Hello, friends, and happy Tour Championship week. I simply cannot think of East Lake without thinking back to 2018 when the gallery stormed the fairway and walked up the 18th hole with Tiger.
You know what they say: a security guard’s worst nightmare is a golf fan’s treasure, or something like that. I’m not sure how exactly this happened, and I have no idea if it would fly in 2023.
But back to this upcoming week. Huge shoutout to Layna Finau for explaining how the staggered start works to those who don’t follow professional golf 365 days a year.
I don’t have a formed opinion on the Tour Championship format, so please do not ask me about it. But coming off a weekend of following the U.S. Amateur, I will say that I think match play is awesome and I’d like to see more of it in the future. Definitely in the Olympics, and maybe even at East Lake one day. And speaking of the U.S. Amateur, Nick Dunlap put on quite a show at Cherry Hills last week.
And even better, his college teammates were there to see it all happen.
Before I get into all of the action from last week, I just recently learned that ISPS Handa World Invitational champion Alexa Pano is sponsored by the New England Patriots, which is so, so cool.
It makes me wonder who the best unconventional sponsor would be. A friend of mine used to be sponsored by a bar in South Boston, which was definitely fun. I think I’d want to be sponsored by Trader Joe’s or whatever brand makes hair ties — as I seem to go through a lot of those things.
Jordan Spieth’s birthday beverage
Jordan Spieth‘s 30th was a few weeks ago, but Rome (and my internet sleuthing skills) wasn’t built in a day. Please forgive me for just discovering this superb video of Jordan Spieth on stage at a Midland concert on his birthday.
First off, the band referred to Spieth as “one of the greatest golfers in the entire world” and said he’s accomplished more at 30 than the whole crowd combined before getting the place to wish him a happy birthday. I need someone to start hyping me up the way the band hyped up the 13-time PGA Tour winner. My main focus of this video isn’t the words of affirmation, though. Can we discuss the eagle funnel he is chugging out of? So patriotic of the (likely) 2023 U.S. Ryder Cupper! That thing better find its way into the Team USA locker room in Rome.
Full disclaimer: I had no idea what he was originally drinking out of, but after a quick Google search, I believe I came across the exact one. Here’s a link to it. You’re welcome for all the commission, Jeff Bezos.
A Tiger Woods sighting
It has been entirely too long since we’ve last seen (or heard from) Tiger Woods. Or so I thought, until this weekend, when junior golfer Tien Do teed it up in a Florida State Golf Association event alongside Charlie Woods. And who was there to follow the action? The 15-time major champion himself.
It’s a quick video, so allow me to present you with some (low quality) screenshots of it.
We’ve still got the leg compression sleeve going, but Tiger seems to have traded in his FootJoys for some flip flops. At least for the weekend. The junior golfer also got a photo with Tiger (jealous) and an autograph on his hat.
Folks, allow this post to serve as a warning to you all. All Tiger content is great, but it would make my job a lot easier if things weren’t so blurry. Please allow me to dissect each image the way I was meant to — in HD.
Grandma Susie
The BMW Championship had a very special guest last week when Grandma Susie, an extremely dedicated golf fan, attended her first PGA Tour event. It all started in 2020 when a handful of pros came together to wish Susie a happy 100th (!) birthday.
She graced Olympia Fields with her presence last week and got to catch up with Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Rickie Fowler.
Grandma Susie doesn’t answer her phone when the golf is on, which I can definitely relate to. I’d love to hang out with her and chat all things PGA Tour! Also, I hope to be just like her when I grow up.
Bryson at the U.S. Amateur
2015 U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau headed to Cherry Hills last week to take in the action and show some support for the players, which I absolutely love.
Some of my absolute favorite golf moments have come from when the pros are watching other people play golf — whether it’s a competitor, a junior at the Augusta National Drive, Chip and Putt or a person on the range. So huge props to DeChambeau for making the trip to Denver. He ended up putting on a show and hitting balls with a persimmon at Cherry Hills, which is like, the cool pro golf version of when college freshmen head back to their high school over Thanksgiving break to show everybody what they’ve been up to.