For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Monday morning, golf fans. On this day in 1558, Mary, Queen of Scots, married her second husband, Lord Darnley, in Edinburgh. MQoS also has the distinction of being the “first woman to regularly play golf,” according to various sources. She played from an early age during his childhood in France. She’s also credited with the introduction of caddies to the game as French military officers carried the royal’s bag.

Golf groaner of the day: Why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants?

…In case he got a hole-in-one!

1. Lilia Vu wins Chevron in a playoff

AP Report…”Lilia Vu relied on her grandfather’s steady hand and calm demeanor to keep her grounded during difficult times.”

• “He died in 2020, but on Sunday at the Chevron Championship with a chance to win her first major, Vu’s thoughts of her grandfather helped her once again.”

• “I was getting really upset on the course, and I just had to remind me, ‘Grandpa is with you,'” she said. “‘And he’d be really disappointed if you were getting upset like this and that you didn’t get your act together.'”

• “With his memory in her head, Vu finished strong with two straight birdies, then birdied the first playoff hole to beat Angel Yin in a dramatic finish at The Club at Carlton Woods.”

2. Team Hardy-Riley takes Zurich Classic

It was a six-team race down the stretch in New Orleans, but Nick Hardy and Davis Riley emerged victorious, setting a tournament record at 30 under.

• The final round saw Hardy and Riley take the lead with a birdie on No. 16, leaving the stuck-in-neutral Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler in pursuit. Hardy and Riley then showed nerves of steel with another birdie on No. 17, extending their lead to two shots. A par on the 18th for a 7-under 65 in the final round secured the victory.

• Despite a strong final round from Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, who fired a 9-under 63 to finish at 28 under, it was not enough to catch the winners. Clark and Hossler’s hopes of victory vanished with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17, right where Hardy and Riley made their move. Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore, along with defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, finished T-4 at 26 under, one shot behind Clark and Hossler.

3. Herbert wins ISPS Handa Championship in playoff

In a thrilling finale at the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan, Lucas Herbert emerged victorious over Aaron Cockerill after a second playoff hole to secure his fourth professional title in three years. Cockerill led by one stroke over Herbert at the start of the day, with David Law just one stroke behind, and several others within striking distance.

• Herbert started strongly with an opening-hole birdie to level with Cockerill. Grant Forrest then took the outright lead with back-to-back birdies. However, Herbert responded with an eagle at the fifth hole to take the lead, which he maintained for the rest of the day. Forrest and Cockerill made moves at the 14th hole, but both players remained a shot behind Herbert with four holes remaining.

• After both players parred in, the tournament ended in a playoff. Both Herbert and Cockerill missed birdie opportunities on the first playoff hole, and it was advantage Herbert on the second playoff hole. A stunning approach shot from Herbert set up a birdie putt that he rolled in for the win.

4. Talor Gooch nearly blows huge lead, rebounds to secure LIV title in Australia

Talor Gooch won his maiden LIV Golf victory in Adelaide, where he faced a few struggles on the final day, losing his bogey-free run at the seventh and dropping his lead to two strokes over Anirban Lahiri after a double-bogey at the 10th. However, Gooch steadied himself with two back-nine birdies to shoot a one-over 73, leaving him with a 19-under-par total. Lahiri finished second with a 16-under total, followed by Patrick Reed in third with 15 under. Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces team won the $4 million team event.

• Gooch expressed his relief after the win, saying that the golf gods made it clear they did not want it to be easy for him. The tournament was attended by 35,000 fans on the final day. Chase Koepka had an ace at the Watering Hole, which unleashed instant chaos, with cups and bottles thrown by fans lining the short par 3, causing a delay in play for several minutes.

• The LIV Golf’s 14-event season continues in Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club.

5. Shuttle ride — and a job lost — for KFT player?

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…“Wilson Furr missed the cut Friday at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic – and will now likely be reshuffled out of most upcoming events – after the 24-year-old Jackson, Mississippi, native was among three players penalized for taking an unauthorized shuttle ride from a tournament volunteer midway through their second rounds.”

• “This sucks,” Furr told GolfChannel.com via phone on Friday night after his flight home landed in Birmingham, Alabama. “There’s no way around it. It just sucks. To start the day, probably one of the bigger rounds I’ve played in my career, and I knew it, and for this to happen then, just ugh.”

6. Lynch: PGA Tour fields must avoid becoming a joke

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch…“When two-time PGA Tour winner Michael Thompson was added to the field at the Zurich Classic, he chose as his team partner Paresh Amin, a 43-year-old military veteran with a beggarly record on mini-tours, and who shot 42-over-par in Q-School for the Mackenzie Tour.”

• …”Thompson and Amin were spared the indignity of last place only thanks to another pair of sponsor invites: David Duval and John Daly. Zurich presumably hoped the name recognition of these former major winners would draw eyeballs to an event that sits in no man’s land on the calendar, wedged amid majors and designated stops. The tournament could boast some quality names — Cantlay, Schauffele, Fitzpatrick, Morikawa, Homa — but too many others who would be recognized only by job-seeking caddies or alert process servers.”

• “The problem is that Duval and Daly are woefully uncompetitive even on the PGA Tour Champions, much less a more demanding stage. Duval is 0-for-25 in cracking the top 10 in his senior career, while Daly has done so just once in his last 33 attempts. Predictably, their performance was execrable: rounds of 75-83 secured last place by 12 shots. Perhaps the few spectators who were imperiled by the team’s wayward shots enjoyed seeing the old timers, but there are ample reasons why some of their fellow Tour players might not.”

7. Slow play fine at Chevron

Kent Paisley for Golf Digest…”A slow day during the third round of the Chevron Championship at Carlton Woods turned into an expensive one for LPGA Tour rookie Lucy Li. Following her round Saturday, the LPGA confirmed to Golf Digest that Li received a fine due to slow play on the seventh hole. The tour did not disclose the amount of the fine.

• “The group received a warning and was timed, as is our policy, before the fine,” an LPGA spokesperson said in a text.

• The official explained that Li’s group received a warning “several” holes before it was determined a fine would be instituted. According to the tour, Gaby Lopez and Pavarisa Yokutan—the others in the group with Li that teed off at 10:06 a.m. local time on Saturday—were not fined. Li did not receive a penalty for slow play, which could have cost her two strokes. She shot four-over-par 76 in the third round and stood at three over, tied for 52nd place.

8. $80k for a LIV withdrawal

Justin Lawrence for the Daily Star…”A golfer who withdrew from LIV Golf’s Adelaide event still bagged £65,000 – while the star who finished in last place earned £98,000.”

• “LIV Golf moved on to The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide, Australia at the weekend for the fourth tournament of the season. Although Englishman Sam Horsfield’s participation came to a premature end – and Sihwan Kim came in last on the final leaderboard – both stars still received handsome sums for their involvement in the Saudi-backed golf tour.”

• “Manchester-native Horsfield had to withdraw from the Adelaide event after the second round, ahead of the final round on Sunday due to an injury. But he was awarded $80,000 (£64.3k) for featuring Down Under.”

9. Winning WITBs

Nick Hardy

Driver: Titleist TSi2 (8 degrees)

Shaft: Aldila Tour Green Graphene 70 TX

Titleist TSi2 (15.0 degrees)

Shaft: Aldila Tour Green Graphene 85 TX

Irons: Titleist T100 (4), Titleist 620 MB (5-PW)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F, 56-10S, 60-08M)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Swag prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Davis Riley

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX

Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black TR 8 X

Titleist TSR2 (18 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: Titleist T100 (4), 620 CB (5, 6), 620 MB (7-9)

Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F, 50-08F, 56-08M), WedgeWorks (60-T)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7.2 tour prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1