Sigh: JT Looking For More Speed, Too

The world No. 3 revealed pre-CJ Cup in Vegas that he, too, is looking to find more clubhead speed despite already having plenty in his tank. (Thomas has perennially averaged between 116-117 mph.)

Adam Schupak at Golfweek.com on Justin Thomas seeing what Bryson DeChambeau has done with modern technology and dieting.

“I’m not far off. It’s really about messing with some different stuff and different training and explosiveness to be able to pick up something,” he said. “There’s different ways to do it. I mean, the absolute No. 1 thing is I’m continuing to stay injury free and I’m continuing to progress in a good direction in terms of staying healthy and staying fit. But if I can do that while incorporating some more speed, then that’s big.”

Thomas has recovered from a 2019 wrist injury to be one of the game’s elite. While it’s great to read his strength work is centered around injury prevention, it’s hard not to wonder about the injury implications in pursuit of speed.

However it is quite easy to wonder if anyone in St Andrews or Far Hills is concerned by what they are reading.

Brooks Koepka reported good news on the injury front, but only after some serious injections, reports GolfChannel.com’s Ryan Lavner.

“All of a sudden I was one of those parents at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.”

Adam Schupak’s exclusive chat with Camilo Villegas is both incredible and incredibly tough to read. But kudos to Schupak for so beautifully telling the story of Mia Villegas, and for dad Camilo sharing so much in what can only be called unimaginable heartbreak of losing his child to cancer.

Please carve out a few minutes and hit the link here, but a sampling:

So, he and Maria slept at the hospital the night before the scan. Hours of waiting felt like days. It reminded him of visiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He made it a habit of going to see the kids there every year during the PGA Tour’s annual stop.

So, he and Maria slept at the hospital the night before the scan. Hours of waiting felt like days. It reminded him of visiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He made it a habit of going to see the kids there every year during the PGA Tour’s annual stop.

“I remember walking in the lobby and seeing all the parents there. That to me was the really hard part,” he said. “All of a sudden I was one of those parents at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.”

When a knock on the door broke the silence, Villegas was greeted by an army of faces and he instantly knew the verdict was grim.

“You don’t need 10 doctors to tell you the good news,” he said.

So, he cried. Fresh tears.

For three days.

"After a Cinderella British Open Win, a New Star Adjusts to Golf’s Majors"

With this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Sophia Popov returns to a major from her non-LPGA membership exile and Bill Fields files a New York Times profile of the surprise Women’s Open champion.

A teaser:

Six months ago, Popov, was competing on the Cactus Tour, an Arizona-based circuit for fledgling women’s golf pros. Prior, she had competed on the Symetra Tour, the developmental arm, after having lost exempt status on the LPGA Tour, but it and most of the world’s other major golf tours were on hiatus because of Covid-19. Employing safeguards like cup liners and individual riding carts, the Cactus Tour played on.

Beyond getting in reps, Popov rediscovered her winning touch, claiming her first professional trophy at a tournament in mid-April and then taking two of the tour’s next five events. “It was important because I hadn’t won in six years, since I was a senior in college,” said Popov, who played at Southern California. By the time the larger tours resumed this summer, Popov had a dozen Cactus Tour events under her belt and renewed confidence.

“There is a craft to playing and winning no matter the stage,” said Rashell, who has worked with Popov since the spring of 2019. “You have to beat the players that are around you down the stretch. You have to get used to how that feels. There is pressure regardless of where you’re playing.”

For the first two rounds at Royal Troon, the field battled severe weather conditions — the wind was so strong Popov had to use a 4-iron from 126 yards on her approach to No. 1 the first day — that tested strategy and resolve.

She goes on to also discuss, among other things, the sight of her $650,000 winners check in her bank account.

Francesco Molinari To (Finally) Resurface In Vegas

Derek Lawrenson explains how new LA resident—don’t get used to this blissful traffic Franky—Francesco Molinari is finally resurfacing this week.

The 2017 Open Champion is the last recent major winner to dust off the clubs and return during the COVID-19 era, teeing up at the Shriner’s over the European Tour’s BMW PGA. He hasn’t reached Anthony Kim levels of intrigue given the sheer absurdity of 2020, but it’s still remarkable how long Molinari has sat out. He has failed to register a top ten since the 2019 Masters.

COVID-19: Finau Is Only The PGA Tour's Third Positive Test In Seven Weeks

Given the continued onslaught of daily positive COVID-19’s reported in the United States, including a shocking White House outbreak, it’s a bit of a miracle that Tony Finau is the only PGA Tour player known to have tested positive since two cases at the U.S. Open. Before that, the Tour had enjoyed a six-week run of virus-free events.

Finau’s announced the bad news taking him out of this week’s Shriner’s Hospital Classic In Las Vegas:

Earlier today, I received a positive result for Covid-19 under PGA TOUR on-site testing protocols and have begun a period of self-quarantine to protect others around me. I am feeling well, and am otherwise in good spirits.

— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) October 6, 2020

From Bob Harig’s ESPN.com story on Finau becoming one of the highest profile players to test positive.

Finau is just the 14th player to test positive for the coronavirus since the PGA Tour's return from a 13-week break at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in May. Two players tested positive at the U.S. Open, but prior to that, the tour was on a six-week run of no positive cases.

While his pre-Masters plans have changed a bit, assuming a full recovering the 16th ranked player stands to contend given his consistent play and power game.

As Ryan Lavner notes for GolfChannel.com, “Finau had finished inside the top 15 in four of his past five starts, including a tie for eighth at the U.S. Open.”

Lawrie Calling It A Playing Career: "I'm kind of almost pleased that I'm 51 and not 22 the way it's going."

Scotland’s Paul Lawrie is calling it a playing career at this week’s Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Scottish Open but plans to continue what has already been one of the more impressive off-course careers. From his Aberdeen golf center, his foundation, this summer’s Tartan Pro Tour and managing five players, the 51-year-old former Open Champion has already carved out multiple off-course roles.

From a BBC story at Renaissance Club, host of this week’s rescheduled Scottish Open:

"To have played 620 events is not a bad innings considering I turned pro [in 1986] with a five handicap and didn't think I'd play any," he added. "I haven't been a great player, but I've been decent and that's all you can ask for.

"I'm kind of almost pleased that I'm 51 and not 22 the way it's going. Technology has been unbelievable. My body is in bits and I'm still hitting it the same distance as I did when I was 22."

Oh he’s so modest. Those hours in the gym have done it! Come on, you know it Paul.

This short but enjoyable Sky video interview with Lawrie adds a bit more context to his retirement announcement.

Finau's, Agent Chris Armstrong Sued By Utah Businessman Molonai Hola For More Than $16 Million

The Deseret News’ Mike Sorenson reports that PGA Tour winner Tony Finau and his team have been sued by Molonai Hola for more than $16 million. The story says he’s known the Finau family since 1997 and as part of his Icon Sports, “began financing expenses for Tony and his younger brother Gipper”, the suit says.

Also named in the lawsuit are Finau’s brother, Gipper, his father, Gary, his agent Christopher Armstrong and the Wasserman Media Group.

When reached for comment on the lawsuit, Armstrong said in a statement, “We are aware of the matter and have the utmost faith in the legal process. We will not be making further comment at this time.”

I’m not clear what role Finau’s agent plays from the story. The timing of the assistance Hola gave suggests it might have crossed over into Finau’s amateur and NCAA career.

The suit claims Hola paid for the Finau family’s mortgage payments, medical insurance, a new car as well as golf-related travel expenses for Tony and Gipper, including living expenses for the Finau family to reside in Florida for approximately a year while they received lessons from renowned golf instructor David Leadbetter.

Later, Hola helped form the Finau Corporation to help promote the young golfers and was designated as the corporation’s registered agent.

The expenses, according to the suit, added up to $592,371.37 over several years.

Today In Golf COVID; Tour Reports No Positive Tests, Calc Reveals His Battle, Kisner Apologizes

If you were unaware of Saturday’s (mostly) social media goings on, a quick recap…

The PGA Tour reported no positive tests this week at the Safeway. That wonderful news tempered a bit by Mark Calcavecchia revealing on September 6th he tested positive and Tweeting Saturday that he is struggling with COVID-19.

Update from Covid-19 Ville. This shit is very real! And it sucks. I’ve never had so many symptoms hit me all at the same time. I keep moving around the house trying to escape it. Please be safe and wear ur mask. I thought I was but with this evil shit you never know 🤬🤬🤬🤬

— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) September 12, 2020

The former Open Champion is the second known full-time Champions Tour player to have tested positive for COVID-19 and he deserves plenty of kudos for his disclosure despite still suffering from serious side effects.

Hang in there Calc and wife/caddie Brenda.

This news was juxtaposed by three-time winner and PGA Tour Policy Board member Kevin Kisner responding to a Tweet in crass fashion. The suggesting former Kentucky basketball star’s family brought the virus on themselves, only to delete and apologize. But only after significant backlash and some unfortunate “likes” from fellow pro golfers.

The screenshot of the original since-deleted Tweet and Kisner’s insensitive reply is embedded above.

The apology Tweet did sound like Kisner and was not appreciated by Chapman.

Earlier this morning, I made a reckless comment. I diminished the real experience of pain and loss suffered by many during the pandemic. I am not without empathy, but I certainly exercised poor judgement. I apologize to @RexChapman and anyone else that was hurt by my comment.

— Kevin Kisner (@K_Kisner) September 12, 2020

Not accepted. Done with people like you. We all are.

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) September 12, 2020

The PGA Tour issued a flaccid, unsigned condemnation despite Kisner’s prominent role in the Tour’s pandemic response as a Policy Board member. He’s also one of nine votes on a variety of matters including executive compensation.

From Bob Harig’s ESPN.com report on the social media dust-up.

"We found Kevin's comment this morning to be both disappointing and out of character," the statement said. "His remarks do not reflect the nature of our sport or organization, both of which strive to offer compassion and unity. We were pleased to see Kevin take ownership of the situation and have since spoken to him directly.''

Last week Kisner suggested a return of fans was needed because revenues were not the same.

Molinari Tweets: " I am the only one who has not returned. I am well aware of it."

We learned at least two very key things when Francesco Molinari took to Twitter confirming he’s still alive and well during this pandemic.

A) The 2018 Open Champion is fine, not changing equipment and is just moving to California and reorganizing his life.

B) Twitter has a handy translate function if you wait long enough.

Joel Beall at GolfDigest.com with the full translation and interpretation from someone who was arguably one of the world’s three best players just 18 months ago, the man who played a flawless Open final round in front of Tiger Woods, and who was a 2018 Ryder Cup star. He recently WD’d from the rescheduled U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

“It will be hard to get back to the levels of 2018 no doubt, you don’t think it was easy the first time. I am the only one who has not returned. I am well aware of it, but it is not the first time that I have made different or unpopular choices (see Rio 2016).”

Molinari, who is exempt into the Masters in November thanks to his claret jug victory at Carnoustie, thanked fans who have patiently awaited his return. Though he hasn’t decided when, Molinari promised he will eventually be playing competitively again.

“I’ll be back in a while, I won’t tell you the exact time because I simply haven’t decided it yet and it will depend on the schedule/preparation,” Molinari wrote.

Johnson Wins Northern Trust By Eleven Strokes: Tour's Biggest Blowout Since 2006

It wasn’t a lot of fun to watch despite the intense playoff vibes. Dustin Johnson winning by eleven at normally exciting TPC Boston probably won’t be setting a new Northern Trust Open ratings record. Johnson’s 22nd PGA Tour win also sends him back atop the world golf rankings.

Maybe the eleven shots was not the most impressive part, writes GolfChannel.com’s Ryan Lavner.

Johnson was 13 clear of fourth place.

He was 15 ahead of eighth.

Those who shared 18th place – a nice week, normally – were 18 strokes behind.

“That’s the type of talent he is. I’ve been watching it for 25 years,” said fellow South Carolina native Kevin Kisner, who tied for fourth. “I’m pretty accustomed to it. When he’s on, I just step to the side and try to add on to my bank account.”

Ballstriking was especially stout, as noted by Johnson and GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rapaport:

“Obviously this was a really good week. My ball-striking was unbelievable,” he said. The numbers back it up. Johnson picked up a staggering 18.14 shots on the field tee-to-green over 72 holes at TPC Boston, and hit 65 of 72 greens, including all 18 on Sunday.

You don’t see a lot of double digits in the strokes gained world. That’s my main takeaway. My instincts also suggest we’re going to learn more on where that stat stands since such records have been kept.

Speaking of records, Johnson’s performance missed two big ones by just a stroke each:

DJ missed lowest 72-hole total (253 by JT at Sony Open in 2017) and lowest in relation to par (-31 by Ernie Els) at 2003 Mercedes by one stroke in each case.

— Bob Harig (@BobHarig) August 23, 2020

The Golf.com gang debated his place in today’s game. Loved this from Bamberger:

Bamberger: He is his era’s Tom Weiskopf, without Weiskopf’s style or charm or charisma. He’s a mega-talent who can win on any course, if he can make short putts as he has been. He might surprise us. He might win another major. Either way, his career will finish in the Hall of Fame. You hope Weiskopf gets in before him, though.

Highlights from Johnson’s final round 63 in a week he also shot 60:

Low Scoring And Why It's Okay To Credit The Technology

I’m not a huge fan of using low scoring to make the case to tighten up the equipment rules in the name of protecting skill. When scores aren’t low, the we technophobes hear stuff such as, “see, nothing to see here!” The same folks can’t be found when records are broken. Or they just chalk it up to modern athletes, arguably the last thing explaining an efficient scoring week.

So when players post a 59 and a 60 on the same day—under the relentless strain of PGA Tour Playoff pressure—it would be easy to highlight how overmatched TPC Boston looks. (Particularly when Dustin Johnson went out in 27, birdied the 10th and 11th, and seemed destined to shoot 57. )

But we know Tom Brodeur’s crew presents typically outstanding conditions. Players are usually peaking in August. And the updated modern design already appears overmatched by modern distances. Still, it’s notable how various intrusions of technological advances—clubs, balls, launch monitors, green reading books—are rarely cited in the scoring conversation.

Take Saturday’s CBS discussion citing consistency of agronomy (Dottie Pepper) and “quality of play” or “quality of setup” (Nick Faldo). No one mentioned clubs and balls which, if taken away from the players and replaced with something from 5, 10 or 15 years ago, seems more likely to impact the scoring.

Justin Thomas was asked Friday about the rounds and also noted player superiority over any outside influences:

I could play really, really great rounds and be 9-under going into 17, 18, instead of 10 or 11. It is, it's extremely impressive, and I said it a couple years ago, I still think someone is going to shoot a 56 or 57 or 58 on TOUR, whether it's next couple years or ten or 15 years. We're all getting so much better and especially if you get a place like this with really good greens, and if it's soft, we're pretty good with our distance control and pretty good at golf to where we get it rolling, who knows what it happen.

Players deserve credit for their role in performing so well, but why is it so seemingly off-limits to admit that technological advances in equipment, agronomy, club fitting, are the greatest influence of all? Or worse, an apparent insult to a modern golfer to suggest they are producing incredible scores thanks to improved implements.

PS - you’re paid to say the clubs and balls are the greatest ever made, so do it!

Video: "Meet the 10-year-old golf phenom who’s already compared to Tiger Woods"

NBC’s Blayne Alexander introduces us to Xeve Perez, a 10-year-old phenom born premature at 20 weeks and weighing just three pounds. He took up golf at 18…months and is said to have won his first tournament at three. Just work with me here. It’s a good feature.

Anyway, he’s picked up plenty of wins since, is Georgia’s top ranked player in the 12 to 14 division even though he’s just ten. Also, he’d love to play Augusta some day. The 2026 Masters is penciled in right now and looking at that swing he’s got a shot.

Stick around for the live discussion and input from Today’s resident golfer Carson Daly. It’s fun stuff.

So Not Everyone Loves Links Golf: England's Charley Hull Confirms Her Longing For Tree-Lined Courses On Open Eve

As the AIG Women’s Open Championship kicks off at historic Royal Troon, one of England’s great hopes admitted she is not fan of links golf.

Ewan Murray reports for The Guardian from Troon on Charley Hull’s forthright assessment of links golf:

The prospect of Charley Hull ending her wait for a major title this weekend at Royal Troon has diminished after the 24-year-old admitted her indifference towards links golf. Hull risked offending those immersed in the ancient form of the sport by admitting she will visualise holes at the famous Ayrshire venue lined with trees during the Women’s Open when it begins on Thursday.

“I’m not the biggest fan of links golf,” said Hull. “I like playing with my friends and stuff as a bit of fun but I find it hard to score around sometimes. I like parkland golf courses and American-style.”

“I just try to picture the fairways being tree-lined because I like really, really tight golf courses. I like to feel like tunnel vision, where this is kind of open and flat and it’s hard to pick your lines because it’s hard to pick out the fairways sometimes. So you’ve just got to be really focused.”

Well then, we’ll be looking elsewhere with our investment strategies this week.

Collin Morikawa Isn't Sure Where The Infamous PGA-Winning Driver Will End Up

AP’s Doug Ferguson looks back at Collin Morikawa’s 2020 PGA Championship win at Harding Park and tries to pin down the winner on where various historic artifacts are headed. The caddy gets the loathsome Giants-themed bag. How about the shoes and the world famous driver? Morikawa isn’t sure.

“The driver, who knows when TaylorMade is going to come out with a new one and I’ve got to switch,” Morikawa said. “I’ll probably just mark it with a little ‘PGA Championship,’ maybe a Sharpie on the head to remember it.”

And then?

“Probably just stick in my other bags at home when I start collecting them and they start piling up,” he said. “I really don’t know.”

There will be plenty of prominent places happy to display that one when it loses it’s place in the rotation.

Brooks On His Pre-Final Round Peers Put Down: "If you’re going to do that then you’ve got to back it up and last week I didn’t back it up."

I thought there were too many great stories and fascinating possibilities to dwell on the Brooks-being-Brooks comments prior to the 2020 final round, but with other players chiming in and Koepka’s final round collapse, he felt the need to speak.

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch followed up with Koepka Wednesday. You’d think he was an epidemiologist with vaccine news given the space given to the put down of his peers’ major totals. Nonetheless I think Brooks has dug another hole, this time with top 100 peg board owners.

Koepka: Obviously, a lot came from it. I don’t mind the pressure of that stuff. I put more pressure on myself than anything external. At the same time, I didn’t back it up. That’s my own problem. Part of being someone who talks openly and truthfully is that sometimes I come off cocky or arrogant, and it can backfire if you’re not going to play good. That’s exactly what happened.

Lynch: Were you shocked at how poorly you played?

Koepka: Yeah. I got stunned at the bogey at 2 and other ones at 7, 8 and 9. By that point, I was already out of it. I was just trying to cheer Paul [Casey] on because he had a chance to win and my shot was long gone.

Lynch: Based on the social media conversation, half of golf fans seem to appreciate you as a competitive beast and the other half dislike you as a mouthy jerk. Are you okay with that?

Koepka: I think there are layers to that question. I’m not the typical golf guy. I don’t know how else to put that. We didn’t belong to fancy country clubs. I’m not someone who can’t wait to go play those exclusive courses around the country. It doesn’t ‘ooh’ and awe me like it does other people …