News

Tour Mash: Spieth’s Happy Gilmore and Paige’s pro debut

Published

10 years ago

Dec 14, 2015

Still some tournament golf to be played

A little of this, a little of that. Jason Dufner and Brandt Snedeker eked out a two-stroke victory over Harris English and Matt Kuchar at the Shark Shootout. Sadly for The Shark, his silly season event was lacking in A-List talent. At No. 13 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Zach Johnson was the highest-ranked golfer in the field.

Across the globe on the Asian Tour, the Thailand Golf Championship saw Jamie Donaldson of Wales separate from Lee Westwood (T2) and Sergio Garcia (4th) via an electric Sunday 65 for a three-stroke margin of victory. Finally, the Web.Com Tour qualifying school admitted 13 fully exempt members to its 2016 dance party. Led by medalist Adam Svensson and featuring Denny McCarthy, Ollie Schniederjans and social media trick shot artist Wesley Bryan (of the Bryan Brothers), the cream of the crop will do battle for spots on the big tour for the 2016-2017 season.

See the clubs Svensson used to win by 7 strokes!

Turning the first Paige of pro golf

Paige Spiranac, Instagram model and budding golfer-for-a-living, made her professional debut at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters this week. It lasted 36 holes, counted 156 strokes, and was 8 strokes shy of making the cut. Meh. Was she under ~~an instascope~~, oops, a microscope? You bet. Spiranac wasn’t feeling the pro vibe in the hours leading up to her inaugural, for-cash performance, as she explained after round one:

So last night, I was like in my room, kind of locked the door and I was like, I’m not going to play tomorrow, they can’t make me. I was crying and I didn’t want to go. So I guess today was pretty good compared to how bad I thought it was going to go after last night.

Two events conspired to deflect the spotlight from the Californian and render her yawner of a coming-out a staying-in: Dame Laura Davies, the great English golfer, championed Spiranac pre-tourney, saying that she deserved “a chance” to show her game, then Shanshan Feng ran away with event by 12 strokes. Less Insta and more Practa, Paige.

Some competition for the Bryan Brothers

While the Bryan Brothers (whooops, not those Bryan Brothers, these Bryan Brothers) take the trick-shot world (and now the Web.Com Tour: see above) by storm, another golfing partnership is quietly assembling a collection of YouTube videos and a following. Andy Proudman and Piers Ward, two blokes from England, offer the tantalizing “Challenge Tuesday,” during which they compete to ridiculous extents for your attention. Can’t decide if we prefer Junior Club Battle or Happy Gilmore Every Shot (above). How abou’chu?

Not this time, Jordan… but nice shot

Jordan Spieth seemed to be in contention for every golf tournament he entered in 2015, but as far as the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year contest goes, he’s out of the running…as is everyone but a horse. And you can’t fault the voters. After all, it had been nearly 40 years since the last Triple Crown winner in American thoroughbred racing. Spieth may be the heir to a crown, but he ain’t no ~~Pharaoh~~ errr, Pharoah, despite Zach Johnson’s testimonial on his behalf. The horse currently holds 47 percent of the vote, with world series champs Kansas City Royals at 39 percent. Spieth has a respectable 3 percent of the tally.

To celebrate? He went “full Happy Gilmore” in the Grapefruit Pro-Am at Vero Beach Country Club.

Jordan Spieth went full Happy Gilmore (via @jakeowen) https://t.co/q4dU6JAj87

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 14, 2015

Of course, the crowd ate it up, and he was looking at the ball in the air for mighty long as if it flew 400 yards, ala Mr. Gilmore himself. Here’s another look:

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Ronald Montesano

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

17 Comments

other paul

Dec 17, 2015 at 12:46 am

Paige didn’t play to bad for a pro debut. Give her a chance. She did a nice vid with Mark Crossfield as well. It was great stuff.

Reply Report comment
Philip

Dec 14, 2015 at 9:54 pm

From her self banter the night before it is almost as if someone twisted her arm a bit and that she really didn’t want to do it … being a golfer you would think she would jump at this, money or no money.

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Dec 15, 2015 at 5:13 am
  
  Thanks, Philip. The entire interview is here: http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=115414
  
  Her honesty was a story that anyone could have written. She seems to have a very sincere side to her, that is often missed when we project our own ideas onto still photos on social media. I suspect that she will have a “team” around her very soon, that will eliminate some of this sincerity and move her toward standardized answers to questions. This will be sad for golf. It reminds me of the quote from Jon Stewart on “stage-managed, focus group-driven candidates” from Jon Stewart on Bernie Sanders (3 minute mark in this clip: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/jon-stewart-dismantles-the-idea-that-bernie-sanders-is-an-unelectable-kook/) on the loss of authenticity.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Philip
    
    Dec 15, 2015 at 10:35 am
    
    For sure she accomplished A LOT considering how many of us would crumble under the spotlight. It is always easier to edge oneself into the spotlight as people notice your ability. For Paige it was a double-edge sword in that it wasn’t her golfing accomplishments that earned her a sudden chance and as such I totally understand her doubts the night before. However, she had her chance and a 77-79 (which wasn’t last place) is totally respectable considering the tournament. I find it interesting that I’ve read more comments from ladies on the tour supporting her than from a lot of non-professional golfers.
    
    Reply Report comment
  - Comp
    
    Dec 15, 2015 at 12:01 pm
    
    Nobody really cares that much about exhibitionists who really want the world to see their photos beyond what’s at the surface.
    
    Reply Report comment
Ronald Montesano

Dec 14, 2015 at 6:24 pm

UPDATE: The online poll for SI Sportsperson of the year was an aside. The horse didn’t win; Serena Williams was selected as Sportsperson of the year, FYI.

Reply Report comment
Sprcoop

Dec 14, 2015 at 1:03 pm

I don’t care if it is Jordan Spieth (who I admire greatly) anybody in a 180 degree radius in FRONT of that tee has got a screw loose. Takin’ a chance on getting beaned high velocity.

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Dec 14, 2015 at 4:02 pm
  
  Good point. Have you ever heard the Jack Lemon “John, you’ve got the guts of a burglar” story about John Daly? They think they can’t miss.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Testing Lorem Ipsum

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May 13, 2026

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

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.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

Jon Rahm +1300
Cameron Young +1500
Bryson DeChambeau +1700
Xander Schauffele +1850
Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
Ludvig Aberg +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2600
Collin Morikawa +3500
Brooks Koepka +3900
Justin Rose +4300
Russell Henley +4600
Si Woo Kim +4700
Justin Thomas +4800
Robert MacIntyre +5300
Patrick Cantlay +5300
Viktor Hovland +5400
Tyrrell Hatton +5500
Jordan Spieth +5900
Sam Burns +6000
Hideki Matsuyama +6200
Adam Scott +6400
Rickie Fowler +7000
Chris Gotterup +7400
Patrick Reed +7400
Min Woo Lee +7800
Ben Griffin +8000
Sepp Straka +8400
Shane Lowry +9000
Akshay Bhatia +9200
Maverick McNealy +9200
Joaquin Niemann +9200
Jake Knapp +9200
Jason Day +9600
Kurt Kitayama +10000
J.J. Spaun +10000
Harris English +10500
Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
Gary Woodland +11000
David Puig +11000
Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
Jacob Bridgeman +12000
Keegan Bradley +12500
Corey Conners +14000
Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
Sungjae Im +15500
Sahith Theegala +15500
Harry Hall +15500
Alex Noren +16000
Thomas Detry +16500
Marco Penge +16500
Kristoffer Reitan +17000
Alex Smalley +17000
Wyndham Clark +17500
Sam Stevens +17500
Keith Mitchell +17500
Daniel Berger +18500
Ryan Gerard +20000
Nick Taylor +20000
Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
Dustin Johnson +21000
Pierceson Coody +23000
Aaron Rai +24000
Jordan Smith +24000
Angel Ayora +24000
Bud Cauley +25000
Matt McCarty +26000
Jayden Schaper +26000
Brian Harman +27000
Taylor Pendrith +27000
Ryan Fox +27000
J.T. Poston +27000
Cameron Smith +29000
Ryo Hisatsune +29000
Michael Kim +29000
Max Homa +29000
Denny McCarthy +29000
Tom McKibbin +30000
Rico Hoey +32000
Matt Wallace +32500
Ricky Castillo +33000
Haotong Li +33000
Michael Brennan +34000
Max Greyserman +36000
Stephan Jaeger +37500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
Aldrich Potgieter +40000
Andrew Novak +42000
Patrick Rodgers +42500
Daniel Hillier +42500
Max McGreevy +46000
Billy Horschel +48000
Chris Kirk +48000
Ian Holt +49000
Casey Jarvis +49000
William Mouw +50000
Steven Fisk +50000
John Parry +50000
Nico Echavarria +52500
Garrick Higgo +52500
John Keefer+55000
Matthias Schmid +57500
Austin Smotherman +57500
Sami Valimaki +60000
Andrew Putnam +60000
Lucas Glover +62500
Daniel Brown +62500
Jhonattan Vegas +75000
Emiliano Grillo +80000
Mikael Lindberg +85000
Adrien Saddier +100000
Bernd Wiesberger +100000
Elvis Smylie +110000
Stewart Cink +130000
Kota Kaneko +130000
David Lipsky +150000
Chandler Blanchet +150000
Andy Sullivan +150000
Joe Highsmith +180000
Adam Schenk +200000
Travis Smyth +200000
Davis Riley +225000
Martin Kaymer +400000
Brian Campbell +400000
Padraig Harrington +450000
Kazuki Higa +450000
Jordan Gumberg +450000
Ryan Vermeer +500000
Austin Hurt +500000
Tyler Collet +500000
Timothy Wiseman +500000
Shaun Micheel +500000
Y.E. Yang +500000
Michael Block+500000
Mark Geddes+500000
Luke Donald+500000
Bryce Fisher+500000
Jimmy Walker +500000
Jason Dufner +500000
Jesse Droemer +500000
Jared Jones +500000
Garrett Sapp +500000
Francisco Bide +500000
Zach Haynes +500000
Paul McClure+500000
Derek Berg +500000
Chris Gabriele +500000
Braden Shattuck +500000
Ben Polland +500000
Ben Kern +50000

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.