It wouldn’t be professional golf if the officials didn’t get a ruling wrong. The one thing that we thought might go away for good returned but with little bite. An apparent infraction, not discernible to the naked eye, was picked up by a high-speed camera, examined ad nauseum, and then assessed post-roundem. As indicated above, the two-stroke penalty did not change the current event, but it signaled a dangerous return by the powers of golf, to the very type of scrutiny that turned fans off to the sport.

The PGA Tour followed in the footsteps of the USGA (Dustin Johnson and Anna Nordqvist) and the PGA of America (also Dustin Johnson) in turning to super high-resolution video to uncover a maybe-infraction. It’s a shame when officials insert themselves into the story; it takes away from the spirit of the game.

Thank you for reading my rant against hyper-vigilance. Let’s proceed with this week’s Tour Rundown.

Rahm wins Memorial, ascends to world number one

Jon Rahm spoke across the ocean to his mother and grandmother in Euskera, the Basque language, moments after he won the Memorial Tournament. Rahm became the first Spaniard since the late Severiano Ballesteros to reach the pinnacle of professional golf, the number one ranking in the world. Rahm stood on the 10th tee with an eight-shot advantage. Preserving such a lead has only come easily to Tiger Woods. Over the next four holes, Rahm would make two bogies and a double, and see his lead dwindle to three strokes over playing partner Ryan Palmer. To make the match more delicious, Rahm and Palmer team up annually at the Zurich Classic, the two-man event held in New Orleans. They’ve even won the event together, but on Sunday afternoon, there was no love shared nor lost.

Just when things looked dismal for the former Arizona State golfer, Rahm pulled off a shot for the ages. He holed out from the high grass behind the 16th hole, when it appeared that he would drop a shot or two. Despite missing the 17th fairway (bunker) and 18th fairway (rough), and both the 17th and 18th greens in regulation, Rahm’s deft touch emerged once again around those putting surfaces, and he raised his hands in triumph. His margin of victory was reduced from five to three (see rant above) but in the end, he was the victor.

Rahm seized control of the event on Saturday’s back nine (32) and Sunday’s front (34). He was able to gain strokes as his competition frittered them away. The fairways and greens at Muirfield Village were firm as can be, and shots bounded through to the rough, and launched off greens into sand and tall grass. That Rahm was able to reach double-figures under par was evidence that his game stood above all others this week. Palmer was able to reach minus-six, good for second place. England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick posted 68 in round four, moving up 15 spots into solo third position, at five under par.

Riley claims 2nd Korn Ferry Tour title of 2020 at San Antonio 

Things just turned a bit more interesting for Davis Riley. He and his fellow KornFerrians have known since April that there would be no promotion of The 25 or playoff performers, to the 2020-2021 PGA Tour. One avenue for promotion to the big tour does remain, and Riley is one win away from walking it. The University of Alabama golfer product, originally from Mississippi, earned his second tour title of 2020, with a seven-birdie performance in Saturday’s final round. On the Korn Ferry tour, three victories in a season earns the golf equivalent of a battlefield promotion. With eleven events still to come on the 2020 schedule, Riley’s chance at the elevation just got better.

The KFT spent a second consecutive week in San Antonio, moving over from the TPC’s Canyons course to its Oaks layout. Last week’s winner, David Lipsky, was all over the board, with the epitome of an up and down week. He ultimately placed 76th after surviving the cut. The winner two weeks back, Will Zalatoris, had a much better time of it. He rebounded from an opening 77 with a day-two 67, to sneak inside the cut line. A 66-67 weekend jumped him all the way to fifth place.

Day four for the contenders had a bit of everything. Overnight leader Derek Ernst had a nightmare start. He played the first five holes in five-over par, thanks to three bogies and a double. Just like that, he was out of contention, leaving followers to wonder who would emerge from the chase pack. Ernst did rebound on the inward half with four birdies, and joined in the fifth-place tie with Zalatoris and two others.

Davis Riley had the hot hand on day four. His seven birdies included three over the closing four holes, The final two were enough to boost him out of a tie with Canada’s Taylor Pendrith and France’s Paul Barjon. Riley’s two bogies came at the third and 11th holes, but he was able to bounce back in both cases, and return to the sub-par train. His first tour title came in February, at the Panama Championship. Despite the high level of competition on the Korn Ferry Tour, we like his chances of earning win number three and a move to the PGA Tour.

Stalter claims Euram Bank Open 

In 2020, this event had the unique distinction of serving as both a challenge and regular tour event. For Wikipedia, that means that Joel Stalter now has three professional wins, not two. We’ll get to Stalter in a while, but we need a moment to extend our condolences to Robin Sciot-Siegrist. Like Stalter, S-S plays under the flag of France. Unlike Stalter, RSS was in the clubhouse on Friday evening with a score of 61, good for a three-shot advantage over England’s Richard Mansell. If the leader had scored Mansell’s +1 71 on Saturday, he would have claimed his own, first European Tour win. A day removed from posting six consecutive birdies in that nine-under par effort, Sciot-Siegrist (sounds like a name from Game of Thrones, am I right?) made not a single birdie in his fourth round. Two bogies and a triple were all that separated him from 18 pars (a number that also would have won) and a painful lesson accompanied his third-place tie.

On Saturday, amid Sciot-Siegrist’s departure, the tournament opened up to a variety of challengers.  Richard Mansell, Alexander Knappe, and Christofer Blomstrand all reached 11-under par, giving chase to the trophy. It was Joel Stalter who played the best of the top ten, however. His final round included three birdies against one bogey. It wasn’t the low round of the day, but it was the round that he needed to hold off his pursuers. Mansell came in at plus-one on the day, falling to -12 and second place. Knappe and Blomstrand were even and plus-one, respectively, for round four, and finished one back of Mansell, in a third-place tie.

The European Tour moves to England this week, to the storied Close House golf club, for the British Masters.