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GolfWRX Morning 9: A troubling Tiger trend? | Did a PGA Tour pro cheat? | Major winners

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Good morning, GolfWRX members. As most of you are signed up for our newsletters, you likely already know that I’ve been sending this little Morning 9 roundup of nine items of note.

In case you’ve missed it, or you prefer to read on site rather than in your email, we’re including it here. Check out today’s Morning 9 below.

If you’re not signed up for our newsletters, you can subscribe here.

By Ben Alberstadt (ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com)

 

July 2, 2018

Good Monday morning, golf fans. Breaking news: it’s hot.
1. Holy Molinari!
Tiger Woods, in the hunt as he made the turn, said he would have needed a back-nine 24 to catch Francesco Molinari. That’s just one of the many indicators of how good the Italian’s play was.
  • Tied for the lead entering Sunday all Molinari did was card a course-record 8-under 62. After a 50-footer for eagle at the 10th hole, he never looked back.
  • The win the first on the PGA Tour for Molinari, who is one of the steadiest global golfers.
(Pictured: a shot Bettinardi sent us of Molinari’s bomb-making putter)  
2. Tiger tales
There are two Tiger Woods narratives floating around this morning following his T4 finish at TPC Potomac. One, is that when Woods gets in position, as he has done a couple of times this year, he falters.
  • Via USA Today’s Steve Dimeglio…”Tiger Woods was charging up the leaderboard in Sunday’s final round of the Quicken Loans National, the red numbers on his scorecard matching the familiar final-round color of his shirt.The masses were stirring as Woods took aim at the leaders, cutting his six-shot deficit at the start of the day to four with his third birdie on the front nine at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm….And then came the recurring letdown.”
  • “Just as he did in the third round, Woods wilted in the heat index that reached into triple digits and became his own worst enemy. In a familiar scene that’s played out on the weekends in three previous starts, especially on Sundays, Woods put himself onto the front page of the leaderboard only to start making silly and, at times, shocking mistakes.
  • “That was the case again when Woods took momentum to the back nine at TPC Potomac and then missed a birdie putt from 6 feet on the 10th. Made a sloppy bogey on 11. After he righted the ship with a birdie from 5 feet on 12, he bogeyed the short 13th after finding the rough with a 4-iron off the tee, just as he did in the third round, then missed from 4 feet for birdie on the 14th.
  • Said Woods: “The last two days playing 13, 14 the way I did, you know, I bogeyed 13 twice and then didn’t birdie 14 either day and I was right there next to the green,” Woods said when asked about shots he’d like to take back. For the week, he played those two ripe-for-scoring holes 1 over, making only one birdie on the driveable par-4 14th. “Those are things I can’t afford to do and expect to win a golf tournament.”
The other narrative is that Woods is finally on track with his putter (despite some statistical suggestions to the contrary)
  • “I did some good work last week,” Woods told CBS’s Dottie Pepper after his round Sunday. “I’m starting the ball on my lines again and I’ve got the speed. I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in, which is fine. As long as I’m hitting good putts and seeing my lines … that’s something that I’ve been missing for a while now, for the better part of two months. This is the week I finally turned it around.”
3. Hardly a walk in the park
Apparently, Sung Hyun Park’s nickname in South Korea translates to “Shut up and attack!”
  • While this is fantastic, so was her steely victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She topped fellow South Korean So Yeon Ryu in a playoff after Japanese teen Nasa Hataoka dropped out on the first playoff hole.
  • Normally stoic, Park was unusually emotional after the win…maybe because she just won a major championship?
  • “Actually, this is my first time feeling this kind of emotion, being this emotional,” Park said through an interpreter. “And I was really happy, like, I couldn’t help that.”
As well you should be!
4. DT triumphant
ICYMI: David Toms won the U.S. Senior Open at the Broadmoor.
AP Report, because sometimes a man just doesn’t have the energy to paraphrase.
  • “Toms made not just one, but two, on Sunday — first to take the lead on the 16th hole, then to protect it on No. 17 and set himself for the win at the U.S. Senior Open.
  • “On a course where the greens perplexed the entire field for four straight days, Toms rolled in a 15-footer for birdie on No. 16, then coaxed in a downhill, 20-foot slider to save par after driving into a fairway bunker on the 530-yard, par-4 17th.”
  • “I knew that with 17 coming up, if I was going to make a birdie, it had to happen on (16),” Toms said. “It was uphill, pretty straight, and I put it right in the middle.”
  • “He shot even-par 70 to walk away a shot ahead of Miguel Angel Jimenez, Tim Petrovic and Jerry Kelly in an all-day dog fight; five players were tied for the lead when Toms and Kelly teed off on the 14th hole.”
5. More than just a man with extremely calloused hands
Reminder: Alex Noren is a serious talent. The best Swedish golfer not named Henrik Stenson came from seven shots back at Le Golf National to capture the Open de France.
  • After a pedestrian start, Noren posted weekend numbers of 65 and 67 for a 7-under 277 to win by one over New York native Julian Suri, Scotland’s Russell Knox and Englishman Chris Wood.
  • World No. 2 Justin Thomas, who compelled by his deep love of France and its Open/appearance fees, tied for eight.
6. Dahmen accuses Kang
Oh boy. High drama indeed on the PGA Tour. A perceived bad drop. An itchy Twitter finger…and Joel Dahmen has accused Sung Kang of cheating.
  • Asked on Twitter why his group was held up for so long at the 10th hole, Dahmen replied.
  • “Kang cheated. He took a bad drop from a hazard. I argued until I was blue. I lost.”
  • Asked for more information, Dahmen said this
  • “It was a typical dispute about where or if it crossed the hazzard. It clearly did not cross the hazzard. We went back and forth for 25 minutes and he ended up dropping closer to the green.”
(It’s “hazard,” Joel)
7. Daly Show growing dull? 
Sounds like Eamon Lynch has had his fill of Long John…
  • “For a time, Daly was an easy guy to root for among the khaki clones that populate the PGA Tour, a mullet-sporting, beer-bellied, working-class guy upending a country club world. His many struggles with addiction – which he hid from no one – earned him tremendous support from fans and more than a few passes for conduct unbecoming.”
  • “But the Daly Show has long since become tediously repetitive viewing…He’s 52 now, but maturity seems no nearer at hand. It’s easy to understand why tournament organizers have bestowed so many sponsor’s invites on a man who hasn’t had playing status for years. When he pitches up at events, TV announcers still serve up the old chestnuts: Folks love to see him, he draws a crowd, he generates the oohs and aahs. That’s all true, of course, but it’s also true of police car chases. And people watch both hoping for a crash.”
  • “Daly regularly gives those few fans what they want – clubs tossed into the water, a fan’s camera smashed – but seldom what most fans deserve: professionalism, courtesy, a simple bloody effort to justify their ticket price.”
8. Manufacture an Open!
Shots fired! A subtle comment from Tiger Woods that speaks volumes…
  • “One of the neat things about playing an Open Championship – they don’t really care what par is,” Woods said. “They just let whatever Mother Nature has – if it’s in store for a wet Open it is; if it’s dry it’s dry. They don’t try and manufacture an Open.”
  • Anyone with their radar turned on could have added “…like the USGA does with the U.S. Open” to Woods’ remarks. Rather than a complaint about, say, conditions Saturday afternoon at Shinnecock, Woods remarks represent a critique of the USGA’s underlying tournament setup philosophy.
9. The case for wiring golfers for sound
Martin Kaufmann writes…
  • “If, however, a Tour player of Thomas’ stature were to wear a microphone during a tournament, it would rock the industry. I suspect other Tour players would strongly object to seeing that Pandora’s box opened.”
  • “The team sports athletes seem to recognize the value of bringing fans closer to the action. The NFL and NBA have led this movement, and Major League Baseball seems to have embraced it. (The Houston Astros’ George Springer wore a mic during the 2017 All-Star Game.) I suspect these players realize it’s good for their sports and also a good way to raise their own profiles. In short, everyone wins – the players, the leagues, the networks and the fans.”
  • “So the question becomes: When will the PGA Tour and its players learn this lesson?”

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. carl

    Jul 2, 2018 at 9:09 am

    matt kuchar should be the only pro that has a mic on.

  2. Boyo

    Jul 2, 2018 at 8:52 am

    Americans play game called *(^@#=**** (^*&(

    • Alfredo Smith

      Jul 2, 2018 at 1:21 pm

      Whaaaat! And this is because… the Euros are superior, lol.

      • bebop a lula

        Jul 3, 2018 at 6:12 am

        Obviously we are superior, with our culture and history and in my case a scotsman creating the game.

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

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