap needs to be at a certain threshold, it doesn’t gatekeep anyone from getting their handicap index low enough to participate one day. Entrants this year are as young as 13 and as old as 73, another reminder of how ageless this game is.
Local Qualifying began on the 16th in Florida and continues this week. Tomorrow, Druids Glen Golf Club in Covington will host a local qualifying site, where 93 entrants will compete for five spots to advance to Final Qualifying. Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman will host one of the last Local Qualifying sites on May 13, with 93 entrants also competing for just five spots.
Final Qualifying takes place on two days, May 19, with only three sites playing then, and on June 2, where 10 sites will host. Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla hosts one of the Final Qualifying sites. Final Qualifying is 36 holes, all day, all across the country, and at one site in Canada. It’s one of the most dramatic days in golf and is often referred to as “Golf’s Longest Day”. Playoffs are common during Final Qualifying, which provides some of the most nerve-wracking golf the sport sees all year. Players who make it out of Final Qualifying advance to the U.S. Open, where they will tee it up with the greatest players in the world.
Click here for a full list of the qualifying sites and to check in with scoring throughout the qualifying rounds.
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