David Lipsky hits a shot on Saturday on the 18th hole at Muirfield Village.
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Let’s talk snake liquor. Trust that we’ll tie this back into the money for the Memorial Tournament.
David Lipsky, you see, says he’s played on every continent except Antarctica in his 12 years as a pro. And so you see some things. And eat and drink some things. So on Friday at Muirfield Village, he was asked for some of his more “unique” eating experiences.
And burger, fries and a Coke this is not.
“I mean, there’s been a lot,” Lipsky said. “I remember playing in Vietnam and I had snake liquor from a restaurant. There’s a snake at the bottom of this barrel and that was it. They were distilling some alcohol and the owner gave us a couple shots.
“It was terrible. But I still took it.”
Wild. As has been Lipksy’s journey. Here’s the rundown he gave. He missed PGA Tour Q-School in 2011. Then he played the Asian Tour. Then he played the now-named Korn Ferry Tour. Then he played back on the Asian Tour. Then he played the now-named DP World Tour. Then he said he took “a gamble.” He went back to the Korn Ferry — and he earned his card to the PGA Tour last year.
“So life’s good,” Lipsky said.
Indeed. He headed into the Memorial’s final round on Sunday in a tie for the lead — and he was in line for a monstrous payday. The winner of this designated event? He gets $3.6 million from a $20 million pot.
And that’s a long way from snake liquor. Which led to this fun exchange:
“I guess when you’re drinking snake alcohol in Malaysia and Vietnam, are you thinking about playing here then?”
“You’re not thinking about too much actually,” Lipsky said, “I can guarantee you that.”
How much every player made at the 2023 Memorial Tournament
1. Viktor Hovland $3.6 million
2. Denny McCarthy $2.18 million
3. Scottie Scheffler $1.38 million
4. Si Woo Kim $980,000
T5. Andrew Putnam $772,500 Jordan Spieth $772,500
T7. Adam Schenk $650,000 Rory McIlroy $650,000
T9. Adam Scott $545,000 Rickie Fowler $545,000 Matt Fitzpatrick $545,000
T12. Tyrrell Hatton $410,000 Lee Hodges $410,000 Wyndham Clark $410,000 David Lipsky $410,000
T16. Luke List $275,500 Sam Burns $275,500 Shane Lowry $275,500 Jon Rahm $275,500 Sepp Straka $275,500 Joseph Bramlett $275,500 Russell Henley $275,500 Hideki Matsuyama $275,500
T24. Byeong Hun An $163,000 Beau Hossler $163,000 Xander Schauffele $163,000 Eric Cole $163,000 Gary Woodland $163,000 Stephan Jaeger $163,000
T30. Ryan Fox $117,250 Garrick Higgo $117,250 Austin Eckroat $117,250 J.J. Spaun $117,250 Patrick Rodgers $117,250 Patrick Cantlay $117,250 Keegan Bradley $117,250 Mark Hubbard $117,250
T38. J.T. Poston $91,000 Luke Donald $91,000 Christiaan Bezuidenhout $91,000
T41. Taylor Montgomery $71,000 Seamus Power $71,000 Brandt Snedeker $71,000 Sam Stevens $71,000 S.H. Kim $71,000 Justin Suh $71,000 Sungjae Im $71,000
T48. Thomas Detry $52,600 Matt Wallace $52,600 Emiliano Grillo $52,600 Keith Mitchell $52,600
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.