PINEHURST An incredible Sunday of golf that we’re all lucky to have witnessed.
There is so, so much to discuss.
Here are 18 Parting Thoughts from the grounds of Pinehurst No.
1.Bryson earned this, thoroughly.
His romp at Winged Foot was a bit one-dimensional in nature.
Thats not a knock on him; its what the golf course called for.
Hit it nine miles and then figure it out from the rough.
Pinehurst was an entirely different test.
It forced him to hit high and soft bunker shots even with that extra-long lob wedge.
On Sunday, he had to scramble all damn day as he just could not find a fairway.
This was anything but bomb-and-gouge.
2.Ive never seen a player leave a golf course as fast as Rory McIlroy jetted out from Pinehurst No.
He must be crestfallen.
That was as brutal a loss as youll ever see.
I kinda see it the other way.
That old parable Max Homa comes to mind.
Rory continues to hammer away at the rock.
This was the closest hes been since 2014.
If he makes a 30-inch putt on 16 or a four-footer on 18 hes in a playoff.
Make both and hes your winner.
Strangely Im leaving this week more sure that hell win one soon than I was before.
Its going to happen soon, and all these losses will make it that much sweeter once it does.
3.Bryson DeChambeau is the face of golfs next generation.
Your dad watching NBC knows all about him and so does the 15-year-old on YouTube.
Outside of Tiger Id guess hes the most popular player on the planet.
It was really, really electric.
Ive never seen a player of his caliber engage with fans more directly or more frequently.
Were not just talking about polite tips of the cap.
He was making chopping up with them on tees, making jokes, raising the roof.
People change, man.
I saw some cynical chatter online about how we shouldnt fall for this, how its just an act.
That could be true.
Golfs unique in that careers last decades.
We see these guys mature and change as they age.
Some for the better and some for the worse.
If its some orchestrated campaign, theyre doing a great job of hiding it.
4.The U.S. Open is officially my favorite major championship.
I know, I know, the Masters.
Its not like I dont love the Masters.
Its kind of like when you ask a parent who their favorite child is.
They have one, but they also love the others.
I love so many things about this event.
I love the mental, physical and emotional tolls it takes on players.
I love that nearly half the field qualified their way in through a single-day 36-hole qualifier.
I love how theyll also throw in a wildcard host every now and then.
Sometimes it goes great, like at Brookline, and sometimes it goes awfully, like at Chambers Bay.
You never really know what youre going to get.
Theres an element of chaos, while the Masters is pretty much perfect every year.
Theres a certain comfort in that, in its timeless traditions.
But Im drawn to a little bit of crazy.
Feels good to be a U.S. Open guy.
I always make an effort to pick his brain when I can, but not about the golf swing.
Hes an endless supply of little axioms that make your go hmmmm.
Confidence is Im great, and so is he.
This came to mind during Rory McIlroys press conference on Tuesday.
Another win for Scottie at the Memorial.
Rory, Rahm and Viktor Hovland all went into detail about Schefflers greatness.
It’s quite incredible to see what he’s been able to accomplish, Rahm said.
Every year or every so years, there’s been great ball strikers that come up.
To win five times in a season… That was his fifth win.
And winning the tournaments he’s winning.
It’s fantastic to see.
He’s been playing fantastic golf and doing what he needs to do.
And as a golf fan, it’s just absolutely incredible to watch.
There wasnt even a hint of jealousy or bitterness.Im great, and so is he.
I’m trying to land it 146.
I can’t land it 144 because it’s not going to get up there.
I can’t land it 148 because it’s going to go over the back of the green.
That wasnt the case at Valhalla.
A 144 shot wouldve plopped down on the green and sat still.
So would a 146 or a 148 shot.
Then, theyd listen for the applause as a final reassurance.
7.Pete Dye courses have a very unique form of torture.
In that moment the emotion is pure and utter dejection.
Donald Ross courses have a similar signature oh shit moments.
Sit, sit, sit.
No matter how hard you plead, it just never sits.
Those futile sits will be one of my enduring memories of this U.S. Open.
8.So Neal Shipley was runner-up in the U.S.
Amateur, took Low Am at the Masters and now Low Amateur at the U.S. Open.
All this to say how wild it is that Shipley finished 48th(!)
in the PGA Tour University rankings, which only ranks seniors.
One, he’s a late bloomer.
That’s a still a very real thing in golf.
Two, college golf is just ridiculously deep.
Three, the PGA Tour U rankings are pretty incomplete.
They don’t count the U.S.
Amateur which is the biggest tournament on the amateur schedule.
I understand why, it’s an NCAA-PGA Tour partnership thing so it only includes college and pro events.
I suspect he will get some invites based on his performance in the Masters and U.S. Open.
Brendan Valdes is the No.
20 amateur in the world a rising senior on the Auburn team that just won the national championship.
Our conversation veered toward his game, naturally.
(I cant help myself).
I asked him to describe himself as a player.
Great ball striker, putting has historically been the weakness.
He mentioned he armlocks.
I legit couldnt make a 1 footer.
For a full year, he woke up at 3:45 in the morning.
First, 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups to wake himself up.
Then hed meditate for a full hour(!)
and be done in time to make 5:45 team workouts.
I asked him, do you do that still?
Nope, dont need to anymore.
Discipline is a skill.
10.Mixed in among Ludvig Abergs myriad strengths is his pace-of-play.
Probably the quickest player this side of Matt Fitzpatrick.
11.Watch Tyrrell Hatton for the first time and youre incensed.
Watch him for the second time and youre mildly entertained.
Watch a third time and youre laughing out loud.
The people with those attitudes are supposed to fade out or never fulfill their potential.
You gotta reign it in if you wanna win tournaments and play Ryder Cups.
Not the case, obviously, with Tyrrell Hatton.
Half the stuff I say on the golf courseI don’t even know where it comes from.
But it’s just a reaction.
It just comes out.
I don’t know where from.
But sometimes people find it amusing.
Hes genuinely a very funny guy and doesnt take himself too seriously.
You know the drill: Our game needs more characters, not less.
And its not a malicious fuck you.
I dont really mean it and I’ll regret saying it very soon.
Either that, or I am the worst water bottle-opener in the lower 48.
13.I walked 28 holes with Tigers group over the first two days this week.
It was hot as balls, and I havent done that since that was my job with Golf Digest.
Im not really sure why, but I had this gut feeling that Ishouldbe out there.
Hes looked physically better this weeklike, much betterbut his game just isnt sharp.
It cant be when youre not playing tournaments.
Its impossible to simulate the adrenaline rush that is tournament golf at home.
His good shots are as good as anyones good shots.
The drivers pretty one-dimensional but he still works his irons all over the place.
Its a joy to watch, especially on a layout like a crispy Pinehurst No.
And to see and feel the energy from the fans trying to will his ball into the hole.
Its a special experience.
He grinded his ass off Friday and actually hit it pretty solidly today but could not buy a putt.
It was the highest score I couldve shot was how he described it.
The entire time I kept thinkingman, if he can just play more, the tools are there.
He posted to his IG story afterwards that he still has another one in him.
I asked him about it after the round.
“His good shots are as good as anyone’s.
He just needs to play more.
That’s what I told him.”
But he cant play more.
Otherwise he would be.
He was asked whether that would be his last U.S. Open.
And he didnt say no.
14.Every major we highlight something the pros do that you and your buddies also do.
Were familiar with the weird quirks we all indulge in.
This weeks example came via an apparent slip-up from Brad Faxon on the NBC broadcast.
Fax has been Rory McIlroys putting coach for years and the two spend plenty of time together.
Fax reported live on-air that Rory had fixed his swing during a flight on his private jet.
And sometimes things come to me.
Been there, baby.
15.Ive watched thousands of golf shots in person.
There are very few that leave my mouth agape.
He had 286 to a back-left pin on a plateau right over a bunker.
Going at the flag is a total no-go.
Only he pulled it directly on line with the flag.
It would need to pitch directly in the upslope to kill all the momentum.
Thats exactly the bounce it got.
But, results wise, that shot was 1 in 50 or more.
When it quit rolling and stayed on that tier I looked around with my jaw fully open.
Wont be forgetting that one.
(For those curious the other 4…in no particular order…)
1.
Phil Mickelson, 2020 Memorial, no fans there.
Downhill lie, 78 yards to pin, playing 5 yards downhill wind pumping down.
Full-swing cut flop from the fairway that pitched front edge and somehow spun back uphill and into the wind.
Ill never forget the sound.
I kinda loved those 2020 tournaments because you could hear everything.2.
Matt Fitzpatricks 9-iron at Brookline 2022.
That shot, in that moment…3.
Tiger Woods, sky-high banana slice 5-wood from kikuyu rough to a front-right pin on 11 at Riviera.
Probably 2020, right before the pandemic?4.
Ill get back to you.
16.Dustin Johnsons last four major finishes: CUT, CUT, T43, CUT.
He did, it should be noted, win the LIV Las Vegas event to start the year.
LIV Golf, then, made perfect sense for him.
But its been a rough stretch.
I thought about that a bit yesterday afternoon.
I think especially going around Jack’s place, which is going to be pretty close.
I did most of my damage under par there at the beginning of the week, so…
The Memorial cant be directly before the U.S. Open going forward.
Its good for no one.
Jack Nicklaus made it clear that he liked a week break in between, how it was before.
I was there, and so many of the questions to players at Memorial were about Pinehurst.
The tournament was a bit overshadowed.
Id be surprised if it doesnt move back next year.
Oh, and theres another signature event next week…Wish the majors had some time to breathe.
18.Just a quick shoutout to Patrick Cantlay.
I’ve hammered him for not ever properly being in contention at a major championship.
He was this week.
The entire week, too.
Shot 65 on Thursday and hung around all week.
That’s all for now.
Electric, electric week.
We’ll see you at Royal Troon.
