Hello from snowy Boston, my friends, and welcome to another edition of the Rogers Report.
It’s been too long since my last write-up so I’ve put together some golf housekeeping notes before we dive into the last week in golf. Here’s what you need (or what I think you need) to know: Matthew Wolff got engaged, the Gretzky-Johnson clan joined a softball league (imagine rolling up to a casual game after work, only to realize you’re facing off against…Wayne Gretzky and Dustin Johnson?), our Max Homa cover story dropped and Jon Rahm is unstoppable.
We begin with Wolff’s fiancee, Kim Lloyd. She got her bachelor’s degree in economics from Oklahoma State, was the VP of membership for the Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity and is famous on TikTok for her skincare and makeup videos.
On to the Gretzky-Johnson softball team. It looks like a lot of fun, but according to the comments section, things haven’t been going so well for Wayne.
Here’s to hoping things improve for them. And check out this video of Jon Rahm’s kids taking a peek at the American Express trophy.
Adorable.
NFL-golf crossovers
Joe Burrow’s golf take
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a football girl. But any golf content that features football players always piques my interest. So around this time last year, I made it my life’s mission to dedicate 0.002 percent of my time trying to find a video of Joe Burrow’s swing. And unfortunately for me, such a thing did not exist.
We got a little closer to some Burrow golf content last year when he teed it up with his teammate Sam Hubbard, 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns. But all we got was this one picture.
Fast-forward to last April, where Burrow was seen on the putting green behind a wedding ceremony. So we inched closer to seeing him play actual golf, but never got the real thing. And, folks, this kept me up at night. Tom Brady plays. Josh Allen plays. Patrick Mahomes plays. Aaron Rodgers plays. What about Burrow?
It was with mixed emotions that I found my answer on Sunday evening.
As a fellow elite athlete, I respect Burrow’s decision. He doesn’t play golf because he’d get too obsessed with it. It’s the same reason I don’t keep chocolate chip cookies in my apartment. I do selfishly wish he’d give it a chance in the offseason, but I’m willing to wait for Burrow’s retirement for him to discover how great our favorite sport really is.
And while we’re on the topic of NFL players, San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk was spotted working on his swing while his teammate Christian McCaffrey caught some rays last week. Sometimes professional golfers are just like us (read: will get some swings in anywhere they can).
This concludes my knowledge of (and interest in) all-things football this week.
The LPGA’s insane travel schedule
Last week, I put together a video showcasing the PGA Tour travel schedule.
I know that the pros don’t play in every single event, but between this general travel schedule and players getting home, I couldn’t get over just how much travel the pros do week in and week out. That was, until someone suggested I make an LPGA version.
My goodness. The LPGA has 33 events across 12 countries and regions. What I thought was a light-hearted video turned into a much bigger conversation about just how much the female pros are expected to travel from coast to coast and country to country.
Honesty hour: It takes me days to recover from a work trip. We work long hours, often times out on the course, and I absolutely love it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need a solid 48 hours to bounce back once I return home. I can’t imagine doing this much travel as a pro and being expected to fully recover and perform my best week in and week out.
Tyrrell’s temper
The DP World Tour has done it again. And by “it,” I mean create create a short video that deserves an Oscar. The tour (and Tyrrell Hatton) have fully leaned into Hatton’s temper as a bit, which makes this golf parody of American Psycho so good.
Imagine if we could get PGA Tour players to do this? Videos featuring Spieth as the golden child, Zalatoris as the caddie from Happy Gilmore and J.T. Poston as “the other JT” would be hilarious to watch. Side note: If you are a PGA Tour employee and reading this column, please run with these ideas. Free of charge.
Justin Thomas’ wedding photos
Justin Thomas married Jillian Wisniewski in November, but we weren’t graced with any photos from the day until JT’s pal and wedding officiant, Jason Kennedy, shared some images over the weekend.
Jason, thank you so much for these. I will never be able to repay you. What beautiful scenery! And I’d be remiss not to mention that Jordan Spieth did serve as JT’s best man. Bud Cauley was also in the line up of groomsmen. The others I can’t say I recognize.
PGA Tour newborns
It was a big week for the future of the game. First, Francie and Smylie Kaufman welcomed their daughter, Anna Carter.
And just three days later, Lona and Joel Dahmen had Riggs William Dahmen.
Don’t worry, Cam Homa, we haven’t forgotten about you. There is a serious baby boom happening in golf right now. The PGA Tour day care center will be busy for years to come.
A very cool video I saw this week
As a parting thought, I’ll share my favorite thing I saw this week. Emily Casey is the Assistant Superintendent at Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona, Ariz. She has a unique journey to work each morning.
Talk soon, everyone.