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The Social 7: Tiger vs. the rulebook, goodbye Mr. President, clubs for a cause and more

Tim ReillyBy Tim Reilly
January 15, 2019

Welcome to the Social 7, where Tim Reilly or Rachel Bleier of GOLF’s social media team will dive into the good, bad, crazy, insane, viral, hilarious — well, you get the picture — of the past week on social media.

1. Tiger Woods found himself in a position I’ve been in more times than I’d like to admit. He left himself a nearly unplayable lie that didn’t allow a swing to get the ball back in play. So, Tiger went with the old shovel method instead. This situation would spark everyone’s favorite debate — a rules debate!

Woods would go on to finish the Hero in 17th place. Does that still count as a top-20 finish when the field was only 18 deep?

2. The world lost the 41st President and avid golfer over the weekend. George H. W. Bush passed away at age 94. Upon receiving the Bobby Jones award in 2007, Bush was asked what the game meant to him: “It means friendship, integrity and character.”

Well said, Mr. President.

3. Anne van Dam is a 23-year-old Dutch professional golfer whose swing was the talk of Twitter last week. After posting a video from her winter workout, swing experts everywhere began drooling over her mechanics. I’m no expert, but van Dam’s swing looks pretttty, pretttty good.

If you think her swing makes golf look easy, mine will remind you how hard the game is.

4. Jon Rahm made a statement at the Hero. No, I’m not talking about his dominant performance on the course. With his fiancé, Kelley Cahill, in attendance, we got a glimpse at the engagement ring. That rock is nearly the same size as the TaylorMade TP5X ball Rahm plays.  With the holiday season upon us, a “Rings by Rahm” jewelry store could clean up.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq0eUNlF-OQ/

5. Golf dogs are the best dogs. That’s just a fact. Callaway golf’s wedge art specialist Anthony Taranto whipped up a few dog-themed Tour limited wedges in partnership with We Rate Dogs to help raise money for K9s For Warriors. These clubs are almost as good as the good dogs whose likeness are featured on the wedges. Kudos to all parties involved. Now go make a bid!

6. In the most bizarre scene of the week, John Senden’s shaft broke mid-swing while playing in the Australian PGA Championship. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this happen, and it’s now my biggest nightmare. Let’s break this down once more:

– Senden’s club snaps.

– He’s driverless for the remainder of the round.

– The broken shaft hurts his hand.

– This somehow still counted as a stroke.

Talk about a bad break. Terrible pun intended.

7. Club Pro Guy is social media’s favorite certified teaching pro. Where exactly did he receive his certification from? Chalk that up under don’t ask, don’t tell.

At one point or another, we’ve all been stuck behind an elderly golfer that struggled with pace of play. Fortunately, CPG is doing the Lord’s work and preaching change one student at a time.