Tiger Woods shows of his arm at the 2007 Wachovia Championship.
Richard Schultz/Getty Images
Hello, family and friends! I hope this week’s Rogers Report finds you in good spirits. Rickie Fowler’s game is on the rise, PGA TOUR 2K23 is out now and leaf-peeping season is officially upon us here in New England. There’s also lots to look forward to this week. We’ve got the CJ Cup, the BMW Ladies Championship and, most important, Taylor Swift’s new album, which I will provide a full synopsis on right here next week. Let’s get to it.
The (very talented) Stricker family
Don’t get me wrong, I love my family. But I often think about how I’d like to be a Korda sibling. Three professional athletes in one family? I’d be more than happy to serve as their underachieving sister. What I hadn’t previously considered before last week is the fact that it’d be pretty cool to be in the Stricker family as well. Less than 48 hours after Steve Stricker won the Constellation Furyk & Friends on the PGA Tour Champions, his youngest daughter Izzi won the Wisconsin state high school golf title.
Congratulations to Izzi Stricker of Waunakee, the Division 1 WIAA Girls Individual State Champion! 🥇
Let’s also not forget that Stricker’s other daughter, Bobbi, played golf at the University of Wisconsin and won the 2021 Wisconsin Women’s Amateur. Or that Nicki Stricker caddies for her husband. I’m not sure what’s in the water at the Stricker household, but I’d definitely like to down a few pints.
Pickleball > golf?
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much (read: anything) about pickleball, but I immediately became interested in it when I heard that Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth were teaming up for a televised match.
Thanks to each and every edition of The Match, we are constantly reminded that professional golfers aren’t the best trash-talkers. At least not when they’re mic’d up. Even my absolute favorite players seem to come off as slightly cringey, and this interaction between John Isner and Scottie Scheffler was no different.
I think what I’m experiencing here is what Germans like to call fremdschämen. But enough about that. I’m all for watching golfers compete in other sports. In fact, I think Justin Thomas said he wants to run a timed mile at some point, which I am all here for.
We’re at that special part of the week again where I just have to point out how great the International Presidents Cup team is. Last week I dived into Tom Kim and Sungjae Im’s friendship, and now we are going to discuss the fact that Hideki Matsuyama hosted his teammates for a Japanese barbecue ahead of the Zozo Championship.
— Presidents Cup International Team (@IntlTeam) October 12, 2022
Even though they lost at Quail Hollow, part of me feels like this Presidents Cup team is going to meet up as a group for years to come in the same way college basketball teams that won a National Championship in the 1980s still do.
Caddie karaoke
Caddies are often the unsung heroes of professional golf. That was literally not the case on Sunday night in Japan when a handful of pros and their loopers hit the town for some good old-fashioned karaoke.
If looping for @XSchauffele doesn’t work out, Austin Kaiser definitely has another career option. 😂
Look closely and you’ll see Collin Morikawa enjoying the show.
A Tiger Woods audible
Football season is underway, which means my Twitter feed is now filled with things I don’t really care about. But there were two football-golf crossovers that caught my eye over the weekend, and it is my responsibility to share them here with you.
In the spirit of transparency, I’ll admit that I did not watch this game. So I have no idea what running a “Tiger Woods” looks like. I do, however, have an idea as to what was going on here.
And I’m sure you do, too. I’ve seen guys practice their swings at restaurants, in the stands at Little League baseball games and even in Midtown Manhattan. But this was definitely a first for me. I respect it, though. Whatever it takes to improve.
Vijay’s late chime-in
Last month, Bryson DeChambeau made headlines when he lost a fight to a gallery rope at LIV Chicago. You’ve seen the video. You’ve seen the memes. The moment itself transcended golf, and even Josh Allen got in on the fun that was reenacting the scene.
On Monday, a full moon phase after the incident took place, Vijay Singh got to make his joke. He either lives under a rock or finally got a picture that allowed for him to take a crack at DeChambeau. This feels a little like when you think of the perfect comeback for an argument that took place four weeks ago. I’d probably just accept that the moment to pounce has passed and it this one out. Not Singh, though. Then again, his patience and determination is what helped him win 34 times on the PGA Tour. So to each his/her own.
