Taylor Swift-golf crossovers, Spieth’s wish and Saban’s unlikely foursome | Rogers Report
Get caught up on the week in golf.
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Hello, friends, and welcome to this week’s edition of the Rogers Report! I am currently riding the high of the Chiefs win and more importantly, the incredible golf played by Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko on Sunday afternoon, when the Drive on Championship clearly overshadowed any football. I felt like I was watching a major championship — which has me feeling very good about golf in 2024. (I’m choosing to ignore the whole PGA Tour-agreement-or-no-agreement situation for now.) Between Korda and Ko battling it out and Nick Dunlap winning the American Express as an amateur the week before, there’s a lot of great golf to watch and I couldn’t be more excited to get back on the road to see some of it in person next week.
Before we really get into it, I’d like to take a moment to share a funny anecdote.
My younger brother Brendan spent the last two weeks in the Bahamas caddying for his pal Davis Chatfield on the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s got a lot of food allergies, so he made sure to bring enough grub to keep him happy for 14 days. (Sidenote: We’ve given him until college graduation before an intervention on his dietary habits.)
Anyway, he was having a great time on Chatfield’s bag and asked me to keep an eye out for any Getty Images he may be in. You can’t just go to the Bahamas for two weeks on winter break from college and not get some cool photos, right? But when I searched Chatfield’s name into Getty, I saw Brendan in just one photo — and in that photo he is entirely covered by a tree.
I sent it to him anyway just to mess with him.
Here’s where it gets good thanks to Mike Mulholland, who was the photographer at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic last week. Mulholland was tagged in my above tweet and told me he’d get some pics for Brendan during the final round.
And let me tell you, Mulholland delivered. He took some photos of Brendan’s shoes and, once again, his body blocked by a tree.
A 10 out of 10 troll job from Mulholland, who took the time out of his day to commit to an incredible bit. (Don’t worry, he’s sending me some other photos soon so that my brother can get his cool caddie photos.)
The Alabama Nicks
The University of Alabama is down on Nicks these days. First Nick Saban retired, and now Nick Dunlap is headed to the PGA Tour.
Luckily things are going pretty well for the two of them. Nick Saban teed it up with Travis Scott, 50 Cent and DP World Tour player and social media star James Nicholas earlier this week at the Mr. October Celebrity Golf Classic in Palm Beach.
I wish I had more information for you about this round of golf, because it’s definitely something I’d have paid to see. What do two rappers, a retired football coach and a DP World Tour player even talk about? I guess that’s the beauty of our sport. It really brings anyone and everyone together.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this unlikely grouping reminds me of the unexpected friendship between Tom Watson and Lil Wayne.
DJ and Paulina head to Aspen
It’s the dead of winter, so you know what that means. While the rest of us are wondering if we’ll survive the icy roads, freezing weather and days where it gets dark out at 4 p.m., the celebrities are heading to Aspen. That’s right, time for some vicarious vacation, folks.
There’s no one whose vacations I like to see on social media more than Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky’s. And thanks to Gretzky’s Instagram stories and DJ’s willingness to take a zillion photos, that’s exactly what I was able to do last week.
Look at those sherpa jackets! I always forget that DJ is quite the style guy. And I have a similar (and definitely much less expensive) jacket. I’ll send the Abercrombie link upon request.
I also have an old green corduroy jacket that kind of matches the one Dustin Johnson won at Augusta in 2020, but it doesn’t have quite the same cachet.
Johnson and Gretzky continued their outfit coordination with cowboy hats later in the week.
And for good measure, here’s Gretzky’s Instagram post from their week in Colorado.
Taylor Swift x golf
Oh look — an excuse to write about Taylor Swift in the Rogers Report! I’d like to thank a whole lot of people, including but not limited to: Jim Nantz, Michelle Wie, Tony Romo and St. Andre Golf for allowing this to happen.
I fired up Instagram immediately after the Chiefs win on Sunday to see every piece of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce content from every possible angle when I decided to take a quick breather and watch some Instagram stories. And boy am I glad I did, because I immediately came across Michelle Wie West’s story, which provided the Taylor Swift-golf crossover I’ve desperately been searching for.
Would you look at that! The bracelet Taylor Swift wore on Saturday was designed by major champion Michelle Wie West. It’s the Custom Tennis Friendship Bracelet from Wove. In other words, Michelle Wie West designed a (or should I say the) friendship bracelet for the queen of friendship bracelets herself.
Wove’s description of the bracelet says “Created by Michelle Wie West, this diamond tennis friendship bracelet is meant to be made your own. Celebrate the bond of friendship and select your personalized letters to customize this one-of-a-kind, classic with twist.”
“Celebrate the bond of friendship” Travis Kelce did indeed. He bought the two of them matching friendship bracelets with the letters “TNT,” for “Travis N Taylor.”
A massive congratulations is in order for Wove and Wie West!
Next up we have notable mid-amateur golfer and CBS broadcaster, Tony Romo. The 2023 Invited Celebrity Classic champion may be well-known in the golf and media circuit, but that apparently doesn’t mean much to Taylor Swift’s security team. They were quick to stop the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Q-School pre-qualifying hopeful from going in for the hug with Swift — that was, until she told her security detail that the three-time American Century Championship winner was not a threat.
Anyway, once Romo got around to introduce himself, they sung each other’s praises.
Yes, Taylor. Selling out stadiums on a world tour is very different than being a lead analyst and decorated amateur golfer. But game respects game, and I for one am sure glad that these two got to cross paths.
Alright, one more Taylor note, and I may have saved the best for last. St. Andre Golf shared perhaps the best skit I’ve ever seen (which may not be saying much; I don’t watch Saturday Night Live). This Taylor Swift vs. Tiger Woods fan comedy sketch really nailed it.
Shout out to Golf Unfiltered’s Nikki Dunagan for putting together this masterpiece.
Jordan Spieth’s funny wish
Two years ago this week, Jordan Spieth put his life on the line to attempt (and pull off) an extremely dangerous shot on the edge of a cliff at Pebble Beach. In that moment, golf was the most dangerous sport of them all. Spieth shed light on that moment — and on his relationship with his caddie, Michael Greller — in a rerun this week on the Smylie Show.
Spieth explained that when he says “Mikey, this one’s on me,” he’s willing to take the blame for whatever happens next on the golf course. The only time he wishes Greller really pushed back on that? At the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But he doesn’t just wish Greller pushed back. He wishes that his looper “took a 7-iron” to his ankle and kicked the side of his knee so that he was out for six months with an ACL tear.
While I personally enjoyed watching Spieth flirt with the edge of a cliff from the comfort of my living room couch in 2022, I understand where he’s coming from. I’d also be curious to get his wife and parents’ take on the whole thing.
Olympic uniforms
Are you familiar with the 1999 hit Disney Channel movie Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century? It may have been snubbed for an Oscar nomination, but it’s definitely one of the most interesting films of our time.
This is only relevant again now because I strongly believe that this is where J.Lindeberg got its inspiration for Team USA’s Olympic golf uniforms. I haven’t seen any player reactions to what JL has in store for them in Paris this summer, but I can’t wait to learn what they have to say.
Unfortunately, we won’t get to see Viktor Hovland tee it up in these outfits. We may, however, get to see Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa in these uniforms which would really be something.
Miscellaneous
I leave you all with this video from the 19th hole at Payne’s Valley. How fun does that look?!
And just for reference, here’s how the 19th hole usually looks.
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